Weekly Update 06.28.10

Hiya peeps.

We went to the Zoo on Saturday. We almost died of heatstroke. Actually no really, we were fine, but it was ungodly hot and humid. I learned that the peacock is royalty. And I had the best of intentions when I brought with me a spray bottle of cool water (to spray down our hot babies), but instead looked like I was punishing a bad kitty every time I busted that sucker out ("I said get out of the plant! Squirt squirt!"). So I learned that next time maybe I leave the spray bottle at home, the zoo has those misting spray things for a reason.

Also Peter is not good at sharing his snacks; after sweetly offering to feed some strawberries to his life-long friend Jayson, he pulled the classic “Psyche!” move and yanked them away right before putting them in Jayson’s mouth. Then gobbled them up right in front of him. Nice. He didn’t learn that move from me I swear.

Also also: my son is afraid of carousels. He’s even afraid of the lame chairs that they set up on the thing for the ‘fraidy-cats.

So not afraid of the train, however. So we rode it twice.

We also hit up St. John’s Annual Mexican Fiesta. Unlike the Fiesta of last year, the weather did not cool down for us. Boo. We still enjoyed our food and the sights, oppressive heat be damned.

So we were standing in the (loooooong) food line and I looked down at my kid happily playing with his sunscreen bottle (because, you know, fake lotion woooo everybody hold out your hands!) and anyway I had a total internal freak-out about OH MY GOD PETER'S AWESOME HAT, IT’S NOT ON HIS HEAD WHERE DID IT GO OMG. I scanned the ground and the crowd around us and then, I asked Scott twice if he knew where the hat went. Twice. He looked at me strangely both times and then ignored me. And only then did I remember that I put it on my own head when Peter threw it on the ground earlier OH YEAH HA I KNEW THAT. Except not really.

Scott and placed our order, and then we performed a dazzling piece of spontaneous performance art portraying new-ish parents in today’s society - trying to find a place to sit while simultaneously juggling two plates full of food, two beers, plastic-ware, a stroller, a kid, a diaper bag, giant purse, sippy cup, the camera - and me also balancing a teeny hat on my head.

Once we got ourselves seated in the grass Peter made a break for it, but Scott caught him before he could find himself a new, normal set of parents.

Sunday my cousin Mike from Wisconsin came by for a visit. He’s traveling around the plains enjoying several sporting events (off to the College World Series after us) and even though I packed my camera in my bag, I did not take even one measly little image. Clearly I suck. Mike took off this morning, continuing on his adventures, and we wish him the best. Thanks for stopping by to hang out!

Doose. Doose. This is the word that is heard the most these days, Pete’s combination of “this/those”. It involves several emphatic points at the “doose” - generally a snack or treat, something food related, although it is used for most anything he wants really. Mainly snacks though, because let’s be honest, our kid is a bottomless pit.

“Doose?” he’ll ask sort-of hopefully, pointing, even after being told that no, you just had approximately 15 snacks in a row, you’re done. There may be a body flopping to the floor in anguish at this point or maybe a shriek in response, but undoubtedly more pointed requests for “Doose” will continue, all responses of ‘no’ ignored. And then, just when you think he’s given up, JUST TO CLARIFY ONE MORE TIME, THE VERDICT ON THE SNACKS: “…Doose?”. Sigh.

PSA of the Week: I don’t recommend ever letting your toddler see you watering the plants. Because you’ll never be able to do it yourself again. The best part is when your kid grabs the EMPTY watering can and so he jabs the pot repeatedly with it, in an effort to eek out some water. Effectively stabbing your plants to death.

FIN. See you next week.

Hot Hot Summer

This Monday marked the official first day of summer and oh boy, but did the weather feel like it as well - heat indices in the low 100s, just humid and sticky and hot hot hot (even the breeze, when it hits you, feels like a furnace).

Now, generally I am of the disposition to say "yeah forget all that" and then hole up in the comfort of my cool cozy home, enjoying the hum of our central air unit. But we've had a lot of rain lately as well, and having a sunny and pretty Friday (sweltering, yes, but still pretty) is not something to be wasted. So after work we sprung the child from daycare, and headed up to campus and downtown to enjoy a few hours together.

We parked on the northeast side of campus and hit up the Union first, played around in the Bookstore. Translation: we tried several different items on Doots like he was our personal toy doll. Sorry darling: you're still small though so these things happen. And besides, we decided for sure that you need that winter-mohawk-hat thing. So it wasn't all in vain.

After that we strolled our way over to Greek row.

