Last Friday, and today, Wednesday, have been really great. Friday morning I had the idea that a) Zak should start helping a bit more consistently with chores and b) we should spend some time on reading, writing and/or math each morning. So Friday morning, I asked him to help me with unloading the dishwasher and doing the laundry. He loved doing both (and really did help)...so we'll see how long that lasts.
Then I opened up a Thomas the Train activity book, and told him we need to get through 5 pages of it before we could go do anything else. He shocked me! I had him circle all of certain letters (ie. circle all the Bs)...and he did, albeit the circles were a bit to be desired. Then, for every letter, he told me the sound it made. He's known words that start with the sounds for a long time...but it's the first time I heard him say "B"..."Bbbbbb"...and so then we sounded out some words. After B, I asked what sound "U" makes...he knew....and then "what sound does S make"...he knew...and so eventually we sounded out BUS. It took a lot to get him to put them together, but he got all the individual sounds. So we did the same for several words, and then he did some other activities in the book...finding the one that didn't belong, matching things on the left to things on the right. I guess I didn't realize how much he has learned.
Anyway, after that, we ran some errands together, came home for lunch, and then went up to the park to enjoy the beautiful weather. We stayed at the park again for an hour or more. He made friends with a little boy there, probably around 5 years old....they played cars together. Then, a little girl, around 2 years old, came and stole Zak's newest car. All of a sudden I saw Zak and the other little boy chasing this little girl, looking extremely distraught. Everytime they caught up to the girl, Zak would say something, and the girl would take off again. I happened to be talking to the girl's father...and we realized it was our kids that were involved in something. The dad laughed saying his daughter always got the boys chasing her. I thought I had heard Zak shout something about his car...so said I think they way she's done it is by taking his car. He said, no, no...they are just having fun. We both came to look, and sure enough, she had the car...I asked Zak why he couldn't share it. He said "Not that one!" and ran and got another one and gave it to her. The dad said, wow, I guess she knows how to get their attention. After that they played pretty well together. I could tell Zak didn't know what to do when he caught up to the girl and she wasn't responding to his plea for the car! Anyway, kind of fun to see the interactions...I was glad he didn't resort to any physically pushing or pulling.
When Tato got home, we all played "Snakes" together. It was so much fun. Zak made each of us take a car, and use the car to select the cards.
This morning Zak asked if he was going to school....I said no, we are staying home, is that ok? He said, very excitedly "YEAHN, I LOVE staying home!" :-) Great! We had our breakfast, then did the 2nd day of our morning chore routine...dishes and laundry. Thsi time, I had him take Kuba's clean clothes to his closet. I figured he'd just put them on the floor or something. 10 minutes later, I came to check what he did with them, and I couldn't find them! I was looking, and looking...and then finally found them in Kuba's dirty clothes hamper! That could be a never ending cycle :-)
Then we did our writing activities again, and went up to the rec center for our standard workout. We came home, ate lunch...and then we had a bit of a standoff. Babcia made Zak a sandwich, and I asked him to say "Dziekuje" to Babcia. He said "Thanks" instead. I told him I at least wanted him to try to say it in Polish..he said "No, I can't." I've been hearing that word can't a bit too often lately. I told him again, I wanted him to at least try. He became almost hysterical, saying no, he can't say it. We fought for about 10 minutes, and finally I told him to either give Babcia a thank you hug, or say Dziekuje. He chose the thank you hug. It's a shame.
Anyway, by then, he was emotionally exhausted, and seemed physically tired too. I figured we'd get in the car and he'd fall asleep while I ran some chores (car wash, etc)...of course he wouldn't sleep. After an hour of chores and driving, I decided we should do something active...so we went ice skating! Once again, going during the week is SO much different than during the weekend. On the weekend, you can barely move on the rink...today there was a total of 7 people there! He had so much fun! He didn't want to go, and I've noticed lately that he never wants to try anything new...so I forced the issue and asked him to at least try. At the end he was crying that he didn't want to leave. And as this was only my 2nd time on the ice myself...I must admit I felt much more confident at the end too!
Then we came home, and he fell asleep for 3 hours! I guess I finally wore him out:-)
Oh, one more interesting thing...we drove up to the outlet mall on Monday, since we had a day off...on the way, as we were passing the exit to get to Ann and Dave's...he said "Ethan lives here!" This is crazy to me...its not like we go there that often.
