So Wednesday and Thursday were a little tough, making today a much more precious day.
I've kind of settled into starting my work day around 6 or so at home just reading any of the email that came in overnight and getting my day planned, then taking a break at 7 to have breakfast with Zak and Kuba, then getting physically into the office at 8. Unfortunately I had 6 and 7 am meeting on Wed and Thursday this week, so couldn't have breakfast with them. On Wednesday night I had a 10pm meeting with Asia, and on Thursday night I had a business dinner. It wasn't terrible, it just meant that for the last 2 days I didn't have much time with the family.
I did manage to pick Zak up from the daycare on Thursday and spend 30 minutes with him before Kuba came home and I left. I told Zak I was a little sad (I get like that before these evening events.) He said "Awww, your sad? Do you miss your friends?" I guess that is when he gets sad. I answered "No, I'm giong to miss you! But tomorrow you and I get to spend the whole day together!" He said "Yeah, we'll stay home! That makes you happy." I asked if it made him happy too, just to be sure, and he said it did :-)
But Zak let me know this morning that he didn't like it that I wasn't home last night when he went to bed! I was shocked! I was in the shower, and all of a sudden I heard the bathroom door slam open, and a very mad 3 year old standing in the door. He then came over to the shower, pulled open the shower door, and stood there with a very angry look on his face, hands on hips and said "Where were you?!" I've never seen him so angry! I quicklky finished my shower and came out to talk with him. I told him how much I missed him, and asked what he and Tato did the whole night without me. He made me sit in the orange rocking chair and hold him while he talked to me. Very surprising to see him so upset.
We had a good couple hours together after that, and then we had a Tumblebees class. I told him we were going, and he absolutely didn't want to. He got back into bed and said he wanted to stay here, and for me to lay down with him. He was adament about not going, but of course once we got there, he had a blast. I kind of like that he likes being at home, but at the same time, I don't want him to be too lazy. He does so well in the class, and is always bubbling with excitement at the end. By the way, he JUMPED sideways all the way across the balance beam from one end to the other. He's crazy with this jumping.
And here's a shout out to my friend Andy - I was looking around at Tumblebees - 5 daddies there! And 7 moms....that's a great ratio! Andy is one of the few men I know who took a couple months paternity leave...and he was feeling like society just wasn't ready for him :-) He said no moms invited him over for a playdate...but I'm convinced he just wasn't looking in the right places (and of course, his baby was very young at that time...) I know I still see a lot of "Mommy & Me" things...assuming it's always the Mom staying home. But its heartening to see so many men having fun with their kids too.
Anyway, we then went and had lunch with our friend Sara...and now Zak is napping. The rest of the day seems like it should be a great one. I don't feel any need to log into work...things fell into place yesterday for a good close to the week.
I guess there is one work thing on my mind. I get asked a lot to do volunteer activities at work. For example, I lead one of our large training programs, completely on the side of my "real job," which probably averages to a couple hours/week (which is a lot in a 3 day work week!) I get asked to do a lot of "Lunch n Learns", and other side activities. I got asked yesterday if I'd like to start recruiting again at one of our Universities, which I'd absolutely love to do. All of these are good career building things, but they eat up time too. I hate saying "No" because a) you might not be asked again and b) it can actually look bad to say no too often. And it's the first time where I've actually thought twice before just saying "absolutely!" There are things at work that I know I'm not getting done already (albeit, lower priority things)...and so I'm really trying to think through what the appropriate thing to do is. On the one hand, I WANT to do it (it's been so long since I've gotten to work with young university graduates!)...on the other hand, there are other things I still need to tackle without taking on more. I know we all have to deal with this, even with 5 day a week work weeks...I just feel it coming up more and more often these days. I guess, as always, I'll just have to weigh the pros and cons and decide. This is one of those "slower impact" repercussions of working less than full time. I might not fully appreciate the impact for another year or so....
Regardless, it's a beautiful day, and I'm happy to be spending it with Zak!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Day 50
Tuesday was a great day. My mind was clear, and we really had fun. It was a busy day, but I really was able to focus on Zak and he did cute things the whole day as usual.
First though, let me admit I worked just a teeny bit late on Monday. Kuba picked Zak up from the daycare...and so I met them at home probably around 6:30...Zak ran to the door, jumping up and down, "Hi Mommy! Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" And as soon as the car was turned off (I'm so proud he waited until the car was off), he ran over to my door and said "Yeah" and gave me such a big hug. I seriously need to get that on video sometime. My heart was overflowing.
This morning We did a quick Skype session with Babcia. Zak was just kind of lounging in the living room, half asleep. Kuba was trying to get him to be a bit more animated. He asked Zak... "Zak, can you sing something? Or dance? Or show Babcia some of your artwork? Or what?" Zak thought for a second (still lounging) and said "Ummm....or what." We were dying.
We did some light cleaning after Tato left. I set our Roomba going, and pretty soon Zak had it turned on its back again...he said he needed to check the engine. He then asked for our hand vacuum to clean the couches. I gave it to him and he started vacuuming, but then within a few minutes he had taken it apart and handed me a screwdriver. He said he needed to see this engine too and wanted me to open it up further.
