We showed some Westley love for his 6th birthday by waking him up to a copy of Spiderman: Miles Morales and leading him downstairs to our new PS5 system. After months of following forum threads and restock trackers, I finally scored a golden ticket invite from Sony for their popular console. The ray tracing and 4K graphics were a step up from the prior Spiderman installation, but Westley was more drawn to Astro’s Playroom – the included free 3D platformer that made creative use of the DualSense controller and lots of Sony branding. At his behest, we had his birthday brunch at My Burma with grandparents, although our homemade birthday cake did not achieve Chinese-bakery-level fluffiness. The following weekend, we watched his cousin Ellie’s orchestra performance at DHS, then broke out our binoculars and telezoom lens for birdwatching with the veterinary graduate group at the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area. Back home, we solicited quotes for a backyard shade for sun-blocking and outdoor movies, and also learned the difference between window replacements and repairs from glass vendors. Our pet spider Aphider 2 reached his end of life and was replaced by a much younger Aphider 3. On TV, we watched drama unfold on the ice over doping scandals and teenage outbursts during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The Russian ice skating controversy was quickly overshadowed, however, by the country’s invasion of Ukraine, as the geopolitical and humanitarian crises sent shockwaves through the world economy. On President’s Day weekend, we learned about water conservation, solar systems, and snowflake crafting at the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity. We continued the theme at home by assembling a hydraulic robotic arm and erupting a volcano kit with coke and Mentos from among his birthday gifts. At work, I completed BMCDB & GGIP interviews and NEI grant reviews, but my stress levels surged when I was drawn into planning the NEI Director’s campus visit after my colleague suffered a last-minute medical issue. Fortunately, the event went smoothly, and I was able to restore my emotional state ahead of my upcoming travels.