La Vida Loca....

Yes, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but the Lockwood's are hanging in there and trying like hell to hang onto our sense of humor. If you've been been out of the loop, check out the details of our lastest dramas on Brandon's blog, Track Daddy. Aside from near-death experiences, frayed nerves and a neurotic (almost) two-year old, we're doing pretty good. The bills are paid, we're on the road to recovery (again) and Spring is in the air.
The week after Brandon's surgery, I headed out to Washington, DC for a previously planned business trip. I, along with two other co-workers, were scheduled to meet with some of our customer counterparts from a program at work. It sounds more impressive than it really was, but all-in-all it was a good trip. The only downside was that our hotel was out near the airport instead of in DC. So, no sightseeing for us. Maybe next time. At least I was able to experience the beautiful weather of an East Coast Spring.
Speaking of Spring, it's finally arrived in Seattle. Combine the natural burst of energy from that with the budding independence of a toddler, and you have a very dangerous combination. All of sudden we have a 2 1/2 foot tall, bi-polar, chatterbox running at Mach 3 through the apartment. The kid just does not stop. Last week she went three days in a row without taking a nap. If you've every been around toddlers that haven't had a nap, you know their pleasant disposition only lasts so long. Let's just say that by the time I got home in the evenings, she wasn't exactly my favorite person to be around. But aside from that little issue, Abigael has just blossomed into this awesome little person. Over the past few weeks, we've seen her vocabulary just explode. She's also seemed to have mastered her parroting skills, more and more we have to watch what we say. Embarrasing example to bring out when she's a teenager: she passed gas the other day and looked at me with a little smirk. I grinned back at her and said "Abigael farted." She proceeded to proclaim "Abigael farted!" over and over for the next five minutes. What can you do but laugh....
You have to see the good in things whenever something unfortunate happens in your life. One of my "good things" the past couple of weeks has been all the extra time I've been able to spend with Abigael during this warp speed development. We've discovered ants on the sidewalk, Play-doh, birds and airplanes, singing at top volume, and, not only more self-awareness, but awareness of others. "Abigael's shirt...Momma's shirt....Dada's shirt!"

All in all, it's a crazy ride....but it's so worth it.