Today we had a mission! Mattress. Bedspring. Linens. Anything else was secondary! (Not entirely true – I had put off going to Costco and Meijer for a long time and our list was getting ridiculous.)
After a long day on yesterday, we took advantage of the morning and slept in. (After not a completely restful night, we needed it!) However, once we were awake and ready to go, we headed right out to finish Shawn’s bed. Raj and Shawn went in one car while I drove the van with the back seats flattened in hopes of bringing a mattress and box spring home with us.
Without too much hassle, we picked a full size mattress and bunkie board (a 2 inch box spring to keep the overall bed height low) from Back to Bed. We were able to bring the mattress home with us, but the bunkie board wasn’t in stock. So, we’ll have to pick that up on Tuesday. The salesman assured us that since Shawn is light, he’d be fine sleeping on the mattress without the bunkie board for a few days without the risk of caving the mattress into the support beams.
Next, we drove down the street to Bed, Bath, & Beyond to get linens. We found a great set that would’ve been perfect for his room – green spread with roads, street signs, cars, trucks, etc.
But of course, it was out of stock and discontinued. They just hadn’t taken the display of it down yet. Grr…
Instead, we found another set that’s just as fun. Though it doesn’t really go with his room, it doesn’t clash either and he does have a budding interest, so it’s fine. (We should have more than one set on hand anyway, so we’ll look for another car/truck themed one in the meantime. At least we have something for now.)
On the way home, Shawn fell asleep in the car. While he napped, I went to Meijer and Costco (and picked up dinner while I shopped). When I got home, I threw the new bedding into the laundry and after putting away the goods, we had chicken salad on crescents a la Costco for dinner.
The new bedding took a little longer to dry than I had anticipated, so while there was a mattress to sleep on, Shawn still really had no place to sleep that night… so he joined us… again.
Shawn did a fantastic job at swimming class.We got in the water about 15 minutes before class started, so he had a chance to warm up (and wake up).I let him start with a float-belt with 3 floats on it, which he loves because his head stays above the water, but he does have to work a little, yet he has the freedom to ‘swim’ on his own.Once class started, we traded the float-belt for a noodle.(They do about the same thing, but the noodle is easier to use and not use it between activities.)Shawn’s getting good at blowing bubbles, voluntarily putting each ear into the water, kicking is now second nature, and he’s starting to get the hang of doing arm circles while kicking.He can easily use his arms or legs, but using them all together is a bit tricky – it’s a lot to keep track of!
The older kids in the class after ours were participating in a water safety exercise, which the teachers always hold on the second to last class of each session.The teachers don’t actually get into the water at all, instead they coach from the deck.The students put on life vests, learned how to jump into the water wearing one, how to swim on their fronts and backs wearing one, how to get into a canoe-type boat and maneuver it around the water.Shawn was in awe.Though we had been in the water for almost two hours, he didn’t want to leave!He was amazed at what was going on in the other side of the pool – especially when the boat was involved.Once I got him out of the pool, we of course had to warm up in the showers.Apparently, it took a while for Shawn to thaw out because he didn’t want to get out of the shower either!It appears that he’s either turning into a fish… or a human raisin!
We came home just long enough to pick up Baron for his grooming appointment.While he was getting beautified, Shawn and I visited the library.When we pulled into the parking lot, Shawn asked, “Is there a concert?” I think he was disappointed that we at the library just to get books this time.He enjoys pulling books off shelves, occasionally reading a few, and putting others into our check-out basket, so he got over his regret pretty quickly.The librarian helped us find a small stack of rebus books so Shawn can help read the stories.He was very excited about them, which got her all a flutter!
On the way home, Yuppie Puppie called to say that Baron was ready to be picked up.By the time we made it home, Raj was done with work.It was a busy morning and I fell asleep with Shawn during his nap time.Though sleeping in a rocking chair isn’t the best place for a nap, it was absolutely worth it (and cuddling made it an easy thing to do)!
Later in the evening, Raj started converting Shawn’s toddler bed to the next stage.We couldn’t find anywhere on the boxes or papers what size bed the next level was.So, we didn’t know if we needed a new mattress or what size it needed to be.Not the best planning or design for the bed company!The only thing we could do was – put the thing together and find out!
