Baltimore, Delaware, Philly, Oh My!

So, we've had a busy week. First we went to Baltimore and stayed with my college friends, Jackie and Cary Bizzell, and their 8 week old, Natalie. Henry was excited to finally see someone smaller than him and even christened their carpet with an Excorcist style spit up. This was not fun for mommy as she had just put on the PJs she had to go to Target for. That's right. I spent so much time making sure that Henry had enough clothes for whether it was cold or hot that I forgot to pack correctly for myself. No pajamas. I also discovered that I must've packed for the person I want to be rather than the person I am as I also packed five dresses and two pairs of high heeled shoes. We're talkin' 4 inch heels. What was I thinking? So over the course of our trip I had to make a Target run for PJs and then an Old Navy run in Delaware for a sweater and some long sleeve shirts. It didn't help that when I was packing it was 85 degrees in our condo and I couldn't imagine it ever being cool again. Needless to say, being in Delaware and Philadelphia at the end of October required more than my rainbow flip flops, sundresses, and red stiletto heels. Geesh! So after lolling about with Jackie and Cary, watching TV, and eating Dunkin Donuts Munchkins it was off to Wilmington, DE in the rain for Sloan's 15th high school reunion at The Tower Hill School.

In Wilmington, we stayed with Deb and Gary Yavonovich and their 2 year old son, Jack. Deb was a reader in our wedding and Sloan's best high school friend. Their son Jack loved playing with Henry and mimicking him. It was very sweet. Friday night we spent eating with high school friends casually--one of whom just got engaged--Congrats to Norri and Melissa and then also with another couple that got engaged just after our dinner--Congrats to Jaimie and Michael. Saturday we dragged Henry out in the deluge to tour the school and then left him with Deb's parents, the Colbourns, so we could tear it up at the reunion. And tear it up, I did. I will not go into details as it is far too embarrassing for me. Let's just say that I took full advantage of my D.D. husband and the free babysitter. I was, without a doubt, that girl.

After a much needed night of passing out, er, sleep we were then off to New Jersey for Sloan's work meetings. We were in Mt. Laurel, NJ, which is just over the Delaware River from Philly. And what would a trip to Philly be without eating a cheesesteak? So we ate at Pat's King of Steaks. Yum. And the cheese fries rocked too. Soooo goood.

After spending his first night in a hotel, we headed into Philly on Monday. PRAISE GOD FOR OUR NEW MAGELLAN GPS DIRECTION SYSTEM!!! It is fantastic and it is so fabulous to hear that smooth voice tell you, "You have arrived." Unfortunately, when you make a wrong turn she says, "Recalculating Route." Yeah, heard that a couple of times too. But when made it into the city and visited Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall, the Bourse building, Ben Franklin's grave at Christ Church Burial Ground, the Betsy Ross house, and Signers Park. We had a blast. I've learned that travelling with a baby presents some challenges and some pleasures. For starters, you begin to rank places based upon their diaper changing facilities. Five stars to the Independence Visitors Center for having a family toilet room with a changing table. I also got lots of doors opened for me and smiles as Henry cooed and giggled and flirted with Park Rangers. And you have to buy the souvenir photos taken in front of green screens if you go alone with your baby. Or you can just abandon the stroller by the Liberty Bell to take your kids' photo. Yeah, that's some good parenting. At the Liberty Bell Center I had to inform them that the Tupperware full of white powder was indeed formula. I was also struck with sadness as we visited the Christ Church Burial Ground. There were lots of headstones for children. Ben Franklin had a son, Frances, who died at age 4. And one family that had a children die at 4 months, 8 months, 10 months, and then another at 11. I am very grateful for the advances in pediatrics and medicine. And since he was such a good boy, strapped in the stroller all day long, we lolled about for awhile in Signers Park next to Independence Hall and just practiced rolling.

The next day we slept in late and then went to Reading Terminal Market to eat the Mac and Cheese from Delilah's Southern Cuisine that Oprah named the Best Macaroni and Cheese in America. We also saw Delilah on the Food Network on Bobby Flay's Showdown. It was definitely some good mac and cheese. We got back to Richmond last night around 10 and I can definitely say that I am glad to be home and in my own bed. Even Henry missed the comfort of his crib, being stuck all week in his Pac N Play. But look how sweet and cute he is in his size 12 month sock monkey pajamas.

No tricks, Just treats...

Oh my goodness. Our telephone and Internet was down for two days and I realized how addicted I am to technology. I told Sloan, "Thank God we still have our cable TV, otherwise we'd have to actually talk to one another or read a book." Thank goodness it never came to that! Ha!