Next we went to meet Dana and Rowan at the playground, and from there onto swim lessons. I told him, "ok Zak, let's hop in the car and go see Rowan." I saw him literally do a double-take, then he attempted to physically JUMP into the back seat. I started laughing so hard. I purposefully used the same choice of words later in the day. He smiled and again attempted to HOP into the car :-)
Then we went downtown and visited some people from work (I had to exchange my iPad for another one)...and had lunch with Kuba. We came home, and unfortunately he had that little cat nap in the car, so we skipped the real nap. But we did cuddle up in bed for a little bit. He wanted to read some books, but when I tried to hold them, he said "No, I read them!" So I let him hold them and was expecting him to start acting like he was reading. After a few page turns, he looked at me and said "Come on Mommy, talk!" So I guess he wanted me to do the TALKING only, and he would do the reading to himself :-)
Anyway, the rest of the day was uneventful. Tato came home, and I went and got my haircut. It was a nice day, and I was glad to have my mind dedicated to Zak after the last couple of weeks feeling my attention was more divided.
First though, let me admit I worked just a teeny bit late on Monday. Kuba picked Zak up from the daycare...and so I met them at home probably around 6:30...Zak ran to the door, jumping up and down, "Hi Mommy! Mommy's home! Mommy's home!" And as soon as the car was turned off (I'm so proud he waited until the car was off), he ran over to my door and said "Yeah" and gave me such a big hug. I seriously need to get that on video sometime. My heart was overflowing.
This morning We did a quick Skype session with Babcia. Zak was just kind of lounging in the living room, half asleep. Kuba was trying to get him to be a bit more animated. He asked Zak... "Zak, can you sing something? Or dance? Or show Babcia some of your artwork? Or what?" Zak thought for a second (still lounging) and said "Ummm....or what." We were dying.
We did some light cleaning after Tato left. I set our Roomba going, and pretty soon Zak had it turned on its back again...he said he needed to check the engine. He then asked for our hand vacuum to clean the couches. I gave it to him and he started vacuuming, but then within a few minutes he had taken it apart and handed me a screwdriver. He said he needed to see this engine too and wanted me to open it up further.
Next we went to meet Dana and Rowan at the playground, and from there onto swim lessons. I told him, "ok Zak, let's hop in the car and go see Rowan." I saw him literally do a double-take, then he attempted to physically JUMP into the back seat. I started laughing so hard. I purposefully used the same choice of words later in the day. He smiled and again attempted to HOP into the car :-)
Then we went downtown and visited some people from work (I had to exchange my iPad for another one)...and had lunch with Kuba. We came home, and unfortunately he had that little cat nap in the car, so we skipped the real nap. But we did cuddle up in bed for a little bit. He wanted to read some books, but when I tried to hold them, he said "No, I read them!" So I let him hold them and was expecting him to start acting like he was reading. After a few page turns, he looked at me and said "Come on Mommy, talk!" So I guess he wanted me to do the TALKING only, and he would do the reading to himself :-)
Anyway, the rest of the day was uneventful. Tato came home, and I went and got my haircut. It was a nice day, and I was glad to have my mind dedicated to Zak after the last couple of weeks feeling my attention was more divided.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Days 47, 48, 49
It's a Saturday morning and the family is still sleeping. It's kind of nice to have the quiet house to my self. It allows me to think, and think about why I ended this week a little more on the gloomy side.
First fo all I want to mention Greg, who I never met, but heard so much about. He was the son of Diane, Zak's nanny. He died of cancer at the age of 41, leaving behind 3 beautiful young children. Life really seems unfair sometimes. I went to the memorial yesterday, and I'm sure that's part of why I feel so reflective. Kuba will be 41 in January.
But on top of that, last Friday I agreed to a two and a half hour meeting this Friday, and it's been on my mind ever since. I looked back, and I think I've only done this 3 times....so 3 times in 6 months doesn't seem that bad, but of course it's chaotic when I do it. The same day, I was pushed to rearrange another week for a meeting. This one isn't until Dec, so I have time to plan for it, but still...it means more rearranging. Luckily Dana was able to watch Zak this week, and he loves hanging out with Dana and Rowan...but it still basically meant my whole day with him was gone. I had to start out 45 minutes before the meeting to drop him off. Then when I picked him back up, it was nap time, and then I was gone again after to see Diane. I'm not sure how I felt about the outcome of the meeting itself, and so that probably hasn't helped me feel good about the compromise. Maybe the fact that also this week I had several 6am meetings, so couldn't have breakfast with the family, and worked very late Thursday (at home, but still meant my mental capacity wasn't on the family)...has contributed to me feeling like this week wasn't a great example of how to work less than full time.
But even aside from that, Zak and I didn't seem to have a great day on Tuesday either. He went to swim class, which is no longer really something we get to do together. We met Aunt Katie for lunch, which was nice. But then after, we both just seemed kind of lazy and bored. He likes to play his iPhone, which I don't mind, but this specific day, he even asked if he could just lay in bed and play with it. I think we both might have a bug still that we just can't seem to shake. Because as much as I hated the idea of him just lying in bed playing games for the afternoon...I also didn't have the energy to suggest something else, so I laid next to him and did the same thing.
One other interesting thing has happened this week at work. Remember I'm in a new group. Well, several women have just resigned. Most of them saying it was because they couldn't get the balance right...and suddenly, all eyes are on me. April, we need you to show how it's possible to make decisions like this and make it work. I guess I'm still internalizing what this really means, and feeling like if we are really focussed on one person (me), who is still only 6 months into this...then we probably do have a problem. There should be others that can also be an example. To be clear, in my whole company there certainly are examples...but we're struggling to find them in the group that I'm working in now.
