I posted this on my Facebook page earlier, but wanted to be sure it made the blog.
I took Ella and Andrew out for a walk this morning. We walked a different way than we normally do and I took a small detour. There is a church at the end of our street that has some baseball diamonds and a park. The weather was perfect, so I decided to check out the park.
When we first got there, the kids ran on the wood chips and played on a few of the playground items. Surprisingly, neither one wanted to swing on the swings (which is their “go to” park thing). They were more interested in the wood chips and other things.
On the other side of the fence, there was an oak tree. Ella was looking at the ground and picked up something and said, “Daddy, what is this?!”
I looked on the ground to see a wee bit of green among the brown and tan wood chips.
I told her that she had found an acorn. This led to a search for more of them. She found fresh ones, like the green one above, and a few that had been on the ground for a while. We also found some that the squirrels had enjoyed for lunch or dinner. The more she found, the more she handed me. “I wanna show mommy my acorns!” So, we began throwing acorns of all kinds into the stroller.
There were plenty of acorn “tops” (or “hats” as one of my Facebook friends called them) on the ground.
I remembered a friend showing me that you could use them to whistle. You basically take your two thumbs and place the first knuckles together to form a “V” and blow into it. Ta da! A whistle! Ella was pretty amazed by that and kept asking me to do it. It was such a silly little thing, but I loved every second of it.
Before leaving the park, I took one more picture – because it was the one thing that really stood out …
With a playground behind them, my two kids decided to embrace nature instead of playing on it. We found leaves, acorns, watched squirrels, picked up sticks and more! What a tremendous bonding time for us. As we walked back home, I couldn’t help but notice how much shade was under the trees. I told them that we needed to come back and have a picnic on the grass in the shade before summer was over.
I was up early enough to go for a walk with the family today. I grabbed a pair of shorts that I have been wearing, which I knew were getting too big, and couldn’t find my belt. I asked Sam if she had seen it and she told me no. Then she said, “Don’t you have a box of ‘snug shorts’ that didn’t quite fit anymore?” I told her I did, but didn’t think that I would fit into any of them yet.
I have been holding onto some clothes that used to fit for awhile. I keep telling myself that “when I lose weight” I can wear them. I just have never been to the point where that has happened … until today!
I pulled out the next size down and slipped them on. I grabbed the end with the button in one hand and the end with the button hole in the other and pulled them together. Up until today, those two ends have not met. I was excited that I was able to not only bring the two ends together, but I was actually able to button them!
I cannot even begin to express the feeling of being able to put those on! There is an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and at the same time a feeling of satisfaction. I have been working hard to lose this extra weight. I have about 70 or 80 pounds more that I would like to lose, and seeing the progress today reassured me that I CAN do this.
I was about to take a diaper box out to the trash tonight and stopped. This will be the box that I put all the “too big” clothes in. Once it is filled, I will take it up to the Goodwill. There will be no need to store those, because I resolve to never allow myself to get as big as I was ever again.
It’s been a crazy past few days. On Friday, we took Andrew to the ENT to discuss the results of his sleep study. He has severe sleep apnea. Usually, this means that the tonsils or the adenoids need to come out to open up the airway. The doc took a look at his and said his tonsils were not too big and he didn’t think his adenoids were a problem either. So he did a scope in the office to look further.
The scope showed that he has laryngomalacia. This is something we are seeing more and more of in the sleep lab. Basically, there is extra tissue in the larynx.
This explains why his sleep is so crappy!! When he falls asleep, that floppy tissue blocks the airway.
Lateral view of child’s face showing blocked air flow caused by laryngomalacia.
So it looks like he will have some surgery to correct this in the near future. It will also mean 24-48 hours in the hospital. This will not be fun at all, as he loves to be on the go. I’m sure sitting in a room all day is not going to be pleasant at all! We are waiting on the hospital to call and schedule the surgery.
___
My Godmother/cousin recently had a stroke. She is currently in hospice. I was able to see her over the weekend to say goodbye. It is never an easy thing to do. There were many people in the room, so I kept it pretty simple.
