Monday, September 3, 2012

'venturing


Baby Grady had kind of a big weekend, I'm not gonna lie. I mean, it was no big deal, really. He didn't go wine tasting or anything. But there was lots of out and about and sometimes that still amazes me. Like, that I can pack my baby up and go for coffee, errands, a meal... and it isn't dependably horrible and regret-inducing. In fact, I can pretty well count on Baby Grady to hang these days. So.very.cool. We also spent a great deal of time trying to respond to his tired signals and get him to nap, while he refused to have any of that nonsense, because he might miss something for gosh sakes!

Following a morning of trying to convince our tired baby to sleep, Saturday afternoon was all kinds of surprising, because Jasper was supposed to have to work, but then he texted to say he didn't and was coming right back home. Then, the baby went down for a nap (!), and Jasper tried to put his slick moves on me, and as soon as that happened, the baby woke right back up because he does not believe in any hanky-panky among his parental-types (in addition to not believing in napping for himself). Then we ate pizza and watched Project Runway.

On Sunday, I had to take my computer to see the Apple Geniuses. Because of all the napping issues, I packed Grady the Gus up early, thinking he could nap on the way out to the WC. But he wasn't quite asleep yet when I got to our exit, so I kept right on driving up to Pleasant Hill (not actually a hill, as far as I know, but quite pleasant). I knew there was a Carter's store there (though I didn't know the location) and they were having a sale and because Grady has lots of cute t-shirts that will fit this winter, I wanted to get him some basic long-sleeved under-onesies. And this whole plan sort of hatched in my head as I drove cluelessly with my baby listing on the edge of sleep in the back seat.

Then, magically, I took a random exit, happened to see the Carter's store across the street, and pulled into a shady parking lot where my baby took his morning nap, which wasn't nearly long enough, but alas. When Baby Grady woke up, we walked over to the Peet's, where we met another fuzzy blond baby, whose mom recommended Toms for early walkers. Thank you for the advice, Other Mom, I already have my eye on the Calculus print, which might be discontinued, but I pinned it, so now I'm obsessed. Once I had my decaf, we sat by a fountain, and Grady had a snack of his own. Then we got those onesies and got back on the road to Walnut Creek.

Wow, it only just struck me that this is terribly boring and I should delete it, but I probably won't, because someone like maybe my mother-in-law might enjoy hearing about Baby Grady's non-adventures. So. We got to Walnut Creek a little early and went to the park, briefly, where Grady got himself quite sandy climbing in a train. Then we walked to the Apple Store (just needed a new power cord! for $80 thank you very much!). Then we swung through the H&M where we got Grady some very cheap comfy pants for fall. I wanted to get him a dapper cardigan, but his size was long gone. I contemplated a few other items, but left with just my $10-worth of comfy pants. After walking back to the park, where we'd left the car, it was clear that Grady was ready for nap #2 of the day.

So, we headed home, and just as we pulled into our neighborhood, he fell asleep. So, we sat in the car for awhile, and Grady took a nice normal-length nap of a full hour or something crazy. Then we went inside and Skyped with the Spokane grandparents. They got to see Grady be fussy, take some ibuprofen, bounce back, and then busy himself all over the living room with pulling up, cruising, crawling under coffee tables, and pounding his fists while orating on the state of society and so forth. Reese also had a cameo appearance.

Then we ate risotto.

On Monday, we spent pretty much the entire day trying to get Grady to sleep, while he mocked us. Jasper walked approximately 72 miles with him. And for much of that, Grady rode in his stroller, which is just the strangest because he wasn't weeping or anything. I am trying not to get too excited about what this might mean for my running opportunities.

During the brief interludes when we were not trying to get Grady to sleep, we went to our local coffeehouse where we hung out in the play area and met yet another fuzzy blond baby (they are really and truly everywhere this season). His name was Zev and he and Grady got on famously. But Zev is moving to New Zealand next week, so we were careful not to get too attached.

Later, after Grady had his afternoon not-nap, we took him to Boulevard Burger -- our local joint -- for the first time. There he ate his first chicken tender, and also really enjoyed the water, and some pickles.




8 comments:

  1. Yes, Suzanne, your MIL is entranced by all the reports of Grady doings, grinning stupidly at the pics, remembering that Jasper too liked pickles as a young fellow. Lovely ending to a very nice day on this end. We so enjoyed skyping and feel like we got to spend some special time with all of you. Jasper, as you've heard, also never napped if he could help it. Payback time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The skyping is so nice, isn't it? Much better than a phone call, especially when babies are involved. You have Granny J jealous -- their internet won't allow such fancy things.

      Delete
  2. At first I was just stuck on imagining Jasper and his slick moves, but then I was distracted by the idea that you sat in the car for an hour while Grady napped, and then amused that he enjoyed his water so much along with his first chicken tender. Oh a day in a life. And yup I read the whole post. ~miki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you read the "slick" moves as the good-natured sarcasm it was. I mean, you've met Jasper. ;-) We sit in the car while the baby naps a fair amount these days. He'll wake up if we take him out of his carseat and we can't very well leave him there alone. So, we sit and read or email or whatever...it's better than having him miss the nap. And thanks for sticking it out to the boring end!

      Delete
    2. So, you're saying my moves are not slick?

      Delete
    3. They are not. Your moves are honest and transparent, just how I like 'em.

      Delete