After the doctor Nicholas and I squeezed in a quick hike before dinner. We took one a few weeks ago when Joe was home and every day since then Nicholas asks to go as we pass the parking lot on the way to and from school. But we never have time because it is already time to eat dinner and get him started on bedtime. But today we had a little time. And it is supposed to rain all weekend. And it was gorgeous out. So we took a 20-minute hike.
And Nicholas loved it. He would have loved it more if he could have seen the chipmunks and other animals he was calling for, but they aren't prone to come out when they hear a 2-year-old yelling for them. And I can't say I blame them. But he did a very good job, even walking up a very steep hill (he called it a mountain) all by himself, and only asking to be carried the last few minutes.
Tonight when it was time for his prayer, he opened with "Thank you God for hikes." And then he kept going. "Thank you God for trees. Thank you God for rocks." He then went into his more standard "Thank you God for Nicholas and Mommy" and "Thank you God for food."
For a minute there, I felt the joy and peace of Glenkirk surrounding me.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Ear Update
Nicholas had his first visit to his new pediatrician today. He's not sick--it was just to check on his ear tubes and get a flu shot.
The good news: His ears look "perfect."
The bad news: One of the tubes is already out. (And by out, I mean no longer in place. You can still see it in there, but it isn't doing its job. The doctor let me look.)
Yep, the left tube has already given up, just in time for prime ear infection season. Great.
We're just going to have to wait and see what happens and hope that either he has outgrown the problem very quickly or that the hole the tube opened up takes a long time closing back up. But I do know that this time around he will have an appointment for tubes scheduled with the second ear infection of the season. We are not doing another 5-month wait and see approach. The tubes have been nothing short of miraculous for him and I was really hoping they could at least make it through this winter. Oh well.
The good news: His ears look "perfect."
The bad news: One of the tubes is already out. (And by out, I mean no longer in place. You can still see it in there, but it isn't doing its job. The doctor let me look.)
Yep, the left tube has already given up, just in time for prime ear infection season. Great.
We're just going to have to wait and see what happens and hope that either he has outgrown the problem very quickly or that the hole the tube opened up takes a long time closing back up. But I do know that this time around he will have an appointment for tubes scheduled with the second ear infection of the season. We are not doing another 5-month wait and see approach. The tubes have been nothing short of miraculous for him and I was really hoping they could at least make it through this winter. Oh well.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's
Last weekend, instead of having me fly home to Boston, we decided to meet in the middle at Grandma Alice and Grandpa Richard's house. And Nicholas got to have a sleepover at their house while we went away!
Before we left, though, we met up with Grandma Claire for breakfast (and, by the way, you should hear how well he pronounces "Claire" now!):
You'll notice in the above picture that Nicholas looks like he's giving a thumbs-up. He's not. We just tricked him into counting to three and then taking his thumb out of his mouth. Caught him mid-movement!
And apparently he likes toast with jelly. Who knew? Across from us was an elderly man with his two daughters (wearing a Notre Dame jacket, Aunt Stacy!). As they were leaving, he walked over, asked if we had a camera, and then put this on Nicholas's fingers:
Have you ever worn a Super Bowl championship ring? Because Nicholas has! (Giants, Super Bowl XXV, for the curious.)
Then Sarah and I headed out and Nicholas had a great time with his grandparents, including dinner at Friendly's. Which means it's time to hand over the blog for a brief dinner anecdote from Grandpa Richard:
In Friendly’s on Saturday night, we had finished our meals, Nicholas had looked at the dessert menu to decide that he wanted the Monster ice cream with “brown” ice cream, and we were waiting for our waiter to come back and take our dessert orders. Needless to say this took a while. Eventually, Nicholas turned in his chair toward the kitchen and yelled out in the middle of Friendly’s: “I NEED MY ICE CREAM!”
Not that anyone noticed.
So it seems like a fun time was had by all, and they saved the Monster Head cup for the next time he visits. Which, if he has anything to say about it, will probably be soon.*
* We have more to say about it, and so it will be sometime in November.
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| From 2011 September |
You'll notice in the above picture that Nicholas looks like he's giving a thumbs-up. He's not. We just tricked him into counting to three and then taking his thumb out of his mouth. Caught him mid-movement!
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| From 2011 September |
And apparently he likes toast with jelly. Who knew? Across from us was an elderly man with his two daughters (wearing a Notre Dame jacket, Aunt Stacy!). As they were leaving, he walked over, asked if we had a camera, and then put this on Nicholas's fingers:
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| From 2011 September |
Have you ever worn a Super Bowl championship ring? Because Nicholas has! (Giants, Super Bowl XXV, for the curious.)
