Mother’s Day card 2023 made by the husband and flowers

Week 139 motherhood of 2 year 8 months old and almost 5 month old: 

• May 12:  Last night, I was holding the baby after dinnertime.  Grandma was talking to her on her left and the baby responded.  Then when DH (who was standing to the right side of me) called her name, and the baby turned her head and looked at him.  Grandma called her and the baby turned her head to look at grandma.  When DH called her, the baby turned to look back at him!  Wow!  The baby can respond to her name! ^_^
• May 16:  It’s been another trying week.  After last week’s 100 days celebration, it was time to finally buckle down and tackle the two transcripts that I had on my plate.  I purposely held off on doing them because I knew I would be burning the midnight oil to do them (the only time that it’s quiet in the house and both kids are asleep).  Unfortunately, with the baby catching a cold and us rushing to the ER at 3 in the morning which resulted me in losing sleep and rest, and then losing more sleep from doing the transcripts at night, I finally succumbed to the cold as well.  I actually felt some dry cough and throat irritation the night of the dinner already.  There was just too much running around and talking and not enough fluids or rest.  My body finally had enough.
• The past week has seen me getting one of the highest fevers of my life:  39.8 (at least in recent memory).  I took Tylenol, but I was still hot and had chills and the high fever for a day and a half.  It was really tough.  The baby was fine but had some coughing.  DH was already recovered from his cold that began two weeks ago.  Now it was my turn.  It is so hard being sick and having to still take care of a nursing baby and tend to a talkative toddler.  I was able to sleep a bit by side lying with the baby and nursing her that way.  We both slept and rested that way.
• Just when I thought things were finally looking up and I was rounding the corner and I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, life said it was not done with me yet and I woke up with both eyes red and crusty.  Pink eye. 😪  It had been many years since I had bacteria up to my eyes.  I remember having this when I was younger and needing eye drops for them.  DH actually had this same thing a week ago when he was sick too.  He went to a walk-in clinic to get eye drops.  In my case, I also wasn’t sure if they were related to my seasonal allergies too.  I had a runny nose too.  (I was thinking whether the fever was actually a hay fever…)
• The walk-in clinics were about to close when we were swinging back home from the warehouse, but I luckily nabbed a spot with my family doctor the next day for an appointment.  The family doctor was actually reluctant to prescribe me anything for my pink eye, saying that since it was a bacterial infection, all I needed was rest for it to go away.  I insisted though, saying that DH got some for his condition last week, and she finally prescribed me some too.  The red eyes did go away the next day and a bit, but I was self-conscious of my red eyes when talking to others.
• And alas, the toddler has been coughing and having a mild fever too.  We gave her some children’s Tylenol.  She continues to be her active self, playing and talking and eating like normal — thank goodness.  But she has a runny nose with green boogers just like mommy.  And finally, last but not least, grandma caught the bug too.  It was just a matter of time, I guess.  She also has been having a high fever, sore throat, and chills.  She’s been resting up more because she doesn’t have to get up during the night to tend to kids, thankfully.  This virus is so crazy strong and contagious.  It made us miss out on the two mother’s day events we had planned with our extended families.  This would have been the first time in three years since we would have celebrated mother’s day with my great-grandmother but we had to forego attending because we were all sick and mostly because I don’t want to pass on this virus to her.  She’s 101 years old!  What a mothering Mother’s Day 2023 it has been…
• May 17:  We finally turned the corner and were well enough to attend the EarlyON Creative Chefs in-person session that I had registered the toddler for like three weeks ago!  Grandma was still unwell, so she stayed home and DH came with me instead.  This hands-on “cooking” session began with 30 minutes of free play first to allow families to arrive and check in.  The facilitators had planned an afternoon of waffle-making with fruits.  After the entire process of it was explained to us, everyone went to line up and wash their hands.  I liked how the facilitators got the kids to repeat words like “waffle” and “measure”.  I love that these places always have a stool and low sinks for the kids to easily reach.  The kids were then called up in groups to get their fruits.  The toddler was wearing blue so she was able to be one of the first to line up.
