Hi, it’s Ben and Dakota again. We hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Life has been hectic since Dakota came home with me, so I thought I would bring you up to speed on what has been going on in our lives.
First, missing a week of school was fun, but the catch-up has been painful. The school work I missed, swimming every evening, basketball practice, working with Dakota as he shares all of these new places has been a pretty big hill for me – but like Dakota, I am a trooper and we have gotten a good schedule down.
The week Dakota and I returned home was a school holiday, so Michelle, Dakota and I went and did things I like to do and went places I like to go. So, movies, putt-putt, friends were the things to do and Dakota loved every minute of it.
When we first went back to school, it was like Dakota was a rock star. We had trouble getting up and down the halls and from one class to the other. Thank goodness for Michelle!! She has and continues to be a hero for both Dakota and me. It has gotten better now that everyone is used to Dakota being around and people have learned that “please don’t pet my dog” means “please don’t pet my dog”.
I think Dakota and I are bonding great (and my mom and dad think we are too). The alerting is coming along well, too. Over Christmas break, my mom dropped Dakota and me off at swim practice and ran a short errand. Usually, I put Dakota in his spot, not too far away from the pool, and he hangs out quietly, watching me and resting during the 1 ½ hour practice. This day though, Dakota got real restless and caused enough of a stir that one of my friend’s mom came over and told the coach that Dakota didn’t like something and she should get me out of the pool to check my blood sugar. Sure enough, my blood sugar was 331 and I needed insulin. After that, Dakota was fine. I was so proud of him!!
