InstaVaca in 2014

After starting out the year super, non-stop busy, we came to a screeching halt suddenly and I was kind of 'forced' into a psuedo-vacation. What it really means is that while I'm doing workstuffs here and there, I've been mostly getting OTHER lifestuff done and REALLY enjoying spending time with my husband and my kid. It's been quite lovely, indeed.

Last weekend, in the name of my birthday, I forced some three of my girlfriends to ditch their kids & husbands for an evening and hang out with me for dinner, drinks and cupcakes. Two of them stayed overnight, even. Aaron's mom took Joaquin to her house for the night, so we were able to hang out without worrying about waking the baby -- or waking up with the baby. It was so nice to have adult conversation and silliness without worrying what our kids were doing. Among the four of us, we collectively have a 6-month old, an 11-month old, an 18-month old, and two 3 1/2 year olds. Quite the crew we've created! We drank champagne and then headed out to The Little Beast, which is one of my favorite local restaurants. We had a nice, long leisurely dinner of delicious foods and refreshing wines. After, we headed back to my house and snacked on a variety of Sprinkles cupcakes and caught up properly on what's going on with our lives. It was overdue and much-needed.

Unfortunately, we lost an hour that night so the next day was a bit painful, but so worth it. After 'Gigi' dropped Joaquin off, we headed to the gym and randomly, Joaquin decided to take an early nap. So I waited in the car with him while Aaron got his workout in, and when he woke up, I decided to take him on the train ride at the mall instead of taking him to the gym daycare. It was so fun! Aaron met us outside when his workout was done, and we rode the train again. Joaquin loved it. Then we took him in and took a ride on the merry-go-round, which he's totally obsessed with. It was tricky getting him to agree to leave after that.. I think he could have stayed on the carousel all day.

We headed home to shower and clean up, then took him to the Kidspace museum for some late afternoon fun. We were playing in the kids' room for a bit and noticed some 'bully' behavior that kind of worried us. He sort of took over this little slide, and didn't want any other kids to play on it. We decided to bring him home before he did anything awkward, which of course made him very upset. Ugh.

Anyway, the next day when we picked him up from daycare, we were informed that he was involved in a 'biting incident' with another toddler and JOAQUIN was the BITER. Oh no! they had to write up an official report, and they would talk to us more the next time we came in. So on Wednesday we showed up, fully prepared to discuss the 'incident,' but they informed us that they decided NOT to file a report and that they were just chalking it up to 'developmental behavior.' Which, was a relief.. but... ugh. They're going to keep an eye on it..

We spent a good portion of the rest of the week trying new redirective measures whenever he seemed to be getting 'aggressive' and hopefully this is just an isolated incident. But he's definitely an 'alpha' type personality, and we need to be sure we're giving him lots of outlets for his energy and making sure he knows he CANNOT bite anyone.

So that's fun.

But other than that, he was SO MUCH FUN this week. I think he's in a developmental plateau because he's much less frustrated. There were so few tantrums / meltdowns and his sense of humor has become even more awesome. His communication skills continue to flourish and it's so much fun teaching him things when he's in the mood to 'learn.'

We're thinking of touring some local montessori schools for the next evolution of his development. I have no idea what to expect in terms of tuition, etc. but his daycare is pretty pricey already, so hopefully it will be somewhat on par.

In 'me' news, I'm definitely hitting the gym more regularly lately and trying to cut out foods that make me feel less than stellar (i.e. BREAD). I've maintained a workout-a-day since late December, which feels good. I'm also trying to mix it up a lot and incorporate Joaquin in whenever possible, which makes it less of a chore. So far, so good in 2014!!

We have a few projects perkolating for April, so hopefully those will come through and work will get busy again, but for now I'm off to enjoy more of my 'forced vacation' while it lasts!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!