Science!

One of the many fabulous things about Alex's school is the exposure they get to science. The father of one of his classmates brought in a 60X microscope from his lab and did a demonstration for the kids and then left the microscope for the classroom to use for a few days. As you might imagine, Alex loved this!

They looked at a spider, orange peels, paper (i.e., Alex's Star Wars picture), and many other things. Here are some related notes from the teacher's report of that week's events.

What did you notice about the spider placed under the microscope? (tiny hairs, six eyes, pointy fingers, "freaky")

What did you notice about the orange peel under the microscope? (gooey, little animals, half a pyramid, giant globs and holes)

Overheard at Meeting:

Alex:  A microscope helps you see inside things, and it allows us to see cells.

Family Fun Day

Last weekend was Family Fun Day at the Law School. We went to the event in the Fall and had a great time. This one was just as successful.

We played lots of games: indoor bowling (which largely turned in to indoor soccer), bags, Mario Crash in the Wi (a huge hit with Alex and the students helping the kids learn were so patient and helpful), and chess (story below). There was a piñata again this year. It was hard to break, but that just gave the kids lots of chances to whack at it.

When we went to play a game, initially Alex chose Yahtzee, but then he decided that he wanted to try something he'd never played before. At the same table was a box with chess, checkers, and backgammon. He pointed to the picture of chess and said that he wanted to try that. So, that's how Alex came to play his first game of chess.

One of the students is an expert balloon animal maker and always comes to Family Day. Alex has been obsessed with Star Wars and wanted her to make him an R2-D2. That was a little too advanced (although it is possible - Google it for some impressive pictures), so we went for a light saber instead. As you might imagine, Alex had a very particular image in mind and chose the balloons she should use and proceeded to instruct her on how a light saber is different than a sword.

Finally, the face painter at this event is amazing. I have never had my face painted, but after seeing her work the last time, I decided to give it a try. Not surprisingly, I asked for purple to be the main color. (I also asked her to make it symmetrical, which cracked Dave up. Even when I'm being spontaneous and doing something out of character, I still want things to be a certain way. I can't help it!)

The Ice Skating Story

Now that three months have passed, and I've been given the all clear from my surgeon and the PTs, it's finally time to put this story in the blog.

There is a park district ice rink across the street from my work. When Alex and I walk back and forth to his school we often pass it, and he would ask when we could go ice skating. I love to skate and finally found a time to take him. It was going to be a special Alex and Mom outing.

When we arrived, the rink was packed. It was a cold, but sunny, day. We rented our skates and, much to my dismay, they only rented hockey skates, which I had never skated on before. We forged ahead. I was feeling uncomfortable in the skates but was primarily focused on Alex since this was his first time skating.

We hit the ice, stood to the side so he could get used to the feeling, and then ventured forward. Within fewer than 20 feet I got wobbly and couldn't regain my balance. We went down. Alex was fine, but I knew I had fallen pretty hard on my hand.

We went to the wall to regroup and take a couple of pictures since I wasn't sure how much longer we'd be out there. I knew I had hurt my wrist, but I've never had a broken bone before and didn't know what to expect. The internal dialogue inside my head kept constant track of how it felt, what it looked like, and the percentage chance that I would need to go to the ER versus taking Alex home. After a few more minutes of skating it was pretty clear that we should go to the hospital. I explained to Alex that we might need to leave but got really lucky in that the attendants blew their whistles to clear the ice for the zamboni. So, I wasn't making us leave, everyone had to get off the ice.

We made our way back to the door, having only gotten about one quarter of the way around the rink, and found a good spot on the outside wall where Alex could watch the zamboni. After it finished, Alex played for a few minutes on a big hill of snow (something that had been promised to him when he spotted it when we arrived), and then we loaded up in the car and headed to the hospital.

Alex was very curious about everything going on at the ER and was excited about the prospect of watching me get x-rays taken. Despite being "fast tracked" in triage, it took a long time to be seen, and after about an hour I let Dave know where we were and asked him to come get Alex. (I had naively been hoping that I could get home before bedtime. In fact, I spent six hours in the ER.)

I finally got x-rayed, which confirmed that the wrist was broken. The rest of the night was spent getting casted, having a CAT scan taken, and waiting to be released and finally getting some pain meds. After some initial confusion, I saw a surgeon later in the week and they had me scheduled for surgery that Friday. Of course, once they opened things up and saw the break, it was even worse than they thought. Instead of some pins or wires, I ended up with two metal plates, five screws, and a bone graft. Recovery has felt slow, but the PTs and the doctors are pleased. The estimate is that it will be better in about a year.

Here are some pictures of the adventure.

One week post surgery

All the tape is off

In the compression sleeves (that's Alex's arm on the top)

Healing nicely

Ending on a happy note (not the best picture, but it shows him out there on the skates)

Happy Easter

Rainbow eggs, chocolate at breakfast, and three Easter egg hunts! Alex had a good Easter. My favorite part is that he loves the Easter egg hunt so much. Once he finished his search, he and Dave reassembled and rehid all the eggs for me to find. After that, he and I did the same for Dave. Plus, we had a lot of fun making the eggs. There was a new method in last week's Trib that Alex wanted to try, which involved peeling the sheets and dying the eggs directly. The colors came out so vibrant!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Alex was very in to Valentine's Day this year, which was a lot of fun. We made Love Bugs out of popsicle sticks, construction papers, and pipe cleaners. He signed all his class Valentines and decorated a bag to carry them to school. We also had heart-shaped pancakes and made Valentine cupcakes. It was a fun holiday!

Card Carrying Member of the CPL

Yesterday was a monumental day in our family -- Alex got his first library card!

The Chicago Public Library does not have a minimum age for getting a library card. Instead, you have to be able to write your first and last name. Alex had been practicing writing his first and last name all week. When we were checking out on Saturday we checked with the librarian (our favorite, Miss Gwen) about getting Alex a card, and she confirmed that all he had to do was be able to sign the form. So, I filled out the paperwork, and Alex signed his name (very intently, as you can see below). Miss Gwen entered us in the computer and now Alex has his own card. I don't know which one of us was more excited! He wouldn't put it in the bag with our books; he insisted on carrying it the whole way home.

Santa Stories

We take a pretty low-key approach to Santa around here. Alex has started to be more aware/interested, but he's also quite skeptical when it comes down to it.

A few weeks ago the subject of Santa came up at dinner, and, after trying to explain the idea of "he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake," this was how the conversation went.

Alex: How does he know everything?
Me (grasping at how to answer this question for a five-year-old): Santa is special.
Alex: It sounds like he's fake. Doesn't it?

Then, last week our Y had a Santa for the kids and the time coincided with Alex's swim lessons, so he had his first visit to Santa experience. When Santa asked Alex what he wanted for Christmas, he said that he didn't know but it was on his list.