Month: August 2014 (Page 1 of 2)

Today was our second tap class and it was so much fun!  We both felt immense progress in one week, even without practicing at home.  It was just a relief to know where the studio is, what the room and teacher look like, what the vocabulary is, and what the class structure will be.  With all those stressors gone we could loosen up and enjoy tapping.

My falaps were rough the first week.  My left side felt immobile – I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted!  It’s like my brain and foot weren’t on speaking terms.  This week my left foot was in a better mood and I could get the rhythm going.

We worked on the same combination at the end of class from the week before.  I took a video so I could practice at home.  You might enjoy it too, even if it isn’t a video about the boys being cute.  😉

Darn Amanda hid behind me the whole time, but you can watch her a little too.  I totally biffed the shuffle ball change on the second run.  But still, can you believe this was just our second class?  Tap is so fun!

Sam’s birthday is coming up.  I wanted to do a photo shoot and make nice cards for him, like I did for Jack’s party invites.  After mulling over a party theme I decided to go simple – gardens.  Flowers, plants, sort of a Beatrix Potter / Sam Gamgee theme.  Then I decided I had to re-knit a sweater for Sam.  I made him this one last year but he outgrew it before the weather turned cold.  I unraveled it, bought a second skein, and spent the last week hurrying to knit it up.  He had all those fevers in the meantime, so it’s just as well I waited.  Then I had to visit two garden stores to find some decent flowers to stage the photo.

Finally today, with a beautifully overcast sky, I was ready to take some pictures.

Sam was not in the mood.

I was going to hide these.  I shared them with Ben who was laughing so hard he had to share them with his office mate too.  After reflection, I see how gloriously doofy they are.  They need to be seen.

Oh, my beautiful child!

Ben is great about helping me get out away from the kids for some fun.  This week Amanda and I ventured to a tap class.  I’ve wanted to learn to tap since college.  Now seemed like the perfect time to try.  We did some research and decided to try TAPS professional studio in the Baker neighborhood of Denver.

Thumbs up from Van Helsing.

My computer is back!  I thought it would be tomorrow, but it came early.  I went up to Flatirons as soon as the boys woke from naps. 

My trackpad was acting wonky for about a week, then it stopped functioning all together.  I took it in Friday and they shipped it out to the warehouse.  Since I have Applecare on it they also replaced the battery, the logic board (?), two memory cards, as well as the trackpad.  Hooray! I’m in tip-top shape again. 

The previous post was re-edited after it failed to post correctly from my phone.

I have things to write about – school, date night, tap class, but my computer has been out for repairs. You’ll have to make due with this picture post.

A nice walk to the grocery store. Life is good.

A wagon ride by the butterfly bush

After the roseola resolved, Sam got another fever three days later.  This one has a slight cough and runny nose.  Must be unrelated to the first illness. 

Feeling a bit better today.

We’re going to need to buy an all-red pack of markers for this one.

At school they decorated drawings of shirts.  I saw everyone else with paints, swirly rainbows of color, and even glued on bits of colored paper.  Jack’s shirt?  Well:

School again for Jack.  He loves it, and I love it.  He comes home so tired and hungry every day though.  Maybe he needs a bigger breakfast.  The only downside so far is all the car seat action I have to do for two quick trips every day.  When the weather cools off I might start walking it.  It’s 3 min drive versus 22 min walk according to Google.  Not a big deal until you consider that it’s a round trip – so about an hour to walk, sign in, and walk back. That’s an hour that I need to ensure Sam can be awake for.  After his illness I’m anxious to get him back on a regular sleep schedule.

Speaking of Sam, the rash is bigger this morning so I’m pretty sure of my diagnosis.  He’s getting happier every day too.  I think you’ll agree his belly is still cute with red pinpricks.

My big project was cleaning out and organizing Jack’s room aka the Toy Explosion.  Success!  Jack discovered he could pair his mask with his cape.

And the boys took to the spinning chair.  You can enjoy it in video, and see Sam’s googly eyes at the end, or click the link to see an endlessly spinning gif.

https://www.gifyoutube.com/gif/jR7lB

He stopped having a fever last night.  Now he has tiny red bumps on him.  It doesn’t look like the classic rash, but I think it might be roseola.  

That’s good news if it’s true, it means the illness is over.

This pretty much sums it up.

Yes, today was the first day of preschool.  It was great to have a couple hours to myself.  I look forward to having this most days of the week.

Jack protested all morning about going to school.  Then he slipped wordlessly into the class, lured by a sticker.  I could hardly coax him back for a hug.  He was said he had a good time when I picked him up.  He said he is excited to go back.

But he also complained of hunger, complained and threw his biggest public tantrum ever at Jimmy Johns.  Because I bought him a cookie for his first day and as thanks for running errands on the way home.  So of course you scream and retch and pound your feet on the ground, right?  Because you picked the wrong flavor, or you didn’t want a piece, or you wanted to eat it at the table but spent the whole time crying.  All perfectly legitimate reasons for freaking out at high decibels.

Meanwhile, Sam is still sick.  I’ve called the doctor a few times and we agree he can wait longer (sick visits cost me about $120 out of pocket with my insurance).

Every little scrape for the rest of the day unleashed Jack’s full fury and outrage with tears, and it always caused Sam to break down too. There’s been a lot of tears in the house today, and not enough laughs.  But I think that will change eventually.

(There are a few more staged first day of preschool photos on my flickr that you are welcome to enjoy.)