Manly Friday

Today I was able to stay home with Gavin for a change. Typically on Fridays I have to work at least part of the day, or have project around the house to work on (read: bathroom renovation). But today I was lucky enough to not have an overwhelming work load, and the bathroom renovation is a bit of a limbo at the moment.

To say that today was great would be a bit of a stretch. G wasn't feeling real great today. He wanted to be constantly held for most of the day. He was cranky most of the day as well. But I would much rather him be with me on a cranky day than be that much more unhappy with his teachers at daycare. They might not be able to give him the attention that he wants on those unhappy days.

We stuck to his normal routine as much as possible today. G and I were able to fit in a Wal Mart run this afternoon for a few necessities. He scored a cool new orange Tonka truck on the toy aisle. But he really really didn't want to give it to the check out lady so that she could scan it....Then around 5:30 we headed to meet Miranda for dinner. We all went to see the high school theatre group perform their winter musical of Footloose. Gavin was good for about the first 30 minutes, but just didn't have the patience to sit still for any longer than that. So we headed home and he is now sound asleep after a long day with Dad.

Phase 2 is Complete

The bathroom renovation is starting to gain momentum. Here are the before pictures if you don't remember what the bathroom looked like. Phase 1 was texturing the walls and painting. But now, the countertops, faucets, mirrors, light fixtures, and wall tile are all complete. Actually the grout was finished last Friday, but I am just now getting around to getting the blog updated with the progress.

We are going to wait a month or two to do the floor tile. We are trying to space out the expenses for the bathroom renovation so that we aren't having to foot a big chunk of the bill in any one month. So this month we will buy the tile, and next month we will have it installed. There are a few other details to still do like curtains, a little trim work, pictures on the walls, accessories, faucet for the tub, etc. But at least now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

11 Month Pictures

Wow. I can't believe in a month Gavin will be one. I don't know where the year has gone. I won't start waxing poetic, just yet.

At 11 months, Gavin has 6 teeth. Four on top; the two outer ones are just peeking through; and two on bottom. He can chomp down on your finger when he's needing some relief from the pain of those two that are just poking through.

He is very vocal. He loves to jabber. One of my favorite sounds is "deedlee-deedle-do." He also goes "sssstttt." And Dave filled you in on his vocabulary: ma, da, daa, and baa.

He's pushing up on all fours and has been since December. He hasn't figured out what to do with his arms. He did last week, figure out the army crawl and will make a few pulls to get himself to what he needs. Sunday afternoon he army-crawled to me while I was sitting of the sofa, and my heart melted. He goes from sitting to belly pretty easily now. But I still haven't caught him in the act of going from belly to sitting. I'll walk around the corner, come back, and he's changed position.

And, Gavin helps get into and out of shirts. He loves to have an item in hand while on the changing table. He knows to move it from hand to hand so that he can pull his arm out. And once both arms are out, he pushes his shirt up over his head. And, when putting a shirt or jacket on, he knows how to push his arm through. He has also become adept at moving his arms out of the car seat straps and reaching up for you.

We are so blessed.

Yes, we were snacking on a cracker during the photo shoot.

Happy Birthday GrandBob!!!

Super Bowl 2011 Tickets

OK, so this morning I was curious about how much Super Bowl tickets were going for already. $1800 looks like the cheapest nosebleed seat that you can buy right now. So, I was thinking - how can I get tickets for next year?

I found out that the NFL releases a very small amount of tickets to the general public through a lottery. You can request 2 tickets and have to pay the face value ($500 typically) if you are lucky enough to be selected. Here are the instructions from the NFL if anyone else is interested. I seem to remember my fraternity doing this several years in a row and one person got two tickets from the 100+ entries that were sent. Incidentally, I am offering free room and board for the 2011 Super Bowl to anyone who gets tickets and agrees to take me along (it's at Cowboy's Stadium in 2011...).

Here are the instructions from NFL.com:

The only method the NFL has to distribute tickets to the public is through a random drawing. There is no other way for the general public to purchase tickets. The NFL does not sell tickets to travel or ticket agents.

Entries for the random drawing are accepted between Feb. 1 and June 1 of the year preceding the game in question. All ticket requests must be sent via certified or registered mail. Those selected in the random drawing will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets.

Requests for Super Bowl XLV, to be played Feb. 7, 2011 in Arlington, TX will be accepted beginning Feb. 1, 2010. They should be sent to:

Super Bowl Random Drawing
P.O. Box 49140
Strongsville, OH 44149-0140

Please note that only one request per address is accepted. All duplicate requests will be disregarded.

And here are a few tips from another website that might increase your chances of winning:

· Make sure to request two SuperBowl tickets to the Super Bowl that you wish to attend.

· Send your Super Bowl ticket request via certified mail.

· Be sure to include your full name, address and phone number.

· Type your Super Bowl ticket request. You would hate to miss out because your penmanship is poor.