I’m not sure if it is just in Italian families or what, but at some point there was a stretch of years where certain members of the family didn’t speak to each other. I have no idea what it was about but I am sure that it was just stupid. Life is too short to lose that much time. This hits home a lot with my Godmother.
For years, I didn’t see her because of an argument that I wasn’t even a part of! Shortly after my grandmother passed away, my dad began to reach out to cousins that we hadn’t talk to. Thankfully, the peace was restored and I was reunited with my cousins.
I remember seeing her for the first time in forever and just hugging on her! I was so happy to see her. We spent a long time catching up. So many years lost to ridiculousness. So many things we both missed out on.
I am kicking myself because a week before, I was thinking about her and meant to call her and catch up. I never did. I regret that. I am grateful to have had a moment with her this weekend to tell her how much I love her.
My Godmother and me at Ella’s baby shower
___
I’m not trying to make excuses, but I am an emotional eater. When I get stressed or worry – I snack. I made a lot of mistakes on my diet this week. I found myself grabbing goldfish crackers and “estimating” how many I had. We hadn’t gone grocery shopping, so almost all of the veggies were gone, so I snacked on crackers and stuff I shouldn’t have. I was completely ready to see a gain on the scale, but actually lost a pound this week. This brings my 10 week total weight loss to 30 pounds.
The heat and rain didn’t help much. It was hard to get my daily walks in last week.
30 pounds is progress and I am back on track. Sunday and Monday we got to go out and walk the neighborhood! Ella is making it a bit more difficult as she wants to walk instead of being in the stroller/wagon. He being out, does make it easy to get pictures, but she walks a LOT slower than I am used to.
A ray of morning sunshine
He puppy friend, Louie, was so excited to see her the other day he “ran” to the fence to say hello!
___
I went to the store on Sunday and bought some new sand for Ella’s sandbox. We moved it to another part of the yard because where we had it, the sun beat down on it. We moved it to a shadier spot and both kids are playing in it. Andrew really doesn’t understand that the sand is not for eating … one would think that after the third time putting it in your mouth, you’d stop, right?!
The sandbox is just another example of how my kids will grow up to be best buddies. I love to watch them play together. I hope it stays warm for a while longer. I’m not sure just how they are going to handle being cooped up in the house all day in the winter.
___
The range of emotions experienced this weekend was overwhelming. I’m hoping that things slow down and return to normal – whatever normal is!
On Saturday, I took my kids out for our neighborhood walk. As we walked, we heard the normal “sounds of summer.” There were plenty of birds singing, dogs barking, and kids playing in the pool. On one stretch of sidewalk, I could hear loud laughter and muffled music playing from a radio. As we got closer, I could see that there were three teenage girls outside washing a pickup truck.
The site of this reminded me of the many summer weekends when we would help my dad wash his car. I remember spending a few Saturdays washing and waxing my own vehicle in the driveway during the summer. In both instances, the boombox was always outside with music playing. If it was Sunday, we’d be listening to American Top 40, or one of the many tapes that my dad had thrown together. Whatever the music, it was never anything that we’d be embarrassed about if someone passed the house. This, however, was not the case this weekend!
As I got close to the house where the vehicle was getting washed, the music became more and more clear. If what was playing was rap music, it didn’t sound like it. However, the words that were being “sung” were far from toddler material! In the approximate 30-60 seconds that it took me to pass this house, the profanity coming from the radio was crazy! I heard MF (and variations of that) at least 5 times, the N word about 6 times, and the F bomb probably 4 times. I am so glad that Ella never repeated any of it!!
Even if that was the kind of music that I listened to, I am sure that I wouldn’t have it blaring loudly outside. Ok, I know, I sound like the “get off my lawn” old man, but seriously! Was that necessary? I suppose it would be no different if there were listening to the radio edit of the song. They are still just as bad.
As I stated in the title of this blog … things are very different today.
The photo above may be a bit deceiving, in that this blog is NOT about the hit song by the Kingsmen.
It is also not about other famous Louies (or Louis) like comedians:
Louie Anderson
Louis CK
Or trumpet players:
Louis Armstrong
Louis Prima
Or his animated alter ego:
King Louie
Or fictional TV characters like:
Louie the Lilac
Louie De Palma
So just WHO is Louie?!
