Days 24 and 25 of my 30 days of fun project included some of the best fun yet, but also what were probably the saddest moments.
Day 24
Thankfully, it was a great day at work. I was feeling better, got a lot done, had a lot of great interactions with coworkers and students - everything that makes for a good day at work. This was a relief because I was still somewhat reeling from the awful Tuesday.
What was most fun about that day, though, was that it was Nate's 15 month pediatrician appointment. Do those of you with kids look forward to your child's well-visits? I get SO excited about them because I just can't wait to see how much he's grown and how he's doing with all of his milestones.
From his one year appointment, Nate gained two pounds and grew one and a half inches. He continues to be in the 75th percentile for height and his weight is still in the 95th percentile, so that's something for us to continue to keep an eye on. Also, I asked about his legs because he seems more bowlegged than other kids his age. The doctor agreed that he is and said that if at his 18 month appointment (3 months from now) he's still overly bowlegged, she'll refer us to an orthopedist.
Those were the only concerns, though. She was amazed that he has all his teeth except his two year molars, and was very happy with all the things he can do, including his vocabulary. He also had to get two shots, but was such a little champ with them, as always. He didn't even cry after the first one and then only cried for half a minute after the second one. He's just SO good. Having a great well-visit is always so much fun and makes my day great.
Day 25
Day 25 was Nate's last day at daycare, so I had a difficult time concentrating on anything all day. I held it together okay when I dropped him off in the morning until one of his teachers told me she was going to miss him and hoped he'd be back soon. I couldn't even choke out a goodbye after that.
So, needless to say, I spent a lot of the day thinking about how hard it was going to be to pick him up later. I knew I had to do something fun to make myself feel better.
One thing I knew I wanted to do was make a peanut butter pie. This lovely blogger, Jennie, recently lost her dear husband, Mikey, to a sudden heart attack. In a stunningly beautiful and strong post, she asked people to make a peanut butter pie on Friday, the day of Mikey's memorial service, and share it with someone they love.
I didn't follow Jennie's recipe, though, because I had some other things I wanted to do so I made a shorter, but still yummy, version. The recipe makes two, so I kept one for us and gave the other to my sister.
My husband isn't a big sweets eater, though, and the spirit here is to make something someone loves and share it with them. So, regardless of the fact that it's summer, I made beef stew (following PW's recipe, but without the beer).
And, because I also wanted to make something new that was slightly challenging but a possible favorite (to get my mind on something other than daycare), I made Shutterbean's homemade soft pretzels.
mmmm cheese pretzels!
yummy salt pretzels (my fave!)
I thought I'd be standing around, crying over the pretzel dough, but I wasn't. For some reason, cooking and baking always makes me feel better - the methodical measuring, mixing, chopping, dicing - it just feels good.
It was hard to pick up Nate at the end of the day, and most difficult of all to watch him excitedly get his lunch bag out of the cabinet (one of his favorite things to do) for the last time for the foreseeable future. But my sister came over with her kids to pick up her pie after we got home and it was great fun watching them all play together. At that point, I knew the hardest parts were over and actually felt relief. I made it through what I knew would be an unreasonably difficult day.
And I had a great dinner and dessert to eat with my family, and the big takeaway from yesterday was to cherish the ones you love, which I do. The rest can be irrelevant sometimes.