Anyway, Zak does still amaze me. I do notice him becoming more and more independent, which makes me kind of sad, but of course happy too. We're still working on his room...and he has entered the phase of unending questions..."Mommy, what's this?", "It's a ladder.", "No Mommy, I know it's a ladder. What's THIS?" "Oh, sorry, it's the rung of the ladder." "Oh, the rung of the ladder? For stepping?" "Yup, for stepping." "Mommy, what's this?" "Umm, I guess it's called a brace" (the few rungs on the back side of a ladder) "Oh, a brace. For stepping?" "No, just to support the ladder so it doesn't break." "Oh, to support." And then, I felt he was testing me. He pointed to some of the trucks being painted on the wall. "Mommy, what's this?" "I think it's a crane" (but it's on the back of a truck, so I don't really know...) "No Mommy, it's a mobile crane." "And this one?" and without waiting for me to show that this one I knew, he said "this one is a steamroller." And then he went on to tell me all the different ones around the room.
He keeps trying to negotiate with me too. I've made the mistake of buying Thomas the Train toothpaste, only to realize it doesn't have any flouride in it. Unfortunately, he loves it, so almost refuses to use anything else. I've decided we can alternate every other brushing until it runs out. But every time I put the flouride toothpaste on his brush, he throws a fit. I try to tell him he's a big boy, so needs to use big boy toothpaste...he says, "No, I'm not a big boy. I'm a little boy." So then I tell him, but he has big boy teeth that are very strong and need flouride to help keep them strong. "No, my teeth aren't strong! I'm a little boy, and my teeth are not strong!" And then I hear Kuba cracking up in the other room.
One other cute one is he's gotten very good at looking out for cars when walking across the street or in a parking lot...so Thursday when we walked out of the daycare, another mom was getting into her car and he pulled me back and said "Be careful mommy! A car!" He also knows my, Kuba and his own full name, city and street! It is so cute to hear him call himself "Zachary Cielica." By the way, he also thinks Dana is "Dana Cielica." :-)
Anyway, Kuba and Zak are waking up...so guess I'll close it out for now. Remember to cherish all the time you have...life should not be taken for granted.
First fo all I want to mention Greg, who I never met, but heard so much about. He was the son of Diane, Zak's nanny. He died of cancer at the age of 41, leaving behind 3 beautiful young children. Life really seems unfair sometimes. I went to the memorial yesterday, and I'm sure that's part of why I feel so reflective. Kuba will be 41 in January.
But on top of that, last Friday I agreed to a two and a half hour meeting this Friday, and it's been on my mind ever since. I looked back, and I think I've only done this 3 times....so 3 times in 6 months doesn't seem that bad, but of course it's chaotic when I do it. The same day, I was pushed to rearrange another week for a meeting. This one isn't until Dec, so I have time to plan for it, but still...it means more rearranging. Luckily Dana was able to watch Zak this week, and he loves hanging out with Dana and Rowan...but it still basically meant my whole day with him was gone. I had to start out 45 minutes before the meeting to drop him off. Then when I picked him back up, it was nap time, and then I was gone again after to see Diane. I'm not sure how I felt about the outcome of the meeting itself, and so that probably hasn't helped me feel good about the compromise. Maybe the fact that also this week I had several 6am meetings, so couldn't have breakfast with the family, and worked very late Thursday (at home, but still meant my mental capacity wasn't on the family)...has contributed to me feeling like this week wasn't a great example of how to work less than full time.
But even aside from that, Zak and I didn't seem to have a great day on Tuesday either. He went to swim class, which is no longer really something we get to do together. We met Aunt Katie for lunch, which was nice. But then after, we both just seemed kind of lazy and bored. He likes to play his iPhone, which I don't mind, but this specific day, he even asked if he could just lay in bed and play with it. I think we both might have a bug still that we just can't seem to shake. Because as much as I hated the idea of him just lying in bed playing games for the afternoon...I also didn't have the energy to suggest something else, so I laid next to him and did the same thing.
One other interesting thing has happened this week at work. Remember I'm in a new group. Well, several women have just resigned. Most of them saying it was because they couldn't get the balance right...and suddenly, all eyes are on me. April, we need you to show how it's possible to make decisions like this and make it work. I guess I'm still internalizing what this really means, and feeling like if we are really focussed on one person (me), who is still only 6 months into this...then we probably do have a problem. There should be others that can also be an example. To be clear, in my whole company there certainly are examples...but we're struggling to find them in the group that I'm working in now.
Anyway, Zak does still amaze me. I do notice him becoming more and more independent, which makes me kind of sad, but of course happy too. We're still working on his room...and he has entered the phase of unending questions..."Mommy, what's this?", "It's a ladder.", "No Mommy, I know it's a ladder. What's THIS?" "Oh, sorry, it's the rung of the ladder." "Oh, the rung of the ladder? For stepping?" "Yup, for stepping." "Mommy, what's this?" "Umm, I guess it's called a brace" (the few rungs on the back side of a ladder) "Oh, a brace. For stepping?" "No, just to support the ladder so it doesn't break." "Oh, to support." And then, I felt he was testing me. He pointed to some of the trucks being painted on the wall. "Mommy, what's this?" "I think it's a crane" (but it's on the back of a truck, so I don't really know...) "No Mommy, it's a mobile crane." "And this one?" and without waiting for me to show that this one I knew, he said "this one is a steamroller." And then he went on to tell me all the different ones around the room.
