Grandma Linda got Owen his own chopsticks for Christmas…and he LOVES them. As soon as you get them out, he smiles and laughs—and he loves it when you click them together. He will even take pieces of food from you!
I dropped a puff (hey, give me a break—I was using my left hand because I had the camera in the other hand!) and he tried to give it back to me (the chopsticks)!
Well, his lobster teething toy, that is. (Thanks, Gramma Jean!)
I couldn’t resist getting this shirt for my cookie-loving father…and his lil’ buddy, too! It’s called “The Binge” and it’s from Woot!
In short, what a waste of money. 🙁
Short story long, my dad and Linda mentioned they were coming down to visit, so my first thought was that we’d be able to go out! I was excited about something as simple as dinner and a movie…but apparently Tom had other visions.
I thought maybe we could do the dinner/movie thing or something like bowling with friends from his work (that we had fun with at the USMC ball), so he passed on the idea of a night out…and they came back with some huge party at a local hotel that would have cost over $500.
Um, no. Sorry.
I told him as much and he was upset about it because he apparently REALLY wanted to do something and since he had been the instigator for the idea, he felt he had to go. I again told him we were not spending $500 on NYE (that’s half a cruise!). He eventually cut out the hotel stay and dinner part of the event, which cut costs considerably—although it was still too much for me. But I gave in.
The tickets did include an open bar, which was a good thing…except we had just done that at the ball in November and I really wasn’t in the mood to do it again so soon, if you catch my drift. I mean, sure, I didn’t HAVE to drink, but with an $89 ticket I certainly would want to get my money’s worth (because I certainly wasn’t paying $89 to dance or for a veggie tray and chicken fingers—the “food” that was included). I also didn’t want to drink enough to require calling a cab to get home.
We pull up to the hotel so Tom could drop me off and see that there is valet parking which we (of course) didn’t need, but come to find out it was MANDATORY valet parking. For $10. I was pissed—no where in ANY of the ticket or event information did they mention mandatory valet parking. What a ripoff. We had both happened to throw some money in our pockets before we left, so we did have the money…but I was tempted to tell them where to put it. >:XX
So, we weren’t even inside yet and I was pissed off. Not a good start to the night. So right inside the door we had to show ID. Then Tom had to show ID to get the tickets. Then we both had to show ID to get the wristbands. I swear it was more security than at the airport. It was annoying, but not terrible.
So the last section was the coat check. I said I didn’t need to check my coat and they told me it was a mandatory coat check. I literally said “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.” Turns out they missed the fact that we were going up to our friends’ room and were going to leave the coat there.
But that was another obstacle—we didn’t have the necessary wrist bands to go upstairs! Only people who were staying the night were allowed upstairs. WHAT? SERIOUSLY? But apparently the front desk wasn’t clued into this, because Tom had just gone over and gotten the room number where we were headed—and they said nothing about needing wrist bands. So the security guy in front of the elevators was giving us shit, then after some back-and-forth with Tom, finally said “Just go on up, I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.” 🙄 Whatever.
So we go upstairs and see signs that there are to be no personal parties in the rooms (which is funny, because the promos for the event made a big deal about how “all the suites overlook the dance floor/party area”—what’s the point if you can’t be up there?) and once in our friends’ room, they told us they were almost frisked for alcohol before being allowed up with their bags because the hotel DID NOT WANT partying in the rooms. It’s not like they would be cheating the hotel out of paying for alcohol, since every single person there had bought a ticket allowing them access to the open bar. Totally asinine.
So at 9 we headed downstairs and the main bar was sooooooooo slow (and it really wasn’t even busy yet) but there was a sign that Red Bull was $5. We were all like “I thought it was an open bar?” Oh, open except for Red Bull (which is of course what I had wanted to drink). At that point, I had had it with the evening and was ready to go home. Seriously. With the crazy stupid security, the mandatory valet parking, the mandatory coat check, the strict room rules, and now the Red Bull cost? >:XX I was seriously tempted to just keep asking for drinks and dumping them out, telling them it would be much cheaper to just give me a damn Red Bull (which, seriously, costs maybe $1.50/can).
