The Countdown to 2

Felix will be 2 in just a week. He's getting more independent every day and his language skills and antics continue to entertain me.

He doesn't know colors or shapes yet and he's nowhere near ready to start potty training (those seem to be standard toddler benchmarks.) But in everything he does, I can see the gears turning. He loves to study the world around him and see how things work. He is really focused on jumping lately. When I pick him up at daycare, the first thing he does is run over and jump, as if to show how much he's practiced during the day. He still can't stick the landing unless he's holding my hands.

His favorite words lately are gone and see. He combines them with words he already knows to ask questions and talk about where we've been and where we're going. "See mommy, see? Puppy." or "Baby gone? Hou." (When we leave the house of a friend with a baby.) He asks where we're going when we get in the car with "Boppa hou?" (Are we going to grandpa's house?) And everything that isn't in the room with us is "gone". I noticed a while ago he would say every word like a question, possibly seeking my confirmation he'd chosen the right words and was understood. But in the past couple of weeks he's started saying them more confidently, so not everything is a question.

After learning to blow air out his nose in swimming lessons, I had to reteach him to blow with his mouth so he can blow out candles next week. Anytime he hears the word "birthday", he says "hot" and blows out an imaginary candle. 

Pretending to sleep... with a smirk.

Helping with dinner.

He learned to press the keys and move the accordion to make music - I never showed him!

He can take his shirt, shoes and socks off. No pants yet.

Back to the Drawing Board

The 70s house I liked went back on the market, they accepted my offer, and I paid for an inspection. Almost $4,000 worth of repairs were found to be needed, and the seller basically said nope, sorry. She’s not willing to have anything repaired and won’t budge on the price.

Her agent spent days trying to talk some sense into her, with no luck. Idaho is a full disclosure state so anyone who tries to buy that house will have access to the inspection report. It’s going to be very difficult for her to sell it without fixing stuff or coming down in price.

I’m frustrated I lost the inspection fee and wish I’d known up front the seller wasn’t going to consider making any repairs. I wouldn’t have gambled $350 on a house that old.

Determined to end the week on a positive note, I met up with a friend for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. It's just what I needed. Good food, wine and conversation, and Felix was his usual well-behaved self. It's so nice to just switch gears and clear the mind on a Friday night. 

Emotions, Housing, More

The more we have to talk about, the less I post. It's hard to fire up a computer at the end of a long day when I can hardly drag myself off the couch! So I'll hammer out a quick update and it'll have to do.

Emotions
Felix went through a little emotional spurt where he practiced different faces at himself in the mirror. Grumpy, surprised, happy, etc. It was pretty hilarious noticing him do it the first time. He's also started folding his arms and looking down in protest, and other non-verbal behaviors to communicate how he's feeling. It's an interesting phase to witness.

House Hunting (Yes, still)
I've learned houses in my desired areas fall into one of 3 categories, pretty cleanly by decade.

70s - Moderate square footage, big yards, wood stoves and/or fireplaces, rarely completely updated
80s - Split level (so nothing is at ground level), 2,000+ square feet, kitchen/living upstairs and steep wooden stairs leading to backyard below.
90s - Small houses (1,200 sq ft), small yards, usually cookie cutter, near noisier roads, no mature trees

There's nothing newer in town unless it's overdone houses crammed on top of each other on a random infill lot.

Homes built in the 70s most closely match my needs. One story, two living areas, separate laundry area, nice sized yards. I looked at one on Thursday and made an offer, then found out the house wasn't supposed to be on the market yet! The agent was new and she screwed up. So they took it off the market, relisted at a slightly higher price (it would have been a STEAL otherwise), and we're in the offer/counter offer phase of the game now. I'll still come in under budget and be able to keep my townhouse if this works out. (Big wins.)

House Selling
I've had a whopping two showings in the 6 weeks my house has been on the market. But online traffic to my listing has grown like crazy every week, and my neighbors say that people drive by and stop to look all the time. My neighbors also raved about how great my place looks; naturally they checked out the listing online. Meh. I'm not desperate to sell at this point and sort of want the waiting game to be over.

Work Work Work
I'm loving my "new" job. My commute is so much more relaxed than my old one, and the sun shines into my office every morning. When you start each day that nicely it sets a good tone for the rest. We opened a new location today and so far business is great (people actually started showing up last week). As Director of Marketing, I don't hesitate to claim credit for this success. :) Wednesday is our ribbon cutting ceremony and cookout targeted at the business community, and so far everything is coming together nicely.

Extracurricular Work Work Work
I never considered myself a person who can't say no, but I find myself in the midst of organizing the invitations for my dad's retirement party, chairing an event for our local adoption group, starting up a community garden (seriously why), and completing an application for award I was nominated for. And planning Felix's birthday party. There's something about April/May that totally overloads me every year!

I'll leave you with a picture of Felix learning to use his balance bike tonight while wearing the dog's puffy coat.

Edited to add: I've had to stop worrying about the uninsured driver incident. She's giving me the runaround and making all kinds of excuses for not being able to reimburse me the $500 deductible. I will file in small claims court, she will still owe my insurer more than $3,000, and if I ever see my money again, I will pretend it fell out of the sky on my lucky day.

