Saturday, August 11, 2012

Missing you

This morning the first thing Sylvia said when she found me was that she missed me when I was gone yesterday.

It's great to feel loved.

I wonder how she's going to react to going back to school.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Birthdays

The last week and a half have been pretty busy with grandparents in town and birthdays and whatnot. We've had a great time, going to the zoo, the park, etc. Before all of these memories drift away, I want to record a few.

Grandma Weaver's birthday was Monday. I made an apple pound cake in a ten-inch spring form pan and then we went out to Little Italy for dinner. I admit, I was a little apprehensive about the restaurant Derrick's dad picked, but it turned out to be okay. Not as good as most of the other places we've tried in Little Italy, but still okay, and very family friendly. Paul wasn't at all happy to be there and screamed a lot, so family friendly was a definite plus. Probably most important to the ones paying, it was cheaper (though not by much) than the other places we've been. Derrick gave his grandma a couple of little vases and candle holders he turned, and we gave her a couple of 8X10 pictures I took of Paul that morning.

This was the favorite picture

Tuesday was Sylvia's birthday. Sylvia's had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Hasterok and Grandma Weaver, though I think she still likes me. On her birthday we insisted she spend the night with us (most nights she slept at the hotel with Grandma and Grandpa). That morning she came in and gave me a kiss and told me in a sweet little voice, full of excitement, that it was her birthday.

That morning Sylvia made her own birthday brownies with Grandma Hasterok's help. The baking may have been her favorite part of the day, though really there were a lot of good pars of the day. I had an activity for my lone activity day girl, which effectively turned into a play date with said girl's family while we made some plush juggling balls. For dinner we made mini tacos at Sylvia's request, which I think was a really good choice. Everyone seemed to like the meal and we didn't have much in the way of leftovers.

I don't think Sylvia much cared about eating the brownies, though she liked decorating them and was so excited about blowing out the candles we didn't even make it through "Happy Birthday." She loved opening presents, too, and wanted to play with everything. Getting her to bed was, uh, entertaining, and I'll leave it at that.

Yesterday Paul had a doctor's appointment. In June when we went up to Utah, Paul got a UTI on the way up. UTI's are apparently quite unusual in boys, so he needed some follow up tests to make sure his kidneys, blood vessels, and other urinary tract structures are all as they should be. The doctor didn't see anything, but holding Paul down for the 10 or so minutes required to get the pictures was like the worst diaper change ever. The doctor even commented on what a strong fighter he is, and on the fact he never gave up. At all. By the time we got to the car, Paul seemed to have completely forgotten the trauma and he's been happy and pleasant as usual since.

Last night for dinner we had tamale pie and rice. Paul (who usually loves tamale pie) was more interested in rice. There wasn't any rice on his plate, though, so he reached over and tried to grab some off his Grandpa Hasterok's plate. Grandpa said no, so he put that hand back behind his head as if trying to hide his aborted attempt to steal his Grandpa's rice. Daddy, who was seated on the other side, didn't say no, so Paul happily stole rice from him until he was given his own.

Derrick and I went to school today, which I quite enjoyed. It's likely the last time I'll get to go in with him, so I'm very glad the grandparents were so willing to babysit on their last day in town. Tonight we had our final birthday celebration for the week. After a dinner of bratwursts, onion rings, and watermelon, we had cupcakes (blue frosted, decorated with paper shark fins) and Sylvia opened Paul's presents. It was a lovely evening, and a great way to end the visit.