After a badly pinched finger (Raj’s) and an awfully bruised shin (mine), we discovered that Shawn’s new bed is… a full!Not a twin!The little man is going to get lost in the monstrosity!The enormous converted bed not only required a mattress and bedspring (and linens), but we had to move other furniture around to get it to fit in his shrinking room.Amazingly enough, we only had to move two bookshelves to a different wall and all his furniture is still in his room. However, since there was no mattress or bedspring, Shawn had no place to sleep that night… so he joined us again.
After almost 14 hours of sleeping, I finally had to wake Shawn around 9:45 am.I would’ve let him sleep a little longer, but the cleaning ladies were here and I prefer to get out of the house so we’re not in their way.Besides, we had exciting plans today!The Magic and Illusion of Rick Allen was being presented at the Elk Grove Library.I found out about it through the with Northwest Suburban Families group, though I didn’t actually see (or recognize) anyone there.The description about the show was:
With personal stories and mind blowing magic, you will see and hear how Rick, as a ten year old boy, used reading to help achieve his goal of becoming a magician. During his show, you can actually hear your children "ooh" and "ahh" when beautiful live doves make their magical appearance, a table seems to float, and yes, one of the kids from the audience will levitate in mid-air!
And, it was right on.I tried to watch and predict how some of his tricks were done, but he was a pretty good master of illusion, because I couldn’t tell how he got the white doves to appear from behind scarves, a rabbit from a box that looked empty, or a second grader to float!He did a decent job touching on the importance of imagination, reading, science, and education in general and how they are integral to his magic; but, I think the kids just wanted to see more tricks!
Workers began replacing the shingles on the roof of our building today, but won’t actually make it to our end until about Wednesday.With all the old shingles being thrown from above, I’ll be sure not to park in the driveway when they get here!
Their work, even though they were at the other end of our building, made naptime a bit challenging.With all the hammering, nail gunning, yelling, radio blaring, and crashing debris on the ground, it wasn’t exactly a peaceful or relaxing afternoon.I was hesitant to close the windows to block some of the noise because of the absolutely gorgeous weather yet again today.(Partly cloudy, high 76°F / low 54°F)But, I promised myself that if the kids had trouble sleeping, I’d shut the windows right away.Luckily, the commotion outside faded into white noise fairly quickly, because both fell asleep without much dispute.
Abby woke just in time for Shelley to come home early.They were going to a doctor’s appointment for Abby and needed to leave a few minutes early to get there on time. Shawn woke just in time to say goodbye to them.
A little while later, Grandma Fanny came over for her English lesson.I introduced the short u sound today.She loves the sets of picture cards I’ve given her for each short vowel sound.I can tell that she practices with them all the time.I told her that I have an activity for Thursday that will review all the vowel sounds.She was a little anxious to hear that, but I think she’s ready to apply the sounds to more than just the set of pictures she’s been working with.
After our lesson, Shawn declared that we needed to go to the store for milk and salad.He was right about the milk, but I’m not sure where the need for salad came from!He said that he wanted to get it for Dadda!I agreed to the trip, but tried to explain that we had enough salad already and Dadda wouldn’t be home to eat it for dinner tonight anyway.(Raj worked late and then met up with Shrenik to watch the Bears’ game.)
When we got back home after our grocery run, I asked Shawn what he wanted for dinner.He replied, “Milk.”Good thing we just bought some!“What else would you like to eat?” “Carrots.”“Anything else?” “Potatoes.”Alrighty!You said it!So, we had seasoned potatoes, some carrots, and some leftovers.Shawn did a great job eating and then decided he didn’t need any dessert.I was happy to get in so many vegetables after such a rich dinner last night!
After dinner, Shawn earned his final sticker on his Spiderman Potty Paper.(He almost had a meltdown when there was one more sticker to go because he reeeeeally wanted a ‘toy surprise’ NOW!But, we managed to hold off for another 30 minutes until it was time to try again and he earned his last sticker.It was worth the wait.
He pulled a heavy tow truck from the Big Black Bag of Toy Surprises.We even figured out how to hook it up with the ice cream truck, and (as long as we were extremely gentle) we could actually tow it around the floor.Shawn seemed pretty happy with his new truck.He was sure to show Raj and tell him all about it when he got home.
When Raj came home, he said he finally made an appointment to see a doctor about his sinus issues (that he’s been having for months).Apparently, Raj has a sinus infection, which explains why none of the over-the-counter pills and sprays that he’s been using religiously have helped at all.So, over the course of the treatment of the new meds (10 days), he should notice an improvement.(Keeping my fingers crossed!)
