The Ace of Spades!

Roar.

Oh yes we did. Dress the kid up that is. In a mass produced tiger outfit straight off the sale rack at Target. Was that my DIY Hip Indie Parent Cred I just heard being flushed down the crapper? Well, so be it: we dressed him up for Halloween for my Mom and she loved it so it was $9.99 well spent.

Mom's birthday was October 25 (Old Lady Scorpios Rule!). She's either 83 or 84, I forget which. Anyhow, when we first had the kid, Mike and I agreed to try to got to Elyria at least once a month so my family could see the boy as he grew, even if it meant a sort of live version stop action photography. Last month, tho, I had to go to a conference in Chicago and this month almost got away from us as well. We thus decided to make a one day trip--in in the morning out in the evening.

Did I mention I don't drive? That means I have the Best. Husband. EVAH.

We packed up Donny's various bird cages and steamer trunks and hit the road an hour later than we were hoping to: 9am. In our defense, we did'nt put him in his outfit until one rest stop outside of Elyria. We got to my folk's house at around 11 and, really, after that it was all about Baby, Baby, Baby. As it should be. And, besides, the more my folks talk about Donovan, the less complaining I have to hear about the new highschool the mayor wants to build and the fewer times my Mom is going to ask me about getting a flu shot.

As if the kid was'nt enough, we brought an Almond Creme Torte from Whole Foods and invited my Aunts over. All of them. Usually when I use the phrase "Aunts" it refers collectively to my Mom's family. This should not, however, take away from the power and the glory that is my 82 year old Dad's older sister, Aunt Ann. She did not want her picture taken but she could'nt get up fast enought to deter me:



We had'nt seen her in months which means she had'nt seen Donovan since he was a 4 pound squawker.

My Mom's sisters came over as well and gave my Mom something she has been wanting for years:



...that being a saw that her father had made her oldest brother when her oldest brother was a 5 year old pipsqueak about, oh, 85 years ago. You know. Back when people would make saws from scratch. For their kids.

ANYhow, long story short, the kid was on good behavior, my family all looked great, everyone got to fuss over the baby and that made for a very good day.

Following are a few more photos. Because I obviously have not included enough:


The Aunts, Dad and Donny.


A sweet one of my Aunt Carolyn and "That Poor Little Baby," as she used to call him.


The Two Donovans


Dang. Cute kid--if I do say so myself...

Gourdrific!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker. I love the Elyria Memorial Day Parade, I try not to miss the Bloomfield Halloween Parade and, speaking of Bloomfield, there's something about a good, old fashioned Catholic church carnival that gets me all misty. It should come as no surprise then that I was pretty darn excited for the Eastminster Daycare Fall Festival. All 60 minutes of it.

I got to take off of work early enough to get there right at the start. I was'nt sure if I was supposed to get the boy or if he would be brought down to the assembly room where it took place but, after watching all the other kids come in, I went and woke him up and brought him down. The older kids all sat on the floor to start with and sang a couple of rousing choruses of "Jesus Loves Me" and "I'm a Little Tea Pot." It took me a while to figure out that each of the tables in the first room was a different station: cookie decorating at one, paper pumpkins and rubber stamps at another, etc. Over in the far corner was about half a dozen high chairs set up for the "Infant Texture" station. This is where the young kids like Donny could crumple tissue paper, feel a bumpy gourd and commune with an ear of dried Indian corn:



As promised, he also got to feel the inside of a pumpkin--something I was much more excited about than he was. And as far as the hayride, can I call 'em or can I call 'em?:



I also liked the mini pumpkin patch:



I think I should set one up in our front room.

There were lots of things I liked about this event--first, there was no weirdness about sugar: the kids who were old enough got a little bag of candy that was just the right size. Second, there were alot of older kids running around being excitable but no one was being "bad." There were no scoldings, no tantrums and lots of hugs and encouragement from parents and staff members alike. When I think how green we were in looking for daycare and how lucky we are that Donny ended up where he is--with people who really care about him and take good care of him--dang. Remember: I choose Eastminster because the other place we looked at did'nt have windows.