Then Sarah and I headed out and Nicholas had a great time with his grandparents, including dinner at Friendly's. Which means it's time to hand over the blog for a brief dinner anecdote from Grandpa Richard:
Not that anyone noticed.
So it seems like a fun time was had by all, and they saved the Monster Head cup for the next time he visits. Which, if he has anything to say about it, will probably be soon.*
* We have more to say about it, and so it will be sometime in November.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wordless Wednesday: Apple Picking
Apparently apple picking brings out the blue eyes. And the smiles:
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| From Nicholas - Month 5 |
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| From 2011 September |
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A hint of understanding
This weekend it finally really clicked for all of us that Joe is leaving each week. I don't know why 3 weeks is the magic number, but it was.
Nicholas did fine the last two weeks about Joe not being here. After the first couple days he stopped saying he'd see Daddy when he got home and he seemed to be fine. But by partway through this weekend he was making it clear that he was worried that Joe was leaving again, confirming whether Joe would be there when he woke up, etc. And the past two days he has been asking a lot about whether Daddy would be at x place and 3 separate times today he asked if we could go pick Daddy up at the airport.
And it probably doesn't help him that there is no routine for when Joe is around. He'll see him all but 1 weekend a month, but sometimes here, sometimes in NY, sometimes at other destinations we'll mutually travel too. Most weekends we'll see him Friday evening, but sometimes it will be Thursday evening or Saturday morning. Sometimes we'll part on Sunday, sometimes on Monday morning. It just has to be really hard for Nicholas to make sense of. I've tried talking to him about it a little bit, but it is hard to explain it to someone who understands neither distances nor days of the week. For that matter, I can't keep track without a calendar.
On a completely unrelated note, Nicholas is sleeping with a pillow in his bed for the first time ever tonight. And he is so excited! He couldn't stop chattering about it as he was getting ready for bed. And then he pointed out the pillow in each of the stories we read before bed. "Elmo has a pillow in his bed. Like I have a pillow in my bed." And then in the next story, "Piggy has a pillow. Like Elmo does. And like I does." Okay, Nicholas, all done, time for bed. "With my pillow and my blanket in my bed!" He had some trouble figuring out a way to actually get comfortable on it, so we'll see what he thinks in the morning.
Nicholas did fine the last two weeks about Joe not being here. After the first couple days he stopped saying he'd see Daddy when he got home and he seemed to be fine. But by partway through this weekend he was making it clear that he was worried that Joe was leaving again, confirming whether Joe would be there when he woke up, etc. And the past two days he has been asking a lot about whether Daddy would be at x place and 3 separate times today he asked if we could go pick Daddy up at the airport.
And it probably doesn't help him that there is no routine for when Joe is around. He'll see him all but 1 weekend a month, but sometimes here, sometimes in NY, sometimes at other destinations we'll mutually travel too. Most weekends we'll see him Friday evening, but sometimes it will be Thursday evening or Saturday morning. Sometimes we'll part on Sunday, sometimes on Monday morning. It just has to be really hard for Nicholas to make sense of. I've tried talking to him about it a little bit, but it is hard to explain it to someone who understands neither distances nor days of the week. For that matter, I can't keep track without a calendar.
On a completely unrelated note, Nicholas is sleeping with a pillow in his bed for the first time ever tonight. And he is so excited! He couldn't stop chattering about it as he was getting ready for bed. And then he pointed out the pillow in each of the stories we read before bed. "Elmo has a pillow in his bed. Like I have a pillow in my bed." And then in the next story, "Piggy has a pillow. Like Elmo does. And like I does." Okay, Nicholas, all done, time for bed. "With my pillow and my blanket in my bed!" He had some trouble figuring out a way to actually get comfortable on it, so we'll see what he thinks in the morning.
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Future of USA Soccer?
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
He might not end up being the next Landon Donovan, but the kid's got some natural talent!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Apple Picking
Nicholas has been asking about picking apples thanks to his Little Einsteins book in which the rocket ship picks apples and then bakes an apple pie for the kids. And given the crisp fall weather this weekend, we decided to look up nearby apple orchards.
