Aug 14 – Sept 11, 2017 |3 Month Check Up

Lewes, DE (Aug 17-19)

Went down to Lewes for a few days to hang out with my cousins. Had a great time as always. The weather was warm, but overall it was nice. I also outlasted mafia boss by showing her I don’t give in. She demanded I apologize after throwing some tiny rocks at her and she elected to hold/hug me and carry me back to her house from town unless I apologized. Well I played her like a fiddle…not only did I not have to apologize, I didn’t have to walk home. 😛

Hot on the beach

Dad promised me treats

Didn’t last the 2 mile drive back to the house

National Zoo (Aug 28)

Mom and Dad took me to the zoo one morning, before it got too busy. We got there nice and early and saw all sorts of animals. It got warm as the day wore on but overall it was a nice day at the zoo. Mom and Dad carried me around a good amount of the time.

Mom taking me to see the seals

Me sitting back and watching the seals

Miscellaneous Fun & Other Milestones Activities

I’ve officially peed in the potty one time to date. Mom and Dad were hoping I would pick this up, but it just hasn’t been a priority of mine. To demonstrate how much I care about using the potty, I

Texts from Mom to Dad (see dad’s clever pun)

Also got this gnarly shiner one evening hanging out in the living room. Perhaps I should listen to Dad and stop jumping on all the furniture. This thing lingered for at least 3 weeks and there’s still a little indention in my cheek from this thing.

And for the most part, it’s been business as usual. I hang out with Pop a lot. I work on my tractor. Dad took me to an outdoor movie theater for all of five minutes. Mom and Dad also took me back to Claude Moore Farms in McLean for a quick visit.

Rosie the Cow (Claude Moore Farm)

Not a great flick so we left after 5 minutes

I think Pop just farted

Sleeping in with Mom

Love watching the gumboils, don’t care to eat them

Making a tower of books

Also, I enjoy sleeping in with Mom sometimes, building and painting things and going for  walks in the woods. I also got a new bedroom set and had cousin Hayden over for a sleepover. My new bed has a trundle so friends and family are always welcome and don’t have to share the bed or sleep on the floor anymore.

Sleeping in with Mom

Building/Painting Maja’s Bday gift

Squirrel

Deer

Therapy is better with friends and family

3 Month Pulmonary Checkup (Sept 11/19) & New Medication 😦

On Sept 11, Mom and Dad took me in for my quarterly checkup. Oh wait, it was rescheduled to Sept 19 and Mom and Dad could not get someone on the phone to let us know when calling to check ahead so they both took off work for nothing.

Honestly…which way do I go?

After my last Children’s visit (the nasty one I had for staph infection), a weird, very confusing, and inconvenient situation has arose with respect to my health care. Pediatric Specialists of Virginia (PSV) was thrown into the mix. PSV was created in 2003 as part of a collaborative effort between Children’s National Health System  and Invoa Health System, but for some reason something new has taken place which involves me going to both locations and visiting doctors who may/may not have access to my medical records. This makes for longer hospital visits which is not good for me (added exposure of germs, confusion around medical details, etc.) or my parents (trying to schedule work).

Probably worst than juggling through all the scheduling woes was the fact that I have to begin taking a new daily medication – Pulmozyme. The medication must be refrigerated (pain in the ass) and is to be administered through my nebulizer so it’s another breathing treatment to my regiment so add another 20 minutes to life’s breathing treatments. Therefore me, Mom, and Dad have to clean more nebulizer parts and manage yet another prescription. If you’re a glass, half-full type of person, the idea behind this drug is that it is designed to thin the mucus in my lungs so that they are not as sticky and I’m less prone to picking up staph infection/respiratory tract infections. Let’s hope it works!

Naturally like all new medications, this was rejected by insurance, so my doctors have to send information justifying my need for it. It’s been over a week now and I still don’t have my medicine because of the awful medical/insurance industries.