Oh, and there was nowhere at all to sit—all the tables were VIP only (meaning you had to buy the space) so we knew we’d be standing the entire evening. Again, something that was never mentioned anywhere in the promos. >:XX So we all headed off into a side room where at least the bar service was a little faster, but the music sucked, so we pretty much just stood around. Then it started getting crowded. Other side rooms had other music, but nothing any better than the first room we were in. By this point the main room was so crowded it was a pain walking through it to get anywhere. The music on the dance floor sucked, too. I don’t think I recognized two songs the entire time we were standing there (probably two hours total of the night). And the clientele was scary—lots of skanky/trashy/whorish looking girls in stripper clothes and shoes. Sad. Of course there were some normal-looking people, but overall I just felt old and out of place and would rather have been at home.
At least I was somewhat looking forward to midnight, because the promos had said they would play the New York Ball Drop at midnight on the “40 LCD TVs AROUND THE ROOM.” Except they didn’t. Hell, they didn’t even start the countdown until about 12:02 (according to our phones). I think it was 12:08 when I told Tom it was time to go.
It took some time to find our friends so we could get a room key to get my coat, and I had been sober since about 11, so I was fine to drive. We were home and in bed by 12:50.
The only good thing is that now Tom owes me big. BIG. And we never need to go out on NYE again.
We went up to Grayling for the long holiday weekend. We went over to Kalkaska on Christmas Eve Day to have our Christmas with Marsha and Rob and then Christmas Day we exchanged gifts with Marge, then my dad and Linda came over for lunch and Owen time. Here are some of the best shots:
Grandpa Mike brought over a sled for Owen, in which he THOROUGHLY enjoyed being pulled around the house!
We were able to finally take him sledding outside later in the weekend. Cousins Isabelle and Gabrielle were there to help! Here are some of the best shots:
It was great being able to have the entire family together again (the last time was actually just in July, when we all vacationed together in Kentucky). Here’s the annual group shot and the Christmas shirt photo with a new inductee:
Since we were up north for Thanksgiving, Grandma Linda and Grandpa Mike said they wanted to take Owen to the carousel at the Grand Traverse Mall. So off we went!
Grandpa took him first, and Owen didn’t think too much of it. But he was cute. We have video from it, but it’s enough to make you nauseous so I won’t post it here… you’ll have to suffice with the pictures I took on Owen’s second ride, with mom and dad (specifically to try and get some good pictures):
After the carousel, we decided to walk around the mall a little, and one of the first places we passed was Mastercuts…so I decided it was fate (we had been saying for a few weeks he needed another cut) so in we went! He did a pretty good job—again, no crying! And again a little fidgety (he constantly wanted to see what was going on behind him) but overall he was very good! And now look how dapper he is again!
Since Tom had the entire long weekend off, we decided to go to Traverse City to stay with dad and Linda—it would be the first time we had been there in years. They also invited everyone (mom & David, Marge, and Marsha & Rob) for Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday!
The trip up didn’t go quite as planned. Owen was a pretty good trooper on the ride—it was his nap time when we left, so we hoped he’d sleep at least two hours…but 30 minutes was all we got, and then he was hungry shortly thereafter, so we stopped in Midland to eat dinner and feed him. That added about 45 minutes to our trip. Then we discovered US 131 was closed and the resulting back roads detour took us a good half hour out of our way. GRRRR. (Apparently everyone knew about this but either forgot to mention it or thought we were going another direction.) |-| But Owen did sleep the whole way after dinner, and made the transition form the car to his crib nicely (he did wake up, but fell back to sleep easily). I was happy about that because that was what I had been most worried about, as I hate to do anything that might mess up his great sleep schedule.