Well, if you are a regular reader to my blog you know that over the past couple years, my daughter (and now my son, too) like to walk our neighborhood. There is one house where there is an old Bassett hound that is occasionally outside. That dog has been her “puppy friend” for a long time.
We never knew if it was a boy or a girl. We never knew its name. It has been a mystery for some time. Not any more!
Yesterday, as we were walking, her puppy friend was out in the middle of the yard soaking up the sun.
Ella asked to get out of the stroller so she could go up to the fence to say hello. She stood there saying, “Hi Puppy! Come here, Puppy!” The back door of the house opened and a young guy peaked his head out and said, “That’s Louie! He’s too old to be doing a lot of walking. He’ll be ten years old this week.”
I told the guy we had wondered what his name was and were glad to finally know it. Ella must have said, “He’s Louie!” about 40 times and “Hi, Louie!” another 40 times. She was thrilled (as was I) to finally know his name!
We took a family walk this evening when I woke up and got to see Louie again. I think I’m going to go to the store and buy a box of dog treats and a birthday card and have Ella hand deliver it to Louie’s owner for his birthday. That dog has brought many smiles to our walks and “10” is a special birthday!
Recently I posted a blog that was difficult to write. It was regarding some things with my son. It dealt with some hurt I was sorting through. I am happy to say that I was able to see him today.
He is currently having difficulty with a summer school math class. He asked if he could come over and see if I could help him. I told him that I would do my best, but math – algebra, in particular – was certainly not by best subject.
Last night at work, I had a patient who was a no-show. Honestly, I wanted to pack up and head home immediately. However, there were studies that needed to be scored and submitted, so I stayed and did that. I was able to leave work about two hours early. When I got home everyone was still sleeping, and rather than crawl in bed with Sam (who had Andrew sleeping next to her), I went out to the couch and fell asleep.
When they woke up, they came out and woke me up. I helped Sam with some things and then went to bed so that I could at least have some sleep before my son arrived. I had told my ex to bring him over at around the kid’s nap time so that I could work with him. To my surprise, my oldest son wound up bringing him over.
We got to spend a bit talking about some things that needed to be addressed (some of the things in the previous blog), and just catching up. My oldest son was going to meet me at where we normally do drop off and pick up later this evening.
My son and I spent about 3 and a half hours looking at problems and searching my old college algebra books to see if we could figure out how to do them. I even called my buddy from school who is my “go to” math guy a couple times to see if he could help. We didn’t do fantastic, and I hope that it is good enough for him to pass the class.
Sam left for work about 5:30 and I packed up the kids around 6 to head to the drop off. When I arrived, my son was already there. He is in college, has a job, and is always with his friends, so Ella and Andrew rarely get to see him. Ella knows who he is because of pictures on the wall. She prays every night for her big and little brothers.
She was in her car seat and I rolled her window down so she could say hello. She asked to get out because she wanted to hug my oldest. Is was so cute. I naturally took Andrew out of his seat too, because my son wanted to hold him. He commented that he had the bluest eyes. He was surprised when I told him he was walking. I told him they are getting big very fast and he should come over to visit more.
It was the first opportunity in forever that all four of my kids were together in one place. My oldest tried to snap a selfie, which was cute, but I wanted a picture of all of them.
We found a place in the parking lot where they could all sit and after a few tries to get everyone looking at the camera – I got one. It is perfect. All four of them together.
My blessings – Andrew, Dimitri, Ella, and Dante’
I am overwhelmed with joy as I look at this photo. I never really understood unconditional love until I became a father. I understand how God loves me, despite all of my faults and screw-ups, unconditionally. I understand it, because, I will always love these amazing kids that way – no matter what.
One of the coolest moments happened after the picture was taken. I mentioned to Ella that the boys had to get going because they were going to stop by a classic car show. She said ok, and when they stood up, as my oldest began to walk, she ran up to him and grabbed his hand and held it all the way to the car!
I was so glad I still had my phone in my hand so I could capture it. He helped her into her car seat and actually buckled her in as I got Andrew in his seat. She looked at him and said, “I love you, Dante’!” which I think really took him by surprise. He said “I love you, too!” and then she told Dimitri she loved him too. What an amazing moment to witness. They both went to Andrew and and he smiled at them, before we all got in our cars and left to go home.
