Buckle-Up, Buckle-Up, Buc, Buc, Buckle-Up

Dad, as you may recall is hitting the slopes outside of Salt Lake City on his annual boys ski weekend, so Eddie and I flew to visit g'ma and g'pa Ohio. A trip to FLA would have been preferred, but given G'ma's recent surgery, we thought this would be a better destination.

Grandma and G'pa Ohio got Eddie an airplane (see picture) for Christmas. We didn't have room in the car on the way home (we didn't get *that* much, but did buy ourselves a giant toaster oven that took up half the back seat). So the airplane was still here for Eddie to play with. This is not just an airplane, it plays songs, has a propeller that spins (with lights), wings that fold down, etc. G'pa Ohio is so excited to watch Eddie play with this toy. He worked hard to make sure Eddie knew how to press the buttons.

Well it worked.

For the longest time, Eddie would press the button that said, "Buckle-Up, something intelligable, here we go." When you keep pressing the button at the right point, you get, Buc, Buc, and eventually, Buckle-Up. Wonder how long the batteries last.

Today he flew on his first flight as a registered passenger. I could probably make this a whole post, but we learned Edward P. Jones, the TSA wants YOU. That's right, our 11 month old is on the government's 'watch' list. Love it. Apparently there is some paperwork you can fill out to request removal, but in the future we are to travel with his birth certificate. More later on the flight...

Dinner with mom

Dad's in you guessed it, Salt Lake City. Here's a little picture of Eddie during dinner.

8-6

Not Dennis' work hours, but the hours that Eddie slept last night. Is this what people are talking about when they say their child sleeps through the night? I actually woke up feeling refreshed.

The nanny is consumed with Eddie walking. She is always trying to get him to walk and says he's lazy--he won't even really cruise--he's perfectly capable, but would prefer to crawl. When I tell her I'm not concerned she says that it's a safety issue, that he could hit his head when he tries to pull himself up. I assure her there will be a whole lot more safety issues once he is reaching beyond his 29-ish inches and once his little hand can walk around reaching even higher, we're going to have a lot more to watch. Isn't this a bit of a role reversal?

Eddie and I were playing with a light switch the other day. I was helping him turn the light on, so he could turn it off. I would take his hand and "help" him. Well now he is taking my hand and using it to play with his toys. He will grab my hand and pull it over to the toy he wants activated--bang on the keys of the piano, make the ball roll, whatever. Tonight we were playing with a large ball and he grabbed my hand and started crawling across the kitchen, towards the ball, if his my hand were an appendage of his.

Part of me thinks its funny, part of me thinks its annoying, and part of me worries a bit--what is he saying? "Look mommy, I've learned to scam the system?" or "Mommy, you're such a sucker for my cuteness." or back to the Nanny's concerns, "Mommy, I may be lazy, but I'm not stupid."

The above photos, "what's for dinner?" and yes, you are looking at the picture in the correct manner.

Savoring the 11th month

I don't really have anything to say today, but did get some cute photos of Eddie to share.

What's that noise?

Dennis and I are standing in the kitchen, enjoying a conversation while Eddie naps. We hear this noise that we can't figure out, but it sounded like it could be coming from the basement--definitely near where Dennis was standing. I thought he was kicking the cabinet. We listened for Eddie, but didn't hear anything.

Back to our conversation and we hear it again. This time is sounded kind of like pipes rattling in a low quiet, but alarming way. Uh-oh. Dennis goes down to the basement but there was nothing. He decideds to check on Eddie. Wondering how he could be making the noise I have to go too. We are used to the 'tink' of a pacifier falling to the wood floor, but that's about the only non-vocal noise we'll hear.

We open the door, and what you see in the picture is what greated us. Eddie, with his pacifier in his mouth, grins this huge smile and rattles the crib so hard, he is basically moving it on the wood floor (mind you we have immobilizers under the wheels).
Then tonight, Dennis is changing a particularly poopy diaper when he looks on the wall just in time to see Eddie painting the wall--with poop from his hand. This is when I get the giggles. I was laughing so hard I could barely open the new package of wipes after I used 4 and hadn't made a dent. Dennis is trying to keep poop from getting everywhere--mostly him and is rapidly running out of patience. So we switch places with me holding the boy under his arms while he dances all over the changing table. Yup, we have exciting Friday nights in our house--and we love it.

SLC Trip Number 1

Daddy left for Salt Lake City (SLC) today. It's a quick trip--he gets home tomorrow night. We always hate to see him go, but at least we are easing back into the travel season after a month off rather than jumping right into the 6-dayer that is coming up next month. Eddie is starting to sleep better at night, so it hopefully won't be so bad (knock on wood).

Dennis and Eddie have bath time--that's their thing (along with jogging and cooking). I hadn't given Eddie a bath in such a long time, I just realized I forgot to wash his face, which really needed it. He splashed enough water on it, should take care of most of the grime.

Every now and then while I'm doing something else in the house, and Dennis is giving Eddie his bath, I'll hear something and then Dennis will crack up. Not wanting to miss out, I run into the bathroom. The latest "trick" is to lean forward, basically to the point of standing to try and reach the faucet. It was after the demonstration of this latest trick that I suggested it might be time to move on from the baby bath (which btw, has served us wonderfully). Dennis' excuse is that it saves water.