Anyway, it's been a good personal couple of weeks, and work is going really well too. I'm getting a better handle on the new type of stress that comes with this role and how to manage it...and I think getting into a good ryhthm now that I'm back to Mon, Tues and Thursday. I also think I've got my new network of people built up, so the relationships and trust are there that are imperative to making this work. I'm by no means caught up or feel completely in control...but I'm a broken record in that regard!
I continue to feel very lucky and happy.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Day 81
Wednesday was a great day. Probably a combination of having a good couple days at work, and the absolutely gorgeous weather, had something to do with it.
First of all, the work stuff. As I said, this was the week of 6am meetings, but the meetings were productive, and I felt I got a lot done. One of the girls who works with me actually told me "Thanks so much for always being so calm. You help me stay calm." That was a shocker for me. I always feel like a chicken with my head cut off :-) She then said "I can't believe you only work 3 days a week..I always feel like you are here." Now, that can be good or bad...but since I'm definitely NOT there 5 days a week, yet she feels I'm always there for her, that feels really good. Honestly, I think she just has very easily adapted to my schedule, but I also think going back to my Mon, Tues, Thurs schedule has helped. I don't think people realize how important Tuesday seems to be during the week :-) Anyway, it was nice to hear that I appeared calm and she felt I was always there for her when needed. On the other hand, I had another guy tell me "You've certainly introduced me to a new definition of fast...my energy level is so high right now that I feel I can move forward without having to have everything perfect." I'm sure I'm not hearing from the people who think I'm pushing too hard...but fast and calm are two attributes I don't mind having tossed around when describing me :-)
Wednesday started off with our normal leisurely breakfast, then we headed up to the rec center. Finally we are all feeling pretty much 100%, so I did a small run, then let Monika do her workout, while Zak and I played in the game room. We played for 30 minutes with the cars he brought in his backpack...making up stories and acting them out. Then he wanted to play some pool, so I had him go out and ask the receptionist for the pool balls. He's so cute...he gets so nervous, asks very quickly for the balls, then says "Thanks" and walks away. We played some pool but then back to the cars. He's just a freak about these cars right now.
We came home, I went for lunch with a good friend of mine who just had a baby (Tyler!)...Zak wanted to go, but he seemed a little bit too anxious to sit still in a restaurant. When I got home, it was 57 degrees! So I took him out to the park and we played for 2 hours! He brought all his cars of course, and we ended up sliding them one by one down the sliding board. I would catch them at the end and throw them back up to him. At one point, we did play house, where he likes to make me "Macaroni and cheese and chocolate milk in a sponge bob cup." Whenever he hands me the macaroni and cheese he says "Careful, it's VERY hot!" Then some other kids came over, both of them his age. He walked right up to them, handed each of them 2 of his cars, and the 3 of them started playing sliding the cars down the sliding board. It was really nice to see. He's very giving with his things, at least for now.
Later we came home and were watching "Mater's Tales." It's these little 5 minute clips of some of the Cars characters. There is one clip where Mater is in a heavy metal band...and I always say I don't like that one, because I don't like seeing Mater all dressed up in leather and stuff. This time, Zak told me "Ooohh...this one's not for you Mommy! Let's fast forward it." Then he said, "I like that one, but the UFO one is not for me!" So we skipped through Heavy Metal Mater, and UFO Mater...but watched all the others. I was kind of impressed that he actually thought of my feelings like that.
We ended the day with a grill out on the patio and hanging out with Aunt Katie. It was just a really nice day.
Now, tonight (Thursday), he did shock me...today after work I picked him up from school and Kuba's mom wanted to go for fitness...so I said sure, Zak and I will just go to the game room. But Thursdays after school the game room is a much different place! There were lots of teenage boys there playing ping pong, pool, and one was on the arcade games. Zak wanted to play on the second arcade game...which was fine. Normally we both play, but this time only he could, with the teenage boy on the other one. He was entranced with what the teenage boy was doing. First, he showed the boy the 2 cars he had brought with thim...the boy was nice and actually acknowledged him. Then Zak would look at whatever game he was playing, and select the same game to play (ie, Frogger, PacMan, Asteroids, etc) At some point, I was trying to help Zak because he wasn't really using the controls right, and he pushed me away and said "No! WE'RE playing! You go over there!" WHAT!!! HE'S 3 YEARS OLD! I can't believe I was so easily replaced with this teenage boy. It was so clear he wanted me to leave him alone so he could play with the big boys. My beautiful time where I'm the center of his world is already coming to an end. *Sniff, sniff* Only reenforces for me that I'm doing the right thing getting a few extra days with him while it lasts!!!