After we video chatted with mommy at work, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. Ella was excited because she got to see 4 puppies who were out walking while we were. She had to get out of her seat and say hello to them all!
We came home and it was bedtime, so I helped her brush her teeth ad within minutes of hitting the pillow, she was asleep. Andrew took a bit longer to fall asleep. As soon as they were down, I fixed a salad and began typing this. I’ve only had 3 hours sleep today and really should have just gone to bed …. However, I wanted to share my happiness while I was still smiling about it.
Tonight, I head to bed with a heart full of love, joy, gratitude, understanding, and happiness!
We had our garage sale on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday may have been busier than the rest of my weekend. I got my steps in for the day, that’s for sure!
You may remember that when we were expecting Ella, we took what was our dining room and built a wall to make a nursery. When that happened, we moved our dining room table to the living room. Eventually, we bought Ella toys that we needed to make room for, so we moved the table downstairs.
So for over 2 years, we’ve eaten dinners on the couch and Ella ate at her little table. Sam decided it was time to bring the table back upstairs. Ella is big enough to sit at the table (she may need a booster) and Andrew has a high chair that straps to one of the chairs. So we put Ella’s table in her room and got rid of the big high chair.
I brought up the table and Sunday morning, we all got to eat breakfast and lunch at the table. It’s amazing how much that really meant to us. Having all of us at the table really was quite a nice bonding experience. It’s been nice to be able to do this again.
The kids and I played outside a lot and we took our walk around the neighborhood. Afterward, we came home and played with toys and watched TV. Ella was sitting next to me on the floor and we were watching one of her shows. We were probably sitting like this for 15 minutes before I noticed that we were sitting the same way. So I grabbed my phone and snapped a picture. Please pardon the “weekend bumming around” socks I am wearing.
On Monday morning, Andrew was up first. I got up with him and made him a bottle. After he ate it, he got down on the floor and was trying to pet our cat. Our cat is terrified of Ella. Probably because she chases her all over the place. I’m surprised at how much the cat lets Andrew pet her.
Knowing that I had over did it with the chimichangas from Saturday night, I wanted to be sure that I got a good walk in. I put the kids in the stroller and we were off and walking. Midway through the walk, I was thrown a curveball. I totally lost one of the front wheels on the stroller!!
We were at least a half mile from home, and Sam was asleep, so I had to keep walking home. There were times where I was able to push with just the one wheel. Most of the time, however, I pushed down on the stroller handle to lift the wheel up from the ground and walked home that way. Either way, it was not fun.
By the time we got home, Ella wanted to stay outside and play. All I wanted to do was sit down and chug a bottle of water. So I put Andrew in his swing and Ella played in the dirt. LOL
I must have been worried about weighing in on Tuesday morning, because Monday night I had a dream that I was sitting at the dining room table stuffing my face with plain M&M’s.
I don’t remember what I was stressing about in the dream, but I just kept stuffing my face with those M&M’s. Finally, I remember I have to weigh in and push the bowl off the table.
When I weighed in, I was surprised to see that I had actually lost a pound. I really thought that I would be up or stay the same. Those chimichangas were worth every bite, and I know that because of them, my week was not as good as it could have been. However, a loss is still a loss. I will do it one pound at a time. Total weight loss – 14 pounds.
I took the kids out for a walk in the other double stroller we have. It’s not as easy to push as the jogger, but it gets us through the neighborhood. After we got home, Ella wanted to play on the trampoline. I decided to let Andrew go in for a second and he loved it. If I had to pick a picture that says “This is summer,” it might just be this one:
Ella wanted me to come in and play, too. It takes me a minute to get myself up and in that thing (and even longer to get out). We had such fun just rolling and jumping around. The kids are hard to wrangle for photos now, but I was able to nab this one of the three of us before going inside for naps.
Father’s Day began for me on Saturday morning. We celebrated Saturday because Sam had to work on Sunday.
