The Marv

Cousin Marvin testing out his new birthday present...

Numb

Two friends of mine used the words "numb" and "tragic" in their FB status updates this afternoon. One said, "RIP." A college acquaintance of ours committed suicide. I struggle reading the news online about how the event unfolded. I feel sad. Empty. Wonder why. I hurt for her family. Her friends. She was always smiling. Laughing. What could have prevented this. If anything.

30 & 1...Big Milestones

While Eric is mourning his 20s, Henry is relishing in his newfound toddlerhood (not technically though, still a crawler). It's fair to say that I'm equally sad as am happy about Hank turning one. *sigh* I think those sweet, precious baby moments are what keep Eric and me vacillating between two or three kids. Falling asleep on your chest. Curling under your neck. Tiny feet, which mean even tinier toes. The little grunts as he ate. That soft, baby smell.

I'll never forget our first night with Henry at home. I had just nursed him and put him to sleep in his crib. He started crying 30 minutes later. Eric and I looked at each other in bed with our eyes wide open, both of us not wanting to admit that we had no idea what to do. Logically, we grabbed The Baby Whisperer chart, stood over Henry's crib, and tried to decode his cries. Because babies have a manual like that. Or so we thought. And then there was the Boppy. I remember asking Eric to pull it out so that I could give it a whirl. I didn't know what to do with it. College-educated and I was intimidated by a c-shaped nursing pillow. Eric walked around the room modeling how he thought it should be done. That's when my sense of humor came back. Little did I know that he was right. Go figure. I couldn't give him too much credit at that point though because an hour before his modeling career took off he was telling me that the petroleum jelly we had brought home from the hospital was different than the Vaseline we bought at Target; the hospital had sent us home with what was called "vase-line."

I can't remember when it all turned around. But I know at some point, my hormones got back in balance and allowed me to finally stop crying. We didn't have to double-team diapers. And Eric became an amazing father (second to my mothering skills, of course).

I still feel like I'm taking it in

Birthday Celebration: Day 1

We celebrated Eric's 30th last night at Fermentations with John and Jan (a.k.a. Grandpa T and Nana). Great food. Awesome company. Yum.

Champagne toast. Flights of wine. Morels picked fresh that day. Potatoes layered with gruyere. I wouldn't have expected this from a little place in Dundas. We'll definitely go back.

Give Daddy a Kiss

Henry continues to "register" all of the things we say throughout the day. We often kiss him over and over and over as we say, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" This kid does not lack any affection from his folks.

The unfortunate reality of our lives is that Eric is away from home about half of every week. This means we have a lot of calls via speaker phone so that Henry can hear his dad's voice (we would do Skype but Eric's oooold laptop doesn't have a webcam...and as of right now, I don't really want to have a one-way video chat). Anyway, the other night Henry was sitting on my lap. As the conversation came to a close I said, "Say goodbye to Daddy." Henry waved. Then I said, "Give Daddy a kiss." He made out with the phone. Aw.

Now kissing seems to be the "new thing".... We were over at our neighbor's last night for dinner and Henry kept trying to kiss their dog with a big open mouth. Hm.

Big weekend ahead as Eric turns 30 on Sunday. Dinner at Fermentations tonight with his parents and then "date night" tomorrow in Eden Prairie: Wildfire and "The Social Network". Sunday will be a hike through Big Woods and a gourmet dinner cooked by me. We use the term "gourmet" loosely in this house.

Northfield Minnesota Flooding Sept 24th 2010

To get inside a child's brain

Eric and I managed to make it to church yesterday after a summer off from the 10 am service. Admittedly, it felt good to get back. While Henry enjoyed the new toys in the nursery and the undivided attention of Tammy (the nursery lady), we got back into the groove of worship. Eric and I found ourselves [almost] crying and laughing. Crying because a lady expressed a heartfelt family concern to the congregation through tears. Laughing because the children brought a special gift the service. During the children's sermon the conversation went something like this:

Preacher: "How could the adults show you that they care and love you?"

Child: "By eating the broccoli and spinach off of our plates for us!"

Ha! Of course, that is not quite the answer they were looking for. But let's be honest. Eating the veggies off of your child's plate means love.

This also made me think of my three year old nephew Marvin. While hanging out with him last week he pulled a few funny comments. And my favorite: (setting: we were leaving and going our own way)

Anna (a.k.a. Marvin's mom): Okay, Marvin. What do you say?

Marvin: Sorry

Hmmm...does he get into trouble much? He didn't really understand why we were all laughing. But then he picked up on the proper response and bid us farewell. Ah, kids.

Happy baby

He's so happy.

Dogs

Henry has a mild obsession with the dogs. Whenever we head downstairs, the dogs are typically waiting for us. Henry will flail his arms and screech in excitement... and the dogs scratch at the baby gate with equal excitement. Walter's excitement stems purely from his need to lick. He can't wait to get to Henry to give him a proper bath--Henry takes it like a man and will clench his eyes shut with the random hand swat toward Walter's tongue. Then there's Ardy...he does whatever Walter does: "Walter's excited? Well then I'm excited too!" (that's me pretending to get inside of Ardy's little head). Anyway, we often get asked how the dogs are around Henry. Walter loves him. Ardy tolerates him. Henry loves to [aggressively] pet them.

Labor Day Weekend

We were supposed to join the Swiderskis at their cabin for Labor Day weekend, but a "mis-read" in Eric's schedule meant that the trip wouldn't work and we were staying home.... But it so happened that one of Eric's good friends, Ryan, was able to make the trek from Texas to visit for the weekend.

It was a relaxing weekend full of "showing off" Northfield and just plain enjoying life...

The three of us before our big night out. We were home by 10:00 pm.

We love Ryan for many reasons. One of them being that he has the best action shots. It's an important quality in a friend.

Mmmm....banana bread!

Walter and Ryan have always had a special connection. Honestly, it's a bit odd. Walter consistently waited for Ryan at the bottom of the stairs all weekend. And when he wasn't waiting for him, he was in his arms, on his lap, at his feet....

Henry shot....

A note to all friends: If you come visit us, we will put you to work. Our fantastic neighbor gave us a heads up on a FREE swingset on Craigslist...we swiped it and the guys set it up. Here's Eric in his classic "Ta da!" pose with the finished product.

Northfield has an awesome Saturday market. As a true Texan would, Ryan purchased the jalapeno jelly from Ruthie.

Root beer envy...

Crabby man on campus (a.k.a. "The Teether" in the wrestling ring)

Big man on campus (a.k.a. "Lean, mean fighting machine")

Stroller pushing boot camp