A Lean Baron

I was just at Baron's wellness checkup with his vet. He's current on all vaccines, etc. now & his parasite bloodwork check comes in tomorrow. (They said that no news from them means good news for Baron.)

Now, the newsworthy part of his checkup...  He was 50 lbs in Aug. (He's ranged from 50-58lbs for a while.)  He's 42 lbs today!! Vet said it's a great weight for him & he doesn't need to lose any more. (He'll be happy about that!) She asked what we've done to lose it all & I told her we changed food brands (less grains) & he's on the healthy weight formula of that brand, though I couldn't remember the exact name of it off the top of my head. Plus, I've been making our own dog cookies. They suggested green beans, celery, & broccoli also make great treat fillers. (Peanut butter & carrots were the obvious ones.) We'll have to try those in the next batch!
I think we'll go home & have a treat!

Gymnastics & Gymboree

After not seeing Abby for four days, Shawn was thrilled to have Abby back!

Shawn must have really missed Abby- he didn't seem to mind when she sidled up next to him & 'got in his space' in Gymnastics today!  During warm-ups, it looked like they were working hard when asked to hop backwards and crab-crawl.  They were tricky!  In small group with Coach Enrique, they started at the obstacle course.  They also worked on handstands, the ladder wall, foam pit, jump track, rings and bars, and balance beams.

After a lunch/snack in the car, Shawn walked into Gymboree and wasn't being very cooperative for some reason. He was fine all morning!  When Music Class started, he hid behind me and wouldn't participate. Arg.  Anyway, we started a jazz & swing unit.  We LOVE the song Boogily Woogily Piggy and look forward to singing it each time this unit comes up!  Suddenly, a pair of hands and feet appeared from behind my waist so Shawn could 'boogy woogy all the way home!'  When the jingle bells came out, I received an impromptu back rub as Shawn used them as props! (Hmm... maybe it's not so bad he's back there!)  Abby had a great time dancing with other girls in a circle to It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing!  Shawn danced along too, but only from behind me.  Shawn also started answering vocab questions from his hiding spot.  In addition to knowing ‘crescendo’ and ‘decrescendo,’ Shawn and Abby did a great job answering questions about ‘forte’ and ‘piano.’  By the time the instrument box came out, he was more than ready!  We also sang Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree, Three Little Fishies, and a few others.  During another swing dance, I kneeled on the floor and swung Shawn and Abby around with (fake) swing dance moves, including spins and (their favorite) backward dips!  Finally, Shawn had lots of smiles, though I don’t know what the issue was earlier!  Finally, Ms. Michelle read/sang What a Wonderful World by Ashley Bryan (one of my all time favorite songs).

During Open Gym, Shawn played with friends on the equipment while Abby tried to poop again.  (She had tried earlier this morning, but was unsuccessful.  She hasn’t gone since she was at our house on Friday, so… it was time.)  At one point, she asked for some privacy, which was great because I could stand outside the door to see if anyone else needed to use the bathroom – she was in there for a verrrrrry loooooong time!  (I actually did bring her out once so another family could go!)  At one point, when I checked on her, she had taken off all of her clothes “to make it easier!” LOL  Whatever works!  Eventually, she did it!  PHEW!

In School Skills, they worked on letters X, Y, and Z today.  They played Hide & Seek (Abby’s favorite part) and with play dough.  For their science lesson, they talked about ‘evaporation’ (Shawn’s favorite part).  They learned that it means ‘drying’ and watched the process by drawing with water-color markers on a paper towel, wetting it, watching the colors spread out, and checking on them throughout class as they dried.  They also watched a puddle of water on the floor as it dried throughout class.  Plus, they felt hand sanitizer evaporate on their hands.  They had to be careful listeners during a ‘sneaky song’ and change from tiptoeing to hiding places around the gym during quiet music to running around in circles during loud music.  In a similar game, they listened as the teachers called out “Giants awake!” and stomped around the room or “Giants asleep!” and pretended to drop to the floor asleep.  For their art project, they decorated hearts in honor of Valentine’s Day, which lead to a few discussions about their heart beat (or ‘heart BEEP,’ as Abby called it). Finally, they read the book How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.

