Saturday, May 9, 2020

COVID-19 Quarantine, Week 8

Elias was in heaven when the first mow of the season finally happened. It’s not easy to mow with a panda in your hands, but he wants to watch Elias now, of course, so Elias used the baby sling to keep Pandy close.


Levi was very interested too and didn’t want to miss the action. His first mow!

One year ago Ava made this Fireman Sam paper doll set for Elias’ birthday. He STILL plays with it and hasn’t lost a single piece. 

This was quite fun...inspecting the gear with his microscope from Grandma Kathleen. 

Lewis built a great fort, which we haven’t thought to do since probably week one of quarantine so it was a hit. 

I used my last pack of yeast on cinnamon rolls. Logan has checked 5 stores for more. Everywhere is out. 

We put the messy mat over the light pad and then played with translucent, glittery slime. Super fun!

This is my favorite covid meme. (Found it when the articles about the murder hornets arriving in the US were published.)

A Burda baby favorite...tiny wagon ride that may or may not result in you falling out backward. 

Of course, Pandy needed a ride too. 

He’s loving this snack! They taste like Smacks cereal but waaaay less sugar. 

Logan and I have been trying for over a year to get this boy to read a new series of books. He finally demolished The Adventures of Nick & Sam series in three days. 

Guess who can crawl up the stairs in 3 seconds flat?

Lewis is super sweet with Levi when he chooses to be. He gets Levi to belly laugh quite often. 

Both of my pairs of Birkenstocks cracked in the same week, one of the pairs being from college. I’ve had them for a loooong time. I can only wear really supportive shoes because I’ve grown four babies, so I my neighbor’s brain because she works at Footloose & Fancy here in town. I settled on these cute Kork-ease sandals for the summer. You can’t go wrong with a bow on the back. 

I stubbed my toe on the sidewalk and tore it up pretty badly. It kept me awake throbbing for two nights. 

The next door neighbor paid my boys $2 each for digging and sorting out his planter. I told him I owed HIM $2 for entertaining my boys for almost 2 hours. Lewis isn’t done helping. He wants to replant as well. 

He had to do 5 pages of work...first thing in the morning at 720am. Oy. 

Lewis got his Flat Stanley project back! So fun! He sent it to Aunt Beth, and his favorite photo she sent back was of Flat Stanley in her snack drawer, of course. 

We reorganized the book in the middle boys’ room. It’s now an office for Lewis. He’s been building Legos, listening to music, organizing stuff, and creating an office desk. 

Elias pokes his eye three times in one day. He got a bump on the white part, and a lot of redness that wouldn’t go away, so off we went to see the doc. Elias said, “Are we actually going in?!” (Oy, the state of the world we are currently living in.) He has three scratches on his eye and they are infected, so we do eye drops. 

Pandy waited in the car, and bucked up for the ride home since Levi stayed home with daddy. 

The boys made a great coffee shop this morning!

Elias played with Playmobil. The Tiger was on the ambulance stretcher at some point. Not sure about that situation. 

He has 12 teeth and I don’t eat a lick of peanut butter. He’s finally happy!!! He’s been sleeping more and for longer stretches. I can’t believe the first year is a wrap. 

Elias’ Thoughts


“I drew a smiling fat guy.” (Top left corner of the paper)

Elias: I had a dream that I got to hold both plungers upstairs and downstairs. It was bizarre. I didn’t go very well for me.

Me: why do you have so much nonsense coming out of you right now?
Elias: because I am so nonsensical. I have so much nonsensical gas in me right now.

Elias: can I build with Legos?
Me: yes you can.
Elias: can you help me build a jail?
Me: no, I need to get lunch going. You’re going to be hungry soon.
Elias: can’t we just get more adults here to help?!
Me: I wish we could! But we can’t spread germs.
Elias: they can just stay 10 feet back!
Me: Life will go back to the way it used to be hopefully soon.
Elias: I don’t even remember what it used to be like.
Me: 😭

Elias: now Levi, remember your goal today.
Me: what is Levi’s goal today?
Elias: not going up the stairs.

Elias: mom, it says the coronavirus is spreading from the zoo to Jimmy John’s.
Lewis: you don’t know that Elias. You’re not a scientist. 

Me: Elias, do you see the big boys down the block riding on their bikes?
Elias: yes I see Lewis and a stranger. Oh that's Lewis and Bob Creal.
Me: you see Lewis talking to bob creal? {stands up to look down the block}
Elias: oh, that's just Augustine on his bike not Bob Creal.
Me: you mistook Augustine on his bike for Bob Creal?! 

Friday, May 8, 2020

Lewis’ Bake


Shooting stars





And heart balloons. Nice bake, Lewis!

Happy Birthday Levi!


Levi is one! He played the day away and was especially happy every time he woke up from a nap. 
Stopped at G&G’s for a few things (and then ended up back there in the evening because it was warm enough to be in the backyard!). 


