Micah and I were thinking of something fun to do over the three day weekend. We thought Yosemite would be too crowded. I vetoed Mexico due to pregnancy and a 16 month old. Vegas — been there, done that. The list goes on and on…..
So I have always known I wanted to start a couple new and fun traditions with my family - when I had one anyway. One I came up with a while back was a “choose your own adventure” road trip. It will be up to our kids to tell us what freeways to take, what direction we should go, where we should stop, etc. I can just imagine being a kid and getting to tell my parents everything to do. We could end up in Texas or North Dakota…..but the beauty of it is the adventure and the unknown.
So even though we don’t have kids who are old enough, rather than plan and plot, I said we should just hop in the car and drive. So off we are — north or south, east or west….who knows? We’ll wake up in the morning, grab a couple of outfits for us and the babe, stick them in a grocery bag, grab our wallets and camping stuff (we don’t know if there are hotels where we are going) and choose our own adventure! –Jim, I know you’re jealous!–
For my birthday treat, Scout decided to have me sleep in a little twin bed with him, while he woke up and fussed/cried/screamed/whimpered for about two minutes — every twenty minutes….just long enough for me to wake up abruptly and then try to fall back asleep. 40 times later, I took him down and fed him dry Cheerios with a sippy full of milk, and the went and took him to Tristen’s bed who was spending the night.
8 pm - 8 am…..12 hours! Not so bad.
….that Scout is the perfect sleeper. At one week, he slept through the night. During his almost 16 months, he has had phases where he has gotten up in the night, but nothing like lately. About a week ago, I put him down for a nap on his cousin Jake’s bed. He went right down like usual, but about ten minutes later he started screaming. Micah and I were downstairs, and I said, “he should only cry for a minute, and then he will fall asleep again.” Ten minutes later, I finally headed up to see what the problem was. There he was, hanging on for dear life to Jake’s bed spread about two inches from the ground. Poor guy probably had the sorest little muscles the next day from a ten minute long pull up.
But the real problem happened yesterday. He got up around 7:00am (1 1/2 hours earlier than usual). I like to get him down for a nap before church so he is not crazy, but after an hour of story time and rocking/singing he only gave us ten minutes of shut eye. After church, he wouldn’t go down. Two hours later….still no interest in a nap. (Mind you, I am putting him down, and he just plays in his bed, or cries until someone goes to get him.) I finally decided to wait until bed time to put him down, so he could stay on his schedule. So at 8:00pm, down he went. When I went to bed at 11:00, I was barely asleep when my brother Ryan who is in town brought him down to me. He ended up “sleeping” in between Micah and I for about three hours when he woke up. Not by screaming or crying, but by giggling. He was wide awake, and as happy as ever. He proceeded to play peekaboo, hide under the covers, stand up and fall, try and get the “balls” in my eyes, squeeze his hands as tight as he could while making a really loud grunting sound (this is a new one), climb over to Micah and say “dada” every ten minutes and wake him up…..the list goes on and on. I finally got him calmed down enough to sing every church song/nursery rhyme I could think of to get him back to sleep. Half an hour later, I gave in and went upstairs to see if his eyes got tired by watching some Sesame Street. That was a no go, and he discovered his toys about 20 minutes in, and decided it was time to play with every musical or noisy toy he owns.
I really hope it is a phase, but I must admit that I loved having him hold still in my arms for as long as he did while I sang. When Micah woke up at 5:30 to go running — after that awful sleep–, he just kind of shook his head and said, “I just don’t know what the deal with him is.” I think I do……I think some of the “Micah” genes are creeping through in full force. But who could resist that devious and darling little face……not even Micah. Because after all of that, he came home and showered, and before he left for work, he came to the bed to find “Buddy Buddy”. When I told him that he was finally in bed “for the night”, Micah was bummed he didn’t get to see him one last time.
(Didn’t feel like supporting the craziness last night by snapping a photo — above photo is from a few months ago. Wanted to point out that Scout is not in a port-a-crib on a permanent basis.)
I found out yesterday that a really nice and cute friend is going to be birthing their child via hypno-birth. I don’t know much about it, but part of it is no epidural…and I say MORE POWER TO YOU! I was asking Tristen if she knew about our friends decision, and her response was, “Yeah….and I think it’s rad!”
