Friday, July 31, 2009

A Day At The Aquarium

On our last day we visited the Houston Aquarium. Overall, we were disappointed with the venue. Then again, we are spoiled by the Shedd!

Gilbert was mildly interested in the exhibits. He simply enjoyed running around unabated. And with an airplane ride soon to follow that evening we were content to allow him to run to better ensure an exhausted child.





We did get some fun photos though. And a good pic with the grand parents!

Ear Infection

Did I mention Little Man had an upset tummy during the trip to Houston?

Good story. Two days before we leave for Houston we are sitting having breakfast when Kristen freaks and screams. As she is watching Gilbert eat his breakfast, what looks like a big snot bubble emerges from his right ear. I squeezed his ear to see green stuff ooze out. A quick trip to the doc revealed Gilbert had an ear infection (Again, he gave no signs. No rubbing of the ears, no fever, etc.). Turns out there was so much fluid build up, his ear drum tore due to the pressure and what we witnessed was the fluid draining. He also had what appeared to be mild fluid build up in his other ear.

Since we were traveling, we could not use the typical medicine since it required being refrigerated. The alternative choice has potential nasty side effects including diarrhea and rash. Well, Little Man got both. His bum got so chapped and red from a reaction to the medicine, it hurt just to wipe. And his tummy was rumble stumble the entire time. Felt sorry for the Little Guy. The minute we returned home and switched medicines all was fine in one day!

So proud of him though, we would have had no idea of his ear infection had it not been for the fluid back up. He never cries or complains of his ears. I'm sure he's had others that have gone unchecked. And at the doctor, no tears. Even as she dug in his ears to remove the wax.

Family Photo

Kristen wanted an updated family photo. With a pool, warm weather, and a tan it seemed logical. Well, with a child nothing is logical, or easy!

She spent at least 10 minutes outside working on a good location. When I emerged with Gilbert we were ushered to our spots with little fanfare or a willingness for any attitude short of all business.
Well, as I said, nothing is easy with a child. Little Man just didn't want to look at, let alone smile at the camera. This is the best we could do.




He was more receptive when Kristen was taking photos, but as usual she doesn't have a good photo of her and Little Man. Then again, she didn't seem to disappointed mumbling something about bad hair, big forehead or some other mumbo jumbo. Me, on the other hand, quite happy with my photo with Gilbert!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Happy 65th!

While we visiting we also celebrated my dad turning 65. Hard to fathom! As a kid 65 seemed like it was time to be admitted to convalescence! How times and perception change! I think have the grandkids around takes years off of him (and probably all the grandparents!).

Gilbert and his cousin couldn't resist assisting in blowing out the candles!

Poolside

When not in the water, Gilbert enjoyed exploring his inner Picasso, street style! Nothing like sidewalk chalk to entertain the kiddies! If we can just get him to use it on the actuall sidewalk!










Vacation - Part I

The first part of our vacation was a trip to Houston to visit my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and niece. Even though I learned about this prior, we also celebrated knowing I will soon be an uncle a second time over!

As usual, Gilbert was a fantastic flyer. Catching the very early 6:25am flight out of Midway, we were sure to have a breakfast sandwich from Potbelly and sit among the tables that have a full floor to ceiling view of the tarmac. Little Man was so engulfed by the airplanes we could barely get him to pause and eat!


Once on the ground and at my parent's house, it was straight to the pool. We really wanted to get Little Man in there as much as possible to grow his interest in swimming.

By the end of the week we made great progress and he was much more happy and trusting in the water.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

We're Back!

The vacation, sadly, has come to an end! But what a great time it was. We saw family and friends, visited museums, lounged by the pool, were able to have some adult time while grandparents doted over Little Man, slept in (well, sort of), stayed up late, were witness to the worst Elvis impersonation ever, played some of my best golf in recent memory, and overall just enjoyed being off the grid.

So, check back daily as the stories and pictures will soon follow!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Vacation From the Blog

Tomorrow we head out of town in effect for the next two weeks on vacation. The blog is going on vacation as well. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures and stories so check back soon!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Vacation - Day 1

Two weeks of vacation. Heavily anticipated. Incredibly needed. So how did I enjoy it? Relaxing along the beach on Lake Michigan? Perhaps partaking in a round of golf? Uh, no.