Sicky Poo

More than a week ago I got a sinus thing that turned into fever and chills, then came the coughing and laryngitis. My back and neck are sore from coughing all night. Exhausting. And on top of it, Felix had a little fever/virus that kept him out of daycare a couple of days. We filmed our new TV spots this week so I couldn't stay at home on the couch and had to work late, which I'm sure prolonged my recovery.

But we're both on the mend now and I'm taking today off to spend it with Felix. Our first fun thing was running outside in our jammies to watch the garbage truck dump the dumpster. Then we're going to visit the aquarium for the first time and see where the day takes us after that.

No news on the house front. My agent got one call about my place and internet traffic is almost double what it was last week, but no showings yet. I'm not sure if it's the weather or people waiting for their tax returns, but it feels like everyone's window shopping, waiting for something to happen before they really start moving.

One morning before we left the house he was just laying on his bedroom floor feeling bad, so I set him up in my bed.

Hurry Up and Wait

After rushing to list my house for sale, I kept my phone handy in anticipation of getting lots of calls right away. Everyone said it would sell fast, and less than 24 hours after it was listed, I got the first call. Woo hoo! I thought. It's showtime!

That appointment ended up canceling about half an hour later, and there haven't been any calls since.

Hmm. Web traffic is good, so I guess the right buyers just aren't looking yet. There isn't anything else like mine (or within $5k) anywhere in Boise, or even nearby towns.

So I get to keep the house clean and sit around waiting for the phone to ring. Every time an unfamiliar number shows up, I get a little hopeful. But no, all of them this week have been about my car repairs.

It hasn't been as hard as I thought to keep everything show-ready. It's just a pain having to do every load of laundry and dishes 100% through completion every time. No leaving anything to put away later.

On an unrelated note, I made Felix cry his first tears of shame tonight. He didn't follow me downstairs like he usually does, so I went back up to find him digging in the cat box - a first for him. There was a big pile of cat litter and a cat poo on his lap, and litter was all over the carpet. I didn't raise my voice, but acted like it was a big mistake that had to be cleaned up fast. His mouth slowly turned down and he just sobbed in embarrassment while I undressed him and washed his hands. (He knows that's where the kitties go potty because he hears them scratching and we look and talk about it.) I was glad he took it seriously but I also felt bad, since he's typically allowed to explore the house without getting into trouble. So I changed the subject quickly and we got on with our night.

A while later he came and sat in my lap and said cheee!, which means he wants me to take a selfie of the two of us.

Ohhh This Week

After meeting with my broker Friday, I decided to sell my townhouse instead of keeping it as a rental. It's the best way to ensure I can afford enough house to last us at least 10 years. So last weekend was a flurry of activity finishing up getting ready to move - scrubbing baseboards, refreshing/resealing grout, wiping walls and cupboards, etc. The plan was to list today.

Monday morning I got a call from daycare that Felix had a fever and I needed to pick him up. On my way there, I was rear ended while stopped at a red light. The other driver was a nanny with kids in the car. Everyone was okay, aside from a minor muscle strain in my neck/back. It took about an hour for the officer to get all the reports written up. "She didn't have proof of insurance," he told me, "but I do believe she has it." There's probably $2,000 - $3,000 in damage to the back of my car.

So I got to daycare, picked up Felix and headed to urgent care to get checked out. I wanted any injury documented right away in case it got worse.

Tuesday was all discombobulated because I had to rearrange meetings and enlist my parents' help to watch Felix while he recovered. I was feeling the pressure because we have three big events this weekend that I have to prep for, in addition to usual deadlines.

That afternoon I got a call from the insurance company - the other driver took out her policy after the accident happened, then lied about what time it happened. So I had to send them a screenshot of my call to police to report it. (See, this is why you should always call police, even in a minor accident!) I will have to go after her myself to collect medical bills and my $500 collision deductible. Thankfully I have collision coverage.

Last night was my listing appointment with my Realtor, and today my house is officially for sale! How I made it to Thursday night without having a panic attack is beyond me. I'm incredibly frustrated with the driver who hit me, and resentful about all the time I've spent helping Geico prove this woman is committing insurance fraud. I'm pissed the $500 will have to go on a credit card or come out of my house down payment, neither of which is ideal right now. I'm putting the finishing touches on a certified letter that will give her two weeks to reimburse me without going to court...hopefully she does the right thing.

Road Trip Recap

Overall we had a successful 4 days in Utah. Felix did amazingly well on the 5-hour drive each way, spending most of the time looking out the window, looking at books or playing with toys.

We spent the weekend with my SIL's family, and together we had 6 kids ages 7 and under, including 3 two year olds and a newborn. Felix absolutely adored the baby, and quickly learned that if he cleared off the couch and sat in the corner, I'd let him hold her.

 

 

Such a sweet boy.

On Friday we met up with a childhood friend and his family and went to the children's museum. Then we visited some friends who happen to be adoptive parents too, and later we visited the lovely land of Ikea. It's a good thing I don't have our new place yet, or I would have spent a small fortune on all the cute home stuff.

The tongue comes out when he's concentrating.

On Saturday, our biggest outing was taking everyone to Rancho Market, where we bought bread for breakfast and had dinner.

Eating a fried flour snack at the in-store tortilleria.

On Sunday we went to the baby's blessing (no photos allowed in church), then had a big lunch before loading up the car and heading home. It felt so good to get back! One thing I've noticed about having a toddler - 4 days on vacation is plenty.