He keeps trying to negotiate with me too. I've made the mistake of buying Thomas the Train toothpaste, only to realize it doesn't have any flouride in it. Unfortunately, he loves it, so almost refuses to use anything else. I've decided we can alternate every other brushing until it runs out. But every time I put the flouride toothpaste on his brush, he throws a fit. I try to tell him he's a big boy, so needs to use big boy toothpaste...he says, "No, I'm not a big boy. I'm a little boy." So then I tell him, but he has big boy teeth that are very strong and need flouride to help keep them strong. "No, my teeth aren't strong! I'm a little boy, and my teeth are not strong!" And then I hear Kuba cracking up in the other room.
One other cute one is he's gotten very good at looking out for cars when walking across the street or in a parking lot...so Thursday when we walked out of the daycare, another mom was getting into her car and he pulled me back and said "Be careful mommy! A car!" He also knows my, Kuba and his own full name, city and street! It is so cute to hear him call himself "Zachary Cielica." By the way, he also thinks Dana is "Dana Cielica." :-)
Anyway, Kuba and Zak are waking up...so guess I'll close it out for now. Remember to cherish all the time you have...life should not be taken for granted.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Days 41-46
Sorry it's been so long!!! We've had a couple of crazy weeks in the Cielica family.
Two weeks ago, I rearranged my 2 days off to be Thursday and Friday, so Zak and I could go spend a long weekend with my brothers and our niece, Maya, in St. Paul. Kuba met us there Friday after work. We had a great time going to the pool, the Zoo, biking around, and even 2x to the Minnesota State Fair. Jude and Chad kept us busy!
It was very nice to spend time there, but on the way back we must have caught some kind of bug.
We started our week back as normal, but by the end of the first day, I was called to get Zak because he had a fever, and it went down hill from there. That is one challenge of working part time, the impact on work seems magnified when one thing goes awry. Kuba and I split the days the best we could...but then on Thursday, we both woke up with 101 fevers as well...there was no way for us to get to the office, we felt so bad. The whole family spent the day in their pajamas with whoever felt the hungriest slothing out of bed to make some food ( get some crackers or some such)...whatever it was, it was pretty powerful for the day. Kuba and I recovered pretty well within 24 hours...but some symptoms still lingered for a week. Zak didn't recover so quickly, but at least by mid this week he was without a fever, so we could take him back to daycare. Thank goodness our jobs are flexible! Anyway, last week's chaos, caused this week to also be off schedule. Monday was a holiday, which meant I couldn't take Zak to daycare. Kuba and I both got a couple hours of work in just to try and catch up. Then I put Zak in school for Tues, Wed and Thurs because I just needed some solid hours in the office. By Friday I was feeling better, although I still think I need another week to fully feel in control again (and probably then Zak will catch something else at school :-) )
Anyway, we still managed some fun, but not enough given the beautiful weather we've been having :-) I tried to take some notes as we were going through it. One cute thing Zak did this week was I told him I was so happy to have him as my son. He said NO MOMMY! I'm not your son! I'm your boy! Okie dokie.
While we were in St. Paul, Uncle Chad was reading him a book, and in the book, one of the characters was very sad. Zak pointed to the picture of the sad bumble bee and said, "He's so sad. He misses his Mommy." It makes my heart tingle. This week when I picked him up from daycare one day, he said "Mommy! I was missing you all day!" I think this is a special age for him and I.
While we were sick, Zak insisted on taking my temperature every day. First he would feel my forehead and either say "Better" or "Hot again." Then he'd put the thermometer on my arm or between my toes (I don't know where he got that idea).
Here's a picture from our last day of being bums in bed...we were feeling better, but not ready to run around yet.
Oh, and here's a new one...he continues to try everything to prolong his bed time. I need to go pee pee, I need a drink, I need to kiss Tato. For his drinks, he's always trying to negotiate with me. He knows after brushing his teeth, it's water only. So he starts by asking for yogurt. "No, Zak. It's after you've brushed, you can have water." "Ok, milk." "No, not after brushing your teeth." "Ok, juice." "Zak..." Finally he settles on water...but here is his latest thing...he tries to convince me that since all the tooth paste is in his tummy, not on his teeth, that he should get yogurt anyway. He keeps saying "No! Mommy! The toothpaste is in my tummy! Not on my teeth!" His logic is interesting.
This morning as we had our first leisurely morning together, I was cleaning up a bit in the bathroom, and he was playing in my closet. He started running through my clothes saying "I'm going through the car wash!" So cool how they put things together.
Anyway, this week is going well. I've enjoyed my day so far with Zak. I can't believe he's in a swim class now without me. I just sit behind a window and watch, and realize what a big boy he's becoming.
Someone asked me this week how work was going with this part time...and I still have to say it's going very well. I always feel my calendar is a little chaotic. People try to squeeze into every 5 minutes when I'm there. But I feel very much in control of my destiny, and my time. I don't feel anything has slowed down for me in terms of career or good assignments, and it has helped me appreciate even more how life is a journey that you can control (to some extent of course.) I continue to feel very lucky!