• We spent some time for her to cut up the fruits using a plastic knife.  She doesn’t have a firm grasp on how to hold the knife, so I had to guide her and encourage her.  There were a lot of blueberries and she seemed to get tired of cutting them in half after a while.  She had two large strawberries and half of a banana too.
• After this, the facilitators came around with the pancake mix and allowed the children to scoop “three big spoonfuls” of it into their own bowl.  We were then given water so that they could mix it together until a smooth consistency was achieved.  I have an issue with the facilitator providing my toddler with a near-empty bowl of pancake mix and expecting her to be able to scoop three big spoonfuls in.  There was clearly not enough pancake mix to be able to easily scoop out of.  I didn’t say anything at the time; I should have.
• When we were mixing the flour and water together, we clearly had a very small amount.  I asked some of the nearby parents for extra pancake mix.  This situation could have been avoided in the first place had adequate mixture been initially provided. 🤦🏻‍♀️😒
• We took our sweet time and I wanted to avoid having the toddler stand up too long at the waffle machine, so by the time we brought our mix up to be cooked in the waffle maker, we were the second-last to do so.  All the other kids were already cutting up and eating their waffles with fruit.
• The toddler watched intently as the facilitator poured her batter into the waffle machine.  The time showed 2 and a half minutes cooking time on the timer.
• When it was almost done, I brought the toddler to get a plate for the waffle.  Our waffle stuck to the top of the grid when the waffle maker opened up; the batter amont was just enough but it probably wouldn’t have hurt to have more for a softer, squishier waffle.  (*shakes fist at facilitator*)
• I cut up the waffle for the toddler and she ate it all.  I was completely shocked.  She must have been distracted by the storytime happening in the background as well as all the children in the room.  She rarely eats this much just in one sitting at home!
• We were one of the last to leave the room.  DH had come back for us just in time too.
• We went over to the community centre to visit the library while DH finished up his work hour before we left.  I brought the toddler to the library — our first time visiting this Markham branch.  The toddler was so good and held onto my hand as we walked through the quiet space.  We found the kids’ play section and the toddler immediately saw the large plastic blocks and started stacking them.  She had built a tall tower before veering off to see the rest of the play space.  When we returned to the blocks, another child had taken over and was playing with them.  The toddler expressed that she didn’t want anyone else playing with her blocks.  I explained to her that she had left the blocks unattended, so anyone else was free to play with them too.  One of the other parents understood what was happening and asked her daughter to bring a block to mine.  The toddler took it and added it to the blocks.  They essentially started playing together at this point and the toddler was okay with it.  I really appreciated the other parent’s gentle and respectful parenting and teaching her own child to respect others’ wishes.
• I’m so glad that the toddler finally, finally was able to attend an EarlyON class in person today.  We’ve waited and been patient for so long.  She absolutely loved the Creative Chefs class.  So hands-on, learning lifelong skills, making food, getting to eat it, playing alongside other kids.  She was so proud she made her own waffle.  She was so well-behaved during the whole time too.  No fussiness or tantrums.  She was easy to handle for once.
• One funny bit happened today.  Before we washed our hands, they sang the choo-choo train welcome song.  (It is so different and heart-warming to hear it in person versus on Zoom.)  When it was her turn and the toddler was asked her name, she replied “W”. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😒  I had to say her actual name for her.  The facilitator asked what she said and I said “W”.  Everyone laughed and thought it was funny. 😒🤦🏻‍♀️
• When I told DH this later, he said that it actually means she’s comfortable enough to talk at least and to be her silly self in front of others.  All the other kids correctly said their own names.  (“W” is the first letter of the alphabet that the toddler learned and for some reason she likes to say it in lieu of her name.)
• This week, grandma captured a cute video of the toddler holding the musical teapot and dancing alongside to it.  The way she bounced and moved her body was sooo cute.  Haha, so glad this was captured on video.
• When playing by herself this week, she built a long train using all the small chairs in the house and putting all her stuffed animals on it.  So creative and fun.
• She discovered the baby’s photos used as decor for the 100 days celebration and used her magnetic tiles to post them on the refrigerator.