Lake Geneva - FAIL

Well, this weekend didn’t turn out quite like we had planned.

Baron wasn’t feeling well on Wednesday of last week, but by Thursday morning, he seemed to have the pep back in his step. So, I figured that whatever had upset his stomach and exhausted him on Wednesday had worked its way out of his system. Therefore, I felt okay about dropping him off at Chew Chew Doggie Daycare and for the weekend while we went to Lake Geneva for the annual Puri Cousins’ trip. I gave the boarding staff a heads up that he had been sick the day before and assured them that I’d only be an hour away if he hadn’t actually recovered and needed to be picked up.

Less than an hour later, I got a phone call saying that he definitely had not recovered and was still indeed sick. They didn’t think it was necessary for me to pick him up yet, but they’d keep him under close observation and let me know how he was doing later that evening. When I called later, when Raj was preparing to leave work and join us in Lake Geneva, they thought Baron had stabilized and would be okay after all.

With my mind at ease, Shawn and I played at the indoor water park with the cousins. Raj met all of us at a pizza place for dinner. Then we returned to the hotel for movies and games in one of the cousins’ rooms.

  



 

When we finally retired to our respective rooms, wiped out from the excitement from the day, the night took a sharp turn down hill.

Shawn was awake all night with horrible congestion and coughing. It hit him very suddenly. He had been fine all day and even during dinner. I noticed his nose was runny while we were playing games, but when he was trying to sleep, it was next to impossible for the poor guy to breathe through his nose. We tried propping him up and even opening his nasal passages in a steamy bathroom, but he/we still didn’t get more than an hour of sleep at any given stretch. He was miserable. Eventually, Raj went to a local grocery store and picked up some medicine for him. It helped significantly, but the sun was already on the rise and we were all exhausted. Finally, some rest.

Until, my phone rang.

Baron needed to be picked up. They were worried he was dehydrated and he wasn’t getting any better. He wasn’t playful at all and just wanted to lay down and sleep – very not like him. I immediately got in the car and drove back to get him. Along the way I reached his vet and scheduled an appointment for her to see him. If I could get there in time, they’d squeeze us in before the office closed. When I reached Baron, he was excited that I was picking him up, but I could tell it wasn’t because he was feeling better. We went straight to the vet.

Though we had to wait a while for our turn, I was grateful Baron could be seen that day at all. While we waited, he laid at my feet soaking in the petting and resting. Meanwhile, an 8 month old Great Dane puppy (who was already hip height to his owner!) was eager to greet everyone who walked by him and couldn’t sit still no matter how hard his owner tried to persuade him.

Dr. Stewart took a blood test and did a rectal exam in search of parasites or any other clues as to what was ailing Baron. He had no fever and she said he didn’t seem dehydrated yet. I was relieved to find out that she didn’t think hospitalization would be necessary. The test for Giardia parasite came back negative – phew! She gave him an antiemetic injection to settle his stomach and cans of I/D dog food to try to get him to eat again. She also prescribed metronidole (antibiotic) pills to give him every 12 hours. The rest of the test results wouldn’t be ready until 8 am the next morning (Saturday). She didn’t recommend that he go back to boarding in case he had some sort of virus, though she thought he’d be fine by himself for a few hours at a time …if we wanted to change our vacation to a staycation.

Meanwhile, Shawn’s medicine seemed to be helping him a lot. He was finally able to sleep, so he and Raj slept in to make up for the lack of sleep over night. When they got up, they spent the day at the lake on their own. They took a one hour boat tour of the lake’s historical sites and had lunch downtown. 

"Let's go there!" Shawn was mapping out their course.

Baron’s stomach had calmed down and I thought he’d be ok for a few hours, like Dr. Stewart had said. So, I drove back to Lake Geneva and joined the family for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. We ate much too much, but had a lot of fun. By the time we got back to the hotel and everyone was prepping for another night of games, it was time for me to get back to Baron. Shawn had fallen asleep while we were still at the restaurant, so Raj suggested that he’d be better off sleeping in his own bed. When we got home, I was able to transfer him to bed and change him into a pullup for the night without waking him. He was out.

Baron hadn’t had any other issues since picking him up from the doggy hotel. I think the antiemetic shot did the trick. He still seemed wiped out, but at least the vomiting and diarrhea had stopped. I unloaded the few things I brought back from Lake Geneva and crashed into bed. I let Baron sleep with me, but we were both so tired from the past few days, I don’t think either of us moved all night long.