Two weeks ago, I rearranged my 2 days off to be Thursday and Friday, so Zak and I could go spend a long weekend with my brothers and our niece, Maya, in St. Paul. Kuba met us there Friday after work. We had a great time going to the pool, the Zoo, biking around, and even 2x to the Minnesota State Fair. Jude and Chad kept us busy!
It was very nice to spend time there, but on the way back we must have caught some kind of bug.
We started our week back as normal, but by the end of the first day, I was called to get Zak because he had a fever, and it went down hill from there. That is one challenge of working part time, the impact on work seems magnified when one thing goes awry. Kuba and I split the days the best we could...but then on Thursday, we both woke up with 101 fevers as well...there was no way for us to get to the office, we felt so bad. The whole family spent the day in their pajamas with whoever felt the hungriest slothing out of bed to make some food ( get some crackers or some such)...whatever it was, it was pretty powerful for the day. Kuba and I recovered pretty well within 24 hours...but some symptoms still lingered for a week. Zak didn't recover so quickly, but at least by mid this week he was without a fever, so we could take him back to daycare. Thank goodness our jobs are flexible! Anyway, last week's chaos, caused this week to also be off schedule. Monday was a holiday, which meant I couldn't take Zak to daycare. Kuba and I both got a couple hours of work in just to try and catch up. Then I put Zak in school for Tues, Wed and Thurs because I just needed some solid hours in the office. By Friday I was feeling better, although I still think I need another week to fully feel in control again (and probably then Zak will catch something else at school :-) )
Anyway, we still managed some fun, but not enough given the beautiful weather we've been having :-) I tried to take some notes as we were going through it. One cute thing Zak did this week was I told him I was so happy to have him as my son. He said NO MOMMY! I'm not your son! I'm your boy! Okie dokie.
While we were in St. Paul, Uncle Chad was reading him a book, and in the book, one of the characters was very sad. Zak pointed to the picture of the sad bumble bee and said, "He's so sad. He misses his Mommy." It makes my heart tingle. This week when I picked him up from daycare one day, he said "Mommy! I was missing you all day!" I think this is a special age for him and I.
While we were sick, Zak insisted on taking my temperature every day. First he would feel my forehead and either say "Better" or "Hot again." Then he'd put the thermometer on my arm or between my toes (I don't know where he got that idea).
Here's a picture from our last day of being bums in bed...we were feeling better, but not ready to run around yet.
Oh, and here's a new one...he continues to try everything to prolong his bed time. I need to go pee pee, I need a drink, I need to kiss Tato. For his drinks, he's always trying to negotiate with me. He knows after brushing his teeth, it's water only. So he starts by asking for yogurt. "No, Zak. It's after you've brushed, you can have water." "Ok, milk." "No, not after brushing your teeth." "Ok, juice." "Zak..." Finally he settles on water...but here is his latest thing...he tries to convince me that since all the tooth paste is in his tummy, not on his teeth, that he should get yogurt anyway. He keeps saying "No! Mommy! The toothpaste is in my tummy! Not on my teeth!" His logic is interesting.
This morning as we had our first leisurely morning together, I was cleaning up a bit in the bathroom, and he was playing in my closet. He started running through my clothes saying "I'm going through the car wash!" So cool how they put things together.
Anyway, this week is going well. I've enjoyed my day so far with Zak. I can't believe he's in a swim class now without me. I just sit behind a window and watch, and realize what a big boy he's becoming.
Someone asked me this week how work was going with this part time...and I still have to say it's going very well. I always feel my calendar is a little chaotic. People try to squeeze into every 5 minutes when I'm there. But I feel very much in control of my destiny, and my time. I don't feel anything has slowed down for me in terms of career or good assignments, and it has helped me appreciate even more how life is a journey that you can control (to some extent of course.) I continue to feel very lucky!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 40
So today was very busy, but very fun and insightful.
First, I have to talk about Sunday morning, because Zak just cracked me up. We stayed up the night before very late. We have visitors from the Polish tennis team staying with us since they are playing in the ATP. Zak simply would not go to bed...he was having way too much fun with these guys, who adored him. Finally at 11:30 we went to bed. At 8:00, I got up and I checked on Zak. He was kind of awake and said "No Mommy, I don't want to get up!" Wow, that's a first :-) I guess we really wore him out.
We started the morning as normal, doing some light housework, hanging out together. He needed to go to the bathroom at some point, and usually I go help him reach the toilet. This time he told me "No Mommy, you stay here" and put out his hand to stop me. So I let him go on his own, peeking around the corner to see him standing up going to the bathroom on his own. They grow up to fast.
Then at 10:30 we biked up to Zak's school because a police officer was coming to talk and show them a police car. It was very cute to see the police officer trying to get 20 or so 3 year olds to listen to his lesson about how to shout out for help if someone they don't know asks them to go home with them. He gave them all police badges, and then they got to sit in the police car. So fun. Today at school, Zak pointed to where the police car was on Tuesday and said sadly, "Police Car all gone."
Then I decided to try out the Blue Ash rec center gym for a half an hour. They have a tot room for Zak, so we went there together and hung out for awhile, then I got a quick run in on the treadmill, it felt great! Zak did great too, so maybe we'll make it a tradition. I need to start getting more exercise in besides just tennis.
