Sunday, August 20, 2023

Weekend recap

We had a pretty good weekend all in all! Dare I say solo parenting is getting a bit easier/more manageable?

- Friday started bright and early with Paul’s tube removal. Both boys had ear tubes put in due to chronic ear infections - Paul at 9 months and Taco at 13 months.With Paul, he was too young for us to have the option to go back to the OR for the putting under part; I could have gone back with Taco but my nurse anesthetist cousin advised me to not go back because it can be upsetting to feel your kid go limp in your arms. Those procedures were leaps and bounds EASIER than Friday’s procedure (which was necessary since the tubes were stuck in the wax in his ears - eventually the foreign object will cause infections). The children’s hospital was amazing, of course. They had a person come in to talk about the process of putting him to sleep - they showed him the mask and some pictures. The woman did her best but Paul was incredibly terrified of getting put to sleep. There was no way he was going back there without me. So I carried him back to the OR as he was loudly protesting having to go through this and then I held him while he was put under. I knew what to expect so it wasn’t upsetting for me - it was just a stressful experience. This is where having been raised by a mom who was a nurse helps, I think. I do not get scared by medical procedures and am just generally a very pragmatic person (very much a T in the Myers Briggs paradigm). He was back in the room 15 minutes later and we were home by 9:15 and he was completely back to normal!

Ear procedure side-by-side: Paul at 9 months v Paul at 5.5 years! 

- We went to orientation at Taco’s new daycare. We got to see Taco’s room and met one of his teachers. He starts there a week from today. We feel good about this decision.

- Afterwards we had an impromptu park playdate that turned into getting takeout at our friend’s house. Hanging out with friends makes solo parenting far easier! 

- You’d think with the long day we had on Friday that Paul would sleep in? But no. He was up at 5:40 on Saturday morning. Yawn. Saturday was full of our usual library and gymnastics combo. They played around the house and did a ‘Dino dig’ with eggs they had gotten for Easter from my MIL. It was MESSY but entertained them. 


You soak the eggs in water and then chip away the material to find the dinosaur.

- Also messy is the way Taco plays with his construction equipment/cars. He has started to fill them with cherrios from his snack cup. I am trying to put an end to this as I hate food waste and messes! 

He looks a bit guilty after emptying one truck into another. 

- After nap/quiet time, I made the most putsy banana bread recipe ever from the ATK GF cookbook. It involves microwaving very brown bananas to get the juice out of them which you then boil down into a syrup. It’s worth all the effort as it tastes SO GOOD. I realized I was a little short on my GF flour mix (which I make myself using a recipe from that cookbook), but I thought of Nicole (HI NICOLE) and subbed in some almond flour. Usually running out of something would have paralyzed me and I would have not made the bread. What can I say - flexible is not a word used to describe me! Phil loves banana bread so this is kind of a birthday acts of service. 


- Then it was time for haircuts! We have started to cut their hair super short to cut down on the frequency of appointments. Now we go every 3 months instead of every 2. 


- Paul was up at 5:40 on Sunday again! Groan. We hit up the farmer’s market and park. The boys got cookies since the donut stand wasn’t there. And then I observed my biggest park pet peeve - big kids that seem completely unsupervised playing on little kid park equipment. I’m talking about things like climbing up slides while little 2-3 year old kids are trying to go down. I get that kids need less supervision as they get older but I think parents should be observant enough to notice when their kids are being pests. Instead I had to intervene and tell the kids to knock it off. Phil was home by the time we got back and we greeted him with open arms!!

- To cap off the weekend, we went to a pool party at Phil’s college friend’s house. Our contribution was a DQ birthday cake. Check out how they spelled Phil’s name! Last year my parents got him a DQ cake and they spelled his name ‘Phill’ so when I called in my order I spelled it out to avoid the double L situation. At least the cat is cute?

The birthday boy who turned 42, not 3!


And then we all collapsed into bed after baths. What a full weekend! 

How was your weekend? Is your name often misspelled? My name isn’t misspelled but oddly I’ve been mistakenly called Liz? Like a person will respond to an email with Lisa in my signature line and say, ‘Hi Liz’. 

12 comments:

  1. I can't believe the spelled Phil's name wrong AGAIN! I usually just do the nerd, and spell it out using the military alphabet - Papa Hotel India Lima for goodness sakes lady! I have had my name spelled as Karen, Kara, Sara, Kiria...you get the drift. We actually started calling a friend of mine Doyle when they put that on his cup at Starbucks even though his name is Noel! I really just come when called, no matter what I am called.