I set my alarm clock to wake me as soon as Dr. Stewart’s office opened on Saturday. Unfortunately, she still had to analyze the test results, so she called me back about an hour later. Baron’s blood counts were normal. Though his white blood cells were slightly high, she thought it was a normal reaction to what he had been going through. He was a little dehydrated, but again not enough that she was concerned. His ALT liver test was slightly elevated, but she explained it was probably a result from having diarrhea. None of the lab results showed any concerns and since his energy was starting to come back, he wasn’t vomiting or having diarrhea anymore, and he was starting to act like himself, Dr. Stewart didn’t think I needed to bring him back in for further examination – unless his symptoms returned. I could reintroduce his usual food in another day, but he needed to stay away from other dogs for a few more days.

Shawn seemed to be better too. He slept soundly all night – over 13 hours total! His cough returned a little when he woke up, but significantly better than the night before.

Raj slept in at the hotel and then packed everything up to come home. I told him to enjoy the time with his cousins, but I think he had had enough excitement, too.

It was nice to be home and have everybody on the mend.

We spent the rest of the weekend moving some furniture around and working on the office/guest room. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but we made a good dent. It’s not quite what either of us had planned to do this weekend, but the whole Lake Geneva experience wasn’t working out for us very well either! Besides, the cousins will do the same trip next year. We’ll try it again then and keep our fingers crossed for better luck.

Brilliant! (Toes)

Abby had a rough night and wasn’t feeling well this morning, so Shelley kept her home to recuperate. So, Shawn and I went to Gymboree on our own.

Today was our first day without Play & Learn Level 6. It felt strange, but I know it’s the right thing to do. Instead, we started with a Hawaiian theme in Music 3. We stayed to play in Open Gym and then Shawn attended School Skills class. I contemplated accomplishing a few things while he was in class, but opted for a manicure and pedicure down the block instead! I missed eavesdropping on what he did in class, but I’m convinced that this was a perfectly wonderful way to spend the time. I know this won’t be a weekly routine, but since I can’t even remember the last time I pampered myself like this, it was a brilliant treat.

Shawn and I snacked on our way home, but I think I over did it. It’s the first time in either pregnancy that I remember feeling a bit queasy. I think I’ll take it easy with food the rest of the day…

Yawn

*Yawn*

Shawn woke up around 6:30 am this morning.  This is extremely out of character, as I normally have to drag him out of bed between 8:00 - 8:30 am during the week.  I was really looking forward to sleeping in today too, of course.  So much for that dream! 

*Yawn*

He woke up once earlier in the night, but he went back to sleep pretty easily.  This time, he was wide awake and I couldn’t even talk him into snuggling for very long!  He was ready to play, wanted to get Baron from the kitchen, and resisted the notion of anything deviating from his plan.

*Yawn*

The catch – he’s definitely got a cold.  In spite of the medicine I gave him (which he loves), he spent the majority of the morning sneezing, coughing, sniffing, and dribbling all over everything.  (My efforts to teach him to cover his mouth have obviously failed tremendously.)  I made him a cub of chicken broth in a fun apple-shaped cup with a squeezie spout (like a sports bottle), to encourage him to drink plenty of fluids.  My scheme worked initially, but you can lead a toddler to a sippy, but you can’t make him drink! 

*Yawn*

Shawn played, asked “Let’s get out of here!” and “What are we going to do today?” as if he was in tip-top shape.  Yet, when I sat him on my bed to read a story (after much cajoling to get him to actually sit and not stand), the next thing I realized, he was fast asleep and snoring softly.  It was only 11:00 am.  (His normal naptime is around 1:30 or 2:00 pm.)

But, now I’m awake!

A Sick Day - Abby's Turn

Abby hasn’t been feeling well the past few days, so this morning, when she still wasn’t feeling well and her fever returned, Bill decided to keep her home.  We have nothing on the schedule today, so I let Shawn sleep in and wake on his own.  He’s still getting over the tail end of his icky-ness from last week too, so I figured that the extra sleep would be good for him.  (As Oma reminded me, “He is his mother’s son, afterall!”  We do love our sleep… in the mornings, at least!)

Once he did wake up, Shawn met me at the top of the stairs with a big smile.  Nice!  I like those kinds of wake-ups!  After I helped him change out of his clothes from yesterday that he fell asleep in and into fresh clothes, I asked him what he’d like for breakfast.  “Eggs!  …and yogurt!”  That was easy.  We shared a double egg omelet, though I would’ve preferred to add cheese or something to it he politely requested, “Just eggs, please.”  Afterwards, Shawn helped me clear the table.  Then, while I was emptying the dishwasher, he helped me by sorting and putting away the clean silverware.  When he was done, he gave me a hug for being such a good helper!  (I'm not sure what I said to get him so excited about sorting silverware, but I hope I can remember it for next time!)

