Wednesday was a good day, but I was in a bit of a bad mood, a little sick, and so was Zak. It just hung over us the whole day. Nitpicking at each other. Work is definitely on my mind a lot these days.
We went to the rec center and played, but only the video games. Normally we play some pool (interesting with a 3 year old), and shuffle board..but he only wanted to play the video games. Babcia did a small work out. We decided to go to Indian for lunch. Babcia had never eaten Indian before. It was a bit of a challenge because Zak was in such a bad mood...he kept wanting to serve himself from the buffet. He was surprisingly interested in trying everything though. He especially liked the "puffed up" naan.
We came home, and I tried for 2 hours to get him to sleep. It just wasn't meant to be. I kept falling asleep, and he kept waking me up. I feel asleep with my head on his pillow with him, which apparently he didn't like. He pushed me off, and just as I was about to tell him that wasn't nice and he should share his pillow, he reached over and got my pillow and pushed it under my head. I guess that's fair. At some point I told him I wasn't feeling very good, so if he could please sleep, I would be very happy. He then put his hand on my tummy and said "Hmm, yup, a little hot, but not too bad." I couldn't help but laugh.
So we got up, and I asked if he wanted some hot chocolate. He said, "No, some warm chocolate please." So I made him some chocolate milk, and I don't know what I was thinking, probably about work or something, and forgot to warm it up. I gave it to him and he said "Hey, that's not warm at all!" Oops, right. So I heated it up.
Later we were eating a snack, and he started playing a game...he would put the cashew on his head and say "We don't eat like this" and then he'd put it in his mouth "We eat like this." Then he'd do the same thing to his ear "We don't eat like this", and then to his mouth, "We eat like this." He was watching me to see if I'd catch on. So I put one to my knee and tried to eat it that way. And so we finally broke out of our bad moods. :-)
One thing I did forget to mention on Friday...I was meeting my friend for lunch, but she had slipped her car off the road into a ditch. (Guess who???) :-) Anyway, she called and said she was waiting on a tow truck. Zak wanted to play with my iPhone, and normally, if someone calls or text messages, he just cancels them and I don't know anyone was trying to get a hold of me until after he's done. So I told him, Zak, you can play with it, but if someone calls or texts, you HAVE to show me. Aunt Sara hurt her car and she might need help. So when Sara called again (2x), both times he said "Mommy, Aunt Sara! Is her car ok?" and handed me the phone. It's really nice that he's starting to understand and be understanding.
Sometimes I wonder if I blog too much about the cute things that Zak does, versus the trials and tribulations of working part time...but Sara last night reminded me...it's all these cute things that I would have missed if I had been working. And she's right....of course I would get to see cute things no matter what, but I definitely get more than my fair share now! It's the "pro" side of working part time :-) And I have time to blog about it so I'll never forget..
Friday, January 28, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Days 73 and 74
This week has gone pretty well. I tell you though, these two day work weeks (since Monday was MLK day) really do make it hard for me to keep up! And the snow days aren't helping either. A little chaotic of a week, but all and all ended on a high note. I keep feeling like if I had one more day a week, I'd be completely in control...wishful thinking I'm sure. The other thing thats become very clear to me...we have way too many full day meetings. Jimini. We need to get more efficient with coming to the big ideas. Anyway, I did do some work a couple hours during the evenings after Zak went to bed this week. It worked out well. I honestly don't mind doing that, the only risk is that if there is some kind of escalation sitting in my email that I can't fix until the morning, it will ruin my sleep that evening. Anyway, that didn't happen this week.
I have what we call a "triad" next week. Where I talk about anything on my mind with my manager and my manager's manager. The interesting thing is that my manager suggested that I not even mention my less than full time. I thought I'd at least talk about how it's going, the challenges, etc...she said there is no reason to even mention it because I'm doing great. I understand what she's trying to do...but it's the first time in a while that I was reminded that there is a stigma with what I'm doing. A feeling of "maybe she's not as dedicated to the company as others", and she's trying to manage it. Or, maybe, it's just not as big a deal to others as it is to me.
Anyway, between MLK day, daycare opening late and closing early...it seemed Zak and I got to spend a lot of time together thsi week. We didn't do much, because of the weather. On Wednesday, we did go up to the rec center. We love playing shuffleboard together...and he's pretty good at it! We then went to check out the YMCA to see if we wanted to join. Zak was so cute on their tour. He walked into every room, looked around. Stood and listened. Anyway, when we were done, I had planned to head home for lunch, and Zak if we could go to Applebees. Sure, why not. Turns out, Wednesdays kids eat free. Good call Zak! We came home, and napped together. I could tell he was starting to get a bit sick. He slept for an hour in his bed, then for another two hours in my arms in the orange rocking chair. He's getting so big, he can barely fit with me, but we're adjusting. By Thursday, he had completely lost his voice, and found that very disturbing. I would tell him, it's ok, you are sick and sometimes you lose your voice when you are sick. He would try to yell, but it would only come out in a whisper "No! I'm not sick.." and then look at my strange like, what the heck is going on with my voice??
