Big Beezy and Lil Peezy

Peyton saw a commercial for a nasal steroid with a bee flying around promoting the medication.  She looked up, pointed at the TV and said, “Bruddah!”  I told Dave about it, and he said that he had heard her before refer to a bee as “Bruddah.”  It’s pretty fascinating because “Bee” is Brandon’s nickname from Uncle Kenny since he was a little guy.  We haven’t seen Uncle Kenny in awhile, and I doubt Peyton has heard Brandon called that in quite some time.  Brandon has a glass with a bee on it from Auntie Rachel, but he doesn’t get to use it just yet since it’s glass.  Maybe that’s what she will call him after she gets tired of “Bruddah.”

At the wedding, one of the JJ, one of the younger girls, wanted to hold Peyton.  She’s always loved kids, and she is now in college (I can’t believe it!).  She loved playing with Brandon when he was little.  JJ extended her arms out to Peyton and said, “Can I hold you?”  I was telling JJ how different Peyton was from Brandon, and that she probably wouldn’t go to her.  As I was saying that, Peyton started leaning into JJ!  I let go of her, and she hopped over to the other side.  She maintained her serious face, not breaking it for a second.  But, she was content.  She wasn’t fussy, didn’t make a peep, and stayed with JJ for a good 20 minutes.  We were all waiting in line for cocktails and appetizers, and Peyton stayed with her the entire time.  I even turned around so she wouldn’t see me or notice.  She caught my eye at one point but was still content.  After we all got food, they sat down in one area, while Dave and I were in another, close by.  I actually lost her for a second, then JJ’s mom, Yolanda, flagged me down.  Yolanda even held her, and Peyton continued to be okay.  She was nibbling on a piece of bread, and was totally fine.  Eventually, she wanted down and came back over to us.  I told Yolanda that Peyton must love her family, since she rarely goes to strangers, especially  when there were so many of them around.  Glad she getting to used to being around people!

While at my parents’ house this weekend, Brandon found some of his “old” toys.  He told my mom, “Grandma, I’m too old to play with these toys.  Only Peyton can play with them now.  Peyton can play with all the toys here except the magnet ones.”  There are small magnetic pieces that are meant for 5+, and Brandon’s only recently been trusted to play with them.  He even let Peyton play with his train table.  She was more careful this time and did not try to disassemble the tracks.  She marveled at the sound the trains made through the tunnels and on the bridge.  Her eyes got so wide!  It was the same thing when we took her to the mall (just the girls) in my mom’s car with the TV.  She pointed to the screen and repeated after me, “Manny!”

As I was typing up the last post, Peyton was in the dark with Dave, who was trying to get her to sleep.  Problem is, we’re watching a cooking show on TV.  So, she was left to her own devices to go to sleep.  She started singing to herself.  It sounded like the tune of “ABCs” (or “Twinkle, twinkle”) but the “letters” weren’t actually quite right.  She was close.  She’d get to some of the end of the phrases with some of the letters, but asked Dave to sing “again”.
Peyton’s finger is healing nicely, and I’m hoping the nail doesn’t come off.  She is still milking the injury for all its worth.  Today, she hit her hand, and immediately, started whining, and claiming, “Owie!”  She needs to man up, and hopefully the bruised part will heal up so she won’t be reminded of it anymore.
Peyton is insisting on doing more things by herself.  Like the yogurt, and now the clothes.  She found her shirt that I put out for tomorrow morning, and put it on her legs.  She is walking around with it around her waist.  She put her legs through the neck and the arms were trailing behind her.  Silly girl.