I spent my first day moving. No, we are not moving, but a lot of our stuff is. We have a storage facility where whatever we didn't sell when we consolidated moving back to the city. Wanting to cut expenses, we decided to get rid of our storage. Dragging Kristen into this as well, we rented a UHaul and used the majority of our day emptying the contents of our lives that have been in storage for a destination with her mom.

In the process we have begun to spruce up the home. I mentioned a custom headboard in an earlier post. Now Kristen is switching out lamps, accessories and other items. She also bought a cool painting (it must be really cool for me to admit that!).

Day 2. Transporting the 'stuff'. Vacation is off to a good start...

Monday, July 13, 2009

Changes

My interior designer (aka my wife - who is actually an interior designer) advised me it was time to update the master bedroom. First step, get rid of the four poster bed. Kristen's plan is to design and build a custom headboard (should be fun!), so the current bed had to go. That meant disassembling the damn thing! Say hello to my Sunday project. Luckily, it was relatively easy which was all I could handle after a 4am night (whole other story!).

When I take on a project I am no longer doing it myself. I have my apprentice...Gilbert! His speciality, you ask? The screwdriver. Bear witness.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Hot and Cold

Gilbert was bustin' out his dancing moves to Katy Perry's Hot and Cold. He broke out all his moves on this one. I particularly like the subtle hip thrust at the end.

I see a future for him as a Solid Gold dancer. If you get that reference, add 50 bonus points to your score.


Friday, July 10, 2009

Cheers

Check out Gilbert's new skills! He insists I drink my shake with him (and share it!). I've taught him the fine art of etiquette when it comes to drinking with others.

His glass is a shot glass with the logo and mascot of my alma mater (a golden eagle from the University of Southern Miss) and with his recent fascination with "birdies" he likes to let you know when he sees one...in the air or otherwise!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Happy Birthday...To Me!

Yep. Today is and in 10 minutes will have been my birthday.

One day farther from birth and another day closer to death! Need to continue to live each day to its best!

Okay, I'm done with the poetry. Kristen and Gilbert gave me some nice presents along with my P's and I received well wishes from a lot of people (many courtesy of the alert feature on Facebook!). Thank you to everyone!

I also want to wish a Happy Birthday to my niece, Maddie, as we share the same day. Cool, huh?

Unfortunately, I could not escape work and at times today this is how I felt...

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Gilbert's New Buddy

Gilbert and Reggie got to know each other better over the weekend.





From hanging out in the pool ...






to lounging on the sofa, these two are definitely buddies!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Hanging With Great Grandpa

Of all the activities we did over the holiday weekend, Gilbert clearing had the best time hanging with his Great Grandpa watching television and playing Solitaire on the computer!

Pool Time

It was not warm on Saturday, but I was determined to get Gilbert into the pool. We started slow by just hanging out on the pool's edge.







He was not appreciative of being plopped in with the pool temp only at 77 degrees.




Gilbert was much happier to be out and safely behind the decking.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Holiday Spirit

Dressed in his best red, white, and blue, Gilbert demonstrated his patriotism waving Old Glory!







He also showed his support for the 2nd Amendment with his right to bear arms, a squirt gun!

How Many People Does It Take...

When we arrived at our final destination, everyone was outside on the pool deck. Grandpa was putting together a new bed for Little Man. In the past a crib had still been set up, but Grandpa and Grandma were kind enough to purchase a big boy bed for Gilbert.



Wanting to be involved, Little Man got right in and wanted to help! The smartest one of the bunch was Great Grandpa who just sat back and supervised!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

4th Of July Weekend

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We spent ours with family in Michigan.
First stop on our tour was to visit "Gram", Kristen's mother. We went to the local park, had a nice walk around the neighborhood and let Gilbert run around the yard after being couped up in the car for a two hour drive.




Little Man is finally enjoying playing with balls. Baseballs, golf balls, etc. Much to Kristen's dismay, you can hear golf balls rolling around the back and on the floor of the car. So don't be surprised if future pictures have Gilbert clutching some type of ball!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Rough Housing

It is the simple things that make us all laugh...

Multitasking

Thought this was funny. Gilbert is becoming a multitasker like is daddy. So focused on brushing his teeth, he forgot to do one basic task, take off his pants!

Voyeur

Taking photos and movies of Gilbert has been challenging recently. He sees the camera and wants to look at the pics and videos with the view finder. So, what I have to do now is take a video of him, give him the camera, and then use the other camera to capture him acting naturally. Tiring, I know!