Anyway, then it was lunch time, so we ate at the Blue Ash Cafe, then went home for a nap. At 3:00 he woke up, and we went up to the ATP to watch Ala's practice match. The drive up there was what was so insightful.
As we started heading north on Kenwood Rd (just a couple blocks from our house)...Zak said, yeah, we're going to King's Island.! And sure enough, the ATP is right next to King's Island, and it's about the only time we take a left there on Kenwood. I know many adults who wouldn't make that connection (but I won't mention Jelica's name). Anyway, I explained to him that yes, this is the way to King's Island, but today we're going to watch Ala and Maciek play tennis. He said "Oh. Ok. Let's go watch tennis." Big Smile. THEN, as we are driving on 71 North, we go past Home Depot and Lowe's at Fields Ertel. Zak says, "Look down there....Tato's shopping." That man takes Zak shopping way too much apparently.
We park at the ATP, and it's like 100 degrees. I'm sweating just stepping out of the car. 5 minutes into our walk from the parking lot to the tournament, Zak asks me to carry him. I say "No Zak, why don't you walk." He stops and says "Mommy,carry me. It's too hot to walk." Really. Anyway, we get to the tournament, and we get to go through the players entrance because Maciek and Ala put us on the "Family list", so we have VIP passes for the whole event. Zak walks straight to the players lounge and is pretty adament he has no intention of going outside to watch any practice in 100 degrees. We did manage to go watch a half an hour or so (Ala always comes over during breaks and gives him things, so that kept his attention a bit)...but we pretty quickly had to give up and go back to the players lounge. Kuba joined us after work and we took turns watching some games and hanging in the loung with Zak (who loved the arcade inside.)
I love his new "Oh, ok" saying. Diane had asked for a couple pictures of Zak. He was upstairs with the printer, so I printed the pictures, and as he was coming down the stairs, I asked him to go to the printer and bring down the pictures. He stopped and said "Oh, ok. I'll get pictures." And he went back up and got them.
Anyway, a very nice day. I think I mentioned already that working Monday, Wed and Thurs doesn't feel as natural to me as working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday...and the interesting thing is my new team asked me today if I'd kill them if we switched back to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday as of Jan. :-) Cool. Still 5 months like this, but then back to something that feels a bit better to me. By then I'll probably be used to this way :-)
First, I have to talk about Sunday morning, because Zak just cracked me up. We stayed up the night before very late. We have visitors from the Polish tennis team staying with us since they are playing in the ATP. Zak simply would not go to bed...he was having way too much fun with these guys, who adored him. Finally at 11:30 we went to bed. At 8:00, I got up and I checked on Zak. He was kind of awake and said "No Mommy, I don't want to get up!" Wow, that's a first :-) I guess we really wore him out.
We started the morning as normal, doing some light housework, hanging out together. He needed to go to the bathroom at some point, and usually I go help him reach the toilet. This time he told me "No Mommy, you stay here" and put out his hand to stop me. So I let him go on his own, peeking around the corner to see him standing up going to the bathroom on his own. They grow up to fast.
Then at 10:30 we biked up to Zak's school because a police officer was coming to talk and show them a police car. It was very cute to see the police officer trying to get 20 or so 3 year olds to listen to his lesson about how to shout out for help if someone they don't know asks them to go home with them. He gave them all police badges, and then they got to sit in the police car. So fun. Today at school, Zak pointed to where the police car was on Tuesday and said sadly, "Police Car all gone."
Then I decided to try out the Blue Ash rec center gym for a half an hour. They have a tot room for Zak, so we went there together and hung out for awhile, then I got a quick run in on the treadmill, it felt great! Zak did great too, so maybe we'll make it a tradition. I need to start getting more exercise in besides just tennis.
Anyway, then it was lunch time, so we ate at the Blue Ash Cafe, then went home for a nap. At 3:00 he woke up, and we went up to the ATP to watch Ala's practice match. The drive up there was what was so insightful.
As we started heading north on Kenwood Rd (just a couple blocks from our house)...Zak said, yeah, we're going to King's Island.! And sure enough, the ATP is right next to King's Island, and it's about the only time we take a left there on Kenwood. I know many adults who wouldn't make that connection (but I won't mention Jelica's name). Anyway, I explained to him that yes, this is the way to King's Island, but today we're going to watch Ala and Maciek play tennis. He said "Oh. Ok. Let's go watch tennis." Big Smile. THEN, as we are driving on 71 North, we go past Home Depot and Lowe's at Fields Ertel. Zak says, "Look down there....Tato's shopping." That man takes Zak shopping way too much apparently.
We park at the ATP, and it's like 100 degrees. I'm sweating just stepping out of the car. 5 minutes into our walk from the parking lot to the tournament, Zak asks me to carry him. I say "No Zak, why don't you walk." He stops and says "Mommy,carry me. It's too hot to walk." Really. Anyway, we get to the tournament, and we get to go through the players entrance because Maciek and Ala put us on the "Family list", so we have VIP passes for the whole event. Zak walks straight to the players lounge and is pretty adament he has no intention of going outside to watch any practice in 100 degrees. We did manage to go watch a half an hour or so (Ala always comes over during breaks and gives him things, so that kept his attention a bit)...but we pretty quickly had to give up and go back to the players lounge. Kuba joined us after work and we took turns watching some games and hanging in the loung with Zak (who loved the arcade inside.)