It turns out that there are about 10 within a half hour drive, so we picked one about 15 minutes away and headed out. After looking at reviews we decided to go with the very simply orchard rather than one of the ones with all the amenities (pony rides, petting zoos, corn mazes, etc). And since Nicholas was thrilled with just picking apples, riding in a wagon pulled by a tractor through the orchard, and drinking some fresh apple cider, I'm glad we kept is simple. And there were no crowds so we were free to wander from tree to tree freely and let Nicholas take the lead.
He filtered the entire experience through the book (which he has memorized), so when we got to the first tree he immediately started talking about needing to use his "grab-nabber" to pick an apple. This is what the rocket ship's arm/hand thing is called. So Nicholas walked around the orchard holding his arm out and pinching his fingers together talking about his grab-nabber. He also kept looking for ones that were "big, red, and juicy" because that was the description used in the book. You can hear some of these phrases in this video:
But we all had a great time. Nicholas picked a peck of Macs and had a blast. He also begged to be allowed to get a pumpkin but we managed to stall him. I have the feeling we'll be going back there sometime next month.
There are tons more pictures in The Gallery, but here are some of my favorites:
It turns out that there are about 10 within a half hour drive, so we picked one about 15 minutes away and headed out. After looking at reviews we decided to go with the very simply orchard rather than one of the ones with all the amenities (pony rides, petting zoos, corn mazes, etc). And since Nicholas was thrilled with just picking apples, riding in a wagon pulled by a tractor through the orchard, and drinking some fresh apple cider, I'm glad we kept is simple. And there were no crowds so we were free to wander from tree to tree freely and let Nicholas take the lead.
He filtered the entire experience through the book (which he has memorized), so when we got to the first tree he immediately started talking about needing to use his "grab-nabber" to pick an apple. This is what the rocket ship's arm/hand thing is called. So Nicholas walked around the orchard holding his arm out and pinching his fingers together talking about his grab-nabber. He also kept looking for ones that were "big, red, and juicy" because that was the description used in the book. You can hear some of these phrases in this video:
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| From 2011 September |
But we all had a great time. Nicholas picked a peck of Macs and had a blast. He also begged to be allowed to get a pumpkin but we managed to stall him. I have the feeling we'll be going back there sometime next month.
There are tons more pictures in The Gallery, but here are some of my favorites:
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
Friday, September 16, 2011
Supermom!
Last weekend Nicholas and Alice got balloons at the restaurant we went to for lunch. And Nicholas very quickly lost his up into the depths of the great blue sky. It turns out that the restaurant he and I went to for dinner tonight on our way to pick Joe up at the airport also gives out balloons when you leave. As we left I reminded Nicholas why he had to let me help him:
S: Remember, because otherwise your balloon will go up in the sky and you'll lose it.
N: My balloon go up in the sky and then Mommy fly up in the sky and get it and give it back to me.
Um, no, kid. On the other hand, this may be as close as I ever get to being Supermom!
S: Remember, because otherwise your balloon will go up in the sky and you'll lose it.
N: My balloon go up in the sky and then Mommy fly up in the sky and get it and give it back to me.
Um, no, kid. On the other hand, this may be as close as I ever get to being Supermom!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Alice!
I'm not even sure how to blog about the weekend itself, to be honest. It was just pure and simple awesomeness. But to catalog the list of what we did would suck away what made it so special, which was the time with friends and the freedom and relaxation that comes with spending time with close friends where you can just let down your guard and all pretenses and just be. I suspect it was something similar for Nicholas. Not on as conscious of a level, but he and Alice have been around each other regularly since they were something like 6 weeks old. It is familiar. It is safe. And that boy just adores her. And I can't disagree with him. In many ways Alice feels like the niece I don't have.
Anyway, enough sentiment. You come here for the pictures, right? Well, those I have in abundance.
The kids had great fun playing together at the park:
As we got ready to leave the park, Alice stopped for a quick pretend phone call to let her grandpa know she was at the park with Nicholas and Nicholas was swinging.
They ate meals together at Alice's fun little kitchen table:
They played dress-up (more embarassing pictures not posted, but will be printed and saved):
They played t-ball:
They went out for ice cream one day and to a fun restaurant the next:
That last picture was taken by Wes. Notice the difference in Nicholas' expression when Alice took a picture of him using his camera:
It may not be attractive, but the joy comes through loud and clear. (Well, that and the exhaustion.)
They also sang lots of songs, played with dolls, read books, chatted at bedtime, and just in general ran around having fun and being excited to see each other. And while they napped Katie and I got to go shopping and talk without being interrupted by munchkins. In other words, it was a wonderful trip!
