Day 22 and 23

Well, it was a fun-filled, crazy, hectic week. Work went well. Busy, busy...but learning how to turn off a bit faster. It's a little crazier than normal because of next week being a short week (2 days for me!) and the following week being in Geneva.

But most of the craziness of the week was my niece Maya being in town with us! It was so great that without rearranging anything at work, I was able to spend 2 full days with her. I must admit, it's really nice having my 2 sisters living in town. We were able to tag team the week and all of us got lots of time with Maya.

So on Wednesday I got a flavor for what it would be like to have 2 kids. We did pretty well. *Most* of the time, if one of them melted down, the other one seemed to act a bit older. On Saturday, they were both melting down...that was tough :-)

Wednesday we biked up to the library, had story time, then went to LaRosa's for lunch. Zak is at a stage where he wants to use the toilet every place we go. At some point, Zak wanted to go the restroom, so I had to pack up Maya too, and then of course I don't want to leave my wallet at the table...so it looks like we've run out of the place just to go to the bathroom :-) The bathroom is definitely hard with the two of them. By the time I get one set of hands washed, the other set is crawling around on the floor again.



Zak didn't want to leave LaRosa's, so I had this moment where I had to carry Zak out of the restaurant, and Maya was acting like such a big girl, holding my hand and walking out. As I said, most of the time, one of them would step up to be the "big kid" when the other was melting down. We came home and napped (managed to get them both down at the same time!) and we went to the park later. Again we had the toilet issue. But for the most part they had a lot of fun together. I did my best to wear them out ... and based on Maya's picture below, I think I succeeded :-)




Friday we went to Pump it Up again and met the grandparents there. I wasn't exactly sure if Maya would be old enough for it or not...but she LOVED IT! She quickly realized she could jump and fall without getting hurt, and so she was climbing and jumping everywhere. She and Zak wanted to go on the slides all by themselves. It was so fun. Most surprising was Grandma going down the slides too :-)




Later we went to King's Island. Maybe King's Island and Pump It Up was a bit much for one day, but we don't get to see Maya often, so I wanted to make the most of it! We only stayed for a couple hours. Season passes are great for that.


It was a tiring, yet very fulfilling week. Zak is talking incessently about his cousins, and I feel extremely honored that my brother trusted us to take care of Maya for the week. I think we all feel a bit closer now. I know Zak really enjoyed "taking care of" Maya.

Day 21

Today has been great! My brother dropped Maya off and my sisters and I are going to watch her for a week! I'm so happy I have time to do these types of things. Without any rescheduling or special planning, I was able to pick Maya up from the airport, and Zak and I will be able to the spend the weekend and next Wednesday and Friday with her. Katie will watch her for 2 days, and Ann and Dave the other days. I think the cousins are going to have a lot of fun.

Today Maya and Zak played great together. It looks like they adore each other. We tried to call Maya's grandma on Skype, but she wasn't home. So we called Zak's Babcia. It was clear Maya knew exactly how to use Skype :-) She was showing Babcia everything.



The only trouble I had was getting them both to take naps. It was clear they were both exhausted by around 2:30...but I just couldn't get them both to relax at the same time. Finally I put them in the car, told them I'd drive around for 10 minutes, and if they were still awake we'd go to the library. They were asleep in 5. :-)

Work is going very well. It looks like I will go to Geneva in a couple weeks. I'll need to give up my extra 2 days of course, but I'm kind of lucky in that the meetings are Tuesday - Thursday. So I'll fly on Monday & Friday. Normally I'd have to take my weekends on both sides to fly over, so it still feels ok.

