The Best Compliment a Mom Can Receive

Den ditched us for dinner tonight so he could do a work dinner. Only problem was we didn't learn this until 7pm, so Eddie had another late night. Poor guy. At least we are finding that he does okay with a goofed up schedule. As we left the hotel, a woman got off on the wrong floor, explaining that she had been distracted by the adorable smile Eddie was flashing. Cracked me up. Course how many times have YOU gotten off the wrong floor because of a cute guy/gal?

We went to a resturant that was equally as close as the one last night (love being able to walk to so much), but at least they had highchairs. I was a little aprehensive when they didn't have children's menus, but the woman cheerfully explained they usually give the kids a partial pasta plate. Eddie has subsisted off of pasta, brocoli, cheese, applesauce, tomato, and bread (plus an odd meat, depending on what we eat).

They seated us at a table in a small room with 3 other groups. I got nervous when Eddie started banging on the table, but surprising to me, each time I distracted him with the 'ole, "where's your nose?" game, he fell for it. I mean, how many more times will that work? He kept looking around, seeming to be looking for someone with whom to flirt. When the couple immediately behind him (who were speaking French) failed to even notice his existance, he tried extra hard, flashing his smile and bouncing in his seat. Eventually he won them over and at the end of the meal, the man in the party commented on how well behaved Eddie was. Such music to my ears--as well behaved as a 15 month old can be.

Eddie also got his first kiss tonight from a girl named Addie who picked him up in the bar part of the resturant. She's his buddy Lizzie's age and pecked him on the cheek twice while I was trying to get him to blow her a kiss. It was quite cute. Eddie seemed kind of bored by it all, so apparently still holds a flame for Lizzie--or some other girl?

Can't believe there is no picture from today, but this was from dinner out with Eddie's buddy Eli and his parents the night before we left for Maine.

When Good Parents Make Bad Decisions

We went for a walk on Tuesday at low tide across to Bar Island. Reachable by foot only during low tide, you can then climb to the top, a pleasant walk through wooded areas, with meadows full of Lupine flowers and on the way back, a huge deer bounded across the path right in front of us, making us stop in our tracks. Looking into the woods, we saw another doe, waiting to cross the path. Not quite as large as the first--got my heart beating, I'll tell you. The whole trek, round trip, took 25 minutes--but talk about a cool hike.

Here is part of the sand bar that we walked across. I went by today (Wed.) and right about where I was standing to take this picture was the part that was submerged, midway between high and low tides.

This is at the top. Den carried Eddie the whole way on his shoulders. Eddie played in the rocks at the top and would have happily played all day in the rocks on the sand bar, but Den had to go to his conference, which was the whole reason we are in Maine.
Here we are later in the day. Eddie was just being crazy, climbing all over, and Den snapped this in our hotel room.
This is pretty much the view of the sand bar as we set out on our hike.

Eddie had a great day today Tues.). He slept all night long in his Phil and Ted's T2 Travel Cot. Everyone woke feeling refreshed at 6:30 so we could make the hike across the exposed sand/gravel bar at low tide to Bar Island. Here are some pictures of the hike. I'll get to the 'bad decisions' part later--trying to work whilst Eddie naps.

As for the bad decision. Agreeing to go to dinner at what we thought was too fancy of a resturant. The kind where they don't really want kids. Well, it was even fancier than we thought--took over 2.5 hours to eat dinner and that didn't even include dessert. I'm not kidding when I say that I think they had to ask the resturant across the street for a highchair. When I asked the waitress for some pasta for Eddie, she replied that it was what they planned to serve him. He had a horrible night. Was wild, uncomfortable and this was exacerbated by his mother forgetting everything but the bib back at the hotel. He kept choaking on the water we gave him and finally puked, he was coughing so badly. I think part of it was his teething, but that only explains so much. Fortunately we were only a block away, but there are only so many times Den will run back.

