acceleration

It seems the semester is accelerating or maybe perhaps I am just now recovering from COVID-19 and starting to function near full capacity.

I wanted to post because I haven't been doing the microblogging that I used to do on my Bumper group over on Reddit. The active posters moved over to Discord and I just can't keep up with all the activity over there. There is an active Bumper group on Facebook as well, but it's largely photos and links and there isn't an easy way to see all my archived activity to cut and paste the text over here. So I guess I'll start posting here as much as I can or at least with the goal of several times per month.

My kiddo's word list seems like it's rapidly expanding now. He talked himself to sleep last night with an endless stream of half-nonsense and half-perceptible speech. He says funny words like butt and fart. He can say "ice cream cone" very clearly when he wants one. He says "green bike" every day as he runs to the garage to go to school. I'm so glad he finally loves the bike! 

He says "ka-kee" for cupcake, "tee-kaa" for tic-tic. He says "cow" for milk and "ka-koo" for popcorn. He is trying to say something for chicken nuggets but I can't really distinguish it. I'm not sure what he says if he wants just string cheese but he definitely says "hot cheese" for mac & cheese. He doesn't want to be called baby Albert anymore, just Albert. He lets me know about things that are fast by saying "beez" which I think means Blaze. He says "Gook" for both Goofy and his scooter. He says "chee No" for chicken nuggets.

When we're getting dressed, he is starting to have opinions about what color shirt he gets. I ask him for the color of the day and he tells me. "Led" is red. "Gold" is orange. "Lello" is yellow. "Geen" is green. "Boo" is blue. "Pup" is purple. "Gee" is grey. "Back" is black. "White" is white. He is refusing to wear a long-sleeved shirt over his t-shirt even though the temperature is in the 60s on the way to school.

Every day he wants to "pick car" which means going to a store that sells cars, looking at all the cars, taking about 30 minutes to touch each car and comment on it, and then ultimately buying one (or not). He loves to "choose" for himself. "Buy ka-kee" is also a recent hobby which is to go to the store and buy 12 cupcakes, and eat only the sprinkles off the top of every single one.

He says "cup" instead of cut. He talks about getting a haircut. He loves going swimming, he says "pool wa" which means he wants to go in the pool water and swim. Swimming is totally fun now, Albert climbs in and out of the pool using the stairs. He jumps off the side of the pool and tries to grab his floating cars. He is very independent and can motor himself pretty well from one area of the pool to the other. One day he even was doing a backfloat on his own, which he rarely allows.

I'm thinking about Halloween already, it's not too soon. In 2021 we represented three of the four Hogwarts houses. Albert was Gryffindor, I was Hufflepuff, and Mike was Slytherin. That was our first year of trick-or-treating at the LA Zoo. I think the only thing I bought for that costume was a onesie for Albert and a patch for Mike. In 2022 I bought two pairs of PJs from Old Navy. One was a doctor and I made cardboard cutouts of an ambulance to camouflage the BOB jogging stroller. The other was a firefighter and I made cardboard cutouts to dress up our cargo bike as a fire engine.

We went on a costumed bike ride which was on campus at CSUN. It was cool to see everyone that dressed up but unfortunately, the pace of the ride was so fast, we got dropped almost immediately. This year, I got Disney PJs of a racecar driver for #95 Lightning McQueen ($30). I plan to make cardboard cutouts of a racecar and attach them to our beach wagon. I bought a steering wheel that makes sounds (Disney Pixar’s CARS 3 LIGHTNING MCQUEEN Rev N' Roll Steering Wheel by eKids, $15). I got two "pit crew" t-shirts for Mike and me to wear to coordinate and support Albert ($20 each, Kohl's). So I guess I really went in this year. I am ordering decals to be color-printed to make the racecar more realistic and I was considering buying spray-paint to make the red car and yellow lightning bolt quicker to paint.

My husband thinks it is time to take another formal family photo for our Christmas cards. I'm not sure. I actually love the photos they take at Disneyland for free. Well, it's free to get your photo taken. You have to get Genie+ to download the digital version. I dunno.

I kinda feel like it's time to buy running shoes again. I am loving my Lularoe shirts that I wear for work. I am loving my pull-on skinny jeans. I don't care that skinny jeans are going out of style, they're practical for biking to work. Signature by Levi Strauss & Co. Gold Label Women's Size Totally Shaping Pull-On Skinny Jeans. I wear and wash them every night after lab. I went by the size chart and measured into a size 20. Disregard what Amazon recommends based on your other orders. I feel so grateful that I have a wardrobe I can just walk in there and grab something without overthinking it.

I'm struggling to set a date to go back to Disneyland. I definitely want to go at least once per month so I guess I just need to set the date and commit to it. Spirit Jersey: peach ($43), blue ($64), purple ($35). Minnie ears ($19), running skirt ($15) via Poshmark and Facebook Marketplace. I found out that if you're in Anaheim but not at the park, you can go to Target or Walmart and find Disney merchandise for much cheaper, I think I got this shirt for $6.

