Friday bits

I’ve realized that when you are trying actively to lose weight, that is pretty much all you talk about. I know I knew this, but couldn’t actually shut up about trying to figure out how many calories was in every single thing I ate and why, oh why, couldn’t restaurants give me nutrition facts so I could make an informed decision about what I was eating. I knew this, but not until my husband decided to lose weight too did I realize how exceptionally annoying it is. I try to sit and read and he sits there with the MFP app, telling me how many calories was in every single thing he ate during the day. So. I will try to keep my blogging about those things to a minimum, and I’m mum at work now. I will just quietly log my calories, thank you.

And thank you for not complaining about it.

I will say (I know, breaking my own rule already) that last night I made a meal that I knew would be fairly low in calories but I couldn’t really figure it out. I cut up cod and coated it in egg wash and Italian bread crumbs and baked it, and then I sliced up two strips of bacon and cooked a pound of brussel sprouts in that. But. When I went to tally the calories for each of our meals I realized (I tallied this several times, and wrote the recipes into MFP to confirm) the ENTIRE meal was 494 calories. That included a few strips of fish for each of the kids, two strips that were left over, and about ½ a cup of sprouts leftover. My own meal was 105 calories.

So if you are counting calories and need something low for dinner, you know what to have that’s not salad.

I had frozen yogurt for dessert.

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I don’t know if I’ve mentioned here how hard it’s been for quite a while to leave the house in the mornings. It’s hard enough that I don’t want to leave, but Henry was crying every morning about going to daycare. I would have worried more about why except that I have asked him pointed questions with no fearful answers – he just doesn’t want to go. He wants to stay home or go to grandma’s (he goes to my IL’s once a week). Once he gets there, he’s fine – he runs straight in and gives her a hug and doesn’t look back, but the time that he’s throwing himself on the bathroom floor crying while I try to do my makeup – it’s hard.

Since it’s summer, Spencer is now back to going to daycare through the week as well. There has been significantly less complaining since that happened – still a little whimper when he can’t go to grandma’s but nothing like it was. I guess he just missed his brother during the day. Plus, they are doing way more fun things – the water park weekly, library, playground, skating, and today they are going to the aquarium. We pay extra for some of the outings but they are at a daycare discounted rates, and hey – I don’t mind paying for them to have a great time during the day even though I’m sitting at a desk. She clears the field trips ahead of time with me so I can decide if I want to pay for that, and if I don’t she does the verboten trips on the day they aren’t there. Busch Gardens – I refuse to spend the money on Busch Gardens when my kids can’t ride most of the rides. That’s a Monday trip.

And yes, she takes 6-10 kids to these places, sometimes with her sister-in-law. She’s my hero.

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I talk a lot about how much Spencer reads, but every time he blows through a book it really blows my mind. I broke down and brought him home the last two Captain Underpants because he loves them so much and he finished #9 in two days. C made the comment that he reads faster than he does! And then he told him all about it, so he’s actually retaining the information so I’m just so impressed with him. He’s obsessed with reading – books in the car, pouting because he can’t take it into the mall with him, the whole deal. When I put off requesting those two CU books from the library because I wanted him to read some of what he already had (which he was, but he wanted those books, darn it!) he asked me every day when I picked him up if they were in from the library yet.

I thought at first he wasn’t retaining the story because he had a hard time telling me about the book, but when we asked about specific characters, he could tell us all about it. He has trouble finding a starting place to tell about the book, I think. His comprehension is there but not his retelling.

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And lest you think Henry has no interest in reading (C thought this), Henry has started asking constantly to be read to. If he doesn’t have a book in the car, he pouts too. There’s this anthology of Disney stories we have, and he points to the picture of the story – “What’s this one? Read me this one.” He’s doing well on the Hooked On Phonics app I downloaded during teacher appreciation week, although I don’t know how much it helps. Anything that gets him excited about reading, I’m all for.

I’m excited about reading. I want my kids to be excited about reading. Even if it’s about pee and poo and boogers, apparently.

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We decided to forgo a birthday party tomorrow to go to Disney. We don’t usually do that even though we are always at Disney, but we decided we needed a break from obligations and declined all Saturday offers. Spencer was trying to get together with a friend but we nixed that too – is that selfish? I did tell the other child’s mom that we should work out another day for it, so hopefully it’s not too mean. Sunday C and I are going out of town for a night and wouldn’t see the kids and it just … well, I guess I don’t need to make up excuses as to why we are going to Disney, but damn it we’re going to Disney. We’re even going to eat there, in a sit down restaurant, which is really unheard of for us.Hollywood Studios and Epcot, we’re coming for you.

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I got a picture of Henry’s hair! He still hates it, but C has asked if I’ll cut his hair exactly the same so I guess it’s just Henry. (C keeps his hair short on the sides and longer up top because it’s very thin, but I think he’s finally coming to the conclusion that keeping it longer is not making him look like he has any more hair.) I’m scared to death to cut his hair though. Power through, I shall overcome.

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And finally, you should read this. If you are reading my blog, you probably already know Emily but if not, you should – this is a great post. #gohugo has affected all of us in my little corner of the internet, and I’m so glad that good tidings for the sweet boy are reaching near and far (Kimmy Gibbler did a #gohugo picture, people!) and I wish all the best for Marianne and her family. Internet! Good!