The Great Crib Experiment

Thanks to Susie and family's return to London, Tommy got a brand spankin' new apartment-sized crib to sleep in. He has his moments in it but seems to prefer to be in bed with us, which has its plusses and minuses. We still try to get him to spend time in it as much as possible. Anyway, the sun was drenching said crib and the boy one afternoon, so I had to snap some shots. The "I Drool" shirt is also appropriate and well drenched. He hasn't stopped drooling with the appearance of the two teeth EZ mentioned in a previous post. Not sure when, or if, he'll ever stop drooling...

Sunday at the Capitol

We enjoyed a rare good-weather Sunday in March and took Tommy to see CC's favorite building in DC.

Chompers

Teeth are here! Two of them! In rapid succession. It must be all of the TLC Chris has been giving Tommy.

With those teeth he's been busy eating rice cereal, avocado, sweet potato, and (thanks to Ginny) butternut squash.

Daddy Daycare

Here are just a few shots of T around the house. He and his Papa spend the days hanging around the house, napping and eating. I have Daddy Brain for sure. Can't seem to figure out how the day goes by so fast and nothing seems to get done. If at the end of the day, Tommy is fed, has a clean diaper on, has napped, has seen his Mama once, and is still breathing, well then I consider it a successful day. It's hard work, but our bonding has really been special during our time together. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

A Farewell to Friends/An Introduction to Ben's

On March 18th, we said farewell to Susie, John, and little Louis, who were headed home across the pond to London the next day. EZ and Susie had struck up a wonderful friendship and watched their boys grow up together for the past several months. Since they hadn't tried it yet, we brought over some Ben's Chili Bowl treats for them to experience before flying off. The boys tumbled around together, with little Tommy trying to keep up with Louis the whole time. Hopefully a reunion in London will take place soon, and Louis can show Tommy around his hood!

St. Paddy's Day and Mr. Mom

My time as Mr. Mom officially started on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th. I took the boy to Clyde's to meet EZ after work, drink a pint of Harp Lager and eat a corned beef sandwich. We even managed to wear green, too.

The next afternoon, I took the boy to meet EZ for a feeding. Each day, I either take him to see her, or she comes home for lunch. It's always a fun visit, but it's also hard for us to part ways afterwards, too.

Go West Young Man

Denver! Finally! For quite a while, we'd been considering making Denver Tommy's first flight destination. Liza and Andy live there, it's scenic, there's lots of outdoorsy stuff to do, it's a reasonable 4 hour direct flight from DC...D-town had a lot going for it. It also happens to be a work site for my job, and as luck would have it, there was a work need for someone (me) to go to Denver for a weekend. And as luck would also have it, that weekend fell right before my approximately 4-month leave of absence started. Why not take this opportunity to get a free flight to Denver, and bring EZ and Tommy along with me? Why not indeed! So we packed our bags and Tommy's clothes, diapers, toys, and other accessories, and headed West.

Tommy looking skeptical about his first airplane adventure. It turned out to be okay. He slept half the way, and charmed his fellow passengers the other half .

While CC toiled away in the Datacenter, EZ and Tommy enjoyed the indoor pool and free cookies at the hotel.

Doesn't swimming always wear you out? It hit Tommy like a ton of bricks.

Another nap on the way to the small town of Morrison near Red Rocks Park. Chubbalicious.

EZ explaining to Tommy that he's going to be a good boy as we wander the one-light street of Morrison looking for food.

At Red Rocks Amphiteatre. It was a gorgeous day, and people were out and about, hiking, touring, and running up and down the stairs and doing push-ups. Those Denver folks sure know how to make a couple of non-fitness freaks feel guilty...I blame being winded on the altitude.

We did do a hike of our own and got our shoes all red from the dust on the trail.

On Pearl Street with the Ratanas. Many thanks to Liza and Andy for sharing their home with us, and it was great to have Tommy meet his cousins Sophie and Luke. Sophie was so sweet to the little guy, bringing him toys she thought he might like and asking questions about him. Luke couldn't really be bothered with the young intruder, but he didn't object too strongly to his presence. They were all so cute together.

Back on the plane for the trip home. Wish he had slept this peacefully the whole time!