First of all, the work stuff. As I said, this was the week of 6am meetings, but the meetings were productive, and I felt I got a lot done. One of the girls who works with me actually told me "Thanks so much for always being so calm. You help me stay calm." That was a shocker for me. I always feel like a chicken with my head cut off :-) She then said "I can't believe you only work 3 days a week..I always feel like you are here." Now, that can be good or bad...but since I'm definitely NOT there 5 days a week, yet she feels I'm always there for her, that feels really good. Honestly, I think she just has very easily adapted to my schedule, but I also think going back to my Mon, Tues, Thurs schedule has helped. I don't think people realize how important Tuesday seems to be during the week :-) Anyway, it was nice to hear that I appeared calm and she felt I was always there for her when needed. On the other hand, I had another guy tell me "You've certainly introduced me to a new definition of fast...my energy level is so high right now that I feel I can move forward without having to have everything perfect." I'm sure I'm not hearing from the people who think I'm pushing too hard...but fast and calm are two attributes I don't mind having tossed around when describing me :-)
Wednesday started off with our normal leisurely breakfast, then we headed up to the rec center. Finally we are all feeling pretty much 100%, so I did a small run, then let Monika do her workout, while Zak and I played in the game room. We played for 30 minutes with the cars he brought in his backpack...making up stories and acting them out. Then he wanted to play some pool, so I had him go out and ask the receptionist for the pool balls. He's so cute...he gets so nervous, asks very quickly for the balls, then says "Thanks" and walks away. We played some pool but then back to the cars. He's just a freak about these cars right now.
We came home, I went for lunch with a good friend of mine who just had a baby (Tyler!)...Zak wanted to go, but he seemed a little bit too anxious to sit still in a restaurant. When I got home, it was 57 degrees! So I took him out to the park and we played for 2 hours! He brought all his cars of course, and we ended up sliding them one by one down the sliding board. I would catch them at the end and throw them back up to him. At one point, we did play house, where he likes to make me "Macaroni and cheese and chocolate milk in a sponge bob cup." Whenever he hands me the macaroni and cheese he says "Careful, it's VERY hot!" Then some other kids came over, both of them his age. He walked right up to them, handed each of them 2 of his cars, and the 3 of them started playing sliding the cars down the sliding board. It was really nice to see. He's very giving with his things, at least for now.
Later we came home and were watching "Mater's Tales." It's these little 5 minute clips of some of the Cars characters. There is one clip where Mater is in a heavy metal band...and I always say I don't like that one, because I don't like seeing Mater all dressed up in leather and stuff. This time, Zak told me "Ooohh...this one's not for you Mommy! Let's fast forward it." Then he said, "I like that one, but the UFO one is not for me!" So we skipped through Heavy Metal Mater, and UFO Mater...but watched all the others. I was kind of impressed that he actually thought of my feelings like that.
We ended the day with a grill out on the patio and hanging out with Aunt Katie. It was just a really nice day.
Now, tonight (Thursday), he did shock me...today after work I picked him up from school and Kuba's mom wanted to go for fitness...so I said sure, Zak and I will just go to the game room. But Thursdays after school the game room is a much different place! There were lots of teenage boys there playing ping pong, pool, and one was on the arcade games. Zak wanted to play on the second arcade game...which was fine. Normally we both play, but this time only he could, with the teenage boy on the other one. He was entranced with what the teenage boy was doing. First, he showed the boy the 2 cars he had brought with thim...the boy was nice and actually acknowledged him. Then Zak would look at whatever game he was playing, and select the same game to play (ie, Frogger, PacMan, Asteroids, etc) At some point, I was trying to help Zak because he wasn't really using the controls right, and he pushed me away and said "No! WE'RE playing! You go over there!" WHAT!!! HE'S 3 YEARS OLD! I can't believe I was so easily replaced with this teenage boy. It was so clear he wanted me to leave him alone so he could play with the big boys. My beautiful time where I'm the center of his world is already coming to an end. *Sniff, sniff* Only reenforces for me that I'm doing the right thing getting a few extra days with him while it lasts!!!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Days 79 and 80
This was a really good week. At work, it was one of those weeks where I had a lot of actual "work" time, not overloaded with meetings...and I felt mostly very good about the progress we've made over the past 7 months or so. There are areas where I wish we were further of course, but I feel very good on the overall big picture, and had enough time this week to get a lot of loose ends tied up. Next week will be different :-) Half day meetings starting at 6 2 of the days, and 3 vp reviews :-P
I think the reason it felt like such a good week is not only because I felt like I got a lot done at work, but also I had a lot of time with Zak, plus got an evening out with good friends, and even took a couple hours to get my hair cut, colored, etc. Kuba and I had a great week celebrating on and off again our 5 year anniversary...just all around a very healthy week (except for the start of the week where I was battling 101 temperature for a couple days...)