I love his new "Oh, ok" saying. Diane had asked for a couple pictures of Zak. He was upstairs with the printer, so I printed the pictures, and as he was coming down the stairs, I asked him to go to the printer and bring down the pictures. He stopped and said "Oh, ok. I'll get pictures." And he went back up and got them.
Anyway, a very nice day. I think I mentioned already that working Monday, Wed and Thurs doesn't feel as natural to me as working Monday, Tuesday and Thursday...and the interesting thing is my new team asked me today if I'd kill them if we switched back to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday as of Jan. :-) Cool. Still 5 months like this, but then back to something that feels a bit better to me. By then I'll probably be used to this way :-)
Friday, August 6, 2010
Day 39
Today was another rather lazy day, even though it started out looking very busy. We got up, and leisurely cleaned a bit. Zak loves mopping the floor and cleaning the windows. The only problem is the excess Windex and water he likes to leave behind. He went to cleaning the windows and floors (with me coming behind him every 5 minutes or so), and I did the dishes and laundry. We got dressed, and Zak was very opinionated about his clothes today. In the end, he picked out "Diane's shirt" (a tye dyed shirt Diane gave him), which I luckily found in the clean clothes basket, I just hadn't had a chance to fold them. At 9:00, we headed out, with the plan of going to the car shop to get our turn signal looked at, then up to King's Island for a couple hours, and then to meet my friend Melanie for lunch.
As we were driving to the car shop, Zak saw Toys-R-Us and asked to stop. So I told him sure, we could do it on the way up to King's Island. I wanted to buy him a pair of skates anyway, those Fisher Price kind that adjust over your shoes...they are so cool now, look like little roller blades :-) Anyway, we went there and I told him he could pick out one toy. I picked up the roller blades, and he kept telling me "No, put them back Mommy" because he thought those counted as his one :-) Eventually he picked an electric drum set (a cheap one), and we took it out of the box so he could play with it in the car. And that was it, he didn't want to go to King's Island anymore. He wanted to go home and play with his drums. I kept asking him, but he was adament to go home, so we did.
We hung out a bit at home, then went to meet Melanie for lunch. Zak was already a little tired, so I wouldn't say it was a relaxing lunch, but Melanie has 2 kids, so she understood :-) After lunch he asked me to lay down with him ("Want to lay down Mommy?") Of course I did :-) He's now got this thing where he WANTS me to sing...but only the "Rock a bye baby in the tree top"...except I always replace baby with Zakie, Katie, Ann...whoever. Now he tells me WHO he wants me to sing about...today we had to go through the whole list (Ethan, Logan, Ann, Dave, Tato, Mommy, Dana, Matt, Rowan, Katie, Jude, Chad, Maya, Paul, Grandma, Grandpa, Babcia...even more...I think Diane and Aiden his buddy from school, was even in there somewhere) At one point, I just wanted to see how asleep he was...and so I started the song with "Rock a bye Ethan in the tree top..." and ended with "and down will come Logan, cradle and all" and he laughed and said "NO!!!! Ethan!" He thought I was joking with him (I was)...unfortunately he was wide awake again :-)
Anyway, he slept for about 2 hours, so I quickly did the floors, called to make some dr. appts, finally had the guy come and estiate the cost to fix our roof over the porch, those normal things that I don't know how we ever got done when I worked full time.
Then Katie came over for an hour or so to visit before going off for her 10 year high school reunion, and Ann, Dave, Ethan and Logan came over and we had a great dinner with the kids. It's really nice having my sisters so close. The boys had a great time together.
As we were driving to the car shop, Zak saw Toys-R-Us and asked to stop. So I told him sure, we could do it on the way up to King's Island. I wanted to buy him a pair of skates anyway, those Fisher Price kind that adjust over your shoes...they are so cool now, look like little roller blades :-) Anyway, we went there and I told him he could pick out one toy. I picked up the roller blades, and he kept telling me "No, put them back Mommy" because he thought those counted as his one :-) Eventually he picked an electric drum set (a cheap one), and we took it out of the box so he could play with it in the car. And that was it, he didn't want to go to King's Island anymore. He wanted to go home and play with his drums. I kept asking him, but he was adament to go home, so we did.
We hung out a bit at home, then went to meet Melanie for lunch. Zak was already a little tired, so I wouldn't say it was a relaxing lunch, but Melanie has 2 kids, so she understood :-) After lunch he asked me to lay down with him ("Want to lay down Mommy?") Of course I did :-) He's now got this thing where he WANTS me to sing...but only the "Rock a bye baby in the tree top"...except I always replace baby with Zakie, Katie, Ann...whoever. Now he tells me WHO he wants me to sing about...today we had to go through the whole list (Ethan, Logan, Ann, Dave, Tato, Mommy, Dana, Matt, Rowan, Katie, Jude, Chad, Maya, Paul, Grandma, Grandpa, Babcia...even more...I think Diane and Aiden his buddy from school, was even in there somewhere) At one point, I just wanted to see how asleep he was...and so I started the song with "Rock a bye Ethan in the tree top..." and ended with "and down will come Logan, cradle and all" and he laughed and said "NO!!!! Ethan!" He thought I was joking with him (I was)...unfortunately he was wide awake again :-)
Anyway, he slept for about 2 hours, so I quickly did the floors, called to make some dr. appts, finally had the guy come and estiate the cost to fix our roof over the porch, those normal things that I don't know how we ever got done when I worked full time.