CF Cycle for Life – Oct 8, 2017

Dad’s training is going really well. He biked a total of 16 miles since signing up for this event and has ran a total of 0 miles, played 0 basketball games, and done zero activities/events of cardiovascular health so he should be in pretty top notch shape come the event.

Click here if you want to learn more about the ride or here if you would like to join his team or donate.

Please Get Your Flu Shots

Please go out and get your flu shots. I got mine. It didn’t even hurt. The nurse was so impressed that I didn’t even flinch. Said she’s never seen a 2 year old act so tough.

Flu Shot

Aftermath

Outer Banks – Sep 30 – Oct 5, 2017

I’m off to the Outer Banks this weekend with Mom and Dad for our first, real vacation since before I’ve been born. I’m really hoping for some good weather and fishing while down there.

Nationals

Dad and I are going to be out of town for the NLDS (at least first two games) so please make quick work of the Cubs so that I can catch a game of the NLCS and hopefully World Series.

Speaking of baseball, Dad and I have been playing quite a bit of tee-ball in the back yard. I’m getting pretty good at wacking the ball. Dad said he was most proud when he could overhear me telling my cousin how to place hands on the bat – left hand on bottom and right hand on top.  I’ll try to throw a video or two up here within the next few days.

Stay safe hurricane victims.

Touch-and-Go & Gender Reveal

Sorry for the delay in posting, but we’ve been busy since getting better. Making up for lost time I guess you could say.

Saturdays are for the Boys!

Feeling Better

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. They must be working!

It’s been nearly eight weeks since I last posted of my staph infection, Dad’s ruptured quad, and Mom’s morning sickness. Basically our house looked like a morgue – I mean, not really, but you know what I’m saying. It was a rough go there for us at the house.

Cross our fingers but we all seem to be doing much better. There was a brief scare for me though. Approximately 72 hours after coming off of antibiotics, I began to have frequent, soft stools – very similar to when I had c.diff so Mom and Dad began to worry. Mom and Dad emailed my pulmonary team (sans Dr. Shukla) and we waited to see what they thought. Naturally, we gathered additional stool samples for testing and waited for what seemed for ever for the results – NEGATIVE!

Lewes, DE – June 21, 2017

As always though, we try and have some fun when we can and we’re all well. We quietly made our way down to Lewes, DE for a weekend, where I got to play with all my cousins and Morgan (who is sort of a cousin by proxy). The only problem with the beach was that it was incredibly hot that weekend and I got a bit overheated…so much so that I was a little disoriented on Friday while there, but I rallied by eating some food an chugging some water. On Saturday we tried again, but I wasn’t having any part of it. We might of stayed down there for 15 minutes tops.

 

Riley, Paige, Me, Morgan, Hayden

Working on my long toss

Riley, Paige, Me, Morgan, Hayden

Sand Angels

Rachel (“achel”) watching me eat a cheesestick

Hot, hot, hot

This hot is hot mama

Building sand castles

Ba-Ba-Mama & Jimmy’s

With Mom and Dad having to take off a few extra hours while I was sick, Mom and Dad had to make up the missed work so Bama and Jimmy stepped up in a big way though Mom thinks I’ve been spending too much time over there because I ask to go over there all the time now.

Bama and I do a lot of painting.

 

Painting is sort of boring

Let’s make this more fun

Here I come

Not sure what happened

Looking like Adam Levine

Kind of Funny…huh

Jimmy and I do a lot of racing, but those videos will come next time. In the meantime I’ll leave you with this gem. This is how I ride when at home with Dad.

As a thank you, Mom and Dad took Bama and Pop out to dinner on a nice cool evening in Old Town Alexandria. Naturally I tagged along.

 

Help! Help! Help!

Mama mean

Push Up Challenge

Jimmy tackling me

See the ducks

Sports Minute

We can all agree this wouldn’t be a good blog post without some discussion on sports or folks stepping up in the fight against CF!

