Jolly Trolley Ride

On a sleepy Sunday, after a rousing morning of Legos, Learning and singing "Les Mis" (One Day More!) all together, we decided to hop on the Uptown Trolley and head down to one of our favorite parks downtown!

Waiting for the Trolley to come was fun! It was delayed, but we talked, played some games (like Rock, Scissors, Paper and Hawkeye) and I even told you both the whole story of Les Mis.

But then- ding ding! Our ride arrived!

As soon as we got down to the park, the two of you knew you wanted to get wet- so you changed into your swimsuits and got splashing!

You splished, you splashed, you climbed, you ran. We ran into some old friends, and you played with their son Brooks while we chatted. Then we got Popsicles, played soccer with Brooks and his dad, and then we decided to dry off and eat dinner out of the Food Trucks at the Park.

Hamburgers, fries, bahn mi, pizza. Yum yum!

And while we waited for our Trolley ride home, Julia you 'gabbed' on your 'phone' with Moana and Maui.

Aidan, you played Pokemon- your newest interest!

And Snuggled...

and then our Trolley arrived!

Except it was full...and we were nearing bedtime...so we started off on a mile-long walk back to the car. We walked, skipped, rode shoulders, talked, held hands, took breaks, and then -ding ding- another trolley came from behind us and took us all the way home!

What an adventure!

Week 9: A Week in Pictures

Your friend Brooks' dad has this to say about how quickly all this baby stuff seems to go by: "the days are long, the weeks are short."

It's so true! I look back on the 9th week of your life and it felt like it zipped by, though it was filled with many firsts, set backs, cutenesses and victories!

On Saturday morning - aka party day- you put on your finest duds. But, we soon realized that these khaki shorts were already too small on you, and you hadn't even worn them yet! They were marked 'premie' and were a hand-me-down from somewhere. But you rocked them for the moment you wore them!

So it's not that you were all dressed up with nowhere to go. You were dressed up AND we had somewhere to go. First party of the day: you, me and your Mom went to your Auntie M's and Uncle Jeremy's Wedding Shower up at Blue Mesa Grill (which just so happens to be where your Uncle Jeremy and my first jobs were in High School). You had a lot of fun. I had a lot of food. You chilled in your car seat for a while, but then you had to get out, so I Moby wrapped you and that's where you chilled for the rest of the shower...and for my 3 trips to the buffet!

Then, after a brief trip home and some planning with Nanneh for the main event later on (see below), we went deep into Richardson to help your friend Brooks celebrate his first birthday! You and I creeped into one of Brooks' mommy's photographs and put on our best party faces. I hope that at your one year party you have at least half as much fun as Brooks did at his!

Then it was time for the main event. Since Auntie M's sister was in town, that weekend was jam packed with Shields wedding stuff. Saturday evening was Michelle's bachelorette party, Jeremy's bachelor party and...your first sleep over! You, Preston and Toby spent the night at your Nanneh's and Baba's house and you did really well. In fact, your Mom and I were probably more stressed about it then you were. You had a blast hanging out with them...but, I must say, for only weighing about 11 pounds, you have quite the set of acoutrements that go with you if you need to spend the night somewhere: a freezer pack of frozen milk, bottles, bottle sanitizer, pack and play with bassinet, clothes, pajamas (back ups on both (and back ups on those)), the vibrating blue chair , diapers, butt cream, wipes, burp cloths and blankets! You'd almost need a sherpa to help get all that stuff over to Nanneh's house. But you've got a Daddy, so no Sherpa needed!

You did really well at Nanneh's and your Mom and I came to get you the next morning. Then we went to stroll around the Cottonwood art Festival with Aunt Sham and Scott. You liked art..or at least the bright colors. But it was hot as blue-blazes out there, and holding while it's hot means that daddy sweated through his shirt. This summer's going to be a hot one. I may start wearing mesh. Or just keep a clean shirt in your diaper bag.

But, seems that taknig you out of your element, well, took you out of your element. Sunday night was pretty much a disaster. We thought we were smart and didn't re-set up the bassinet/pack-n-play, in which you've been sleeping (right by our bed) for a long time. You'd been sleeping so well in the cradle that we didn't even want to tempt ourselves by setting the pack-n-play back up. But Sunday night was kinda miserable for everyone. You were fussy and really anti-being-horizontal. You would sleep perfectly well on someone's shoulder...but lay you down and you started screaming like crazy! So, no one got much sleep on Sunday.

But, day by day you got better and better, and after every storm there is a rainbow.

See, after a storm Monday night, a real rainbow actually came out (and a metaphorical one).

We bathed you (which you were happy with):And dried you (which you also seemed happy with (and you also grabbed my beard):

And you slept pretty well! It took a few days to get your rhthym back, but by the end of the week, you performed an amazing sleeping accomplishment!