Anyway, enough sentiment. You come here for the pictures, right? Well, those I have in abundance.
The kids had great fun playing together at the park:
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
As we got ready to leave the park, Alice stopped for a quick pretend phone call to let her grandpa know she was at the park with Nicholas and Nicholas was swinging.
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| From 2011 September |
They ate meals together at Alice's fun little kitchen table:
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| From 2011 September |
They played dress-up (more embarassing pictures not posted, but will be printed and saved):
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| From 2011 September |
They played t-ball:
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
They went out for ice cream one day and to a fun restaurant the next:
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
That last picture was taken by Wes. Notice the difference in Nicholas' expression when Alice took a picture of him using his camera:
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| From Nicholas Camera |
They also sang lots of songs, played with dolls, read books, chatted at bedtime, and just in general ran around having fun and being excited to see each other. And while they napped Katie and I got to go shopping and talk without being interrupted by munchkins. In other words, it was a wonderful trip!
Zoom, Up in the Sky
Nicholas loved each and every part of our trip to Philly last weekend. As Joe said at one point on Monday, reflecting on the weekend, "that boy did not stop smiling the whole time." Nicholas is generally a pretty happy boy, but there was something different. He was giddy. And why not? He got to fly on an airplane, see Daddy, and spend a whole weekend at Alice's house! The last of these was the highlight for him (no offense, Joe). Seeing Alice was exciting, but getting to stay at her house and share a room with her? Now that was a huge treat.
But, to start at the beginning, we had to first get to Philly. I was very anxious about flying alone with him, especially driving myself and so having to get from long-term parking with all his gear. When I learned that he didn't actually need a carseat on the plane and that we could borrow Alice's spare carseat and pack n' play, my life got 100 times simpler. Actually the most stressful part of the travel was dealing with Logan. I miss BWI.
First of all, there is no way to get to Logan without going basically through Boston. On a Friday afternoon this meant we hit a ton of traffic. Nicholas kept telling me to go faster. I'd tell him that I wish I could, but there were cars in front of us and I couldn't hit them. Of course he then repeated all about not hitting other cars. And then 5 minutes later ask again. This went on and on and on. Finally we got past a place where an off-ramp was causing the delay and seeing open road in front of me I say, "Nicholas, ask now." "Mommy, go faster!" I floored it and we took off. "Yay, Mommy. Good job. You went faster." I couldn't help laughing.
Parking wasn't too bad, although the lack of signs to direct you to the only crosswalk across the insane lanes of deathly fast traffic meant I wandered around a bunch. The only problem with parking is that it is $24 a day! Insanity! We got our luggage checked, got through security, and set about finding dinner. Here I encountered the next thing I miss about BWI. The food options were crappy and even those required quite the trek and some sketchy hidden elevators. I miss the amazing food court in BWI. Nicholas and I had a routine--get through security and then eat. He would get McDonalds and I could get anything I wanted. But we made it and really it wasn't too bad.
Nicholas loved watching the planes, as usual.
But once we got on the plane it was a whole new thing. In the past he has loved watching the planes but didn't have much interest in the idea of actually being on one. This time he got it. He was so excited and was mesmerized as we took off. You could see in his eyes that he thought this was so cool. And then something changed after we got a little higher up. A shadow came over his face, his eyes changed, and he turned to me with a face that you could just see was about to fall apart. He did get it now. And he was scared. But he was belted in so I couldn't hold him. What could I do? Elmo! I grabbed Elmo from his bag and handed him to Nicholas. "Squeeze Elmo really tightly every time you feel scared." You could see the relief pass over his eyes. And he squeezed him hard. Then he looked back out the window. 5 or 10 seconds passed and he sqeezed Elmo again.
Thank you, Elmo!
Nicholas spent most of the flight (well, all of it where electronics are allowed) watching a Barney DVD on my computer. This was absolutely fabulous. It was past bedtime so he needed to just chill, he sucks his thumb while he watches tv which I bet helps with the ears, and I got to sit and read a novel and decompress myself. It worked so well that we did the same thing on the way back. Books on the runway and during takeoff and landing (seriously, I don't know how many more times I can read Courdoroy's Christmas Surprise), and then Barney while we're in the air.
I'll write more about the visit itself later.
But, to start at the beginning, we had to first get to Philly. I was very anxious about flying alone with him, especially driving myself and so having to get from long-term parking with all his gear. When I learned that he didn't actually need a carseat on the plane and that we could borrow Alice's spare carseat and pack n' play, my life got 100 times simpler. Actually the most stressful part of the travel was dealing with Logan. I miss BWI.