Thursday night was a bit of a tough night, and I was glad to have Friday off. One bonus to working part time, is that as long as he gets sick on the days I have off, it doesn't through too much of a wrench into things. So Friday we just stayed at home to recoup. He was much better, although again slept for 3 hours in my arms in the orange rocking chair...so he was obviously still recovering. In the morning, he was kind of lazily playing computer and such (which I didn't mind, because I didn't want him too active)...so Monika and I made some chicken enchilads and birthday cake for Kuba. I met Sara for lunch, which was great, then came home and held Zak while he napped. At 5 I met Kuba for some tennis, and then Dana, Matt and Rowan came over to hang out. All of this is just another great side effect of working part time...I have more time for myself and Kuba as well.
One cute thing Zak did this week, we went over to Dana and Matt's at some point, and he loves their cats. He was petting softly their black and white one...and he said "Mom, look, he's so beautiful!" and then the cat ran off, and Zak said "Aww, he's a little shy, like you Mom..." I was astounded. I asked him to say it again, just to make sure I heard him right...and he said the same thing. I have no idea if he even knows what shy is, and why he thinks I am (I am!)...cracked me up.
I have what we call a "triad" next week. Where I talk about anything on my mind with my manager and my manager's manager. The interesting thing is that my manager suggested that I not even mention my less than full time. I thought I'd at least talk about how it's going, the challenges, etc...she said there is no reason to even mention it because I'm doing great. I understand what she's trying to do...but it's the first time in a while that I was reminded that there is a stigma with what I'm doing. A feeling of "maybe she's not as dedicated to the company as others", and she's trying to manage it. Or, maybe, it's just not as big a deal to others as it is to me.
Anyway, between MLK day, daycare opening late and closing early...it seemed Zak and I got to spend a lot of time together thsi week. We didn't do much, because of the weather. On Wednesday, we did go up to the rec center. We love playing shuffleboard together...and he's pretty good at it! We then went to check out the YMCA to see if we wanted to join. Zak was so cute on their tour. He walked into every room, looked around. Stood and listened. Anyway, when we were done, I had planned to head home for lunch, and Zak if we could go to Applebees. Sure, why not. Turns out, Wednesdays kids eat free. Good call Zak! We came home, and napped together. I could tell he was starting to get a bit sick. He slept for an hour in his bed, then for another two hours in my arms in the orange rocking chair. He's getting so big, he can barely fit with me, but we're adjusting. By Thursday, he had completely lost his voice, and found that very disturbing. I would tell him, it's ok, you are sick and sometimes you lose your voice when you are sick. He would try to yell, but it would only come out in a whisper "No! I'm not sick.." and then look at my strange like, what the heck is going on with my voice??
Thursday night was a bit of a tough night, and I was glad to have Friday off. One bonus to working part time, is that as long as he gets sick on the days I have off, it doesn't through too much of a wrench into things. So Friday we just stayed at home to recoup. He was much better, although again slept for 3 hours in my arms in the orange rocking chair...so he was obviously still recovering. In the morning, he was kind of lazily playing computer and such (which I didn't mind, because I didn't want him too active)...so Monika and I made some chicken enchilads and birthday cake for Kuba. I met Sara for lunch, which was great, then came home and held Zak while he napped. At 5 I met Kuba for some tennis, and then Dana, Matt and Rowan came over to hang out. All of this is just another great side effect of working part time...I have more time for myself and Kuba as well.
One cute thing Zak did this week, we went over to Dana and Matt's at some point, and he loves their cats. He was petting softly their black and white one...and he said "Mom, look, he's so beautiful!" and then the cat ran off, and Zak said "Aww, he's a little shy, like you Mom..." I was astounded. I asked him to say it again, just to make sure I heard him right...and he said the same thing. I have no idea if he even knows what shy is, and why he thinks I am (I am!)...cracked me up.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Day 72
Today was interesting. I allowed one meeting on the calndar, a president/CIO review that has been rescheduled so many times, I figured that I could be flexible given Babcia is here. I also agreed to go to 2 work Christmas parties that got rescheduled from before the holidays.
So I got up this morning and played for an hour or so with Zak. It was kind of a cute morning...He wanted to play with this mosaic magnent game that Auntie Ann bought him. Basically you put the pattern on a whiteboard, the pattern tells you what color magnets to put where, and when you are done, you have a pretty mosiac. Generally, my role is to put the magnets on the pattern, Zak's is to use his "diggers" to grab the magnets and piled them up for me. It actually takes a good half an hour to make one, so it's not a simple thing.
