Elle,
Hi, this is your dad writing this week/month. Your mom has taken on the impressive role of
sharing the bulk of your first year and a half on this blog – such a monumental
effort. I thought I could help her out
some moving forward.
These last several weeks have been quite momentous. Most recently, you have moved up to an older
kids daycare class. I have been really
impressed with how well you have made the adjustment, and most of the days I
picked you up during your first week had you wanting to linger in class with
your new friends instead of heading right out the door with dad. Also, you have been giving your friends, and
even kids you meet while out a and about with your parents, the most adorable
hugs. Keep that up baby girl, you are
doing great.
Before your new class at school, we also took a big family
trip to Colorado for the holidays. This
was your second Christmas and we got to spend it with my parents (The babas)
and your aunt and uncle (and Maya). You
really enjoyed a 6-1 adult to child ratio, being the belle of the ball in the mountains. Fun times included open presents for
Christmas, which extended into day two for a second consecutive year, and
playtime at the impressive Steamboat Springs library. You also really enjoyed
going out on the porch and shoveling, a girl with a purpose. We haven’t spent too much time in cold
weather, and many of your mom and dad’s favorite activities take place in the
cold, so it was nice to see embracing the weather and having fun in the snow.
The activity I enjoyed the most with you was taking you
skiing for the first time. We went both
in our rented house’s backyard and also at the famed Howelsen hill (http://coloradoski.com/resorts/howelsen)
right in downtown Steamboat. The latter
is the oldest operating ski mountain in Colorado, open for more than a
century. It has helped train dozens of
Olympians and has a wonderful old school vibe of simplicity and skiing
purity. You also really loved their
delicious sticky buns. Me too.
Tony and Wilson
Lastly, and in not good news – your mom had a ski
accident in Steamboat and tore her ACL in her left knee. She did it on a big powder day, while skiing
with your godfather Tony and your dad.
We had a great day, mostly ripping through the abundant glades, with a
mix of aspen and conifer trees. The snow
was light and almost as delicious as those sticky buns. Unfortunately, the visibility was not as good
as the skiing and while coming across a meadow area towards the end of the day
your mom went off two rollers in a row and came down funny. Momma fall.
She was a trooper through the entire process, getting
sledded off the mountain by the professional and capable Steamboat ski patrol,
at the hospital when the doctor told her that she had likely torn her ACL, to
doing rehab back at the house within hours of the accident. She has a brace that combined with her
toughness and determination have allowed her to be incredibly mobile. The contrast in medical approaches to the same
injury between when I tore my knee skiing 14 years ago and 2016/2017 is astounding. This makes me hopefully about where medical technology
and developments will head over the coming decades, even in the face of spiraling
costs.
So, this means that you will be the only Korol in our
household with both original issued ACLs.
I am sorry we likely have bequeathed you some bad knees. Also, the next several weeks, months will be
a bit different as we get used to mom on crutches and being limited. She will do great through that and get strong
and whole quickly. You will do great
too, being the light of her life and the primary reason she wants to get better
as soon as possible.
love,
dad