Baseball – I have a little work to do

Baseball – Practice Rain-or-Shine

Loss of a Legend – Don Baylor

This time last week, we lost a great human and ambassador in the fight against cystic fibrosis who lost his own battle with multiple myeloma – Don Baylor.

There were some really great articles that came out as a result of his passing. Here is a link to one of the better stories I found online and here’s another on how he sort of fell into fundraising for the disease.

Bonnie Downing, a 16-year survivor of multiple myeloma, shared her own battle with Baylor after his diagnosis, finally meeting him in person a few years ago in spring training. Yet, while Downing was a spokesman for the disease, Baylor chose to silently fight the battle.

“He was so selfless,’’ Downing said, “that he didn’t want to be a spokesman about his own illness. He wanted to instead talk about his work with Cystic Fibrosis. He said, “I can’t leave these kids.’ He was more concerned about them than himself.

Step Up

Nationals have been stepping up on the field all season long given all the injuries (most recently with Harper going down), maybe one of them could step up off the field and help carry the torch that was first lit by Don Baylor. Just saying..any Nationals player out there want to step up for the cause!?!?!?! Maybe you could help me with my hitting as well.

Speaking of stepping up…if you feel like going for a charity bike ride (20, 40, or 65 miles), join Dad and several of his colleagues and their friends in Leesburg, VA on October 8, 2017. If you fee intimidated, don’t be. Dad’s still recovering from a ruptured quad and has an old mountain bike so chances are you’ll destroy him.

I’m Going to be a Big Brother

To a little girl…

Saturdays are STILL for the Boys!

Heading back to Aunt Rachel’s beach house this weekend and to see my cousins who’ve been away the whole month of August, so hopefully won’t be too long before I have some more fun stories to share.

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month

How many people can we fit in this playground tunnel? #RockTheRed

As you may or may not know, May is Cystic Fibrosis month. To do our part, we participated in a walk in Harrisonburg, VA last weekend (not technically May). They raised over $30,000 as a walk but it was a bit scary for Mom and Dad as it was difficult to determine who had CF and who did not. Those of us with CF are asked to wear purple and gold “fighter” shirts such as what I’m wearing below, but since Harrisonburg is the home of JMU and their school colors are the same…well, it was a bit scary. Those of us with CF are not supposed to come within six feet of one another as we run the risk of cross-contaminating. CF is a very isolating and lonely disease for this very reason.

JMU Alpha Kappa Psi

J M U U U U U U

We are walking in another Great Strides campaign in Alexandria, VA this coming weekend (May 6, 2017). Details for the walk can be found here. There will be free food and drinks provided by local businesses. So far, we’ve raised over $11,000 for the walk this year and are leading all teams participating. Thank you!!!

Lawnmowers! Lawnmowers! Lawnmowers!

Dad is also attempting to utilize some of the other mechanisms provided via the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) to establish my legacy. Dad set up the following fundraising site that allows for anyone to donate any amount of money at anytime in my honor (anonymously or not). The site is everlasting and 100% of all money donated goes to the CFF in hopes of one day finding a cure. In just 26 months of being alive, my friends and family have helped raise over $20,000. The idea here is that we’ll always have a sense of how much we/you/everyone has contributed over the years to helping us find a cure in my honor.

We also launched a T-shirt campaign using Booster (a subsidiary of CustomInk). It was incredibly successful and we raised over $1,800 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in their fight for a cure. In addition to the funds that were raised, a lot more folks get to spread awareness to this disease by wearing this cool T-shirt. A big thanks to Eric Hooper for offering up his design services.

So if you missed out on a chance to order one, hit my dad up…he’ll probably end up ordering a few additional shirts for folks that didn’t find out about the campaign until after it ended.

And if walks or t-shirts, aren’t your thing…feel free to pitch an idea to my Mom or Dad or try to get then to sign up for the CF Hike, CF Bike, or a Fundraising Happy Hour – those are always fun!

