Weekly Review 73

Hello readers! Welcome to my weekly review, where I share my previous week with you. 

Instagram, TikTok: @Theregionlife

On Monday I was up and ready to go. Somehow I had the energy to get things done while Mr. O slept in. After I ate my breakfast (Honey Nut Cheerios is the GOAT) and did some reading, I picked up some of our little tornado’s toys and cleaned our downstairs bathroom. Then, around 7 AM, the boss was awake. He didn’t want to get out of his crib just yet, so he sat there drinking his milk, and instructed me to sit in the rocking chair and wait for him to be ready. As I was sitting there, rocking and trying to make conversation with a half-asleep two-year-old, Winston the Cat came to sit on my lap. Although it was sweet, this made Mr. O very jealous: “Me want to sit on your lap! Not Ninnie!” If you are new here, we call Winston “Winnie”, but Mr. O has always called him “Ninnie”, so our cat has three different names! After he yelled at Ninnie to get down, he asked me to pick him up and get him ready for the day. Once we were downstairs, Lea made Mr. O breakfast and then he and I cuddled on the couch watching TV before I went to work. He played for a little bit once I left, but the little guy was not feeling well on this day. Later on, in the evening, he started feeling much better. We turned on Moana 2 while we played, and Lea made this new recipe. She made lemon chicken in the crock pot with Orzo pasta. It was really good! Once we finished eating, I took Mr. O upstairs for a bath. After twenty minutes or so went by I told him it was time to get out of the tub so we can get ready for bed. His response? “I still playing. You sit over there.” He was pointing to the toilet. So, I sat on the toilet and let him play for a few more minutes. Then we dried off, put on his PJ’s, cuddled in his chair as we read books and he fell asleep. Lea and I finished the night by watching Bridgerton. 

Tuesday morning was a little different. Our whole family was up at the same time! Lea and I were getting ready for work, while Mr. O danced, played, and ran around upstairs. Then Lea took him to daycare on her way to the office, while I worked. In the evening they came home and Lea made dinner again. We ate and watched American Idol’s second episode of the season. I’m interested to see how this season goes. When I finished eating, Mr. O wanted me to play with him, so we grabbed a few monster trucks and drove them all over our kitchen table. Before bedtime, he begged for a bath, and I gave him one. Then we read three books as we rocked in the chair: The Incredibles, Toy Story, and this other one that I can’t remember the name of. It has all the colorful characters and they each represent a feeling or mood of this little girl. It’s a Disney Pixar movie, I don’t know what it’s called. Lea bought Mr. O this big Disney box and it has a ton of little books in there that tell the story the movie’s told. He loves it. After he went to sleep, I played Madden and continued my season with Larz Honeytoast as head coach of the Chicago Bears. We had lost three in a row, but on Tuesday night we were getting our groove back. 

When Wednesday came around, we did the same thing we always do in the mornings. Got dressed, fed and played with Mr. O, went to work. In the evening, Lea went to her mom’s group, where she and other women/mothers hang out and discuss whatever it is they discuss. This meant Mr. O and I were having a BOYS NIGHT!!! We played up in the playroom. We were building blocks just to knock them down, fixing the train tracks so the trains can roll around, and facetime my grandma so her and Mr. O could see each other while she is down in Florida for the winter. After all of that, Mr. O needed to settle down before bed, so we came downstairs to watch the movie Cars (again) and relax. This always works to get him ready for bed, but then he gets a second wind right after I get his pajamas on, so I learned he responds well if I play with him for a few minutes before I start telling him to get in his sleepsack so we can read and go to bed, lol. We wrestled and then he agreed to sit and read with me. Once he was out for the night, I played Madden again. One step closer to the Super Bowl (which is actually today, as I write this, in real life)!