. . . where we decided to hang out at the Chi O Fountain for awhile. It's tradition to go for a dip on your birthday (or anytime, really, but my point) - he may be a few weeks out, but Peter finally made it official today. At first, as usual, he was pretty cautious so he sat on my lap and we talked about all the cool water sprays in the fountain.

Then we went closer to investigate.

And after that, it took him maybe another 30 seconds to take the plunge and run amok in there.

We pulled him out after awhile and let me just say: I wish I had photographic evidence of the meltdown we witnessed. He got over it in about a minute though (thank goodness for 1-year-olds), and happily serenaded us the rest of our walk back to the car.

At that point it was getting a little late, so we made one last stop to Sylas and Maddy's, for some homemade ice cream. For the first time in years, I was the one to get a peanut-butter flavor (with sweet cream and Oreos and chocolate-covered nuts, pretty darn good) and Scott got a non-peanut-butter flavor (fresh cherries and chocolate chunks, Cherry Garcia has nothing on this stuff). It's safe to say that we all enjoyed ourselves while there.

Then sadly back to the car, to head home.

Or maybe, not so sadly to be honest. It was air-conditioned, after all.

It's summer and we're busy, but will see you soon! Have a weekend full of time in KC, the Zoo, St. John's Fiesta, a visit from family. . .

Father's Day 2010

Time to blog about Father's Day! Here is a link to last year, when the Doots was pretty new and while we played it cool, we were a little overwhelmed and still trying to figure out how in the heck to work this little wormy thing into our lifestyle. Also, Scott got pewped on. Bad. That didn't happen this year, thank goodness...

This year was pretty low key - I got up with Peter at his usual ungodly hour of waking, and we were two happy buds hanging out together. We spent some time chilling at home, in the basement office, far enough away as to let dad get some much needed rest. Please note: that mess on the floor was created in approximately 30 seconds.



After breakfast and play time, Peter and I headed out to run some errands. We picked up a new Father's Day card for Scott (I bought one like WAY EARLY, stuck it in my desk drawer at work for safe keeping so Scott wouldn't find it, then - shockingly - left it at work). We had other stuff to check out too though, like baskets for Peter's toy organization and some recycling containers, so off to Wal-Mart we went.

So as a side note, we bought one of those recordable cards for daddy for Father's Day? And I swear, Peter yells and babbles and carries on in the car like a crazy person. I thought it would be dead easy to record a personal baby-babble message in the car. Only: every darn time I got the card set up and shoved it in Pete's face (at every single red light while we toodled around town), he'd completely clam up and just stare at it. Great. I think I was able to record something but it was rather weak. Better luck later, I say. Plenty of time for a re-do.

While out we also picked up some donuts from our most favorite local bakery, Muncher's. We got to the front and Peter absolutely lost it at the donut counter, he squealed and hooted and pointed happily at all the donuts in the case, while bopping around all dancey-style. Only: I was busy giving our order to the woman behind the counter and paying. Peter thought I was ignoring him and he would not get donuts, so he did his "performance art" version of temper tantrum: he silently laid down in front of the donut case, looking at me forlornly. Much preferred to a Classic Tantrum, and also hilarious. I turned around to see several college kids and a family casually stepping over Doots while he played dead on the floor. Awesome.

We made a pot of the "good" coffee (i.e., the good stuff, real had-to-be-ground-at-the-roastery stuff, not the everyday Folgers we keep in the cabinet) and then got dad up and gave him his gifts. He is going to pick out a burner for brewing on his own (I do not have the skillz for that sort of purchase myself), and Peter made him a board book with pictures of them together. Scott usually does the bedtime routine which includes reading time, so it was a good gift. Peter then went on to read the book in the car, as we drove off to do some shopping and have a nice dinner out.

PS - I put a sweet pair of driving mocs on Peter for the occasion. I suspect they are girl shoes, but I make him wear them anyway.

We ordered a new fridge (uh, again), then headed to Target and the Legends. We took Scott out to Yard House for some food, his most favorite spot there.

Peter colored and hit on waitresses while we enjoyed a beer and some good food. The boys posed for what will undoubtedly be the Annual Father's Day Restaurant Photo.

Before we headed home, Scott showed Pete the awesome keg system at the restaurant. We spotted a Free State keg back there...

Then we headed home for the day. Also of note: Peter barrelled into the bedroom that day, squealing and calling out "Daddy!". Maybe no more 'dada' from here on out? At any rate, he picked a perfect day to start with the daddy talk :)

Weekly Update 06.20.10

The next Top Chef Master.