The family dinner went well. Linda had said that everyone was welcome after 1, and mom was pulling in at 1:03 and Marsha was pulling in at 1:07. :>> Mom was actually three minutes later than I expected her. Hee. Owen was freshly bathed and in a new (from cousin Nick) outfit and was just such a dashing little gentleman (aka cutie pie):
We had lots of yummy hors d’œuvres, everyone brought goodies to add to the meal, I did the mashed potatoes, then watched and helped my mom make the gravy (I figure if I watch it enough times, I might be able to do it on my own one of these days :oops:). I also really enjoyed a few glasses of wine. :p Everything was delicious, and Owen even had Thanksgiving fare—albeit the baby food versions. We did give him a bunch of tiny bites to try, though, including turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, squash, and rolls—which he ate, but didn’t really enjoy (he still has texture and thickness issues).
And then. Unfortunately. At the exact moment we gave him some pistachio fluff to try, he barfed up his entire meal. I guess the fluff broke the camel’s back, so-to-speak, and his little stomach/gag reflex said ENOUGH! Thankfully it all landed on him, his bib, and the high chair, and none hit the table or the carpet. Poor Owen. But he was no worse for the wear and we all got a good laugh out of it.
I wanted to be sure to get a group picture since it’s not a common occurrence to have all the grandparents together. We only took two, so imagine my surprise when one of them came out pretty damn good!
Aunt (Grandma? Grauntie?) Rose sent Owen a new outfit and some toys—which he just loves! He LOVES the the “mp3 player” and gets so ferocious with the spinny toy that it never stays suctioned for long!
THANK YOU!
(This video is a combination of three separate videos.)
We decided it was time to go visit Lisa and Timmy and the kids, since we’ve been here a year, only live 1.5 hours away, and haven’t been there yet. We timed it for Owen’s nap times, and it worked perfectly.
We got there around noon, and they prepared a great lunch for us. Owen ate his normal baby food, but since we had a bunch of kid-friendly foods available, we gave him banana pieces (which we know he likes), then tried strawberry (which wasn’t too bad), bread (which he’s had before), and cheese (which he liked). He didn’t want a lot of any of the new foods, but at least he tried them and didn’t spit them out!
Owen was the youngest of the four—I think they’re five, two, and 17 months. The funny thing is that Owen is bigger than the 17-month old! Lisa says she’s 22#, but she felt A LOT lighter to me! :)) Here is the proof of the size difference (and you wonder why people think we have a toddler!):
And boy did Owen have fun with the cousins. (Technically I think they’re second cousins? My cousins’ kids?) Anyway, they were all banging on a plastic bin and talking and since he can’t talk, he was just screeching and having a blast making noise with them. And then Nick leaned over and gave him a kiss. Soooo cute!
And then Nick gave Owen a little rough-and-tumble-yet-gentle take-down from behind, and it was sooooo adorable, and Owen loved it. This was the best pic from the bunch:
We had a really good time, and we loved having Owen be able to play with (and just be around) kids of different ages. We hope to get together more often in the future so they kids will know each other…
We tried to get a family photo on the fly today, because Owen was in a happy smiley mood. Unfortunately, this was the best of the bunch. 🙂
The ball was a little different than last year…the tickets were a bit more (although still a good deal, considering they included dinner, an open bar, and the hotel room) and there were no giveaways because they lost a huge sponsor that they had last year. That said, we had an awesome time.
Of course, I was excited because I could drink this year—as last year I was pregnant! I wasn’t sure what my drink of choice would be, because typically a hotel open bar doesn’t have anything I really like, and get stuck drinking Vodka & Cranberry. But, this year they had Monster…which is similar to Red Bull…which I love with vodka…so I discovered a new drink and enjoyed them thoroughly all night! Probably a few too many, but damn it was fun.
