Friday, May 6, 2022

TGIF!

It's Friday! The sun is shining! Hurrah! Here's how my week shaped up.

The book I'm reading is Empire of Pain by Patrick Fadden Keefe which is about the Sackler Family, who own Purdue Pharma and played a very large part in the opioid epidemic. This book starts one generation back from the generation responsible for the opioid crisis. It shows that this family is full of truly awful people without a conscience or ability to discern right from wrong. Interestingly, going back a couple of generations, they were obsessed with passing along a good name - but they've clearly ruined their name by the unethical decisions that prioritized money over medical ethics. I highly recommend watching the show "Dopesick" on Hulu - I watched it with Phil this winter and it's so well-done. 

The high of my week was watching Will take his first steps the day he turned 17 months! He took some shaky steps in April, but now he is covering some distance so I think he'll be fully walking in the next couple of weeks. Our boys are such late walkers! They need to walk before moving into the toddler room at 18 months, so they have stressed me out as I really want them to move up to the next room. I'm glad I can stop worrying about Will walking by then! Here's a 5-second video of him taking some steps - he is clearly so proud of himself!



The low of my week was another week of back bedtimes for Paul. I am so ready for him to move up to the next classroom where the nap is shorter or more optional. We've pushed his bedtime back to 8-8:15 but will still end up sitting in a chair in his room for 45-60 minutes. That's how I get so much reading done - I am stranded in his room 3-4 nights a week for upwards of an hour, sometimes longer! Hopefully moving rooms will make a big difference. I really regret laying in the room with him until he fell asleep when we vacationed in AZ in February. Prior to that, he didn't realize having us sit there until he fell asleep was an option! 

A recipe I made was Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers with Asian Rice. Spring has finally arrived so we are back to using our grill again! 

A show I am watching is This is Us. I will be so sad when this show comes to an end. I cried at the end of this past week's episode. I can not tell you the last time I cried when watching a movie or tv show. It rarely happens so it's significant when a show makes me cry. I mostly blame the use of Billy Joel's somber song, "And So It Goes" which really contributed to the somberness of the episode's ending.

For workouts I did a martial arts style workout on Monday (workout 98 of 100 from the morning meltdown beach body program!!) and then walked with a neighbor/blog reader at lunchtime (Hi, Anne!), I ran on Wednesday and Thursday, and today I walked before logging into work. I'm planning to do my long run tomorrow with my neighbor and Sunday will be another rest day although I almost always hit 10k+ steps on weekend days since we are always out and about so it's more of an 'active rest' day!

The best money spent was on new running shoes! The ones I had were starting to fall apart so I was way overdue. When I put the new shoes on, I could not believe how cushy they felt! I bought them at a local running store close to our house. 


My plans this weekend include going out to dinner tonight with 2 college friends which means I will miss bedtime! Hooray!! I did an extra bedtime this week to make up for being gone so I've paid my dues! Tomorrow morning I will run with my neighbor and then we are meeting my second time mama group at a park at 9. I'm not sure what we will do on Sunday for Mother's Day - hopefully the weather will be nice so we can spend lots of time outdoors. My only real request is a blizzard from DQ! 

Bonus Kid Pics:

Laundry baskets are a great toy!

It's finally nice enough to play outside after work/dinner! Will is slowly figuring out how to use this little bike that Paul got at this age from my parents.


For Easter, my MIL got Paul a couple of dinosaur assembly kits that came in eggs. Paul had fun working on this and did really well with the screw driver. He is smiling with the cheesiest smile in the picture of the finished product! 



How was your week? Did you make any good recipes?

13 comments:

Nicole said...

My younger son was a late walker too! I think he was 16 months.
Cute photos! Have a fun weekend!

Elisabeth said...

First steps are just...miraculous. Levi was a LATE walker and it was so frustrating for him. But now he never stops moving. Enjoy the fun!

Suzanne said...

Hooray for Will! So fun to see how proud he is! Your boys are both so cute.

Jeanie said...

The Sackler book sounds good. And a mostly good week, apart from bedtime! Three cheers for Will! Thanks for the recipe link -- I have pineapple and shrimp at hand and that might be one of our weekend dinners!

NGS said...

Oh, boy! Once they walk, the REAL trouble begins! It's so cute to see those first steps.

Stephany said...

Hooray for nice weather and a walkin Will! I'm so glad he'll be able to move up to the next room soon. Yay!

I know so many parents who fall into that routine of sitting in their child's bedroom to help them fall asleep. My grandparents, who raised my twin cousins, did that and they would always fall asleep in the bedroom! At least you're being productive with your time, but I'm sure you would much rather spend that hour with Phil!

San said...

Hooray for new running shoes! I got new ones earlier this year and it's such a treat (esp. for you when you'll be running more again!).


Yay Will for taking your first steps! How exciting!

Grateful Kae said...

Awww, I never even put it together that Will wasn't walking yet! My nieces were late walkers, too, I know and I remember my sister worrying a little. They both walk just fine now. ;) I know Ethan started at 13 months, but I think Asher was a little later. I don't even know! How bad is that. Too busy with Ethan, I probably didn't even notice Asher was walking. hehe! Just kidding.....

Oof that's rough about the bedtime thing. I would NOT want to sit in there at the end of the day, so I really hope you guys can work that out sooner than later!! Hopefully just a phase...maybe he'll be old enough soon for some kind of incentive chart? Like, stickers for a special treat for X number of days without a bedtime fuss or something? Otherwise, maybe I'm mean, but maybe just say you are not doing that! If he fusses, stand in the hallway or something, but say you will not be sitting in there? I have memories of standing in the hall and literally holding the door shut, saying, nope, it's bedtime, you need to stay in now...We also did the thing where you leave and then repeatedly just walk them back to bed if they come out, without any emotion or a single word. haha. It's tough! But they are smart, and if they figure out you'll do what they want, they will definitely take advantage of it... ;)

TayaRuns said...

I just finished Empire of Pain and am now onto the book Dopesick after watching Dopesick on hulu

Let's run together soon since the weather is getting so nice!!! Or a play date or something :)

Anonymous said...

Just a tip that has worked for me, re: bedtime. My daughter is four and sometimes she asks me to lay down in her room while she falls asleep. I bought her a nightlight that has a timer (like this https://www.target.com/p/kids-39-wake-up-light-alarm-bear-clock-white-capello/-/A-79703093). I set the timer to 15 minutes and say I will stay until the light goes out. Now she says, "Mom, the light went out, good night!" and I can leave. :)

I tell myself it is a phase (as is everything with kids). It won't last forever! And one day she won't need me anymore and that will probably make me even sadder.

TechChick said...

Aww, such a cute expression of satisfaction from your son!! New running shoes are the best. Enjoy!

Jenny said...

Yay for Will! It's funny- both my kids were really early walkers- my daughter started at 10 months and she looked hilarious because she was still a really chubby baby, walking all around. But neither of my kids is especially athletic or anything like that, so walking early or late really doesn't mean anything.
I might have to check out This is Us- I've heard other people rave about that show and how it made them cry. Hmm.
Glad you're getting some warmer weather! I hope your long run went well and that you had a nice Mother's Day.

Anne said...

Yay for a walking kid! Boo for a non-sleeping kid. Sigh. I am so glad, though, that you have been able to be outside so much. And, new running shoes, too! Isn't it amazing how squishy they feel after wearing old ones? :)