Friday, July 13, 2012

Supermarket Sweep

Even though I am flying home every weekend, I feel like every day I missing out on something tremendous. Every night for our routine webchat, the Baby's phrases are getting longer and more pronounced. If we ask her to say something, she does a good job of repeating it. It was barely a few months ago that she was still pointing and grunting. I have even missed the Baby start to play with her violin.


I can't wait to get home.Of course, all the Baby ends up doing is showing me all the new dresses and tutus she has or I just ask her to sing and dance the whole time but still, I miss it.

One of the big things we do as parents that we are not proud of is the fact that we give the Baby a little more freedom than she should. When we go to Target, which is a lot, we can get her to sit in the cart for maybe about 5 minutes before she gets antsy. Since I am not a fan of screaming children in public and the Baby gives the most pathetic frown in the world - I usually give in and let her walk next to us while we shop. That never works. It ends up being a mad dash down different aisles or just lying down in the middle of the store. Outside of the endless running, she isn't bad. She looks at everything and rarely messes with stuff. She might end up grabbing something and then takes off like it's Supermarket Sweep. And what makes it worse is she is just giggling the whole time so everyone thinks its super cute but my feet hurt and I am tired from chasing her.

Eventually, she slows down or gets tired and then she will start yelling "mommy, where are you?" and puts her hands to her mouth like a megaphone. Having a cute kid is a blessing and a curse.

But despite the fact that she is the devil child at Target, she has perfected the usage of niceties. Her manners are spot on as she can say please, thank you, no thank you, and you're welcome. And she doesn't abuse the usage of please. She really knows how to use it effectively and for the things she knows we will usually say no. Effective and straight to the heart.


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Road Rules Apply

I am spending the next month in St Louis for work. It's going to be interesting; I'm already a week in and I've already gone a little stir crazy and I think the room is making me sick because of the recycled air. Or maybe it's because I keep the room at a breezy 65 degrees - just because I don't have to pay the electricity bill. I even bought an air humidifier and it's somewhat working. My work situation isn't too bad - I get to go in whenever I want - but most mornings I am in the office by 8am. It's about a 30 minute drive from the hotel but I go against traffic so it's pretty smooth.

It's a trip like this that makes me extremely grateful for the Wifey's flight benefits. She and the Baby have already visited last weekend and returned two days later to spend 4th of July with me. Baby seems to love the hotel - she can get into all the cabinets, the mini fridge, play with the landline phones - and frankly we don't care. Plus there is a pool which is very necessary considering it's been record highs since I have been here. You know something is wrong with the world when Texas isn't in triple digits and Missouri is averaging 109 degrees.

Another thing this trip has made me realize just how lucky we are to have Wifey's mother.  Nana is picking her up from daycare since Wifey isn't out of work until almost 8 pm and watching her every day until Wifey gets home.  She has also sacrificed many hours to drive Baby to the airport so she and Wifey can leave as soon as she gets off.  Nana is also taking care of crazy Shrek and I know he appreciates not having to be locked up at a boarding kennel (even if they do love him over there).  I just am so appreciative of her help and know my trip to St Louis would be miserable without her help.

St Louis, much to my surprise, is very family friendly. Granted, I've heard crossing the bridge takes you to another place (Nelly's hood). Practically everything is free - the Science Museums, the zoo, most of the touristy stuff - it would take a dedicated weekend to get through all the free stuff.

I am also grateful for webcam/FaceTime capabilities as it makes it easier to communicate with the Baby. She only likes to pretend talk on the phone with her pretend friends but when it comes to her parents she likes to play mute. At least with the webcam she will give kisses and hugs. Makes this trip more bearable in between the visits.

Today I am working for a few hours (hello overtime) and then we are going to head to downtown STL for Fair St Louis which is St Louis's 4th celebration.



Seems pretty fun as there are a lot of activities, good music, and fireworks over the river. I am pretty excited for it. Last year we just stopped at the first firework place near my work and still had a good time but today should be more fun I hope.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July.

Saturday morning cartoons in the hotel

Tour of St Louis bored her to sleep

<3

Rice Face