A full day

Shawn has never gotten out of bed as easily and as quickly as he did this morning. He was thrilled at the opportunity to wake Oma up this morning! After a difficult day yesterday what a difference he was already.
We took the morning slow, but we are still able to pick up a few last minute materials for projects and make it to Raj's office for his grand opening and "Give a smile day" and to show Oma around his new place. Afterwards Shawn, Oma and I went to Two Toots Train Whistle Diner for lunch. Some unpleasant children sat next to us and were messing with the trains that were on the tracks. Shawn was not impressed that they were not following the rules. Oma was offered a job to be The Reinforcer of the restaurant by the owner or manager who was trying hard to recruit her.
When we got home I dropped Shawn and Oma off at the house. Raj pulled up a few minutes later and I went out to get a manicure, pedicure and eyebrow waxing for my date tonight. It felt great to be pampered. Since it was going to take a little longer than originally planned, I told Raj that I would meet him at his Indian Dentists' formal dinner dance but that he did not need to wait for me since he need to be there early to help set up.  It worked perfectly: I came home, got dressed and had a chance to say goodbye to Shawn while he and Oma were just starting to cook their gourmet pizza for dinner. Knowing that our Indian party involved wearing Indian clothes listening to Indian music and most importantly eating Indian food, Shawn was more than content to have a date night with Oma. On my way out the door after a few moments of stalling and goodbye kisses, Shawn asked me, "Will you know which dentist is my dad? " I think I'll be able to find him, but thanks honey!
About a week ago I took fabric that Raj brought home from India to a tailor for fitting since my other Indian outfits don't fit quite the way they probably should being seven months pregnant.  The Indian tailor did a great job in fitting it to my non-Indian body as well as allowing room for my pregnant body to expand.  This is much more comfortable. I also wore jewelry that was raffled off at the last ID a dinner dance but never claimed. Between manicure, pedicure, eyebrows, new dress, new jewelry, and Oma being our babysitter for tonight, and a date night, I feel like a new woman!  ( I just hope baby doesn't get upset with the Indian food tonight like he or she has a few times in the past... I am sure that the booming beats of the Indian music will get this little one jumping though!)

Guest Blogger Siri

Wellness check

Wellness w Dr Pozzi (singing with radio in the hallway LOL)
Heart beat on Doppler sounds good 144 bpm - right on track
158 lbs - gained 2 lbs since last appt, right on track
Fundal measurement - 31 in - right on track
I feel like I have half of my normal lung capacity & run out of breath quickly. dr recommended humidifier, but already doing that
Cortisone 10 seems to be helping w eczema

Horrible weather- rain/snow/slush
(Typical Chicago winter, but people are still making a lot of fuss!)

11:45 pm I think baby's got first case of hiccups that I can identify!

Guest blogger Oma

Superbowl Sunday

I really don't care that today is Super Bowl Sunday. I can see Raj trying to restrain his excitement because he knows the football hype will probably just annoy me, yet he wants to get Shawn all pumped up about the big event. Shawn doesn't seem to understand what the big deal is. He knows there is a football game, and that makes Daddy a happy, but that's about it. Instead, he was more excited that it is snowing again outside and that we picked up new books at the library yesterday. That's my boy! In fact, Shawn brought a library book about Batman to Raj and had him read it to him first thing this morning. They sat on the floor read it together. Then, when Raj said it was breakfast time, Shawn picked out another book for him to read to him while they ate: Dino-Football. (We've checked it out a few times already.)

It's been a great way to start the day and it has nothing to do with "Teams of hulking millionaires with felonies" trying to "give more brain damage than they receive" as a friend so eloquently posted on Facebook today!

Reading, Cooking, and a Movie

We read all 16 chapters of Magic Treehouse book #29 Christmas in Camelot.  Love that Shawn doesn't want to put these books down! Went to library to pick up the next few in the series that we don't have. Also, picked up a few DVDs: Dumbo, ET, & 2 sign language instructional DVDs. 

We watched ET before we all went to bed. Shawn was SOOOO excited. Finally, Raj watched the movie for the first time ever, too! They both liked it a lot. Even during parts that got a little scary, like when the scientists were coming into the house to look for ET, he was really into it. (He did chew on the corner of our blanket & on his fingers a few times, though.) Though I didn't remember every scene, since I don't think I've seen the movie since the 80's, it was a relief that I could tell Shawn that there were no bad guys.  Shawn got super excited when the kids' bicycles started flying. We could identify a few scenes that were used in the ride at Universal Studios that we went on during our trip to Florida this summer. As a child of the 80's, I feel like I've done my duty to share an icon from my childhood.

Recently, Shawn's gotten very enthusiastic about cooking. He's made minestrone soup, spaghetti with meat sauce, blueberry muffins, banana/walnut/chocolate chip muffins, Hamburger Helper Chili Mac, peanut butter & chocolate chip brownies...  While Hamburger Helper and Kraft Mac & Cheese barely count as cooking in my book, he's still involved and doing the work. We

Another proud moment of passing down something from my childhood: Ramen noodle soup. Shawn helped crunch the noodles they would be easier to eat after they cooked. He had a lot of fun doing that. I added ice cubes to his bowl of soup to cool it down. I explained that that is what Opa used to do for me when I was a little girl. Then we added goldfish crackers to our soup and went fishing while we ate. He had a blast. He's never been very excited about eating soup before, but he did an excellent job and even got most of it in his mouth! So, it wasn't the most nutritious meal that we have served and we probably got a week's worth of our sodium allowance, but it sure was fun.

Happy Ground Hogs' Day