Well, one chaotic moment today...around 4:00, Ann calls just as Zak starts to wake. He cries he has to go pee pee right away, which wakes Maya who starts to cry. I pick up Maya, help Zak get to the bathroom. He tries to get on the potty by himself, but is only halfway on, so pee goes everywhere. He's crying because pee is everywhere. Maya's crying because Zak is crying. We all manage to calm down and get Zak into clean clothes. Everyone is relatively happy, and Ann walks in and says I need to use your bathroom. I had forgotten about the pee everywhere. She politely says "uh, it looks like something happened in here." Oops :-)

Anyway, Ann takes Maya for the evening to play with Ethan and Logan. Zak cried so hard when Maya left. I kept telling him he'd see her tomorrow, but he wasn't buying it. Luckily Rowan came over soon after, so they got to play together. They enjoyed shutting themselves in their bedroom, saying "Bye bye" to all the parents. Whenever Matt would start to walk toward them, Rowan would slam the bedroom door shut. I wonder what they'll be like at 16:-)

Anyway, a lot of fun with Zak this week. For the most part, I think this is absolutely the right thing for me to do at this time. But I must be honest that it does change things quite drastically financially. I know that I can not complain at all, but I do think double and triple about how I'm spending money. Where before I might not pay too much attention to how much I pay for car or house insurance, the phone bill, etc, etc. now I scrutinize every penny. By the way, can I just tell you it's absolutely ridiculous the amount we are forced to pay AT&T every month to use the iPhone, especially when everyone who talks to me has to deal with "sorry! can you hear me now? crap, lost call again!" (sorry to diverge) As with everything, there are pros and cons. Anyway, I'm very lucky because I've talked to some people who would love to do something similar but simply can't afford it.

Day 20

Maybe because last week was so lousy (with me being sick), this week is making up for it. :-) Work is going very well, and Zak has been cracking me up non-stop.


He's at that stage right now where he gives me lots of compliments: wow, you are so pretty mommy, or pretty shirt mommy. He also at the stage where he gets his little boo boos and thinks my kisses magically make them better.


But he's also starting to show his independance. Yesterday he said he was going to go ride his "motorcyle" (that's his Go Diego, Go tricycle that makes motorcycle sounds.) I said ok and opened the door to go sit outside and watch. He said, "No Mommy, No" and pushed me back inside. Then he went outside, said "bye bye", closed the door and rode off on his "motorcycle." He looked back at the window to see if I was still watching, and then rode some more down the driveway, turned around, came back to the door and opened it and said "Hi, I'm back!" At least it was a short trip :-)

Later last night, he was playing on one of our computers. He was watching Dinosaur Train short videos, but he wouldn't let any of them finish. I was really interested to see the end of one where the dinosaurs were learning how to improvise music...so I came over to help him. He absolutely didn't want my help. I kept trying to get him to play that video, and let it finish. Finally he said, "Mommy, you work" and pointed to our other computer. As I sat there thinking about how ironic it is that I've reduced my work schedule to spend more time with him and he's banishing me back to work, I heard the intriguing video again. I got back up to "help" ...very quickly he said "Mommy, you work" and pointed to the other computer. I sat down again, but was still watching him. He pointed to the keyboard, "Mommy, work." I put my hands on the keyboard, and he pointed to the mouse, "Mouse too Mommy." I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Anyway, today was great. We had breakfast as a family, sent Tato off, and Zak took a bubble bath while I cleaned the bathroom. After that we went to Pump It Up. It was a blast! Zak and I were the only ones there and I was having as much fun as he was. We climbed through the big giant air balloon mazes, up to some pretty large slides (I'll try to post a picture)...and sliding down took my stomach away every time! We had the complete run of the place. Such a great place for a rainy day like today. Of course I pooped out before he did, but we made it for about a hour and a half.

We then went down to Rookwood to get some new shoes and jacket for Zak. We were supposed to meet Auntie Ann for lunch, but she had to cancel, so we ate lunch together at Buca di Beppo. It was the first time he sat across from me at the table. We had some deep conversations about the pictures on the wall and how good the bread was. Then we came home and we had a bit of a mutual meltdown. I was exhausted and wanted him to nap, but of course he had napped a bit in the car ride home, which kind of ruined a proper nap. I fought him for about 20 minutes and gave up. So I put him in the jogging stroller, we jogged up to the rec center and played in the game room for half an hour, then to the park to play on the swings and slides for half an hour.