Anyway, the Zak stuff...on Wednesday morning, for some reason he put his cars into a circle, and then showed me he had made a cirlce. I, for some reason, then used his other cars to make a T, and then pointed out my T. He then went on to make a T with his fingers, and then showed me how to make a diamond, and a triangle as well. He obviously learned this at school, because I never showed him. I then showed him how to make a cirlce with his fingers...which he promptly told me was not right, and no, you can not make a circle with your fingers. I'm assuming because they didn't show him at school that he thinks it's not possible.
After breakfast, he started playing on the computer while I was cleaning up. I asked him if we could talk instead of him playing on the computer...he said "No." So we started this thing where if I ask him a question, and he doesn't answer me, the computer goes off. I LOVE that he is so computer savvy, but I worry that I'm going to lose him to the ether world. We'll have to keep an eye on that :-)
Monika was a little stir crazy because we had all been sick most of the weekend, so we went out shopping. We took Zak to ToysRUs and let him pick a car, then we went to the mall so she could get some make-up. I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch, but I was still a bit afraid of being around her new baby since I was still coughing, so we just went home. Zak wanted to play "the big race" with his cars, and he put a bunch of the "extra" cars on the stairs. He said this was the audience for the big race. It made me smile...but I told him it probably wasn't safe to put cars on the steps, what if Babcia needed to come down and stepped on one and slipped? So he moved them all over to the side of the steps, and said Babcia should step in the middle so she won't fall a hit her head. I figured that was probably ok, and hollered up a warning to Babcia. We then re-enacted the "Big Race", with the big crash and all...including the fans in the audience going wild.
We took the rest of Wednesday kind of easy...I ran out and got my hair cut during Zak's nap....then I let Zak take a bubble bath, since the new Car he bought was meant for the bathtub. After 30 minutes or so I insisted he get out (he body was a complete prune)...he kept saying he wasn't ready...but finally I unplugged the bathtub plug...and then we had a battle for the next few minutes of him waiting until I was getting his clothes ready or such, and plugging the tub back up. He's getting quite a little independent streak...which I love.
Our friend was in town from Canada, and so Thursday night a group of my good friends went out together. It's so nice having Monika in town, AND having my 2 days off...so that I don't feel guilty when I actually take a night out...and of course having a built in babysitter :-) Friday we spent the day with our friend....starting the day with some breakfast at home, heading out to do some shopping downtown (and a dentist appt for me), then to lunch with Kuba. Zak had so much fun during all of it...he LOVES downtown...so many buses and taxis and police cars. Then Kate and Monika went to the Underground Railroad museum, which I really want to go to, but I figured this was a good opportunity for Monika to go before she goes back to Poland, and I read it's not very good for kids....so Zak and I drove out of downtown and did some errands while he napped (got the car washed, went to the drive-thru pharmacy, etc)...then we went back downtown and had some ice cream at Greaters. Just as we were about to get on the ice rink, Babcia called and said she was ready...so we came back home and just enjoyed hanging around for the last couple hours until Tato came home. Then Kuba and I went for some tennis...
The week was just a really good one...I felt very good at work, and very good at home. Life is good :-)
I think the reason it felt like such a good week is not only because I felt like I got a lot done at work, but also I had a lot of time with Zak, plus got an evening out with good friends, and even took a couple hours to get my hair cut, colored, etc. Kuba and I had a great week celebrating on and off again our 5 year anniversary...just all around a very healthy week (except for the start of the week where I was battling 101 temperature for a couple days...)
