Reagan’s Bumbo-rific and a Follow-up to the Picnic Story

Well, there’s not a whole lot to talk about this week.  We’ve just been hanging out around home relaxing lately.  It’s actually been ok because it’s given us a chance to let Reagan start trying out the Bumbo.  She’s still a little wobbly in it so we can’t leave her in it for more than a couple minutes, but it’s a start.

Here’s our little cutie…

Now before you all go get too excited, I’ll have you know I sat like this for hours on Saturday then again on Sunday.  It was exhausting.  How ‘bout an “ahhhh, how cute” for me!

As a follow-up to my post about my work picnic and Tyler hitting on all the girls.  Apparently a coworker of mine got some photographic evidence.

Here’s Tyler hitting on a little girl his own age.

Then, just as she starts thinking she’s got a chance…Boom. He goes after the “cougar.”

I told Tyler I was going to post these pictures and he just said, “Don’t hate the playa’… hate the game.”

Tonight we were “that family”

About 8 years ago Thesha and I wandered into a Chili’s near our apartment in Albuquerque.  We sat down next to a nice young family with a happy-go-lucky Mom and Dad and their two sons.  Shortly in to our meal the younger kid started screaming and about half-way through our meal the older kid totally puked all over.  We felt pretty bad for the young couple but really we spent the rest of our meal mumbling beneath our breath about how bad it would suck to be them right now.  Plus it sucked for us because we were watching it and it’s hard to keep an appetite after something like that.

We gained a whole new perspective on that couple this evening.  We forgot to get the chicken out to thaw for dinner so we figured we’d just run to Chili’s real quick.  Sure, it seemed like a good idea at the time, and it actually started off pretty well.  When the food arrived things took a dramatic turn, however.  I had literally just pulled my fork and knife out of their pre-wrapped napkin roll when Reagan started to cry uncontrollably for no apparent reason.  I tried in vain to calm her down while keeping her in her car seat but quickly realized I was fighting a losing battle.  So with tears streaming down her face and the entire restaurant peering over their chairs to see what all the commotion was about, I pulled her out of the car seat and tried desperately to calm her down by rocking back and forth in my chair.  I couldn’t hear it over the screams, but I’m almost positive I saw a guy lean over to his teenage daughter and point out that this is why he is always reminding her to not have sex until she’s married.

With my meal getting colder by the minute, Thesha quickly ate her chicken sandwich - her mouth burning both from the heat as well as the spicy sauce she usually savored.  In between bites she “encouraged” Tyler (as only a mother can) to eat something besides tortilla chips.  In retrospect, we probably all wish he hadn’t eaten anything at all.  While still chewing and blowing on the last bite of her sandwich (you know what I mean when you’ve eaten something too hot), Thesha relieved me of the still crying Reagan and gave me a chance to eat my luke-warm hamburger. 

Realizing that he had completely lost interest in the quesadilla, we gave Tyler the cinnamon apples that came with his meal and enjoyed a few moments of peace.  Tyler did pretty good with the apples until he had eaten all of the sauce and started into the apple chunks.  That’s when dinner became a spectacle instead of a meal. 

Tyler started choking on one of the apples.  He coughed it back up, but apparently there was some kind of chemical attraction between that apple chunk and the tortilla chips because as soon as the chunk came up so did everything that had proceeded it.  Tyler was sitting next to Thesha who was still trying to keep Reagan quiet so she gave playing catcher a quick try then realized her best alternative was just to get out of its way.  I hopped up but Tyler’s 4:00 snack had already made it to the floor before I got over there to help.  With all the sudden movement, Reagan started crying again while we scrambled for a stack of napkins from the hostess. 

Thankfully by now the teenage girl sitting next to us and her family had left – probably to go tell her boyfriend that she had been converted to the idea of abstinence – so we weren’t having to apologize to them for all the chaos.  I did find it interesting, however, that while I was still trying to clean up Tyler the waitress decided to drop off our check.  To her credit, she still asked us if we wanted to try a brownie sundae.  I don’t know if she was just used to this kind of stuff or if she was so appalled that she just reverted to her training and routine while trying to find a happy place in her mind.

With a dozen or so soaked napkins piled up on the table and Reagan starting to calm back down, I stripped Tyler down to his diaper and sandals and put his stinky, wet clothes in a garbage sack we pulled out of the diaper bag.  I don’t know whether to be grateful or disturbed by the notion that we were actually somewhat prepared for something like this.  I’m not saying we didn’t get a few confused looks from people coming in as we walked out with a kid in his diaper and sandals and a garbage bag of clothes instead of a doggie bag of food, but we did get out of there with our dignity.  Ah, who am I kidding.  At least we got out of there.

As disturbing as it all was, we tried to keep our wits about us and as we got in the car we looked at the lighter side of the situation.  Even with a screaming baby and a puke-soaked kid, we had at least avoided the trinity of all parenthood fiascos by not including a diaper blow out as well.  I think we’ll save that for Applebee’s next weekend.  As for now, we’re just going to sit and watch a few scenes from The Exorcist in order to get something more pleasant going through our minds before going to bed.

The Battle at Gettysburg

After several weeks of having our plans thwarted for one reason or another, we finally made it to Gettysburg.  It was such a beautiful day – we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  It was about a 2 hour drive so by the time we got ourselves and the kids ready in the morning then made the drive it was just about lunch time when we arrived.  We decided that it would be best to go ahead and grab some lunch before seeing the sights.  Tyler apparently didn’t like this idea and in an instant became that kid that single people look at and wonder if they will ever want kids.