Danced a bit, drank a bit, made some new friends (which I am sooooo excited about), and was in bed by midnight! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my Tylenol PM before I fell asleep, so I woke up in the middle of the night with a smashing headache, but wasn’t about to take a Tylenol PM at that point, so I just laid there and suffered, hoping I would fall asleep again…wondering how I could get my hands on any type of pill to take. About 6:30 Tom finally woke up and told me he had packed Excedrin! Ugh! If only I had known that when I first woke up!! The rest of the day was a great reminder of why I don’t drink like that anymore. XX(
Here is the official pic, copied and pasted from the photographer’s website. I hate it, of course. He took three pics and this was the best, and I still hate it. Aside from the fact I look pregnant, LOL, I hate that you can see the flag stands. Oh well.
Gramma Jean made this video initially, then I tried to redo it with different pictures, but it turned out about the same. Owen just takes the cake. This makes me smile and laugh each and every time I watch it…
Edited on November 10, 2009, to say that I finally broke down and bought the actual video for $5—I figured it was worth it for something that brought me so many smiles. 😀 So now it’s uploaded at YouTube instead of just having a link.
SCREENSHOT OF THE ENTIRE CAST:
Tom and I went away for a long weekend (the first time I’ve been away from Owen for more than one night!) so my dad and Linda came down to watch Owen. We told them he was a REALLY easy baby, and after the weekend, they wholeheartedly agreed and gave him an A+ report!
He can now clap and make noise (before he just kind of clapped silently) and just does it on his own without our “Clap! Clap! Clap!” prompting. It’s adorable.
He can also now drink from his sippy cup pretty well on his own, although he isn’t quite able to tip it up as far as he sometimes needs to. He also can now eat an entire puff at once—as by the time it gets to his mouth it’s usually pretty wet (he doesn’t quite have the pincer grasp down yet, but it’s getting close).
Dad and Lin were telling us how they took Owen to the park and ended up on the swings next to Lily. In talking with her mom, they found out Lily was 12 months old and almost 20#. The mom, of course, thought Owen was MUCH older than he really was, and was surprised that he wasn’t even eight months yet—but weighed more than her daughter. We have only been guessing what Owen weighs, so Tom finally weighed him and he was 22# (meaning he’s gained about 2.5# in two months). Hoo boy! (Similarly, a mom in my group has an 18-month old that weighs about 20#!) He’s definitely a big boy!
Watermelon (it was hard to grab, but he enjoyed it):
His own wading pool (thank you Gramma Jean!):
Gramma Jean came down to babysit so Tom and I could go to Phantom of the Opera at the Detroit Opera House.
We opted for the cheapest seats since we had already seen Phantom in Toronto and wanted a different vantage point—and went by the Yelp recommendations that there is “not a bad seat in the house” and “don’t let nosebleed seats discourage you.” So we got seats in the center of the very last row of the entire theater! Three stories up!
Unfortunately, it was a bad call. There was absolutely NO room and we were squeezed in like sardines. I am 5’10” and my knees were touching the seat in front of me. Tom, at 6’2″, was even more uncomfortable and could only fit his feet into the small space where the seats (in front of us) came together. Needless to say it felt like a longer performance than it really was. 🙁
That said, Phantom is always a good show…but had I not seen it before, I would have been very disappointed with the seats. You obviously couldn’t see what anyone looked like and you missed some of the action that took place high up on the stage (it was blocked by curtains).
But I did get the chills throughout the entire show during all my favorite moments so it was worth it!!
Then we went out for an early dinner and had a good time there, as well. It was a good day!
Grandma Jean was here to babysit, so we were able to go out for our traditional Chinese dinner (Mon Jin Lau if you’re interested—it was VERY good and I would highly recommend it)!
We’ve been avoiding giving Owen fruit, because he hasn’t been eating his vegetables—and it’s common practice to always give veggies first, because once they taste the sweet fruit, it’s much harder to get them to eat their veggies. But we’ve wanted to give him fruit! (I even wanted to let him taste a dill pickle, but Tom said no!)
So Gramma Jean had some banana in her cereal that she didn’t want, and of course Owen was eyeing it (which he does with most food we eat) so she mashed up two tiny cubes and gave it to him (with my okay, of course!) and…he LOVED it! We ended up giving him maybe two small slices in total. And kept our fingers crossed that it didn’t ruin him for veggies!