Yesterday we took treats to the nurses that took care of me while I was on bed rest, the NICU nurses, and my OB/GYN. They were very excited to see Henry and my OB was curious as to when we'd be up for another kid. I told her to ask our perinatologist(Dr. Troyer) and fertility doc (Dr. Tidey)--who happen to be married to one another--to let us know when they need another boost in the Troyer/Tidey trust fund. We figure we've sent their boys to private school for at least a year. The treats, I must say, were very cute. Even if I did come up with the idea myself. I filled these little jack-o-lantern bowls with Hershey kisses and attached a sign with Henry's picture in his Hershey Kiss costume and wrote on it "No tricks. Just treats! Love, Henry, Elizabeth, and Sloan Phillips." Henry was going to be a Hershey's kiss for Halloween but after the photo shoot I decided it was too difficult to struggle with a hat all night long and so Henry is now going to be a Tiger. He looks so cute in his little Tiger costume and the thing looks so cozy, I may just use it as his winter coat. I'll be sure to post pics of Henry on Halloween.

Dude, Henry, You've got something on your face

Like his mother, Henry is a messy eater. For some reason, he refuses to look at me when he eats. He sits in his Bumbo seat on our kitchen table and stares at the cookbooks behind him. Maybe it is because he wonders why Mommy has so many cookbooks that she so rarely uses.....

Won't You Be My Friend?

I am now addicted to facebook. Thank you Sonya. However, I feel like I'm struggling to be popular and to have as many friends on it as possible. A bit like seeing how many people you can get to sign your yearbook. It also has led to me doing a little stalking of people from my past. Good times. Good times.
And it is still crazy hot here. Henry is now reduced to simply wearing his diaper. At least when he eats he wears a bib with a tie on it. Unfortunately, I do not look as cute lolling about in my undies and am reduced to wearing sundresses. Apparently, the AC guy can't put more refrigerant in the unit today as there is a forecast for rain. Ugh. So he is coming tomorrow morning. Hopefully all the sweating I'm doing will cause me to lose weight.
Also, Henry has outgrown most of his pajamas. The boy won't be six months old until next week and already is in 12 month pjs. His feet are too big and legs are too long for the 6-9 month footie PJs. I thought preemies are supposed to be small. Oh well. I did, however, get him some cute sock monkey Nick and Nora PJs at Target that are 12 months. Hopefully these will last him for at least a couple of weeks. I'm also praying that at his 6 month check-up the pediatrician will take him off of his pricey high calorie preemie formula. I'm ready to shop for this stuff at Costco.

At the Gun Show

It is crazy hot here. Our AC is on the fritz and I'm dying--it is 85 degrees in our condo. We may begin making pottery. The AC guy is supposed to be here between 2 and 4. But in the meantime, we are trying to dress appropriately. Unfortunately, Henry has outgrown most of his summer clothes and the clothes that I purchased for fall are too warm. So he has been reduced to what I've come to call his "Mansie." I first made the Mansie on the day he was christened as the gown was linen and itchy, but I needed something with no sleeves, so we just chopped the sleeves off of a onesie. It is a bit of a wife beater and a bit south beach drag queen and 100% hot!! Check out those muscles on my son!!! Is he a plumber? Cause the boy's got some pipes? That's right, ladies--he's the main attraction at the gun show. We're thinking about getting him a barbed wire bicep tatoo.

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!!!

State Fair 2007

Went to the State Fair today. What a wonderful place to people watch. Lots of tattoos and confederate flags. We saw the pig races, the high divers, the whip master, chicks being born, adorable piglets, goats on top of a barn, lots of arts and crafts and the usual State Fair fare. We did not go in to see the freak shows, but apparently there was a snake lady, a gorilla girl, and a 29 inch woman. According to my 12 year old nephew Caleb, the snake lady was a hoax and the tiny woman was real and she is from Haiti. Apparently, he paid to see her twice. Sloan and I are afraid of these affairs. In fact, we were harangued by the people working the games as we walked down the midway. They kept yelling, "Hey lady, Hey lady with the stroller, come win a prize. Hey sir, with the lady. Hey! Hey!" I just kept staring at Sloan saying, "Pretend we're in a deep conversation. Keep talking and don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact!" Henry enjoyed being pushed around in his stroller and was wonderful as usual.

The thing I'm most proud of was that with all of the fair food, I did not pig out on fried dough, cotton candy, and a bucket of fries. I had a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and slaw and then later a frozen banana dipped in chocolate. I figured you can't go to a fair and not get food on a stick, so at least fruit was a bit healthier.