Father's Day in January
What a nice ending to the holiday break. Today I focused my energy on my boys. Annie has not been feeling well the past couple of days so I decided to take the boys out for breakfast and let her rest. The three of us headed to our local Starbuck's where Liem gets his customary donut and chocolate soy milk. This was actually Hudson's first time with us and so I had to think for a second about what to get for him.
Recently Starbuck's has been selling oatmeal warmed to order. Ah, perfect! I asked them to use soy milk to balance it out and soften it a bit for him. So there we were, enjoying a boys morning out. Blissful but also a bit of controlled chaos. Both boys got a sugar rush and were all over the store by the time we were done.
After breakfast, we headed to local grocery store for some much needed supplies. We spent the next hour so picking out our meals for the next few weeks. Hudson was strapped to my chest in the Bjorn and Liem rode in the cart. I was a fully stacked father and again relishing in the moment a bit.
My brother had generously gave us a few games to the Clippers while he and his family were out on vacation. Today was the last game and I had planned to take Liem. I had taken him the weekend before, but he wasn't in the best of moods then and we ended up leaving after only two quarters of play. Today he seemed more ready. Perhaps it was the daddy time from the morning, but whatever it was, he was in a good mood. I grabbed the binoculars on the way out thinking it would be a good distraction for him. It worked! He spent at least a quarter of the game searching the stands for the ice cream man and spent the other time eating his ice cream and watching the game a bit. It was a good game and the Clippers kept it respectable through three quarters. They were playing the Detroit Pistons and Alan Iverson is now their superstar. I love watching him play. His boundless energy, skill and even his attitude make for a very entertaining game regardless of who he plays for or against.
After the game, we headed home. Liem fell asleep on the way home and I transported him to his bed rather easily. After that I spent some time on the kitchen floor with Hudson sharing some leftover popcorn from the day before. I would sit there and he would just saunter up to me and lean on me with his mouth open waiting for the next morsel. Hudson is such a good eater, but Annie and I fear that he's allergic to many foods. It's an ironic curse to bestow on him, but given his appetite I'm sure it will not deter him from enjoying whatever he gets to eat.
My next mission was to move my mother's car, stored at my house while she was on vacation, to my brother's house. They are arriving the next day and so she needed it there. I drove the car over and decided that I would run home. It was a cool day and perfect for a run. I ran my old route from his house towards the mountains across one of my favorite running strips along New York Drive (I love that it's called this) and then back down to our house. Probably a good three to four mile run, it caps of a decent vacation of running with friends and finally a solo.
Tonight we prepared a steak dinner with veggies and pasta in about 20 minutes and watched a bit of Planet Earth (one of Liem's Christmas gifts). It's really amazing to me that a nature or wildlife documentary can seem as, or more, engaging to Liem than any Pixar movie. It's so cool to watch him absorb what he learns and then retell it later.
Hudson was on fire tonight and exhibited similar energy stores to Alan Iverson. Running all over the house and crawling over everyone, he finally fell asleep exhausted. I gave him his bottle tonight, which I have grown to love doing and snoozed a bit with him in bed. He's growing so fast these days, but I'm not complaining.
I really enjoyed today. We seemed to do so much in one day. I'm exhausted but I wouldn't have it any other way.
