Does this mean 6 more weeks of Spring?

While out for a walk the other day, James saw his shadow. We think it must be the first time he'd noticed it, because he kept stopping to touch it. It was pretty funny how he'd look for it again when he'd walk in front of Blake and it would disappear. That made the already long walk we took even longer. So, we got caught in the rain. But it was still fun. And we got to pass by the house where the man did weird things to his lawn. He covered the whole thing in white rock, put in sprinklers, and a few big rocks and ornamental plants. It really doesn't fit with the rest of his neighborhood. We're sure it's because he didn't want to mow, so I wasn't able to surpress a giggle when I saw a few weeds already poking up through the rock. Not that our yard looks that great . . .

Have you seen MapMyWalk.com?

It lets you plot where you walk, so you know how far you went. This is how I know that James walked 1.75 miles on Friday! That's a long walk for little legs! Blake took him for the walk while I stayed home in a flexeril-induced fog. The entire walk was 2 miles, but Blake carried him for the 1/4 mile that was on a busy street. He then slept really late on Saturday. We found something that wears him out. But, he was still asking for another walk the next day. This site would have been helpful when I was training for marathons, as it even has elevation reports. But, there are no marathons on the horizon for a while.

Some things just don't go together

For my dental work, Dr. Moan gave me some flexeril to help relax my muscles to help with the pain from holding my mouth open so wide. It leaves me pretty sluggish. But, I did get a cardio workout in yesterday, which was pretty good. SO, today was weighlifting day. I can now say that muscle relaxers and weighlifting do not go together. It was a pretty pathetic attempt. And now, James is napping, so I think I will do the same!

Have a good Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

My Mom came for the weekend, and took us to a Cardinals game -- James' first baseball game! It was also my first trip to the new stadium. It was really nice. Cleaner and more spacious than the old one. And I had the problem I always have at events like this -- I spend so much time looking around that I miss most of the game. But, I did get some great shots. James liked looking around, too, but his favorite things were a nearby baby and looking out at some buses in the parking lot when Grandma took him for walks. What he did not like: loud fans, fireworks after a home run, and the men who walk around yelling about what food/drink they are selling. That last one was the worst, but we made it a little better by buying him a frozen strawberry lemonade from one of them.

Busch Stadium

A kiss for Grandma

It was Albert Pujols Plate Day

We also rode Metro there and back, which he did well on. We just kept reminding him that it was a train, like Thomas, and he said, "choo, choo". This was Blake's first Metro ride, too. So much better than fighting traffic and paying for parking.



The whole weekend was fun. James was so excited to see Grandma, and I enjoyed talking to my mom. On Sunday, we walked to go to breakfast at Rendezvous, which is now a weekly tradition with us. The 3 adults got different versions of their breakfast sandwich, and James got a muffin. Yummy food, mediocre coffee, and a nice walk and beautiful weather on their patio. Blake and I had also gone there Friday night for drinks after James went to bed, while Mom stayed home. It was great to get out. There was a guy and his guitar for the entertainment. He sounded ok on the Jimmy Buffett songs, but I cringed when he sang Voodoo Child, as well as when he covered John Mayer and Rob Thomas. I hope he hasn't ruined those songs for me. I had good wine, Blake found an excellent beer (Grimbergen), and we had a delicious appetizer. Rendezvous has some problems, but their food is GREAT! And they know us. On Friday, they asked us where James was.

James' lip is doing much better. We still have to be careful, but I don't think the scar will be too bad. He opened part of it up again since I last posted about it, but that part finally closed, too. I like our pediatrician. He tells us what to expect in a calming, matter-of-fact way, without acting like we are crazy, over-anxious first-time parents. Which, of course, is exactly what we are.

The final bit of news is that tonight I go to the dentist to start the process of getting my new crown. Yippee.

Nutmeg June? 1994 -- May 13, 2008

It is so hard to post this, especially since it has only been a few months since Joey died. Nutmeg has been getting sicker and weaker, and yesterday we made the decision that it was too much for her and that she really wasn't happy. She was such a sweet dog. And she was so sensitive, which made it even harder on her when she wasn't feeling well. The older she got, the less she could do and enjoy. Her greatest joy was going for walks, and she didn't even want to do those anymore.


Nutmeg was so sweet and gentle. We never had to worry about her with James. She let him climb on her, pull her ears, and be just generally annoying. Just like she had been when Joey was a puppy and he would chew and hang on her lip. She just patiently waited them out.

Here are a couple of Nutmeg stories. They're from her active younger days, which I think she would be pretty proud of.

