Twitter: August 22

2009

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 7:02 AM
Calvin was muttering off and on since 5 this morning. However, he didn’t really wake up till around 7.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 11:05 AM
Calvin likes to try to hold his bottle while I’m feeding him. Usually he just gets in the way but he actually held it today.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 4:48 PM
Today I held a 1 yr old who was just a couple pounds heavier than Calvin. I couldn’t really tell a difference between the two.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 5:02 PM
Calvin’s cranky and I don’t know why.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 5:50 PM
Well, still no idea why Calvin was cranky. He refused to take a nap. In desperation, I gave him food but he only ate 3 oz.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2009 5:50 PM
In spite of eating so little, eating did calm him down and he’s now happily playing with his activity link gym.

2010

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2010 8:05 AM
Just concluded breakfast with pastries from the Old Fashioned Bavarian Bakery. Yummy :)

2011

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2011 11:34 AM
Calvin is now signed up for 1 day of swimming lessons and 1 day of gymnastics a week in September.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2011 6:38 PM
From daycare: “Calvin had fun coloring a picture.”

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2011 6:58 PM
I’m getting a little confused using two computers side-by-side one with Dvorak and the other with Qwerty.

2014

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2014 4:22 PM
Calvin has been signed up for piano classes. I’m hoping this is a good idea . .

[In retrospect, no, it was not a good idea.]

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2014 4:24 PM
.@calvinsdad
points out that I’ve played piano longer than his new piano teacher has been alive. I’m feeling old . . .

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2014 4:34 PM
Speaking of old, I looked up my code for my genetic screen blood test. I’m not an advanced age any more, I’ve morphed into “elderly.”

2018

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2018 2:59 PM
Calvin requested a “Jokes for Minecraft” book and it arrived today. I foresee a lot of groaning in my future.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2018 10:32 PM
Willow is still going through the “I’m going to meow at you every 5 min while you’re trying to sleep” phase in retaliation for us taking a vacation.

2019

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
We’re at the “little playground” in Phoenix Park. I like this alternative to the tire swing. It’s much better balanced. I can make Calvin scream when I twirl him :)
In the foreground is a large tripod swing structure with a circular net to lay down and swing on (a tire swing replacement). In the background is another play structure.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
This is Julian’s turn. I did not try to make him scream.
In the foreground is a large tripod swing structure with a circular net to lay down and swing on (a tire swing replacement). Julian is knealing down on it and holding on to the ropes. Calvin is standing in front of the swing looking toward Julian.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
We saw this park by mistake, on the way to the zoo, and as I feared I’m now having trouble dragging them away.
In the foreground is a large tripod swing structure with a circular net to lay down and swing on (a tire swing replacement). Julian is knealing down on the swing with his back to the camera. Calvin is grabbing the edge to push the swing.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
Sign at Dublin Zoo, “Do not stand, sit, climb or lean on zoo fences. If you fall, animals could eat you and that might make them sick.”
Green sign on fence says Do not stand, sit, climb or lean on zoo fences. If you fall, animals could eat you and that might make them sick.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
The zoo has a really nice *covered* playground.

Jungle themed playground with a yellow metal roof on top but open on three sides. The back of the plaground has a fake rock wall that almost reaches to the ceiling. The playground equipment is mostly wooden. There's a wooden palm tree. The roof is supported by orange metal beams.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
Here’s a link with better pictures. I’m envious, I want one of these in Seattle (without an upper age restriction). https://web.archive.org/web/20171218003321/https://dublinzoo.ie/News/66-98/New-The-Play-Forest.aspx

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
It’s so busy it’s hard to avoid other kids.

Jungle themed playground with a yellow metal roof on top but open on three sides. The back of the plaground has a fake rock wall that almost reaches to the ceiling. Julian and Calvin are walking across a rope bridge.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
Julian is a penguin.
A penguin statue with a cutout around its face. Julian has stuck his face through pretending to be a penguin.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
Julian and Calvin.

Julian sitting on top of a penguin statue grinning at the camera. Calvin is using the penguin wings to stand behind Julian and lean over in a playfully menacing way. Women in pink shirt behind the boys staring at them clearly thinking they're acting weird.

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
Calvin’s justification for eating ice cream when it’s not hot, “it won’t melt as fast.”

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2019
This meets the official Stone-Logan definition of a tree.
Calvin trying to hug a large tree. His arms circle less than a third of the tree. Julian is standing in wrong of the tree.

2020

Kiesa @spreadsheetmom Aug 22, 2020 7:39 PM
Willow is back!

(Long thread below.)

For context, we arrived at our new place early afternoon yesterday. In the evening it seemed like it was cooling down outside so I opened our windows, all of which had screens on them.

What I did not realize was that one of the screens was loose in the frame and could be pushed aside by a determined cat. So at our new house, in the middle of the country, Willow went on a nighttime jaunt. Except I didn’t realize it.

I woke up twice during the night. Once when I heard a cat yeow loudly and once when I heard an animal shriek. They sounded like Willow so I got up and stumbled through the house. I didn’t see Willow and assumed she was hiding somewhere under the couch.

It wasn’t until morning that I realized she hadn’t been in the house and the noises I heard had been Willow outside. My brain immediately jumped to the worst conclusion: She had either been injured/killed or had gotten scared, ran away and gotten lost.

I set out water and her favorite food in hopes that she would smell it. However, instead it attracted a huge swarm of wasps. I was able to get it away from the wasps but clearly that was a bad idea.

Every couple of hours I’d go outside the house and call for Willow. She never answered but 2 of the neighbor’s dogs did (they’re free roam over the whole property).

After supper, @calvinsdad
went out with a flashlight and took a closer look under the deck. (I had looked first thing in the morning but hadn’t seen her.) However, @calvinsdad
did find in scrunched up in a hard-to-get-to part of the deck.

I scrawled on my belly under the porch and held out my hand as I called to her. She got just close to smell my hand but was clearly traumatized and wouldn’t get close enough for me to get her.

Unfortunately, I had used up the last of the good cat food (more is suppose to come today but it hasn’t arrived yet) so all we had was her dried food. @calvinsdad
brought me a bowl of it and she was hungry enough she would scoot forward a bit to eat.

She’d take a bite, then look around me to the back yard and growl. Then take another bite. Eventually I was able to get close enough to grab her by her neck and now she is safe inside again.

Though this experience, combined with already being traumatized by the move, probably means we need to send Willow to cat therapy or something.

On the upside, I’ve learned to test the screens before letting the windows stay open.