We went to a close friend of the family (my cousin’s other side of the family) last night.  It didn’t start until 5pm, and it was in the local wine country.  There were a few wineries in the area, so my mom and Dave checked one out while I stayed in the car.  We arrived at the wedding with just about 15 minutes to spare.  I got the kids changed while we waited, since I had them in comfy clothes on the 30 minute drive over.  I didn’t want their clothes to be too wrinkled in the car seat, especially since Dave took the time to iron Peyton’s dress.  We sat in the back, just in case.  It did help it was at a winery, and outside. There were also plenty of kids there, so we were not the only ones there with little ones.  Peyton was totally into the wedding once we saw the “princess” (thanks to Michelle for this trick ;)  ).  Peyton sat up straight and focused on the ceremony the whole time.  She was quiet as a mouse, and just whispered “princess” after I whispered it to her.  She was just trying to get a better view, since we were so far in the back.  Brandon was a little bit more fidgety but he kept busy looking at the fan program.  We were so lucky - the ceremony only lasted 10 minutes, maybe.  The bride is very practical, and has herself been in many weddings, so we figured maybe she just knew to keep it short (it was) and sweet (it also was).  I’m so glad that Peyton was able to still fit the dress she was wearing.  I had gotten it for a wedding last year, only to realize she wasn’t invited to said wedding (oops!).  It is a 6-12 month dress, so it would have been HUGE if she had worn it last September.  Brandon is not the outgoing self he used to be.  He didn’t want to been seen on the dance floor.  Peyton didn’t make it to dessert!  She passed out in the stroller, not even able to enjoy herself on the dance floor.  Both kids did a great job at the dinner table, considering it was 7pm before we started with dinner.  The ladies at our table even commented on how polite and well-behaved BOTH kids were. I think Brandon was motivated by the prospect of dessert - a cupcake tower.  He did pass on the cupcake in favor of the ice cream, that was served at the “ice cream bar”.  Both ate their veggies - Brandon had his salad, while Peyton had her mixed veggies that I brought.  Brandon had fried chicken strips with fries, while Peyton ate some of the chicken we had on our table.  The food was served family style (American food), which was a new concept for us.
We left before we had any meltdowns.  We left a little after 9pm, and Brandon stayed up talking to us the whole time!  He said his favorite part of the wedding was “When we were eating while they were dancing.”  He could have meant either when we were having our salads, or when we were having our desserts, as dancing was happening at both of those times.

Here are some pics:

Dave was headed out to get a snack after the kids’ birthday party tonight.  He had to go tell Brandon where he was going otherwise Brandon would come out of his room and be disruptive.  So Dave told Brandon he was getting something to eat, and Dave asked him what would he want if he had to bring him back something.  Brandon said, “I want the salty chicken with the broccoli that we had in Vancouver.”  Dave came down to tell me, and he couldn’t think of when they ate that. Then it dawned on him that, when Terrance and he had taken the kids to lunch while my mom and I skied, they went out for Mongolian BBQ, and they had chicken with broccoli.  Just like Dave; he has a memory for places he’s traveled to based on what he’s eaten there.  Seems like Brandon’s palette doesn’t forget either.

Brandon woke up in a good mood this morning.  He went downstairs, saw that my mom was still sleeping after getting back late from our wedding tonight, then came back up.  He tinkered around a bit, until I went to greet him and say “Good morning.”  Peyton did the same, “Brother, morning.”  Then he said, “I have something for you.”  From behind his back, he presented this:

made of legos of course

Baby steps.  I am working toward getting more in shape.  It started a little earlier in the year, with some light running, which was no more than 2 miles at a time, and I’d go at no more than a brisk walk.  Then it was interrupted by vacations that we had taken, and it is always much harder to get back into a routine, especially one that hadn’t really be established.
Recently, I have become more motivated by my patients to exercise.  I often hear complaints of why they can’t exercise.  In order to convince myself that it can be done, even with a hectic schedule. I have been going to work out on each day I have diabetes clinic.  So the last few weeks, on Monday and Wednesday, I leave the kids and Dave.  Usually at least one or more kids are already sleeping.  This past weekend, I stepped it up a notch and bought a sensor to put in my shoes to track my distance run.  I even bought the shoes to go with it.  Really, the sensor is supposed to be purchased for the shoes, but I bought the shoes to go with the sensor.  Tuesday, I ran a 5K on said sensor.  Today, I decided to run another 5K (seems like so much more of an accomplishment than translating it into miles).  And did so at a slightly faster pace than just two days ago (came in 3 minutes faster).  I didn’t feel like I was “dying” so I reset my sensor to run another 5K.  Had I known I’d be able to keep it up, I would have started off with the 10K.  Talking to patients all day long about how to eat healthy has also motivated me.  Since working with those with diabetes and having the kids, I’ve been more aware of what we put in them.  As for me, I’ve always been a sucker for sweets.  I’m resisting the urge to go to the bubble tea place that opened up right next door to our gym.  It didn’t quite work last week, but I managed to stay away this week.  Dave has also decided to go work out, now that his back is doing better.  He is taking the opposite days.  For now, it’s not as bad as I’d imagine going on a Monday, given TV is at a low point on this day.  The kids are usually out even earlier so I can go early, then still come back and blog :)  Hopefully I can continue to update about the exercise routine.