 

A little later, we tracked Oma down at work via Skype and chatted for a little while.  We wouldn’t want her to accomplish too much in one day!  We also figured out how to add email subscriptions to our blogs.  This will definitely help me stay on top of the news from the Barony and the NJ Hardwicks (if we can get her to join the bandwagon) better. 

During lunch, Grandma Fanny showed up at our doorstep unexpectedly.  In her very broken (yet improving) English, she explained that her passport issues were finally resolved and that she was on her way to O’Hare Airport hoping to try to get on a stand-by flight back home to Hong Kong.  Needless to say, she wouldn’t be coming over for our English lessons anymore, as long as she could get on a flight.  (This summer, she was planning a trip to meet some friends in Toronto.  The night before her flight, her daughter was helping her get ready and realized that they had let her passport expire – by. ONE. day.  So, she couldn’t go on her trip.  For the past three or four months, her family has been trying to get her passport fixed.  The winters here are very hard on her, there’s a big family wedding back in Hong Kong coming up, and her husband, who she hasn’t seen almost a year, is still in Hong Kong. She got her new passport today, and she’s very excited to be able to go home again.)  We gave each other a big hug and I wished her a safe trip home.  Though I don’t think she understood the words I was saying, I’m sure she understood the idea.  She turned around and hurried back to her daughter’s house two doors down from us. 

I’ll miss our twice weekly sessions, deciphering her attempts to tell me a story in English, trying to explain certain spelling patterns or grammar rules in as simple and basic language as I can manage, and (mostly) interacting with a student who is so incredibly motivated to learn something that is challenging (ahem - foreign!) to her.  I’ve had a lot of fun dabbling into teaching / tutoring again and I feel like I’ve actually been able to use some of the things from my Reading Specialist program, which I haven’t needed a whole lot in the past year.  I’m happy that she finally gets to go home again, but I’m sad to see her go.

A few minutes later, our doorbell rang again!  Grandma Fanny came back just to give Shawn a pack of his favorite orange flavored yogurt drinks that she picks up for him each time she shops in Chinatown.  They’re the perfect size for little hands and little mouths.  He loves to guzzle them down and since they’re small servings, I don’t mind too much that they’re really mostly sugar.  After I thanked her profusely for being so thoughtful and generous, I was able smuggle the drinks into the refrigerator without Shawn seeing them.  They’ll be a nice surprise for dessert or something later.  I'll need to ration them out, since we won't be getting any more!

When Shawn started to slow down at lunch time, I asked him if he wanted to finish lunch or if it was time for his nap.  The first time I asked him, he said he wanted more lunch.  The second time I asked him, he admitted he was ready for a nap.  WOAH!  I think this is a first!  I can’t think of a time he’s ever been ‘ready’ for a nap or bedtime!  Put this day on the calendar!

While he napped, I intended to accomplish a list of jobs around the house.  Instead, I emailed more with Oma, Skyped with Jennifer and Jonathan, and blogged a bit.  Before I knew it, hours had past and I heard Shawn rattling his doorknob, announcing that he was awake.  Darn!  Well, maybe I’ll get to those things later!

After a bit of play time together, we went to Staples to pick up a few supplies for a gift certificate that I made for Mothers & More.  We are contributing to two new mom gift baskets that will be put into a silent raffle.  I’ve created a glossy card that opens to reveal a free year membership to our chapter.  I also wanted to attach our business card to the inside, but I didn’t want to be permanently affixed.  That’s what led me to Staples, in search of temporary, repositionable glue or tape or something.  Luckily, I found some!  The dispenser looks like white-out tape, but it basically turns paper into Post-It notes!  Now, our business card is inside the card and won’t fall out, but can be removed without destroying it or the gift certificate.  Perfect!

We also stopped at Costco before meeting Raj at home for dinner.  At the end of the day, I didn’t get done nearly as much as I had hoped (especially for having only one child and no scheduled events today), but now that I see it all in writing, I guess it wasn’t a total blow-off of a day!

I got a text from Shelley saying that they took Abby to the doctor, had a throat culture, but everything is clear – even her ears.  She just has a cold.  That’s great news.  Therefore, she’ll be back with us tomorrow!  Shawn will be very happy to see her again.

And Now... Presenting the Amazing Sleeping and Peeing SHAWN!

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...

Love it.

A Visit from Uncle Dave

My brother-in-law, Dave, came into town on a business trip last night.  It was really nice - We actually got a little more face time with him than we expected!  He took a cab here last night. (Raj was going to pick him up after a meeting, but it turned out that they were practically racing each other home.)  We hung out for just a little while last night before bed. 

