Nashville hotel bedtime

Memorial Day weekend, we went to Nashville for a wedding. Bob brewed the beer for the wedding reception, and we were invited as a 'thank you'. As it turned out, Bob was the only one of us to go to the wedding, whereas I stayed in the hotel with Colin and Nathan.

So I had the task of putting them to bed in a one room hotel. This turned out to be quite comical. Of course, it was comical after the fact; during the whole ordeal, I wasn't sure if they were ever going to go to sleep!

First I laid Colin on the bed, told him to be quiet and then laid Nathan in the crib. I retreated to the bathroom. My plan was that they were pretty tired, Colin went swimming that afternoon in the pool, and Nathan had a really short nap. So even if they played and talked to each other a while, they would eventually go to sleep. Well, after 5 minutes it was getting really loud in the room, and Nathan was sounding really miserable.

So I went back in got Nathan up, told Colin to go in the bathroom. I gave Nathan some milk and put him back in the crib. Quickly retreated to the bathroom before Colin came out of the bathroom and stayed in there with Colin. After 20 minutes, I figured it was safe to come out and put Colin in the bed, I was going to lay down next to him and hope Colin went to sleep quickly. Well, I was wrong, it was not safe to come out. Nathan was standing in the crib waiting for us. As soon as he saw us, he started crying.

Get Nathan back out of the crib for some more milk. He's pretty full of milk by now, so Nathan just takes his time with the milk. Meanwhile Colin has put all the pillows from his bed on the floor between the bed and the wall and makes a little cubby for him. He lays on top of the pillows and goes to sleep! Before Nathan! So Nathan finally gets done (playing) with his milk. I put him back into the crib and make a very fast retreat to the bathroom! My book is in there so I just stayed in the bathroom reading for over an hour before I even think about opening the bathroom door.

So that was my evening reading in the bathroom ... while Bob was at the wedding reception smoozing with everyone about his beer. I really didn't mind though, I got through about half of a Steven King book! Usually I only allow myself to read while walking on the treadmill. So this is a treat for me, to be able to read without the bouncing up and down of walking on a treadmill.

Nathan kisses

About a week ago, Nathan was giving everyone kisses! We would say, "give Mom a kiss", and smack! a kiss right on the lips. Same for Dad, and even Colin. Unfortunately he hasn't done it since!

Colin's teacher Ms. Jeanie

Jeanie greeting Colin at the gate on his first day of school.

At Colin's school, there are two teachers, Mrs. Maureen and Ms. Jeanie. A couple of weeks ago, the parents got an email saying that Ms. Jeanie would not be returning to teach in the fall, that she was going to become a full-time student. I personally was devastated, she is so good with the kids, and Colin has indicated in the past a preferrence for her.

So I was taking Colin to school the other day, and just before going in, he tells me that Jeanie is leaving the school next year. "Yeah, I know", I tell Colin. Jeanie greets us at the gate just like normal, but Colin is scowling. Uh oh.

Bob went to pick-up Colin from school that day and said that Colin got into trouble with Jeanie for not listening to her. Well, I have a theory, I told him. I think that Colin is mad at Jeanie for leaving.

Colin does the same thing when Bob goes out of town. Colin gets really mad at Bob. In Bob's case, Colin won't talk on the phone to him and gives him the silent treatment when he returns.

There's a week left of school. I hope Colin forgives Jeanie so he can enjoy this last week with her as his favorite teacher.

Baby laughs

The other day, I was taking a walk with Nathan in the jogging stroller. The jogging stroller has a window in the sun shade so you can see him even when the sun shade is down. This also means he can see you! So near the end of the walk, Nathan looks up and sees me ... he giggles. So I make funny faces at him every time he looks up, he loves it and just laughs and laughs. There is nothing like the pure joy in a baby laugh. It's the greatest sound in the world, if you ask me. I mean it's impossible to not be affected by a baby laughing.

I remember sometime around two and a half years old when Colin lost his baby laugh. He was going to summer camp and started this evil laugh. I guess he must have picked it up from one of the kids. He doesn't do the evil laugh all the time now, but even his regular laugh isn't the same as a baby laugh.

Every once in a while, Colin will have a pure genuine baby laugh, and I love it! For now though, I'm going to cherish every one of Nathan's baby laughs!

Playdates & suitcases

So Colin is invited to a playdate over at a classmates house. The night before we talked about it and at first Colin said he didn't want to go, but eventually he thought it was a pretty good idea.

The next morning, Bob goes to wake him up and can't find Dat Dog, Colin's favorite stuffed animal. Then Bob sees the suitcase next to the door. Dat Dog is packed in the suitcase with a blanket, some books and a car. We tell Colin, it's not a sleep over, so Colin takes Dat Dog out of the suitcase but still wants to take the suitcase.

