A wiseacre once wrote that no battle plan survives contact with the
enemy intact. In this case, the battle plan was to hang out with
Gram and family on Sunday before heading back home.
Unfortunately, the enemy was Nicholas not feeling all that hot and
Mommy developing one of her infamous temperature-induced migraines.
That pretty much put the kibosh on doing much more than packing the
Escape (which is much easier on the return trip!) and heading back home.
That's one nice thing about Nicholas...you generally don't have any
doubts that he's not feeling all that well because you just don't get
the cute baby mode that you normally get from him. Even when he
is a tired, you still get a whiff of cute baby mode. When he's
feeling under the weather, forget it. Not a happy camper at all. He
comes by it honestly...Daddy is no fun to be round when he's a patient
(or has to be!). Mind you, the only worse patients I can think of would
be doctors and nurses... :)
But it was a fun weekend (and a good dip in the hot tub!) and we'll have
to do it again sometime soon.
Other than a quick trip home and it being Nicholas' first leap day (the
extra day for a leap year), it was a fairly uneventful day.
We decided to turn the tables on Gram and crew and head south on I-95
for a weekend visit to Fayetteville. For those who don't know, Daddy
was born at Womack Army Hospital (now Womack Army Medical Center and
much larger than it used to be!). Fayetteville itself has
changed so much in the past thirty-some years that it's hard to
recognise some of the landmarks of a bygone era. But that's OK...
driving Bragg Boulevard and the roads round the mall sure brings back
memories...well, longing for old farmer Faison's cornfields where
Cross Creek Mall and the All-American Expressway now sit, that is.
Traffic was sure a lot less back then... :)
The roads had improved greatly since the snow came and dropped about
six inches on us in the greater Raleigh area on Wednesday and Thursday.
Fayetteville bore the brunt of the storm and had at least eight to ten
inches of snow in some areas and reports of thunder snowshowers. It's
something to experience...thunder and lightning in the middle of a
snowstorm. Daddy got to experience that twice...once at Fort
Leavenworth, KS in 1979 (during the worst winter ever recorded) and in
1998 in Rochester, MN. We're certainly getting our fill of actual
winter weather and the weekend is projected to be in the mid-to-upper
60s. Go figure!
NOTE TO GRAMPS! Just keep the "it's really nice in Florida" speech
to yourself...we like having four distinct seasons in North Carolina
even if this one is more intense than usual! {Just kidding...} ;)-
But the weekend was meant for hanging out and just having a good time
with the family in Fayetteville. Once we were situated, they came out
to our hotel room and roughed it with us for a while. There wasn't as
much cute baby mode as we're used to seeing from Nicholas as
we think he might have been fighting off some bug or another. One thing
you learn very quickly with kids (or ought to) is that they're real
fond of giving a good home to all sorts of nasty virii and germs.
But he hung in there and had fun playing with the toys that we brought
with us from Clayton. OK, we moved a good amount of his playthings down
there with us and he had fun walking from toy to toy and hanging on to
anything in reach...his musical table, one of the hotel's tables, other
people...he wasn't picky!
That's one thing we've noticed is that in the past couple of weeks in
particular, he's doing a very good job walking (holding onto something
to be sure but it's honest to God walking!). We honestly think he's
going to skip that crawling foward thing and go straightaway to
walking. That's when you notice the personality really starting to
assert itself...he is extremely single-minded and if something
has caught his eye, he's going to do his dead-level best to go mess
with it. It's not uncommon to redirect him back to the play tables
about ten times and finally distracting him with something else.
That works for all of about thirty seconds...and then he's back again.
The only thing that seems to stop him in his tracks is when our clock
sounds off on the hour. He's utterly mesmerised by it. We highly
recommend those breaking-face clocks... :)
After a few hours of shooting the breeze, it was time for dinner at
the Texas Roadhouse. The food was outstanding but be warned
that if you're of the panoramic physique persuasion (i.e. like Daddy),
the booths are just not going to work. Unfortunately on a Saturday
night in Fayetteville on payday weekend...the alternatives aren't all
that hot at that time of night. Even so, we were seated within forty-
five minutes which is amazing.
Nicholas pretty much slept through dinner...an amazing feat given the
parties on either side of us (as well as the general ambience of the
place) were not to put too fine a point on it...LOUD! As in
can not hear the thoughts in your own skull LOUD! But he slept
through that nonetheless and it was time to retire to our hotel room
for the night.