My cousin, Andrea, made a post on FaceBook that I had to share:
EIGHT DAYS of 100% sun—glorious start to the best month of the year! ;) Oct oct oct...
There was no Spanish class this morning.Language Stars is on Spring Break.Instead, we took a fieldtrip to Costco.
As we were getting in the car, both kids climbed right in to their car seats!Surprise!Shawn can do it now, too!Just like Abby’s first time by herself, he got in as if he had been doing it easily for months.The give away that it was a new conquest was his immense squeal of delight, gleaming smile from ear to ear, and contagious giggle that followed.Now, for their next goal:buckling themselves in!
At Costco, we found a new dog bed for Baron.However, just like everything else sold there, it was economy sized!Since we had already been filling the cart, there was no room inside for the gigantic cushion, so I balanced it on top of the other groceries.It actually worked very well because when it was positioned just right, Shawn and Abby could lean way back and rest their heads on the super plush, fuzzy bed.They had the softest shopping cart seats of any other kids in the warehouse!
A few aisles later, I was looking for a barrel of mini pretzel squares.(I think they’re called Snaps, but I’m not sure.)When I couldn’t find them, Shawn caught on to my disappointment and echoed, “Bubber, bubber, bubber!” (Bummer, bummer, bummer!)Abby giggled each time she heard us protest.(I think we even got a couple of smiles from other shoppers walking by!)We did find pretzel rods instead, so it wasn’t a total failure.Shawn actually would rather have the big sticks or full sized pretzels anyway, but I still like the size of the mini shapes.I had to distract him from seeing the new barrel in the cart, because he wanted to dive right in!
Naptime brought on more freckle kisses from Shawn.I just wanted to give him a huge hug and not let go.
This evening I hosted my first (and probably only) Tastefully Simple party.Thanks to everyone who came.Abby, Anna, Veer, and Shawn played with Raj and Veer’s Dad (Shrenik) in the basement, while the ladies sampled the goods in the living room and dining room. I will admit that, while hosting these parties isn’t my ‘thing’, I did have fun having everyone over – to socialize if nothing else.
When the house finally emptied and quieted down and I finished cleaning up the dishes and leftovers.It was well past bedtime (for all of us).Shawn had a tough time going to sleep and I had a tough time staying asleep!
Shawn did not sleep well last night; therefore, I did not sleep well last night.Ugh.This morning came much faster than I was ready for it to.Rats.As Raj was leaving for work, he suggested that we skip Shawn’s swimming lesson so that we could both sleep in, since Shawn was sleeping soundly now.Though it was tempting, I knew that would throw off naptime and probably tonight’s sleep too, so I rolled out of bed and braced myself for the start of the day.
Once I was dressed and ready, I went in to wake Shawn, who I found sitting up in bed with a giant smile.“I had a good nap!” he announced.Well, it’s a good thing, because Momma didn’t!He saw our gym bag in my hand and said, “Shawn and Momma go swimming pool!”With that, we got him out of bed and out of his pajamas.Before I put his swimming gear on, I sat him on the potty seat… just to see what would happen.It must have been good timing because after just a few seconds - SUCCESS!Shawn peed in the toilet!YIPPEEEEE!!Despite my rough night, today’s starting look not so bad after all!
We got to the YMCA half an hour early.The lifeguard on duty let us get in the pool even though our teacher wasn’t there yet.Shawn did great.The water was slightly warmer than last week, but he still shivered.I helped Shawn practice climbing out of the pool and then scoot back in.His arms were much more relaxed today and he was more willing to climb out and “jump” back in again.I was hoping that being more active would help warm him up and stop his shivering, but no such luck.Gradually, a few other students arrived and Shawn grew more and more observant.Our friend, Tanner, and his mom, whose name I still don’t know, were back to class today.However, there was still no teacher.A new lifeguard on duty came over and asked us if we were a part of a class, “Because all the classes are cancelled this week for Spring Break.”What?!?!Our teachers told us that Spring Break is NEXT week!I guess that explains the small class size and no teachers!Arg.Luckily, the lifeguard didn’t make us leave; instead, he brought over a crate of toys and encouraged us to take advantage of the unintentional “open swim” time.So, we did.The parents joked that aside from acting out a few nursery rhymes in a big circle, we’d probably be doing about the same thing even if the teachers had been there.We agreed that it was nice to get an extra day of swim time out of our class membership.Shawn and I finally needed to get going because Baron had an appointment at the groomers, but I think we’ll try to come early next week and see if we can get in the pool early again!