At least he was excited about going on the playdate!

"It's a little bit yucky"

I am making dinner tonight (I know, it doesn't happen very often!), and it's pasta. So Colin wants a couple pieces of the pasta. He puts it in a bowl of water and adds some seasoning. Upon tasting it, he says, "It's a little bit yucky."

I can't imagine, hard pasta in cold water with seasoning, doesn't sound appetizing at all!

Inman Park Festival 2007

I know these posts are suppose to be about the kids, but I'm going to digress and post about my weekend during the Inman Park Festival. The Inman Park Festival is a huge neighborhood celebration originally conceived in 1971 to attract Realtors and investors as the neighborhood was being restored to it's original grandeur. Now it's an event that attracts 40,000+ visitors to the neighborhood for the arts and crafts vendors, parade, tour of homes, music and more. The parade's claim to fame is that it's the wackiest, quirkiest parade in Atlanta, and I believe it! This year, Baton Bob was the Grand Marshall for the parade. Baton Bob is a scantily clad, baton twirling, cross dresser, say no more!

Well, my part was Public Safety co-chair on the Festival committee. That means that I got a walkie-talkie and golf cart on the weekend of the Festival! My responsibilities included helping with the Emergency Medical Services Plan (arranging for EMS personnel to be at the festival), Traffic and Security Plan (approving the plan that is generated by a more qualified person), and lining up parking lots for all the vendors and musicians. Then there's the No Parking signs and fliers to be hung and distributed so the residents are aware of the street closures. That's all done prior to the festival.

Once the festival is here, I was mainly needed to make sure everything ran smoothly. On Friday, the main tent was set up and streets were closed. Friday night was the Butterfly Ball where the neighbors cut loose! It was a blast, and we stayed out way too late. I was suppose to delivery radios at 5am in the morning. Well, getting to bed at 3:30am made it really difficult and impossible to get up at 5am. By 6:30am though, I was handing out radios.

My best memory of Saturday morning was another committee member showing up right after I did in his golf cart, brushing his teeth and getting busy doing festival stuff. Awesome, someone else as hung over (or more!) than I was! So Saturday was very rough. Parade detail really did me in. At 12:30 the parade participants start showing up and I hung out at the check-in point just to over-see the activities. It was hot and no shade. By the time the parade started, my ability to function was severely deteriorating.

I was just about to go back to the house to take a nap (with the walkie-talkie in case I was needed) and an emergency happened! Someone was having a seizure, and the crowds were really impeding the emergency personnel from getting to them. It all turned out okay. But for a while it was really scary. Now that the adrenaline was going, I didn't need that nap anymore.

Another emergency situation that happened during festival was a young boy fell and broke his arm. My golf cart was needed to transport the group to their car. The boy was with friends and not his parents, so his parents were going to meet them at the hospital.

Needless to say, Saturday night was pretty quiet for Bob and me. I was in no condition to do any major partying. Bob was disappointed especially since we were childless for the weekend. Ian and Roxanne had Colin and Nathan while all of this was going on. But Sunday about noon, they came back and headed over to the festival where I was standing my post. When Colin saw me, he immediately focused on the new "phone" that I had (walkie-talkie). He was pretty impressed. My outfit also included a police baseball cap. It wasn't the most flattering on me but when a police officer offers you his hat, you wear it! It was my official uniform for the Public Safety Festival Officer!

Also about the golf cart, when I first got the golf cart, I was not very excited about it. I've never driven a golf cart before and it's a little different than a car! I just didn't understand how it works. However by the end of the weekend, I loved it! I mean, what a cool way to get around the neighborhood! I'm hooked! We took the golf cart to Butterfly Ball Friday night. Now that's going in style!! I'll do Public Safety every year if it means getting a golf cart.

Besides the medical emergencies, there was a house fire on Sunday! Fortunately it was quickly contained but it could've been really bad. It was completely unrelated to Festival activities, but still caused a bit of excitement for us.

Eating with math

One of Bob's newest tricks to get Colin to eat involves doing simple math.

Bob will count the number of pieces of sausage (or whatever), and say "How many will you have if you eat one piece?" Well, Colin always falls for it, and is quick to eat a piece to see how many is left!

Crib test & pacifiers

One sure way to tell if Nathan is ready to go to sleep is to hold him over the crib. If there is crying, forgot about it! If no crying, put him in the crib and if he then grabs the pacifier and bear, you're golden! Another variation of the "crib test" is if he will take the pacifier, it usually means he will go in the crib.

Of course, the fact that Nathan is over a year and still taking a pacifier bothers me a little. But it's only when he sleeps ... and when I want to take a shower while he is awake. During those times I'll let him have the pacifier while playing in his room. Oh well, we will work on weaning him from the pacifier one of these days. Maybe after he is done teething!