· Remember that duplicate requests will be discarded, but there is no rule against entering all of your friends and family in the Super Bowl ticket random drawing

Smacking and Spinning

To say that Gavin likes to bang on things would be an understatement. If there are two toys near him, they are sure to meet each other with a bang. Miranda gave G a spoon one day while cooking in the kitchen and it was love at first sight. He absolutely loves to sit in the floor and bang the plastic spoon on the floor. He has also incorporated another trick into the spoon banging routine - he spins while he is banging the spoon on the floor. It's pretty cute - here's a short video of the action.

Incidentially, we are currently without a ladel in the house because he broke it in two while banging it on the floor....

Did Someone Say Scooby Snack?

G-Talk

Gavin is babbling more and more all the time. He is starting to aquire quite the vocabulary for a 10 month old. So far we are up to four definite words:

Mama - self explanitory

Dada - self expanitory

Baa - Ball

Daa - Dog

We are working on other words like Mason, milk, etc. But he is making progress.

Comeback Joe

The Houston Sports Collectible Autograph show is quickly becoming my token birthday gift every year. This is the second year in a row that I have gotten autographs at this show. Last year I got Terry Bradshaw's autograph, and also got Dick Butkus' for my Dad. The one autograph that I had to have this year was Joe Montana. John Elway was tempting, but who could pass up getting to meet Joe?

We had originally planned for the entire family to travel to Houston. But after some thought, I decided that Gavin probably wouldn't have too much fun riding in the car for 10 hours. So, I left Miranda and G at home and drove to Houston this morning. Everything was going smoothly until I hit the south side of Dallas and realized that I forgot my phone at home. I decided to travel on even though I have heard that traveling is almost impossible without a cell phone....Really though, I was fine without a phone all day. I saw 550 miles of this today:Joe Montana was as nice of a person as you could ask for. He seemed very happy to talk to the people for who he was signing. He shook hands, made small talk, and thanked everyone for coming to get his autograph. It was the kind of experience that you always hope to have when meeting one of your childhood idols.

I had one other errand to run while in Houston. I was supposed to pick up a faucet set for the bathroom that I found on EBay. It didn't go quite as planned. The address that I was given didn't exist - the address was for an elementry school. So after hunting for the place, I gave up and headed back home - faucetless...

Other highlights of the road trip included:

Passing the gigantic Sam Houston statue

A rainbow amid all the rain - no pot of gold was found.

Buc-ee's "world famous" gas station. It's only famous because you have to go through 200 miles of billboards before you get to it....

A Professional What?

Sometimes "professionals" have to make equipment modifications to get the job done....Yes the bathroom tile is almost done. Just some grout to finish up. Hopefully I will be able to post progress pictures this week.

Week (or so) In Review

The first half of January is gone. I can't believe it.

Gavin continued to recover from the stomach bug that was going around last weekend. It seems Gavin had a light case compared to some of the other little ones in his class, like Dean.

Last weekend a package arrived for Gavin from Matt and Renee.

Gavin loved opening the box.Bubble wrap is fun.And, finally after all that bubble wrap, the gift--a great piece of art for his room--custom made by one of their friends. After we put the print to the side, we let Gavin have some more fun with the bubble wrap.

Last Saturday, Dave tiled. I went into work for a few hours. Gavin played and rested; he took two huge naps. Saturday night rolled around, and I hadn't made it to the grocery store, so we cooked hamburgers from frozen premade patties. About 30 minutes after eating, neither of us felt well. By 10:30, the food poisoning had hit. The next 8 hours were terrible. At 7am Sunday, I called my boss, Becky, and asked her to come get Gavin, who had awakened at 5:30. We knew we couldn't care for him. After Becky left with Gavin, Dave and I crawled back into bed. I took a few ice chips with me. At 1pm, I got up for a bit before going back to bed until 4pm. Gavin spent some time with Glenda, before coming home around 6pm. I don't know what we would have done without those ladies to help us out.

We all made it through the week. Work had it's moments as always: another arrest for marijuana at school, a visit from an exasperated mom, a stolen test & crying student, another crying student. Kids were in rare form.

Tuesday morning, Gavin was unhappy, which is highly unusual. He kept sticking his hand in his mouth, so I decided that I needed to investigate. There I found a tiny tip of a new tooth sticking through. It's on the top right; Friday night, I discovered that it's counterpart on the other side is poking through as well. No wonder, he hasn't been his usual chipper self this week.

We have made progress in the going to bed department. Over the holidays Gavin regressed, needing to be fully asleep before being put down to sleep. Monday night, I tried the Ferber method. I put him down; he cried for 5 minutes before I soothed him. I put him back down; he cried for 6 minutes, then fell asleep. Tuesday night I honestly don't remember. But by Friday night, he was waiting for us to put him down then rolling over, closing his eyes, and going to sleep. We hope this continues.

And, on the crawling front, we've seen movement. :) I've seen him make one or two pulls with his arms in the army-style belly crawl. But after that, he usually loses interest. Tonight, he moved several times in the army-crawl to get across the room to get the tube of Benadryl. He still rolls when he really needs to get somewhere fast, but it's nice to see that he's making progress with the crawling. All in good time.

