Friday, April 30, 2010

I wish every day was the weekend...

Weekends are starting to become our "family" time. It never fails that when Friday rolls around, we are together as a family either relaxing or finding something new to do. This past weekend was one of the best we've had in awhile. Friday night, we packed Dylan up and went to Target. Dylan was in pretty desperate need of diapers so we grabbed those and ended up taking a long look at Mother's Day cards. I walked away, and while I was gone, Ryan and Dylan apparently chose a nice Mother's Day card for yours truly.

Afterwards, we drove across to the street to make a stop at Archiver's. Ryan walked around looking uncomfortable while I picked up some necessities so I could finish up his birthday pages and also start a new Mother's Day project. I'd heard people raving about The Patio so we stopped to grab dinner. We weren't necessarily impressed with the atmosphere at the Patio, but the food was great. Dylan ended up eating a whole meal by himself. About 15 minutes after we were there, the fire alarm started to go off. None of the employees seemed overly concerned which made me wonder if this happens frequently. This impression was further cemented when it took the firefighters 20-25 minutes to get there. They ended up doing a walk through and then leaving. Is it weird to anyone else that they just let us sit there while a fire alarm was going off? In any case, the food saved it. Probably won't be going back anytime soon though!

Saturday we woke up and headed to Navy Pier. We ended up watching a free magician, walking around, looking in stores, and then heading into the Children's Museum for most of the day. I think we spent a good 3 hours there just looking around and letting Dylan explore. Ryan and I might have possibly had more fun than Dylan though. Isn't that how it always is though? After, we walked down the way and ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. While we were there, a huge group of foreign exchange students from France came in. It was interesting to see kids from a different country. The girls paid a lot of attention to Dylan (naturally). The day ended with us walking over to see the botanical gardens. It was a nice outing and very relaxing. I'll have to post some of the pics I took from the day.

We're at another weekend, and I'm hoping it ends up as great as the others we've been having. I know I need to get over here and work on this project. How's everyone else's weekends starting?

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A night for firsts...

Last night was a night of another "first" for Dylan. It was his first official visit to the Emergency Room. I plan on marking it in his baby book and also his scrapbook as his first official "scrape" as he enters his beginning toddler years. I know I can probably expect many more visits to the E.R. as he gets older if he is anything like his enterprising father.

At 6 p.m. or so, I was in his room cleaning and hanging pictures on the wall. I noticed him chewing on something and then swallowing it. In my naivety, I assumed it was a snack as he has a tendency to drag his snack cup everywhere he goes. It's often like a Hansel and Gretel trail throughout the house as he drops snacks in an almost perfect path back to his toys. I didn't think much of his chewing and swallowing something until I saw him pick up another. He placed it in his mouth, made a face, and pushed it out enough for me to notice it glittered like a new penny. Lo and behold, it WAS a penny! I ran as quickly as I could and rooted amongst his baby sharp teeth until I could manage to pull it out. I found another one grasped in his little palm and extracted those to put in a place that little hands could not reach.

I didn't think much of it until we went to visit Grandma at bowling. I casually mentioned that Dylan had swallowed a penny a few hours prior. She went and informed her bowling team of what had happened only to come back and tell me to call the doctor. I called the emergency room who informed me that he should be brought in and checked out.

Off to the emergency room we went with Grandpa in tow. While there, we managed to see a crackhead and also a dead body. Always fun times in the E.R.! I placed Dylan in the crib provided by the hospital where he proceeded to have an absolute ball. He bounced up and down and all around the crib in this fit of happiness that slowly led me to believe that the penny must not be doing much harm. We were led to the x-ray room where Dylan was held down for an x-ray and then sent back to await the results. My earlier suspicions were confirmed when the doctor came to tell us that they hadn't spotted the penny on the x-ray. It shows up as a bright white spot on the x-ray and they didn't see anything like that. They did think he may still have swallowed it and that it was further down and probably on the way out. I was told to follow up with his normal doctor in 3 days and to wait for the coin to pass. Now I sit and play the waiting game until that shiny penny makes it presence known. AHH, the joys of motherhood!!!

So now we have something new to document in Dylan's baby book and a story to tell him for years to come of the first time he swallowed change...

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Top 3 Tuesday-Top 3 Favorite Names..

Over at another blog (Confessions from a Working Mom), they've posted asking readers to share their top 3 favorite names. As I love names, I can't resist joining in. When I was pregnant, I would pore over the name book for hours, hoping to find that one perfect name for my new little one. I eventually did, but the search was at times painstaking when you're faced with the wide variety of names they present in those books.

The List:

1) Dylan-We loved this name from the first, and I kept going back to it. It was one of those moments where you just keep going over a list you've made and one things pops into the foreground every time. That's how it was with Dylan. It's a name that is classic, normal, and will age well. Plus, it fits him perfectly.

2) Lily-My Father pushed hard for this name if we were having a girl. I can't describe why I like this name except to say I love how delicate and feminine it sounds. If I'd have had a girl, she'd have been Lily Grace. If nothing changes between now and my next child, this will be her name.

3) Eden- This is a new one for me, but one I've come to love a lot recently. A woman on my BabyCenter Board has a daughter named Eden, and I've managed to fall in love with it through that. It's also a classic and very pretty without being too "weird" or "different."

A close 4th for me was the name Beatrix. A little girl at our story time has this name. I find it to be adorable, quirky, and a little bit spunky. Plus, I love the possibility of the nickname "Bea."