They put us in a back room, away from everyone and the coolest part -- one redeming aspect is that it is adjacent to a room that has access to the kitchen, where the chefs are cooking--people pay good money and reserve a long time ahead to eat dinner in the kitchens of fancy resturants and here Eddie and I were standing there watching the chef who apparently cooks for Donald Trump during the winter in Palm Beach. We finally left at 9pm, me feeling horribly guilty that Eddie was not enjoying himself and that we take him to a fancy resturant and he has about the worst dinner-out experience of his young life. Will not repeat!

Anyone Know How to Work Dial-Up Anymore?

Save this image in your mind, for it's part two of the story and got deleted somehow.


We're in Bar Harbor, ME for the week while Den attends a conference. This is the first business trip we've gotten to go on with him since FLA last Sept. (you may recall Oct. was the month of Chicken Pox, right after our return home).

Den booked us in the conference hotel, the Atlantic Oakes, pictured here with the wood shingles on the outside. Their website was somewhat lacking in photos and information, promising only ocean views from every room, but we were still optimistic--I had visions of room service with Eddie on the nights that Dennis had to work and Eddie playing with the stones on their pebble beach. As you can see from the picture, rustic would be a good descriptor.

They had tried to do some updating--a new countertop and sink, newer furniture (inside anyway), but it couldn't hide the fact that this place had seen better days. And those days were a long time ago--in the days of shag carpet.

After check in, we tried to remain positive, afterall, Den would have the convenience of the conference hotel, and we did in fact have a nice view of the ocean from our room. It was about a mile from downtown. You can see the inside of the hotel, below. Now to be fair, this is after we had checked out, so the beds were made nicely when we checked in. Between each hitting our heads on the grab bar of the bathtub while bathing Eddie to the ant trap under the room refrigerator, the deal-sealer was when we discovered there was only dial-up internet. Five nights of dial-up when we had both planned to do work -- was more than we could handle.

Anyone who knows Den knows he is not one to change his mind, so I was shocked that he was even interested in switching hotels. While he put Eddie to bed, I did some research (thank goodness we brought the AAA book on Maine) and found hotels with high-speed internet in their listings (I know this sounds bad, but seriously, it would have been a whole week before I'd be able to post again to the blog). Two hotels looked promising and had rooms available, so we decided to check out and visit them the next day. By the way, Den will likely insist it was also the noise from the balconies above and that it took almost 1.5 hours to get Eddie to settle into bed that caused him to want to switch.


This is the room of the 'new' hotel we are staying in. The first picture is the exterior. Granted, the room is not mussed by a night's stay, but it is SOOO much nicer. Besides high speed internet, and day light coming through the windows, it is head and shoulders above the other place. The view is of the swimming pool, but we are barely a stone's throw from downtown--within walking distance of basically everything except the conference.

And the kicker is that this room is almost $20 cheaper than the other one. While it has youth on it's side--only 3 years old, the staff really treated us well, were friendlier and we didn't have to get in the car to go to dinner.

I'll submit another report if Eddie doesn't tucker me out too much tomorrow while Den plies his wares. Will have to post pictures of Eddie in transit and of his new mini-pack and play (fraction of the size and weight).

15 month update

A couple days late, but here it is. We don't have our doctor's apointment for a couple weeks--insurance likes you to be past your birthday--so I'll report the offical findings then. I can't find where I put a 14 month update. Hmmm. Is there something about birthdays ending in 'five' that make them seem more important?

We've taught Ed how to blow kisses. It was very easy to do and took hardly any time before he caught on. Now we can get him to blow kisses easier than we can get him to wave 'bye-bye'. It's so funny to watch him put his little hand to his mouth, make the mmwwaaa... noise as he gestures out with his hand.

According to our guesstimates, he weighs about 24.5 pounds. He has definitely grown in height as measured by what he can now reach. He is grabbing at door handles and can basically push the front storm door open because the handle is so easy to push. He can reach just about to the back of the couch and can almost pull the top drawers open in the kitchen.

He can now turn lights on AND off. Up until a week or so ago, he could only turn them off. He seems to be equally proficient with the nobby switches as with the newer rocker style switches.

It seems like he is starting to change his preferences for toys. Some of the old standbys no longer hold his interest, or even capture his attention. It's difficult to let go of those toys though, as every now again, just when I have about decided it's time to put them away, he gets really engaged by one of these toys and I decide to leave it out for a little while longer. In the end, I think it will be me who is more attached to the toys than Ed.