Speaking of Awareness – Did You Know?

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common inherited disease affecting the developed world, with one in every 2,500 children affected. It is a multi-organ disease, affecting the lungs, gut, liver, pancreas and reproductive tissues. At present about half of those with CF will die by their late 30s from lung disease.

Why We Fundraise & Why We Can Never Give Up

We fundraise in hopes that one day there will be a cure for cystic fibrosis. Lately, there had been a lot of hope behind PTC’s Translarna (ataluren), but recent news certainly let many of us in the CF community down. While reading that a company is stepping away from searching for a cure for CF and that the drug was scrapped due to less than stellar success, it only means one thing – we cannot give up. Take a look at what Jimmy V was able to do for cancer. In just 24 years, The V Foundation alone has raised over $150M for cancer research and thousands of other non-profits have done there part as well. While I do not have the platform yet of Jimmy V, I do have an amazing group of family and friends the have been there for me and my Mom and Dad since Day 1 and I want to thank everyone who has ever donated on my behalf. I cannot thank you enough.

My Cousins Continue to do their Part

Riley, Paige, and Hayden all continue to do a great job with fundraising. Earlier this week they raised $78 on a lemonade and snack stand at their school.

Hay Hay

Hayden, Paige, Riley, and Pop (AKA Jimmy)

And Dad…

Took his spreading awareness to a whole new level

Fight Jack Fight Koozies

Dad only needs one..

On a Lighter Note – Funny or Not

Dad acting like Sidney Crosby and dropping to the ground

 

Mom really thought it was funny when I kicked Dad in the nether region. Dad, on the other hand, did not find this funny at all. He probably laid there for a solid three minutes before catching his breath while I ran around him gloating. While that may or may not be funny to you…we can all agree on one thing that is not funny – cystic fibrosis.

There is nothing funny about cystic fibrosis. When you have CF and you get a cold, you have to spend so much extra time doing therapy that you miss out on the fun things in life like going to the park and stuff. When I’m sick, we do double therapies which equate to about two hours a day (not counting the time it takes to sterilize parts, etc.).

Sick Plan – Neb #1 of 4

Sick Plan – Neb #3 of 4

Easter

Easter was cool. I got lots of candy and a scooter which is fun to ride. I mostly danced around the house all morning and played outside with Dad’s drills in the afternoon.

Running with Dad’s Drills

Busted lip pretty good, but I’m a man

Oh wow, scooter

Just Dance

I also hung out with Paige on the neighbor’s swing.

DC Sports Minute

Bottom of the 9th from the parking garage

Mom didn’t think I would be so good

Chilling in the dugout

Running the bases

Running along the warning track

Me and Dad

@Nats – Harper, Zimmerman, Turner, and Murphy are going gangbusters. It such a bummer to lose Adam Eaton for the season after the start he was off to and he can’t really be replaced, but the team seems ready to step up based on Rendon’s 6-6 performance on Sunday. Let’s hope for a deep playoff run. Speaking of…Nationals are officially undefeated in games I’ve attended.

@Caps – Toronto certainly gave us a scare and it isn’t looking good down three games to one. Hopefully the Caps pull out the series and move on to the Eastern Conference Finals. Not counting on it, unless more guys start skating with the passion that Justin Williams does each and every night.

@Wiz – ehh…the Celtics handled them in Game 1 and 2 and even if the Wiz were to slip past the C’s, they would be no match for the Cavs.

Did you Notice?

You didn’t did you? Well I got my first major haircut (that wasn’t a trim with household scissors).

Hopefully I’ll see those of you at the walk or around a ballpark this summer.

St. Patrick’s Day & April Fool’s

Surrounded by Great People

Me, Mom, and Dad are surrounded by great people. Thank you everyone who has donated to my Great Strides Walk coming up in about four weeks in Alexandria, VA. We’ve nearly raised $6,500 this year and $20,000 since I was born back in Feb 2016. Thanks Sean (pictured right below) and his unknown golf partner and their generous donation to the CF Foundation in my honor. That biiiiig check is so cool.