I’m not going to lie about it, it was pretty rough.  Forget about the fact that we just paid $25 for a hamburger, chili dog, and two chicken fingers, we were now two hours away from home and quickly coming to the conclusion that we were probably going to have to just turn around and drive right back. 

Finally after a good half hour of flopping around on the floor and crying his eyes out, Tyler finally relented and started to act normal.  Much like the Union Army at Gettysburg, just when we thought all was lost, we found a way to hold the line, keep the high ground, and win the battle.  At least for us the cost was just $8 for some stupid chicken fingers that he never ate.

The museum was really impressive.  It starts with a 45 minute video narrated by Morgan Freeman about the events leading up to the battle and the lasting impact of the events of those three days in July of 1863.  It was Tyler’s first time in a movie theater and we weren’t sure how he would handle it (especially after the tantrum during lunch), but he was actually really good through the entire show. 

After the movie, you’re taken to a 22 foot tall, 279 foot long, 360° mural of the battlefield known as the cyclorama.  It is incredibly impressive in and of itself, but then they add some lighting effects and some storyline and it’s just amazing.  The slideshow below has some pictures of the cyclorama, although I don’t think they really do it justice.  I was able to see a similar painting when I visited the museum in Waterloo, but it’s a lot different when its the history of your country instead of others.  Plus, Americans know that some cool lighting effects and booming cannons going off over a loud speaker can really bring out the true emotion of the painting whereas Europeans would probably just say that it detracts from the art.  Whatever Frenchy.

After the cyclorama viewing, we walked through the museum itself.   It’s always kind of tough to really get everything out of a museum when you’re chasing a 2 year-old, but we were able to glean bits and pieces as we walked through hallways of civil war memorabilia.  As we exited the museum, Thesha looked at me and said, “Well, if you don’t feel pretty patriotic after something like that then you’ve got problems.”  It really was a moving experience.

Lastly, we went to the cemetery where the Gettysburg Address was given by Abraham Lincoln for the dedication of the national cemetery.  There’s a hill just next to the cemetery (Cemetery Hill) that was a significant location during the battle and it has now become a place for monuments of the various military commanders and regiments that were involved in the battle.  The area has basically been left alone, so it wasn’t that hard to imagine what it would have been like to be camped there prior to the onslaught of Confederate forces.  I think only those who have actually been engaged in such warfare could actually imagine what it would have been like during the fighting itself.  The slide show below has some pictures overlooking the battlefield.

While we were able to see some really cool things, we quickly realized that there is a lot of stuff in the town that we wouldn’t be able to get to on this trip.  There is obviously a lot of history there, but also some fun and interesting shops, restaurants, etc.  We’re definitely looking forward to returning there again some day.

Here’s the slideshow of our sightseeing activities.  If anyone wants the full-size (5mb/picture) versions just let me know and we’ll figure out a way to get them to you.

 

P.S. Why is it that the chili dog always seems to get the last word in the argument about whether or not it was a good meal?

Just a Little Prick and a Picnic

Well, we had a couple interesting events this last week.  On Thursday, Reagan had her first round of immunizations.  Before this she had some shots in the hospital and some blood tests run by pricking her feet, but this was the first time we had to actually hold her down and endure the cries of a trusting but confused and now hurting baby.  Everyone who’s had to be there when their child gets those shots knows what I’m talking about.  We were old pros by now having gone through this a bunch of times with Tyler, but it still just makes your heart ache when that first startled screech comes bellowing out.  Then, in between cries, they just look at you like, “What did I do to deserve this?” and “Why would you do this to me?”  Of course, much like Tyler, she was done crying before we were – I mean, before Thesha was.  It was actually kind of interesting to see Tyler’s reaction though.  I think he was as confused as Reagan was – wondering what the crap was going on – but I think he was just glad that it wasn’t him with the sore leg this time.  We reminded him that his turn will be coming up once again in September when he goes in for his 2 year old visit, but I don’t think it sank in completely.  I’m sure it will sink in soon enough.

After Thursday’s good times, we spent Friday enjoying the “mandatory fun” of my work picnic.  It actually was kind of fun and it was better than a day sitting at my desk, so I really can’t complain.  Everyone was able to bring their families, so we got to meet the spouses and kids of a lot of my coworkers.  Reagan was a perfect little angel and just sat there looking as cute as ever and Tyler was able to run and play and completely wear himself (and us) out.  He doesn’t get to do that as much as he would like since we’re just in the little apartment, so it’s always fun when he’s able to get out of the house.

My favorite part of the picnic was when Tyler walked over and started holding the hand of the daughter of one of the guys I work with.  The girl (who was several years older, by the way) just smiled as Tyler pulled her around to show her how he could kick the soccer ball or throw the baseball or whatever.  Then, as the girl’s dad (my coworker) started walking over towards them, Tyler let go of her hand and just walked away like nothing was going on, everything’s cool, just hanging out… what? 

I told my coworker what had happened and he just laughed.  I guess we can all just laugh for now, but about 10 – 12 years from now something tells me we won’t be quite so laid back with Tyler’s “innocent” hand-holding.  Don’t get me wrong, I pretty much know I deserve it for all the indiscretions of my youth, but I didn’t think it would be starting before he even turns 2 years old.  I mean, c’mon man, at least wait until you can say “hey, check this out” before you start showing off for the girls.  Oh well, what’cha gonna do.  (I mean besides teach him how to say, “hey, check this out.”)