Weekly review: Week ending September 23, 2016

Posted: Sep 26, 2016 - Modified: May 29, 2019| review, weekly

We started the weekend with lots of cooking. A- played by herself while W- and I prepped, cooked, and washed up. It was almost like having both of us at normal productivity, wow! I'd like to get back into the swing of cooking for the week ahead. It makes weekdays a lot easier, and I feel good about getting all of that prep work done.

The CNIB caseworker conducted a detailed assessment of A-'s vision, using blinking toys and other tools to check her field of vision and her ability to notice, track, and reach for things. The vision in A-'s right eye appears to be perfectly fine, and she's learned to compensate for her limited field of vision by turning her head. The case worker will send us her discharge notes since she probably doesn't need CNIB's help at the moment. We can ask for her to be reassessed if it looks like she needs help with things like crawling, walking, or navigating. The school board will conduct its own assessment when she's ready for school. In the meantime, the case worker suggested keeping an eye out for signs like A- cutting corners or bumping into things. If we need to help A- tell the difference between door frames, floors, and walls, we can use reflective tape to highlight the edges and increase contrast.

One of the things the CNIB caseworker checked was if A- could roll over both ways. A- hadn't quite gotten the hang of rolling to her left before, but the glowing toy was irresistible, so she figured it out and looked very pleased with herself. Now she rolls and rolls on the bed, which is on the floor and against the wall for precisely this situation. Roll, roll, roll. She spent some time figuring out why the wall stopped her from rolling further, and testing if it would keep doing that even if she rolled away. I think she's starting to make her peace with it.

This week's Make the Connection program session focused on how to help babies feel safe and loved, even when they're fussy or afraid. Mirroring and validating their emotions, soothing or distracting them, and taking care of ourselves so that we can take care of them… So far, so good.

I traded the glass bottles that A- hardly used for two bags of baby clothes. We'll see if those work out! This bartering thing looks promising, especially for things that people value differently.

After crunching the numbers, I submitted this year's health expenses to my private health spending plan provider. They've added an online submission process. Yay not having to print and mail receipts! This year has been pretty good, although I'd still like to make it out to the dentist if I get a chance. It would be really neat if I can squeeze in a massage or two as well. A- might be okay with it, if W- is around. I should just go and book things. Maybe after J-'s closet is finished…

Lots of consulting as I pick up the ball I dropped. Squeezing it into the early morning hours, and sometimes during the day with W-'s help.

W- has made great progress on assembling J-'s new wardrobe from Ikea. He's also been working on custom shelves to fill in the rest of that wall. Everything looks neat. Whee!

Blog posts

Sketches

Focus areas and time review

Business (6.5h – 3%)
- Earn (4.7h – 73% of Business)
- Build (0.7h – 11% of Business)
  - ☑ Round up the receipts for PHSP
- Connect (1.0h – 15% of Business)
Relationships (6.7h – 3%)
- ☑ Check out follow-up session
- ☐ Check on RESP to see if it's been set up; transfer if so
Discretionary – Productive (6.1h – 3%)
- Drawing (3.9h)
- Emacs (1.7h)
  - ☑ Fix my config
- Coding (0.1h)
- Sewing (0.0h)
- Writing (0.0h)
Discretionary – Play (0.0h – 0%)
Personal routines (18.3h – 10%)
Unpaid work (66.6h – 39%)
- Childcare (56.8h – 33% of total)
Sleep (63.9h – 38% – average of 9.1 per day)