Weekly Review 111

Hello, readers! Welcome back to my weekly review series, where I tell you all about the week my little family and I had over here in “the region”. This week was a pretty good one. I spoke with an old friend, Mr. O was really playful (per usual), our basement is almost done, and we spent Halloween with Lea’s family. I also have to stop eating all the candy!

It started on Monday. I woke up early, around 5:30 AM central time, to Mr. O sleeping on my leg. Well…how am I going to get up now? I asked myself. I shook my leg a little bit and his head began to slide off. I kept doing it, very slowly and gently, until his head slid onto the mattress. I slipped out of bed and as I did that, he fixed himself and put his head back on his pillow (which was sandwiched between mine and Lea’s). He loves to turn sideways when he sleeps with us. It’s cozy for him, but one of us ends up with his head on our legs or his feet in our face!

Once I snuck out of the room undetected, I went downstairs to enjoy a quiet breakfast by myself. The early morning went on as it normally does: My family woke up, came downstairs, we hung out and then I went to work. Around the middle of the day I received a text message from a number I didn’t have anymore, but it was obviously someone I knew. After asking who it was, I learned it was an old college friend and fraternity brother of mine who I used to know in our previous life, and who was also close with my brother. He sent me a message letting me know he was thinking about my brother and our family and how he couldn’t believe 10 years went by so fast. We spoke about how time went by in the blink of an eye, and how it’s like a whole other lifetime ago that we knew each other. We were both such different people back then. Our conversation lasted maybe 10-15 minutes. It was really great hearing from him and I hope, someday, I can see him again soon and really catch up. 

In the evening Mr. O and I played PlayStation while Lea made tacos for dinner. Then I gave Mr. O a bath, read him a few books, and he fell asleep. I came back downstairs to work on some training for work that was due soon, and I worked on my most recent Exploring the Region post (go check it out!).

On Tuesday morning Mr. O decided to sleep in. He hasn’t slept in like this in a really long time, and it worries me when he does this now, because I don’t know if he’s getting sick or if he’s growing again. Both are sad! I started working and I left my office door open, when all of the sudden, I heard little footsteps approaching. They started really fast and then they slowed down as they got closer. Then…they stopped completely. “SURPRISE!”, Mr. O yelled as he jumped at me from around the corner. “I awake now, daddy.”, he said. It was a really great surprise and a moment I’ll remember forever. He’s the best. 

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, slightly before or after midnight, Mr. O was up coughing from his allergies. He came into our room, but he didn’t want to sleep there. He wanted me to go sleep with him in his bed. So I grabbed my pillow and off we went across the hall. We were up most of the night, trying to fall back asleep, only to be woken up again and again from his cough. My poor little guy. Around 4 AM I made the decision to keep him home from school. Maybe it was the wrong decision, but it’s what I felt was best for him at the time. Also, I’m new at all of this parenting a school-aged child stuff. Give me a break! It’s pre-school anyways, he can miss a day. Who am I trying to justify this to? Myself? Lea? Who knows, but I did what I felt was right. Anyways, he stayed home from school and he tried to relax most of the day. 

After work I played with him a bit. Mostly on the floor, not our usual running around, playing catch, kicking a ball back and forth, kind of play. Then he ended up falling asleep on the couch early. So I took him upstairs, read him a couple of books, and then he was knocked out again. I ended the long day by walking on the treadmill and playing a few games on the PlayStation. I can’t wait for my new book to come in next month. I’ve been playing way too many games lately and I need to start reading again. I pre-ordered Willy Nelson’s latest book. I forget the title, but I’ll share it once it comes in! I’m excited for it. 

On Thursday morning, my father-in-law (who has been staying with us so he could work in our basement) and I were up around the same time. We ate breakfast and mostly talked about football. He is ticked about the Colts latest trade. That’s his team and he is not happy with them! Thankfully for me, my Bears are HOT right now and they don’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. 