This morning, Shawn woke up around 6:30 and didn't go back to sleep.  So, while I was getting him dressed, Dave peaked his head into Shawn's room - I think it put Shawn into shock!  He didn't know what to do, so he went completely mute (even though Dave heard him gabbing away seconds before).  We all had a quick breakfast before Raj took Dave to his meeting on his way to his office.  It turns out that the building where Dave was working in was only a few miles away from our house!

Then, I got a phone call saying that, sure enough, Abby was sick and staying home today. So, I texted Dave offering lunch.  I picked him up around noon.  We went to TGIFridays.  (Lunch took a little longer that it probably should have, but he didn't seem too concerned about getting back right away.)  During lunch, Shawn finally opened up and actually played with Dave over his tomatoes and noodles... and a very special choo-choo train toy.  We drove Dave back to work and offered him a ride to the airport when he was done, but didn't hear from him, so I'm assuming he took a cab instead.  (He mentioned at lunch that he didn't want me to worry about rush hour traffic on the way back from the airport.) 

Glad Dave's company sent him out to "Fly Over Country!"  We're happy to provide non-hotel accommodations any time!

Who is This Little Girl?

Abby didn’t seem herself today.  Her congestion was a little better yesterday, but she just wasn’t as energetic and upbeat as she normally is.  In music class, she was very quiet, clingy, and only participated a little bit; though she did show her stuff during the “Ba-Ba” activity again!  She didn’t have much of an appetite during breakfast or lunch and spent most of her mealtimes just playing with her food.  In fact, during lunch, after pushing her food around for a little while, she looked up and asked, “Night-Night?”  (If that’s not a sure sign that something’s up, I don’t know what is!)  She slept from about 12:45 until around 4:00!  I’m thinking something still not quite right for that little girl…

Viva the Boogily, Woogily Piggy!

Abby stayed home with coughing and congestion today.  Her coughing yesterday sent up a red flag for me, but I was hoping she’d fight it off.  Instead, she has a doctor’s appointment to help her get back to normal faster.

With Abby at home, it turned out that Shawn was the only student in our last day of German class!  (Rosemary and her mom must still be coping with whatever was going on a few weeks ago.)  Shawn took advantage of having all Nina’s attention to himself.  While we practiced the names of shapes, he was really involved and spoke a LOT.  He really did great.

As we said, “Danke schön!” (thank you) and, “Auf wiedersehen!” (good bye), Nina gave Shawn a heart shaped sticker, which he immediately stuck to his forehead!  It took me a moment, but I realized that was the pretty close to the place his band-aid had been for the past week or so!  I guess he missed having something up there!

In music class, we started a “swing and jazz” unit.  We know have a new favorite song The Boogily, Woogily Piggy, which is a jazzed up version of “This little piggy went to market…”  In honor of the new song, Ms. Kim stamped the kids’ hands with a little pig rubber stamp in addition to the usual music class stamp.  Shawn was certainly ‘jazzed’ up after class – he didn’t want to leave!

When we eventually got home, Shawn’s energy finally wore out and he took a three hour nap.  Phew!  Later, we Skyped with Oma, Opa, Gamble & Buddy.  Shawn loves to see them and asks about them all the time.  Even though he gets a bit antsy sitting in front of the computer and ends up running around from room to room in the background of our Skype conversation, he likes to check in and see if they are still there.

Shawn had us giggling this evening as he hollered his favorite non-sense line over and over.  Raj and I agree that it sounds an awful lot like, “Viva Toya!” which of course means something like, “Long Live Toys!” He’s been saying this for months and gets really excited when he says it, or when we say it to him.  We’ve figured out that we can get him to smile and get pretty silly just by starting, “Viva…” We have no idea how this started, where he got the phrase from, or why he thinks it’s so great, but it is a lot of fun!

Nibbles and More!

One of the parent groups that I’m a member of posted an outing to Nibbles Play and Café .  Not many people showed up, but it was our first outing sponsored by them, so we wouldn’t have known anyone anyway.  Regardless, it was a lot of fun!  It turns out that the cafe is about 7 minutes from Raj's Dad's house... I'm still trying decide if that's a good thing or not... I'm a bit torn...

It's not very big, but big enough.  We stayed for about 2 hours.  When we were getting ready to leave, Shawn didn't show that he was losing interest or that he was really all that ready to go yet!  (Just keep 'em wanting more, right?!)  The majority of the place was a cafe with pretty good menu of soups, salads, sandwiches, coffees/teas, and baked treats, but it also had a super kid friendly menu, too (like goldfish crackers by the scoop).  At the counter, there was a sign similar to what was posted on the website about unattended children being given lots of free cake and coffee, but this sign included that there would be a puppy involved, too!

