Month in Review: April 2022

Main Events

It finally happened: after 25 months of successful avoidance, we got covid. Most importantly, infant C3 appears to have come through it okay. He had an intermittent fever for a few days, and is still fussy and clingy, but has mostly recovered. I guess only time will tell if he has long-term effects. For me, I would say the flu was worse, and I’ve had worse colds (including a terrible one in January 2020 that Could Have Been Covid But We’ll Never Know). But that is ONLY BECAUSE OF VACCINES! I have a new level of sympathy for everyone who got sick pre-vax. I lost my sense of taste and smell, but it’s already mostly returned. I’m still not feeling 100% though. Between taking care of a sick baby while being sick myself, and daily childcare struggles when we and most of the baby’s caregivers had covid yet we still had to work, and trying to stay afloat at work and at home, I’m exhausted. Check on your friends with young kids. We are not okay.

Anyway, I’m relieved that we’ve gotten it over with, and it was a convenient time to do so. Now we can (theoretically) enjoy the summer.

Reading

New releases by two of my favorite authors on the same day.

If March was a lackluster reading month, April more than made up for it!

Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile (4.5 stars) It’s Brandi Carlile. What more can I say?

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad (4 stars) I was reminded to pick up this memoir, which had been on my TBR for a while, after seeing Jaouad and her husband Jon Baptiste on CBS Sunday Morning. It’s moving and informative.

Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez (4 stars) The conclusion of the Friend Zone romcom trilogy. It was pure enjoyment and, I think, my favorite of the three.

I Guess I Haven’t Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working by Shauna Niequist (5 stars) Niequist has been my favorite essayist for over a decade (I met her once at the Festival of Faith & Writing and was too fangirly to speak). The years since her last book have been very eventful, and I COULD NOT WAIT to see what she would say about her dad, her dramatic move to NYC, the state of the world, etc. I related to her more than ever, and skimmed through the book again immediately after finishing it to highlight things.

Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives by Mary Laura Philpott (5 stars) In this second essay collection, Philpott shares profound thoughts about her son’s epilepsy diagnosis, loss, change, grief, and anxiety… and somehow it’s not depressing. I LOLed multiple times. This is the best thing I read this month. Note: with both this and Niequist’s book, it was weirdly relieving to be reading an actual book that included people’s pandemic experiences. Like books have finally caught up to reality.

The Guncle by Steven Rowley (4 stars) Former sitcom star Patrick takes in his niece and nephew for a summer after their mother (his best friend) dies. I found Patrick pretty off-putting in the beginning, but am glad I pushed through because this ended up being a sweet and funny story.

Wayward by Dana Spiotta (4 stars) A Syracuse woman has a midlife crisis via real estate, leaving her suburban family to devote herself to an old, falling-apart bungalow in the city. Not a ton actually happens in this novel, but aging Midtown hipsters like me will enjoy it.

Watching

Painfully relatable:

Better Call Saul is back. I had trouble getting invested for the first two episodes, but episode 3 sucked me back in (very sad about what happened!!). In movie news, I tried on two separate occasions to watch The Eternals and never even got to the halfway point.

Listening

In more popcorn-emoji, these-are-my-celebrities news, Jen Hatmaker went on Glennon Doyle’s podcast this month, both alone and with new boyfriend Tyler Merritt. I cannot recommend these episodes enough. I agreed with many of her statements out loud by myself in my car, and related both to Jen’s experience as someone who once had a “model Christian marriage” blow up very painfully, and to Tyler’s experience as an older single person who had built his own life before getting into this new relationship.

Taylor is on a waiting list for an electric vehicle, so I appreciated this from Pantsuit Politics: 5 Things You Need to Know About Electric Vehicles.

Around Town

As you know if you follow me on any socials, the Grizzlies are in the playoffs! Playoff time in Memphis is a one-of-a-kind experience. The further we advance, the more hyped and tired the city gets (thanks to those late Western Conference time slots). We’re currently in the second round against the Warriors and almost no one has picked us to advance further. We’ll see!!

