We are Those People

A lot has happened in the past few weeks. Sloan has a new job with American Furniture Rentals and will begin on October 29th. In the interim, we have decided to make the most of his hiatus and do a little traveling. We are trying to plan little activities for everyday as we have discovered that several weeks of Sloan at home being bored drives the both of us crazy.

For starters, we went down to Greensboro to visit my family. My dad was in South Dakota hunting pheasant with Biff and my two eldest nephews and we went to keep Gigi company. We also had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my brother and his four kids while my sister-in-law Pam was out of town. At the end of that day, I was saying to Sloan, "I think we should have four kids." and Sloan was saying, "Are you crazy, woman? I'm exhausted." That Saturday we saw Caroline (5) play a soccer game. Bill is the coach and has the patience of Job. Then we went to his house and cooked out, planned their haunted trail they are doing in their neighborhood, and played with their Wii. The only thing funnier than a 3 year old playing Tony Hawk is watching my niece Sarah Grace (9) box. Man that thing is fun! It was great to hang out for the day with Bill and his family with little to do but have fun. It is common for families to fall into old routines when they get together, but the truth is few of us are the same people we were when we were kids. It was neat to experience my brother as a father. He is the perfect blend of silly and strict and you can tell that he genuinely enjoys the company of his kids. And who wouldn't. They kind and hilarious. Natalie (3) brought Henry her blankie, named Maitee, every time he fussed. He loved it and she enjoyed being able to make him giggle. Also, I have learned that I ROCK AT TONY HAWK SKATEBOARDING!!!

Henry is also beginning to master rice cereal. We're still figuring out how much formula he can take after eating a bowl of cereal and I've been spit up on frequently. We laugh that our son is bulimic. He binges and purges. Seriously, if I were like him and simply vomited up food once I began overeating, I'd be skinny as a rail! He also said his first word. Sort of. The other afternoon, plain as day, he looked at Sloan and said, "Hi!" Now granted, he babbles a lot these days and he didn't mean to say it, but it happened. Henry is quite advanced. Now if only he would learn to turn left. We'd love for him to be an ambiturner.

Then we went down to Chapel Thrill where we had a whirlwind visit with lots of my old college friends. We stayed with Jen and Paul O'Sullivan in Cary. Jen was my big sis in Zeta and has two boys--Cameron (3) and Parker (10 months). They are a funny family. We arrived at Jen's around three on Friday and had a couple of beers. Jen decided we had to have more than one because otherwise we'd just get tired or a headache. Also, at one point, while Sloan, Jen and I were chatting Cameron kept whining, "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy." Jen answered quickly, "What Cameron?" "Why aren't you talking to me?" We laughed. But still, didn't really talk to him. But he was very sweet with Henry and protected him from the poking fingers of Parker. We also went to dinner with my senior year roommate, Lori Beth, and her husband, Rob, their 18 month old, Bennet, and our friend, Alyssa, and her boyfriend, Joe.

On Saturday, it was off to Chapel Hill for the Carolina Carolina game. That's right--the UNC Tarheels played the USC Gamecocks in football to find out who is the REAL Carolina. Obviously, the Gamecocks won and so Sloan was happy, despite being haggled about wearing a gamecock jersey in Chapel Hill. We weren't able to find tickets that weren't outrageously expensive, but it worked out well with Henry. We were hanging out with some friends of mine from Zeta and their husbands--Margaret and Jarron Harkness, who are expecting their first baby next Spring, and Joy and Jason (I have no idea what their last name is) who live in Atlanta. It was great seeing them again. We had a blast and Henry was definitely the life of the party. But we definitely we those people. Those people with the baby in the bar. Ugh. We started out tailgating and Henry got to hang out in the sling while Mommy and Daddy helped float a keg of Bud Light. Then we were off to the deck at Pantana Bob's where we watched the game, ate lunch, and Daddy got to drink more beers. Once again, Henry flirted with every college coed who was there. Most of them were wearing short skirts and cowboy boots. When did this become a fad? (Gosh, I'm old...) Henry was a perfect angel. He barely slept the whole day and was passed around from person to person, and yet never fussed. The only time he cried the whole day was when the jets flew over us before the game. And they were loud. Towards the end of the game, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and strolled over to He's Not Here, an outdoor beer garden. Once again, Henry was the baby in the bar. But in our defense, we were always outside with him so he was never cooped up in a smoky bar.

But we are now reaping what we sowed as Henry has a cold. He is sleeping a lot. So it is now nose drops, aspirators, and humidifiers for us. Oh well. He is still a very happy baby. And just so darned cute!!!