Travel and tremors

Busy seems to be an understatement. Please don’t get me wrong, life is good. I love the work I am doing, love watching the boys grow, love the adventure that is otherwise known as life.

Last week took me to Houston for work, this morning takes me to Chicago. Last week’s air travel home from Houston was bumpy! I actually went looking for the little white bag. The weather patterns this winter have been crazy. There was snow in 49 of the 50 states last week. It is all that lovely global warming at work.

Wedged between my business trips was a trip to Florida to visit Nanny and PopPop. Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate with our jaunt to Florida. My brother, his wife and two kids (E who is 7 and C who is 5) were snowed in and their flight from LGA cancelled on Wednesday. The purpose of the trip was to get my family together for a weekend. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as planned.

The Florida trip was one of multiple firsts. It was my first zone defense trip, as I went on my own with both boys. It was also T’s first time flying. K took more than 20 flights by the time he was 2, T not so much the air traveler. I have to give some MAJOR props to the Cares harness, which is FAA approved. My little wild man was happily restrained making Mommy’s life MUCH easier on our 4 flights. To find out more information, visit www.kidsflysafe.com

It was unseasonably cool in Ft. Myers. The pictures of the trip look like we were only there for two days because the boys had to keep re-wearing the long sleeve/long legged items I had packed. We arrived late Thursday and stayed until mid-day Monday. They boys shared a room and did well with the notable exception of T mastering the art of crib escape. The distance from mattress to top was 24”. After escape number 4, I placed a call to Daddy adding a chore to his to-do list for the weekend. Convert the crib to a toddler bed PRONTO. No need for a trip to the ER in the middle of the night for a compound fracture (his bedroom floors at home are laminate).

My parents started my trip well with a trip to the spa for an hour massage. Not surprisingly, Nan, the poor woman who had to work on my tense body, found some knots that ‘she could take home and work on all weekend’. Relaxing just the same and a nice start. They boys were spoiled with a trip to the toy store and pizza for lunch. Friday was generally low key and a pleasant day.

K and I were able to get in our one and only time in the water that afternoon. We had a blast chasing the submarining sinker that was part of the toy store loot. The Floridians find 70 far too cold to swim, not to mention it was sprinkling rain, so we had the pool completely to ourselves. It was perfect timing as the lightening sirens started within 30 minutes of our return to the condo.

Saturday took us on a pirate cruise on The Pieces of Eight, otherwise known as a marketing ploy to suck money out of unsuspecting, or completely willing and happy, grandparents. There were many opportunities to spend money with hats and souvenir cups for sail on the ship and a lovely gift shop full of pirate themed gear at the end of the pier.

Additionally, smart operations by the company that runs it, they require a credit card at the time of booking a reservation. At 59 degrees and with small craft warnings, it wasn’t the best day for a pirate cruise. But, ahoy mate, we went as they had our credit card number. K loved it, we enjoyed it, T soaked it in like a sponge from the comfort of his stroller. Face painting, story telling, limbo dancing under a stick with a rubber skeleton tied to it, treasure gathering, and various other games for 90 minutes (and free Diet Coke refills with the purchase of a $4 plastic mug) left K wiped out.

Sunday took us on more adventures. K had bike races with PopPop, did some bird watching from the bay window, and then PopPop, K, T and I hit the Naples Zoo. They have spent a lot of money and significantly upgraded their facilities. I’m not one who is generally bothered by zoos and aquariums. I feel they play a role in conservation of species, rehabilitating injured animals, etc. That said, the Naples Zoo used to be depressing to me and I would cringe when it was suggested as an outing. They have significantly increased the size of the habitats for the animals that bothered me and added a new bear exhibit.

The piece de resistance of the zoo is their primate cruise in Lake Victoria (a tiny man made lake at the zoo). You board a pontoon boat and go out in the little lake to see a series of islands, each containing a different species of primate. The second we pulled back from the doc, T started to oh-oh-ah-ah as he spotted the lesser apes. He was very happy to be on a boat and watching the primates play. Again, more spoiling in the gift shop with the acquisition of a small stuffed alligator and two plastic giraffes (the second was an odd choice by T given there are not giraffes at the Naples Zoo).

The trip went well, the boys were charming on the flights, and Mommy was only slightly harried trying to handle them alone in the Atlanta airport where both of our connections were made. Thankfully Mommy has learned how to pack for visits to the grandparents. Arrive with bags with plenty of extra room and space taken up by consumables, leave with suitcases bulging and testing the size limits of the airlines. Good news, I have NOT sworn off traveling alone with the boys ;-)

I don’t think I ever update on our neurologist appointment during birthday week. K was diagnosed with an essential tremor. It is a relatively benign neurological condition that is hereditary in over 50% of the cases. I say relatively benign as it is a progressive condition and it can eventually cause problems with day-to-day functioning. When it progresses to that point, medication can help but the side effects are many so meds are avoided if at all possible.

It progresses at varying rates and K will be re-evaluated in 6 months to see if, and how quickly, his is progressing. An essential tremor is fairly common, and is characterized by the hand shaking when the muscles in the hand engage in fine muscle activities (opposite of how Parkinson’s presents). It can spread to the arms, neck and head with time. My son will most likely never be a sharpshooter or neurosurgeon but Mommy has a test during the teen years for underage drinking, it is widely reported that ingesting alcohol makes the tremor settle. All is good and it is about the best news you can get when you are sent off to the neurologist, short of a complete all clear.