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If you don’t feel up to reading a blog post that’s written for the purpose of gushing about my child you might want to skip this one.

Fair warning.

When Ella was 2.5 I started taking her to gymnastics, one of my favorite sports (I was always jealous of my sister’s gymnasty ways but being an athlete was never in my cards). So saying I’m living vicariously through Ella is just stating the obvious.

When they’re 2.5 gymnastics consists of nothing more than bouncing around on a trampoline and doing log rolls down a wedge. Fun, but nothing more than an organized obstacle course. We had to cut it out when times got a bit lean.

2 summers ago we tried an acrobatics class that the city of Des Moines put on for part of it’s summer parks program. She was 4 at the time and maybe it was the teacher and how the class was organized but Ella seemed to lack serious focus (didn’t help there were giant mirrors in the room  - Ella spent pretty much the whole hour preening in front of them).  Here, see for yourself: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4350285428851399119&hl=en#

It wasn’t pretty so I waited a bit before putting her back in to something. Isaac and I have called Ella our monkey since she was a baby and if you could see some of things she does you’d see what a monkey she really is. I could just tell we needed to give gymnastics another try.

We’ve gone twice now to Metropolitan Gymnastics in Kent. Well, 2 classes and an open gym just for fun. The coach has all ready decided to move her from a purely recreational class for 4-5 year-olds to a level 1 class. Gymnastics has 10 levels. Ella is just loving it and her coach is very happy with her.

I’ll have to take my camera next week. She’s so cute in her little leotards and pony tails.

On a different note, Ella has completed a full week of kindergarten. She only missed the morning bus once. Okay, so that’s partially our fault but also the  bus consistently comes 5 minutes earlier than it should. Ella seems to be loving school and I can tell what she learned in pre-school is really getting cemented in as she’s asking how to spell things and NOT asking us what a certain letter looks like, which is a change. She’ll be reading soon! I’m so excited for her. Isaac and I are big-time readers and we hope she loves reading as much as we do.

Ok, I think I’m done gushing for now.

I’m personally excited about some shows I get to see this fall. Tomorrow evening I’ll be seeing “Wicked” with my friend Jaime. Yea! Jaime is my music buddy. We’ve seen several shows together (Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Count Basie Orchestra, and Neil Diamond. I feel like there’s something else I’m forgetting). In October Isaac and I will go see Mika. Mika is more for me than Isaac but he finally admitted that he likes him too. Mika sings happy music and even Ella likes him. In fact, her “favorite” song is a Mika song. She requests it nearly every time we’re in the car. I have had my Mika cd in my car constantly for over a year now. I never get tired of it.

Then in November Isaac and I will be seeing comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. That’ll be hilarious.

Good times ahead. I love fall!

I had many rambling thoughts tumbling through my head so it makes sense to “write” them down and then maybe my brain can move on.

Yesterday was a bit bipolar. Something rather unpleasant happened and unfortunately I can’t share the details on that because a blog, though an “online journal” is certainly not private. I’ll just say it ruined my day and tainted my time off. Wishing that bit of unpleasantness could have waited a few days. Don’t worry, I’ll survive.

I’m taking 3 work days off around Labor Day weekend which means 6 days in a row with no work. Hooray!

Yesterday evening then kicked off my time off with the circus. Who doesn’t love a circus?! Well, PETA doesn’t. After getting past them to get in to Kent’s ShoWare we witnessed The Greatest Show on Earth for the 3rd time with Ella. I love the Tiger act. And there was another stunt in which I had 5 or so mini heart attacks. It was a good but late night for us.

Today Isaac and Ella head off to Osoyoos, British Columbia (just north of North-Eastern WA) to go camping. I don’t camp. I’m going to take this time to probably get my hair taken care of, see some free movies, do some freelance work.

I also feel like doing some shopping damage this weekend. Considering heading to the outlet stores in Marysville. Wishing North Bend’s outlets were as good as Marysville’s because it’s closer but that’s just not the case.

I got a nice surprise when I hopped on the scale this morning. I assumed I’d see it up a bit from yesterday but I’m down. I haven’t been eating very healthily and I figure I’m probably retaining some water right now but I’m still eating far less in quantity than pre-braces. I’ve lost a pound a week since getting braces and actually it might be more than 12 pounds total because I didn’t weigh myself the day I got braces and didn’t get on a scale until week 3 of braces. I figure I’ve probably lost 15-17 pounds in all. Woot! The key is to slow down and take tiny bites when eating. I am forced to do this because of the braces but I know this is one of those “tricks” you hear about.

Curious to see how it all plays out.

Here’s to a great Labor Day weekend!

This next Thursday (today is Tuesday, September 1st) I will have been in braces for 12 weeks (3 months). I realized yesterday you count time in braces like you do pregnancy.

I had my first adjustment yesterday and it’s like being back to square one in terms of discomfort. Maybe worse, as I’ve got a heavier wire in place now. The orthodontist seemed genuinely pleased with my progress so that’s good. Even I can see what drastic changes have occurred in just 3 months.

I had this one tooth that was partially hidden behind a big tooth and it’s nearly completely out. It had this small bracket called a “cap” on it and a spring wire that went from the neighboring big tooth to the neighboring canine (incisor, I think?). This spring wire was pushing those 2 neighboring teeth apart so the little hidden tooth could come out to play. Now that there’s enough room they’ve put a regular bracket on.

It’s upside down though. Should I be worried? Not a single other bracket is upside down. I have to trust my doctor though, right?

That same hidden tooth was looking a little wonky as it had a groove at the bottom and my doc did a little cosmetic dentistry that I didn’t even notice until today. Nice rounded smooth bottom edge now.

The ortho practice has 3 doctors and I’ve now been assigned the senior doctor (also the father of the other two docs) as my one and only doctor. I think I’ve got a regular ortho assistant (Jennifer) also. My case has been a bit… different, so they want to keep the same people on it every visit. I feel special.

Time for a comparison shot. My teeth are still wonky, but huge changes are obvious.

Top photo is just 2 days after getting braced, below is today, 9.1., 11.5 weeks later.

What other news you ask? Ella has just 1 week left before kindergarten.

We’re doing a land/sea Disney vacation in January.

Life is pretty good.