First of all, there is no way to get to Logan without going basically through Boston. On a Friday afternoon this meant we hit a ton of traffic. Nicholas kept telling me to go faster. I'd tell him that I wish I could, but there were cars in front of us and I couldn't hit them. Of course he then repeated all about not hitting other cars. And then 5 minutes later ask again. This went on and on and on. Finally we got past a place where an off-ramp was causing the delay and seeing open road in front of me I say, "Nicholas, ask now." "Mommy, go faster!" I floored it and we took off. "Yay, Mommy. Good job. You went faster." I couldn't help laughing.
Parking wasn't too bad, although the lack of signs to direct you to the only crosswalk across the insane lanes of deathly fast traffic meant I wandered around a bunch. The only problem with parking is that it is $24 a day! Insanity! We got our luggage checked, got through security, and set about finding dinner. Here I encountered the next thing I miss about BWI. The food options were crappy and even those required quite the trek and some sketchy hidden elevators. I miss the amazing food court in BWI. Nicholas and I had a routine--get through security and then eat. He would get McDonalds and I could get anything I wanted. But we made it and really it wasn't too bad.
Nicholas loved watching the planes, as usual.
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| From 2011 September |
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| From 2011 September |
Nicholas spent most of the flight (well, all of it where electronics are allowed) watching a Barney DVD on my computer. This was absolutely fabulous. It was past bedtime so he needed to just chill, he sucks his thumb while he watches tv which I bet helps with the ears, and I got to sit and read a novel and decompress myself. It worked so well that we did the same thing on the way back. Books on the runway and during takeoff and landing (seriously, I don't know how many more times I can read Courdoroy's Christmas Surprise), and then Barney while we're in the air.
I'll write more about the visit itself later.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
48 Hours
I will try to write more about our wonderful weekend later, but first I need to vent/ramble a bit. And in the process dispel any myths that everything is all sunshine and roses here. Here is my last 48 hours since our plane landed.
Sunday:
8:00 Plane lands, an hour late
8:00-9:00 Get luggage, find parking pay station, find car, drive home
9:00-9:30 Get Nicholas a snack and into bed
9:30-11:30 Bring luggage up, do laundry, get ready for Monday
11:30-6:00 Sleep
Monday:
6:00-8:00 Get us both up and ready for the day, pack lunches, unpack enough to find toiletries, etc.
8:00-8:30 Commute, daycare dropoff
8:30-1:30 Work: prepping classes
1:30-2:30 Meeting
2:30-3:30 Informal meeting
3:30-5:00 Work: prepping classes
5:00-5:30 Commute, daycare pickup
5:30-6:30 Make dinner, eat
6:30-7:15 Nicholas bath, getting ready for bed
7:15-8:00 Shower, put away leftovers, clean up a bit
8:00-10:30 Work: prepping classes
10:30-11:00 Dishes
11:00-11:30 Talk to Joe
11:30-6:00 Sleep
Tuesday:
6:00-7:30 Getting up, getting ready, etc
7:30-8:15 Fight with Nicholas getting downstairs, hurry Nicholas as he jumps over every single crack in the sidewalk, fight with Nicholas getting into the carseat, commute, daycare dropoff complete with tears
8:15-8:30 Get teaching materials set up
8:30-10:20 Teach in a classroom that was close to 90 degrees
10:30-12:20 Teach another class in same sauna of a classroom
12:20-12:40 Quick meeting I forgot about with students
12:40-2:10 Arrive late to meeting because of said student meeting. Luckily there was a free and yummy lunch, which probably salvaged my day.
2:10-2:20 Run back to office to switch out class materials
2:30-4:20 Teach another class in the horrible hot classroom, with my skin feeling like it was melting off and students practically falling into heat-induced comas
4:20-4:30 Drop stuff off in office
4:30-5:15 Pick up Nicholas, rinse a filthy Nicholas off in the school bathroom, fight with Nicholas to get in the carseat, drive
5:15-5:45 Eat dinner at KFC out of desperation. Last time that will happen--gross! Fight with Nicholas to get in the carseat.
5:45-6:30 Grocery shopping. Fight with Nicholas about sitting in a regular cart instead of one of the fun racecar ones (which are impossible to steer).
