Three

The first day we went outside in the snow Bohdin couldn't find his snow boots. He had put them on the night before when he was stomping on bubble wrap. When he took the boots off one went under the table and the other he tossed down the basement steps. Shoes belong by the front door so they are easy to find. Bohdin doesn't have trouble with this but Nyla is always searching for shoes. Bohdin knew he should have put his shoes back where they belonged and he also knew I was not at all sympathetic to his problem. He didn't ask me for help. He asked Nyla and he wanted me to call Buddy also. He searched and searched the basement with no luck. He came upstairs upset. I suggested he pick up all of the books he had scattered on the basement floor and that might help him find his boot. I wasn't sure it would help him find his boot but he did need to pick up those books anyway. It worked. He found his boot. Hopefully we will have no more lapses about putting his shoes away. If only it worked so well for Buddy. He is forever losing his shoes. I laughed at him when he lost his pants a few weeks ago with his keys inside. How do you lose a pair of pants? It turns out it fell into a box of clothes in the bedroom but seeing him search the house wondering where he took off his pants was super funny. It took him days. Maybe that's why I try so hard to instill a sense of putting things where they belong in Bohdin and Nyla. I can see in Buddy what happens if this is never learned. Unfortunately I seem to be having little effect on Nyla. Perhaps misplacing things is genetic.

Our new dishwasher arrived Saturday morning. Buddy decided to do the install himself since they charged $150 to install it. It was a little trickier than he expected. The water shut off valve for the dishwasher didn't work so that took a little more time to figure out. There was some confusion about turning it off at the hot water heater but it was resolved. In all it took several hours to get it done but it works great and looks good. Buddy wanted to go for the stainless steel look and I'm glad I agreed. It looks very pretty. I can't include a picture because Nyla will laugh at me in 20 years about my ugly outdated dishwasher.

Buddy's truck wouldn't start Friday morning so he took my car instead. Sunday afternoon he checked the battery and the leads which both worked. We had assumed it was a weak battery. I had an appointment yesterday I couldn't cancel so we had to rent a car for a day. Monday morning the tow truck driver came and started the truck up. I wish we could have done that on Sunday so we could just drive it to the mechanic instead of paying for the tow. It started right up in neutral. Buddy was thinking it could be his transmission. His truck was sort of bucking or jumping at around the 35 mph mark. In addition he had trouble putting it into park on Thursday. It turns out it was a simple inexpensive repair. I can't remember the name of the part, it was something I have never heard of before, but it was a little bent. They were just able to adjust it and everything was fine. I don't remember the exact details of how it works but it solved all of the problems. We thought we were going to end up paying thousands of dollars for a new transmission. The repair cost less than a hundred.

Buddy has started doing some demolition work on the bathroom. He really ought to wear a mask but he won't listen to me. He makes a little bit of progress each night tearing out some tile. We need to get moving on the planning side of things now.


The appointment I had yesterday was my initial appointment for OB care. It's a military hospital and a very weird system so I was just seen by an ultrasound tech. Don't ask. Anyway we did the initial bloodwork and paperwork. In addition they did a quick ultrasound to check dates. Everything looks good for a mid July baby. I was supposed to go back again tonight at 7pm for the physical portion of the exam but I cancelled. I'm not sure I want to go with a military hospital. Being there just reminded me how impersonal and inefficient the care is at a military facility. I'm going to shop around off post. It can't be worse and it would at least be closer. Buddy, Nyla, and the Chinese gender predictor say girl. I say boy. Bohdin says boy and girl. He went on to explain that means he would be happy either way. I think Nyla will be excited about a baby until she sees how it supplants her unless she matures a lot in the next few months. She has been quite the mama's girl recently.