Anyway, this morning, he picked up the box, and it unfortunately wasn't closed properly, so it fell open and magnets fell everywhere. I didn't hear anything, but walked in and saw Zak just standing there in disbelief, looking at me like, "I didn't mean to do it...and I don't know what to do now." He was just standing there, holding the box, frozen. He's so cute. I told him not to worry, not his fault, and we picked up all the magnets.
Then he did something REALLY sweet...everytime we play this game, we kind of argue over what pattern to do. He always wants to do the fire truck or the train. I've done them so many times, that I always beg to do something else, and sometimes refuse to do the train or fire truck if I've just done them several times in a row. Well, we hadn't played with this in awhile, so I fully expectde to do one of his. He said, "Mommy, let's do the flower, because I know you like flowers." And then he came up and hugged me. It was so cute!!! I gave him the biggest hug.
Anyway, we did that, then I went for my meeting. It wasn't the best meeting, wasn't the worst. I learned something from it. The good news is the reason it wasn't the greatest had nothing to do with my working part time or not having enough time...I simply mis-understood one of the objectives. So for two of the objectives, it went great. :-)
After that, I went to one of the Christmas parties, worked in between the parties, and then decided to skip the second one in the end to come back and hang with Zak. I got home and he was napping, so I curled up beside him with personal laptop and read through a bit of the news. He woke up 15 minutes later, smiled, and asked if he could play on the computer. I said ok...but asked if he shouldn't go to the bathroom first since he'd been asleep for so long...he said "Yeah, that's a good idea." (First!) So he went to the restroom, and is now sitting next to me playing Dinosaur train. Let me tell you...touch screen computers are so great. He navigates himself, and talk about whatever is on the screen...right now we're learning about different dinosaur tails :-)
Anyway, I gave up 6 hours today, but felt it was sandwiched between some very quality Zak time...and next week is a 2 day week again! Spoiled!
So I got up this morning and played for an hour or so with Zak. It was kind of a cute morning...He wanted to play with this mosaic magnent game that Auntie Ann bought him. Basically you put the pattern on a whiteboard, the pattern tells you what color magnets to put where, and when you are done, you have a pretty mosiac. Generally, my role is to put the magnets on the pattern, Zak's is to use his "diggers" to grab the magnets and piled them up for me. It actually takes a good half an hour to make one, so it's not a simple thing.
Anyway, this morning, he picked up the box, and it unfortunately wasn't closed properly, so it fell open and magnets fell everywhere. I didn't hear anything, but walked in and saw Zak just standing there in disbelief, looking at me like, "I didn't mean to do it...and I don't know what to do now." He was just standing there, holding the box, frozen. He's so cute. I told him not to worry, not his fault, and we picked up all the magnets.
Then he did something REALLY sweet...everytime we play this game, we kind of argue over what pattern to do. He always wants to do the fire truck or the train. I've done them so many times, that I always beg to do something else, and sometimes refuse to do the train or fire truck if I've just done them several times in a row. Well, we hadn't played with this in awhile, so I fully expectde to do one of his. He said, "Mommy, let's do the flower, because I know you like flowers." And then he came up and hugged me. It was so cute!!! I gave him the biggest hug.
Anyway, we did that, then I went for my meeting. It wasn't the best meeting, wasn't the worst. I learned something from it. The good news is the reason it wasn't the greatest had nothing to do with my working part time or not having enough time...I simply mis-understood one of the objectives. So for two of the objectives, it went great. :-)
After that, I went to one of the Christmas parties, worked in between the parties, and then decided to skip the second one in the end to come back and hang with Zak. I got home and he was napping, so I curled up beside him with personal laptop and read through a bit of the news. He woke up 15 minutes later, smiled, and asked if he could play on the computer. I said ok...but asked if he shouldn't go to the bathroom first since he'd been asleep for so long...he said "Yeah, that's a good idea." (First!) So he went to the restroom, and is now sitting next to me playing Dinosaur train. Let me tell you...touch screen computers are so great. He navigates himself, and talk about whatever is on the screen...right now we're learning about different dinosaur tails :-)
Anyway, I gave up 6 hours today, but felt it was sandwiched between some very quality Zak time...and next week is a 2 day week again! Spoiled!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Day 70 and 71
Ok, back to the grind! Last week was a bit more stressful than I would have liked for a first week back into the New Year...but I survived. Probably it just felt stressful after 2 weeks of waking up at 9, napping at 2, and then going to bed at 9 again :-)
Actually, I knew it would be busy, because there were a couple things I didn't get done before the holidays, and I knew they needed to get done for this week at work. I actually THOUGHT I had 3 days to get them done last week...but realized as we were flying back from Floriday that we actually had Monday off last week! I decided to somehow make it all work in 2 days...and did.
Luckily Babcia was here though...because Zak somehow got a 104 fever on Monday. He managed the whole vacation without any illness...and gets sick the day before we have to go back to work. Good boy :-) Seriously, if Babcia hadn't been here, my stress would have went through the roof. He was over it in a day, so it wasn't too bad.
