In all my woe-is-me-dom of the past week, I neglected to mention that Ian and I had our second anniversary on Tuesday. We did go out for a very nice lunch (including a monstrous dessert recommended by one of Ian’s coworkers. The recommendation did emphasize how delicious it was, but did no justice to the size. Think oreo crust, moose tracks ice cream, whipped cream, and extra fudge. We didn’t even think about dinner until 9pm.)
He also bought me these lovely flowers. (I got a chocolate strawberry bouquet for Mother’s Day, which was also great – clearly, Ian is getting the whole “sentimental gift” thing.) I gave him a more practical gift – a soccer video game that he had been wanting for a long time. Yes, I know they don’t compare. I am going to have to pull out the big guns for Christmas to “catch up.” (What, you don’t keep score for who gives the better gifts? But then how do you know which spouse is winning?)
My back is doing a lot better today. Part of it is that I found that ibuprofen was much more effective than Tylenol. I also slept only in “approved” positions last night, and the relief from the pain was so sudden I slept as blissfully as I had in a long, long time.
The “benefits” from the back pain are already making themselves manifest. Because I couldn’t do any lifting of heavyish things like laundry baskets, I have contented myself with doing smaller tasks around the house. I mended a book that Alisdair tore apart earlier this week (a board book that looked like it should have been a lot sturdier than it ended up being.) I mixed up some more hair conditioner (yes, I make my own hair conditioner. And shampoo. And I have a recipe for body wash that I intend on using once I run through my stockpiled stuff.) I also cleaned Alisdair’s highchair, which had reached a pretty sad desperation level. These were tasks I had been putting off to do more “important” things.
Alisdair had his 15 month checkup yesterday. As he did for his 12 month checkup, he was absolutely fine as long as I held him and no one was poking at him. Which is to say, he screamed almost the entire time. Amazingly, we managed to get accurate measurements (24 lb 12 oz, 32 inches, and I forget what his head measurement was, but it was back on track. The 12 month one actually said that his head shrank because he wouldn’t stay still for the nurse to get her tape around accurately.) Although he was a chunky baby in his first year of life, it looks like his body shape is going to be more like his dad’s – long and lean.
Also at the doctor’s, we chatted a bit about Alisdair not walking yet. I had been getting concerned about it, but the doctor said it sounded like he was progressing toward walking independently so nothing to worry about. He was much more relaxed about benchmarks and milestones than the doctor at our last visit (he also knows Alisdair, and us, better as he’s the one who has normally seen him since birth.)
Since Ian’s parents are on vacation this week, they are letting us borrow their car so I have been able to go out and about during the day. It is a lot nicer going shopping during the day than on harried weekends, and it’s fun just to get out of the house. Alisdair and I have also gone to Mass every day this week and it has been really great. He has actually kind of been paying attention to the priest – probably because there’s fewer people to look at – and he will “pray” too – he puts his hands in front of his face, bows his head, and begins murmuring softly to himself. He does the same thing when we say grace or other prayers at home. It is beyond adorable.
Last Sunday we went to our first Pirates game of the season, thanks to a very nice discount on tickets we got. We had seats that were in the shade in the whole time, and the Pirates absolutely clobbered the Giants 13-2. It is weird to have a good baseball team, but I kind of like it.
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