red's game

I really wish that I was more diligent in updating this blog, because whenever I do get around to it, there are tons of other things that I could add, but I usually just write about one particular event or day... maybe my new goal, just for my own sake (since there are very few people who even know that this exists), will be to write something every day or, at least, every other day!

So, today Jack and I met up with my family (mom, dad, Kathy, Eric, Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Bernard, and cousins Joe, Bill, Anne, and cousin-in-law, Leon) at the Red's game. For a number of reasons, our adventures could have been disastrous. First of all, Jeff had to work. It's always sad and unfortunate when he has to miss out on fun stuff like this! His absence could have caused the day to be more difficult, because it meant that I would not have the help of my husband and parenting partner :-) Second, the game began at 1:15. Usually, Jack is down for his 2-3 hour nap around 12:30. Third, we were going to a sunny, mid-day, July baseball game, where you don't do much besides sit in the blazing sun and watch 9 innings of a sport that can, potentially, be boring, especially for a toddler. Fourth, we had plans to eat dinner at the Hofbrauhaus, a German restaurant, making it a very long day for Jack.

Well, Jack went against the odds today and did fantastic! He snoozed in the car ride down to the game for about 30 minutes and did not get cranky once during the day. My family was wonderful with helping out with Jack and, although I didn't get to relax much or chat with my relatives as much as I would have liked, I really enjoyed spending time with everyone! During the game, Jack was such a trooper! He happily sat on someone's lap and clapped when the crowd was clapping, danced when the music was playing, and I let him run around a bit near the concession stands when it was not too busy. Jack also enjoyed the restaurant. He loved listening and dancing to the band playing, he ate all of his pizza, (great cuisine for a German restaurant, although I have NO room to talk, because I ordered chicken fingers off of his kid's menu!), and was, for the most part, such a happy boy! I have to say, he shocked me! Not that I don't have faith in little J, but I was anticipating several meltdowns throughout the day and I really did not expect to make it to dinner. I thought that we would probably have to bail out after the game. Thank you, Jack, for having a remarkable day!!

The main reason we all decided to get together today was because Joe, who is currently living in New York City, is home for the week, and we all wanted to celebrate his homecoming! Ever since my cousins and Kathy and I have all become adults, the time we spend together is mainly during holidays (and not even every holiday), so our time together is really precious! As I mentioned, it can be difficult to just relax when I have Jack with me, because he has such demanding, toddler needs that can't really be ignored. I do think and hope, however, that as he grows and becomes more independent, it will be easier to spread my attention to others.

Overall, a very fun day. I just missed having Jeff there!

Before I started writing this, a neat thing happened. I was in the basement resting and I heard Jack crying (it was about 9:00). As I thought he probably would, Jack fell asleep in the car ride home (it was about 7:30), so I decided that since he had not napped today, 7:30 would be a fine bedtime for him tonight (he usually goes to bed between 8-9). His diaper was changed just before we left the restaurant and his clothes were comfy enough to sleep in. Definitely not the most desirable situation, but a workable one. Anyhow, I heard him crying, so I went into his room and he's sitting in his crib, signing "milk, milk." I picked him up, gave him a big hug, told him that I would get him some milk, and asked him to sit back in his crib, to which he replied, "yeah." "Yeah" is his sweetest word these days. Whenever we ask him a yes or no question, everything is "yeah" and the way he says it just about melts our hearts. It's very cute! Anyhow, I came back to his room and since I did not want him to fall asleep drinking milk, I decided to let him drink his milk as I rocked him and sang to him, as I used to do when I was nursing him. These days, after we do our book and prayer routine, I just put him in his bed, usually rub his back and sing a short song to him, and he falls asleep on his own. I rarely rock him anymore, so this was certainly a sweet moment for us! But the most amazing part of it all was that I felt like I was rocking and singing to both of my babies, because as soon as we started rocking, little Alli (I don't think I've mentioned this in my blog yet, but we found out last week that we're having a girl!) began really moving and kicking around. It was really incredible to me! After Jack finished his milk, he did drift back to sleep in my arms, and I think he'll sleep peacefully through the rest of the night. Although if he does wake up again, I'll probably opt to change him into real p.j's and change his diaper again. I just didn't want to do that this time, because I didn't want to risk a situation where he's wide awake and then has a difficult time falling back asleep. I don't think we run such a risk later at night.... I may find out, though! I just love my little boy so much.