We needed something special to do since we couldn’t have a real party, so I made a smash cake for him. Wacky cake with Goldenrod Bakery frosting. All dairy free since he still has food allergies, peanuts being the worst. 

Not bad for my first attempt at decorating. I had all the decorations around the house. 
We gave Levi a walker so he doesn’t have to use the strategically filled to the right weight laundry basket to go walking around. He mastered it in one day!

Then we headed to G&G’s backyard for some fun. 










He wasn’t very impressed with cake at first. 

But he got the hang of it. He didn’t smash it at all, and in the long run I’m not sure I could’ve stood the mess. 

He has 12 teeth. He has taken two steps solo. He walks all over with his fire truck walker. He says mama, daddy, bubble, uh-oh, ball, and makes a truck engine sound. 

Levi takes naps in his crib, but still sleeps with us at night. He loves solid foods and his tippy cup of water. He still nurses all day and all night. 

He is very observant and thinks about how things work for a long time. He loves to crawl up the stairs when no one is paying attention.

He likes to play in the pretend kitchen, so peg puzzles, take rides in the laundry basket, flip through books, bang on stuff with spoons, chase a ball, and drive little trucks on the floor. 

He thought it was REALLY fun to stand on the chair. 

Happy birthday Levi! We love you!

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Baking


The boys needed a new snack, so I made protein bites. Big hit!

Homemade focaccia bread. Super easy! Ate it with grilled chicken and homemade avocado ranch sauce. It was like eating at Venue. I just need to have oil/balsamic vinegar on hand for dipping. 

Monster, chocolate chip, and almond sprinkle cookies because the family movie choice was super annoying didn’t interest me. 

COVID-19 Quarantine, Week 7

We’ve worked hard to find the good in being quarantined, but it’s getting old. We aren’t created for this. We’re created for community. I hope we are half way through, but what source(s) do we even listen to at this point?! *sigh*

It’s all about where to sit during a family movie afternoon. Elias perched himself right here. 

Levi is in that stage of table food where he has about 10 foods that seem to work, and he’s sick of all of them. Unlike other Burda babies, he has options in all the food groups so I don’t worry too much. He still nurses too. 

I’d say his worst reaction is to peanuts. If I make a pbj sandwich for one of the boys and get a *tiny* bit on my hand, I tend to just lick it off. Who doesn’t, right?! Yeah, can’t even do that. One *tiny* lick and Levi is a hot mess for 2-3 days. DAYS. Won’t sleep, won’t eat, nurses constantly, won’t play, and eczema breaks out all over his diaper area. Oy. 

We’ve had a few might-as-well-be-summer days here, one of those days we broke out the chalk and water fun. Chalk is just fun, people. We could play with it for hours. 

Levi spends lots of time on the gates deck. He enjoys it!

He sleeps the best from about 530-730am. 

Elias did a bit of monkey math, and had a pretty good grasp of addition by the end!

He’s. So. Fussy. (Stupid peanuts) But he was SO happy in the baby backpack. He was singing as we vacuumed. 

Elias got pooped on by a bird for the first time. His first thought? 

“Daddy just won’t believe this happened! Take a picture for him, Mom!”

We had a socially distant picnic in my parent’s backyard. It made the evening fly by. So good to be together again, even if it was distanced. 

I made another picnic. Not as good as my first. Same sandwiches for the boys. Chicken salad in butter lettuce and what was supposed to be blackened shrimp (but it didn’t blacken) with homemade avocado ranch sauce on homemade focaccia bread. The flavors just didn’t work. 

I love how Levi wakes up currently. He nurses and then keeps his eyes closed, but climbs up on me and puts his pudgy little arms around my neck. Then he smiles (eyes still closed!) and smiles really big. He rolls down onto the mattress and repeats this process (minus the nursing) about 2-3x. Then he sits up and opens his eyes with a smile and crazy hair. 

Pandemics ruin May Day. Boo. We delivered four baskets because it just stressed me out to be so careful as we prepared to hand them off to other families. So forget it. We got a couple on our doorstep. These bubbles were so fun!

My friend made me a Mary statue crown!!! Now I need a Mary statue, which we may get tomorrow. This totally made May Day less disappointing, song with the dairy free dogotties from my parents. 

Lewis did some cool wet chalk art. Love this little handprint. 

Elias spent some of his birthday money on a big kid swing! Although he’s not on it in this picture, they are LOVING enough swings for everyone! Swinging really is the most fun with company. 

Our parish had another Eucharistic procession over the weekend, so we sat with some neighbors to see Jesus again. We did more chalk art. 

And then headed home for rest time. No picnic this week. I didn’t have the energy. 
We made thank you cards and cookies for Fr. Hottovy and the other priests at our parish. Walking for an hour carrying Jesus in the monstrance in full vestments on a warm spring day isn’t easy!

He gets into everything these days. I made the latch board like new again by command hooking it on the wall. He loves it. Thanks He even started climbing over buckets that previously blocked him from getting in the kitchen.