Walking--anyone who placed a bet has lost. I don't believe anyone thought it would take him this long to start walking. He will walk back and forth between 2 people--I think the most steps he's taken in this way is maybe 9-12. He will walk pretty big distances holding onto one adult hand. Yet, if he really wants something, he still drops to his knees and scampers off.

People are always commenting on how blond Eddie's hair is getting. The way they say it, with such expression of surprise, "Eddie is getting so..." and I expect them to say 'big', as that's what I think. He's really morphing into a toddler now--and just happens to be toddling about. But what they wind up saying is how blond his hair is getting. True, it has changed from a darker brown at birth into strawberry blond and now it is starting to get a little lighter still--just like his dad. But I still see it as a strawberry blond. I have pictures Den's mom gave me where Den has bright white hair, so I won't be surprised if that's the path his hair takes.

His napping schedule is in that unpredictable stage, where he still seems to like a morning nap, and will either sleep for 1-2.5 hours, and then depending on the length of his morning nap, may take an afternoon nap, to get him a total of 3 hours of sleep. On the ocassions where he skips a morning nap, we can get a longer afternoon nap, but then he can be so grouchy in the morning, that we just try and get him to sleep. So, it varies by day. I have the feeling that his childcare situation this fall will dictate a particular nap schedule emerge.

He very clearly understands far more than we realize and is quite good at communicating--either by pointing and making associated noises, or by pulling your hand over to what he wants. In the morning, when I am trying to wake myself up after bringing him downstairs, he will literately grab my shoulders and pull up, telling me it's time to get up and play.

He likes the whole eyes, nose, mouth game, and has expanded to ears, head and belly button (which he finds hysterical). Still learning these and still learning how to point to his own features. He also loves to blow raspberries on our skin, just like we do to him. He's pretty good at it, too.

Waiting for daddy

Dad had a couple late nights this week. Apparently the neighbors have too, as their nannies were staying later in the day than they typically would. So they came over to hang out with Eddie and me while we waited for our relief to show up.

Eddie and Lizzie both have these little cars (ours is a free rental--not from Avis, surprisingly, but from the neighbor). There was a third child, Zach, who spends a lot of time with Lizzie during the day. They took "turns" sitting in the cars and pushing the cars.

I got a bunch of cute pictures of them, but this was one of the better ones. Lizzie's nanny was holding onto Eddie and he was having a ball.

24 hours

Den and I were putting stuff in the attic. I had asked him 3 weeks ago if he had put the new mattress on Eddie’s bed. He said he had. I stuck my head inside the attic, and there in the plastic bag (opened) was the mattress I had so recently purchased. He thought I had put the new mattress on, and so hurled the new one up in the attic (apparently impressed that I had put the old one in the plastic bag). How he failed to notice the pristene condition of the new one versus the very used condition of the old one is beyond me. We had a good chuckle over improved communications after that one :)

Last night Den was writing a proposal till 11pm so they could hand it in the next day. Eddie and I brought he and his colleague dinner. At least he was not on a trip. Today he finds out the government is extending the deadline--for the second time.

The nanny I was scheduled to interview at 4 was lost in a 1 square mile area for over 40 minutes. I kept thinking she would find my house. I finally told her I would come and meet her. I come to find she not only didn't have a map, but hadn't bothered to look at one before trying to come to my house. She was great, but only had 2 references and one was either not a native English speaker, or just not an effusive type and so there was a bit of a language barrier combined with uncertainty on my part. Ugh. How can I hire someone who can only give me 2 references, and one of them I can't understand/tell how happy (or not) she was with the nanny? It'd be one thing if I knew the people recommending the nanny, but this was a random woman.

Then, the nanny I interviewed today was Phillipino. I was really excited about her, everything looked good on paper. Then we got to talking and playing with Eddie. Despite numerous opportunities and encouragement to play with Eddie (with me sitting on the floor), she never once sat down on the floor to play with Eddie, but instead stood bent over--similar to what i saw her to with the current children she watches. And she balked when I asked about watching 2 kids at once, something her current employer said was no problem. She didn't seem interested in the job. Plus she was, lets say great-grandmother potential, so 2 kids indeed may be too much for her.