At the beginning of April, we took C3 to his first Redbirds game (and first baseball game in general)! We only stayed for a few innings, but he had fun. We went with friends who were once my primary social activity circle, but thanks to the pandemic and everyone’s schedules, this was the first time most of them had met my 10-month-old. It did all of us good to be together and continue our Redbirds opening day tradition! <3

Kara and I took our babies to the Dixon Gardens to see the tulips. They were breathtaking!!

My pastor had an art show on a Friday night, and I decided it was time for C3 to get some culture!

Travel

I hadn’t been “home” to Miami since August 2019. That is a long time for me. I felt weirdly emotional about leaving on our last visit, like I might not be back. At the time I attributed it to being pregnant (I miscarried a week later), but maybe it was a premonition. This month we finally returned with our rainbow baby, as well as Taylor’s parents, who had never been to South Florida before. We enjoy the Hallandale/Hollywood area, which is where I hung out on weekends as a kid, so Taylor booked us a nice Airbnb there. I was very nervous about C3’s first flight and big trip, but he was such a trooper! He had fun, took most things in stride, and did not melt down on many occasions when he would have been justified in doing so. When he felt overwhelmed, he just clung to me and/or fell asleep. Also, shoutout to the song “Five Little Ducks,” which has defused many a tense situation.

The 5 stages of introducing my baby to the ocean: 1. Avoidance 2. Observance 3. Uncertainty 4. Fear 5. Nap trapped on the beach while eating a Pub Sub

(New swimsuit)

When we arrived, my parents had already been in Miami at my grandfather’s for several weeks. They towed their boat down with them, so we got to ride around Biscayne Bay and eat at our favorite place, Shuckers. I was excited for C3 to have these important family milestones. I’ve been out on the bay many times, and I have NEVER seen as many dolphins as we saw this day. Three different pods! We followed the last one for a while and saw a dolphin jump out of the water. It was incredible.

On our last day, we went down to Key Biscayne and ate at Boater’s Grill on the water. My parents had gone earlier that week and exclaimed about how their lobster was the best-priced in Florida. It was not the best-priced on a Saturday, but I still enjoyed it. We also saw MORE DOLPHINS in the lagoon.

Taylor said he’s going to start yelling “DOLPHIN” when I have the hiccups.

Most importantly, C3 got to meet his great-grandfather (and uncle and cousin) on this trip. It was a short visit, but we hope to go back soon.

At Home

Azalea time came and went so fast this year! I wanted to take some traditional nice azalea pics with both C3 and Rufus, but we were sick and just not up to it. Taylor has been working hard in our yard. He sodded the entire backyard, overseeded the front yard, dug an extensive drainage ditch, and planted my tomato bed. This year I have four varieties plus a tomatillo! In the greenhouse I have a lot of different peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini. No pictures yet – more garden info next month.

We’re having cleaners come this week for a deep spring clean. I just have not had the capacity to keep the house up to my standard. I’m very excited!

Beauty

Two new prods I’m liking: a new Herbal Essences heat spray, and this CeraVe retinol (a step I had not yet incorporated into my routine). Also, COVID TIP: I bought a gua sha set years ago and hadn’t used it in forever. I suddenly remembered it while I was sick and thought it might relieve some pressure/drainage in my face and neck. I used it in the shower for several nights and really think it helped! Gua sha has a lot of health benefits. There are plenty of instructional videos about it on YouTube.

Baby Update

I don’t know if there’s something about the tenth month, but C3’s personality really started shining through in April. I feel like we’re actually communicating – he can do “all done,” clap on command, is chattering a lot and says “uh-oh” (fellow Enneagram 6?!? too soon to tell). He is also THIS CLOSE to crawling. All the components are there, he just needs the motivation for that final forward-propulsion piece. He is standing with support, and I think there’s a good chance he might walk by his birthday. Exciting times!! There has definitely been some behavioral regression since having covid, but I’m hoping it will pass soon. I’m nervous to let him fuss it out much because I don’t know if he’s still having symptoms. However, he is behaving well for other people so I think it’s more of an “act the worst for mommy!” situation.