Turkey day

We started out the day like most Seattlites--at Peet's Coffee. Then we headed down to the playground in Green Lake park where Brandt had a great time. I was hoping to learn a thing or two about warm weather clothing and footwear, but nothing really jumped out at me. There were several kids with Crocs over socks which seems like such a bad idea in wet weather.

Since we don't have any of our stuff yet (the original estimate for the movers arrival was yesterday, but now we expect them next Monday or Wednesday), we didn't do Thanksgiving at home. Instead we cheated and got pre-made dinner at Eat Local and snuck into Dan's coworkers' vacated house so we could sit on chairs and eat with silverware. The coworkers have a little girl so there were a ton of toys for him to play with. He had a terrific time wheeling a toy stroller around (I'll have to convince Dan it's OK for a boy to have one of those) and playing with her teeny pots and pans, making chestnut and plastic panda stew.

Molars are really cool, by the way. Brandt ate a lot of turkey. He used to chipmunk any meat (store it in his cheek for a long while before eventually spitting it out), but now that he's got his first set of molars he's able to eat it easily. His canines are still making their way in so this teething business isn't over and done with yet, but it should be soon...just in time for his two-year molars to start causing trouble.

Mo' molar

The mouse's grand plan to stay on Vegas time last week worked out well. He's slept fine since we've been back home. Such a smart little guy!

A little grumpy today because the other top molar is starting to poke through. We left the house for a long walk and he was fine, but as soon as we got back home, he was bothered by his gums again. Amazing what fresh air can do.

Speaking of fresh air, the weather is finally almost bearable. It was a bit warm walking around today, but not as hot as it was before we left for Holland. And yesterday we even ate lunch outside! I think we'll soon have our two weeks of perfect weather before it gets too cold.

TPA

Our month of travel isn't over yet! Tonight we flew to Tampa and tomorrow we'll drive down to Sanibel Island. Dan stayed there as a munchkin and thought it'd be fun to go back. The idea for the trip originated when he wanted a vacation, too, after I wouldn't let him come to Hawaii with us.

Yesterday I took a little video of Brandt spinning in circles on a Bounce & Spin Pony (and pushing with his lazy left leg, no less!), but then I left the Flip in the seat back pocket :( Apparently I'll never learn. Five years ago I did the same with my iPod and ten years ago with my fancy work pager. I might be a lost cause, but Dan is taking note and now knows not to buy me more fancy electronics.

Since we got to spend a little extra time at baggage claim trying to track down the Flip, Dan and Brandt devised a new game: ride the suitcase. As you probably guessed, the faster the better.

Other updates: the walking is coming right along and Brandt's been able to change directions while walking for a week now. He's still crawling more than walking, but walking is gaining a bit every day. In tooth news: the bottom left molar is starting to poke through and the other three molars are all there under the surface. So I think his island fever a couple weeks ago wasn't tooth related after all.

Ko Olina

Brandt is having his first bad tooth day :( I noticed he was warm when he went to bed last night and he woke up screaming at 5am. Other than opening his eyes at 4:30 the other morning, I don't think he's ever not slept through the night. He felt burning hot, but was only 100 when I checked. Even so, we took a cool bath to calm him down and he fell back asleep pretty quickly. I, however, was completely freaked out and almost woke Tammie up thinking he needed a hospital! He's always been such a trouper when sick so when he woke up terrified (maybe he had a nightmare, too?) and sweaty I of course assumed he had contracted some rare Hawaiian malady.

After dropping Jake at preschool we hit the Ko Olina lagoons on the west shore. Baby Hannah wanted to walk and Brandt wanted to snooze so we walked along all four lagoons. When Brandt finally woke up after an hour and a half, we sat and played a little. He was still pretty grumpy and drooly and only went in the water for a couple minutes.

This afternoon he napped another three hours and woke up slightly less grumpy, but still very drooly and the molar is still just swollen but not poking through. I hope it makes its appearance soon because he's miserable! I'm giving him teething tablets, but I can't tell that they're doing much. I tried the teething gel once, too, but that seems to make him even more drooly and pissed off. We've got a big day planned for tomorrow so it will either be a complete disaster or keep him good and distracted. I really feel for the babies who go through this with each and every tooth. And at least Dan isn't here to see he itty bitty baby feeling so bad. He may be even wimpier than I when the mouse is sick.

Finally, a new tooth!

We had a bit of a lazy day today. Brandt slept over thirteen hours last night and I took advantage of the oppportunity to get some extra sleep, too. So we slept through Luke's weekly 11 o'clock playdate and our one o'clock playdate got canceled. We finally got off our butts and made it to the back yard to play with the WaterWheel Play Table Aunt Renae sent Brandt for his birthday. Tons of fun!

Brandt finally sprouted tooth number seven! It's been months since he had a tooth so I'm very excited. It's on the bottom and to the left of his middle two bottom teeth. We know a lot of babies working on their first molars right now and those don't sound like fun. Hopefully his amber teething beads will make those easy for him like all the previous teethses have been. So now I realize that the fever Brandt had two weeks ago was probably Roseola without the rash! I thought it was teething at the time, but no tooth ever appeared and considering we were hanging out with Xan when he broke out in his Roseola rash and it's going around the valley like crazy, Brandt probably had it, too.

Tonight we watched Madagascar at the Outdoor Picture Show at the District. We were smart this time and showed up an hour early to get a good seat. The walk down was pretty hot, but it's so nice to not use the car all day, yet still get out and do something. Brandt and I shared the *best* smoothie from Whole Foods. Amazon Berry. Yum! Brandt didn't want to believe it was gone and kept at the straw for a while.

Tooth two

TOYS!

I first noticed it on Friday, but didn't quite believe it--tooth two is on the way already! It's the lower right one (tooth one was the lower left one if I didn't mention it before).

It's our last day in DC and Carter and Quinn have finally come around to liking the baby. They dug out a bunch of their old toys for him to play with. I think empty water bottles might still hold a place in Brandt's heart, but today was all about the colorful and musical *real* toys.