I tried like crazy to get a picture (dangerous thing -- I know I should be watching Eddie), but it cracked me up as much as it did Dennis when it happened to me. But every time the shutter opened, he'd have sat back down again. I don't know which trick is worse, this, or when he puts his face in the water, 1/2 blowing bubbles and 1/2 ingesting soapy water which then causes him to choke.

MONTHLY --11 months

By 11 months Eddie has had 2 real colds (beyond the sniffles), chicken pox, and one stomach virus. He's a champion crawler and I think is going to be a climber. He pulls himself up onto anything and is adept at opening kitchen drawers and cabinets. No surprise, but he's got a wonderful personality. He can climb a couple stairs and will follow us from room to room. He loves being read to and music--all the stuff that kids each age like. He's now to the age where there is so much to list that he can do--he seems to be right on track developmentally and all that stuff that people ask about.

I know everyone has their reasons, but I can understand those who get addicted to having babies---that feeling of pride and even excitement as you watch them grow and learn how to do new things. The knowledge you, as a parent have about this tiny individual, what makes him tick, and watching them acheive something they've worked hard to master.

For his 11 month birthday, Dennis took him for a jog because he didn't want to nap. He giggled as he bounced along. The pictures are from right before the jog. We then took him to a re-election kick-off campaign. Finally, we took him test driving -- a minivan.

It was a very nice car and had all the "family" features and versitility one could want. It fit in our 11 foot wide (9 foot opening) garage with inches to spare. But...I'm not sure that we are the minivan kind. Den outright refuses an SUV and I'm not a fan of the station wagon. So where does that leave us? At 11 months, Eddie couldn't tell us, but he gamely went along. We've also tested the Prius, Civic Hybrid and Accord. The Camry Hybrid comes out this spring--we'll see what that brings.

Next monthly update will be one-year. I don't think I'm ready for that--I've not filled out enough of his baby book. Is there a 'pause' button?

The Brain in 3-D

As some of you may know, doctors discovered an 11mm brain aneurysm behind my mom's eye. In her quest to decide what to do, she probably did as much research as some of the doctors out there performing the surgury. She ultimately decided to go for the procedure at the Mayo clinic -- not the type of thing you can get done at your local hospital. I can't blame her--who wants to have the constant threat of an aneurysm?

Auntie M's blog provides a link that describes the procedure:

http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout
/2005/09/01/hscout527757.html

Auntie M also found that Neil Young had the procedure last year:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/01/neil.young/

The procedure went well and she is expected to be released today (Sat.) I guess the one redeeming feature of Cingular--free mobile to mobile calls so I could get the latest from my brother and dad.

Eddie had a really rough couple days. He threw up 5 times on Thurs. and 2 more times in the wee hours of Friday morning (most of these were on Dennis). I'll spare a detail of his symptoms, but throwing up was not the whole of it. He was basically refusing liquids. We were starting to get a little concerned when his demeanor changed on Friday and all he did was cry, want to be held, and sleep. The Doctor said these things usually peak in 3-5 days, so Friday would be his worst day. He was fighting lots 'o virus, she said.

After sleeping most of the day, he woke after his final nap around 5:30ish refreshed and happier--still not 100%, but oh so much better. The picture is of Eddie in his crib. There haven't really been many other opportunities for pictures ---I didn't think anyone wanted to see him post-puke.

I have to say, I was really anxious about how I would do with him being this sick--especially since we'd better get used it, having a kid and all. But it was not as bad as I'd feared. Course I wasn't the one getting thrown up on or doing the throwing up.

The 3 "P's" of a Sick Baby

Eddie's having a rough week. Between a snotty nosed cold and what we think is the stomach flu (at the same time), he's not feeling too well. And its only Wednesday. He definitely has his dad's genes when it comes to sick person behavior. If it were me, I would not be smiling and flirting with people at the grocery store (this was before he developed the stomach maladies).

So I was at a meeting tonight and Dennis was holding down the fort. Glad it was his night, below is his description of what happened:

I've had a rough evening. Eddie pooped in the bathtub on me (2nd time this week) just as I was about to scoop him out. Rince & repeat, I guess. Then when I was trying to give him some Dimeatap, he puked up his dinner & then some on me (2nd time this week). When I threw the puked up clothes in the laundry, I didn't notice the stopper in the bottom of the sink and flooded half of the basement. Maybe I'll have a beer . . .

Our snotty nosed kid

So last week we had the best week of sleep any of us has had since I was pregnant. For four nights in a row, Eddie slept all the way through till 6:30 or 7:30ish (maybe woke once for 10 seconds during the night a couple of those nights). Well, now he's got a cold. So last night he was inconsolable.

In the past, he's had colds--but those have been more of the 'congestion' type. Today, he has snot running out of his nose. To top that, he's drooling enough to put in a turbine and generate some power. The combination is such a pretty sight. Poor guy. Yet, you guessed it, he keeps right on smiling. And hey, he doesn't look all that bad in this picture. Maybe I'll wait and take one right before I wipe his nose and mouth.

So I amended this post to add in the side-profile picture. That is Eddie with a cheerio held on by snot. We've entered a new realm.