When I returned home from work, my kids were already up and waiting. Sam had texted me that Ella was anxious for me to come home to get my present. Ella was excited because she had seen something in the store and wanted to get it for me weeks ago. Same ordered it online so it would be here for Father’s Day.
Ella and Andrew got to play with markers (which only happens on special occasions) and decorate the gift bag my gifts would be in. She was so happy to hand me the bag.
She waited for me to reach into the bag and could hardly contain herself. When I pulled out her gift to me, she shrieked with excitement! It was really the perfect gift.
We watch Bluey together all the time. It is probably my favorite cartoon that she watches. Bandit, the dad on the show, is what ALL dad’s should be! He’s awesome. This book is just wonderful. We read it before bed last night. I don’t know who was happier about this book – Ella or me!
Andrew got some help from mommy with his gift. As I have mentioned, I’m an older dad. One of the reasons I started this blog was to write my memories and such so that in the event something happens, the memories are here. Sam took it a step further for Andrews’s gift to me.
I’m not sure who came up with the idea for books like this, but they are great. I had originally gotten one of these for my mom to fill out before she passed. She was just too sick and too tired to ever really do it. I wish she’d been able to do that.
At any rate, there are a lot of thought provoking questions in this book and Sam thought I could take it with me to work and fill it in when I was on breaks and such. I love the idea!
After nap time, the family drove up the road to look for some new pajamas for Ella. She’s starting to not fit in her current ones. We went to the Carter’s store and looked around. She was forever handing Sam and I things for Andrew or herself that she found on a rack somewhere. The funniest thing of the trip was a foreshadowing of Ella in her teen and adult years. She kept asking for shoes and even began to make a pile of ones she wanted!
Just the beginning …..
After our shopping trip we came home and made dinner. I didn’t want Sam to have to take me out anywhere, so we made chicken on the grill. We also made corn on the cob and other sides. It was the perfect way to wrap up the day.
I was out grilling the chicken and I was using a brush to put BBQ sauce on a few of the pieces of chicken.
As I am doing this, Ella is standing there watching me. She see’s me dipping the brush into the BBQ sauce and putting it on the chicken. She then says, “Daddy! You’re painting!” Priceless!
Sam kept telling Ella to say, “Happy Father’s Day” to me and it kept coming out “Happy Mother’s Day” which just made me laugh even more.
On Sunday, or “Father’s Day in real life,” as Bluey might say, we had a wonderful breakfast. I made everyone eggs, sausage, and fruit. Ella stated that it was “Deeee-lish-ous!”
We called my dad to wish him Happy Father’s Day. My oldest son called me to wish me the same. Sadly, I never heard from my second oldest son. That’s a whole blog in itself and I will spare you those details for now.
After Andrew’s nap, I decided to take the kids to the Barnes and Noble. I wasn’t sure that there was anything I wanted for myself, but I though we could pick up some new books for them.
While we were walking Ella and I were just talking. Andrew was in the stroller and Ella was walking next to me. I don’t remember what we were saying, but a woman stopped me and said that she wished she had videoed the exchange we were having. She said she was very impressed with how we were interacting. She reminded me of a teacher or something. Ella then said hello, grabbed a puzzle with dogs on the box and showed the lady.
The lady, without skipping a beat, got down on the ground and they counted dogs together, asked about the colors of the dogs, and talked about what “doggies say.” It was so cool to see. She thanked Ella for showing her and Ella put the puzzle back. The lady was so impressed with how polite Ella was. Proud parent moment.
After we got home, we had lunch. Sam took Andrew into our room when it was his nap time. Sam suggested that since one of the local ice cream places had free cones for dads on Father’s day, we should go. We wound up going somewhere a bit closer, but it still worked out because dads got a free scoop of ice cream there, too!
Ice cream is not exactly on Weight Watchers, but I had some anyway and ate carefully the rest of the day. Ella asked for “white ice cream with sprinkles” and that is what she got!
Dad may or may not have had to help her on occasion because it was melting faster than she could eat it!
She talked to everyone who came to the ice cream place! She recommended getting banana ice cream to many, even though she was eating vanilla. She was a real hoot. The owner came out and asked how her ice cream was and she said it was the “best ice cream ever!”
