Countdown

Only one day to go before my busiest time of the year - the Naisten Joulumessut at the Wanha Satama in Helsinki. 5 days of (I hope )sell, sell, sell! The days are long but attendance is usually very good with people looking for Christmas gifts. I only have a small table so lots of small gifts are the order of the day. I have been busy making Christmas decorations - Some no nonsense plants such as this poinsettia and of course this lot get a look in as do these

Christmas is coming............

Numbers

You can't escape numbers, birth dates, prices, bus times, holidays...
Some numbers are good, my favourite number 9 stems back to the days I used to play field hockey. I was the centre forward always in search of the glory goal - all the best strikers wore number 9. I still have the shirt!
102 is a great number - the total number of years that my parents, my 2 brothers and I have been married to our respective partners.
13 is not all bad - we live in our lovely house at number 13 and Aleksi was born on the 13th - definately can't be bad!
Some numbers have tragic stories to tell - 9/11 2001 is one example. However 11 days later on 9/22 2001 a beautiful story unfolded - our wedding day!
Our life now is ruled by numbers, some too high ,some too low and with luck and hard work some just right. My favourite - anything between 5 and 7 is perfect!
So in 3 months time we will go back to get Aleksi's 'numbers' checked - to see if his HbA1c has come down after its present blip of 8.2. So carbs will be counted, units of insulin calculated , ratios altered , in search of that perfect number - whatever it is.......

2 years on

It is now 2 years since Aleksi was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. So what has changed, what have we learned?

• He has grown 23cms and is 4.5 kgs heavier
• His feet have gone up at least 3 if not 4 sizes!
• He has become an expert in Lego
• He and I have wasted many hours playing Lego Star Wars or Batman on Playstation - I'm always the Joker to his Batman.
• His writing is now legible and can count to 'big numbers' in English and Finnish.
• The whole family's mathematical ability has improved considerably.
• He started pre school this Autumn.
• We took Grandma to meet Mickey Mouse and big favourite Goofy in Disney Florida.
• We built sandcastles and ate huge waffles in Crete.
• We went orienteering in Scotland and didn't get lost too much!
• He and his sister learnt to downhill ski and loved it!
• He has almost learnt to ride his 'big boys bike'
• His ice skating ability leaves me hanging onto the railings.
• He has finally learnt to make his bed and put his washing in the laundry basket.
• He will spend all day in the shower if we let him.
• He is not a morning person(me neither!)
• He loves his food and will eat anything and everything
• His HbA1C and gone from 10.9 to 7.3
• He never complains about his injections or blood tests.

And what about me - well a few/a lot more grey hairs, an intimate knowledge of most foodstuffs carbohydrate content, a brilliant husband who has breakfast down to a fine art :), new spectacles to read the nutritional information(always in the tiniest writing ever!) , a liking for skimmed milk and low fat spread, extra cuddles for Elli, a new business that keeps me busy but allows me the flexibility I need.

We've come a long way and learnt a lot about Diabetes and ourselves. We have a long way to go but we are having fun getting there. We have many many good days and these always outweigh the not so good days.
Life is good.

Done

Well we queued in temperatures of about 0 degrees C from 8.50 until 11.45, then we were moved inside and finally at 12.30 Aleksi got his swine flu jab and seasonal flu jab. Poor lad, he puts up , without a whimper, 5+ injections every day but he screamed blue murder with his flu jabs! He was not impressed to say the least. But now it's done and I feel quite relieved. No reactions so far almost 12 hours later so I might get a good nights sleep.
It is typical November at the moment - GREY! We may get some snow tomorrow which does help brighten things a bit plus the kids love the snow! Hot soup and mulled wine weather!
Felting is slow, which it shouldn't be as I have a craft fair looming - other stuff seems to be taking over at the moment. I have noses and buttons to put on 20 or so snowmen! Tomorrow is another day however........

Vaccination time

Next week Aleksi is due his swine flu vaccination, being in risk group 3 here in Finland - Type 1 and asthma. He is also due the usual flu jab and his final MMR jab - whew!( We have to leave at least a month after the swine flu jab before he can have the MMR)
My concern is to get the swine flu jab as soon as possible, the bugs are heading our way!I feel we could cope with haywire blood sugars but not with poorly lungs. Elli should also get the jab the end of this month and Hubby and I , with luck may get the jab too. I have no doubt it is the right thing to do but I know it is a very personal choice.
More cheery matters - Christmas is rapidly approaching and I am furiously felting snowmen, gingerbread men and christmas trees! I have made some more flowers and plants in pots(photos soon) and Elli has been drawing me some more alien and virus designs! I have a 5 day christmas fair in Helsinki early December which isn't too far away now, so back to the foam and needle!