I'm headed off for a fun long weekend with some girlfriends and our mothers. A group of 8 ladies - and we do it almost every year!
I thought I'd share a couple photos from the week so far before I leave.
Tuesday was Stripes Day at daycare.
Those little legs kill me.
I had had a sore throat for a couple days which turned into some gnarly body aches and chills by Tuesday. I got home from work and curled up on my bed in pain. Luckily Kasper entertained himself by playing with trains at the foot of the bed for about 20 minutes. I drug myself to the dinner table and Rob was kind enough to take a photo of me resting when he got home.
It was 80 degrees in the house but I was freezing and shivering. I knew I had to take a plane in a couple days so I actually listened when Rob told me to take myself to Urgent Care. I thought it was a sinus infection with some weird back pain. Nope, it was STREP THROAT. I had to stay home from work yesterday!!
If you had to guess who's had pink eye and strep throat in the house would you guess it was me or my toddler who goes to daycare. Seriously.
So I stayed home and rested yesterday. Kasper gave me a nice big hug before going to daycare.
He's been doing that lately. He always wants to come up and when he does, he lays his head down, puts his arms by his sides and just lays there. Multiple times a day. He's in a Mama phase and instead of being there for him, I'm leaving. Ugh.
Can't think about that, though. I'm going to enjoy myself so much and I'll smother the little boy in kisses when I get back. Hopefully he's kind to his Papa and doesn't go and get strep himself. The boys are going to have great fun together.
We had a bit of a challenging week this week. We found out Monday that 2 (of the 4) teachers in Kasper's room suddenly quit. It was pretty jarring to us and I think it affected Kasper as well.
Before the wheels fell off, Kasper was so silly Monday night. He was having a great time jumping up on the couch and playing "ni ni" (night night).
I also caught this video of him looking through the Hungry Caterpillar book. He was looking for the cheese apparently.
The directors of the Center took a couple days to fill the vacant spots and it was chaos in his room until about Wednesday. In the midst of the transition, Kasper didn't take his afternoon nap and was a mess when we got home after work. Wednesday he sobbed and sobbed for about 45 minutes when we got home. He didn't want to sit on my lap but he wanted to be sitting on my lap, he wanted a banana but didn't want to eat or drink. I finally got him to eat a cracker.
(His cheeks were all red from crying and he apparently didn't have the energy to sit upright.)
Check out those amazing baby eyelashes.
The evening turned around after dinner and playing with Papa and a bowl and spoon.
Thursday the Center was closed a half day for staff development. All week I was thinking of fun things we could do with our free afternoon but after Wednesday evening, I decided we would go home and take a nap. First we went out for lunch, just the 2 of us.
Kasper was the perfect eating companion. He was a good boy.
We went home and played a bit then played more "ni ni."
What a treat that was.
So Kasper went down for a nap and he slept THREE HOURS. He needed his sleep! I was so glad I just decided to go home instead of dragging him around town. When he woke up, he decided he was scared of ceiling fans. This fear would come into play all weekend.
Again, things are looking up with a meal.
Yesterday morning we got up early, Steph and Tim came over and we all hopped in the car, grabbed coffee and doughnuts and headed down to Sioux Falls. Kasper did really well for the 4 hour trip. I was nervous. He did a little sleeping, a little snacking and a little playing.
(When we were little we would always have Mom wake us up or just remind us when we were going by the South Dakota sign. I guess I really liked it! And due to a detour we had to take a different road to my Grandma's and drove by Mr. Bendo - another favorite Sioux Falls memory from childhood.)
We got to Grandma's, walked inside and Kasper was instantly paralyzed in fear because of the ceiling fan in the living room. Like clinging to me, face buried in my neck, completely still. Terrified. He could go in the dining and look at the fan but he would not.go.near.the.fan. He was also able to open and close a cabinet a million times so that was lucky.
We had a family reunion yesterday evening at a park near Grandma's. It was a beautiful night. Kasper spent most of his time trying to keep up with my cousin's kiddos. It was really the first time we've seen him play with friends. They all played so nice together.
Playing "ni ni" with a deflated bounce house in the park. We have a big kid now. *sob*
So, we got home, scrubbed Kasper down with a pressure washer and got him off to bed. He fell right to sleep without realizing there was a ceiling fan in our room. At around 11:30 he realized there was a ceiling fan in our room. From 11:30-2 am Kasper was wide awake and fretting about this fan. He would lay down for a minute then sit up and worry about the fan. Repeat. Add some giggling because he was in our bed. Ugh. It was the worst. At 2 he finally decided he would rather be sleeping but that room wasn't going to work. Rob was on the way downstairs to bring K outside and met my Mom on the stairs. She took over and apparently Kasper slept. In fact, he was still sleeping at 7 when we got up. It felt like having a newborn again.