Anyway, the Zak stuff...on Wednesday morning, for some reason he put his cars into a circle, and then showed me he had made a cirlce. I, for some reason, then used his other cars to make a T, and then pointed out my T. He then went on to make a T with his fingers, and then showed me how to make a diamond, and a triangle as well. He obviously learned this at school, because I never showed him. I then showed him how to make a cirlce with his fingers...which he promptly told me was not right, and no, you can not make a circle with your fingers. I'm assuming because they didn't show him at school that he thinks it's not possible.
After breakfast, he started playing on the computer while I was cleaning up. I asked him if we could talk instead of him playing on the computer...he said "No." So we started this thing where if I ask him a question, and he doesn't answer me, the computer goes off. I LOVE that he is so computer savvy, but I worry that I'm going to lose him to the ether world. We'll have to keep an eye on that :-)
Monika was a little stir crazy because we had all been sick most of the weekend, so we went out shopping. We took Zak to ToysRUs and let him pick a car, then we went to the mall so she could get some make-up. I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch, but I was still a bit afraid of being around her new baby since I was still coughing, so we just went home. Zak wanted to play "the big race" with his cars, and he put a bunch of the "extra" cars on the stairs. He said this was the audience for the big race. It made me smile...but I told him it probably wasn't safe to put cars on the steps, what if Babcia needed to come down and stepped on one and slipped? So he moved them all over to the side of the steps, and said Babcia should step in the middle so she won't fall a hit her head. I figured that was probably ok, and hollered up a warning to Babcia. We then re-enacted the "Big Race", with the big crash and all...including the fans in the audience going wild.
We took the rest of Wednesday kind of easy...I ran out and got my hair cut during Zak's nap....then I let Zak take a bubble bath, since the new Car he bought was meant for the bathtub. After 30 minutes or so I insisted he get out (he body was a complete prune)...he kept saying he wasn't ready...but finally I unplugged the bathtub plug...and then we had a battle for the next few minutes of him waiting until I was getting his clothes ready or such, and plugging the tub back up. He's getting quite a little independent streak...which I love.
Our friend was in town from Canada, and so Thursday night a group of my good friends went out together. It's so nice having Monika in town, AND having my 2 days off...so that I don't feel guilty when I actually take a night out...and of course having a built in babysitter :-) Friday we spent the day with our friend....starting the day with some breakfast at home, heading out to do some shopping downtown (and a dentist appt for me), then to lunch with Kuba. Zak had so much fun during all of it...he LOVES downtown...so many buses and taxis and police cars. Then Kate and Monika went to the Underground Railroad museum, which I really want to go to, but I figured this was a good opportunity for Monika to go before she goes back to Poland, and I read it's not very good for kids....so Zak and I drove out of downtown and did some errands while he napped (got the car washed, went to the drive-thru pharmacy, etc)...then we went back downtown and had some ice cream at Greaters. Just as we were about to get on the ice rink, Babcia called and said she was ready...so we came back home and just enjoyed hanging around for the last couple hours until Tato came home. Then Kuba and I went for some tennis...
The week was just a really good one...I felt very good at work, and very good at home. Life is good :-)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Day 78
Friday was a very good day. I didn't like how I started the day though. I woke up at about 6 and thought I'd log in to work to send one email. It's one of those emails that you have to put a lot of thought into, and I had been thinking about it most of the night...so thought I'd get it out since I had some time. Normally Zak will wake up at about 7 if unprompted, but maybe he heard me moving about or something...he came down and wanted me to hold him. I was half way through writing the email, and I got raelly frustrated with Zak. I wanted him to stay asleep, and give me time to get it out, otherwise I'd be thinking about it all morning. I told him to lay down, and he kept wanting to hug my neck. So sad of me, but I really just wanted him to give me 15 more minutes to get this done. I told him, pretty angrily, to lay back down. Then I checked myself, gave him a kiss and hug, and asked him please just to give me a few more minutes. He did. One day, I'm going to miss him wanting to cuddle with me in the mornings. This is why I need to be careful about letting myself use any of my day off time for work...it can easily slip into hours if I'm not careful. I've seen other people ask their kids for "5 more minutes", and then when the kids get into something else, the adults start into something else, and then get mad again when the kids want their attention 15 minutes later. I just need to be careful.