I did buy myself a bunch of mom appreciation gifts (and one dad appreciation gift). Instead of buying $1000 of clothes to get these incentives during World Breastfeeding Week 2023, I just bought the incentive gifts. I think the color-changing cup is 100% fun and I love it. I love the phone grip and the keychains. I'm not wild so far about the twist-front nursing tank and the ribbed nursing tank but maybe they'll grow on me. I also got a pair of LM leggings ($26) with no pockets. They are more comfortable than the leggings I got from Amazon.

I got a legging organizer from Amazon but I'm finding it more useful to organize my son's outfits. I can roll up together his shorts and shirt that match and he can see them and pick/choose what he wants to wear. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BMYV21TN/ 

We're trying to be on a spending freeze and we're crossing our fingers about the student loan forgiveness. I should be eligible now, but the repayment for all borrowers is resuming next month, so there is certainly a flurry of activity as borrowers try to get loans forgiven or in forbearance. They are saying it will be 30-90 days until my paperwork is processed.

covid blues

So I got the fall 2023 edition of COVID on my very first day of work

8/23 - W - mtgs

8/24 - R - babysitting

8/25 - F - tired

8/26 - Sat - day 0 - sore throat

8/27 - Sun - day 1 - sore throat + tired - tested negative

8/28 - M - day 2 - sore throat + headache

8/29 - T - day 3 - tested positive - extreme sore throat

8/30 - W - day 4 - extreme headache

8/31 - R - day 5 - leg pain

9/1 - F - day 6 - leg cramps

9/2 - Sat - day 7 - back, leg, foot pain

9/3 - Sun - day 8 - leg pain

9/4 - M - day 9 - fine

9/5 - T - day 10 - fine

9/6 - W - day 11 - fine

The worst part of this is trying not to spread it to others in my household. It's a blessing to have cool weather so we can be together outside. We've been going on long slow walks, which has been helping with my leg pain. We're talking about going to the outdoor pool, the farmers market. Maybe we'll find a drive-in movie.

It's been interesting having Albert back in daycare. I got the house to myself for the two days when my symptoms were the worst. This was so helpful. Mike did everything around the house plus covered two of my classes at work. So thankful for a partner I can trust in those moments.

folding a stroller

We did a new thing at Disneyland this past visit, we parked on-site and rode the resort tram service into the park. To do so, we had to fold our jogging stroller and squeeze it into the bench seat with us. All while managing our 3-year old and multitude of small coolers, backpacks, and diaper bags.

I'm saying all this because we weren't expecting to take the Tram but that's how it works if you park in the Mickey & Friends parking structure. You are funneled from the elevator or escalator, to the security and bag screening, to the Tram. Once our kid saw the Tram, of course he wanted to get on it. 

These tips would have been good to know ahead of time: The front seat of each tram car is wider if you need extra space for your folded stroller. Also you don't need to rush to board the tram. After we got on, they waited a bit for it to fill up so really there was no need to hurry. Also, the tram seats have doors which you need to be able to hold open. So you really need a second or third adult to hold the door, move the stroller, and wrangle the kid.

If you don't have a stroller, you can take this cool escalator.

Since we are magic key holders with an Imagine Key, we could get 25 percent off parking at the Toy Story Parking Area, just South of the GardenWalk. Restrooms inside the Toy Story Parking Area are located near the bus stop. If you park in the Toy Story lot, bus service will take you from the parking area to the parks. The bus will drop you off on the opposite side of the Disneyland Esplanade from where the trams stop, on the Harbor Boulevard side. You can also walk to the parks; it is about a 15-minute walk up and across Harbor Boulevard. (for $22.50)

"From the second floor of the Pixar Pals structure, there is a pedestrian ramp that takes you to the Downtown Disney entrance. You can enter security there and then walk through Downtown Disney to get to the Esplanade. It’s about a 15-minute walk. Once inside Downtown Disney, you may instead opt to take the monorail into Disneyland Park instead of walking. (The monorail does close early at night, so don't count on it taking you back later at night). The monorail turnstile counts as a park entrance, so once you scan your ticket, you can use or purchase Genie+ to start making Lightning Lane selections. We like to mobile order breakfast from the monorail and pick it up at Galactic Grill after disembarking."
https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/disneyland-parking/

"Toy Story is a surface lot. There is no covered parking, so you won’t have to deal with escalators/elevators/stairs like you do at the parking structures. However if it is raining, windy, very cold or very hot – you’ll be loading and unloading in the elements. Many people find the Toy Story Parking Area more convenient than the parking structures, as there is rarely a back-up of cars waiting to enter and once you’re in you don’t have to drive up a ramp and circle the levels to a spot. Exiting is quicker, too!"
https://www.californiafamilytravel.com/disneyland-parking/

All this to say that by folding the stroller first thing in the morning and then having to cram it in the tram, I hurt my back. Also the walking was killer that day, I was not prepared. We got so many steps. You can't actually cross Magic Way or Disneyland Drive on the street level, we had to backtrack to catch the ramp to the second level. So I have some training to do to get my steps back to where they need to be to be able to enjoy a day at Disneyland.