Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has felt really really crazy, but I think all of it was from yesterday. The rest of the week has been somewhat normal at home at least. At work management decided to shift some priorities around, so I spent much of this week learning about some new projects. Which is fine, just different from what I was doing before.

Now for Saturday. We had a lot of things planned for Saturday. In the morning starting at 7:00 am was a move. It was fairly well attended but it still took 2:30 hours to get it all done. So it ended at 9:30 and we had to get ready for a birthday party at 10:00. Unfortunately Susan also got a call that she had to sub last minute at the family history center. So we rushed off to the party, and the FHC. Luckily they were both at the church.

The birthday party was a jello slide. They had a somewhat large wading pool filled with orange jello, and a slip and slide. Several people took part, but a lot of people did not, including us. Alice was a bit intimidated. She played in the water a little bit, but did not go anywhere near the jello. Sorry no pictures, we left all of our electronics at home to avoid any jello issues.

We then went home and had a long quite time. That evening was my brother and sister-in-law's combined birthday party. It was a cook-out. It was a lot of fun, but it was very hot out. We did our best to keep the kids hydrated, and I think they really enjoyed it. Again we forgot the camera so no pictures of this either.

And that was our crazy Saturday,

My Favorite Time with Alice

We've been fixing up Alice's room. There is some ancient termite damage in the drywall that we want to address this summer. In the process of uncovering the termite damage, we peeled off several layers of paint (white, blue, white, brown, and pink) that revealed a nasty pastel pink layer reeking of stale cigarette smoke. The walls remained that way for two weeks until I finally mustered the courage to re-texture them myself. Many thanks to my sister Lara for suggesting a new technique that actually used materials I had on-hand and didn't require any special equipment. The teeny room should have been done in 30 minutes, but my life of constant interruption and juggling 3 people's schedules dragged the process out over 6 hours. It's hard to believe HOW that happens, but it does.

I finish just in time to rush out the door 10 minutes late for an appointment. An appointment I feel apprehensive about. We arrive at the meeting place only to learn that the other party has had to cancel last-minute. Alice, Robert, and I get back in the car and head home. Suddenly, I am giddy with the thought of this "extra" time to do something special...unscheduled and guilt-free. Robert is asleep, so it's just Alice and me. What do we do? We break out the ice pops and play every game in her closet: Guess Who, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and the classic Hungry, Hungry Hippos. She talks to me about Nature Camp. She makes up silly jokes about the games. I just sit back and enjoy her for an hour.

A whole hour! Housework had no hold on me, for some reason. What a rare treat. The kitchen was a mess, the laundry was half-done, and the entire house needed a good vacuuming and yet I felt NO need to do any of it. No guilt for leaving it just the way it was. Funny, huh? Somehow, things worked out yesterday in just such a way that I felt I had accomplished something significant and lasting (texturing the walls), met all of my scheduled responsibilities (even though one fell through) and had the rare opportunity to focus 100% on Alice (Robert was asleep). This is the kind of time that I love most with her. It doesn't come around that often any more.

Boy Teachers

Alice's usual Nature Camp teacher, Kate, wasn't there today. Instead, I met Brett. He could play football or basketball or both...tall, broad-shouldered, bellowing sort of fellow. Alice (and I, admittedly) was a little surprised and shy of him. I wondered how she would do today on her last day of Nature Camp. Why? Because a while ago, Alice and I were browsing the park district guide for a few summer activities. She saw a picture of a male teacher leading a youth swimming class. She pointed at him and said "I don't want that teacher. I don't want a boy teacher. I only like girl teachers. Will my class have a girl teacher?" I asked her why she wanted only girl teachers. She wasn't exactly clear why, but she was adamant. Girl teacher or no go. She hasn't had much gender preference in ANYTHING yet. It surprised me. I signed her up anyway, confident we could work things out later.

Fast forward to this morning when Alice is clinging to me, looking wide-eyed up at big ol' Brett. I say my goodbyes and leave. She doesn't cry, but she isn't her bubbly, show-off-when-nervous-with-new-people self. I come back at the end of class and Alice is herself again. She's playing puppy dog with the other kids and Brett is their mommy. She runs over and tells me about her wonderful day and the songs she learned (something called "gummy gummy"), the games they played, the crafts they made. Then she proclaims enthusiastically, "We didn't have Kate today. We had Brett. I LOVE Brett!" Later, in the car, she asks (hopefully?) if Brett will be her teacher next time.

Crisis averted...this time.

Being himself

Robert's 2-month checkup was this morning. Alice was relieved to hear she would not be getting any shots, and she reminded Robert several times in a sing-song voice that he WOULD be receiving shots today. I don't think she was trying to be mean. I think she was just happy for herself.

Anyway, he's still gaining weight (17 lbs 6 oz) despite the diarrhea. He's still 50th-75th percentile for length and head circumference. Still off the charts for weight. I don't think my pediatrician believes me when I say he's exclusively breastfed. He's in good health, and very much his own person. Everything I remember from Alice's 2-month checkup, he did the opposite:

Alice ignored the doctor...Robert smiled and cooed, kicked and giggled.

Alice recovered from the shots as soon as the Band-Aid was on...Robert screamed and cried for 10 minutes, requiring much attention to calm him down.

Alice slept for the rest of the day...Robert's on his regular schedule, though a little crankier.

When we got home, I finally remembered to give him a dose of baby vitamins. He hates it! He won't swallow it. Cracks me up. Yet another small difference from Alice.

One thing that was the same this time: blue Snoopy Band-Aids on the upper thighs.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

This week has been a bit odd. Work has been busy, because we have been coming to the end of a project. Not too overly busy, but still busy. Robert has started sleeping through the night, at least for the most part. He will go from about 9:30 to 5:30. It is still not ideal, 10:00 to 6:00 or even better 9:00 to 7:00 would be much better for a good nights sleep, but it is close enough that life is starting to return to normal. Alice is still her self. She is sitting next to me wanting to type so I will let her.

ddwqa alice xcbvrhh ggrgtfasddeasguuirtfgegghtdgfffdgbvcvcdfddrffdf

Over all we are doing rather well. We have had some company in town this week end. We had a rather busy day Saturday with going to the children's museum, and all, but over all it was rather fun.