After the ice cream, dad decided to walk the neighborhood. Sunday, she didn’t want to ride in the stroller. So we walked together. The workout was a bit less intense than I had hoped.
About half way through the walk she tripped and skinned her knee pretty bad. So I wound up picking her up and finishing the walk with her on my shoulders. That brought the heart rate up a bit and I probably burned off about half of the ice cream calories!
When Sam left for work, it was just me and the kids. We were playing on the “nugget” and having a blast. Andrew was climbing up like nobody’s business. Once he was on the top, he would start to walk off it. Most of the time, I was there to catch him. There were a couple times where he’d do this little stuntman fall. He is fearless!
Thank you to my wife and my kids for making the weekend such a special one for me!
Saturday Sam and I took the kids out to eat at a local pizza place. They have a patio, which allowed us to eat outside. The weather was perfect. It was sunny, but not too hot and there was a nice breeze. Of course, there was plenty of cottonwood flying about, which was only a problem if it landed on our food.
Eating outside also allowed for Ella, who isn’t really great about sitting still, to wander a bit. There was a family who came out the patio and sat a table or so away from us. I guess the kid hurt himself, and Ella really wanted to help him. She said, “Kiss and make it better?” We told her that the boy’s mommy would do that for him.
She was walking around like she owned the patio. In one photo I snapped, I swear she looks like she is walking a model runway. She looks like a movie star with her sunglasses and all.
Sunday and Monday both allowed for neighborhood walks, but there were also showers and storms.
Tuesday started with “weigh in” for me. I was thrilled to see a 3 pound loss this week, bringing my total to 9 pounds in two weeks. I hope to keep seeing weight loss.
After breakfast and a few errands, I took the kids for our neighborhood walk. It’s become a thing to count squirrels, birds, cats and “puppies.” Ella sings through the entire walk, saying hello to everyone we meet. Tuesday, there was a guy riding his bike who passed us about 4 times. She said hello every time. LOL
When we got home, she wanted to swing on the swings, until she heard loud yelling and noise from the back of the house. It was field day and the kids were out with bounce houses, outdoor games, and kickball.
Both kids absolutely loved watching the kids play. Ella said hi to all the kids sitting on the bench and they were very nice to her. I think Andrew got the biggest kick out of it though. His smile as he stood against the fence was priceless.
Sam said if it was warm enough to put them in their bathing suits and let them play with the water table and little pool. The two of them had a blast. As much as Ella gets to where she doesn’t want Andrew around her, outside she welcomes him as a playmate. They splashed together, she poured water on him, and they got muddy together.
The only time they were really unhappy today was when it was time to come inside and nap.
Looking forward to the rest of the week and Father’s Day weekend.
The pandemic has done a number on a lot of us. The first year of the Pandemic, when we were forced to stay home, it was easy for me to fall of the wagon. We drove through a lot of places and it seemed like we were having pizza more than usual. It didn’t take long to gain some extra weight.
Last Tuesday, I got back on the wagon. The focus is now on healthier eating and healthy snacks. It is also on moving more. I’m SO glad that the weather is allowing for more outside time. I have an app on my phone called Map My Walk.
It uses the GPS on my phone and actually maps the walk (or run) around the neighborhood. It will tell you how many steps you took, how long the walk was, and how many calories your burned.
I’ve been averaging about a mile and a half a day. I’d do more, but I always walk with the kids in the stroller. Sometimes, the walk gets a bit slow when Ella wants to get out and walk. She loves being outside and walking.
Today, I did my normal mile and a half (with a pitstop to say hi to her puppy friend) and when we walked up the driveway I told Ella we were going inside to have lunch. She said “More walking?” I asked if she wanted to keep walking and she said yes. So I ventured back down the driveway and walked a little bit more. According to my app, I walked an additional 7/10 of a mile. I was happy with that.
Back in the day I’d walk 4 miles daily. I’d love to get back to doing that, but I am always afraid the kids will get bored or will start getting upset. On the bright side, I’m glad to be getting out and walking.
Today was weigh in day and I was down 6 pounds. Hoping that it continues. I am being very deliberate and making sure I am drinking a lot of water, which will help for sure.
Looking forward to fitting into some old clothes soon…
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 