Later on in the morning my aunt came over to play with Mr. O. He was so excited! He was showing her his toys and the almost-finished basement. Then he made her play with him for a bit. In the evening, I made some chicken for dinner and we watched Halloweentown 2. Mr. O seems to enjoy these older Disney movies that came out when Lea and I were kids. I’m also glad he likes them because I still enjoy them too, lol. After we ate, watched a little bit of the movie, and played, it was time for bed. Mr. O went to sleep pretty quickly, and I went back downstairs to game some more. Seriously, that book cannot get here fast enough!

On Friday morning I heard a creepy sound coming from the basement. I was the only one awake so I grabbed my weapon (a big bamboo stick I had from a college self defense class a decade ago with USA duct tape wrapped around it) and slowly went into our unfinished basement. As I got closer the rattling noise got louder. I opened the closet door and it turns out it was our HVAC. Phew! I’m glad it wasn’t an intruder. It’s not like I was scared or anything though…pfft! 

A couple of hours later I took Mr. O to school. I had the day off from work so I thought we wouldn’t have to rush out the door this time, but I was wrong. As it turns out, me trying to relax and leave a little later almost made Mr. O late for school, and his unwillingness to get ready didn’t help. “You’re going to leave me there by myself?”, he cried to us. Ugh. How could I do this to him?! When we got to school he was fine. I almost made it out of the door before he came running out of his classroom crying for me. I gave him a hug and the teacher tore him away. Overall, he had a good day from what I’ve heard. 

I also heard he was ecstatic when my mom showed up with Lea to pick him up. We all ended up going to lunch at a place called Harry O’s. It was okay. We had fun spending time together with my mom though! After lunch we went back home to finish packing the car. Lea, Mr. O and I were headed down to my in-laws for the Halloween weekend. When we got into town we went straight to my brother-in-laws. They just welcomed a new baby to the family and we wanted to see him asap. 

When we met him he was sleeping, but that’s okay. It’s expected! I still introduced myself and then started whispering “Go Bears” and “Bear down!” in his ear. You know…just to plant the seeds in his young head. About an hour later the kids got dressed and played outside while we waited for trick-or-treaters. There were hardly any while the sun was still out, but the kids still had fun outside. A couple of hours later we packed up and went to Lea’s parents house. We hung out for a bit, gave Mr. O a bath, and went to bed. 

On Saturday morning Lea left the house to go watch our nephew bowl, while Mr. O and I hung out with his grandparents. When Lea came home we went shopping. I needed a new costume. I had realized I left important pieces of my Robin costume at home (2.5 hours away) and I felt my costume would look silly without these pieces. So, I went and bought a new Superman costume so I could match my niece, Supergirl. We had fun at Spirit Halloween and Mr. O got scared by one of their machines. A man/robot popped up and scared him, lol. He jumped and ran away to hide behind Lea. It was so cute, but kind of sad. 

In the evening the rest of the family came over to my in-laws for Halloween. We were all dressed up and ready to take the kids trick-or-treating. We walked around the neighborhood for a while, letting the kids run up and down the driveways collecting their candy. Towards the end, Mr. O was complaining his legs were hurting, so I had to carry him all the way back to the house. It was a fun night and a great Halloween. The kids had so much fun together. 

On Sunday morning our little family went to church. We went to the Orthodox Church down by my in-laws house. It was a great service and nice seeing friendly faces. Afterwards, we went back to Lea’s parents, packed our car and headed home (not before stopping for gas and snacks though!). The rest of the day was relaxing. We played, did laundry, and had the TV on in the background. Lea tried another yummy new recipe, and Mr. O played with some new toys. It was a great week.

A Moment I’m Still Thinking About

Seeing all the kids having fun together makes me so happy. Mr. O loves playing with his cousins. At home all he has are me and Lea, but when we go visit family he has 4 cousins to play with. Hearing him laugh and seeing him smile is so beautiful.

Peter

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