The Norovirus

What a week. I went to work Tuesday and Bruce went to the babysitter's. An hour later, the sitter called me and said Bruce threw up. I was there a half hour later to pick up Bruce, and he was totally asleep. He was wearing the babysitter's son's clothes; I must have forgotten to pack an extra outfit (on the one day that he needed it, of course). When I picked him up, he woke up and started throwing up again. I thanked the sitter as he threw up on her door and porch. The rest of the day wasn't much better. He wanted to be held all the time; he didn't move much (very uncharacteristic of this kid). And he threw up a lot. He took 3 baths and I changed clothes a few times.

He threw up once or twice Wednesday and was a little more active, although he did spend quite a long time watching Thomas and Friends library DVDs.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Scott and I both woke up feeling really queasy. Scott was the first to hurl. I lost it a few hours later. That day was awful. Bruce was nearly full speed again, so he ran circles around us. Scott and I couldn't keep much down. By the end of the day, I kept down 4 oz of Gatorade. Hooray.

Friday went much better. We ate rice cakes and ginger ale and by the evening, I felt good enough to eat a potato. It's Saturday and we've just about run the course of our norovirus. We are still contagious today though, so we had to cancel a dessert party we were going to have with some friends. Bruce already infected Scott, me, and the babysitter's son; that spread way too far.

On a happier note, the last picture is of Bruce playing with a wooden train set we got him for Valentine's Day. We've fueled his train obsession. It's gotten so bad that he now requests to sit at the computer and watch stock footage of steam engines on YouTube.

One-Legged Bruce

Bruce gave me some trouble when I was trying to get him dressed today. He just kept squirming...

The other picture is of a "suncatcher" that Bruce made at playgroup. He doesn't seem to enjoy art projects (sad, I know). It was honestly the ugliest one in the class. But it's still on my window.

20 miles of Martha's Vineyard

Scott, Bruce, and I trekked out to Martha's Vineyard yesterday for a 20-mile race. We drove down to Cape Cod, then took a 45-minute ferry to Vineyard Haven on the island. I thought Bruce would like the ferry ride more than he did; it came around his naptime though, so he was more interested in spazzing out. A lot of people had dogs with them too, so Bruce checked out the "wa-was." That's what he calls dogs now. He used to call them "doggies," but now calls them "wa-was." That's his way of saying "woof, woof."

The race started at the boat dock and went up the coast for 9 miles or so, then turned inland and wound along a wooded bike path for almost the rest of the way. It was really pretty, but really windy too. Wind gusts of 18-30 mph kept me from hitting any sort of consistent splits, even though I tried running behind some big guys to block the wind.

I ended up finishing first for the ladies in 2 hours, 11 minutes. I was tired from the wind, and a Gatorade cramp on mile 17 put a stick in my spokes, but I'm well on my way to a decent marathon in April.

While I was running, Scott and Bruce walked to the finish line (it was about 3-4 miles from the start; we had the stroller, thank goodness). The finish was at a school, so they played with basketballs in the gym until I finished. There was lots of post-race food: minestrone and bagels for me and Bruce, clam chowder for Scott, fruit for everyone. Yum.

(By the way, the picture of Boston is from a week ago when we went to that lab party at MIT. That was the awesome view of Beacon Hill and downtown from the top of a student housing tower.)

I got creamed, but it was fun

Last weekend was exciting. Scott, Bruce, and I went to a lab party at MIT. It was at the top of a dorm by the Charles River, so we had a really nice view of Boston as the sun set. Better yet, there was a playroom next to the party room, so Bruce had just as much fun as we had.

On Saturday morning, Scott had a meeting at the church. Bruce and I tagged along and played in the nursery the whole time. Bruce loves the nursery, mainly because it has a Thomas the Tank Engine toy that plays the theme song while chugging along.

After the meeting, we headed to the BU track for the Valentine Invitational. Bruce loved being there; he watched the races so intently and would laugh every time the runners would go right by him (there he is squashed against the glass next to the track).

I was in the fast heat of the 5k along with Kim Smith, Marie Davenport, and Mary Cullen (runners recognize these names; these ladies are sponsored by Reebok). Kim, who holds the New Zealand national record in this event, won in 14:59. So my 17:02 didn't look very fast, but is my best time at that distance anyway. I ended up in fifth place behind the Reebok team and a girl from Plattsburgh State, wherever that is.

2007 Resolutions

A quick update...
Scott starts a new class this week. I think he's excited to finally get back in a school/work (lab) routine that includes earlier mornings and maybe even some exercise. We sat down and figured out our goals for 2007. Scott wants to publish 12 papers this year. I want to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. Bruce wants to read and re-read book after book about trains.

Bruce is collecting an enormous pile of toys. It grows larger about every week. A lady at church gave Bruce a lion that sings and lights up. A boy at church gave Bruce a Transformer. Our upstairs neighbor gave him a rocking horse that sings (her son is afraid of horses, she found out).

I'm prepping for the 5k this weekend. Tonight is track practice, where I get to run 3 x 1600 meters at 5:20something pace. I'm just excited to run on an indoor track; it's so cold this week.