Algood accomplishments

Its been a busy month.  What have we accomplished? 

I survived influenza.  David survived influenza and the kids avoided it (so far at least).  Yes, we were all vaccinated and I suppose that is why I delayed my trip to the doctor. As a result of getting on Tamiflu so late, it was a very slow recovery for me.  David got on the anti-influenza drug right away and was only down for about 2 days. I was down for 5 days and really groggy and wiped out for 2 more.  So, get vaccinated every year people.  The vaccine isn't 100% but I'll take any chance of reducing my risk of getting influenza again. I submitted a grant to the NIH (R21), and while I think the project is fantastic and I am really happy with the final proposal, the road to funding in this economic crisis isn't very good. My lab group had a paper accepted for publication and I was co-author on two other manuscripts which were resubmitted the last week of February. We are hoping to submit 2 more publications in the next few months.

Samantha has read 300 books! She loves to read.  She is going crazy reading all of the Magic Tree House books. She still loves picture books. Who can blame her?  She likes that they are funny, so please help me find some funny chapter books for her.  Since she is reading chapter books, we aren't sure she quite get to her goal of 400 books by the end of the year, but she might.  She is at about 340 and she has 3 months to go. If she reads 400 she gets a special trip to the zoo and to Sweet Cece's with a friend. Last week she turned in a "Dr. Seuss" float on The Lorax.  It's super cute, but was quite a bit of work! We are also very proud of her improvement on her timed math tests. She can answer almost twice as many problems in 2 minutes as just 1 month ago. It was probably the first time she had to 'work' to see improvement and I think she is also very excited. She is starting 'Run Club'. The group will run at school a couple times a week! They will track their mileage. She wants to be faster than her friend "A", but that boy is fast!  

Andrew is ready for kindergarten. He will definitely answer every question they throw at him- counting to 120; counting by 10s; all his letters; his address; his parents names; basic addition to 10. He loves to build new lego creations and drew his first blueprints. He loves to sing and dance. He and Samantha are back in swim lessons. We aren't giving up until they can independently swim. They are both really close, but we want them to not only be able to do it but to do it with confidence which they don't really have yet. AJ will also start some tennis lessons in April!  No soccer for either of them this spring, so we'll have some time for these other activities.

Matthew is a grunting maniac right now. His big accomplishment is communication without words.  Unfortunately, we aren't talking sign language. Sometimes this stage drives me crazy. He knows he can get what he wants by grunting, so he makes no attempts to talk. Seriously, he is a great toddler. For the most part he only fusses when hungry or tired. He goes to bed and to nap very easily.  He is navigating the stairs well and we might not get gates after all!

David has been home ALL month.  Thank God.  With everything that was going on and someone sick every weekend it was a good thing. He took care of the kids two weekends in a row when 1. I was sick 2 when I was teaching with WAVU (Weekend Academy at Vanderbilt). His team is launching several new products this month and his travels will pick up again.  The product launch will be official later this week at the International Seating Symposium which happens to be held here in Nashville.

I haven't been taking very many pictures, but I will try to post some another time.  (Even this quick update took me over a week to finish.)