6:30-7:00 Drive home, try to carry 6 bags of groceries while fighting with Nicholas to get out of the car, fighting with Nicholas to walk across the grass, urging Nicholas to hurry because the groceries are heavy as he jumps over each crack in the sidewalk, begging Nicholas to climb up the stairs, putting groceries away while Nicholas whines about something.
7:00-7:30 Give Nicholas a bath again because he came home from daycare coated in sand and with paint in his hair, have an epic battle about putting his bath toys away. (I didn't care if he did or not, but only insisted that if he wanted to that he actually do it. He stalled and dawdled through about 18 warnings and urgings until I finally took him out, without him getting to put the toys away.) This led to an epic meltdown by the exhausted child.
7:30-7:45 Got Nicholas ready for bed and into bed
7:45-8:00 Took a shower to wash off the layers of sweat from my day at the sauna, and hopefully melt some tension away with it.
8:00 Poured myself a dark and stormy. Disappointing. The last few ginger beers we have gotten have been subpar.
8:00-8:30 Dealt with all the work emails that had piled up since 8:30 this morning.
8:30-8:45 Wrote a note to a friend explaining that while I feel horrible about it, I won't be able to go to his wedding because between the travel logistics, the loss of the weekend to go grocery shopping/run errands/do laundry, and the loss of worktime to catch flights that get me there for events, I just can't handle extended trips for weddings two weekends in a row (and absolutely can't miss the one the following weekend). Felt horrible about myself and know I will regret this decision.
8:45-9:00 Wrote this blog post.
9:00 Turning on the tv to watch some trashy tv, accompanied by a bowl of ice cream.
I am so done with this day.
Sunday:
8:00 Plane lands, an hour late
8:00-9:00 Get luggage, find parking pay station, find car, drive home
9:00-9:30 Get Nicholas a snack and into bed
9:30-11:30 Bring luggage up, do laundry, get ready for Monday
11:30-6:00 Sleep
Monday:
6:00-8:00 Get us both up and ready for the day, pack lunches, unpack enough to find toiletries, etc.
8:00-8:30 Commute, daycare dropoff
8:30-1:30 Work: prepping classes
1:30-2:30 Meeting
2:30-3:30 Informal meeting
3:30-5:00 Work: prepping classes
5:00-5:30 Commute, daycare pickup
5:30-6:30 Make dinner, eat
6:30-7:15 Nicholas bath, getting ready for bed
7:15-8:00 Shower, put away leftovers, clean up a bit
8:00-10:30 Work: prepping classes
10:30-11:00 Dishes
11:00-11:30 Talk to Joe
11:30-6:00 Sleep
Tuesday:
6:00-7:30 Getting up, getting ready, etc
7:30-8:15 Fight with Nicholas getting downstairs, hurry Nicholas as he jumps over every single crack in the sidewalk, fight with Nicholas getting into the carseat, commute, daycare dropoff complete with tears
8:15-8:30 Get teaching materials set up
8:30-10:20 Teach in a classroom that was close to 90 degrees
10:30-12:20 Teach another class in same sauna of a classroom
12:20-12:40 Quick meeting I forgot about with students
12:40-2:10 Arrive late to meeting because of said student meeting. Luckily there was a free and yummy lunch, which probably salvaged my day.
2:10-2:20 Run back to office to switch out class materials
2:30-4:20 Teach another class in the horrible hot classroom, with my skin feeling like it was melting off and students practically falling into heat-induced comas
4:20-4:30 Drop stuff off in office
4:30-5:15 Pick up Nicholas, rinse a filthy Nicholas off in the school bathroom, fight with Nicholas to get in the carseat, drive
5:15-5:45 Eat dinner at KFC out of desperation. Last time that will happen--gross! Fight with Nicholas to get in the carseat.
5:45-6:30 Grocery shopping. Fight with Nicholas about sitting in a regular cart instead of one of the fun racecar ones (which are impossible to steer).
6:30-7:00 Drive home, try to carry 6 bags of groceries while fighting with Nicholas to get out of the car, fighting with Nicholas to walk across the grass, urging Nicholas to hurry because the groceries are heavy as he jumps over each crack in the sidewalk, begging Nicholas to climb up the stairs, putting groceries away while Nicholas whines about something.
7:00-7:30 Give Nicholas a bath again because he came home from daycare coated in sand and with paint in his hair, have an epic battle about putting his bath toys away. (I didn't care if he did or not, but only insisted that if he wanted to that he actually do it. He stalled and dawdled through about 18 warnings and urgings until I finally took him out, without him getting to put the toys away.) This led to an epic meltdown by the exhausted child.
