Another trip to MI

This weekend we went to MI for Matt and Meagan Baker's reception. They got married back in February with a small group of people. So this was the big party. They had a pigroast on Meagan's dad's farm. It was a really awesome relaxing weekend!

We left Friday night around 6:30pm and got to his sisters apartment around 3am MI time. It was actually a good drive. I being an engineer came up with a way to cover Josh so that the lights from oncoming cars and the street didn't wake him up.

Step 1: Take a bungee cord and connect it to the handles on either passenger side (on ceiling).
Step 2: String "Neat Sheet" so half is hanging on either side of the bungee cord.
Step 3: Tuck the end of the sheet behind headrest of the seat where carseat is located.
Step 4: Tuck the other end of the sheet around the front of the front passenger seat.
Step 5: Pull the edges of both sides down so they overlap and create a little tent.

I have pictures... Jim laughed at me because I even had a scratch paper drawing of it and was all excited to tell him about it when I got home. But - it worked. He didn't like the stuff hanging over him when he wasn't tired. But when he started getting tired I gave him his pacifier and pulled the sides down. It was so dark under there he konked right out!

G'ma and G'pa came up to GV to stay with Catherine and watch Josh for the night. Jim and I camped out after the reception with about 20 others. It was FREEZING. It had been so hot and muggy all day and then the fog came in and everything was soaking wet. We didn't bring sleeping bags, just sheets because we didn't think it would be that cold. FREEZING. I feel like I am still warming up!

The drive back on Sunday went well too. All in all a GREAT trip again. We are getting pretty darn good at this. Maybe I should write a book! ha ha!

Summer is almost over...

The end of summer is SO CLOSE! It went WAY too fast!

Josh had a great week! He has learned a few knew things that have surprised Jim and I. The other night I came home to see him walking around the kitchen with his mouth open and tongue out panting. I looked at Jim and he said, "Josh is copying Hilo". So I naturally said, "Josh, what does Hilo do?". He looked up at me like it was the greatest thing in the world, stuck out his tongue and started panting. HILARIOUS!

Other random things he is mastering:

• Saying "HI". He drags it out for like 5 seconds and says it all sincere.
• Shaking his head yes when he agrees with what we ask.
• Shaking his head no when he doesn't.
• Putting his toys away when we ask him to.
• Giving Hilo a treat and locking up the kennel when we are ready to leave. No lie.
• Going down the stairs the right way. Jim and I caught him practicing on the bottom 5 stairs... over and over for about 5 minutes. I had shown him the night before... and there he was practicing all by himself.
• Saying Moo, Heee, and roar (complete with clawing motions) for cow, horse, and lion.
• The cap to my night facial cream. On, off, on, off... forever.
• The buckles on everything stroller/carseat/seatbelts/highchair
• Eating with a spoon and out of a real bowl

It is crazy to look back at pictures from a year ago... because he doesn't even look the same to me. He has got this thick/wavy strawberry blonde hair, big huge blue eyes with long lashes, and a mouthful of teeth. Everytime I read to him or get him to sit long enough on my lap, I realize just how quickly he is growing up. TEAR!

Recommendation: I just read the book, "Love and Logic Magic for Early Parenthood". It was a little cheesy at first with the examples, but it gets better. It is a somewhat common sense approach to discipline. But we tried it on Josh this week and it worked ridiculously well. He is usually pretty crabby when we get home from daycare and wants to be held non-stop. So when it gets to the point that he starts throwing things he asks for, we say "Looks like some room time" and bring him up to his crib. He cries for a little bit but then settles down and just hangs out. After a few minutes one of us will go up there and ask if he would like to come out and have some fun. He shakes his head yes, we give him tons of high fives/hugs, and he is fine the rest of the night. Still hasn't become a habit... but rather than counting to 3 which never worked, or timeout chairs which he would never stay in... this seems much more promising.

A very crazy week!

Last weekend it was a Mom and Josh weekend. Dad was on his annual baseball trip with his high school buddies. We started off the weekend watching the Olympics. Josh was mesmerized by the opening ceremony... and would start clapping when he saw me or people on TV clap. I am a bit obsessed with the olympics and always have been. So Josh had the crap scared out of him on a few occasions when either we won or made a really dumb mistake - like the mens soccer team getting a very stupid penalty in the box... which let them tie it up... Josh actually started crying that time because I yelled so loud and didn't follow it up with clapping. Poor kid!