Did You Know?

The pulmonary clinic that I attend waits for thirty minutes between patients so that the room is safe of bacteria from patient to patient. We learned that at my last appointment and found it to be quite interesting.

Daycare Drama

Daycare has been a bit different lately. About three weeks ago, Bama went into the hospital for a “routine” arthroscopy to repair a patella clunk in her right knee that she had replaced nearly a decade ago. Physically nothing appeared to be wrong with the knee, but the doctor suggested that could address the clicking noise it would make when she bent it. She was in and out in no time, but after about a week or so…her knee was sore and she thought something was wrong. Fast forward another week, and she spiked a fever and couldn’t move her leg. Bama’s leg became infected and she needed to have another surgery schedule to clean the knee and remove the infection.

After about a week in the hospital, she came home, but had a port and needed to take IV antibiotics (similar to me back in the day), but then she spiked another fever and was readmitted into the hospital. She’s been back in for about five days while we await her blood results. She is stable and appears to be doing well. We hope she gets out tomorrow.

Dress myself and watch crane truck

Dad, feed birds!

Thankfully Dad is between work projects and has had some added time to spend with me during the days to give Bama and Pop a break. One day, Dad thought it would be a good idea to take me into Toys R Us since there wouldn’t be anyone in there during the day on a weekday and little did he know that meant I would play on the train station for about 20 minutes until he picked me up and then watch me go in and out of every toy truck for 30 minutes. We spent over an hour in the store and it was great. Dad has also been taking me to new parks as often as he can.

Toys R Us

Ethan Allen Swings

Quincy Park

It goes without saying that I am spending a lot of time with Mom. Mom is definitely spending the most time with me, especially as Dad’s softball seasons are starting back up and Dad still needs to go into the office to work on proposals.

St. Patrick’s Day Reminders

St. Patrick’s Day was a reminder that Dad is much older than he remembered. He thought it would be a good idea to host a work happy hour at an Irish bar in town, only to realize that a) music is too loud, b) bathrooms covered in pee and puke are not a selling point, and c) $10 covers to overpay for Guinness, Irish Car Bombs, green beer, etc. simply doesn’t make sense, so he opted for a sports bar nearby to watch NCAA March Madness. It also served as a reminder that IT companies are not the best when it comes to brackets, super bowl squares, etc. Ugh.

For me, St, Patrick’s Day was a reminder than my youngest cousin Hayden is so sweet.

Hayden’s Luckiest Day School Project

Mom & Dad Don’t Stress

“Most kids eat mac and cheese. Most kids eat grilled cheese. Most kids eat chicken nuggets. Most kids eat…Our kid won’t eat anything besides f***ing apple cereal bars, vanilla yogurt, cashews, beef jerky and grilled steak. He’s going to end up with a f***ing feeding tube!!!” – Mom

“I know dear, but I don’t know what else to do.” – Dad

Alright Mom and Dad, I know I’ve been a bit stubborn when it comes to eating, but I’ll try and do better to avoid a potential feeding tube. Truth is I do eat a few other things from time to time, but I’ll try to do even better. I understand that this is added stress that isn’t fair to you two. You two forget that I like waffles, chicken from District Taco (sometimes), french toast, not to mention I love when Dad makes pancakes – especially digger pancakes.

Digger, Fish, Crab, Dump Truck (counter-clockwise)

Bonnie’s Beach

While there are no photos that this ever happened, Dad and I did swing by Lake Barcroft AKA Bonnie’s Beach to see “Northern Virginia’s Best Kept Secret” according to her. When Dad was boring and talking about work, we played in the sand with my trucks, ate lots of gummy bears and ran all up and down the beach.