Of course he was bright eyed and bushy tailed. My Grandma has a beautiful yard. Lots to look at!
Black walnut!
Here's old Lewis and Clark headed West.
This morning we went to a baby shower for my cousin Dawn. Kasper fell asleep on the 3 minute drive back to Grandma's and was just exhausted. I got him out of the car and laid him on the couch where he was OUT.
I have to mention that he has since made peace with the ceiling fan. Why he couldn't have done this before 11:30 last night I don't know.
As he had a quick cat nap we loaded the car and waited for everyone to return from their morning plans. We made a stop on the way out of town to meet the original Kasper. It was a warm sunny day today, I know my Grandpa was loving it.
Kasper ended up sleeping over half of the way home. I'm so glad the drives went well. I was nervous. Grandpa Steve and Carol stayed at our house to watch Lois so we had dinner with them when we got home.
Next week I'm off to San Francisco for a few days! Hopefully all goes smoothly.
Happy Father's Day to all the Fathers out there - especially ours! Kasper made sure to love on his Papa - his Papa had a hard week.
I came home from work on Monday and Rob met us in the garage (he was home early because he had spent his day at continuing education). He looked terrified and said he had just seen the weirdest thing ever. He whipped off his shirt and he was crooked!! Like his upper body didn't match up with his lower body anymore and he was walking like Quasimodo. It was crazy. He said his back was sore but he assumed it was from bike riding. We immediately called Steph (who's a PT) and she came right over after work. She did some stretches and he was much better by the end of the night. He went to a PT appointment later in the week and it sounds like it was a series of stress-related spasms or something. Whatever it was, he had a pretty miserable week.
This helped
Wednesday night Grandma Sandra stayed over. She headed out in the morning for Las Vegas. She was Kasper's best friend for the evening. (You can see how Rob's torso leans to one side)
Friday night pizza. This is the messiest he's been for a long time.
After K went to bed Friday and since I had my sister over, I FINALLY got my summer mantle finished. (It irks me to no end that this room has NO light at all despite the huge south-facing windows.)
My Mom, sister and I made the bunting with my growing vintage sheet stash.
I brought in some orange as the accent color and the new little painting of Lois we got fit right in.
I ordered it a month or so ago from a place called The Pet Shop. I've read their blog for awhile and always wanted one and when they announced that they were updating their shop and raising prices I snagged one. In fact, Lois is on their website! Click here and check out the third picture.
After getting the all clear to ride his bike, Rob rode it to work yesterday morning - 32 miles! He had some things to get done so spent the morning there. After Kasper's nap we loaded in the car to go pick him up and have lunch. Kasper asked to wear a hat.
He's making quite the fashion statement! And see his fingers? They are always crossed lately.
K had a great time at the office. He's a natural.
Last night for dinner I made BBQ chicken sammies which everyone should make immediately. They were amazing. Kasper loved them, which was awesome. Since we didn't really have anything we HAD to get done last night we played Donkey Kong on the Wii. It was so fun.
This morning was lazy and perfect. Rob got his first Father's Day gift - reading in bed with the boy.
The dog also got the gift of quality time with the boy. I don't think she enjoys it as much as we do.
We threw on some shoes and headed out to get Rob his second gift of the day -- a treat from our favorite place YoYo Donuts!
We thought we were nice and early - it was before 8 am - but there was already a line! It was pretty cute, mostly Moms and babes in pjs picking up doughnuts for Dad. We even ran into one of the other attorneys at Rob's firm.
Next up - breakfast outside.
Kasper and Lois started Rob with a "Beer of the Month" club complete with tasting journal.
We played around outside on the deck since it was BEAUTIFUL out.
Kasper took the Wii-motes for a walk.
After K's morning nap (he's been asking for 2 naps for the last month or so and takes long ones) we loaded in the car and went to - guess. THE ARBORETUM!! This time we brought the stroller and went for a run along the 3 mile drive. The weather was perfect and it was a nice peaceful run, if not a little too hilly. At least we switched it up this time!
It was perfect timing because as soon as we were in the car heading home it started to rain and has been raining ever since. It's a nice excuse to cuddle up this evening before the week starts again.