Since we were up in Grayling, Gramma Marsha came over to visit. She also brought Owen a gift—a blow up boat, complete with leg holes and a horn! It was perfect, as we were planning (hoping!) to take him to the lake (for his first big water experience) that weekend.
What was funny, though, was me reading the box: “For ages 6 months to 12 months. Up to 20 pounds.” 88| That meant we had better use it that weekend, otherwise he would be too big! (Yes, he is only six months old…but remember, he weighs as much as a 12-month old so he was already at the max weight!)
So just in case the beach thing didn’t work out, we had a photo op at home beforehand:
So then it was off to Houghton Lake to see Rose and Jim at their cottage. They have lake access just down the street, so we all walked down there, cameras and towels and boat in hand, boy in the stroller, hoping for it to go well.
Things started off well, but then he wasn’t anywhere near the water yet.
Unfortunately, it was windy, which made the water a bit choppy.
And the water was cold, so it took about five seconds to register that he didn’t like it so we pulled him out.
But we still wanted to try the boat. And this picture pretty much sums up his entire first lake experience:
So much for my grand visions of a nice and warm day, with the sun having warmed the first two inches of CALM lake water, with us sitting next to the boy IN the water, watching him play and kick. |-|
Then it was off for a pontoon ride around the lake. Rose and Jim didn’t have a baby life jacket but they did have a kinda small one—which Owen didn’t really like, either (but then, he was hungry—so once the bottle was finished, he was much happier). That said, his helmet was really in the way:
…so we eventually took it off—and once the helmet was off and he relaxed a bit, things were better:
…and he eventually fell asleep! 🙂
Owen just had a bath at Gramma Jean’s house…and he was just adorable afterwards!
And then it was time for standing (and leaning) with dad!
So when Gramma Jean was here earlier this summer, we hit some neighborhood garage sales. One item she bought was this pair of Cars pajamas. She bought them for Robert (another grandson) who LOVES the movie Cars. The PJs were size 3T. However, they had obviously been washed and worn and had probably shrunk somewhat over time. Mom looked at them and thought “You know, they look like they would fit Owen.”
Nah. No way. I mean, he was (only) five months at the time. Fitting into 3T jammies? Get real. I said we could still give them to Robert. And then we forgot to pack them on our Kentucky trip. So when we got home, we put them on Owen for a laugh…except we really weren’t laughing.
They fit. THEY FIT! The size 3T (meaning 3-year-old toddler) fit him! The legs were a bit too long, but not by that much. And the top fit perfectly.
Oh my.
But sooooooo cute.
So I just made tuna salad and, as usual, was reminded of the very first time I made it back in college.
Noodles? Check.
Tuna? Check.
Mayo? Check.
Eggs? Check.
But it wasn’t right. So I called my mom and the conversation went something like this:
Me: I made tuna salad but it didn’t taste like yours!
Mom: Did you use relish?
Me: No.
Mom: Did you use vinegar?
Me: No.
Mom: Did you use celery salt?
Me: No.
Mom: Well then that’s why it didn’t taste like mine.
So…lesson learned—and for the 15 years since then, mine has tasted [pretty much] like hers every time!!
First we had mom’s group from 10-noon and then we had physical therapy from 3-4. I never specifically woke the boy up, but he still didn’t nap as well as he normally does…so at the moment, I’m waiting for him to fall asleep (he was out within two minutes of leaving PT, but since I moved him to the pack-and-play when we got home, he woke up).
The mom’s group topic was sleep, and surprisingly, I didn’t have much to say or ask about…since Owen really is doing pretty well. The guest’s basic philosophy on everything was “If you like it and/or it works for you, go ahead and do it” — whether that means having them sleep in a car seat or having to take them on a car ride to get them to nap. While I agree with that to a certain extent, I draw a line at using anything really odd to get him to sleep. That said, he is apparently an easy baby since he goes down without a fight (most of the time).