7:30-7:45 Got Nicholas ready for bed and into bed
7:45-8:00 Took a shower to wash off the layers of sweat from my day at the sauna, and hopefully melt some tension away with it.
8:00 Poured myself a dark and stormy. Disappointing. The last few ginger beers we have gotten have been subpar.
8:00-8:30 Dealt with all the work emails that had piled up since 8:30 this morning.
8:30-8:45 Wrote a note to a friend explaining that while I feel horrible about it, I won't be able to go to his wedding because between the travel logistics, the loss of the weekend to go grocery shopping/run errands/do laundry, and the loss of worktime to catch flights that get me there for events, I just can't handle extended trips for weddings two weekends in a row (and absolutely can't miss the one the following weekend). Felt horrible about myself and know I will regret this decision.
8:45-9:00 Wrote this blog post.
9:00 Turning on the tv to watch some trashy tv, accompanied by a bowl of ice cream.
I am so done with this day.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Philly Weekend
Nicholas and I went to Philly for the weekend to see Joe and visit with some of our Maryland friends who are also in the area this year. Or, if you ask Nicholas, we went to Alice's house for the weekend. All three of us had a great time, and I will try to post more about the whole trip later, but for now laundry, unpacking, and getting our bags ready for work/school tomorrow take priority.
So I leave you with one picture, which pretty well captures Nicholas' experience of the weekend:
We've come a long way since those "playdates" when they were 3 months old that were really an excuse for Katie and I to have adult conversation. I got that as well this weekend and am extremely grateful for it, but I just love seeing how much Nicholas and Alice have really become great friends.
So I leave you with one picture, which pretty well captures Nicholas' experience of the weekend:
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| From 2011 September |
Monday, September 5, 2011
Labor Day Weekend Fun
I begin at the end. By the time we arrived at the airport for my flight back to Philadelphia, it had become clear that Nicholas was more upset that he wasn't getting on an airplane than that I was. Quite the level-headed boy is he, which may make this whole process this fall a little easier.
We're never sure how much he understands, but on the surface he's at least telling us that he gets it. He spent most of the week, apparently, excited that I'd be home on the day he didn't have school. When I parked the car Saturday morning, Sarah and Nicholas happened to be at the door to the building. Once I got their attention, Nicholas came bounding over. It's nice to be welcomed home so joyfully.
And we had a fun weekend, even if it was largely swallowed up by errands. Today Nicholas and I had the day to ourselves, as Sarah is down to the final hours of preparation for her first day of teaching tomorrow. We got to go to where Mommy works (you can ask him, he knows!) to help move some furniture and hang some pictures to complete the office decor.
When we left, Nicholas asked to go to a playground. So I offered him a choice: go home to get sunscreen and go outside, or go to the local mall and use the inside playground (which is actually awesome). I will disclaim here that though I may have had a vested interest in one of the answers, I did give him an honest choice. He picked inside.
So we stopped for some Dunkin' Donuts munchkins (so I spoil him ... mommy basically told me to get them for a snack!), and off to the mall we went. That kid plays hard, running from piece to piece to use slides, to walk up the stairs and ramp of a "treehouse," to climb a little rock wall (about four feet high). But he even liked walking around a little bit, which was his only real down time.
Anyway, now I'm sitting at the airport, which is why I'm writing such a longwinded post. I'm glad for your sake I put the only interesting part at the head of the post. If you've read this far, I'm sorry, but you can't have the last five minutes back. With that, I'm off to Philadelphia for another week at the grindstone.
Happy new school year everyone!
We're never sure how much he understands, but on the surface he's at least telling us that he gets it. He spent most of the week, apparently, excited that I'd be home on the day he didn't have school. When I parked the car Saturday morning, Sarah and Nicholas happened to be at the door to the building. Once I got their attention, Nicholas came bounding over. It's nice to be welcomed home so joyfully.
And we had a fun weekend, even if it was largely swallowed up by errands. Today Nicholas and I had the day to ourselves, as Sarah is down to the final hours of preparation for her first day of teaching tomorrow. We got to go to where Mommy works (you can ask him, he knows!) to help move some furniture and hang some pictures to complete the office decor.
When we left, Nicholas asked to go to a playground. So I offered him a choice: go home to get sunscreen and go outside, or go to the local mall and use the inside playground (which is actually awesome). I will disclaim here that though I may have had a vested interest in one of the answers, I did give him an honest choice. He picked inside.
