Typically, Dana’s evenings are chock full of appointments, leaving Deuce and I to amuse ourselves until her return. Yesterday, she had a couple of cancellations and ended up being home by about 5:30, so we decided to head over the the high school to get in some exercise. We took Deuce and his soccer ball, hoping he’d run around for a little while we took turns running/walking the track.

He loved it. He was chasing his soccer ball up and down the field. He fell a lot, mostly tripping over the ball, but he had a good time. The field is a field turf field, which means he didn’t even get that dirty. Dana walked for a half hour, and I ran 2 and a half miles in 22 and a half minutes, which isn’t a bad pace for a “man of my stature.”

We got home and cleaned up, then the little one passed out. Considering he hadn’t napped all day and ran around for a good hour, I’m surprised he didn’t just crawl into bed as soon as we got home.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve taken the time for a Deuce-centric post, and for that I have no excuses. There’s been so much going on lately that I can’t find the time to sit and collect my thoughts into a cohesive post.

Deuce is doing very well. He’s speaking more and more each day and putting words together into sentences. He’s also pretty good at memorizing stuff. In particular, he’ll start quoting his Thomas the Tank Engine or Spongebob Squarepants episodes. The latter is particularly funny, as he has memorized the following:

Spongebob: “Uhh, Patrick, what did you eat?”
Patrick: “Some roast beef, some chicken, a pizza…”

He’s still fascinated with Thomas the Tank Engine, and he’s even gotten me involved. For Christmas 2005, Grandma and Grandpa A bought him a play table for the trains. It came with some wooden track for a pretty basic layout. Over the past year or so, we’ve accumulated more wooden track that allowed some more complex layouts. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been messing with different layouts, trying to find a nice setup for him. With a trip to the hobby store for more track last Saturday, I was able to layout a pretty decent setup. Granted, he likes to destroy it every 10 minutes, but it’s kind of like building with Legos, which is a favorite of mine from way back, so I’m pretty happy to rebuild the track for him as he breaks everything.

Dana booked tickets for the “Day Out with Thomas” on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Penisula, OH. Apparently, they have a locomotive that’s mocked up like Thomas, and you go for a ride. We have a feeling little Deuce will have a blast with that, and it’s only about 3 hours away, so it’ll be a nice day for all of us.

I think Dana and I have hit the wall again. Despite keeping our daily caloric intake between 1200 and 1800 calories, we’ve both struggled to lose weight over the last few weeks. Dana may have finally gotten past it yesterday, but I’m still stuck at 243, despite being down to 240 at one point last week. It’s a bit frustrating, but considering how far we’ve both come, a renewed challenge is not necessarily a bad thing.

Last year we “hit the wall” right around the time that we went to the beach. This was a bad thing, as it threw us off our diet plan. Not that we pigged out, but we weren’t really keeping track of how much we were eating and, as such, we really didn’t lose weight from July to December of last year. In fact, I regained about 7 lbs in that time period.

This time, however, I’m determined to not “slip” like last year. Fitday has really helped us keep track of what we’re eating and has kept us on target. I hope it continues to do so.

For a few day there, it was nice: temperatures in the upper 60’s, some sun the one day. Overall, not too bad. But of course that can’t last. Currently it’s in the upper 30’s and raining…. It’s really quite depressing.

Deuce must have picked up a cold at daycare, because his nose is running like a faucet. He’s currently finishing his dinner while watching some Spongebob Squarepants. I ran on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I think it’s catching up with me. It could also have something to do with the weather.

I’m sitting here trying to figure out if we should eat out or cook. I’m really tired and don’t feel like cooking, but it’s very difficult to find something healthy for take out… I guess I’ll talk to Dana and see what she wants.

I really think Old Man Winter needs to make his mind. He’s either here or he’s not. This “50° one date, 20° the next” stuff is getting old really quick.

We celebrated Grandma G’s birthday last weekend with a trip to the Kaufman House in Zelienople, PA. I thought the food was excellent, although it was the first steak I’ve had in months, so you’ll have to take that into consideration as well. On our way out, Dana and I stopped at the Oakmont Bakery and picked up an “Oakmonter.”

Now, the Oakmonter is obviously not a good thing to have in terms of calories. I mean, anytime you have cheesecake, chocolate cake, and chocolate in such a combination, calorie counts are going to be high. But for Grandma’s birthday, we splurged. I will recommend, however, that if you live within driving distance of the bakery you stop by and get an Oakmonter (they make mini-cakes for 2 - 3 people). It’s well worth the trip.