I also got my annual review results last week. Looks like I'm still managing up to my standards :) I know in a recent post I was pretty critical of my results...but at least so far, that seems to be only my perception...so...SO FAR SO GOOD! It can be done (at least for 7 months!) - that was the amount of time in the last review cycle that I was on reduced work schedule. Let's see if I can keep it up. I'm very lucky that both my new and old bosses are so supportive.
I'll blog about one cute thing from Zak from last week...much of the rest of the time together was us trying to get him feeling better, and unpacking, cleaning up, etc from the vacation. On Tuesday he was still running a 104 fever when we didn't give him medicine...so I worked from home just in case Babcia needed any help or he got worse. At first, I planned to go into the office...he was very panciky about that (we'd been together for 15 days!)...and he was crying that he didn't want me to go. I told him I WANTED to go, I like working...and besides, I need to make some more money so we can go on another great vacation. He said "Oh, you need to make money? Because we're all out of money?" I explained we weren't completely out, but I need to make sure we don't run out. About 30 minutes later, when I decided to work at home, I told him I was going to work down in the basement in case he needed me, and I'd come up for lunch. He said "Oh, because there is money in the basement?" LOL. I told him no, but I can work from there and then I will get paid for it.
About 2 hours later, he decided he wanted to come down and see me. He came down and on his way down, I hear him shouting "Mommy! Do you have your money yet?"
At about 4 o'clock, FedEx drops off a package...as I'm opening it, Zak says, "I hope its some money for us Mommy!" I hoped so too!
Oh, the other thing - I was napping by him on Monday when he was sick...I woke up to him trying to syringe out my nose. :-P
Actually, I knew it would be busy, because there were a couple things I didn't get done before the holidays, and I knew they needed to get done for this week at work. I actually THOUGHT I had 3 days to get them done last week...but realized as we were flying back from Floriday that we actually had Monday off last week! I decided to somehow make it all work in 2 days...and did.
Luckily Babcia was here though...because Zak somehow got a 104 fever on Monday. He managed the whole vacation without any illness...and gets sick the day before we have to go back to work. Good boy :-) Seriously, if Babcia hadn't been here, my stress would have went through the roof. He was over it in a day, so it wasn't too bad.
I also got my annual review results last week. Looks like I'm still managing up to my standards :) I know in a recent post I was pretty critical of my results...but at least so far, that seems to be only my perception...so...SO FAR SO GOOD! It can be done (at least for 7 months!) - that was the amount of time in the last review cycle that I was on reduced work schedule. Let's see if I can keep it up. I'm very lucky that both my new and old bosses are so supportive.
I'll blog about one cute thing from Zak from last week...much of the rest of the time together was us trying to get him feeling better, and unpacking, cleaning up, etc from the vacation. On Tuesday he was still running a 104 fever when we didn't give him medicine...so I worked from home just in case Babcia needed any help or he got worse. At first, I planned to go into the office...he was very panciky about that (we'd been together for 15 days!)...and he was crying that he didn't want me to go. I told him I WANTED to go, I like working...and besides, I need to make some more money so we can go on another great vacation. He said "Oh, you need to make money? Because we're all out of money?" I explained we weren't completely out, but I need to make sure we don't run out. About 30 minutes later, when I decided to work at home, I told him I was going to work down in the basement in case he needed me, and I'd come up for lunch. He said "Oh, because there is money in the basement?" LOL. I told him no, but I can work from there and then I will get paid for it.
About 2 hours later, he decided he wanted to come down and see me. He came down and on his way down, I hear him shouting "Mommy! Do you have your money yet?"
At about 4 o'clock, FedEx drops off a package...as I'm opening it, Zak says, "I hope its some money for us Mommy!" I hoped so too!
Oh, the other thing - I was napping by him on Monday when he was sick...I woke up to him trying to syringe out my nose. :-P
Monday, December 20, 2010
Days 65, 66, 67, 68, 69
I consiously let the plans for the last 2 weeks go a bit out of control. I'd been letting the calendar fill up on both the personal and professional side, knowing I had the support of Babcia to help, and that this time of year just does get crazy.
I worked every day, again, consiously letting important meetings slip on the calendar...but I didn't work full days every day. Just coming and going to important end of the year reviews. I took a lot of time for my friends (had 2 evenings with my girlfriends during that time!), took the whole family to see Sara's play "Awaited" (along with the Claytons), went to see Zak's first Christmas play (too cute! he saw me in the audience, but didn't wave, just looked straight at us and told me afterward he saw me), and hosted the Higdon Christmas party. All of this meant things were a bit chaotic, but much of it I could do with Zak, and of course it's just kind of standard for this time of year. For anyone who knows me well, you know I'm a list person...and so at this time of year, I just end up having lists upon lists of things to do. I don't feel the last 2.5 weeks were bad in terms of time spent between work and home, I just feel like I was going at hyper speed in both, and can only sustain that for so long...and now I'm on vacation, so I made it through, and am now enjoying two dedicated weeks with the family.