Anyway, I got the note out, and shut down the computer....and made sure to listen to what Zak wanted to do for the morning. I cuddled with him and asked "do you want to go get some breakfast?" He said "Oh sure!" That's his new thing "Oh sure!" Do you want some ketchup? "Sure!" Do you want to play cars? "Sure!" After breakfast, he wanted to play cars, then we went to the rec center. I must admit I love being able to get a small run in in the mornings, and know Zak is enjoying spending time with Babcia. We came home for lunch, then Babcia wanted to go shopping for some make-up (she always needs to go shopping for make-up.) I asked Zak if he wanted to go shopping...he said "Oh sure! To Target to buy a new car!" I thought that was fair, given how boring buying make-up would be for him. But I am a little struck by how the Target brand has had such an influence on him. They are building a Target about a mile from our house, I wonder if he'll want to work there when he's a teenager :-)
We went to Target, he spent about 20 minutes selecting his car...and I love to watch his thought process. We go through all the cars and narrow it down to the ones he doesn't have. Then he picks them up 2-3 times and considers. He asked their names, and then I don't knwo what goes through his head. Eventually he picked "Valerie Veat."
We both napped when we got home (I am catching the bug he had earlier this week)...and then we went for his first tennis practice. He hated it. I must admit, I don't think it was set up right...there were 8 4yr olds, 2 teachers, and they expected them to stay in a line and hit when it was their turn. They were bored to death. I think in 45 minutes, Zak got a chance to hit the ball about 8 times. I would be bored myself. He told me after "I don't like tennis because I don't know how to play." I guess Kuba or I will need to play 1:1 with him for awhile first.
We had an easy night, just hanging out and relaxing. We are all either getting over, or getting a small bug, so we thought just hanging out was probably the best idea. Kuba made an awesome dinner for us (baked salmon with a wonderful lemon sauce)...Zak even liked it.
After dinner, Kuba went to work on our basement bathroom. At about 8, Zak said "Do you want to play cars with me Mommy?" I said, "No, it's probably time for bed." Zak said "Oh, no! I have to help Tato! And he grabbed his tool belt and ran down to help Tato. Anything to avoid bed time!
Anyway, we had a lot of fun today....not too busy, not too lazy.
Anyway, I got the note out, and shut down the computer....and made sure to listen to what Zak wanted to do for the morning. I cuddled with him and asked "do you want to go get some breakfast?" He said "Oh sure!" That's his new thing "Oh sure!" Do you want some ketchup? "Sure!" Do you want to play cars? "Sure!" After breakfast, he wanted to play cars, then we went to the rec center. I must admit I love being able to get a small run in in the mornings, and know Zak is enjoying spending time with Babcia. We came home for lunch, then Babcia wanted to go shopping for some make-up (she always needs to go shopping for make-up.) I asked Zak if he wanted to go shopping...he said "Oh sure! To Target to buy a new car!" I thought that was fair, given how boring buying make-up would be for him. But I am a little struck by how the Target brand has had such an influence on him. They are building a Target about a mile from our house, I wonder if he'll want to work there when he's a teenager :-)
We went to Target, he spent about 20 minutes selecting his car...and I love to watch his thought process. We go through all the cars and narrow it down to the ones he doesn't have. Then he picks them up 2-3 times and considers. He asked their names, and then I don't knwo what goes through his head. Eventually he picked "Valerie Veat."
We both napped when we got home (I am catching the bug he had earlier this week)...and then we went for his first tennis practice. He hated it. I must admit, I don't think it was set up right...there were 8 4yr olds, 2 teachers, and they expected them to stay in a line and hit when it was their turn. They were bored to death. I think in 45 minutes, Zak got a chance to hit the ball about 8 times. I would be bored myself. He told me after "I don't like tennis because I don't know how to play." I guess Kuba or I will need to play 1:1 with him for awhile first.
We had an easy night, just hanging out and relaxing. We are all either getting over, or getting a small bug, so we thought just hanging out was probably the best idea. Kuba made an awesome dinner for us (baked salmon with a wonderful lemon sauce)...Zak even liked it.
After dinner, Kuba went to work on our basement bathroom. At about 8, Zak said "Do you want to play cars with me Mommy?" I said, "No, it's probably time for bed." Zak said "Oh, no! I have to help Tato! And he grabbed his tool belt and ran down to help Tato. Anything to avoid bed time!
Anyway, we had a lot of fun today....not too busy, not too lazy.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Days 76 and 77
Friday was great, but very busy. I had had a hard, emotional week at work. I had several reviews last week, finishing with one with my vice-president on Thursday. My sister asked if I ever had time to work with all the reviews I do :-) Anyway, I was really, really ready for the 3-day weekend.