April Fool’s Day

I started using the potty! April Fool’s! Mom and Dad still change my diaper, but I say “poop” a lot these days.

Enjoying all the natural light that comes into the house now that the magnolia tree has been removed.

DC Sports Minute

The Capitals took down the Rangers and Holtby had a shutout as the Caps locked up the President’s Trophy. Hoping this is the year! Wizards continue to vie for a top three seed. The Nationals are looking good out the gate as they won their first two and appear to be clicking on all cylinders.

Wicked Smaaaart

I can count. I’ve counted as high as twelve multiple times. Counting to ten is super easy.

Hope to see you around town or the ballfields as I cheer on Dad. Also, let’s pray for Bama to have a speedy recovery!

Super Bowl Sunday Edition

 Delivering MVP Performances

Two years ago (+4 days), Tom Brady delivered his fourth Lombardi trophy to the city of Boston while Mom delivered me at Virginia Hospital. Unlike football fans and pundits who debate the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) in the NFL, there’s no question who delivered the best moment of 2015 – Mom. After today, Touchdown Tommy will put the doubters to rest and he’ll be considered the Michael Jordan of the NFL – GOAT!

This post serves a secondary purpose as well – let the world know how I stack up against Tom and allow for some of those friends and family no on Facebook or the gram see some videos of me.

You wouldn’t believe how much we have in common. My mom, Bridget shares the name of your first baby mama. Bridget Moynihan, who gave birth to a boy – named Jack. You then named your second child Benjamin – same name as my Dad. This is just weird.

Controlling the Huddle: Jack > Tom

• Tom: Understandably deserves credit for being an great on the field general and leading his team to countless victories.
• Jack: But no one controls a huddle or commands attention of those in attendance quite like I am able to do.

Pettiness (cry baby): Jack > Tom

• Tom: Email to Pool Company – http://www.businessinsider.com/tom-brady-pool-cover-emails-2015-8
• Jack: CF causes my skin to wrinkle much more than healthy individuals when I soak in the bathtub/pool. It has something to with salt displacement. Regardless, you don’t see me complaining. 

Size: Jack > Tom

• Jack: 35 1/4 inches tall (71%) x 27 pounds 1o ounces (60%) x  19 1/8 inches head circumference. Doctors say I’m measuring well.
• Tom: Draft experts described Tom Brady as Poor Build, Skinny, Lacks great physical stature and strength, Lacks mobility, Lacks a really strong arm, Can’t drive a team down the field

Speed: Jack > Tom

• Tom: Check out his NFL combine 40 yard dash where he clocked a 5.28. Haha
• Jack: Nightly Rivercrest 5K says it all. Watch me smoke my cousin Hayden who’s 5 years older than me.

Arm Strength: Jack > Tom

• Tom: Good arm, but draft experts say he lacked strong arm.
• Jack: Has a cannon. Will likely contest Tom’s GOAT status if he doesn’t decide to go with baseball after being drafted out of high school. Tom’s record is probably safe since concussion are scaring everyone away from the gridiron.

Strength and Physicality: Jack > Tom

• Tom: Draft experts claim he’s never seen the inside of a weight room.
• Jack: Discovered weight room early

Money: Tom > Jack

• Tom: Makes millions a year playing football and with endorsements. Not going lie…Uggs is quite a weird sponsor for you Tom.
• Jack: Raises thousands of dollars for cystic fibrosis.

Agility: Jack > Tom

• Tom: probably does yoga and has a good downward dog.
• Jack: you probably can’t tell based on this video, but experts suggest I display an uncanny ability to maintain balance in this video.

Ability to Power through Defenders: Jack > Tom

• Tom: Really good at going for it on fourth and ones. Probably the best of all time.
• Jack: Video here shows my ability to power through a defender and than use my speed to get out into to the open and outrun the defense for a score.

Vertical Jump: Jack > Tom

• Tom: 24 1/2 inch vertical. 
• Jack: Probably 36 inches.