All of my end of the year work meetings went really well. I had a personal review with the president I support, and then an org review with my vice-president. Both went better than I could have hoped for, and so its making it easy for me to turn off now that I'm on vacation.
One of my lists of course has been some of the cute things Zak has done over the past 2.5 weeks. He's so clearly hitting a next stage, I'm so happy I'm having time to notice.
First, he woke up one morning, and went to the window to check the weather. He announced: "The sky is clear, the sun is coming up, and it's partly cloudly." Ok. That same day, we were building walls out of the cardboard bricks he has. I don't know why, but I got a bit of a mean streak in me, and as he was building, I karate chopped the wall down. He said "Nooo, Mommy! I was still building it! You go over and sit on those steps until you say you are sorry!" :-) I said I was sorry right away to avoid having to sit on the time out step.
Grandpa bought him a new set of tools for Christmas. We've been working (finally finished) a small home improvement project of installing some new french doors. Zak took his hammer, hammered every nail in the threshold. After each hammering session, he took his level and checked if it was ok. Sometimes he nailed some more, sometimes he went on to the next nail. At the end, he stood back and said "Finally. This project is done!" Cracked me up! I've been saying it quite a bit because we thought that project was only going to take a week and it ended up taking several. I guess he's heard me.
The other thing I've noticed he's started to parrot from me...I don't have a lot of patience, especially for things that are supposed to be easy and turn out to be heard. For example, I needed to get one last email out to feel comfortable stopping for the day. I hit send from my iPad...and wouldn't you know my mailbox was full so i couldn't send. As usual, I say something like "Oh Come On!!!!" Zak was trying to put together the airplane Grandma bought him, and the screw wasn't going in right. He said "Soemthing's wrong. Com ON!!!" Cracking me up...I actually got one on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9No6lO3QqMg
We had another incident with him wanting a drink in the middle of the night. This time, he asked for milk. I gave him water. He told me no, water makes him sick and he'd have juice. I gave him water again. Again he insisted that water makes him sick. Finally he took it and went back to sleep. I wonder how many negotiations we'll have on this topic before he gives up :-)
Zak has also been insisting that the bed in his room is too small. It's a single bed. I actually asked Kuba, do you think it's too small? Should we buy him a bigger bed? He looked at me like I was crazy (and he's right)...I think most kids sleep in a single bed. But one night, as he was insisting again that his bed was too small, I had an idea...together Kuba, Zak and I put the two single mattresses next to each other on the floor, effectively making one big bed. He LOVED it. The next day, Grandma and Grandpa were over, and he explained to them that now he has a big bed too, like Mommy, Tato and Babcia. He said he needed this bed, because he doesn't sleep in Mommy's bed anymore. He truly does love it and has slept every night since there with "less" hassle :-)
And now we are on day 2 of our vacation in Florida. It's going to be such a different vacation because Zak is so much more aware. We had a great dinner on the beach our first night here. The waitress explained their house wines to me, and I said "Uhh, I think I'll try the Pinot." Zak then immediately said "Uhh, I think I'll try the chocolate milk." She confirmed the order and I was so proud of him :-)
We did have an incident where Zak was melting down as we were trying to check out the fitness center. He didn't want to go in, and was throwing a fit. He wanted to be outside at the pool. Eventually I took him back to the car (we weren't ready for the pool yet, we were just trying to get our bearings) and told him I was very disappointed in him. He started to cry. A few minutes later, I told him I love him a lot, I was just disappointed, and I asked if he knew I loved him. He nodded his head yes. I asked if he needed anything, like water or something to eat...he shook his head no. Within 5 minutes he was asleep. I was glad he said he knew I loved him.
I'll leave you with two last things he did in this first day and a half...he loves that we have one wall of our condo that basically folds completely back opening the wall to the lanai. He keeps investigating the tracks and such. Yesterday, he said it looks like the track is broken right here, and pointed. Kuba told him, no it's not broken, that's a screw to hold it in place. Zak said, "No Tato, that's not a screw, that's a nail. It's a nail holding it in place." Kuba was shocked. I guess Zakie knows best.
Last night we had been out all day and came back to the condo for dinner. It was already 8:30...and I asked Zak if he'd like a hot dog for dinner. He answered "Of course I'd LOVE a hot dog." Wow, ok, that was an energetic response that I hadn't heard about a hot dog before :-) I then asked if he'd like some hot chocolate too. He said "Of course, he'd LOVE some hot chocolate." That was easy :-)
So I'll close for now. sorry I let the last 2.5 weeks get away from me, but in general, the balance is still feeling good. Struggling on either side from time to time, but overall, just enjoying everything right now. Zak just climbed into bed between Kuba and I...and grabbed my hand before falling to sleep :-) This is definitely a high period in my life.
