Warrior Dash 2011 - kicking ass and taking names

Approximately 6 months ago I was convinced to sign up for the Charlotte Warrior Dash by Laura Case. At the time it seemed like a good idea. I had almost reached my weight loss goal, I was running regularly and I was ready to take it to the next level. As the date approached I did as little as possible to educate myself about the race. Why? Mostly because I am a mind over matter kind of person but only if I don't know what that matter is until I approach it.

I sign up for the race with my friends, Amanda and Katie. As the race date approached we decided that we would stick together through the course to give each other encouragement. It wasn't about having a good time, it was about finishing the course and feeling good about ourselves. And it completely paid off! Well, except now I am sitting in a chair gingerly, attempting to not put weight on the massive number of bruises decorating my legs.

DH looked up a few details of the race earlier in the week including scrutinizing the course. He told me, "Stacey, this is totally not you." And I agree: it's not. But that was part of the whole challenge of it. It's no secret in my cadre of family and friends that I am about as far from an athletic person as you can get. The exercising I've done over the past two years is probably more than I've done in the rest of my life combined. I have practically no upper body strength and my flexibility is non-existent. But I was determined to do the Warrior Dash, completing every obstacle and finally putting to bed the fact that in elementary school I was in special gym for a few years. Hey, I was a premie born at 31 weeks, so hand eye coordination was something I developed later in life....not that I developed it that well as my ability to throw and catch can demonstrate.

We met up with Laura and some of her friends on race day. It was hot, humid and partly cloudy. No hurricane could save me from my commitment! And how was it? Completely and utterly awesome. We walked most of the course which was OK with me because I had to save massive amounts of energy for the obstacle portions of the race. That included:

• Climbing 5 foot walls and ducking under 1 foot barriers (I'm sure there was a more graceful and less bruise inducing way of getting over walls but I threw my leg up and over which is why I have a line of bruises down the inside of each leg)
• Running through tired and climbing in and out of dumpsters (yes they were empty)
• Scaling a crazy balance beam contraption (a big thank you to Amanda for helping me across as I lack balancing skills)
• Climbing a 11 foot wall with a rope and then scrambling down the back side. I will admit I'm particularly impressed with myself for doing this one with my lack of upper body strength and fear of heights. And I'm just as surprised as you at being able to complete it.
• Scrambling in the dark on hands and knees about 100 yards.
• Scaling and crossing a horizontal rope ladder. That one sucked the most I think.
• Climbing scaffolding and sliding down a fireman's pole.
• Walking through an algae infesting pond and over floating logs
• Up another rope wall and down the other side
• Jumping over fire
• Crawling in a mud pit under barbed wire
• Crossing the finish line

We finished at 1 hour 10 minutes and some seconds. And I don't think I've ever had such a feeling of accomplishment. I even include giving birth to Cameron in that list because I had a C section so I was kind of a passive participant in that event.

DH agreed that if I completed the race he would never mention special gym again in reference to my athletic abilities. And I think I have laid that ghost to rest, don't you?

Clean, pre-race

Meeting up with blog friend, Laura for the first time in real life.

Holding hands through the fire obstacle.Tired, dirty, sweaty and triumphant

So, what did you do this weekend?

Is there a child in that bed?

As I mentioned in my last blog post, Cameron has been in a toddler bed since we returned from vacation. It was an easy transition for us since she got used to it at Grammy's house and she absolutely loves her "big girl" bed.

The only thing that has me scratching my head is how the removal of 1/3 of a rail has somehow resulted in the accumulation of objects in her bed that Cameron.cannot.do.without. Nothing can be removed and every item must have it's special place before she is put into bed with a last kiss goodnight. I don't mind Cameron's OCD tendancies. Hell, I have a few myself! But I worry we are rapidly running out of room for her among all the stuff.

Here's what she is currently hoarding:

• Two blankies (made curtesy of Mimi)
• One lovie
• 3 pacifiers (don't judge, she only gets them at home for sleeping)
• 1 Raggedy Andy, 1 Raggedy Anne doll (handmade by a family friend)
• Two stuff dogs (named Buddy and Doggie respectively)
• A camo bracelet (one of those "Live Strong" type bracelets I got from work for a training bootcamp and I have no idea why she is obsessed with it)
• A medal from her last day at Little Gym
• One baby doll (named baby, natch)
• A random McDonald's Happy Meal toy (BTW, what is up with paper bags instead of boxes for Happy Meals? Total rip off.)
• Elmo doll
• Elmo figure from her BFF Holden
• Pillow
• Big blanket

So far DH and I have just kind of rolled with it but I see that list in black and white and I kind of cringe a little. What things do your kids bring to bed? Are your lists as ridiculously long as ours? I will note that Cameron is content to stay in her bed playing until past 7 on weekends so perhaps there is a silver lining to this?

