Weekly Review 92

Hello, all. This week was a short one (at least for work) and it was more of the same, if I’m being honest. However, towards the end of the week there were a couple events that were out of our normal routine. So stick around for a while and enjoy this week’s Weekly Review. 

On Monday I was up early with Mr. O. We ate breakfast and played with his toys. This time he brought out his dinosaurs, trucks, and his lego race car, which we put together over and over again. It’s one of those toys he can take apart and put together. He loves it. He also had to fill it with gas, Lol. He has another toy that’s a parking garage/gas station and he pulls all of his toy cars up to fill them with gas. He enjoys giving his playtime that realistic feeling. 

While we were playing we were, of course, watching his Spiderman show on Disney+. Before I knew it, I had to say goodbye to my little man and lock myself away for a few hours while I worked. In the evening, I cut the grass quickly (I believe I made a new personal record) and then cleaned myself up, re-heated food from our church’s Greek festival, and ate dinner while I watched My Adventures with Superman (on HBO). Naturally, Mr. O had to turn on his Toniebox while I was watching my show, so I was hearing a mix of Superman trying to stop Brainiac and Thomas the Tank Engine trying not to piss off Gordon.

While all of this was going on, Mr. O was also running around with his toy plane. There was a lot happening. When it was time for bed, we noticed Mr. O wasn’t feeling too hot. Lea took his temperature and he had a slight fever, so she took him into the guest room and let him watch a movie and sleep with her. While they were upstairs, I was sitting on the couch watching one of the World Cup games and writing my latest Bulls Talk blog. When I finished I attempted to read one of my books, but my eyes became so heavy I had to go upstairs and lay down. 

In the early morning on Tuesday Mr. O came wandering into our room. He’s so cute! I have no clue what he was saying, but I know he didn’t want to go back to his room. He slept in our bed and then when we woke up later that morning we went downstairs and watched Cars 2 while we ate breakfast. Around midday, on my lunch break, I took a 20 minute walk on our walking pad. It always feels great to get that walk in. I’ve been trying to make it a permanent part of my routine, but lately it’s been tough. I’m not sure why, but hopefully I can start using it more like I used to.

Once 5 PM hit, I shut down my laptop and headed to the backyard with my boy. He helped me pick up all of his toys that were on the patio and we moved them into the garage. The forecast was telling us there was a big storm on the way for Wednesday, so Lea asked us to move all of his things to the garage so they don’t get filled with water and blown away. While we were outside doing that, Lea was making tacos for dinner. They were great, as always, and after dinner we turned on a random World Cup game and played with Mr. O. Then, Lea took him upstairs to sleep with her again since he still wasn’t feeling that great. Meanwhile, I played Baldur’s Gate 3 with my college buddies. It’s been almost a month since we’ve played (I think) and it was great to get back online with the guys. 

On Wednesday we had a better understanding of the storm that was on its way, thanks to the Region Weather YouTube/Facebook channel. It’s a great account and it’s awesome to have a localized weatherman, Lol. We were going to have a regular thunderstorm in the afternoon and a more severe one in the evening. Nevertheless, we had things to do, and worrying about more severe storms was not one of them. Lea’s mom was coming to stay with us for a couple of days, so before work started I cleaned all of our toilets while Lea prepared the rest of the house for her arrival. There is no greater motivator to clean than having your in-laws come to town. 

By the time I was off of work, she was here. Lea was making breakfast for dinner – homemade waffles, eggs, and bacon! While we ate we monitored the storm. The severe part of it barely missed us. It moved just south of us. However, it was really bad where my in-laws live, and there was a tornado heading that way. We each had a different live stream covering the storm playing, and we were hoping my father-in-law and their dogs were in their basement. After dinner (and after we saw the storm down south had passed) I gave Mr. O an early bath. Then, he went and spent the night with his “Gaga” in the guest room, while Lea and I finally had a night to relax a little bit. We filled our bowls with ice cream and watched an episode of Psych, before we decided we wanted to go upstairs and read before bed. In the middle of the night, Mr. O was up and asking for his Mama, so we came to our room and slept with us the rest of the morning. 

On Thursday I took Mr. O to daycare. He clung to my legs again and didn’t want me to leave. It was so sweet but a gut wrenching reminder of how sad it’s going to be in the fall when he starts preschool. At least with daycare he knows those kids and the teacher. He will know the ones at preschool too, but it just makes me sad to think about. Once she asked Mr. O if he wanted to see what her dog did to a spot on her carpet, he didn’t care for me anymore. He ran over there to look! “Bye”, I said. He raised his hand slightly while his face was completely turned away from me. “Bye, Dada”, he said carelessly. Nothing humbles you more than your toddler reminding you how fast they can forget about you. 

Since Friday was a bank holiday, we had an early release from work, which meant I was able to go pick up Mr. O from daycare too! Lea was busy with her mom all day, so I figured she didn’t want to also drive all the way there to pick him up. He was so excited to see me: “That’s my Dada!”, he yelled as I walked up the driveway. As we left and made our way to the car, he said, “I had a good day.” On the drive home we listened to 20 minutes of the Danny Go! playlist on Spotify, while also making a deal that Mr. O can have a popsicle when we got home if he listened and was a good boy tonight. Guess who held up their end of the deal and who did not? Lol.

