Hot Summer Day

I picked up Henry from Mother's Day Out the other day and he proclaimed out of the blue that it was a "hot summer day"! Maybe they had been talking about it at "school" that day, but the way he said it, with such enthusiasm and glee, made me laugh out loud, definitely not the begrudgingly way that most people would say on a 95 degree day. We are having a good time describing the weather everyday in the same way, "it is a sunny summer day", "it is a rainy summer day".



And what is better on a hot summer day than a strawberry "pock-sickle"?

#2

This onesie came in a pack that I bought for Henry when he was born. Also in the pack were onesies with stripes, one with stars, a soid blue one, but I never really understood why you'd want a onesie with #2 on it. Now it makes sense!

My Boys

Going For a Walk

Sounds easy doesn't it? It used to be. Then it got a little harder when Henry came along. I had to remember a hat, a sippy cup, a snack, all the sports equipment we might need for a stop at the park (golf clubs, golf balls, baseball bat, baseball, soccer ball, football...you get the picture). It was just a little harder to go for a stroll, but I got used to it. It was so nice, we'd stroll through our beautiful neighborhood, sometimes walking to campus and doing a loop around the football stadium, sometimes Henry would take a little nap, and I would listen to podcasts of "This American Life" and enjoy a little me time, a little exercise and some fresh air.

Theeeeeen came Fisher...AND Henry turned 2. Now getting out of the house can take most of the morning. Take Wednesday. After a week of sweltering summer weather it rained early in the morning and it turned out to be a gorgeous gorgeous day. Perfect for a walk and some playtime at the park. Sooooo...

Feed Henry
Feed me
Feed Fisher (if you know anything about breastfeeding then you know this can be a little unpredictable and sometimes can take up to an hour as he decides to drift off to sleep, wake up crying for more, feed, sleep, wake, ask for more, eat, sleep, repeat.)
Diaper and dress Henry
Dress Me (when I put on my running shoes Jack knows what is going on and campaigns to go on the walk with us and is underfoot until we finally walk out the door)
Diaper and Dress Fisher
Apply sunscreen to Henry and me
Find my phone, find the cord and hook it up to my computer so I can download the latest podcast
Make a snack and fix a sippy cup
Fill my waterbottle
In between all of the things I'm doing I'm also making up the bed, answering the phone, answering emails for work, etc.
OK READY TO GO...
But no, it is time to feed Fisher again. Sooo, feed Fisher and try to find something to entertain Henry so that I'm not just plopping him down in front of the TV again.

THEN approximately 2 HOURS after I had the bright idea to go for a walk we FINALLY make it outside to load up the crew into our awesome new stroller.

Let me pause to expound about how much I love our new stroller. Thank you Granddad and Betsy for contributing to this kind of pricey marvel of engineering...and thanks Ed for making up the rest. It might be my favorite possession!

Did you notice Fisher in the picture above? Look again...


How cool is that? Here's a view from the other angle.


If you are worried about Fisher getting hot in there, don't worry, we don't usually walk in the hot time of the day, it was really breezy and mild this day, he gets plenty of air circulation in there, we live and walk in a very shady (as in trees, not the other kind ;-) neighborhood, and when I had to stop every 2 minutes (more on that later) I'd touch him and make sure he wasn't too warm. I'm very claustrophobic, so I'm very sensitive to closed in spaces...so don't worry.

The stroller coverts as the boys get older, the reclining part will sit up and the seat on the top ends up getting moved to the back, so we'll be using this for years. It is so nice because the front wheel swivels so it turns corners very easily and it is so thin, it doesn't take up the entire sidewalk and can get in doors easily, a typical double stroller can't do that. It is nice when we go to the farmer's market and places there are crowds...believe me, I've learned people give you dirty looks for taking up too much space with even a small single stroller!

Ok, so back to the walk. As I said before one of my favorite parts of walking is listening to podcasts and relaxing a little. We didn't walk much during my pregnancy because I'd get this really painful stitch in my side...and things have changed since we were walking last fall...Henry's vocabulary and curiosity has exploded. We started out and about half a block later I hear "MomMom......" and can't understand the rest with my headphones in, so I stop, take out my earbud, and say, "What baby?", and Henry repeats his question or observation. It is really very cute, but not very productive when I'm trying to get some exercise. So I spent the majority of my walk standing beside the stroller, bending down, saying "Yes, sweetie, the ball in that yard is blue AND white!", *walk* *walk* *walk*, "What Baby?" stop, remove earbud, bend forward, "Yes, AND the ball is 'durty'!".

Besides the random outbursts of newborn crying *turn up ipod...just a tiny bit* the walk was great. You can imagine the funny looks we get when people hear a newborn crying and can only really see a big happy 2 year old sitting in the stroller.

So, that is our walk, warts and all. I know it will get easier, I'll get better at it and the boys will get older and a little easier *fingers crossed*. We actually have taken a couple more walks since this one and it was a little easier. It is all about timing I guess...which is not my strong suit! Wish us luck...and remember not to take your evening strolls for granted!

...oh, in all the rush to leave I forgot to take a bag to pick up anything Jack might leave "behind" and so I had to do the "my dog is pooping and I'm acting like a don't notice because I'm tending to my kids" look. Sorry if that was your yard. Other than that...success!

Comments

I was poking around the Blogger settings last night and I noticed that you have to be a registered Gmail/Google user to leave a comment on this blog. I had never seen that before, so I changed it. You still have to register to leave a comment (to reduce spam), but I think that is a pretty simple process. Feel free to say "Hi" sometime!

Brothers V.2

Step Stool

When Fisher is in his crib, bassinet or on the changing table Henry likes to grab his little step stool and see what's going on and check up on his little brother.





Of course, when Max and Ruby comes on tv that tends to grab his interest too!

Uncle Cab-vin

The boys with Uncle Cavan, or as Henry says "Cab-vin".



Doesn't Fisher look like he is missing out on a career as an Anne Geddes model? He looks like he needs to be nestled in the middle of a giant flower or dressed up as a butterfly or on a lily pad or something.

The Boppy Boys

Henry at a few months old. (July 11, 2006)


Fisher at a few weeks old. (July 8, 2008)

As my Mom said, what is it about that Boppy pillow that makes them so darn cute?

Here's Looking at You!

Happy 1 Month!

Today is Fisher's 1 month birthday! Now the big debate starts. Is his "birthday" on the day of the week he was born (every 4th Tuesday) or is it going to be the 17th of every month? With Henry I tended to think it was on the day of the week and I kept up with it for a long time...I have a feeling that with as busy as I am now, we will be going with the number method!

Hope you've enjoyed your first month Fisher, we've certainly enjoyed getting to know you!!

Handy Dandy Notebook

If you've ever seen Blue's Clues then you are familiar with the Handy Dandy Notebook. I saw a pack of 4 at a party store and thought because of Henry's love of all things Blue's Clues that he would enjoy them. Well, he has developed a bit of an obsession with them and we've been through 3 packs already! Last week I went to the store to get more and, horror, they don't carry them anymore. But not to worry, I found them online and we are restocked!