Friday, Gavin took a long nap at school from 10-1:30, but no afternoon nap, so he and I curled up on the sofa that evening. Dave walked through at some point and took our picture.

Dave worked all day Friday on the tiling in the bathroom. He has made great progress. I'll be so glad when he's finished. I'm sure he will, too. It's looking great in there. We'll post pictures when it's all done. Or at least when this next phase is all done.

We intended to get Gavin's hair cut today, but that didn't happen. He's looking a little scraggly headed these days. I just hate to get his hair cut. Once we start with the hair cuts, he isn't a baby any more. I guess since he'll be a year old in less than six weeks I might as well start getting used to the fact that he is no longer a baby.

We did, however, get his big boy car seat. We got a great deal on a Britax Marathon CS--not the one we went to buy, but we couldn't pass it up. Now, we just have to get it installed.

And so, that's what we've been doing. Sorry we haven't had a chance to fill you in on all of the excitement.

Adventures of the Contagious Kid

Gavin fought a goood fight against the stomach bug that was going around his daycare, but he finally came down with it last night. I was first suspicious when he was restless after we put him down last night. Then at around 10:30 I heard him on the monitor throwing up. I rushed upstairs to find him in a pool of yuck. It was in his hair, ears, on the mattress, his clothes, up his nose, etc. Then of course when I picked him up he threw up again on me. So, we eventually got him cleaned up and Miranda sat down to rock him back to sleep. On que, he then threw up on Miranda. So we did the drill again - clean off G, new clothes for everyone involved, clean the ears out, the nose, hair, etc. It was a wonderful night.

This morning he is acting like his normal self. He's just as happy as can be - playing and talking to us. Maybe he is just happy that Mom and Dad get to stay home with him today for his sick day. We are watching for the other shoe to drop - the legendary diapers that accompany this virus. Maybe they won't be too bad - we can only hope.

Here is G playing a bit this morning. Mason is his constant companion these days - they are good buddies already.

A Quick Trip to Miami

We got up early Tuesday to head to Miami to watch Georgia Tech take on Iowa in the Orange Bowl. The temperatures were in the 50s during the day and fell into the 40s during the game. We got into West Palm Beach around noon. After an eternity at the rental car facility, which catered to older travelers--I guess they know their audience, we had a nice lunch at Charlie's Crab in Fort Lauderdale. I think that was the most either of us have ever spent on lunch, but it was a special occasion--an early birthday celebration. The crab cake sandwich was well worth it.

After lunch, we stopped for just a few minutes to get our feet in the sand.

This would have been a good picture, except for the lady in the background. The palm shadow is nice. Oh, well.

I guess I have finally converted Dave to a beach comber, he was quick to take his shoes off and get his feet in the water.

We met up with some friends and headed to the game. There, we found more friends. It was great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time. As the sun went down, it got cold. We were bundled up with tshirts, long sleeved tshirts, sweatshirts, hats, and gloves. And, we couldn't get enough hot chocolate. We weren't the only ones who were cold. The concession stands sold out of hot chocolate. Some Iowa fans must not have kept an eye on the forecast or simply wanted to show how "tough" they were. This was the girl standing in front of us. I know she was cold and would have gladly put on jeans if she had them.

The Ramblin' Wreck blasts on to the field.

Dave says I was the most mis-matched Tech fan. I didn't care. I needed that green fleece. I'll be buying a gold one soon.

We had great seats in one of the end zone, corner sections. We were in Hawkeye Country, but most of the Iowa fans were nice.

Nice enough that when we turned around and Dave extended his arm to take our picture, the guy behind us took our camera, without us asking and snapped this picture.

While it was cold and the game didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, we had a good time. Just wish it were warmer and that we hadn't had such an early return flight.

Gavin stayed at home. It was my first night away from him. I was too cold to miss him. And, we had to get up super early to get back home, so I didn't have any time to miss him. Our dear friend Glenda picked him up after school and took him to her house. Then at bedtime, they came to our house so he could sleep in his own bed. She says he did great, and I don't doubt it. He certainly was glad to see us when we picked him up this afternoon. He couldn't decide if he wanted Mama or Dad to hold him. He certainly didn't want anyone else to hold him when we stopped by Dave's office.

Happy Birthday, Dave, aka Dad

We celebrated Dave's birthday starting at midnight last night as we were driving from Tech's loss in the Orange Bowl to our hotel in West Palm Beach. We got into bed around 1:15 and were up at 4:15 to catch a 6:20 flight home that connected in Houston. We nearly missed our connection in Houston due to having to get from one terminal to another via lots of walking, a train, a connecting bus, more walking, another security screening, more walking. (You get the picture.)

On the way home, we stopped for pizza, at a favorite local pizzeria. After a nap, we went to pick Gavin up from school and the good times began. We took Gavin to the mall for some people watching and happy feet from the stroller. We had dinner, opened cards and a gift, and sang happy birthday.

I know today wasn't Dave's ideal day. Funny how a football game can do that to you. Hopefully, our trip to Houston to meet Joe Montana at the end of the month--Dave's real gift, will be a more upbeat day.