So we stopped for some Dunkin' Donuts munchkins (so I spoil him ... mommy basically told me to get them for a snack!), and off to the mall we went. That kid plays hard, running from piece to piece to use slides, to walk up the stairs and ramp of a "treehouse," to climb a little rock wall (about four feet high). But he even liked walking around a little bit, which was his only real down time.
Anyway, now I'm sitting at the airport, which is why I'm writing such a longwinded post. I'm glad for your sake I put the only interesting part at the head of the post. If you've read this far, I'm sorry, but you can't have the last five minutes back. With that, I'm off to Philadelphia for another week at the grindstone.
Happy new school year everyone!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Too tired for cute
I know there were cute anecdotes from this week, but I'm too tired to remember them. This whole solo-parenting while starting a new job thing is exhausting. And overwhelming. And did I mention exhausting?
This has very much been the "back to school" week for us.
Nicholas started his schoolyear Monday (his school includes a kindergarden, so they really do a distinct schoolyear), which for him involved moving to a new classroom and a slightly modified "schoolyear" instead of "summer camp" school routine.
I had orientations, meetings, more orientations, more meetings, workshops, more meetings . . . you get the picture. And with all this I had to be on campus at very specific times, so we have jump started into our school year routine and time schedule. But, although it has been overwhelming and exhausting, I have had a great week. The more I get to know this school and job, the more I love it. I won't go into all the details of why, but the general summary is that the university and department have such healthy attitudes towards, well, just about everything. That doesn't mean there aren't annoyances or headaches or obnoxious requirements, or that everything is perfect. But a good perspective and good intentions and good old fashioned caring about people go such a long way. I have an insane amount of work to do and yet I am giddy with happiness at being here.
The other "back to school" part of this week is that Joe left on Monday. I don't know if it feels "back to school" for him, but for me and Nicholas that also makes this week a sharp and sudden jump into the routines of the schoolyear.
I can already tell that our diet is going to be pathetic this semester, the house is going to be a mess, and the blog is going to be neglected. But as long as school and work continue to go well and we actually eat, I'm going to go with it.
There's nothing like lowering the bar until you can jump over it.
This has very much been the "back to school" week for us.
Nicholas started his schoolyear Monday (his school includes a kindergarden, so they really do a distinct schoolyear), which for him involved moving to a new classroom and a slightly modified "schoolyear" instead of "summer camp" school routine.
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| From 2011 August |
I will admit that I was anxious about the move. He had just started getting adjusted there. What was moving to a new classroom with new teachers going to do? Would it throw us back again? Luckily most of his classmates were getting bumped up to the next class at the same time, so at least he had his friends (plus a few new ones, who I've been hearing a lot about this week).
But things have been going super well! He loves his new classroom and wants to show it to me every day. And I will admit that it is pretty cool. Even though he is technically still in a toddler classroom (has to do with MA laws about when preschool technically can start), his school has the toddler 3 room (his new level) set up like the preschool classrooms, with lots of fun centers. It is really amazing how much stuff they manage to fit into a small space. And this room is next to the bathroom and they've been taking the kids a couple times a day. Nicholas had to show me this too. (I saw one of his friends doing the same thing when his mom came a few minutes later.) And, possibly best of all from Nicholas' perspective, the transition from toddler 2 to toddler 3 means a transition from the little fenced in playground to the big playground! He is SO excited about this!
And not only is he excited to show me around each day, but he doesn't mind me leaving at all. I suspect this is also in part because he has been the first or second kid there each day. (Yes, I have become that parent who is standing at the door when daycare opens and is one of the last to arrive for pickup--I can't help it and they have more limited hours than his old school so he is still there less time than he was last year.) My random theory is that he feels more ownership when he is the first one there and less intimidated to enter into an already hectic scene. Anyway, whatever the cause, he has had an awesome 4 days (aside from a sunscreen in the eye incident) and I am hoping this continues.
This was also in many ways back to school week for me even though I've been working on campus since mid July and classes don't start until Tuesday.
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| From 2011 August |
The other "back to school" part of this week is that Joe left on Monday. I don't know if it feels "back to school" for him, but for me and Nicholas that also makes this week a sharp and sudden jump into the routines of the schoolyear.
I can already tell that our diet is going to be pathetic this semester, the house is going to be a mess, and the blog is going to be neglected. But as long as school and work continue to go well and we actually eat, I'm going to go with it.
There's nothing like lowering the bar until you can jump over it.
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