Friday morning we had a photographer come to our house and take pictures. (http://www.kencrites.com/People/Cielica-2/15657499_BgUi3#1173471929_23Mrq) We had a lot of fun and tried to get some candid pictures throughout the house...and in the snow. I wanted to get some pics before Babcia went back to Poland. I highly recommend Ken...he makes it so easy! I was disappointed that Kuba had to work, but we got some nice ones anyway. Zak was starting to feel bad, but we continued on.
Then I went to lunch with a friend, came home and we went to the rec center. We had a ton of fun playing air hockey, pool and shuffle board. I got a small run in while Babcia and Zak played too. I had planned to take Zak to his first tennis lesson at 4...but I could tell he was starting to feel tired, so we went home and stayed in. I met Dana and Sara for a coffee at 5, and then Dana, Matt and Rowan came over for dinner. It was a very nice, relaxing way to start the weekend.
Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was plagued with 103 fevers for Zak...all the way through Monday he was going up and down depending on if we gave him medicine or not. We still managed to have some fun though, having some new friends over Saturday evening (the Crites), and Jill, Vikash and Chloe visiting for the weekend. Luckily Babcia was here, because Monday morning Zak had a fever again. I'm going to miss this luxury when she goes home :-)
Today (Wednesday) has been great, maybe a little lazy. I really concentrated on playing with Zak, because it's the first day he's been really well since Friday. He didn't disappoint me.
But first, breakfast. He had his standard, milk and cheerios...but wasn't too interested in the cheerios this morning. His appetite has been a bit lite since he's been sick. I asked him to eat his breakfast so we could play...he asked for a reese cup instead (we have a bag of small ones.) I told him no, of course not for breakfast...but then I said, you know what, if you eat your cheerios, you can have one. He countered with, "Ok, I'll eat ONE cheerio, and then a reese cup." I countered with, "No, ALL cheerios, and then a reese cup." I've never seen him eat a bowl so fast. Unbelievable.
Then we started playing. We went through all of his Cars (Lightning, Mater, LeakLess, Octane Gain, Chewall, etc, etc)...he only gets stuck on Transberry Juice...and I do too. He's just today realized that there are different brands of cars...and so now he's organizing them by: Disney/Pixar, Matchbox and Hotwheels. He gives the matchbox and hotwheels ones names...the names are so complicated I can't even understand them, but he remembers them everytime. Most of the names are 3 syllables long.
He loves to make up stories for the cars, and so we played for a good 45 minutes with them. He's started recently crashing the cars...like Chick Hicks does in the movie...and inevitably one will fall off the table. I don't know how to think about this...I don't like the agressiveness of it, on the other hand, I think it's pretty normal. Anyway, I figured I should do something to counteract the agression, so whenever a car fell of the table, I said sadly "Ahh, he's hurt!" and I picked him up and kissed him. So then Zak started doing the same thing...but it was this weird game of crashing the car to the floor, and then sadly picking them up and kissing them to make them feel better.
I was actually trying to get a video of him picking up the car and kissing it, but of course once I got the iPhone out to video, he wanted it...and he started taking pictures of the cars (and did pretty good!) Interestingly, he taught me something on the iPhone! I didn't know you could flip staight out of the camera into the photos on the iPhone...I always wondered how he so quickly got into the photo gallery...and today I saw him hit the icon in the camera that did it. Go figure.
Then we went up to the rec center and played in the game room....came home and took showers/bubble baths. After Zak's bubble bath, I was dressing him in my favorite shirt for him...his Oscar the Grouch sweatshirt (the one he wore for the pictures)...and he told me "You know, I don't like that shirt at all." Wah! I'm glad I got the pics when I did! So I let him pick out another one. As I was getting him dressed, he asked me, "Are you going to work today?" I told him "No, today I'm staying home." He said "Why?" I said "Well, I thought we'd just have time to play. Is it ok?" He said "Yeah! That's a GREAT idea!" Thank goodness. I thought he was going to tell me he wanted to go to school or something :-)
We had some lunch, and then I drove around and ran a few errands while he napped in the car (beauty of having Babcia with us...I can run in and out without waking him)...and then as the day was winding down and we were growing bored of each other, he asks, very matter of factly... "Did someone buy me a car today?" Tato has been bringing him home a new care almost every day, and so now he seems to expect one! They learn so fast!