Things I'm learning about my child

I don't regularly do updates on Cameron's development but a few things have surfaced over the past few weeks that I just had to share with my Internet friends.

Cameron likes to talk....a lot. My daughter has always been very verbal. But over the past month she has taken it to new heights. Every car ride is her chatting away with us. We are having real conversations with decent grammar and correct use of pronouns (mostly). It's no longer just DH and I repeating things back to her. Now we can ask Cameron about her day and be reasonably sure we understand (and believe) what she is telling us.

Cameron is bossy. Wonder where she gets that from? I think this is partially related to how verbal she is. When I picked her up from daycare last week I could hear her from down the hall (bossiness = loudness, I guess). She was in the bathroom sitting on the potty. There are two and Cameron was insisting that her friend go potty RIGHT NOW. It was very cute but has reinforced our perception of her demanding nature. We have had to do a lot of correcting (use the word please, don't talk to mommy/daddy that way, etc.) to try and nip the negative bossiness behaviors in the bud. Our success is mixed so any advice is welcome.

Cameron's favorite color is blue. I had hoped that she would follow in my childhood footsteps of loving purple (that is the primary color in her room) but she has shown no real interest in that color. At first it was pink she gravitated to, due in part to the over abundance of pink related toys she has acquired (damn that gender profiling!). But over the past two months she has been consistently asking for blue things. Go on potty successfully? She wants a blue M&M. Time for her vitamin? She wants a blue one. DH and I keep trying to explain to her that if she takes all the blue ones there won't be any left but apparently we have not done a good job of getting through to her.

Cameron has decided to be a big girl. Even last month when I would ask Cameron if she was my big girl she would shake her head and say, "Not big girl, mommy. Cameron is mommy's baby." Cute right? Although we need to work on the third party references. Cute but also a bit demoralizing because I couldn't manipulate her into doing things because she was a big girl. However, ever since we changed her crib into a toddler bed Cameron has been super excited about sleeping in her big girl bed and now wants to be a big girl. While I'm glad to have another weapon in my parenting arsenal I am also a little misty-eyed over losing my baby. Sniff. Sniff.

What new things have you discovered about your child(ren)?

Vacation 2011: Part Two

I am back and work and woefully behind on my blogging. Mostly because I had a million emails to sort through and a child who has decided that every little thing must be a battle. I'm not sure if it's because of 2 weeks of family togetherness or that she is creeping up on the dreaded 2.5 age which I have heard is all about testing boundaries. But either way Cameron has realized that Mommy and Daddy are not omnipotent beings and she has free will to resist us.

Despite the constant "no, no, no" refrains during the second part of our vacation we had a wonderful time on Sebago Lake with my parents. Photo proof is below.

Cameron and I snuggle on the boat. Cameron liked the boat a lot but preferred it when Bumpa went slow. She also freaked out when we were going tubing off the back of the boat. When I got on she had a total meltdown.

Cameron gets to drive the boat with Bumpa.
Cameron models her bikini. Yes, I am that parent who put her in a bikini. In my defense they were the only swim suits available at Wal-Mart. What is our world turning into?
Cameron has a mid morning ice cream snack with her new friend Julia. Ice cream became it's own food group for her during vacation.
Julia, unlike Cameron, liked when the boat went fast. Cameron is easily influenced and agreed with Julia when she told my dad to go faster.
Cameron enjoys some homemade blueberry ice cream cake.
Why did we have ice cream cake? Because my darling husband turned 40 during our trip. Yes, I am officially married to a man in his middle age and I'm loving it. Happy birthday!
Cameron and I go swimming in the lake. It was about 80 degrees and wonderful.
If only Cameron would let me put her hair in a pony tail and keep her barrettes in...
There was a wild life part about 30 minutes from my parents that we went to twice. Cameron loved the bears but got a time out for throwing her barrette into their cage. Don't worry, it didn't actually make it into the cage but Mommy was not happy.
The Maine house doesn't have a tub so Cameron had all her baths in my parent's awesome sink. My mom designed it and it was perfect for giving baths.