On October 12th, I completed my 27-day fundraising effort. I completed a total of 36.6 miles and raised $1063.00 for my department. Thanks to my generous family and friends, I raised the most money on my team. Amazing! I am so grateful for all the support and KK had a great time being my sidekick. She even finished the last mile by walking, climbing, jumping, and running it alongside me.
The Miracle Marathon is well underway and Kumquat and I have been running and scooting our way toward 27.2 miles. Luckily, we’ve had lots of good weather in the evenings and Kumquat has been really good in the stroller. She knows the routine now and says “nai-nai, snack, and bubbles in the stroller” and “Mama go running!”
We live in such a great area and The Embarcadero is such a nice place to run – no stop lights, wide sidewalk, and awesome views. This is one of the piers that we run down to get a spectacular view of the Bay Bridge and city skyline.
On Wednesday, Kumquat did a mile for Mommy on her scooter. It was pretty tiring for her toward the end but she finished!
And this is a common view from my perspective. This toddler has a good life. Sometimes I wish she would push ME around in the stroller for 3 miles!!
Last night, Kumquat went to sleep around 8:30 and woke up at 11:00 with a weird cough, a hard time catching her breath, and wheezing. She also coughed so hard it made her throw up. Her breathing wasn’t normal after a while so I decided to take her to the ED at my work. It’s weird to think that we had to drive across the bridge to get to a hospital but we are actually at the midpoint between my work and UCSF (where she was born). When we arrived, it was eerie being there so late but there was something comforting about being about to go to a place that was so familiar. I also also never stepped foot in our ED and was getting a first-hand experience from the other side as a parent.
At check-in, we saw the triage nurse first and KK was so pissed. She was still wheezing, coughing, and now crying because all she wanted to do was go back to bed. 
Instead her parents put her in the car and took her to a place where people put stickers on her toes and squeeze your leg for a blood pressure reading.
Once we were placed in a room, she continued to cry with the first nurse. Vitals were taken again and we were given cool mist to blow in her face. After a few more minutes, the Resident came in to check her and she calmed down and let her examine her without any fuss.
Then for the next two hours, we sat in the room with the cool mist and an occasional video on Jes’ phone. She perked up quite a bit and played with the tubing and gave GG a little treatment too.
Finally by the end of the visit, she was diagnosed with croup, which is a viral infection of the vocal cords. That’s what caused the barking cough that she had. She was also given some apple juice and a low-dose steroid. By 3:00, we were sent home. She’s sleeping quietly now and at 3:50 am, both Jes and I are still awake. I guess I’m not going to work in the morning. I’m just glad she’s ok and that she responded to the treatment so quickly. Overall, I’d say we had a good experience and we’ll probably go there again if we ever have another emergency.
It was so nice to have Kumquat with her grandparents over the weekend. They took her to the park, the mall, and even to their corner at McDonald’s. 
On Sunday, my uncle and aunt flew in from the east coast and we all went out for our usual Thai feast at Thai Nakorn. Pish and family were free to meet up too! We missed Marie and the gang this time.
On Monday, our flight wasn’t until the afternoon. So, Alice got dropped off at the Magical House Daycare and the two girls hung out together. 
We had a fun time in Southern California this past weekend and Kumquat was a great little traveler both there and back. 
Thanks for helping out with Kumquat this weekend, Mommy and Daddy!
James and Sylvia invited us to join them on their week in their Tahoe timeshare. We stayed with them last year and the condo was the same configuration but we had a much better view this year. We went for a long weekend (August 9-12) and had some good family time outside.
During the drive, it was clear and sunny outsdie. When we arrived, it got increasingly gloomy and as soon as we parked and walked out to the lobby, it started to rain and it was followed by lightning and thunder. What a fun experience! I didn’t realize how much I had missed rain. This drought is getting ridiculous.
At the lobby, we had a couple drinks while we waited for our key to be ready. 