Both nanny interviews, I unexpectedly found myself in 4:30/5pm rush hour traffic going down the hill to the subway station, in stop and go traffic. Ugh. Not fun. I knew I had a good nanny, but I definitely didn't know how good she was until now. Plus, I had total piece of mind, which is what I lack at the moment with the choices before me.

I'm worried about putting him in home-based daycare because one person is allowed to care for up to 5 kids and from my experience they often agree to take on more kids than that on a part time basis. That said, I do have one option, albeit a bit of a drive that might work in that regard. Eddie is on a waiting list for a daycare (which seems to be more strict with the caregiver/child ratio), so I can also hope something materializes by August. But in the meantime, I enrolled him in a pre-school on Tuesdays and Fridays during the school year, so at least I have 8 hours in the fall.

And, yesterday, I spent a bunch of time trying to sort through options to get Dennis to his 25th high school reunion in Wisc. on the same weekend a dear friend is getting married in Pennsylvania (fortunately on a Sunday). I think I got it figured out, but it involves a pit stop in Ohio to drop Eddie off with G'ma and G'pa Ohio. I'm tired just thinking about the trip, but know it will be a good time and definitely one of our more ambitious trips with Eddie and he'll get to see both sets of g'parents.

Those are just some highlights from the last 24 (now 48+) hours. And of course some more pictures from the visit with g'ma and g'pa Ohio.

Oh--and Eddie turned 15 months on Monday--I'll write one for that later. Look for it to post ont he 22nd.

His first Airshow

I say 'first', because if his G'pa Ohio (and possibly Uncle Kevin and Den) have their way, there will be numerous airshows to follow. Not to mention battlesfields and museums of military stuff.

Had a great time. It was a beautiful day--little windy, but temps in the mid 70s, sunny (the clouds cleared all day until by the time the Blue Angels flew, there was barely a cloud in the sky).

Above, g'pa Ohio and Den are waiting in line for one of the many planes you could go in or peak in the cockpit of. Now if only they were offering rides...
G'ma Ohio had Eddie duty a lot of the day while we waited in line. Sorry to say, I can't tell you what plane this was a propeller of, but considering there wasn't a plane there that g'pa Ohio wasn't able to identify and give a little info about, he might be know. Kind of like a landscape architect being able to identify a tree in the winter without leaves.

In this next picture, g'ma and Eddie sat under the wing of a B-1 bomber while we waited in line for 45 minutes to climb up the same ladder the crew uses to see inside the bomber. Very cool--and it had a woman pilot around my age.

So about the sleeping...Ed fell asleep during one of the loudest parts of thw show--while a F-22 was in the air--was turning on his afterburners constantly. He stayed asleep through all the other shows, including the Blue Angels. Every now and then when there was a loud noise, his whole body would jump, shaking the stroller, but he didn't wake up until almost the end of the show, when the Blue Angels were almost done.


I think we're under the wing of a C-130 here, but then they all run together for me. And to think I actually thought it would be neat to join the Navy--until my dad cautioned me I don't take orders well enough to survive.

They're here

G'ma and G'pa Ohio have come out for their monthly visit with Eddie. I need to head to bed, but wanted to get these photos up for Den.

They were taken this afternoon, while we waited for the g'parents. And note, we aren't in the kitchen.

Slim Pickin's

Didn't get around to taking any photos of Eddie today and then realized Den was away tonight (hence the babysitter/our regular nanny in the picture so I can run off to a meeting). I also realized why I had such long periods with no posts--Den has been in town almost 4 weeks in a row. Much as the grandparents think this site is for them, Den always enjoys seeing the pictures when he is away.

Den's got 2 trips this week. The first one was just far enough away to need a hotel stay and the other one he left for tonight is on the other coast.