Color me lucky.

Touch the Pumpkin!

Tomorrow is the Fall Festival at daycare. Miss Tekeela has a way of insinuating an eyeroll without ever doing one and she invoked that power a couple times in explaining the Festival. First, all the parents were asked to donate a bag of wrapped candy ("Even tho these babies are too young" *Insinuated Eyeroll*). The Festival will take place in the basement ("So they get sometime outside of their room" *IER*). There will be a hayride (Partial *IER*) and the babies will get to touch the inside of scraped out pumpkin. I'm actually a little geeked about it. First of all, the idea of a daycare hayride conjures images of straw and Radioflyer red wagons. Also, who wouldn't want to touch the inside of a scraped pumpkin? I spent too much time yesterday trying to figure out what the "cool" candy would be. Being old I'm already behind the 8 Ball--don't want to embarrass the kid by bringing in bridge mix or Butter Rum Lifesavers. I finally settled on RADBERRY! Now and Later Suckers. Anything that turns your tongue a different color can be considered cool.

Tonight we are going to Target to find a noninvasive costume for the boy. Just a hat or something. I had dreams of dressing him up as Napoleon or Nick Cave but I don't have time to make a Napoleon Hat and the little suits with the red shirts were all gone last time I was at Burlington. The things we do to amuse his Ohio grandparents...

Best Man and Best Baby

This weekend we went to Foglesburg for a wedding. Our friends, Liz and Michael, were married on Saturday in a really lovely outside service. We had to get there on Friday for the Rehersal Dinner as Mike was the best man.

I was'nt really sure how all this was going to play out. The wedding inviation specifically said "No Children" but special dispensation was given to Donovan and a few other babies. My main concern, however, is that Donovan's favorite thing to do for the past week or so has been to shriek. Its hard to get mad at him as he is usually shrieking for joy but shrieking gets old very quickly. It's also bad form to shriek during a church wedding, even if you are happy. My worry intensified when, from the time we got to our fully-paid-for pimped out lodge suite with jacuzzi and fireplace, Donny was in full shriek mode.

Its funny how, when you prepare for the worst, the Fates love to prove you wrong. For the Rehersal Dinner, Donny wore the powderblue velour overall suit that Ceil gave him at my shower and he looked really spiffy.

He did get a little fussy there but everyone else seemed to think it was nothing. As far as the actual wedding, he got to wear his new blue suit, complete with dress shoes, and he did look excellent. He slept thru the first part of the ceremony and only made noise during the mass recitation of The Lord's Prayer. Three months ago, the question strangers would ask me about him was, "Is he a preemie?" Now its, "Is he always this good?" No, he was never a preemie and yes, he is always this good. Honest. I can't tell you the number of people who complimented him on his good behavior, including the bride, groom, parents of the bride and groom, bridal party and the pastor. That's about everyone who matters, my friends.

Staying at the lodge was a minivacation for Mike and I that we did'nt realize we needed. We got to spend time together without worrying about running to the store, cleaning the litterboxes, or not doing yardwork. There was, indeed, a huge bathtub (with a sign next to it that said there would be a $25 fee for cleaning any candlewax off the rim of the tub) <and, when you looked out the window, you saw rolling hills and cows. The drive down was also a little revelation. Going east into the state we got the full on Autumn colorshow. Coming back with the sun setting was particularly wonderful.

Plus, we got to take alot of photos of the boy somewhere besides our own house. Much as I hate beige, the carpet made him look especailly good, colorwise:

Upbeat Belated Update

Apparently, the photo of my son in the hospital crib, as well as the story of his recent surgery, upset a number of people. In the interest of assauging soft hearts, I include this photo of Donovan looking superhappy in his hospital issue pajamas, presurgery:



See? Everything was and is fine. Many thanks, tho, for caring about my boy. It's nice to know that he's in a few hearts and on alot of radars.

Workin' the Concept

Crazy Socks, my friend. Crazy, crazy socks...