And now our day is pretty much done. I think we are both pooped, but we made up for our lost time last week. Now we wait for Tato to have some dinner.

Day 18 and 19

Well, I got behind this week because it's not been a good week. Work wise, it's been ok, but I've been very sick. Wednesday I would have needed to stay home even if it wasn't already planned, because my ears and throat hurt so bad. Poor Zak was bored out of his skull by the end of the day. It was also a very rainy day, so that added to it.

We did have a very cute interaction at nap time. We have an L-shaped sofa, and so I laid him on the short part of the L, and then put my head next to his and laid on the long part of the L. He turned his head to me, then reached out and grabbed my hand and closed his eyes to go to sleep. He makes me feel so special.

But I did feel very bad at the end of the day, realizing how little we got to do. Then Friday I had a terrible migraine. I couldn't function at all, so Kuba had to take the morning off work to take care of Zak even. I absolutely hate that we didn't get to spend enough time together this week. I think the migraine might have been work related, definitely there is some stress there. I need to figure out how to shut it off. The problem with this particular one is that it's a personal issue, with me and one person simply not getting along. As much as I say that I care about the results and not what individuals think, I don't think its true. I've been thinking about it non-stop. I'm not sure it caused the migraine, but it certainly hasn't helped my sleeping. Why can't I just be grateful for what I have and realize that I simply will not get along with everyone 100% of the time?

Anyway, not the best week, but I'm determined to catch up for it this weekend :-) Kuba's been great helping while I've been sick. Family wise, we are very strong right now.

By the way, I'm looking for ideas that Zak and I can do together to help others...some kind of volunteer work. Right now I'm thinking of visiting a senior home near by on Wednesday mornings, but if anyone has some other ideas, I'd love to hear them. We had planned to do that on Wednesday, but I didn't want to go with my ears and throat hurting.

Day 17

As I said yesterday, we decided on an impromptu visit to see Jude, Chad and Maya in Chicago. I was able to get a condo for a decent price close to the lake, and Kuba was able to get a vacation day. So we had a leisurely breakfast together, and set off at around 8.


Zak is much more difficult now in the car. He's pretty much bored with the iPhone, even though I downloaded new games just for the trip. He watched one movie on the computer, but then was bored of that.


He knows how to use the fact that he's potty trained in his favor. At some point, he said he wanted to stop. We said let's try to go another half hour or so. So then he said "Poopy, poopy." Hmm. Anyway, we got to Chicago, and had a great evening with Jude, Chad and Maya. Zak loved riding on the El. He was a bit overwhelmed with all the trains and busses, two of his favorite things :-)


Saturday we went to the aquarium...absolutely great for anyone visiting Chicago. It was a little too crowded, but still very, very good (except the dolphin show, that was awful.)

Anyway, had a great time with the Higdon-Topazes, trip back was rather long with Zak, but we managed to get home in time to get on the bikes for an hour and get some fresh air. Zak talked incessantly about Maya for the next few days, so it was definitely a worthwhile trip. I'm glad we had the time to make it happen.

Day 16

I survived! It's now Thursday, remember I switched my days to work M-W this week. I don't want to even think how far behind I am from being in 3 full days of off-site meetings, and now having a 4 day weekend...I just want to enjoy the weekend :-) I was asked at work to lead another large program. I'm a bit nervous about adding more to my plate when I'm not completely sure I have the current items in control, but I'll look at is as a challenge and see what's possible.


I did get up at 3 this morning and did just an hour of work to catch up a bit. And I left a 7am meeting on my calendar because I didn't want to reschedule it. But now those are done, and Zak is cracking me up.