Speaking of our nanny...it has come to that point, that time I was dreading. My sweetheart of a deal is coming to an end. She is moving back to Texas. I've not really been thinking about it until recently--it always seemed so far away. Now that I'm more actively looking for replacement childcare, I'm having difficulty lining someone up for Eddie for after she leaves (I've known since February). I've had Eddie on a waitlist at a local daycare since February. Where we live it is difficult enough to find full time care for your child, but even more difficult to find part time care. And to make it a really crazy situation, if you are looking for a nanny, you don't really start until 2 months or so before you need the person, so you're in this scary period of time (where I am now), where you wonder if you'll be able to find childcare in time that you are comfortable with.

I've also gotten quite spoiled having her show up at 7:30 at our house 3 mornings a week and she even comes at 7 when Den is out of town. I've been spoiled in a way I don't think I'll ever be spoiled again. I've also not given any thought to Eddie in all this, how he'll react to her leaving. Of course he probably won't notice/care, but he clearly knows who she is. She's cared for him since he was about 6 months old. I guess that isn't that long, but it is over half his life.

I'd better stop before I ramble even further. Needless to say, I'm a bit depressed about this. As my Uncle says, and not verbatim, but a good nanny is an addictting experience.

In and Out

I know it's a kid thing, but Eddie sure loves to put things in and take them out of containers. In particular, he loves taking things out of the kitchen drawers. Pictured here are the contents of "his" drawer and then the drawer above, filled with 'soft' items. Off camera to the right are the contents of the drawer with all his cups, bibs, and the like. I could only capture so much in the photo. Now to get him to want to put the things back into the drawers...

Lessons

Eddie is reading one of his favorite books--about a bear named Corduroy. In the picture below, he is pointing to the ducks as prompted.

Things we have learned/come to realize:

Eddie has learned how to lift the lid on his diaper pail. This wouldn't be so bad, but he used the same lifting technique to lift the toliet seat as it was flushing and stick his hand in. Ewww, gross. Additionally, he likes to put things in the diaper pail and trash cans around the house. I can't wait to learn what we lose to this practice of putting things in the trash. Hopefully nothing major.

I don't know if this is just a natural development thing, or my kid just has an arm, but last night he was flinging food from the kitchen into the dining room (8 feet or so from where he was sitting).

Eddie can climb out of the tub. This was demonstrated a couple weeks ago. He also likes to play with the stopper in the tub and watch as things get sucked down towards the drain.

A one-month old baby girl can pee just as stealthly as a one-month old baby boy. As demonstrated by the baby girl we watched for friends. When I went to pick her up, I actually wondered why there was a pool of wet under her.

Eddie can help with the laundry. Really. He puts the clothes that don't need to be folded into the basket--I just have to hope there are enough of this type of item per load to keep him occupied.

Just a couple thoughts to have something to go with the text.

The Importance of a Big Basket

Den is squirting Eddie with a squirt toy here.
I'm a stroller junkie. Everytime I see someone with a stroller, I check them out. I'm not sure if it's like checking out a person whom you find attractive, or more like checking out every good looking car one sees, but I just can't help myself, hoping to someday find the stroller that has the features I want. So far I've come close with strollers that are only sold in Europe. Is it too much to ask for an easily accessible, good sized basket under a stroller, yet one that folds compactly? Is this that much of an engineering feat? Apparently.

I took Eddie for a walk to our local grocery store to get some essentials. I wound up taking the jog stroller that Den uses to actually jog with Eddie and felt a bit ridiculous walking down the street with it's big nobby tires and solid frame because Den thought it would handle better loaded down. I had planned to buy 2 gallons of milk considering how quickly we go through milk and some other stuff. However, the irresistable watermelon replaced one of the gallons of milk. Yet, I still crammed 2 six packs of baby yogart in the stroller, along with an assortment of fruits and veggies. I was surprised that room remained as I approached the checkout and wondered if I should be buying more.

Eddie is cracking us up now. He's definitely figured out how to take both pairs of shoes off--simply undo the velcro and he's home free. When asked, he can point to the duck, frog, seal, and occasionally some other animals in books and bath toys. He is really communicating in his own way, using our hands to do what he wants done. Pointing to stuff he wants. Wonder if he'll be slower to talk. Oh, and he took a series of steps several times today. Plus, at g'ma and g'pa Wisc. house he started walking holding on to just one hand--not consistently, but definitely feeling more confident.