Once we checked in and unpacked, we spent the rest of the evening indoors watching the clouds and rain roll by and cooked dinner. The girls got reacquainted and the grown-ups got to stay up late drinking and playing Sequence.
The next morning, we made breakfast and then we took the girls out to play for a bit.
Then it was time to pack up and head out to the beach.
We went to Camp Richardson where the sand was mixed in with rocks and pine needles but the water was calm and we had a nice BBQ and picnic table for lunch. Can you see our little one siting all by herself in front of the big set of blankets? She was THAT well-behaved at one point in the day.
Kumquat needed a little time to warm-up to the water but by the end of the day she was bold enough to just walk out to the water on her own – NOT cool, kid. That’s when we had to stick to her like glue.
Toward the late afternoon, I noticed a big gray cloud in the distance that was moving toward us as if Eeyore was headed in our direction. The others also noticed so we quickly packed up and headed back to the condo. We made it just in time as the rain came down pouring and everyone was scurrying for shelter.
For dinner, we ordered pizza and once the girls went to bed, we did some more drinking and played some more Sequence. It was the second night in a row that I didn’t go to bed until past 1 am.
On Monday morning, I was packing up to go home when Jes got on a work call and came out saying that he made arrangements so that we could stay another day. Yippee!! Good thing I didn’t give that day back to work.
I’m so glad we stayed because we spent the day at Zephyr Cover (same beach as last year) and it was epic. It was raining off and on that day so the beach was pretty empty.
We also had James’ big canopy set-up and any time it started to pour, we sat under the canopy and enjoyed the sound of the thunder and rain. The sand was really nice and the water was super calm that day.
Kumquat had the time of her life and because we had the beach to ourselves, it was easy to supervise her from farther than an arm’s length away.
We left in such good spirits because there’s something so fun and exciting about being out on the beach in the middle of a thunderstorm one minute and then the sun shining bright the next. 
When the sun came out each time, we could see steam coming up from the sand as it dried. Jes even went out to swim in the water during one of the downpours.
Here’s a video of one of the storms.
For dinner that evening, Jesse made steaks and we enjoyed one last night of drinking and games.
I have to say that it was a pretty relaxing weekend. Kumquat somehow figured out how to keep herself entertained enough that I actually got some rest and time to myself for bits at a time. It was like my brain got a recharge after a weekend of less incessant “Mama mama mama mamas”. It was fun to see my little girl having so much fun and it was nice to be able to stay up late hanging out with friends for a change. What a fun weekend!
Maybe I’m not as good with change as I thought I was after all. This past week was Kumquat’s first week of daycare and I think it was hard on me just as much as it was for her. Wednesday was better than Friday since she was basically clueless on the first day but caught on very quickly on Friday that I would be leaving her. I know that this is good for her and I know that it will get easier but I couldn’t hold back tears on either day. On Wednesday, I cried on my way to work after I left the daycare. On Friday, I had tears in my eyes when Kumquat was clinging onto me for dear life during the drop-off. I made sure she didn’t see my face but boy was it hard to put her down and just leave.
Luckily the teacher has a cell phone and will give me at least one update if I send her a message. I just miss the random photos that Mirian sends to me in the middle of the day showing me how much fun she’s having without me. I also take comfort in that the day always turns out fine and she even managed to take her nap during the scheduled 1-3pm time instead of her usual 12-2pm time. She’s eating well and even pooping each time she’s there. By brain tells me that this is good for her but it’s still so hard to leave her. My mom told me the story of my first day of school and she said she went home and cried and even picked me up early on my first day. I guess this runs in the family. I sure wished I could have picked her up early on Wednesday.
Now I look forward to picking her up in the afternoon and our drive home is so much fun. She’s in the best mood and sings to me the whole ride home. I guess I just love having a little sidekick.
Let’s just see how this next week turns out. I’m hoping one day she will one day just say “Bye Mama” and run inside to play. Then again, when that day comes I’m pretty sure I’ll cry again.
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