First, he woke up just before my meeting (of course :-) )...and for some reason refused to wear clothes. So he ran around the house for 3 hours, including the hour I was in my meeting, with no undies or anything. Ahh to be so comfortable :-) I only finally coaxed him into some by telling him he'd be too cold on the bike like that.

He's also showed me what a chocolate milk snob he is. When Babcia was here, she used baking cocoa for his milk, and then added honey for sweetening. As nice as that tasted, and I do kind of like him having honey as the sweetner, it seemed a little bit complicated to me. I just want to mix in some powder and be done with it. So I finally remembered to buy some chocoloate milk powder, and made him some this morning. He tasted it and refused it. He went searching in the pantry and brought out the dark baker's chocolate and honey. Such a sophisticated palate.

He just got a haircut last weekend, and I can't get over how old he looks. I told him again this morning that he looks 4 years old. He said "Thanks Mommy, I know." Then I asked him to give me a kiss, and he said "No, no, no, no, no." Ah, the time is moving too fast :-)

We biked up to the library and read some books, then we met Auntie Ann for lunch. Zak really enjoyed that, although he really expected to see Ethan and Logan as well. It was great to see my sister impromptu.

And after that, my brother and I decided to do an impromptu meeting in Chicago for the weekend...so I spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging things, getting a condo there, etc. Zak and I did manage to get up to the park for another 45 minutes or so after his nap. He's reaching another interesting point in his development....things that 3 months ago he had no fear on, he suddenly has some fear. So he'd go runing up the climbing wall, slides, etc...and now, some of the steeper ones, he thinks 2x about, or even asks for my help saying "this one's scarey." Maybe he's playing off of my fear, or maybe a couple of falls have convinced him he's not invincible, but it's interesting to see.

Anyway, we closed the evening with a visit from Auntie Katie, while Kuba and I played an hour of tennis. I'll blog about the Chicago trip next week :-)

Day 15

Friday morning I got up a little before Zak and decided to try to do just a bit of work. I did about 30 minutes worth, was just about to tackle a frustrating email, and Zak woke up. I've got to get better at dismissing those if I'm going to try to sneak in bits of work here and there, because unfortunately that stayed on my mind through-out the day since I didn't get to close it. Its good for me to learn how to do dismiss these, at least the point of not affecting my day, I need to challenge myself.



Anyway, later, Ann called because the daycare wouldn't allow Ethan at school because he had run a 100 degree fever the day before, but Ethan felt great...so we decided to take all the boys to the zoo. We went from 9:30-11:30. Then Dana, Matt and Rowan met us for lunch and we stayed there another few hours. It was our last day on the season passes (carried over from last year)...and we got the most out of it. We even rode the train and the merry go round 2x. Zak wanted to ride the shark for some reason.

We went home and Zak and I napped so comfortably for an hour snuggled together. Then I got up, and soon after Zak woke up, but I knew he wasn't ready to completely wake. He asked me to rock him in the "orange rocking chair"...so I did. And I thought about how hard it is for me just to relax. It's such a joy and pleasure just to have him sleeping in my lap, but I let my mind wander a bit: is it laziness for me to just sit there for an hour? Would it be better for me to lay him in the bed and sneak in a bit of work? Would it be better for me to put him in the jogging stroller and jog a bit? Time is such a luxury these days, I just don't want to waste it. In the end, I did just sit there and rock him, and tried to appreciate that even in 6 months or so, he'll probably be too big already to fit nicely on my lap in the "orange rocking chair."

Kuba came home and we spent the evening together. It had been a long week for both of us, every night we entertained someone from work....so we biked a bit to get some air, and then just vegged. Next week was going to be a long week for me....I rearranged my schedule to be Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for 3 days of all day meetings, and already knew I had a business dinner Tuesday night. I'm mentally preparing myself to not get to spend much time with Zak and Kuba Monday-Wednesday. Maybe that's another reason I let myself just sit in the rocking chair so long.