It makes me feed bad (and good!) to hear what some of the other moms are going through sleep-wise…babies that can’t self-soothe at all or who have to be rocked to sleep before being put in the crib. Or babies who scream for an hour first or have to be walked around to calm down. Egads. I guess we have it easy. Most of them are still getting up at night, too, for at least one feeding—so I’m not alone. Of course, there is also a mom or two with a baby that sleeps from 7-7 or 10-8.
The hardest part of the group for me is seeing all the other babies rolling over or stretching themselves up on their arms or sitting up well on their own…since Owen is not quite there yet. Yeah yeah yeah I know all babies are different but it still stinks to see most of them ahead of him. A lot of the babies are also eating a lot of real food—like an entire baby jar at a time! They were surprised when I told them that Owen doesn’t really want anything to do with food—or that we just haven’t found the right food yet. He seems to want to eat (he opens his mouth when he sees the spoon) but he hasn’t liked any of his options yet. I happened to mention it to the physical therapist and she said by six months (which is next week!) he really should be eating some amount of solid foods…and said if he doesn’t start soon, she might recommend I talk to a specialist! Egads. Of course, I need to ask the pediatrician about it next week at his six-month appointment.
So, the physical therapy. She said he’s doing better. He rolls to one side much better than the other, so we have to keep working on that (he still doesn’t roll over on his own, except for a happy accident now and again). He has good neck and leg strength and his arm strength is getting better. We had thought today might be the last appointment for awhile, but after seeing him today, she said still wants to continue to see him. At least we have moved the appointment time to 3pm instead of 7am (although, honestly, I might like the 7am better because it’s MUCH quieter and cooler in there).
We just got back from a week’s vacation in Kentucky. Why Kentucky, you might be asking? Well, that was a fairly central mid-point for all of the Schwalmlettes & Schmitlettes (the nickname for the Schwalm kids and me) to drive and meet for a family reunion!
It was really nice, since we never all get to see each other at Christmas like we used to (see what having kids does?). 🙂 However, it wasn’t QUITE like old times—there wasn’t much staying up until 3am playing games and drinking and talking like in the old days…since there are kids to deal with now. (I might hazard a guess that I had the worst of it, since I still have to get up with the boy for night feedings, which meant I was usually in bed by 10 each night.) But we still all had fun visiting and relaxing and playing Wii games (and more to the point, watching the kids play Wii games) and watching the kids’ production of Three Little Pigs and Annie!
Owen was the absolute HIT of the week for the kids. They just about loved him to pieces! They always wanted to be in his face playing with him or kissing him or hugging him or touching him or helping feed him. I am sure he was overwhelmed, but it was very cute! Here’s what it looked like a lot of the time:
We also learned that Owen does NOT like a lot of noise and commotion. We had him in the room with us when the kids were singing or boxing on the Wii (both LOUD and CRAZY) and he was NOT a happy camper. As soon as we took him out of the room, he quieted down and was happy again. A kid after my own heart! :yes:
There was a hot tub (which I had been really excited about), but the weather was so warm that I never went in. It pretty much just got used by the kids (that is, after Kath turned it town to like 80° so it was more pool-like) who really enjoyed it!
We were out of cell service range, but the house did have internet so all us geeks didn’t have to go through withdrawal. I think we had three laptops and four iPhones—sometimes all going at once!
One day we all went to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and managed to get this family photo:
Of course, it was over WAY too soon…and before you know it, we were packing and on the road home. At least we discovered we have a pretty good little traveler—Owen slept most of the way and we only had to feed him once during the 8-hour trip (although we had to feed him the moment we got to our destination, both ways!).
Stay tuned for a link to the entire set of pictures!
I ordered a sushi platter for a group gathering today…isn’t it pretty? And it was deeeeelicious, too. Yummo.
Grandma Jean had to caption this photo as soon as she saw it:
:>>