Now, the reason for my post…..Tristen then proceeded to say in an introspective voice, “I think I will deliver naturally when I have a baby.” I am still laughing as I type this! YEAH RIGHT! Wishful thinking Tristen! In your wildest dreams…..you would still scream for the epidural. What is wrong with my sister. Why say things that are SO far off? Anyway, I want to publicly go on record and predict that there will only be one thing natural about Tristen giving birth…..her no makeup “natural” look.
I sometimes forget about all of the amazing places we have at our disposal. Micah and I took Scout down to Salt Creek on Saturday and had the most relaxing and fun day. So we decided to call a few friends head down again for Family Night. Both Zimm clans and the Hemeons were on board (due to another event, we also hooked up with the Barbers and a few other families.) John Zimm - maybe one of my two favorite people (don’t worry Jim….you are the other!) was on fire last night! He brought down his Big Bird Kite — the one he had a lot of “ladies” loving him over throughout the years — and had it so high in the sky, you would have to have it pointed out to you before you could find it. Micah was SO jealous, since his $10 dragon kite from Costco was made to look like a joke. Marc Hemeon, on the other hand, brought down his stunt kite which immediately “stunted” itself into a tree “due to low winds”. Heman is classic!
I brought down an ice block, and it was a hit. We had a father/child competition which was narrowly won by Heman. John Z. had a serious shot at the win, but as we have learned in the olympics, there is a serious disadvantage to going first. All Heman had to do was pick up his “skag” to avoid the .5 deduction. Poor Micah came in a serious last place — everyone was trying to console him by telling him it was hard with a kid who couldn’t hold on — BUT I don’t remember hearing Scout complain. Jim Z. calculated everything out very carefully. He took his time, and I might have even seen him lick his finger and put it in the air to see exactly the direction the wind was coming from. The former Homecoming King/Best Surfer in O.C. titles came to a screeching halt as he almost catapulted his fragile daughter in the air while falling off the ice only yards from the top.
The highlight of the night was impromptu swinging in the blanket we brought. All of the kids loved it and begged for “just one more turn” about 100 times. A successful family night, that is sure to be repeated.
Scout has been teething nonstop for the last two months. He got his first two (both upper) molars at 14 months about a week apart. Then at 15 months he got his bottom left molar. Immediately afterward, his two teeth on either side of his front bottom teeth broke through. No…not at the same time….one right after the other. I finally thought the teething nightmare was over, but his last molar started to bug him about 10 days ago. It finally broke about three days ago at 15 1/2 months! Hallelujiah….my little happy guy is back!
I forgot my camera at the fair, but my always prepared sister Megan had hers…..along with sunblock, snacks, water bottles and anything else you would need. (I think whenever I know she is coming, I just blank out on bringing the stuff I need and know everything will be there regardless!) I just got the pictures from her, and loved this one. My siblings have always warned me that when I have a kid, they are going to terrorize him/her the way I did to their kids. (I tell them they have cool kids because of me!) Then when they see me give Scout lemons and tobasco sauce on my own, they just shake their heads. (Not Tristen…she is always cheering in the background.) I always told them I would do it to my own kids, and they never believed…..but I am proud to say that I have proved them wrong! Some of the family thought it was wrong to put my one year old up with this snake, but I am happy with my decision. He now knows the words snake, and he also has decided for himself that he doesn’t like them. Therefore, when he runs across one on the playground….other kids might go and see what the interesting long thing in the sandbox is…..my kid will know to run.
Scout literally copies everything he sees. But his latest, and most disgusting to date, habit is from out of the blue. Scout started spitting. He doesn’t do it outside, where he can kind of get away with it. But rather, he likes to do it at the Bloomingdales Cafe. I thought it was a novelty, and for some reason that cafe just made the little guy want to spit. However, my hopes were shattered this morning when he decided to spit in the house a few times. Micah wants to know where he got it, and my only thought is from aunt Belly. I haven’t seen her spit in years, but let it be on record that she was once paid by my mother to stop spitting?!
It is only every four years I get to watch the summer Olympics. I can’t wait to hole myself up at my house….without anyone talking, and watch track, swimming, gymnastics, diving, etc. for two weeks straight. I am starting to get those little adrenaline rushes when I know something really exciting is coming, like Christmas, or Tristen is going to get in trouble.
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