My Dumb Weekend

I've really had one. Maybe its due to Stevie starting school and David talking NON-STOP while he's gone. Could it be lingering pregnancy brain? Or maybe the intelligent brain cells that have been battling the dumb ones for so many years have finally thrown in the towel and gone out for pizza. Whatever the cause, I've been seriously dumb this weekend.

1) I've planned on substituting for the school district this year. I filled out an application, got copies of transcripts, renewed my teaching certification--all that jazz--and then completely forgot to sign up for the orientation. Consequence? It's completely full and there won't be another one for six months. That's a nice little chunk of money down the drain.

2) Early this morning I received an email, reacted immediately to it without fully reading it, AND (against my own immediate self-advice--that's right, I talk to myself), responded without censoring myself, and quite spicily, too. Now I have to deal with THAT mess.

3) Stevie got invited to a birthday party. Without thinking, I asked if its okay if I bring David, since otherwise I would have to drop Stevie off and leave. What I didn't realize is that I was SUPPOSED to drop Stevie off and leave. So not only did I end up crashing this party AND bringing another kid with me, I was the ONLY OTHER ADULT THERE! I'm sure this poor woman didn't need the added stress of entertaining ME when she had a kid's birthday party to throw. I left as soon and as tactifully as I could.

These are just a few. Gee Whiz. I should really just go to bed. But I'm afraid I'll just toss and turn over all the stupid things I've done. *Sigh. Let's see if I can make it through the day tomorrow without, say, sending our life savings to help out the de-throned prince of Nigeria.

Jake Starts Solid Foods!

Okay, so this is probably not the most substantial solid food in the universe...

But he really liked it!

And considering the instigator...

In other news, Jake FINALLY rolled over on Monday night (August 23rd). He's been a tad lazy about it (5 1/2 months, for crying out loud! But then again I'm sure its difficult manipulating his giant cranium). We decided that we needed to make him practice, and so we put him on his tummy and cheered him on. Mostly he just yelled angrily at us, and once he napped briefly after yelling tired him out. But FINALLY he decided he would perform his little trick, and rolled over onto his back. He looked incredibly confused. But overall, I think he's got it down.

David's Birthday Party

I kinda phoned it in for David's birthday party this year. But considering that LAST year I decided to get sick and go to the hospital on the day of his party, I figure this year was a step up.

We borrowed a pool and a slip-n-slide from some friends, and had a bunch of kiddos from his primary and preschool classes come over and swim in the backyard,


while the adults gabbed (my favorite part of kids' parties). It was the first party I've EVER THROWN in which I wasn't monumentally stressed.




The trampoline with a sprinkler under it was a big hit, if not slightly terrifying.


At one point I was sure it might collapse, and so we ended up regulating 5 minutes segments to boys/girls only.


Jake had some watery fun of his own with some of the other little cuties...


Steven grilled up some dogs, of course

David was a little overwhelmed all day---but he definitely enjoyed opening presents!


But I'd say the coup-de-gras of the evening was definitely the wet cupcake we found in the cooler's cupholder. Delish! :)

Stevie's First Day of Kindergarten

I've been very eager for Stevie to start school. Not only because he's so COMPLETELY ready for it--bored out of his mind at home--but because I kept thinking he was driving me crazy, and I was so ready for him to go.

And I am. I'm ready for him to go and learn and make new friends and have all kinds of new and strange experiences. I know he's going to love it, and that he'll be incredibly successful. I'm impressed with the school, the administrators and the teachers.

It's just...

well is it really already time? Getting up at 6:30am and showering and setting out his new clothes and making him a big breakfast, getting his lunch and backpack all ready, running everyone out of the door, into the school, greeting the teacher and other parents and getting Stevie all situated at his desk and then.....is it really already time to leave him and go now?

That's when a few tears slipped down. I can't explain it very well. I guess I just wasn't as ready to share him with the world as I thought I was. I'm feeling a little bit selfish about him now.

But he'll be perfect. I know his teacher will thank her lucky stars to have such an amazing little kid in her class. I know that he's going to have all kinds of crazy things to tell me at the end of the day.

So, we dropped him off and drove back home. And he's there and we're here. And so it all begins.

Man, I love that kid.