I worked every day, again, consiously letting important meetings slip on the calendar...but I didn't work full days every day. Just coming and going to important end of the year reviews. I took a lot of time for my friends (had 2 evenings with my girlfriends during that time!), took the whole family to see Sara's play "Awaited" (along with the Claytons), went to see Zak's first Christmas play (too cute! he saw me in the audience, but didn't wave, just looked straight at us and told me afterward he saw me), and hosted the Higdon Christmas party. All of this meant things were a bit chaotic, but much of it I could do with Zak, and of course it's just kind of standard for this time of year. For anyone who knows me well, you know I'm a list person...and so at this time of year, I just end up having lists upon lists of things to do. I don't feel the last 2.5 weeks were bad in terms of time spent between work and home, I just feel like I was going at hyper speed in both, and can only sustain that for so long...and now I'm on vacation, so I made it through, and am now enjoying two dedicated weeks with the family.
All of my end of the year work meetings went really well. I had a personal review with the president I support, and then an org review with my vice-president. Both went better than I could have hoped for, and so its making it easy for me to turn off now that I'm on vacation.
One of my lists of course has been some of the cute things Zak has done over the past 2.5 weeks. He's so clearly hitting a next stage, I'm so happy I'm having time to notice.
First, he woke up one morning, and went to the window to check the weather. He announced: "The sky is clear, the sun is coming up, and it's partly cloudly." Ok. That same day, we were building walls out of the cardboard bricks he has. I don't know why, but I got a bit of a mean streak in me, and as he was building, I karate chopped the wall down. He said "Nooo, Mommy! I was still building it! You go over and sit on those steps until you say you are sorry!" :-) I said I was sorry right away to avoid having to sit on the time out step.
Grandpa bought him a new set of tools for Christmas. We've been working (finally finished) a small home improvement project of installing some new french doors. Zak took his hammer, hammered every nail in the threshold. After each hammering session, he took his level and checked if it was ok. Sometimes he nailed some more, sometimes he went on to the next nail. At the end, he stood back and said "Finally. This project is done!" Cracked me up! I've been saying it quite a bit because we thought that project was only going to take a week and it ended up taking several. I guess he's heard me.
The other thing I've noticed he's started to parrot from me...I don't have a lot of patience, especially for things that are supposed to be easy and turn out to be heard. For example, I needed to get one last email out to feel comfortable stopping for the day. I hit send from my iPad...and wouldn't you know my mailbox was full so i couldn't send. As usual, I say something like "Oh Come On!!!!" Zak was trying to put together the airplane Grandma bought him, and the screw wasn't going in right. He said "Soemthing's wrong. Com ON!!!" Cracking me up...I actually got one on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9No6lO3QqMg
We had another incident with him wanting a drink in the middle of the night. This time, he asked for milk. I gave him water. He told me no, water makes him sick and he'd have juice. I gave him water again. Again he insisted that water makes him sick. Finally he took it and went back to sleep. I wonder how many negotiations we'll have on this topic before he gives up :-)
Zak has also been insisting that the bed in his room is too small. It's a single bed. I actually asked Kuba, do you think it's too small? Should we buy him a bigger bed? He looked at me like I was crazy (and he's right)...I think most kids sleep in a single bed. But one night, as he was insisting again that his bed was too small, I had an idea...together Kuba, Zak and I put the two single mattresses next to each other on the floor, effectively making one big bed. He LOVED it. The next day, Grandma and Grandpa were over, and he explained to them that now he has a big bed too, like Mommy, Tato and Babcia. He said he needed this bed, because he doesn't sleep in Mommy's bed anymore. He truly does love it and has slept every night since there with "less" hassle :-)
And now we are on day 2 of our vacation in Florida. It's going to be such a different vacation because Zak is so much more aware. We had a great dinner on the beach our first night here. The waitress explained their house wines to me, and I said "Uhh, I think I'll try the Pinot." Zak then immediately said "Uhh, I think I'll try the chocolate milk." She confirmed the order and I was so proud of him :-)
We did have an incident where Zak was melting down as we were trying to check out the fitness center. He didn't want to go in, and was throwing a fit. He wanted to be outside at the pool. Eventually I took him back to the car (we weren't ready for the pool yet, we were just trying to get our bearings) and told him I was very disappointed in him. He started to cry. A few minutes later, I told him I love him a lot, I was just disappointed, and I asked if he knew I loved him. He nodded his head yes. I asked if he needed anything, like water or something to eat...he shook his head no. Within 5 minutes he was asleep. I was glad he said he knew I loved him.