Long couple of weeks, folks. I was gone for a week on a business trip, then got back with a few days to catch my breath before heading to Wichita to help with a wedding. So no update from last week, instead here are a few highlights to catch you up:

• Laramie is in a valley, between two mountain ranges. Gorgeous. And um, cold - it was raining and the daytime high temps hovered around 45 degrees. While a wee bit too chilly for the summer for my tastes, I must say it was still preferable to the Kansas heat and humidity.



• Coal Creek Coffee in Laramie makes a mean cappuccino. And latte. And mocha bianca. And the baristas are truly gifted - the pretty decorations they made with the foam were still visible after I FINISHED my coffee. Uh, sold.



• We are cursed with bad refrigerators. Ours died, the evening after Peter's birthday party. Not terribly shocking, it wasn't the newest fridge by a long shot. We had it serviced last year and knew that a new fridge would need to be bought in the next two or three years. Thankfully we still have the deep freezer in the basement and a (also ancient) mini fridge down there as well, so we can kinda sorta make it. In a "this is super awkward and not fun and let's hurry up with that new fridge, delivery place" kind of way.



• We bought a brand-spanking new LG with a bottom freezer. Almost fridge-less for two weeks and finally it's delivered. And... it only blows hot air. Niiiiiice. It is being picked up on Wednesday and, fingers crossed, our new one will also be on that truck. On the bright side: after fiddling with the bottom freezer for the past few days, I've decided it is overrated and we went back and ordered a side-by-side this time. It was much more expensive but - given our issues with the first fridge, Nebraska Furniture Mart gave us a substantial discount on this one so the price was not much more. Score!




The new-yet-useless fridge.



Speaking of meals out: our son has developed a Thing for waitresses. Maybe because they coo at him and bring him milk and his most favorite thing in the world (i.e. food), I can't be sure on the reason but I can say that - his fawning and cooing back and smiling and oh, but the creeper stare he gives them whenever they are within 12 feet of him and the yelling at them every time they walk past... Yeah. At first endearing, now a little weird.




Creeper.


Speaking of the child! He is no longer quiet in public. I used to worry as he was just shy and quiet and was content to hang out on my lap with his mouth firmly closed. Now I can't even step into the grocery store without Peter happily yelping and singing his way through the store, at the top of his lungs.



And also! He's getting cuter by the day, true story. I love this age, how they learn a few new random things every day. Today, he learned to stay out of the garbage cans (er, hopefully) and also: how to apply hand lotion. He toddled around all day clutching a bottle of my hand lotion, carefully pretend-applying a dime-sized amount to his palm (as well as our own), then we all rub our hands together to incorporate it well. It is important to take care of your skin, yo.




He always drags his blanket between his legs, smart guy - less likely to trip up on it that way.



Chocolate-covered sour cherry candies are a kinda weird flavor combination of candied treat, not sure why the candy shop I visited ever thought that one up. That didn't stop me from snarfing down so many that I had a slight tummy ache, however.



Friday and Saturday were spent in the Wichita area, I headed down early (Thursday night). Helped with the flowers for a friend's wedding, they had calla lilies and hydrangeas so it doesn't get much easier. All turned out pretty darn spiffy, if I do say so myself! The wedding too was just perfect, the bride was beautiful, and everything was gorgeous. So much fun!



The bouquets and corsages, done and soaking up some water. Wish I had good pictures of centerpieces and bouts...


I, however, was not gorgeous at the wedding - I left my overnight bag in the sister of the groom's car, figured I'd spring it out of valet once we were done prepping flowers. Only: the valet office closed for random hours, so I could never get out there at the right time. Then finally I found someone (half an hour before the wedding), and they had misplaced her keys...



The keys were found eventually and all turned out well, so no worries, but I wasn't able to get dressed for the wedding. Now: luckily I was already in a decent sundress and my cute Reef flip flops, but still! No sweet little Banana Republic dress, no cute flats, no makeup or hair properly styled or nice jewelry. So: sorry for looking like total crap at your wedding, Chris and Stephanie! I swear I'm not a meth head.





Look how pretty I am! And that was before I was really booking it and working on centerpieces, sweating like a hog. Ugh.



Father's Day - another post to come for that one. The day included donuts, Yard House, and shopping for (our soon-to-be) new fridge. Fun times!




My devilishly handsome men.



I am sooooooo looking forward to some time to relax, stay home, maybe clean my house and get some rest. At least until the weekend...