Nicholas had his nine month checkup today and all systems are A-OK. The
newest charts are linked in the right column and we had a nice bit of
growth in the last quarter. He's generally on target or slightly above
on two of the three categories (you're aiming for 50th percentile...this
is one test you don't want to score the 100 on!)...we just need him to
get a little more length.
Though looking at him now compared to his birth stats, he's about
quadrupled the weight and added ten inches in height and that ain't bad,
folks! Especially considering someone who started behind the starter's
line as it were! Remember those first few months where we wondered if
he'd ever really get on the growth charts...well now, there is no doubt
on that one (and these are the regular charts, not the preemie-adjusted
ones!)...
Tonight's fun was the Tricky Tray get-together at St. Eugene's.
Parishoners build up baskets full of goodies (some of them really
elaborate), you get a bunch of tickets and essentially vote for the ones
you like by putting as many tickets into it's ticket bucket as you wish.
Then they're raffled off and if your ticket matches the one they pull,
you get the basket. We did pretty decently (OK, OK...*I* did pretty
decently considering the one we won had a $50 greens fee card and other
golfing stuff...Mommy's laid claim to the chocolate...and Grammy won
the hand-made toolbox Daddy really voted up with a few tickets!). It's
a good fund-raiser for the church and a good time to get with others.
Nicholas was serving as our personal Buddha...we rubbed his belly and it
was pretty consistent that a winning ticket was in our corner of the
sanctuary. Unfortunately, we didn't have the luck for the couple of
baskets Mommy was aiming for but maybe better luck next year, eh?
I think it's safe to say we've all had enough of the nasty winter
weather. First it was a little burst of snow flurries in December of
last year, then a snowstorm for Nicholas' baptism in early January,
a nasty ice storm at the end of January, and finally we've managed to
dodge two ice storms here that essentially fizzled in February!
OK, it's official. Winter sucks!!
Yeah, it's fun to play in the snow and throw snowballs but driving in
this stuff is no picnic and Raleigh essentially shuts down for most of
it (except for us nutballs who have to drive in this mess to get to
work...unfortunately, hospitals must stay open to deal with all of the
other nutballs who are driving in this stuff without a clue as to how
to do it safely!).
Hey, Punxsutawney Phil! Wanna know something? Groundhog Day
was playing on the movie channels after your lovely forecast of six
more weeks in winter and I was rooting for Bill Murray to take you
out in that quarry! It really stinks when you're proven right!
Darn you, you furry rodent...
Don't get me wrong, I rather like having four distinct seasons instead
of the hot and muggy or rainy I remember from Orlando (at
least at Gramps' house in Port Orange, there is a breeze from the ocean
but that never made it inland unless it was a tropical storm bringing
the wind along for the ride!). But enough is enough, guys! We've
had our fill of winter, thanks! Now send it along to the Northeast
and the Great White North where it belongs...:)
And the lovely part...60s and 70s for the rest of the week and into the
weekend. Now that is what we're talking about!
Now we know the real reason for the rant is that Nicholas' got to stay
a few days at Grammy's and Mommy and Daddy had to work even with all of
the nasty weather and do the ferry flight to WakeMed from our house in
Clayton. We admit it, we really missed having Nicholas at our house...
there is just such a dimension to this place he brings that you can't
help but love. And no matter how crappy the weather is outside, it's
generally sunny inside right where he is...
Nicholas, here is a big hint for your future when you find that love
of your life, the other half of your soul. Ready? OK, here it is:
THIS DAY REALLY MATTERS...DON'T SCREW IT UP!
OK, we've got that out of the way. Don't be a doofus about Valentine's
Day like your Daddy was...though I'd like to think I trained up pretty
quickly and do it rather well. Normally, our Valentine's Day involves
some sort of confidence course (you know, one of those
military training areas with zip-line towers, rope bridges, mud pits,
and obstacles designed to really hurt you in ways you can't imagine if
you do something really stupid...only our confidence courses don't
usually involve live ammunition!).
Mommy has a thing about reality TV shows and they've figured into
Valentine's Day confidence courses at one point or another.
One was a variation on a Survivor treasure hunt where her
tree mail was hanging in a new Longaberger Valentine's Day basket
and she had to find the prizes which were guarded by various foxes in
the house. Another one was a spoof on The Mole (which was
so much cooler when evil Anderson Cooper was running the show!) where
she had to piece together a puzzle using letters that were located by
clues in order to find the big prize which was hidden in the dryer.
