May updates

Well my last post is old news by now and it was a bit heavy and Debbie Downer-ish. So let's do some lighthearted updates!

1. HAMILTON

In case anyone currently resides under a rock, Hamilton is an amazing musical that's super popular right now. My mom and stepfather won tickets recently and got to see it in my hometown, in upstate NY. In fact, they saw it on the night of the Battle of Winterfell so I cannot even imagine what an emotional undertaking that must have been.

And again, in case you reside under a rock, the Battle of Winterfell was on a Sunday. The next day, Monday, around 8pm I was chatting with my mom on the phone and she mentioned they were seeing Hamilton again...the very next night. They had won tickets again and she just mentioned all casually "oh yeah we're going to Hamilton again tomorrow" like it's NBD.

I was like oh. hell. no. My sister, brother, and brother in law were going the following week, and I was like I am not going to be the only one in the family left with only listening to the soundtrack on spotify like some kind of loser while you all see it twice in 48 hours.

At first, I was half joking. I live about 350 miles away, and thought...Hamilton can't be that good can it? A 700 mile round trip as the only adult with 3 kids under the age of 5 good?

I texted my friend with 3 kids who lives in the same area and had just seen Hamilton the night before my mom did. She confirmed: yep. It's that good.

I asked a few other friends and responses ranged from immediate yes to why would you even ask me that question instead of packing right now?

Also, during this time Eric was seeing the Avengers so I couldn't get any input from the one person who actually knows the kids as well as I do.

I called my mom back and told her my half joking was now 90% serious and that I would sleep on it and confirm in the morning. Then my sister texted me and offered to go to my mom's house with my stepfather during the show to help with the kids, which eased my anxiety because even at 11 months I still get really anxious about leaving Remi. But with her aunt as a designated one on one baby cuddler, it was on. I put the tablet on the charger (possibly the most important road trip with kids prep, although one could argue it's snacks).

Eric was a little confused in the morning with an Avengers hangover while trying to get ready for work but I think he got the basic idea. While 350 miles can be driven in about 6 hours, those with small children know that it takes a bit longer, to say the least. Not to mention my super independent thinks he's potty trained but he's not really middle kid slammed the diaper drawer shut when Eric tried to put a diaper on him and got underwear out and defiantly put those on instead. So....cool. The show was at 7:30pm that evening so there was no time to lose.

I figured it would either be amazing or horrible. It went pretty smoothly! The boys mostly watched shows on the tablet, Remi slept, ate snacks, looked out the window, and overall didn't hate life! Of course, we took a lot of nice long breaks, but we made it by show time.

My anxiety was still on high at the beginning of the show. We hadn't even gotten to the end of the American Revolution before my sister texted me a picture of Remi peacefully passed out and I was able to relax and enjoy the rest. We stayed another 3 days and Dalton has asked to return literally every single day since. These kids love their cousin time.

2. Birthday month

Royce turned 3 on May 6!

We celebrated by meeting friends in Washington, DC, at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Of course, despite being at one of the best museums in the world, the main attraction for the kids was the trains.

The 7am train, followed by 2 different metros, with 4 small kids and two infants between just two moms...piece of cake. Or something. Whatever, no kids were lost. It was insane but it made Royce's birthday really special. 

In my limited experience, age 3 is when kids start to anticipate their birthdays. I didn't want to miss out on sharing Royce's excitement. A few weeks prior to his birthday, I talked to his private speech therapist about it and she created a planning sheet and worked with him in therapy on all his birthday preferences. Per his request, the five of us had pizza, blue and black balloons, and vanilla cake with purple icing. He had specifically requested a Team Umizoomi cake, which is his favorite show. To quote a meme: I'm an Amazon mom, not a Pinterest mom. He helped me bake and decorate his cake after nap time, which we always do on birthdays. Then I asked him to go outside and get Eric and Dalton who were next door chatting with our neighbor. When he left, I put a bunch of Team Umizoomi charms I had gotten from amazon on the cake. He came back in and was so thrilled and surprised to see his Team Umizoomi cake.

And of course, to open his gift from us. 

Royce was born at 6:51pm, and I swear by bedtime that very evening, he started acting extremely three. If you know what I mean.

And Remington turns one this week. Fastest year of my life. We're having a party that I've done nothing to prepare for, aside from my huge win of finding the first birthday onesie that Royce wore. I booked a pavillion near a huge playground way back in the winter, so as long as it doesn't rain I think things will be fine. 

3. The hair

Yep. We've gone from the most glorious, beautiful, glossy, perfectly shaped curls ever...

to nothing.

And you know what, I'm not going to pretend I like it. I loved those curls. But here's what happened. Dalton and Remi were playing really nicely upstairs for a few minutes while Royce napped and I had the audacity to sit down by myself and eat a sandwich. This turned out to be a huge mistake. 

I went upstairs after eating and immediately noticed Dalton had tiny hairs all over his face. 

"What's all over your face?"

...nervous laughter...

I looked more closely and realized the front of his hair was buzzed. And there was a huge pile of hair next to him. He told me he had used Eric's beard trimmer. 

I wasn't panicking at all yet. I was upset, but honestly he has so much hair you could barely even tell anything happened and it would have been easy to work around.

I asked him why he did it. He said he wanted short hair like daddy and didn't want to have to comb his hair anymore. That's when my heart really started to sink as I realized this wasn't just a random impulsive thing but something he had actually thought about and really wanted. When I texted Eric, he said he had been mentioning wanting short hair for a few weeks. When Eric got home, it was time. I won't say I was completely sober or dry eyed, but I tried to put on a brave face for the sake of my son.

I know I could have technically said no, but we've been telling him "your body your choice" since practically birth. I had to put my money where my mouth was. It turns out that children are not just ornamental and they are actually living beings with feelings and independent thoughts, so while I was really, really tempted, it would have been a pretty big asshole move to make him keep his hair long (especially going in to the heat of summer!) just so I could enjoy how pretty it was. 

I just don't understand why he had to choose this week to do it, when I was already suffering emotionally from the loss of Game of Thrones and my last baby rudely about to turn one. 

He wanted to ride his bike when the haircut was done and it was crazy how much I had to tighten his helmet!

4. Race training/running

The Baltimore Ten Miler is in just 12 days! I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. My training buddy Jackie and I have completed a 10 mile run. More importantly, we've done almost every long run in hilly areas, since this race is known for having killer hills.

My return to running after giving birth has been very slow this time. Remington was born May 25, 2018, and on May 1, 2019, I went for a 3 mile run and was just so excited that it felt normal. Not in terms of recovery or my c section scar, because that's felt fine since about 6 months postpartum. More in terms of feeling like the runner I used to be. Now, I am still nowhere near the fitness levels I once had and don't plan to ever be there again, because those required a time commitment to training that's just not a possibility right now. But running felt good, and doable, and normal. I ran 3 miles and never once felt like I needed a walk break for one of the first times since she was born. Maybe even the first time.

Instagram gets in my head, and I know tons of people are way more physically fit after having a baby and it can be a little embarrassing to be so far on the other end of the spectrum. The transition to three kids was extremely overwhelming for me and I had absolutely nothing left to give mentally to training or exercise. I did get some exercise, but I did not have it in me to care about pushing myself or trying to improve my fitness.

Anyway, that's where I'm at, not so much a #beast #motherrunner, more like just a regular mom who tries to do some exercise sometimes.

And that's that! Please share any and all traumatizing kids haircuts experiences. Please also share alllll the Game of Thrones thoughts. Spoiler alerts because sorry, it's been nearly 24 hours, why haven't you watched yet?