Buster wandered into my room a few minutes before my alarm went off, and curled up on the carpet. When I got up, I rolled Bud out of bed, and was able to snuggle with Buster for a couple minutes before I got myself ready. The kids were good about getting dressed and having breakfast this morning, and we got out the door on time to drop Bud off at school. Buster and I returned home, and Nanny J arrived a few minutes later.
The kids seem to have had a good day. When I walked in the door, they were running around a bit, and took enough time out to report that they'd had a good time at TKD, and Buster had napped in the car on the way home. Both kids were excited to play with me, but I had enough time to drop my things and say goodnight to Nanny J.
Bud read in his room for a bit while Buster and I watched a little bit of TV. Bud had a set of tasks for the evening, including the usual homework and piano practice, but stalled for much of the evening. He got everything done, but it took a lot of reminding.
I noticed at one point that he was doing his math homework upside down. I asked why, and he responded that he liked that it made it harder.
The kids both ate respectable dinners, and snack and bedtime went pretty smoothly. I discovered that Buster had largely gotten himself ready for bed the previous night, and I asked if he could replicate the feat. He did pretty well, and showed me that he could get into his PJs pretty much by himself. Yay for autonomy!
Buster is still coughing a fair bit, so he's still getting croup medication at bedtime. Both kids went to sleep pretty quickly when the lights went out around 8:30.
Buster was a little hard to rouse this morning, but I eventually got him going and got both kids dressed, fed, and out the door to school. We were again about five minutes later than I would have liked, but overall I consider it a major accomplishment.
The kids seem to have generally had a good day. Babysitter G took over for Nanny J in the evening, and I didn't get home until about 8:30. Buster had apparently retired early, but got up when I came in the door. Bud was just about to turn in. We said goodnight to Babysitter G, and I got the kids settled into bed.
Nanny J had apparently baked a raisin buns today, and Buster was pretty excited about them. I chatted with him a little bit before we turned the light out around 8:45. He fell asleep pretty quickly. Bud and I discussed Bunnicula, which I read last night, a little bit before he drifted off around 9:00.
Bud was up reading when I got up around 7:30 this morning. M-lady called around that time, and we were able to have a quick video chat. Buster was a little groggy, and took a bit of coaxing to get out of bed, but seemed happy to see M-lady. After wrapping up the call, Buster tried to get back in bed. I managed to get him up and dressed, and he just had time to have a bowl of oatmeal before we headed out to drop Bud off at school. We headed back home to wait for Nanny J, where Buster had a second bowl of oatmeal.
The kids seem to have had a pretty good day. Buster is still coughing a bit from his cold, and apparently fell asleep on the way to TKD. Nanny J let him nap, so he missed class. He didn't seem to upset about it, though.
I managed to get Bud to do his homework at about 6:00, and we had dinner a short time later. Buster deferred on dinner for about half an hour, and Bud was taking a shower while Buster ate. After his shower, Bud did his piano practice, and the three of us were able to play together for about 20 minutes before snack time.
I was afraid Buster would take a while to fall asleep since he had a nap today, but he dropped off around 8:45. Bud was asleep by about 9:00. Hopefully I don't have any trouble getting Buster going in the morning for school.
Buster was up before I was this morning. He was a little snorky, but otherwise in good spirits. I rolled Bud out of bed, and got Buster dressed. He didn't have a fever, just a little bit of a cough. He was excited about heading to school, so we had breakfast, packed up, and I dropped both kids off at school.
The kids seem to have had a good day. I got home a little bit early, shortly after 5:00, and Buster was just starting to get cranky about taking a bath. He still didn't have a fever, and I helped convince him to get in the tub. He wasn't ready to get out by the time Nanny J took her leave, so I got him dried off and dressed again after we'd said goodbye and wished her a Happy New Year.
I got Bud started on his homework after Buster was dressed again, and when he wrapped up I delivered the hong bao to both kids which they were given by Ama and Agu. They were pretty excited, and immediately started discussing Lego sets.
The kids both ate solid dinners, and I got Bud to practice piano after dinner with minimal fuss. After practicing, we all played some Uno together before snack and bed time. Bud had read Bunnicula today, so we chatted about that for a while before bed. He really enjoyed it, and I believe I first read it when I was about the same age. I haven't read it for many years, though, so I'll need to pick it up again soon.