The point is that you can have a bit of fun with the day. Be creative!
In those instances, the games were done up with actual images and art
from the shows. For The Mole variant, I delivered her
Mole Dossier containing the clues to items she could add to her
running pot along with the flowers at WakeMed. Ah, the flowers.
They really like them. They really like getting them a lot! And if you
can arrange for them to be delivered at their workplace, so much the
better for the nyah, nyah, nyah...I got the flowers, you ain't
got no flowers! effect. Better yet, deliver them yourself!
You have no clue how much that will mean to her! Anywho, you'll never
have a problem picking out my arrangements...they'll always have that
one signature yellow rose amongst the others (unless the florist is out
of them...ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!). But go find your own signature, eh?
I was surprised that when I delivered them personally that first year
that no one else sent flowers to their lovely brides at the Children's
ED at WakeMed. None. Message to those other guys...GET ON THE
STICK! She'll be thrilled more than you'll know...trust me!
If you're going to have some fun, don't forget to really make it worth
her while. As you're growing up, I'm quite sure you'll see Mommy's silk
Godiva boxes and jewelry and whatnot. Word to the wise:
ne touche pas, s'il vous plait! (Please do not touch!)
Don't hold back...show her that you really do love her and appreciate
her for who she is. But don't lose sight of what the day is about in
the garden of flowers or the tons of chocolate. At the end of the day,
it's an expression of how much you love each other and frankly, there
is no Godiva box or necklace that can compare to that wonderful feeling
that you've found the other half of your soul. Fortunately, I've found
mine and you were a gift to us through her. That sort of gift can never
be topped... :)
Speaking of which, you gave us a real good gift when you did very well
at The Picture People. The Valentine's Day pictures rock and
that's all I'm going to say about them. One in particular is perhaps
the best image that has been captured of the boy (in my opinion) and
it's now on my desk at work. WOO HOO!
We can't recommend The Picture People enough, particularly if
you're into baby pictures. We've found that our little Don Juan
de Marco prefers the feminine photographers...not that this
should come to a surprise. From someone two weeks old to one eight-six
years old...the legions of adoring fans of cute baby mode
are not few and they're not far between! It may not be the most
exclusive club in the world but it's certainly one of the coolest! :)
Just bear in mind that although they are owned by Hallmark, your points
card doesn't work there. That really stinks because these guys ain't
cheap and we've really racked up the frequent flyer points with them
these past nine months! But they are orders of magnitude better than
any photographers we've seen...they're generally very good at engaging
the child and they have some really seriously cool props. Check them
out!
It's hard to believe but our little guy is on the home stretch to
his first year. When we look back at the year past and see how much
he's grown from a little one who started the race five weeks behind
everyone to the big squirmy and wiggly handful we contend with today,
it's hard to remember that yes, he really was that small.
It's a good thing we've got the pictures to prove it!
But more interesting is the revelation that for all the things we
thought it would take forever to get to like eating solid foods,
teething, standing up at tables, and walking (albeit with assistance)...
we're at that stage now!
OK, that teething pretty much stinks on ice for all concerned...it can't
be all that comfortable to cut teeth (which is why the people who own
Orajel are probably rich beyond the dreams of avarice) and
unfortunately, we have only one mode of expression at this time. Right
now, we've got two bottom ones and they are sharp as anything. So keep
your fingers away from his mouth and you'll do just fine. But yeah...
this teething thing is so bogus and we're ready for him to progress
beyond it.
Other than that, he's pretty much on target for the things he ought to
be doing at this time. And no matter how prickly he's gotten when he's
doing that teething thing, there are times that he just takes your
breath away and you can't help but love the little guy. Especially when
he snuggles with you...that can be quite addicting!
He's always been keen on bath time and we've started giving him one
every night to try to relax him and help him get through the night. Not
that it really works lately, mind you...he's gotten into the habit of
waking up in the middle of the night and getting into a big crying jag.
We always knew he was capable of an amazing temper (Eagle-Eyed Blog
Readers will remember a few entries detailing his prickly nature
immediately before and after feedings but those usually pass quickly).
Well, he's taken to having a temper tantrum at night that won't subside
until you pick him up...even if he's obviously dead-dog tired.
Hopefully this phase will pass quickly and he can get back to sleeping
through the night like he used to.
All in all, he's still a really good little guy to have round and we're
going to keep him! :)