Beyond the dining tables were areas sectioned off with waist-high walls.  (The website stated about how green and environmentally responsible the materials they chose were:  bamboo floors, cork walls...)  Each section had a different theme, including a train table, a pretend zone that was set up as a vet's office (with costumes of various animals as well as scrubs, depending on the character you pretended to be while visiting in the vet's clinic), a library with books that were associated with the theme from the pretend zone (it also had some random toys like dinosaurs and Legos), a construction zone (with not only toy hammers, etc., but shoots and ramps that velcro-ed to the wall), a mirror with various funny eyes and mouths to try on, and a belly-baby and crawlers only zone.  Parents could sip their lattes at the table and still see their kids in the different play areas, if they didn't want to actually go play, too.  Shawn was having so much fun in the different play areas that I don't think he noticed whether we were there with him, at the table, or back in the car!  (Hard to believe, I know!) 

Though I didn't check them out myself, I heard that they even have mini-toilets and sinks for the little kids.  One of the moms from the parent group said that her 3 ½ year old had gone to the bathroom four times in the two hours they were there, just because he thought they were "so cool!"  He didn't want her to go with him to help, because he could manage it by himself - SCORE! 

As we were leaving, a guitarist playing kiddie music was gathering a small crowd and passing out kiddie instruments.  There was also birthday party that was getting started.  (I'm not sure if the guitarist was there on his own or if he was hired for the party, but all of the kiddie-patrons seemed to be dancing and joining in, whether they were invited to the party or not.)

It would be a nice place to meet up with friends that also have kids (up to age 6 or so), so that parents can catch up while the kids play. I saw one mom that was working on Excel graphs & charts on her laptop and flipping through books and notes at her table.  Her kids (~2yo & ~3yo) didn't seem to mind that she was busy - they were pretty well entertained on their own.

We'll definitely go back sometime!

As if the day wasn’t exciting enough already, we were going to have lunch with Dadajee afterwards, but he wasn’t feeling well, so we brought him up some soup instead.  He must have been pretty bad because he was too nervous to let Shawn in the house for fear of spreading his germs.  For the few minutes we were there, he kept a handkerchief over his nose and mouth.  Had he been feeling better, he was going to come with us to Uncle Gulshan and Aunt Kusum’s house for a big Puri Family dinner to welcome Cousin Tony from India.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t feeling well enough to go.

Cousin Tony was only in town on business for a very short time, so we all got together to see him before he left.  The kids played while the adults played poker and/or talked.  It didn’t take very long for Shawn to warm up to all the people and run off to play with the cousins.  As usual, there was more delicious food than we could possibly eat, though I certainly tried my best!  Auntie sent everyone home with containers to enjoy later.  Yum!

I’m full!  I’m exhausted!  I need another weekend!

It was just Shawn and me today. Abby had a doctor’s appointment, so she didn’t come over. We stayed home for most of the day, too. We didn’t go to Gymboree’s Open Gym since Shawn has a bit of a cold and sneezing - a lot. With all of his sneezing, we’re certainly keeping Kleenex in business! After hearing me say it all day, Shawn surprised me this afternoon when he told himself, “Bless you, Shawn!”

Shawn’s full of surprises today. He was playing in his crib while I was trying to get a few things done. All of a sudden, I heard him talking to himself. When I peeked into his room, he was using a toy noise maker as a microphone and this is what I saw... 

The funny thing is - he's never said that in class and, though I've gotten him to say it at home, it's never been without being prompted!  I may need to show Diego the video as proof that he can do it!

We went to the YMCA to register Shawn for swimming lessons that will start later in February. While we were there, we got a tour of the facility. The woman leading us around showed us the locker rooms, the pool, the child care center, and a huge room with basketball courts and exercise equipment. (She must not have been very busy because she talked a lot!) We didn’t get a full membership to the YMCA, but we did finalize Shawn’s registration. Right now, we’re the only ones signed up, but the woman assured me that they only need two students to keep the class going. I doubt that’ll be an issue and I’m excited to start our swimming lessons!

When we got home, Shawn fell fast asleep. He didn’t sleep well last night, so this was a much needed nap! While he slept, I kept my eyes on the latest weather report. It’s not looking good! There’s big snow storm in the forecast for Wednesday. I’m really hoping it holds off at least until Thursday – we have a big day planned for Wednesday! Our first German class at Language Stars (we are taking advantage of a special offer to try four classes of a second language for free) and our first Mothers & More outing for moms and tots to a place called Little Monkey Bizness are on Wednesday. Keeping my fingers crossed…