I got up early this morning to head out for a bike race. Bud woke before I left, said hello, and then crawled back into bed with a book. Babysitter G arrived at 7:30, and I hit the chilly road.
Buster apparently slept in until about 9:30, and didn't show any of his cold symptoms other than a slightly runny nose. When I arrived home around 11:00, the kids were screaming around the house. We thanked Babysitter G and said goodbye, and the kids chilled a little bit with the iPad while I showered. Bud reported that they had had fun playing Uno.
I made the breakfast I had promised the kids for lunch, and they both ate well. After lunch, we sat around a bit, and eventually the kids played some Lego Harry Potter together for a while as I got a little bit of office work done. It was raining fairly steadily by that point, so we stayed inside for the rest of the afternoon.
Buster got a bit grumpy in the late afternoon, and I discovered he was running his low fever again. This time, however, he was so grumpy that he didn't want to take his medicine. Eventually I got him to down it, and a short time later he was chipper again.
M-lady called in the late afternoon, and the kids had a chance to say hello. It was the middle of the night for her, though, so it was a pretty short conversation.
We did get out briefly to pick up some dinner, which we brought home. After dinner, Bud practiced his piano with a minimum of fuss while I gave Buster a bath. When Buster was cleaned up, Bud jumped in the shower, and both kids were in PJs by about 7:00. We watched a little bit of TV before snack time, and I gave Buster a preventative dose of prednisone before tucking the kids into bed. Both kids wanted to play Uno with me before bed, so we did a little of that before turning out the lights.
The kids were up around 8:00 this morning, and Bud got himself a bowl of cereal to tide him over until I got the kids some breakfast. M-lady was up packing before too long, and after the kids had eaten we all said goodbye as she headed off to the airport around 10:00.
Buster had a bit of a runny nose, so I opted to generally keep ourselves indoors. We played a bit, watched a little TV, and had a mid-morning snack a little after 11:00. I noticed Buster's cheeks had gotten a bit rosy, and discovered he was running a (very) low-grade fever. I dosed him with some ibuprofen, and since he didn't seem to notice the fever at all, we loaded up and headed over to the mall for lunch.
It was nice to get out and walk around a bit, and after lunch we had a quick swing by the Lego store and the Apple store. We tried to hit Stride-Rite to get new shoes for Buster, but they were packed and didn't have much selection around the Star Wars shoes. So we'll pick something out online for him.
We headed home, and the kids played some Lego Star Wars for a bit before we loaded up again and headed out to do the grocery shopping. Buster's fever was gone by that time, and he showed no ill effects other than issuing a couple of yawns before we left the grocery store.
The kids played outside while I unloaded, and came in a bit later. We had found the game 'Uno' for sale at the grocery store, and Bud was excited to play that. I explained how it worked, and we played a few hands before watching a little bit of TV. I got started on making dinner shortly after that. Bud ate well, and I managed to get enough food into Buster. After dinner, Bud practiced piano, and I played with both kids a bit. I took a short time out while the kids played some more to make Rice Krispy treats for snack time.
Snack time was a success, of course, and the kids headed upstairs to get ready for bed. I read with the kids separately, and we turned out the lights around 8:30. Buster fell asleep quickly, still without a fever, and Bud went to sleep a bit later.
Around 10:30 Buster woke with a croupy cough. He didn't seem to be suffering from stridor, though, so I dosed him with the oral prednisone we keep handy for just such an occasion. He and I watched a little bit of night-time TV before I tucked him back into bed, where he has slept soundly since.
I rolled out of bed at 7:30, as usual, and found the whole family up before me this morning. M-lady was up and on a phone call, Bud was reading in his room, and Buster was playing with his Lego.
M-lady got Buster dressed, and I got breakfast for the kids. I took Buster to school this morning, and the drop-off was uneventful.
M-lady got home in time to take Bud to his piano lesson, which apparently went pretty well. The came back from the lesson and wished Nanny J a good weekend, and they were working on dinner when I arrived home around 6:45. I helped with getting the kids to the table, and we all ate together.
M-lady and I cleaned up as the kids played, and snack time rolled up quickly. Bud had a usual snack, but Buster opted to forgo the snack tonight. I got him ready for bed, and we watched a little bit of Ninjago on TV before tucking in and turning out the light. As usual, Buster fell asleep quickly when the light went out.
The life of a boy as told by his dad. Lil' Bud was born March 5th, 2005, and his father, staggered by the changes, has converted his written diary to this format.