Yesterday, when I came home with the kids, as I was turning left on our street, I saw our front door open.  I pulled into the driveway, but was afraid to open the garage door.  Dave’s car was nowhere to be seen, so I knew he wasn’t home yet.  I sat in our driveway thinking about what to do next.  Dave came up behind me and parked his car next to mine in the driveway.  I told him to go check out the house before we got out.  He got out so fast, he didn’t even put his car in park, and it lunged forward as it was still in gear when he took his foot off the clutch.  Um, it’s not like he was going to catch anyone in the act.  So he went inside, while I put my car in reverse, expecting to peel out the kids if Dave came running out, or worse, didn’t come out.  After awhile, he wasn’t running out, so I opened the garage door.  He came out the garage door, and gave a coast is clear sign.  As I got out, I asked Dave, “Who was the last one out of the house today?”  He put his head down, and pointed to Brandon, who was in my backseat.  Rewind 10 hours before; I had to be at work early, and left Dave in “charge” of getting the kids off to their respective schools.  Fortunately, he completed that task, the most important of his day.  He then admitted that he thought he may have left it open.  He said there wasn’t anyone he thought he could call to check.  I immediately thought of Nela, who passes by our house on her way home.  Later, Nela told me that she looked at our door when she passed by, since we left at the same time, she wanted to see if I had gotten home already.  She knows she saw the red door.  Hmmm, maybe the wind had blown it open from the time she drove by to the time I came home.  Later, it was Dave’s turn to work out, so I was home with the two kids, who were sleeping.  My mom and I were on the phone, and she asked me if Dave checked all the closets and behind the doors, in the other rooms, etc.  She totally started freaking me out, as I was in the kitchen, and felt so vulnerable. Then I thought about locking myself in my room, but that left Brandon out in the cold.  Either way, I stuck it out, and waited for Dave’s return.
As if it weren’t bad enough that we could have been invaded during the day, during dinner, Dave started boiling water for some hard-boiled eggs.  After giving both kids baths, we were watching TV waiting for Peyton to fall asleep.  That’s when I smelled a poopy smell.  I immediately blamed Peyton.  I did a diaper check, and nothing.  Then I thought the laptop was overheating.  Nope.  Then I opened the door, and asked Dave if he was cooking something.  Then I rushed downstairs as he said, “THE EGGS!”  Luckily, no fire, but the eggs were toast.  No more water in the pot, and one of the eggs exploded and just the yolk remained in the pot.  So, no eggs for lunch for Peyton.  Two strikes.  One more and we’re in trouble.  Today was hopefully the last day that I will be gone in the morning.  I even joked around with my boss that these morning shifts are ruining my home life.  He even offered for me to not come to the early morning meetings in an effort to “save” my family.  Luckily the early meetings are only once a month, and I won’t have to cover early morning shifts too often.

Brandon told me he wanted to go back to Vancouver.  Not sure why he suddenly remembered about Vancouver, but he stated he wanted to return.  I talked about Dave’s auntie, and asked if he remembered her.  He said, “Who’s Daddy’s auntie?”  I told him “Auntie Maria.”  He thought about it, then said, “No, I don’t know who that is.”  So I asked him what he liked best about Vancouver.  He said, “I liked the breakfast we had.  I miss the pancakes.”  Wow, and that was Whistler, but yes, they were good.  He likes “All you can eat” places, especially with all the sweet stuff they offered for breakfast.