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Showing posts from February, 2009

All by ourselves

Wife is on a business trip for a couple days, so it's just me and the boys. I'm not worried that I won't be able to handle it, except for getting them to sleep, which Wife seems to excel at. But tonight went quite well -- both boys started conking out early and fell asleep before 8. I need to get to bed soon, too, because they will be up early (before 7, probably). Wife warned that a hungry cat woke her up this morning at 6, so I have that to look forward to as well. I know Wife misses us, but she needs this little break. I'm hoping to do some fun, out-of-the-ordinary stuff the next two days, but preschool and The Little Gym are smack dab in the middle of Thursday and Friday. Maybe Chuck E. Cheese on Friday afternoon? Maybe not, but we'll find something.

Sliders

We had promised Eldest we'd go swimming today. The boys start swim lessons up again this week, and I wanted to get them back in the water before then. But Littlest has been a little under the weather the last few days (though I'm sure that wouldn't have stopped him at the pool), and Wife wasn't feeling well, so it was just Eldest and I. Instead of going to our fitness center's pool, we went to a nearby park's indoor pool that features a water slide. Eldest had a blast. I wondered if he'd be nervous on a big water slide, but on the first ride, it was apparent he had no fear at all. He kept walking back up and sliding down again. I rode about every other slide. This pool runs the water on this slide full blast, and I'm always a bit nervous that I'd get going so fast that I'd go up and over one the side on a curve. It's probably irrational (as well as physically impossible), but I sat up and tried to slow myself for the top half of the slide so

Boys will be boys

Today was a big grocery shopping day for the boys and me -- we went to Wal-Mart and Costco. They did well -- no tantrums, no crabbiness, and Eldest helped get things off the shelves. We ate at Costco, and something struck me on how unique boys, especially brothers, are. We were wrapping up, and Littlest wanted to throw out some garbage, while Eldest was getting me more soda. After returning with the Coke, he walked over to the returning Littlest, and instead of walking directly back, they took a wide running berth near the tire department before reaching our cart. Maybe you had to be there to understand, but the first thing that struck me was how much my boys were acting like ... boys. Why walk right back when you have energy to spend? And I believe brothers feed this concept off each other -- they somehow were driven to this little run. They have been fighting a lot lately (Littlest is learning how to push Eldest's buttons), but they still are each other's favorite playmate.

Nothing but the tooth

Eldest lost his first baby tooth sometime overnight or this morning. We're not quite sure if it came out during the night and he swallowed it, or it just fell out and he didn't realize it this morning, because we can't find the tooth (never fear, we left a note for the tooth fairy). He noticed it was loose Saturday, and was excited, then a little spooked by the concept, then excited again. Yesterday, the tooth was wiggling both back and forth and side to side, so it was just a matter of time. I'm surprised how young he lost his first tooth -- he just turned 5 in December. I didn't lose my first tooth until just after 7 (of course, I was smaller at 7 than Eldest is at 5). It's a memorable little milestone; we just have to hope he doesn't swallow the next one that falls out.

Running wild

I am back in running mode, the most serious running mode I've entered in at least 10 years. In the last six weeks, by my count, I've run 21 times. Before I brag too much, it should be noted I'm following a program that gets you running-proficient slowly -- you run for an interval, then walk for a minute, and so on, for 20 minutes; gradually, the amount of running is increased until you are running for 20 minutes straight. I'm guessing I still have about 6 weeks until I'm at that 20 minutes consistently, but I've enjoyed the journey so far. This gradual return is necessary for me simply because I'm not much of a natural runner, even though I ran track in high school. I'm starting now, because come June, I'm running on a team in the Wasatch Back -- a 128-mile relay. After Wife ran last year's, her friend who assembled the team asked if I wanted to try it this year. I was apprehensive, but it sounded like fun and I knew I would have to get back into

Super Sunday

It's Super Bowl Sunday, and I'm not working it for a change. I didn't work it last year, but I was actually ill and didn't go into the office. I'm watching the game right now and doing a little blogging. Bruce Springsteen at halftime was great, and the commercials haven't sucked. It's been a long Sunday, beginning with taking one of our cats to the vet. Iago has Cushing's disease and his skin rips really easily; he just had about 40 stitches removed from his back over the last two weeks. This morning, we woke up to discover he got his cone off and groomed himself a new wound on his back. Luckily, it wasn't bad and he didn't need any more stitches. Sunday got better from there, culminating with watching the Super Bowl. If you name the Super Bowl (going back to 1978), I can tell you where I watched it. It's just one of those events that I remember from year to year. And this year, I'm glad I'm not in the office.