We rushed home, grabbed Baron, and rushed back out to the groomers (practically the same area as the YMCA was).While “Baron taking a bath,” Shawn and I visited a thrift store down the street.We found a couple of outdoorsy toys and two shirts that I think/hope will work as smocks, if I can get up the guts to have Shawn and Abby do some artsy-crafty projects.With the hopes of finding some “foodrink” to snack on until Baron was ready to be picked up, we stopped at a deli that I had never noticed before.It turned out to be a Polish grocery store, with nothing we could munch on there (mostly dried and canned goods); however, I found the mother load of KinderEgg Surprises!Like a kid in a candy store, I grabbed a handful of them to use at Easter.(We’ll see if I can hold out that long!)
When we got back to the car, I got the phone call that Baron was done.Then it was home for lunch and then naptime.Just as I was sitting down to read Shawn a story for naptime, Raj came home.So, we came back downstairs and played with Dadda for a little while before trying for a nap again.This time, though he had been running around like a hyperactive squirrel moments before, Shawn fell fast asleep.
We went out to dinner to celebrate Raj’s birthday, though it was really with Shawn in mind.The 2Toots Train Whistle Grill was on Main Street in Glen Ellyn, steps away from the train tracks.(It was really much more of a greasy diner, but food isn’t what they’re known for.)Each table in the diner was situated alongside the tracks of a model train, which delivered the diners’ meals!Shawn was in awe from the moment we walked in.Raj was able to feed him while he focused on the trains that surrounded us: on the model train track, on the wall décor, on the small tv in the corner, on the real tracks just outside window, everywhere!Shawn was so enamored with the place that I’m actually not so sure he even realized he was eating!We’ll definitely have to go back, even though the “old fashioned comfort food” wasn’t very impressive.
When our meal was over and Shawn regained his ability to blink, we headed home.Mona was on her way over to spend the evening with Shawn, while Raj and I enjoyed a simple movie Date Night on our own.Nice!
This morning, both kids took turns sitting on our new potty seat.Neither of them did anything while on there, but it was very exciting!
In the car on the way to Open Gym at Gymboree, Abby counted, “Uno, dos, tres!” Diego would be very impressed, I’ll be sure to let him know tomorrow!
At Open gym, Abby rode a teeter-totter/rocking horse and exclaimed, “Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!...”One of the other moms jokingly asked, “So, she likes horses, eh?”On the other side of the room, Shawn climbed up an A-frame.It had skinny round rungs instead of slots for the steps on each side, so it was a little more tricky than what he normally climbs.Still, he managed to climb up and down “all by my-self!”I think I held my breath a little while he did it, but boy was he proud of himself afterwards!There was a parachute flung over the monkey bars by the A-frame.It generated some major static electricity and Shawn fell victim to it while he played under it.
Shawn and Abby also had fun going down the slides.Shawn made sure to give another friend a chance by saying, “Sundus’s turn!”Later, when she and her mother were getting ready to leave, he said, “Bye-bye, Sundus!” though he was rather quiet, so I don’t think they could hear him.
After Open Gym, we stopped by Dominicks for some groceries.The check-out clerk thought Abby and Shawn were “absolutely adorable!” and gave them “Thank you!” stickers used to mark over-sized purchases.Abby and Shawn were thrilled with their sticky accolades.
Shawn, Baron, and I took a two hour walk after Abby went home.It was just to the park by the train station and back, but stopping to look at every pine cone, branch, and fallen leaf along the route took a very long time.Shawn has gotten very confident climbing the playground equipment to get to the slides.He has no interest in the short slides at all – only the big, bumpy, and spiraling ones for this big boy!It was getting pretty chilly on our walk home and definitely time for dinner.It’s just so hard to leave the park behind, so we walked home via the path by the dog park to help distract Shawn from having to say bye to his slides.The dog park was busy, so there were lots of dogs to see as they ran over each other to greet us at the fence.I felt bad for Baron since we weren’t actually going into the dog park – such a tease, I know.Sorry, buddy.Shawn’s still at eye-level with most of the dogs there and can barely hold his own against Baron (or his tail!) when he gets excited.When he gets a little older, I’ll reinstate our dog park membership and we’ll all go play in there. In the meantime, it's time for dinner!