    Re the Liz thing, my colleague G's last name is Lim and there have been SO MANY instances when people have written back and said "Hi Lim," WTH! His first name is a very common first name!

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  2. glad to hear the procedure went well and not too much fuss. what a relief!
    single parenting is hard with young kids as they have so much energy.
    DQ has birthday cake? I didn't know. is it an ice cream cake? and the name on the cake. hahaha... happy birthday Thill :)

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  3. LOL at Thill-- hilarious.

    Cooper used to play with PLANT DIRT in his trucks, so Cheerios looks fine to me.

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  4. HI LISA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY THILL
    That's too funny. I'm glad your banana bread worked out! Look at you, flying by the seat of your almond flour pants!
    I was wondering how the ear tubes thing went. What a stressful thing but now it's DONE! Yay!
    Gosh, my kids used to play "demolition site" where they would build something and then throw toys into piles. It was hugely messy but it entertained them, and then they would help with the cleanup which also took a lot of time. It was my goal then to do things that took up a lot of time because the days were long!

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  5. So many thoughts! That cake. Oh goodness. To me that's so funny that it's almost a happy accident. It's something to go down in family history.

    I'm sooo glad the ear procedure is over, but yikes those are early morning. I PROMISE this gets better. It will take a few more years but both boys will sleep in (or will be able to get up and entertain themselves quietly). I promise!

    We also do much shorter haircuts now so we have to go less frequently. My sons hair grows SO fast, so the before/after is dramatic and a bit jarring to be honest, but it's the most effective way to do things.

    "Hanging out with friends makes solo parenting far easier!" YES, 1000x yes <3

    And I am so proud of you with the banana bread. It's ironic because I tend to crave structure and rules, but I play fast and loose with recipes all. the. time. It sounds delicious, but I don't know if I'd have the patience to boil down banana juice into a syrup, so major gold stars to you.

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  6. Thill!!! LOLOLOL. I don't know why, but that is cracking me up. Is that even a real name?

    It's nice to see that as the boys are getting a little older, the weekends don't seem as stressful for you. Maybe there is a future in which weekends are even a respite for you!

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  7. THILL???? Who's name is "Thill?" It's like that thing at Starbucks where they always get your name wrong- but you would hope to get it right on a birthday cake. Oh well! I'm sure it was delicious.
    It figures Paul would be up super early on both weekend days where you were alone. But it sounds like everything went well, including the ear procedure. I'm sure you're glad that's over!
    Hmm, that banana bread recipe does sound involved... but I'll bet it tastes delicious.

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  8. LOL agree with Jenny and NGS, WHAT?! Is Thill even a name?? That's hilarious. Poor Phil!! Hahahaha. I sometimes get mistaken for "Karen" instead of "Kaelyn". Maybe I mumble? I don't know but it happens fairly often. I think in today's age I am glad my name is not actually Karen. Haha!! ;)

    And oof, Paul, come on with the early wakeups dude!! That is rough.. Makes for a long day, doesn't it. Hopefully when school starts he will be so worn out he will sleep a bit longer!

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  9. Happy to hear that the procedure went well. The two pictures side by side are precious. Time flies...
    I am a name nazi. I always make sure that I get the pronunciation and spelling of students' names correctly and if I make a mistake I profusely apologize.
    Sometimes people are not sure how to pronounce "Daria" In Russian it's [dahhria] long A, but I've gotten [dehhria] too.
    Happy belated to Phil!!

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  10. OMG, how did they get Phil's name wrong TWICE? It doesn't seem to be a difficult name IMHO... but I do hope at least the cake tasted good? ;)

    I am so glad all went well with Paul's tube removal and that you had a nice weekend spending lots of time outside. The Dino dig sounds like fun, but messy - haha.

    My name is usually not misspelled, although I've seen "Sondra" before and people have also called me "Sandy", even though I had specifically introduced myself as Sandra.

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  11. Oh my goodness baby Paul, so sweet!!! I'm so glad that the surgery went well and that is done! LOL, I know food waste is terrible but he sure is cute looking mildly guilty! That is awesome that you were able to make a quick substitution to still make the banana bread! That is actually one of MH's favorite things too! They look so cute with their hair cuts!!!! Oh my goodness that cake is cracking me up!!! I hope that Phil had a great birthday!!!

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  12. I just cannot believe they got the name on the cake wrong AGAIN. And in such a bizarre way. Not to mention - there are still two L's! Sheesh.

    So glad that Paul's procedure went well and that it was - of course - so darn quick.

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