[day 13 ... january 13]

Before Cory came along, I didn't even know what a "nebulizer" was. But since he developed allergy-induced asthma before he was a year old, we quickly became all too familiar with this machine. He used to really dislike the treatments (not painful, just irritating to have that mask near/over your face and all this mist coming out), but we read books or (when we have to do a lot of the treatments, during a flareup) watch a TV show, and it goes pretty smoothly now.

Cory has been fine for weeks now, after a couple of bumpy months in the Fall. But Sunday he started coughing, and now we're in the midst of a full-blown flare-up. So I have him home from school and am giving him treatments every four hours. He's not much better, so we'll head to the doctor tomorrow and see what they say. Poor guy. So hard to listen to him cough and cough so much. :-(

[day 12 ... january 12]

Cory's class does so many cool things. Recently the kids got inspired to connect links together until they made a chain that looped all the way around the two-classroom pod: Out the inside door, into Jackie's class (next door), all the way through her class to the outside door, and then back in to Melissa's classroom. The kids were so thrilled! Today they made a long Uniflex cubes line that ran nearly the length of the classroom. And not long ago they were building big marble runs and then drawing their own pictures of what they saw, with dictated descriptions alongside. Melissa's posted the drawings and photos she had taken of their work. So fun to see the creative process that is a 4-year-old's natural way of being.

[day 11 ... january 11]

We drove Tynor down to Laura's for a day of movies and hanging out, and on the way back, stopped by the Sammamish Slough to marvel at how high and fast-flowing the water is. We kayaked in the slough several times over the summer, and the current was so slow, you could hardly tell it was moving at all. Not so now. It's swirling and pouring along at a rapid clip. Trees and bushes along the banks are under water, and the river is quite close to the pavement of the trail at several points that we could see. And this is after it has receded somewhat, from the highs earlier in the week. Impressive. And a little scary, to see all that water where there is usually a sleepy little slough.

[day 10 ... january 10]

Dad gave me several old records (honest-to-goodness vinyl) of my high school choir, and I finally dug out the turntable from the garage (where it's been since we moved here, five years ago) so we could play them. Cory was fascinated. The turntable at school is used for creating spin art! Unfortunately, the stereo doesn't applify the sound for some reason, so we could barely hear the tracks. Will have to track down what's up with that. It was still nostalgic to have the records, with all the old photos on the dust jackets and the lists of songs I used to sing from memory with the choir.
Another two-photo day: Cory and Niall are now totally hooked on the online kids' game site, Club Penguin. Cory can hardly get the mouse to click where he wants it to, but he's bound and determined to play, just like Niall. Niall, of course, has investigated every nook and cranny and is lobbying for a full membership so he can play everything properly.

[day 9 ... january 9]

Dropped off Niall at the Little School turnaround as usual this morning. (Note the tiny little rental car - the van repairs won't be complete until nearly the end of January. :-( ) This morning he had gear and booster seat for every-other-Friday swimming in addition to his backpack. Usually I park the car, then walk Cory up to class. But today we headed to Seattle for an allergist appointment. Skin tests this time showed no reaction to dairy - even for fresh milk. That was a big surprise! As recently as eight months ago, he had a big response to the tests. So now we can embark on including dairy in cooked goods, and then - maybe, perhaps, dare we hope? - cheese and other good stuff. Here's hoping he really has outgrown the allergy. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

[day 8 ... january 8]

With the Big Snow over the holidays, we just recently connected with several people to exchange gifts. Niall and Cory had great fun tonight with the cool modeling clay Candi gave Niall for his birthday. They loved making these balls with various color combinations, and then branched off into creating critters and other things. Not the best project to start just before bedtime. They did not want to stop!

[day 7 ... january 7]

This is the first of three trips I'll make across the lake this week (dentist appointment, meeting at PSCS, Cory's allergist appointment). The water on the south side of 520 was really choppy, as you can see, though not even close to the big waves that pour over that side on occasion. It always fascinates me how the bridge neatly divides the rough water from the relatively smooth water. Not surprising, but still striking.

I've been going to this dentist office, Dr. Solhaug and (now) Wallace, for more years than I can count. We went to Dr. Solhaug Senior when I was just a child, and when I came back to the Seattle area after my (12 year) stint in California, I returned to them. It's hard to find a dentist office that you can trust completely and without any reservations! At least it is for me. :-) I've been going to Dr. Wallace now for maybe 15 years, and he's the best. Still not fun to go in for a crown prep but...probably better than continuing to walk around with a broken molar, as I have been for the past three weeks.