Swan Song

The big night out for the Jones family--this was it--all those years ago. This time we were a party of 9.
Sean and Erica always go play in the pool when visiting g'ma and g'pa Wisc., so Eddie joined in the tradition. Den said Eddie clung to him like a koala to a tree.

This is Cousin Sean and Eddie. Both Sean and Erica spent lots of time playing with Eddie.

Just returned from a quick trip to g'ma and g'pa Wisc's house. G'pa Wisconsin was retiring as Choir Director at his church after 35 years (and several more years at other churches). This was the first and last time I'd ever seen the choir at their church, as he either re-arranges his calendar, or we come at non choir times of the year.

It's not really a quick trip. We took a direct flight and it still took us 7.5 hours door to door on the way there and 8 hours on the way back (thanks to a delayed flight). They live in a rural community surrounded by farms, about 2 hours from the airport. There is another airport an hour from their home, but the flight goes through the airport that is 2 hours away, so one might as well drive from the 2-hour airport.

After reading a fellow blogger's post about travel with her 16 month old, I was especially nervous about how our lap baby would do. Den had wanted to avoid getting him a ticket, despite my misgivings. Fortunately, we had very understanding seat mates--and it didn't hurt that Eddie kept flashing his smile. It was his naptime and he was a force to reckon with. Didn't want to sit still, wouldn't relax into a nap--until we were 20 minutes from landing and he collapsed on Den's shoulder. Great, nothing like a 20 minute nap to mess up your whole day.

Not only did he sleep through the landing, but managed a transfer from Den to me and back to Den again, as we deplaned. Then, he stayed asleep while we waited for his carseat to pop out of the luggage abyss, as we wheeled him to the car, took our little "go go kidz" contraption off the car seat (see a Feb. post for this discussion), and put him in the car, still in the carseat. He woke up an hour into the trip, just as we pulled into the local A & W for lunch--with a diaper so wet the sheer weight of it was pulling his pants off too.

Eddie got to see his cousins, Sean and Erica, whom he hadn't seen in 8 months as they do not live near G'ma and G'pa Wisc. either. Near as we can tell, they had a great time. Eddie honed in on his walking skills--I swear we are close. The nanny thinks he will walk within the month.

Mommy's first night

I finally got my night alone. I had a conference to attend down state on bicycle and pedestrian issues and to accept an award on behalf of my boss. I got a night away on Sunday night, with Den staying home from work to hang out with Eddie on Monday.

I was mentally prepared for this trip. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep in, because I was so accustomed to an early rise. I knew there was a chance it would be a night where I just couldn't sleep. And I knew that I wouldn't have time to do any of the things I thought might be nice--read a book or catch up with work. I had no dilusions that I was going to return to a husband wondering how I coped all those times he went away. I actually figured the house would be spotless, and if I was lucky, the windows might be washed.

It was far more difficult to leave than I expected. I really thought I'd run out the door before Den and Ed could wave goodbye, but I lingered and without thinking, uttered the words: "you're not working on Monday why don't you and Eddie come down with me?" Huh? Did I just say that? When I was packing I had a hard time telling my brain that I didn't need a list of what to pack for Eddie.

Had a great time, drinking a beer---or 2--with fellow conference attendees and then it was off to my hotel room. I was the only one in there. I had 2 beds from which to chose, each with three or four pillows. I had the entire counter in the bathroom for my travel kit. I could set the thermostat to whatever I wanted--which as it turns out, was set too high, causing me to wake at 2am, choaking on the dry air, but happily I fell back asleep immediately.

It was heaven. Kind of like a vacation, I would have happily taken a couple more nights. These are the pictures Den sent me while I was away. As expected, Ed and Den did just fine. One thing I think Den does understand better is how I can end a day somehow not eating as much as I should have, and how elusive a shower can be.

Atlanta Part 2

More pictures...mostly out of order. They had this cool tunnel of fish that was part of a larger acquarium. At first I thought it was a ride because it talked about boarding the ride, but was really just an ultra slow moving sidewalk.

Ed and Den are in the tunnel in the last photo.