Getting ready for Baseball

Pitchers and catchers report in 8 days. Working on my switch hitting.

Best of luck tonight Tom. Not everyone can be blessed with these God given abilities. Bring home number five! Silence all the skeptics who still don’t consider you the GOAT yet. Me, Mom, and Dad will be watching – just like 2 years ago.

Mama Can’t Handle the Truth

Mama Can’t Handle the Truth

While Mom and Dad can’t complain (they don’t have CF), they do get a short end of the stick from time-to-time as they have to help with my therapies regardless if they feel like it or not and are probably more likely to get sick as they’re constantly around me. We all know that I’m more prone to getting sick so it only makes sense that their exposure is increased. While we don’t know for sure if Mom caught whatever it was that I had, Mom caught something viral and was wiped out. That meant Dad had to step up and handle all the therapies for those couple of days. So while Mom did her best to keep her distance, it wasn’t easy on her and gave way for me to start saying “Da-da” more than ever before. That led to text exchanges such as this…

It also led to me and Dad becoming tighter than ever before. I’m sure many of you reading are probably thinking…”how could they be any tighter,” but there’s always room for improvement with anything in life. Dad and I took to Mega Blok’s – building some pretty impressive towers. Dad would even build towers for me overnight to wake up to and see in my playroom! We watched movies and even went on some lengthy bike rides.

Mega Bloks

Watch movies

Go on bike rides

Instagram – Str8 Flexin’

Something super weird happened recently during this stretch as well. Mom got her first taste of social media and launched her first ever account – Instagram. Now Mama is on the gram all day every day. Dad never thought something could replace her love affair with Daily Mail, but Instagram might just be the one. Mom is always angling for more followers, so I’ll give her a shameless plug on my blog @bridgetpeden.

DC Sports

Overheard Dad telling some friends that he’s not sure he wants me to grow up as a fan of DC sports after the constant letdowns he’s suffered. I keep telling Dad that at some point that has to change and maybe I’ll be coming up at the right time – like those lucky fans of Boston sports when Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics were all hanging banners. The NLDS defeat to the LA Dodgers was just the latest blow.

Gameday wardrobe

Mom knocked out therapy while Dad went to games 1, 2, and 5 at home

First Job Offer

Received my first job offer last week. That heavy interest in construction and hanging around construction projects led to a PM on one of the sites to come up to me and Pop and offer me a job.

Cox Farms & Claude Moore Colonial Farms

Mom and Dad felt obligated to do the pumpkin patch thing so tried Cox Farms in Centerville, VA which everyone raves about. The place has some spectacular reviews, but it scared the living heck out of Mom and Dad because they went on Columbus Day and the place was packed. They didn’t even really have a patch so much as a pen in which they herd all the patrons through and you can grab pumpkins on your way out of the amusement park. They even charge $17/person. After shelling out $34 and leaving after about 20 mins, Aunt Rachel suggested…

Cox Farms 2016

Chilling

Claude Moore watching a singular cow

Claude Moore Farms which had an $8 admission and charged $1 for a six ounce cup of water and $2 for some terrible sausage sandwich. It was cool to see many of the animals (cows, chickens, ducks, etc.) but there was a lot of wood being burned throughout the exhibits like in the old days so Mom and Dad were a bit hesitant to let me roam around too freely for fear of me breathing in too much smoke so Dad had an even better idea for some outdoor fun…

Country Roads, Take Me Home…

We headed south this past weekend to Dad’s hometown in Surry. Naturally, we did obligatory Pumpkin Patch photos but I never make it easy on Dad as a subject because I prefer to run around and throw pumpkins rather than sit there like a doll. That said, here are a few of the better photos Dad was able to snag of me while at the patch and at the family farm. College Run Farms, located in Surry is free and had thousands of pumpkins to choose from. They even had pumpkin ice cream.

