A year ago this week my daughter was born. After a sleepless, rib crushing, breath limiting, indigestion and nausea riddled full 9 months of ridiculous amounts of her dancing, running in place, kicking, stretching, punching, squirming, flipping, pushing and just plain making me tremendously uncomfortable, at 3:33 AM on November 11th she finally performed a water breaking 1 inch punch in utero that Beatrix Kiddo herself would be proud of.
She was born and then proceeded to shriek at us nonstop for a full month. The boy was nothing like this, a fairly comfortable pregnancy and miraculously sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old. I always tell people he tricked me into having a sibling with his good behavior and easy pregnancy. Somehow that little banshee- like, screaming, miserable girl has morphed into a joyful, radiant, constantly giggling and dancing one year old, with twinkly, vibrant, beaming eyes that can melt tungsten. How the heck has a year gone by?? I love that the WFTDA test next Tuesday is so close to her birthday. It will actually mark the one year anniversary of our first night home from the hospital with Oona. It's bonkersville to consider how different I was a year ago. I weighed about 30 pounds more and moved like something resembling an enormous injured penguin, with extreme sciatic pain most days. It's so amazing to be mobile again, doing something extremely athletic and able to breathe, my only real aches and pains induced by a good night of derby practice full of falling, squatting, skating hard, and checking.
There's a lot my one year old and I have in common. And a bunch I can learn from her. For starters, she is an absolute master of the 4 point fall, one of the skills I need to work on and be proficient at for the test that involves falling on your knees and forearms. She also offers me a ton of practice on my recoveries from the ground. I am always up in 2-3 seconds when I am shadowing her because she is constantly, tirelessly on the move and I never get a chance to actually sit longer than that. She's only about 29 inches tall so I get a lot of practice working my deep derby stance as I walk around with her grabbing at my hand, yanking me room to room as she chases after her brother, who I believe is a teeny bit frightened of her mightiness. At times I feel as shaky on my feet as she was learning to sort out her balance and walk, punctuating her movement with falls and stumbles. It's as if I am learning to run right along with her, with the addition of 8 wheels.
This week at practice we went through the test as it will be next week. I am thrilled to report, what was once my nemesis I am beginning to very slowly make peace with. I actually really LOVE plow stops lately, and am beginning to (dare I say it.....) ENJOY jumping.
Last night I skated the dreaded 25 in 5 minutes at 4.24! I definitely need to work on not panicking when I am behind a few other skaters and trying to pass. I cut the track a few times to pass and that is not good, and I'm pretty sure could be a penalty if I was in a bout. (did I mention that I really have to study the rules before the test next week??!?) I am also feeling like I missed out on something not being involved in a team of any sort until this point in my life. The coach who was counting my laps kept watching the clock, talking me through and letting me know how I was doing on my pace. All of these women are awesome, so funny, energetic, positive and encouraging. I finished my laps and a few of the girls came up as I was kneeling there grinning and panting like a freak and high-fived me. I had had a particularly challenging day, with a borderline migraine from when I woke and that simple act of kindness and encouragement seriously made my day. It's very easy to feel disconnected when trapped in the house for a few rainy, cold days with a 2 1/2 year and 1 year old. Skating in a tight pack with a bunch of super cool women is the best remedy I have found for that.
So dear readers, only one more Saturday practice until the test.....think I need end my babbling here for now and start studying my rules.
She was born and then proceeded to shriek at us nonstop for a full month. The boy was nothing like this, a fairly comfortable pregnancy and miraculously sleeping through the night at 3 weeks old. I always tell people he tricked me into having a sibling with his good behavior and easy pregnancy. Somehow that little banshee- like, screaming, miserable girl has morphed into a joyful, radiant, constantly giggling and dancing one year old, with twinkly, vibrant, beaming eyes that can melt tungsten. How the heck has a year gone by?? I love that the WFTDA test next Tuesday is so close to her birthday. It will actually mark the one year anniversary of our first night home from the hospital with Oona. It's bonkersville to consider how different I was a year ago. I weighed about 30 pounds more and moved like something resembling an enormous injured penguin, with extreme sciatic pain most days. It's so amazing to be mobile again, doing something extremely athletic and able to breathe, my only real aches and pains induced by a good night of derby practice full of falling, squatting, skating hard, and checking.
There's a lot my one year old and I have in common. And a bunch I can learn from her. For starters, she is an absolute master of the 4 point fall, one of the skills I need to work on and be proficient at for the test that involves falling on your knees and forearms. She also offers me a ton of practice on my recoveries from the ground. I am always up in 2-3 seconds when I am shadowing her because she is constantly, tirelessly on the move and I never get a chance to actually sit longer than that. She's only about 29 inches tall so I get a lot of practice working my deep derby stance as I walk around with her grabbing at my hand, yanking me room to room as she chases after her brother, who I believe is a teeny bit frightened of her mightiness. At times I feel as shaky on my feet as she was learning to sort out her balance and walk, punctuating her movement with falls and stumbles. It's as if I am learning to run right along with her, with the addition of 8 wheels.
This week at practice we went through the test as it will be next week. I am thrilled to report, what was once my nemesis I am beginning to very slowly make peace with. I actually really LOVE plow stops lately, and am beginning to (dare I say it.....) ENJOY jumping.
Last night I skated the dreaded 25 in 5 minutes at 4.24! I definitely need to work on not panicking when I am behind a few other skaters and trying to pass. I cut the track a few times to pass and that is not good, and I'm pretty sure could be a penalty if I was in a bout. (did I mention that I really have to study the rules before the test next week??!?) I am also feeling like I missed out on something not being involved in a team of any sort until this point in my life. The coach who was counting my laps kept watching the clock, talking me through and letting me know how I was doing on my pace. All of these women are awesome, so funny, energetic, positive and encouraging. I finished my laps and a few of the girls came up as I was kneeling there grinning and panting like a freak and high-fived me. I had had a particularly challenging day, with a borderline migraine from when I woke and that simple act of kindness and encouragement seriously made my day. It's very easy to feel disconnected when trapped in the house for a few rainy, cold days with a 2 1/2 year and 1 year old. Skating in a tight pack with a bunch of super cool women is the best remedy I have found for that.
So dear readers, only one more Saturday practice until the test.....think I need end my babbling here for now and start studying my rules.
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