I got her from the Humane Society soon after buying a house. When I was looking at the house, there was a bunny in the back yard, which I took as a sign that it was a good place -- a place where bunnies could be happy. (My friend, Brian, said the realtor probably planted it there -- "she's coming, get the rabbit out") Well, within probably a week of getting Nutmeg, I opened the back door to let her back inside, and she was standing there with a dead rabbit in her mouth. I was horrified! I called Lori and Brian in tears, asking if their dog ever killed rabbits. They said that he tried, but wasn't fast enough. So, then I was torn between still being horrified, and being proud of my dog for being so fast. That was not the last rabbit to meet an early end. And there were also many birds. She didn't kill snakes, but she brought several into the house.

As a puppy, she never chewed when she was bored or lonely, like Joey did. She chewed when I was there and occupied with someone or something other than her. Like the day I was cooking dinner and saw her run through the kitchen, out the pet door and into the back yard with something in her mouth. That something was my bra, and she was running as fast as she could back and forth across the yard with my bra flapping in the breeze. Again, I was horrified. But, it was pretty funny.

That's the thing with Nutmeg: she could be so frustrating, but she was so sweet, gentle, and loving. I was lucky to have almost 14 years with her. We'll miss having her as a part of our family.

Thank you, Dora, Diego, and the Wonder Pets

We went back to the plastic surgeon today. He took the remaining stitches out of James' lip and said that he was healing well. It's still red and scabbed, so he wasn't able to completely determine that the line between the red lip and the white skin was perfectly aligned, but we're hopeful. And, there is no sign of infection, and at this point there's little risk of that. So, that's the good news. The bad news is that he still can't run, jump, play with other kids (unless they play quietly -- this doctor mostly works with adults, so doesn't seem to understand the life of a 2-year-old), pucker, smile or laugh, open his mouth wide, use a straw, or take big bites. Basically, these restrictions stay in place for the rest of May.

This week has been very rough for me, because it is stressful to try to limit his activities so much, and to be constantly worried that he is going to accidentally do something that reopens the wound. It's been tough for James, because he's getting cabin fever. Only the basics are getting done around the house, because I pretty much have to have him within arms reach and only moving slowly any time he's awake. And when he's asleep, I need a little down time for myself. The rest of the month looks like it will continue to be tough, but at least we don't have to worry about infection and about little bumps from toys, or him touching it. We've been spending a lot of time watching videos on NickJr. online. James has a new favorite every day (yesterday it was Dora, today Diego, last week it was Kai-Lan -- he is now tri-lingual). And those times when he just sits and watches them over and over are the only times we really don't have to worry. So, I am either a terrible mother for giving him too much screen time, or I'm a wonderful mother for finding him things he enjoys that keep him safe during this time. At least we do coloring, playdoh, and books, too!

A downer post, but at least things are moving in the right direction!

A brief mention of recent fun things we did before this happened (that I alluded to in the previous post): I had a really great time at The Melting Pot with Lori. It's been a LONG time since I've been able to sit down and talk with her (or just about any other adult) for an extended time, and it was great. Also, she agreed to be my maid of honor at the wedding! The next day, James and I met Lori and our friends Therese and Dave and their son Nate, who is the same age as James, at the zoo. We had just about perfect weather and it was a fun time. I was excited to take James to the new dinosaur exhibit there, but when they roared it scared him and we had to leave. The next day, my friend Meg was in town, and we met her for lunch. Again, it was nice to talk to someone from "home", although most of the time we spent talking about kids . . .

We've also been going to the local coffee shop more, since it is a nice walk and we like to support a local business. Especially since Starbuck's keeps trying to push Pike's Place on us by not offering a bold coffee.

That is all.

We've had lots of fun lately

But, I'm not talking about any of that in this post. Hopefully soon. The fun has been overshadowed by a fall James had the other day. Sunday morning, he was climbing onto our bed, which he has done successfully a hundred times, but this time he lost his footing and fell, apparently hitting his lip on the edge. His lip was cut really bad, even into the muscle, which we found out at the ER. He is all stitched up now, and doesn't seem to be in any pain, but we don't know how much of a scar he will have. We are thankful that the doctor in the Pediatric ER (who was very nice) had never repaired a lip like this AND didn't know that the policy had changed so that they weren't supposed to call in the plastic surgeon on call. So, he called the plastic surgeon, who did a great job. It was a VERY tough day for all of us, but hopefully it will turn out ok, with not much of a scar. He still is talking as well as he always does. In the meantime, while he's healing, we have to keep him fairly inactive, so he doesn't bump it. And limiting puckering, smiling, opening his mouth wide . . . so our time is spent trying to keep him from doing most of what he does in a day.

Oh, and Lori will appreciate this: an annoying person working at the hospital asked if I was Jim's mother. I was confused, and it took a few seconds before I realized she meant James. I corrected her, and I'm pretty sure gave her "a look". At least, for her sake, she didn't call him Jimmy.

Anyway, for anyone whose emails I'm not replying to lately, this is why. We are just focusing on this for now, and hopefully soon things will be a little more back to normal!



I'm looking forward to telling more about the zoo, the Melting Pot, seeing friends, and playing outside!!!