Born to Run

While the above represents how I behaved as a photographic subject for 90% of the shots, Dad was able to snag a few of me sitting.

Then there wast that time I found a yellow pumpkin. Did you know there were yellow pumpkins?

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Halloween

Mom dressed me up as a circus strong man. I might of worn this costume for all of four minutes…same length of time in which I can hold my iron cross on the rings.

I am here to pump

you

up

Words and Favorite Things

I’m probably leaving out a ton of things I say or have said to date.

• Truck­ – by far the most utilized word in my vocabulary that isn’t “dada” or “mama”. I love trucks – all trucks. I have lots of books with trucks and lots of toy trucks. One of my favorite things to do is watch the big construction trucks fly up and down John Marshall as they continue to fix the water pipes.
• Cheese – this is an easy one and I say it when someone holds up string cheese and sometimes repeat it when smiling for the camera. My favorite string cheese is Horizon, which irks Dad since it’s double the cost for half as much product as its competitors.
• Teeth – my dental hygiene game is on point. I love brushing my teeth every morning and night. I even try my hand at floss.
• Up – when wanting to be picked up, placed in high chair, etc.
• Sit – when i want you to sit down next to me.
• Book – not a clear “book” but pretty close and everyone knows what I mean when saying it.
• Ball – referencing the 100 + balls that I leave scattered throughout the house
• Hi and Bye – classic salutations
• Baba – when I want a bottle (of milk nixed with Pediasure)
• Wawa – when I want water
• Work – when I wake up and look for Dad but he’s not there in bed Monday – Friday

As of this week, I’ve even begun counting 1, 2, 3.

November 

Not sure what the month of November holds, but I’m sure it will be more fun.

Playing at daycare (Bama and Pops)

On my way to work

Aiming to stay ahead of Mom and her Instagram posts. She steals me and Dad’s photos and pawns them off as her own.  wonder where she gets that from…TMZ perhaps?

September 29 – Coach Pike Tribute

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Coach Pike

August 25, 1964 – September 25, 2015

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Surry County High School Cougars Baseball – 2001; Coach Jimmy Pike (far right)

On Tuesday Sept 29, Dad drove down to Wakefield, VA to pay respect to another high school coach of his who passed away far too early. This time it was his baseball coach, Coach Pike whom I’d never had the chance to meet. Both Dad’s high school basketball and baseball coaches have fallen to cancer at age 51 and once again this funeral was a reminder of how many lives teachers and coaches touch – especially in a small community. The funeral was full of current and former students and players of Coach Pike.

You might be thinking…what does this have to do with me. Why is Jack talking about this? Here’s why! Rev Ray Rowland led the services and shared several stories and referenced some Coach Pike’s favorite sayings and inspirations he lived by – most notably was inspiration passed along from another coach who went by the name of Jimmy and his famous ESPN ESPY’s speech, where he said to Don’t Give Up, Don’t Ever Give Up. If you’ve never seen it, do yourself a favor and watch one of the greatest speeches of all time.

Most of Dad’s time with Coach Pike was spent prior to his battle with cancer therefore he never knew of the inspiration he gained in the Jimmy V speech, nor that Coach Pike did not want to be defined by cancer. It’s interesting because as Mom and Dad read from other parents of children with CF (thanks to blogs such as this)…they constantly have that stigma that they fight – so as to not let CF define their child. I guess it’s not surprising that CF and cancer are very similar in that respect, but interesting nonetheless.

Dad also says he’ll always remember that Coach Pike expected the best from all of his players and always had a special way of motivating his players. Those are certainly the type of things passed along from a coach to a player to a son. With CF, I always have to try my hardest and give my best. On the days I won’t feel my best; Dad (and Mom) will be there to motivate me. Perhaps Coach Pike presented Dad with a Coach’s Award his senior year, knowing that these life lessons would have a greater purpose.

Seeing as the Nationals and Orioles are out of the playoffs, I guess we can root for your Texas Rangers.