We are on a roll....!

Chloe and I finished our first official 5k race together on Saturday! Some of our friends and I got up early to run the Annual Key Biscayne Lighthouse run, and it was so much fun! Chloe is really starting to like her jogging stroller! Most runs I find her half asleep when I go to get her out, or she is banging Sophie on the side of the stroller the whole time. It is so fun this is something I can do with her. Anyway, I hope many runs are in our future. So not only are we are on a roll with getting back in shape, but Chloe is getting back in shape with PT and feeding therapy! We start OT this week! Whew! What a huge relief it is that we are on the right track finally. I was starting to have panic attacks every time I thought about her not getting help since July. Love, love. love Chloe's therapist for PT and the therapist for feeding. Feeding therapy is so interesting. The things they come up with to get kids to be less sensitive with their mouths and to learn to chew is pretty cool. Some days she does really well, and will eat some rice cereal, and other days not so well. It is a slow process. Chloe's PT has a preemie herself, a preemie who had lots of problems, so she has first hand experience, which I think gives her a very kind, soothing way in which she handles and works with Chloe. She is close to sitting up, but gravity took a toll on Chloe being out of the womb so early, so she has some muscles to work and some things that need to be better aligned with her body. During the PT sessions you can't even tell Chloe is working. The PT just pushes on her body in different ways as Chloe plays. Then Chloe falls asleep after and sleeps for hours because she has worked so hard. Pretty cool. But her schedule is all messed up with time spent in the car going to appointments and with the time change. I had no idea the time change would change so much! Any other moms notice this? The weather is finally getting beautiful down her. It is like spring in the Midwest, everyone is in a good mood and looking for things to do outside. It has made Chloe's and my life much more fun. We were able to take her out on a boat ride, which she loved. We were able to take her to the beach, which she loves. Every Saturday we go to the farmer's market and have lunch with friends. We took Chloe on a trail in the Everglades. Florida is wonderful in the winter. Except for the brown widow outbreak in our basement screened in porch, we are ready to be outside all the time. Yes, I said brown widow's, just like the black but brown with stripes.  I spent my whole life knowing I just had to be weary of two spiders, the brown recluse and black widow and now I find out there are many varieties of the black. I thing spiders get a bad rap. They kill pests, they are beneficial and I am not for killing spiders, but I am just not sure I can have them around Chloe. I don't mean just one or two. I can go out at night and at least find 5 right away. So the new thing is figuring out how to get rid of them down there. We also have a gang of raccoons breaking into our screened in porch at night. I was coming home and going up the stairs and one jumped over my head, no joke, to get away. Evan wakes up at night to find them rummaging through our diaper trash can we keep on the porch. So that is what is keeping them coming back. We will have a lame Thanksgiving without family this year. We waited too long to get tickets to go anywhere and it would be nice to keep Chloe healthy for one more winter, not expose her to airports and lots of people. Have a great Thanksgiving, enjoy the food, family and friends! One of these days Chloe is going to love turkey!