I'll leave you with two last things he did in this first day and a half...he loves that we have one wall of our condo that basically folds completely back opening the wall to the lanai. He keeps investigating the tracks and such. Yesterday, he said it looks like the track is broken right here, and pointed. Kuba told him, no it's not broken, that's a screw to hold it in place. Zak said, "No Tato, that's not a screw, that's a nail. It's a nail holding it in place." Kuba was shocked. I guess Zakie knows best.
Last night we had been out all day and came back to the condo for dinner. It was already 8:30...and I asked Zak if he'd like a hot dog for dinner. He answered "Of course I'd LOVE a hot dog." Wow, ok, that was an energetic response that I hadn't heard about a hot dog before :-) I then asked if he'd like some hot chocolate too. He said "Of course, he'd LOVE some hot chocolate." That was easy :-)
So I'll close for now. sorry I let the last 2.5 weeks get away from me, but in general, the balance is still feeling good. Struggling on either side from time to time, but overall, just enjoying everything right now. Zak just climbed into bed between Kuba and I...and grabbed my hand before falling to sleep :-) This is definitely a high period in my life.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Day 64
Today is my first day off after the Thanksgiving 4 day weekend. Before I talk about today, I have to share a few things from the weekend...even if it isn't part of my working less than full time...but so many cute things happened.
Zak seemed to have made another "leap" into adulthood this weekend. It's weird, but I can sometimes just SEE the transitions happening. First, his sentences are getting longer and longer. He came down to our bed one of these mornings around 6am. He wanted a drink. I told him I'd get him some water...he said "I'd appreciate juice better, but water is fine." I almost gave him juice just for the sweetness factor :-) We did a Thanksgiving lunch at his school on Wednesday. It was so much fun, but when I had to go back to work, he was sad (so were all the kids), he pouted a bit, but laid down for his nap and said good-bye. When I came back, I read on his chart that he only slept for like 30 minutes. I just kind of mentioned it out loud, didn't really expect an answer from him, but he said "I know Mommy. I was sad. I was missing you."
And then, on Saturday we went to have breakfast with Grandpa. We forgot his pillow (which he basically wants to have with him everywhere...) He said, "Ooops, we forgot my pillow! We just need to turn around and go get it. Tato, back this car up!"
AND.... by Saturday evening, he started calling me MOM! Not mommy. I can't believe how much its affected me :-) He's growing up!
Yesterday morning we had a not so nice experience starting back to work after the 4 day weekend. I knew it would be tough for all of us to get up...but as I was in the shower, I heard Zak yelling something like "Please! Clean off my pillow!" The next thing I know, Kuba brings Zak into the bathroom and Zak is covered in blood (bloody nose)...Zak thought his pillow was covered in something, but didn't realize it was coming from his nose until he saw himself in the mirror and started to panic. I must admit, my panic button kicked off for a few seconds until I told myself, its just a bloody nose...it looks worse than it is. But talk about chaos. He's screaming for me, I'm trying to get out of the shower, his nose was still gushing everywhere. It added a hectic half an hour to our morning, but looks like he's none worse for it.
Today (Tuesday) has been very busy, but great. I felt like I had so much to do, but once again we had it done by about 10:30. I made that odd sounding cranberry relish dish I keep hearing about on NPR for our Christmas party Saturday (initial taste tests are promising)...we played some "snakes" and "Cat in the Hat", ran to the store, went and met Auntie Ann to pick up Maya's birthday gift, then to FedEx to mail it. Zak kept asking if he could just stay in the car and play with the iPhone...I don't think so, not yet. Although it was tempting given the rainy weather. He also insisted that the umbrella was his...so much for keeping me dry :-)
We got home and played some more games in front of the fire place. I love this time of year. Christmas lights going, fire place going, and just hanging out together. We have so much to be thankful for. Then Jill came over for lunch and just to catch up a bit (she works just a few blocks away, so its very easy.)
And then we went to pick up Babcia from the airport! She's here for 4 months! Yeah! It took Zak all of 15 minutes to remember her.
Anyway, a nice busy day, during a very nice time of year. I'm very happy to have this extra time with Zak and for myself.
Zak seemed to have made another "leap" into adulthood this weekend. It's weird, but I can sometimes just SEE the transitions happening. First, his sentences are getting longer and longer. He came down to our bed one of these mornings around 6am. He wanted a drink. I told him I'd get him some water...he said "I'd appreciate juice better, but water is fine." I almost gave him juice just for the sweetness factor :-) We did a Thanksgiving lunch at his school on Wednesday. It was so much fun, but when I had to go back to work, he was sad (so were all the kids), he pouted a bit, but laid down for his nap and said good-bye. When I came back, I read on his chart that he only slept for like 30 minutes. I just kind of mentioned it out loud, didn't really expect an answer from him, but he said "I know Mommy. I was sad. I was missing you."
And then, on Saturday we went to have breakfast with Grandpa. We forgot his pillow (which he basically wants to have with him everywhere...) He said, "Ooops, we forgot my pillow! We just need to turn around and go get it. Tato, back this car up!"