But first, I need to tell you about a downer. You seemed to be in pain a lot this week. You were grabbing for your ears and slobbering everywhere and chewing on my shoulder and pretty much uncomfortable for a good part of the time. At first we were worried it was an ear infection (it wasn't) or a reaction to the infant tylenol we gave you last thursday (it wasn't). It turns out that you're exhibiting all the signs of teething! This process can begin months before you even pop your first tooth, so hang in there buddy, it's happening. Here's the email your Mom sent me when she made the discovery:

"Here are some symptoms of teething :

• Drooling
• Chin or face rash
• a little cough
• biting (his fist or our arm)
• Pain
• irritability
• refusal to feed (crying at the boob, which he did this morning!)
• Diarrhea (I don't know the difference.)
• lo-grade fever
• wakefulness!!!!
• Ear pulling
• cheek rubbing
• Gum hematoma (i haven't noticed this)"

So, in sum, you're teething. And if that list of symptoms is indicative, then I may be teething too, because I've been exhibiting quite a few of those as well.

Despite the teething, you have a lot to smile about still. In fact, you smile at me! Regularly and cutely! The morning is your favorite time of day and the best time to get some good smiles rocking. Yesterday when I was working from home, I was able to capture a whole series of your incredible smile! You've also perfected what we call "moon-eyes," when your bottom eyelid goes straight and the top one arches over. It's really adorable. Heart-meltingly adorable.

You even brought those cute smiles to Daddy's office on Wednesday for lunch! You and your Mom surprised me with a lunch visit. It was so nice to see both of you...and made those lonely days at sea a little shorter!

But, of course, the biggest accomplishment of week 9 happened last night: you spent the night in your big boy crib! All by your self!

I put you to bed about 10:00 and held your hand and the pacifier and sang to you until you fell asleep at 10:20. And you slept in the crib until 3:30! That's awesome! 5 hours!

Then your Mom fed you and you slept in the crib from 4:15 to about 6:30!

And then you leaked out your diaper all over the crib...

but don't worry, we have a washing machine and have already washed all the crib stuff to try to recreate this amazing event again tonight.

You can't outsmart us that easily, little buddy. After all, we've been parents for a whole 9 weeks!

Growing Up...A Slapdash Story

You are now 7 and a half weeks old and you're such a big boy already!

This is sort of a slap-dash account of what we've been up to, but it's all so exciting that I can't synthesize it into one coherent story!

You've been to the Mall twice now! The first time (on your 6 weekiversary) you had to be held in the Moby Wrap the whole time. But last Saturday we went again with your friend Brooks (and his Mommy and Daddy) and you slept in your stroller for the entire visit! We were so proud of you!

And then on Sunday morning, you and I took our first solo adventure. Your Mommy was still sleeping at around 9:30 (she needed it), so we decided to go get her breakfast. So, I put you in your car seat, threw on some clothes and you and I were off!

We drove to Einsteins Bagels, grabbed a dozen and went all the way back home. And guess what? You didn't even cry once! What a big boy!

And then guess what? We left you with a babysitter named Nanneh all by your self for a couple of hours while your Mommy and I went on a date (a 3D, IMAX date to the movies!). We were so worried that you might have destroyed Nanneh, but you were perfectly behaved! I can't believe how much you're growing up!

Plus, you're almost like a celebrity around town now! While standing in line at the bagel store, the guy in front of me turned around and asked, "Did you eat dinner at the Cosmic Cafe last night?" (We, in fact, had- you, me and Mommy went out to dinner with Aunt Sham and Scott).

Taken aback, I said "Yes! Did you?" (dumb question; clearly this guy was there or he wouldn't have known I was. But, he hardly knew I was there at all!)

"Yeah, I recognized your baby and then looked up and saw you." (oh me? that biped holding the baby? yeah, that was me.)

Sweet huh? You're recognizable! Who knew? I think I must have been 8 or 9 before I was recognizable! That's probably because I lurked in the shadows so much.

My 5th grade School Picture

And yesterday we tried out a new chillaxing position: you laying on our tummies and chest facing up and away. You really have taken a liking to looking at stuff all around, so we figured, we'd let you look at stuff. And look at stuff you did! How cool is that?

Speaking of proud, guess what? Your Mommy can fit back into her pre-pregnancy pants! We are very proud of her! YAY! But, bad news, the pre-pregnancy pants don't fit me at all.

You were a bit fussy last night at around 10:30, but you and I talked and read books (you really like "Hop on Pop"...must be the rhythm and the rhyme, sang songs, did bicycles with our legs and bounced around and eventually you fell back asleep. I was able to put you back in the cradle until you woke up at 1:30! See what I mean about you growing up so fast?

We also started experimenting with a cure for the "witching hour"-- that time around 5-6 pm where you are inconsolable. And, after some internet research, we experimented dancing with you to Zydeco music and..guess what...it works!

So, expect a lot more of this in your future, as long as the "witching" continues:



But, really, here's the best part. Your Mom sent me some pictures of the two of you guys today to brighten my day at the office. And it totally worked!

You look like such a big boy already (even though people about town keep saying "oh my, he's a fresh one!" and "what is he, one day old?"...those jerks don't know what they're talking about. I mean, just look at how big and cute you are!)

MOM!!! I thought we were doing serious faces!

I is bored of this.

Is We Dancing?