Dirty 4-Letter Word

Any guesses? L-I-C-E Ewwwwww!!!! Turns out, my boys have it. It's not severe, but it's head lice. Vincent has nits and babies, while Tyler has nits. Obviously, Tyler got it from Vincent, and unfortunately, he got it at school. 

Let me back track a little...

Tyler had a fever yesterday afternoon. By this morning, he was 99F, but school policy is 24-hours of under 100F. I kept him home with me. Thankfully, aside from a minor belly ache, he hasn't had any other symptoms. And, my morning was free, so we mostly just chilled at home. 

David had to go into work early this morning for a workshop. He usually walks Vincent to school. With Ty's fever, I didn't want to shuffle him out of the house this morning, especially with the morning we had today. I had called my friend, Erin, who's daughter is a good friend of Vincent's and in his class, if they could swing by our house in the morning and walk Vincent to school on their way. She was happy to help.

When her husband showed up alone, I asked where his daughter was. He said she had lice. Bummer. But, he walked Vincent to school anyway. So nice. I guess it was a good thing, too, because Erin and I texted each other about the status of their lice situation, and she told me she was taking Scarlett to "Lice Knowing You" at 3pm. This prompted me to check Vincent's head when I picked him up from school. It looked suspicious.

I decided that I'll call that "Lice Knowing You" place, too. They got us in at 4:30pm. All three of us got checked. I'm clear. They didn't have time to treat the boys, so we're going back in the morning with David, as he needs to get checked, too.

Damn Winter

At least, it was sunny today. That helps, but it's still pretty cold. I'm especially mad at winter because I'm constantly sick, and this afternoon, Tyler got a fever. He was acting whiny when we picked Vincent up from school, and didn't want a snack. Totally out of character. Then, I found him sitting in front of a heat vent. He told me he felt cold. I bent over to comfort him, and he actually felt hot to me. So, I took his temperature. 102 F. Bummer.

I changed him into lighter clothing, and he asked if he could get back into bed. Oh, sweetie.

While I took care of Tyler, Vincent worked on his Chinese homework. He was able to go through it on his own, and even said it was easy. Nice. I mean, it was pretty self-explanatory. He was just tracing and then writing what he traced in boxes. Still, he got through his whole homework packet today. This means all we need to do the rest of the week is work on his kindergarten work and practice reading Chinese.

Tyler did not fall back to sleep, but he rested, and when he came back downstairs, his spirits were up. I made chicken noodle soup (intended for tomorrow night), so I offered him that for dinner. He ended up eating what we had for dinner (grilled steak, roasted fingerling potatoes, and roasted Brussels sprouts) on top of that, too, so it's reassuring he got his appetite back.

He will be staying home with me tomorrow. Good thing I have no appointments or any plans other than "nesting".

Too Many Olives?

Tyler LOVES olives. He even has a favorite: Castelvetrano. They are also my favorite. I buy them for both of us, but he consumes most of what I buy. He'll see them at the store and request them. This weekend, we ordered pizza, and I cut some up and put them in a side dish for him to top his slices. The next day, we had leftover pizzas, and David gave them to him whole in a dish with another little dish to put his pits. He saw the container sitting on the counter and helped himself to one. He loves olives.

Today, however, I packed the remainder of my last purchase into his snack. There were probably about 10 olives, more than I've ever given to him. He sat down for his snack, and started to eat them. Halfway through he said, "Mama, you packed me too many olives." 

WHAT?! I did not know that was possible. Lucky for him, the 3 other toddlers with us were happy to help him with them. And, I was proud of him for sharing so well.

He's So Stubborn

Vincent, that is. The thing that keeps Vincent from moving forward in certain skills is his stubbornness. I wouldn't say it's intentional. It's just that he gets set in his head in doing something and can't get out of it, even if it is wrong. And, of course, like the meany that I am, I'm the one who will challenge him the most. Or, more like crap on his parade.

For example, when we went roller skating for my birthday, he came up with some ridiculous way of skating with just one foot forward, and one arm out, and just sort of scooting along. I tried, and tried to coach him on left, right, left, right, but he would not budge.

And, today, at swim lessons, he was learning actual swimming skills, but he just kept doing the same thing of doggy paddling throw the water. He was told to keep his arms tightly together and kick. Nope. And, they were learning to make "arm circles." Yeah, he doggie paddled. I hope he gets it and actually learns to swim. He's trying very hard, at least.

Young Moms

I'm realizing more & more that I'm no longer a young mom. Don't get me wrong. I don't think I'm old. Just not young anymore. I look around me, and I see the other moms. I'd say, even David's no longer a young dad. I think I'm okay with all this. I mean, it's life. And, we not-so-young parents have it pretty good. Like, I can compose this post on my smart phone, while my youngest kid (for now) sits & feeds himself a snack. Pretty sweet.

Parents' Night Out & My Morning With Tyler

On Monday, the karate studio put out a notice/sign up sheet for 'Parents Night Out.' This is where they take care of our kids (feed them pizza, play games, watch a movie), while parents get to go out and have a good time. It's really a great deal, as it cost $30 for both our kids for 3 hours.

Unfortunately, David forgot (after I signed up our kids) that he had to work late tonight. So, I made plans with girlfriends for dinner, but one got the flu and the other couldn't get a sitter. Darn! 

When I dropped the boys off, which they were SO excited for, I ran into Sam, another dad dropping his kids off, too. We were chatting about our evening plans, and since mine fell through, he invited me out with him, his wife, and another friend for dinner. Since I wasn't going to be the third wheel, I accepted. It was great! We had Japanese food, and great conversation. As Michael Scott would say, "Win, win, win."

When I picked the boys up, they were super happy and chatty. Amazingly, or maybe not cuz it was so late, they fell asleep without a fight.

As for my morning with Tyler, it's been a while since we've had a morning to hang out together. On Monday, it was just us, but he had gymnastics, and then we went to Pro Club. Today, we went to the gym, but afterwards, we had a couple hours. I had to pick up something from Mt. Townsend Creamery at the market, and Target. 

Tyler knows how Pike Place Market works now. This is a place where he can walk along and get samples! We were actually on a little bit of a time constraint, so I didn't let him try too much. He got a slice of pear, an apple chip, and of course, cheese. Julia, my ex-manager, loves seeing him. He likes seeing her, too, and hams it up for her. Next stop was a quick stop to Target, then a bite to eat.

Piroshky Piroshky was the stop. Tyler got a beef and cheese piroshky, I got a potato cheese piroshky, and I picked up a cheddar cheese roll for Vincent. 

Since we parked at Cost Plus, we stopped there, too. We walked out of there with 3 types of candies and a bag of cookies. Funny thing is that none of it was eaten today, nor was there a fuss for them. Tyler was very excited to tell Vincent about them, though.

And, at one point today, guess who I found in a box?

 She's not a very photogenic cat. Tyler went in for a snuggle.

Bits Of Snow & Ikea

There was snow up in Shoreline this morning as I drove Tyler to school. Kind of weird, as there was sunshine in Seattle as we left our place. Unfortunately, the sun didn't hang around long, even if it didn't snow downtown. It's a good thing, because my plan was to go to Ikea this morning, and I didn't want bad weather to get in my way.

I say, I think I need to allow myself half a day to go to Ikea. I felt so rushed. Still, I managed to spend over $110, with barely anything. I did get this cool chair for Vincent.

It doesn't match the rest of the table, but now he can sit up nicely and reach better. There's also not much room for him to slouch, and he has a nice foot rest. Looks comfy to me.