AND.... by Saturday evening, he started calling me MOM! Not mommy. I can't believe how much its affected me :-) He's growing up!
Yesterday morning we had a not so nice experience starting back to work after the 4 day weekend. I knew it would be tough for all of us to get up...but as I was in the shower, I heard Zak yelling something like "Please! Clean off my pillow!" The next thing I know, Kuba brings Zak into the bathroom and Zak is covered in blood (bloody nose)...Zak thought his pillow was covered in something, but didn't realize it was coming from his nose until he saw himself in the mirror and started to panic. I must admit, my panic button kicked off for a few seconds until I told myself, its just a bloody nose...it looks worse than it is. But talk about chaos. He's screaming for me, I'm trying to get out of the shower, his nose was still gushing everywhere. It added a hectic half an hour to our morning, but looks like he's none worse for it.
Today (Tuesday) has been very busy, but great. I felt like I had so much to do, but once again we had it done by about 10:30. I made that odd sounding cranberry relish dish I keep hearing about on NPR for our Christmas party Saturday (initial taste tests are promising)...we played some "snakes" and "Cat in the Hat", ran to the store, went and met Auntie Ann to pick up Maya's birthday gift, then to FedEx to mail it. Zak kept asking if he could just stay in the car and play with the iPhone...I don't think so, not yet. Although it was tempting given the rainy weather. He also insisted that the umbrella was his...so much for keeping me dry :-)
We got home and played some more games in front of the fire place. I love this time of year. Christmas lights going, fire place going, and just hanging out together. We have so much to be thankful for. Then Jill came over for lunch and just to catch up a bit (she works just a few blocks away, so its very easy.)
And then we went to pick up Babcia from the airport! She's here for 4 months! Yeah! It took Zak all of 15 minutes to remember her.
Anyway, a nice busy day, during a very nice time of year. I'm very happy to have this extra time with Zak and for myself.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Day 63
Today has been a great day, but it took all my will to keep my mind to it. Work is getting more stressful, not less. It's funny, because if I think to write about what causes my stress, it just sounds so stupid. It's good to force myself to blog and put things into perspective. Anyway, I'm not sure if the stress is from the role, or from doing the role at part time, or both. Anyway, I suspect it will get worse yet before it gets better, so I'm prepping myself for a trying first quarter of the year. I feel like if I had maybe just one more day a week, I'd be fine...but...I also know it never works that way. You never have enough time to get everything done. As soon as things are too in control, you take on more responsibilities and there you go...back to not enough time :-)
Anyway, to the fun stuff. We had a lot of errands to run this morning. We had a leisurely breakfast, Zak took a bubble bath while I took a shower. We played some Bob the Builder, then headed out for the errands. We got Kuba's shoes repaired, went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, and went to the mall to get a Christmas gift. We were back by 10:00, once again playing Bob the Builder, and then switched to trains. Aunt Katie came over for lunch, and we played some more games (Snakes, Topple, and again, Bob the Builder), then Zak and I went to Sharon Woods to play. We stayed out there for over an hour because the weather was so nice. Then he asked to go to Target to look at the Thomas trains. I needed to go to Target, so I said sure. Sometimes (key word sometimes), it's such a pleasure to go with him to places. He's getting so old. He holds my hand and leads the way. He helped me pick out a gift for Matti, then we looked at the trains. He wanted to buy a new Thomas movie...I checked on Netflix on the iPhone and realized that same movie was available to play instantly, so I started it up, and he sat in the cart and watched it. Saved me $15 :-) Netflix is great.
We started home at about 3, he fell asleep and is still sleeping. I think I might go cuddle up next to him for a bit :-) Looking forward to the 4 day weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!
Anyway, to the fun stuff. We had a lot of errands to run this morning. We had a leisurely breakfast, Zak took a bubble bath while I took a shower. We played some Bob the Builder, then headed out for the errands. We got Kuba's shoes repaired, went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, and went to the mall to get a Christmas gift. We were back by 10:00, once again playing Bob the Builder, and then switched to trains. Aunt Katie came over for lunch, and we played some more games (Snakes, Topple, and again, Bob the Builder), then Zak and I went to Sharon Woods to play. We stayed out there for over an hour because the weather was so nice. Then he asked to go to Target to look at the Thomas trains. I needed to go to Target, so I said sure. Sometimes (key word sometimes), it's such a pleasure to go with him to places. He's getting so old. He holds my hand and leads the way. He helped me pick out a gift for Matti, then we looked at the trains. He wanted to buy a new Thomas movie...I checked on Netflix on the iPhone and realized that same movie was available to play instantly, so I started it up, and he sat in the cart and watched it. Saved me $15 :-) Netflix is great.
We started home at about 3, he fell asleep and is still sleeping. I think I might go cuddle up next to him for a bit :-) Looking forward to the 4 day weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!
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