At The Beach

Be back next week. . . we're on vacation!

Sunday Brunch

Decisions. . .decisions. . .

http://www.annsather.com/Restaraunts%20Pages/Broadway_Bkfst.html

Getting There

Today for the most part we had more laughs and smiles than moans and cries. Well, except at medicine time; those are screams (note to self: always, always, always confirm there's flavoring for the antibiotic. . . )

My mom spent the evening in the city with Ryan, so we went to go pick her up after we dropped Jason off at the airport. (Yes, I drove in the city again! I'm a pro now. Ha ha.)

We had brunch at the always delicious Ann Sather's then spent a few minutes playing at Ryan's apartment with Ernest Hemingway. Will seemed quite intrigued on this second meeting of the kitty, but not as thrilled as playing with Rachel. The smile above is from watching Rachel tonight.

So, Will seems to be getting a little better. Apparently he gave away his cold; my mom has a nasty cough and I'm super congested. Geesh!

TGFG

Thank Goodness for Grandmas! We like Grandpas around here, too, but my mom and mother-in-law have been real lifesavers to me these past nearly 8 months. They've been such a huge help when Jason is out of town for work and I am in town but working my year-round busy schedule.

Who but a Grandma would. . . .

• hold your 5 day old baby so you can sleep for 2 hours between nursings, while your husband is away closing on your new house?
• hold your 2 week old baby so you can get a nap. . .and a haircut?
• baby-sit your 7 week old baby so you can have your first date since the baby was born?
• baby-sit your 5 1/2 month old baby so you can have your second date since the baby was born?
• baby-sit your 7 month old baby so you can have your third date since the baby was born?
• sit up all night with your sick baby, so you (and he) can sleep. . . that's where we are as of last night. Will has an ear infection that got him sent home from daycare on Monday, and is now only sleeping when he has a human pillow; the second you put him in his crib he's sitting or standing up wailing. Let's hope she can get him to eat food and take his medicine today, since I wasn't successful yesterday when I stayed home with him.

• unpack your entire house in 100 degree temperatures while you sit on the couch with a 3 1/2 week old baby?
• drive in a snow storm to help with your 6 1/2 month old baby while you work at the office until 6 and at home until midnight every night?
• shovel your driveway multiple times per day during above mentioned snow storm?
• make you delicious and nutritious dinners so you have a little more energy to work until midnight?

I know there are even more examples to share, but I'm too tired from my day home with Will yesterday to think of anymore. Luckily, the trip that Jason is taking (and why my mom was already scheduled to visit) has been deferred until Saturday, so hopefully we can get a little normalcy over the next two days and the weekend. And hopefully we finally all kick these bugs!

Sick Day, Part 3

Do you recognize the telltale signs of baby's cold? The glassy eyes, the red cheeks, the snotty upper lip? Jason got "the call" at 5 o'clock tonight that Will had a fever. That means he can't go back until Wednesday. Urgh!! Although, he did feel warm as I was holding him tonight, and he had a cough overnight. The runny nose was new tonight. Hopefully this one passes quickly. . . .we just finished the 10 day course of antibiotics from when he got sent home two weeks ago today.

Weekend Work

I had to work at the office all weekend, so Jason and Will were left to their own devices all day, both days. I was thrilled to get home last night and see the Baby Bjorn on the couch and a well-cleaned house! Looks like Will was Daddy's Little Helper. Of course, since I wasn't there, I didn't get a picture of Jason wearing Will in the carrier, but here's a recent picture of him helping me.

I'm proud of Jason for making it two full days alone. I had the easy job of going to the office!

I'm at work again today - technically a firm holiday, but it's quiet and hopefully I make it through my to do list.

Since I had to be at work both days this weekend, I finally drove myself to the city. Every other time we've ventured downtown in the car, Jason has driven us, and I commute during the week via train. I'm fine driving on the highways; it's the off/on and the city traffic driving that has always worried me. Happily, the exit and entrance ramps from/to the highway for my office are pretty generous, and I only have to drive a few blocks through the city to get to my building. Oh, and there isn't much traffic in the business district at 8:30 on a Saturday morning! :-)

Trivial Thursday Post

I always love seeing these comparisons, so figure other people do, too. I actually have an entire "carseat photos" file that's pretty fun to flip through. Once Will outgrows this seat, I'll have to post a slide show of all of the pictures. We bought his new seat over New Year's weekend since Babies R Us had it on super sale, but we're keeping it in the basement until he's too long for the carrier. It's just still easier to get him in and out with that seat. We aren't ready for the learning curve of a new chair/buckles when it's cold outside!

1 1/2 Months Old

7 1/2 Months Old

Will and I did our own thing last night, since Jason is in D.C. on business. If any of you have read Lost Symbol, he was meeting with the Capitol Architect! He had dinner at one of our favorite Penn Quarter restaurants, which made me realize how much I miss D.C.!!! Not to mention it's Restaurant Week, which was always blog worthy.

My post seems trivial, though, as just before I logged onto my blog, I read my friend Mandi's blog where she posted about a good friend of hers (our age, with a 2 1/2 year old son) who lost her battle to breast cancer. Give your friends and family extra hugs and kisses today -- and everyday.

Self-Feeding

Mr. Independent likes to stick his fingers in his dinner bowl and grab the spoon. When I'm in a hurry, I try to keep the bowl out of reach or offer him a different spoon to hold. Tonight, I let him use the spoon with the food. He was very frustrated when I tried to help him too much, so eventually I just put food on the spoon and set it on his tray for him to grab and carry to his mouth. You can see the result was MESSY - and this was when we first started! But, everything's washable, and it was bath night!

Health update: Jason is still coughing, and my nose is pretty stuffy but not constantly running (unlike Friday at work. . .). But, Will seems mostly recovered. Hopefully we're all on the road to recovery.

Wisconsin Roadtrip

We went to southwest Wisconsin on Sunday and Monday for the BAPI holiday party at Boscobel Bowling & Banquet. It was Will's first trip to Wisconsin since we had to miss Apple Fest at the end of September. Everyone LOVED the little guy.

Two members of the Will's Wisconsin Fan Club: Lindsey and Bailey
Right before Will's introduction at the banquet as the newest member of the BAPI family.

Buck was a fan, too. Will was not a fan of Buck. . .

We had to move the pack 'n play shortly after this picture.
Starting the 4 hour ride home. There were only 3 1/2 hours of distractions.

Hello, fans!

As soon as we got home, he crawled right for the exersaucer and got to work.

The town where Jason's company is located is very tiny (pop: 625), and I really enjoy all of the small town fun of it! Of course, I love my trip to the neighboring town's Dairy Queen when I'm there, too! We'd go to Culver's for custard, too, if I had my way, but Jason isn't a fan. We did get lunch at A&W, though. I was actually really impressed with their food - especially the french fries and diet root beer!!