On Thursday Mr. O and I were up and ready to leave for daycare. He was excited to go, as usual, and when we got there I did not expect to see so many children, Lol. She had her hands full, and they were all so happy to see Mr. O when he walked in. This made him more excited. He gave me a hug (finally) and said bye. I returned home and spent my day in my office, working. After work I made us burgers on our little indoor grill and then played with Mr. O. On Friday morning Mr. O and I laid in bed watching Superman clips on YouTube as Lea got ready for the day. He loved them all, but the Man of Steel first flight scene blew him away, Lol. He was like “Woah! Cool!” He loves watching people fly. When we went downstairs, Lea started Mr. O’s potty training. It was a big day! The little guy did really well for the most part. After work, Mr. O came into my office and started playing with my tripod. I bought it to use so I can take better pictures with my phone when I do my Exploring the Region series, but I’ve only used it for that once or twice, Lol. I am going to start picking that series up again when the weather is better. Anyway, I told him not to play with it and he said, “Dada be quiet”. It’s hard not to laugh but I had to “discipline” him for a minute…then I turned away to laugh. Then I went and changed my clothes because I was going over to my friend Toby’s house. Toby and I, along with two others, went to dinner at this Mexican restaurant called Asada. It’s always a good time hanging out with the guys, and the food was good too. After dinner we went back to Toby’s house, lit a fire, and played COD Zombies and Mario Superstrikers.

It was a really fun night. I came home around 11 PM and thankfully Mr. O slept in until 7 AM  on Saturday, which meant I was able to sleep until 7 AM. When Mr. O and I went downstairs in the morning, I made us breakfast and we watched Cars 3. After the movie was over we started potty training again. He is catching on quickly! We played with his toys while we continued his training. Before his nap we gave him a bath, and I think he was surprised because for the first time in a long time both Lea and I were in there, Lol. Usually, we rotate but since we were both upstairs we both helped out with his bath. While he slept, I walked on the treadmill for twenty minutes. It felt so great! Then I went down into the basement to lift weights while I was listening to a lecture on the Patristic Nectar app. It’s a lecture series by Fr. Josiah Trenham, and it is about Demonology – Understanding & Winning The Spiritual Battle. It’s really interesting.

When Mr. O woke up from his nap, we all got ready and headed to our church for their Super Bowl food festival:

It was so much fun and Mr. O had a blast. Lea and I shared a laugh when we were eating. Mr. O was up and running around everywhere and we joked that we don’t really have to watch him when we’re there because everyone loves him and someone we know is always with him or watching him. He is a little celebrity. When we first walked in, there were people lined up on both sides of us going “Oliver! Hi Oliver! Hi!!” and he was just walking by with his sunglasses on waving back and forth. A few hours later I drove us home and Mr. O informed Lea that he changed his mind about who his best friend was. Earlier in the day he said she was his best friend, but on our way home he said, “Actually, Mama you not my best friend. Dada is.” It was awesome. 

When we came home I read him a few books and he went to sleep. Then Lea and I rented the latest popular thriller movie, The Housemaid. It was good. Better than I expected. Lea had seen it already, and I informed her she used an extra pick, because she chose The Maze Runner series and Bridgerton back-to-back (which I allowed because I had picked two shows in a row previously). She didn’t care and claimed “It’s not one of my picks”, even though she picked it. But, whatever, choose your battles, right? Anyways, the movie was alright. It was fun to watch. On Sunday I woke up around 6 AM, ate breakfast, read a few chapters of Kenny Chesney’s book, and did the dishes. Then, Mr. O woke up and we began our day. I decided not to go to church today because Mr. O had a tummy ache at the festival on Saturday night, and then again when we came home, so I wanted to make sure he was able to chill and relax so it felt better. I do feel bad, though, because he loves going to church and it’s good for him (and us). After we ate, we put on The Incredibles 2 and continued potty training. Then, we went upstairs to put laundry away and play. I started tossing Mr. O on the bed and he is obsessed with it, Lol. It’s like the most fun thing in the world to him. A couple hours later, he went down for a nap and I am eating my lunch (lemon rice soup) and writing this so my readers can see what’s going on in my life. Tonight is the Super Bowl and I don’t really care about it at all, but we’re going to watch. If I had to pick a team to cheer for tonight, I’d probably pick the patriots, but only because of Drake Maye. He seems like a nice kid, and it would be cool to see him win a championship in his second year in the NFL. Next year, though, I am hoping to see the Bears in the Bowl! 

It was a fun week! I hope you all had a wonderful time, too. If you feel like it, tell me what your favorite part of your week was! For me, I’m torn between going to my friend’s house and the food festival. It’s a toss up!

Peter