Anyway, a very good, quality day :-)
Friday morning we had a photographer come to our house and take pictures. (http://www.kencrites.com/People/Cielica-2/15657499_BgUi3#1173471929_23Mrq) We had a lot of fun and tried to get some candid pictures throughout the house...and in the snow. I wanted to get some pics before Babcia went back to Poland. I highly recommend Ken...he makes it so easy! I was disappointed that Kuba had to work, but we got some nice ones anyway. Zak was starting to feel bad, but we continued on.
Then I went to lunch with a friend, came home and we went to the rec center. We had a ton of fun playing air hockey, pool and shuffle board. I got a small run in while Babcia and Zak played too. I had planned to take Zak to his first tennis lesson at 4...but I could tell he was starting to feel tired, so we went home and stayed in. I met Dana and Sara for a coffee at 5, and then Dana, Matt and Rowan came over for dinner. It was a very nice, relaxing way to start the weekend.
Unfortunately, the rest of the weekend was plagued with 103 fevers for Zak...all the way through Monday he was going up and down depending on if we gave him medicine or not. We still managed to have some fun though, having some new friends over Saturday evening (the Crites), and Jill, Vikash and Chloe visiting for the weekend. Luckily Babcia was here, because Monday morning Zak had a fever again. I'm going to miss this luxury when she goes home :-)
Today (Wednesday) has been great, maybe a little lazy. I really concentrated on playing with Zak, because it's the first day he's been really well since Friday. He didn't disappoint me.
But first, breakfast. He had his standard, milk and cheerios...but wasn't too interested in the cheerios this morning. His appetite has been a bit lite since he's been sick. I asked him to eat his breakfast so we could play...he asked for a reese cup instead (we have a bag of small ones.) I told him no, of course not for breakfast...but then I said, you know what, if you eat your cheerios, you can have one. He countered with, "Ok, I'll eat ONE cheerio, and then a reese cup." I countered with, "No, ALL cheerios, and then a reese cup." I've never seen him eat a bowl so fast. Unbelievable.
Then we started playing. We went through all of his Cars (Lightning, Mater, LeakLess, Octane Gain, Chewall, etc, etc)...he only gets stuck on Transberry Juice...and I do too. He's just today realized that there are different brands of cars...and so now he's organizing them by: Disney/Pixar, Matchbox and Hotwheels. He gives the matchbox and hotwheels ones names...the names are so complicated I can't even understand them, but he remembers them everytime. Most of the names are 3 syllables long.
He loves to make up stories for the cars, and so we played for a good 45 minutes with them. He's started recently crashing the cars...like Chick Hicks does in the movie...and inevitably one will fall off the table. I don't know how to think about this...I don't like the agressiveness of it, on the other hand, I think it's pretty normal. Anyway, I figured I should do something to counteract the agression, so whenever a car fell of the table, I said sadly "Ahh, he's hurt!" and I picked him up and kissed him. So then Zak started doing the same thing...but it was this weird game of crashing the car to the floor, and then sadly picking them up and kissing them to make them feel better.
I was actually trying to get a video of him picking up the car and kissing it, but of course once I got the iPhone out to video, he wanted it...and he started taking pictures of the cars (and did pretty good!) Interestingly, he taught me something on the iPhone! I didn't know you could flip staight out of the camera into the photos on the iPhone...I always wondered how he so quickly got into the photo gallery...and today I saw him hit the icon in the camera that did it. Go figure.
Then we went up to the rec center and played in the game room....came home and took showers/bubble baths. After Zak's bubble bath, I was dressing him in my favorite shirt for him...his Oscar the Grouch sweatshirt (the one he wore for the pictures)...and he told me "You know, I don't like that shirt at all." Wah! I'm glad I got the pics when I did! So I let him pick out another one. As I was getting him dressed, he asked me, "Are you going to work today?" I told him "No, today I'm staying home." He said "Why?" I said "Well, I thought we'd just have time to play. Is it ok?" He said "Yeah! That's a GREAT idea!" Thank goodness. I thought he was going to tell me he wanted to go to school or something :-)
We had some lunch, and then I drove around and ran a few errands while he napped in the car (beauty of having Babcia with us...I can run in and out without waking him)...and then as the day was winding down and we were growing bored of each other, he asks, very matter of factly... "Did someone buy me a car today?" Tato has been bringing him home a new care almost every day, and so now he seems to expect one! They learn so fast!
Anyway, a very good, quality day :-)
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