Day +1679: Trying to stay healthy

Well, cold and flu season is upon us again and we have all been battling to stay healthy over the last several weeks. Mina has had a stuffy nose and cough for what seems like months, and Isaac has also had a series of colds. Then there was a stomach flu that everyone has had but me, and I feel like it's coming on even as I write this. Mina threw up in her bed one night, and she's such a sound sleeper she didn't even wake up. Nor did she wake up when I turned on the lights, put her on the floor, moved Isaac to our bed, stripped the sheets and blankets off the bed, put new ones on, and moved her back onto it. The next day, Keri and I were trying to remember the last time Mina threw up and we couldn't remember a time since she was in the hospital recovering from her transplant. She is strong girl, and apparently got a strong immune system from Mr. Rodriguez. Both kids got their flu shots and their H1N1 shots, so hopefully that will help.

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was great -- we continued our tradition of celebrating with Rich and Olgica, who always make a fabulous dinner, and staying overnight. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving night was when Mina first got sick, so she wasn't feeling all that chipper the next day. Keri ended up taking Mina home while Isaac and I went down to San Jose with R&O and some friends to go to an art museum. Isaac likes having Daddy time so he was surprisingly patient at the art museum. He even saw some pieces that he liked. The best part for him was that we ended up taking the Caltrain back to San Francisco. Caltrain is a real diesel train that runs on the regular tracks, with five or six cars. He was so excited. It even has a row of seats that are upstairs, so of course he wanted to sit up there. We did that for half an hour, then we walked around to see if it had a dining car (it didn't). But the best part is, when we made it to the front of the train, there was no engine! The engine was in back, pushing the train backwards. It ended up we could look out the window at the front of the train and see the tracks rushing under us. It was just a bit too high for Isaac so I ended up putting his booster seat on the floor and by standing on the arms he could barely see out the window. He stood there for half an hour "driving" the train, and was totally happy. His little arm would move up and down just a little bit each time the bell or whistle rang, which happened at every crossing or station.