Saturday morning we had our 2nd 10K run for the summer. Kelly and Maverick (14mos), Mandy and her two kids Eric (2.5) and Willa (17mos), Melanie and Stella (2.5), and Mel's sister Deb ran with us. Mandy, Kelly, and I stuck to the 5 min run 1 min walk. For the first 3 miles it was tempting to skip the walk... but we were able to keep running at the end so it was worth it. My personal goal was to finish in less than 1 hour and 10 minutes. I finished with 1 minute to spare! Meaning I finished 1 minute faster than the first 10K I ran this summer and I pushed Josh the entire way!! I was pretty darn happy. This means I am actually getting faster. Crazy that 10 years ago I was running 6:21 mile pace. I am going to blame it on the beer.

Later that afternoon we met Kelly and Maverick at the Building for Kids for some playtime. Again - such an awesome place for all ages. We grabbed dinner at The Bar on the ave and sat outside... almost 1 year to the day that we had the boys in their carseats in strollers... praying they wouldn't wake up and want to nurse. WOW time flies!

Sunday Josh and I went to Church and breakfast. Wow is it ever difficult with only one parent! Any of you have tips on how to keep them entertained during Church? We don't want to go into the nursery because we feel that it will only encourage him to play and will be difficult to break him later on. All in all - it was a GREAT mom/Josh weekend... I think his daddy phase maybe over after this fun weekend! ha ha!

Jim got home late Monday night. Tuesday Josh had a high fever and sore bum. THOSE DARN TEETH!!! I feel horrible for him because his gums are so swollen... these are hopefully it though! Our favorite remedy - Motrin, Desitin, and frozen blueberries and peas. Wednesday I flew to Toronto for work. It was a really good trip, I was visiting another Alcan plant that we supply film to. Traveling was actually pretty easy too which is always nice.

This weekend we did a ton of yard work again. And we bought an invisible fence.... FINALLY. I just hope Hilo isn't the crazy type that just bolts thru and keeps on going!

Pictures - First few are from the race. The group pic from L --> R is Maverick, Kelly, Willa, Mandy, Eric, Deb, Mel, Stella, Me, Josh. Next pic is of the little ones all on the slide going the wrong way (Maverick, Willa, Josh, Eric is hidden). And finally the pictures of Josh today. He is very independent/demanding these days. I knew he was hungry and after a few attempts of getting him into the highchair… I brought the frozen fruit in a bowl and brought it outside. I put it on his little car and took a few for myself. Then Jim and I ignored him. Within 10 seconds he was over there eating them like crazy. Then he was happy.

A visit to MI

This weekend we went to MI for our friend Sarah's wedding. We left Thursday night really late hoping Josh would sleep the entire trip. He was out until about Milwaukee and wouldn't go back to sleep until we got through Chicago. I think it was all the city lights that were flashing by. So I gave up trying to cover all the windows with blankets and opted for the DVD player. That thing is fantastic. We bought this from Target on one of the trips to MN because Josh just isn't diggin the 4 hour plus car rides anymore. It has been a lifesaver!

We watched baby elmo and some Thomas the train. He hadn't ever seen Thomas the Train before that I know of but you should have seen his little legs kick when the movie started. I felt kinda guilty getting the DVD player... because our parents didn't need things like this when we were this age... but then I also need to remember that our parents didn't take us on road trips this often and this far until we were much older.

Josh got to hang out with G'ma and G'pa all weekend long and then with his cousin Izzy and aunt and uncle on Saturday night. He just loves seeing them. At one point we were sitting in the family room and G'pa got up to go downstairs... As soon as he got out of sight Josh started crying... G'pa stopped and waited for him to get over there to bring him along... it was cute!

The wedding was a great time! Congrats Sarah and Mike! Explanation of pictures... well only the one... I took a few snapshots of the dance floor during the last song... And April couldn't have timed it any better. And the outfit on Josh... seriously cute. Best part - $2.00 at Once Upon a Child. NICE!