I went into this long weekend with 0 expectations. I didn’t set the bar high or low…I just told myself to go with the flow and see where our days took us.
And guess what…it ended up being really fun!
You see, our four day weekend started on Friday because both Kaiden and I were off from school and work. Vishnu was around but sporadically since he’s in full time study mode (but definitely home more than I expected him to be). With it being just me and K, I figured things would get tiring fast, but to be honest, my almost 2 year-old surprised me with his attitude and energy. Don’t get me wrong, our four days were peppered with tantrums and tears, but nothing that I couldn’t handle with the help of a few deep breaths.
I should also mention that the weather was incredible this weekend (for the most part). Mother Nature decided to give us a pass with some hot temps/sunny skies! And when it did rain, it was usually in the middle of the night or in the early morning.
Ok so let’s take a deeper dive into Memorial Day weekend 2019…
FRIDAY
Vishnu had an early morning board review to attend, so Kaiden and I started our day by playing in the living room. But by 7:30 am we downstairs hanging out with our favorite doorman because K wanted to go ‘outside.’ I’m sure we were a sight to see!
We then eventually made our way to Target so I could return something. Since it’s less than 0.6 miles away, we walked, which worked in our favor because Kaiden found a huge pink ball that he obviously wanted to take home. I couldn’t even entertain the thought since there was no where to put it! So when he dropped it, I made eye contact with a sales associate and asked him to take it away as fast as he could. He laughed and did exactly that!
The threat of rain kept us inside the rest of the day, but I did manage to squeeze in a Barre3 online workout (with lots of breaks to accommodate Kaiden!). We also FaceTimed with my grandma, my parents, and my in-laws.
SATURDAY
Kaiden woke up happy, which helped set the tone for the rest of the day. Funny how the moods of a two year old dictate everything!
I signed up for an early morning Soul Cycle class, the last in my package. That meant a nice long walk into the Loop and back, which I truly enjoyed. The class was awesome too – old school hip hop! A great way to end my 20 classes!
Once home and showered, I decided to make a Trader Joe’s run with Kaiden…his first! We had a great time…in fact, Kaiden became very fond of the bread I asked him to hold for me and wouldn’t let go. Silly boy!
We made our way to the park after lunch. Of course!
And then we had a super fun play date with our new friend Rohan and his mama. Mownika and I “met” via Instagram, and when we realized our boys are around the same age, we tried to meet up multiple times. It finally worked out! Check out my Instagram post to see what Kaiden thought of the few hours we spent together! Hint hint – he was obsessed with Rohan!
SUNDAY
Sunday morning started out on a cranky note. Not sure why, but we rolled with it.
After lots of playing and some eating, Kaiden and I headed out to get his hair cut. It had been more than 3 months since his last one, and I know he didn’t care, but it was getting so insanely long! Talk about ‘big hair don’t care!’
We ate and played some more after we got home. Thankfully, Vishnu came home for lunch, changed Kaiden’s diaper, and put him to sleep. I told him that I was going to nap while K napped…and that ended up being almost 2 hours!!
So we think (and we haven’t tested this enough yet) that Kaiden’s home naps ended up being disasters because 1. we didn’t put him down at one set time (like at school) and 2. we didn’t have a routine around them (we now very quietly read a book to him in his room…in the dark). I’m going to test this for a few more weekends and will report back. If this works, let me tell you, GAME CHANGER!
I wanted to take Kaiden to the park in the early evening but didn’t feel like running around after him (#realtalk), so instead we walked almost 2 miles (roundtrip) for some ice cream! We went to Jeni’s in the West Loop and shared the salted peanut butter and the dairy-free Texas sheet cake flavors. Both were delicious!
I’m pretty sure K had a sugar rush afterward because as soon as we got home he was running around all over the place! I was surprised he ate as much as he did for dinner.
Our day ended with some silly dancing and singing along with the Elmo channel courtesy of Alexa!
MONDAY
This was our chillest day of all! And I’m sure it’s because mama and dada needed it. Ha!
We basically hung out inside, did a Barre3 online workout (a 30 minute workout that took me almost 50 minutes), FaceTimed with family, and an had an afternoon playdate with a friend from school.
NOTE: K took a 2 hour nap!!! That NEVER happens. I put him down at 1 (read a story and rocked him for a few minutes) and he slept until 3. MIND BLOWN!
So I must admit that I was a little nervous about having Kaiden at home for four days mostly on my own. But it really was a lot of fun, and I didn’t feel alone because Vishnu made sure I got to do my own thing here and there. He also studied at home and took breaks, so that helped me out a ton.
Anyways, here’s to our last (in a while at least) long weekend without Vishnu around full-time! He takes his boards in a few weeks!!!
