Quick story: we were away this past weekend visiting some friends in Richmond. When we arrived home on Sunday, we found lines (which I initially thought were electrical) down at the side and front of our house. Our neighbor informed us that a drunk driver hit the utility pole on Friday night bringing down phone, cable, and electrical lines. The electricity was apparently restored on Saturday but we have been without cable (so we've had zero TV as even our local channels require cable) and Internet until about 15 minutes ago. I've spent well over 3 hours (no exaggeration) on the phone with Comcast this week and have spoken with more supervisors and technicians than I care to remember. Suffice it to say that we are seriously considering the switch to another provider as Comcast no longer has a monopoly in our neighborhood. Anyway, it's good to be back in the land of technology! No Internet for five days is an absolute killer.
So to briefly update you on the goings on in our lives lately...
Jack and I flew to Michigan in mid-June to spend a week with my parents while Mick was in Las Vegas for work (truly, he tells me this was for work!). About four hours before we were scheduled to fly from DC to Grand Rapids, the three of us sat in the Urgent Care center awaiting news on whether or not poor little Jack could fly. We discovered that he had an ear infection, sinus infection, and ruptured eardrum. Poor thing! Given how good natured this kid is, neither Mick nor I knew he was sick until I noticed all of the goo coming from his ear. The doctor who saw us at urgent care is an ENT specialist and she said she had never seen a kid with an ear infection act as happy as Jack did. We were cleared to fly because luckily (??) his eardrum had already ruptured so the flight wasn't a problem. He and I were in the first row on the plane and wouldn't you know that he waved and smiled at every single person who boarded! No one even knew he was sick. Even the next day when I took him to the pediatrician in Michigan, he still had a smile on his face. Despite a fever and swollen sinuses, this is what Jack looked like while waiting for the doctor:
The one good thing that came out of Jack's illness (that sounds rather insensitive!) is that he started saying "mama." Hearing that word and knowing that it is now my name was truly music to my ears. I'm sure that there will be days during which I tire of hearing it (especially if it's said in a whiny voice as I hate whining!) but for now the novelty is sweet.Mick flew into Michigan for Father's Day weekend and he spent his first holiday as a dad helping my dad (and brothers) paint the entire back of my parents' house. It was a scorching hot weekend and was not an easy job, but the guys worked together to get it done. For Father's Day, I bought Jack some pjs that said "My Dad Rocks" that he wore on Father's Day eve. I also gave Mick a digital picture frame with all of the pictures of he & Jack from the last 10 months loaded onto it.
The time in Michigan was great, as usual. I was able to spend a day in Ferndale with Andrea & Time and got to snuggle baby Luke (just 3 weeks old when I saw him!). Jack spent loads of time with Grammy & Papa and then was fortunate to see his aunts and uncles... and more importantly Marcus & Deagan over the weekend. The kids had so much fun together; I am constantly amazed at how good Marcus is with Jack. You'd think he'd be sick of babies given that Deagan is the same age but he always reminds us that he is Jack's "big brother-cousin" and takes excellent care of him. Deagan is fast - walking all over the place - and Jack had to crawl like grease-lightning to keep up. Oh, Jack also apparently figured out how to do steps on his own as we found him at one point in my parents' room (there are two steps down to get in there).
Here are a few pictures of Jack pretending he was a CEO in my dad's home office:
Jack also had his final Waterbabies swim class with Mick (post ear infection) and he received a certificate (now in his baby book) showing that he'd accomplished all they set out for him to learn. He is a HUGE fan of splashing and kicking (he knows the difference) and the price we now pay is that the nightly bath-giver gets drenched due to Jack's sheer thrill of being in water.We spent last weekend in Richmond visiting Aughie & Colleen in their beautiful new home. Mick was able to play golf and Colleen and I took Jack to a petting zoo where he was able to pet the horns (is that what they're called?) of a goat and to see some big fish and turtles in the aquarium.
We gave Jack his fifth (or sixth?) haircut on Sunday night. I wonder how long his hair would be had we never cut it to begin with...?We head off tomorrow to England for 10 days where we'll be able to do a little relaxing (we hope!) and to see family. I'm trying to be as laid back as possible about the jet lag and how it will affect Jack. He did okay in December but he was only four months old then and didn't have as set of a schedule as he has now. So we will just play things by ear. I am a little concerned about the flight (the flights there and back will be his 15th & 16th flights!) as he is so active and mobile and nosy these days, but again, having a good sense of humor and being calm about things like this (I'll have to take Mick's lead!) will be immensely helpful I'm sure.
I don't have many pictures to share as I haven't had a camera since mid-April. I just bought a new one today so hopefully I'll have some good photos after our trip. I did just find these random pictures on my iPhone that I took at the beginning of June. Jack loves to climb in and out and over and under anything he can find. This day, he climbed into his box of books... and then got stuck (posted in the order in which I took them... notice his look of glee change to a look of consternation):
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