David

Age 0

Age 1

Age 2

Age 3

And finally, Age 4


Well, David, you actually survived to your 4th birthday---despite 4 emergency room visits, 1 emergency dental visit and numerous other hair-raisingly close calls. You are my wild one, kiddo. Fearless--that's definitely a word I'd use to describe you. Utterly confident. Unsentimental, honest, matter-of-fact, satisfied, bursting with love and loyalty. That's you, buddy. What a wonderfully riotous impact you make on our family.

You're a comic--constantly pulling a face or making a joke--especially at inappropriate times. You're especially good at making Mom and Dad laugh when we're trying to discipline you. You love feeling deliciously scared, and are always talking about ghosts and skeletons (you even asked for a Halloween birthday party this year). You TRULY enjoy a good tussle, and (much to his chagrin) you're constantly bent on toppling your more peace-loving big brother. Everyone is immediately your friend, whether they like it or not (but usually they like it).

You are 100% laughter and sunshine in my life. You're joy in its truest, purest form. Keep up the antics, kid. Keep making us smile.

Little Bits of Bliss

I took Jake to the doctor and yes, he does have pink eye and yes, the doctor told us that I can expect us each to catch it. She was very nice though, and gave me 2 free sample bottles of eye drops and 1 free prescription refill to boot!

And on top of that little niceness, I'm feeling especially content as I sit and watch my two little boys play an elaborate game involving various unrelated toys and an old cardboard box. Its lovely to watch, and is making my heart swell up with something like pride and and gratefulness and love.

Quarantined

So we may or may not have Pink Eye. I'm not sure how the Grundbergs have magically managed to avoid this nasty little malady for so many years, but I think we might have finally succumbed.

Yesterday Jake had some eye goop---but he often has eye goop, among other goops---he's a baby, you know, they're relatively goopy in general, and so I didn't think much of it. But it continued to worsen throughout the day, and finally I did a little do-it-yourself diagnosing (thank you, internet), and started reading about conjuctivitus. Unfortunately, it seemed to hit the nail on the head.

We were really hoping that we were wrong, and maybe if he just had a good night's rest it would magically disappear. But guess who woke up this morning with a lovely itchy feeling in her reddish left eye? Yours Truly. So off to the doctor we go! Hopefully this won't turn into a Grundberg epidemic.

(Why do sicknesses only seem to rear their ugly heads on weekends?)

Jake's 4 Month

We took Jakie to the doctor on Tuesday (Aug 3) and he's healthy as a horse. His official stats are:

WEIGHT: 15lbs, 12 oz. 25-50%
LENGTH: 27.5 inches 95%
HEAD: 43 cm 50%

So he's pretty much your average joe, except length-wise. (He's a typical Grundberg in that department).

I had a little chat with the doctor about the necessity of having all four vaccinations at once as opposed to spreading them out, and he gave me a very clear and well-informed answer which allayed any concerns I had. He also referred me to the American Academy of Pediatrics for some more reading. The result of all this? 3 shots for the little guy! (The fourth was oral, thankfully). He was not happy, but recovered quickly in his usual laid-back style.

Jacob is generally a happy baby. He's not much of a cuddler, but loves to stand straight up and look around at things. His face lights up whenever someone comes to talk to him. And while he usually looks a bit tentative when they first crowd around him, he loves his big brothers and laughs at their antics.

We're having a lot of fun having this little guy in the house. Good, good times.

P.U.

You know, I appreciate that going to the gym is probably a challenge for most people. Its not easy to drag your lazy self off the couch and into a sweat-producing locality to physically push yourself to the limit. And I also appreciate that when a person is working really hard to better their body, then they must work hard to produce desired results.

What I do NOT appreciate is when an enormous, hulk-like body-builder comes to do his extreme cardio workout on the machine beside me, and proceeds to vigorously waft his OVERPOWERING BODY ODOR at me with every arm swing of the elliptical machine.

I mean, doesn't he know how hard it is for me to get there in the first place? Now we're going to throw STINK into the equation?

In conclusion---kudos to you, Mr. Hulk, for going the distant to get a really good work out. But they do make prescription-strength Mitchum nowadays. You should look into it.

YEE-HAW!

I realize Jake looks a little alarmed in this last picture. Probably due to the lurking presence of his big brother. And no, you're not seeing spots---David wanted to be a "jaguar" that day.