Then Katie came over for an hour or so to visit before going off for her 10 year high school reunion, and Ann, Dave, Ethan and Logan came over and we had a great dinner with the kids. It's really nice having my sisters so close. The boys had a great time together.
Day 38
Tuesday was kind of a weird day. Zak didn't get enough good sleep. At around 8 he said he wanted to go to King's Island. I told him we could when it opened. But then by 9:30, he said no, he didn't want to go to King's Island, he wanted to stay home. The whole day he didn't want to do anything (pool, library, toy store)...he just wanted to stay home. I'm one of these people that always wants to be on the go, but I decided if he didn't want to be, then I guess it was ok. So we had a very lazy day, a little on the boring side.
I'm also not sure if my new Monday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule is working out as well as Mon, Tues, Thurs...but maybe I just need some time to get used to it. I feel like taking off already on Tuesday kind of breaks my stride. I had a lot of work on my mind Tuesday, which was probably also contributing to the feeling of not having the greatest of days.
On the other hand, going back through my notes (which I just jot down randomly throughout the day), he did crack me up quite a bit :-)
At one point, he took a gold pencil that his friend Chloe had given him. He came up to me and said "It's a magic wand" and then started waving it around in circles obviously trying to cast some kind of magic on me. At first I was shocked! But then I remembered they had a magician come to his daycare last week...so I quickly recovered and turned myself into a frog and started hopping around. I begged him to turn me back into a human, which he graciously did. But then for another 15 minutes he transformed me back and forth and insisted that I hop around at least a bit as a frog...my thighs were burning, geez I'm out of shape :-)
He has a Little Einstein globe that we were playing with, finding different parts of the world. He saw the Eiffel Tower on France and started exlaiming "King's Island! King's Island! With Ethan and Logan!" I tried to explain to him that King's Island's tower is a small version of the Eiffel tower, but I don't think he was listening. He was already imagining going up in the tower again with Ethan and Logan.
Dana called at some point during the day, she has a special ring tone...immediately Zak said "Dana's calling!" He's so observant. Dana and I finally got pedicures a couple of weeks ago...and I got a flower painted on my nails. Zak insists that now my toes look like Dana's toes, because she had a flower last time. We were at Michael's Crafts, he saw a small pig with flowers on it and wanted to buy it for Aunt Dana. I can't believe he associates flowers with Dana now because her toenails had flowers on them before mine.
Anyway, in the afternoon, since we were just hanging at home anyway, I decided to try to make a new enchilada recipe that my friend gave me. Zak helped and they turned out great! Then Aunt Katie joined us after work so Kuba and I could play some tennis.
Anyway, I didn't feel it was the best day, but maybe I just need to learn to relax and not have to be on the go all the time. I also think Zak was fighting some kind of sickness, because he was a little lazier than normal as well...so it was probably good that we could just take a day to fight it off. I'm hoping we have a more active day today though :-)
I'm also not sure if my new Monday, Wednesday, Thursday schedule is working out as well as Mon, Tues, Thurs...but maybe I just need some time to get used to it. I feel like taking off already on Tuesday kind of breaks my stride. I had a lot of work on my mind Tuesday, which was probably also contributing to the feeling of not having the greatest of days.
On the other hand, going back through my notes (which I just jot down randomly throughout the day), he did crack me up quite a bit :-)
At one point, he took a gold pencil that his friend Chloe had given him. He came up to me and said "It's a magic wand" and then started waving it around in circles obviously trying to cast some kind of magic on me. At first I was shocked! But then I remembered they had a magician come to his daycare last week...so I quickly recovered and turned myself into a frog and started hopping around. I begged him to turn me back into a human, which he graciously did. But then for another 15 minutes he transformed me back and forth and insisted that I hop around at least a bit as a frog...my thighs were burning, geez I'm out of shape :-)
He has a Little Einstein globe that we were playing with, finding different parts of the world. He saw the Eiffel Tower on France and started exlaiming "King's Island! King's Island! With Ethan and Logan!" I tried to explain to him that King's Island's tower is a small version of the Eiffel tower, but I don't think he was listening. He was already imagining going up in the tower again with Ethan and Logan.
Dana called at some point during the day, she has a special ring tone...immediately Zak said "Dana's calling!" He's so observant. Dana and I finally got pedicures a couple of weeks ago...and I got a flower painted on my nails. Zak insists that now my toes look like Dana's toes, because she had a flower last time. We were at Michael's Crafts, he saw a small pig with flowers on it and wanted to buy it for Aunt Dana. I can't believe he associates flowers with Dana now because her toenails had flowers on them before mine.
Anyway, in the afternoon, since we were just hanging at home anyway, I decided to try to make a new enchilada recipe that my friend gave me. Zak helped and they turned out great! Then Aunt Katie joined us after work so Kuba and I could play some tennis.
Anyway, I didn't feel it was the best day, but maybe I just need to learn to relax and not have to be on the go all the time. I also think Zak was fighting some kind of sickness, because he was a little lazier than normal as well...so it was probably good that we could just take a day to fight it off. I'm hoping we have a more active day today though :-)
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