Later on, Lea went to pick up dinner for all of us at Station 21, a restaurant in Crown Point, Indiana. Surprising to no one, Lea and I ordered the same exact wrap, except mine had sweet potato fries, while she had pretzels as her side. If you didn’t know, Lea and I are very alike, which is why I say “surprising to no one”, Lol. We enjoy the same things most of the time, which is also why we’ve always gotten along so well. When she came home with our food, we made Mr. O nuggies and gave him some of our sides. Then, I gave him a bath, read him a few books, and snuck out when he fell asleep. 

On Friday I had the day off. I slept in a little bit, but only for about an hour. It’s better than not at all I guess! When I woke up I checked the monitor. I found it odd that Mr. O didn’t come into our room throughout the night. When I looked, I noticed he wasn’t in his bed. Turns out, he went to his Gaga instead and slept with her in the guest room, Lol. Since he was still asleep, I got myself ready for my doctor’s appointment. It was another post-op follow up. I know, I know, I said I wasn’t going back again. BUT…I had the day off, and I’m glad I went. I found out everything is looking great and I only have one final appointment left in 6 weeks. On my way home I had a few stops to make. The first was to the ATM. I needed cash for a couple of cards we were sending out (Baptism and Wedding). Then I went to get my oil changed and my car (Lois)  looked at to make sure everything was working correctly. After that, I backtracked to Target for milk and a wedding card. I also couldn’t help myself. I had to get Mr. O a new toy because he is the best! I bought him these smaller Buzz and Woody toys since the new movie is coming out next week. He loves them. 

In the afternoon, Team USA was playing team Australia in their next World Cup match. USA won and it was a really fun game to watch. I hope they can keep the momentum going. After the game I went outside with Mr. O for an hour. I walked while he rode his motorcycle around the block a few times. Then he “cut the grass” and we brought out his remote controlled Jeep and I drove him up and down the sidewalk. Once we hit the hour mark, Lea had started dinner, so Mr. O and I went back inside and had a couple of popsicles (it was the only way to get him inside). After dinner we played some more, then it was time for bed. 

As it turns out, I read so monotone and slow (boringly!), that I even put myself to sleep. I woke up a few times, and after the third time I fell asleep and woke up, Mr. O took the book from me and was “reading it himself”, Lol. Then, maybe 30-40 minutes later, I woke up to a text from Lea saying, “Did you fall asleep in there?”. I had! The good news is Mr. O was knocked out too, so I was able to sneak out easily. 

On Saturday I was up early again with Mr. O. We went downstairs to eat breakfast and watch his train videos on YouTube. He’s been obsessed with this one random guy’s video lately. He unboxes trains people send him, and fixes them to use on his track. It’s actually kind of cool. Then we turned on the Nintendo and played Super Mario again, before going up into his playroom. Throughout all of this, Lea was upstairs getting ready for the wedding we were attending in the evening. Her and my mom were going to the ceremony, then Mr. O and I were meeting them at the reception. It was an hour away into Illinois, and it would have been too long of a day for Mr. O, so we figured I’d just bring him later. 

Also, he was able to get a good nap before we left. When we arrived to the reception, Mr. O immediately stole the show. Everyone was so excited to see him. He ran around everywhere, then he dug in his diaper bag and brought out his two Hot Wheels cars to play with until we were able to go to our table. The wedding was fun and it was nice to see family we don’t see often. It was a late night for us too. We didn’t get home until 11:30 PM! Wow that sounds old, Lol. When we got home, Mr. O was knocked out. I carried him from the car all the way up to his room. He woke up a little bit, but as soon as I laid him down on his pillows, he was out again. I fell asleep in my own bed soon after. It was a long day. 

Sunday was Father’s Day, so let me start by saying happy Father’s Day to all the wonderful, present and loving fathers out there. Thanks for all that you do! My Father’s Day started at 7am. I opened my eyes slightly to see Mr O standing next to my side of the bed staring at me with a big smile on my face. I quickly shut my eyes again and tried to go to sleep. A few minutes later when cracked them open again, his face was even closer to mine and his smile was even bigger. “Dada, you awake?”, he asked. I guess it was time to get up!

After opening cards from Lea and Mr O, we went downstairs and ate breakfast. Even on Father’s Day I don’t get to watch what I want. Me: “Can I watch my show?”

Mr. O: “No, we watch my show.”

I turned around and headed back into the kitchen to make his bowl of cereal. After breakfast Mr O helped me do the dishes. Lea and I spent most of the day cleaning the house up since we were having some family over to celebrate the holiday. Overall, it was a good day. 

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

I’m still thinking about how thankful I am to be a father. I’m so thankful for Mr. O and I love being his dad/best bud. I’m also still thinking about my dad and how much I miss and love him. Him and my brother are always somewhere in my mind, but on holidays like Father’s Day it’s tough to think about anyone else.

Well, that’s it for me this week. I hope you enjoyed this edition of my Weekly Review. 

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Peter

Instagram @theregionlife