Our date with Daddy

I had such a fun afternoon. Mommy and I had a lunch date with Daddy. Not only did I ride there in my new carseat, but I got to sit in the big boy high chair at the table AND Mommy gave me french fries. I think maybe I was missing something because I didn't get to eat them the same way Mommy did. She had lots of red stuff on hers, and she only let me have the french fry middles, but they were still super tasty. Unfortunately, the picture is in Daddy's phone and he doesn't know how to send it to Mommy, so we'll have to wait and post that later.

Born Free and Breaking Free

BPA has been in the news for a while now. I never paid too much attention before, but when Canada banned it and Walmart and Babies R Us agreed to phase out the sale of bottles containing BPA, I decided maybe I should phase them out of my house, too. I read that not only is it linked with cancer, but it is said to cause hyperactivity as well. From what I can see, Jack won't need any help in that department! I went out and bought a few Born Free! bottles and training cups, and I'm really glad I did. They were a little more expensive, but they are so much better than the sippy cups we had been using. The Nuk sippy cup that Jack liked because he could actually drink out of it had a tendency to leak, and the Playtex sippy cup that I like because it didn't leak at all was nearly impossible for him to drink out of. The Born Free! trainer cup is the best of both worlds. It leaks very little, if at all, AND it is easy to drink from. I really wish we had just started here. And the best part is that the bottles, trainer cup, and drinking cup (which we don't have yet) all have interchangeable parts. Unless I need more of the actual cups, I'll only have to buy drinking cup spouts (which are hard spouts as opposed to the trainer cup's soft spouts.) I highly recommend them to anyone who is concerned about BPA (and phthalates!) in their child's bottles. Heck, I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a good sippy cup, toxic or not.

I also finally gave in and baby-proofed the living room. I had been hoping to not have to do that here, but no such luck. Not only does he have more energy than me, but at times he's also faster than me. And he pulls himself up on anything that will hold him. This includes the obvious (crib, couch, gates) and the not-so-obvious (me, piles of laundry, bumbo). Actually, he no longer needs the bumbo for support, but it has become invaluable as a "jail." If I need him to sit still and I set him up with toys, he doesn't notice that he can't try to follow me for at least 2 or 3 minutes. It's usually just enough time to do whatever I need to do. My little boy is growing up so fast!

On The Move!

I meant to do this right after it happened, but if you've ever been to my house, you might be able to understand why it didn't get done until almost 1:00 in the morning 5 days later. Finding the cord to hook the camera to the computer was the LEAST of my problems! We are, however, very excited! We are also much busier trying to keep up with him, and Jack is getting in much more QT with his Pack'n'Play. I had originally turned the camera on in an attempt to capture his cute little "leap frog" move before he really figured out how to crawl because I noticed that he was starting to get one of his knees moving in the process. I was afraid I would miss it if I didn't act quickly. Apparently, I didn't act quickly enough, because you can see from the video what happened when I turned on the camera.

Go Fly A Kite!

Last Wednesday, when everybody was here visiting me, we all went to a place called Fowler Park. We had never been there before, but it was a very nice park. Mommy, Daddy, and I flew a kite way up high in the air! It was so fun. We had to run back and forth to keep it from coming down, and Mommy even let me hold the string. After that, they took Madelyn and me to a place called the Playground. There was a tall thing that you had to climb up to, and then you came down to the ground sitting on your butt. Daddy and I went together, and it was fun. The second time was a little scary. We went around and around and around as we came down. I didn't like that as much as when we just went through a tunnel and came out straight. And then after that, Madelyn and I shared a swing! It was a little like my swing, but not really. It didn't play music and it didn't have a comfy chair, but it went back and forth the same. Mads and I sat back to back so that we could both swing at the same time. It was lots of fun. I can't wait to go back to the playground and swing some more!

The Prince's New Throne

Mommy and Daddy took me shopping all day. It was so boring! But look at the new big-boy carseat I got! It is a convertible one that I'll get to use until I'm big enough to get into the car without even needing a booster seat. Mom says I can even use it if I weigh 100 lbs, but at this rate I'll be in high school before that happens. She didn't say what that was, but it sounded like a really long time from now. I really like it. It's super comfy, and it even has a place for my sippy cup. Unfortunately, it doesn't have spots for all my hanging toys, but I'm a big boy now. I don't play with those much anymore anyway.

Rock and Roll!

Two earthquakes came to my house today! Well, Mommy says it was technically one earthquake and one aftershock. My cousin Madelyn said they felt the same to her. I slept through the first one, but she says it was pretty big. It was so big it shook the whole house and woke everybody up but me! Madelyn said the thought maybe it wanted to play, but it couldn't get in because the doors were locked, so it shook the whole house instead. That could be, I don't really know. But then why didn't it come in the second time? Mommy was up and everybody was in the kitchen. It would have been fun to play!





I've been trying to explain these earthquakes to Jack, but its a little harder than I thought it would be. It's a little too much science for an almost 7 month old. He was only awake for the aftershock, a 4.6 on the Richter Scale. That lasted for about 15 or 20 seconds or so. The earthquake itself, a 5.2 that originated about 90 miles south of here, he slept right through. That was interesting. I hadn't experienced one like that before, at least not one that I recall. It seemed to last minutes, but was probably only 30 or 40 seconds. I woke up with the thought that a pack of wild dogs was running back and forth through the house because it was so loud and there was a noticeable ripple moving back and forth through the walls. It occurred to me that it couldn't be a pack of wild dogs and was probably an earthquake. At that point, I woke Mike up, and then remembered that there was stuff that could fall on Jack while he was in his crib. So then I freaked out and knocked the water bottle over looking for my glasses (the only thing to fall in the entire incident), only to have Mike remind me that I should probably wait for it to stop before I got up myself. So then I had to wait what seemed like an eternity, but probably wasn't, before I could go and see that Jack was sleeping peacefully with no harm done. Grandma and Grandpa Barg, Aunt Kelley, and cousin Mads were here, too. They left this afternoon, and I think Aunt Kelley was very relieved to go. Everybody else seemed to think it was pretty cool, and since there were no injuries and no damage, I think it is pretty safe to call it an exciting adventure. :) Of all the natural disasters, an earthquake was the last thing I thought we would experience here.

No Place Like Home

Alright, I know it's a little late. Here is how the rest of our trip went. I know some people were curious...

Saturday dawned sunny and too warm for Jackson to wear a coat in Daddy's opinion and not warm enough for him to not have a coat AND blanket in Mommy's opinion. As you can see, Mommy won. And good thing, too! It was very chilly in the shade, and also pretty breezy. As promised, we took Jackson to the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. I think he had a good time. He seemed to like the polar bear and the gorillas. After leaving the zoo, we drove into Iowa and stayed near Iowa City.

On Sunday, it was time to make our way home. Our last stop was the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch, Iowa. Why? Just because we were passing right by it. You see and learn about a lot of cool things when you stop at the random places along your way. I think that's what was meant by "stopping to smell the roses." ANYWAY, I had no idea good old Bert was such a humanitarian and all around nice guy. The presidential museum made it sound like his good name had been restored by the time he died, but my history classes only remembered him for starting the depression and left him with the legacy of thousands of "Hoovervilles." The site had a nice museum and library. He and his wife were buried there, in view of his birth cottage. There were actually quite a few preserved buildings to tour. He had a highchair that looks just like the one my Poppy Kaylor used to have at his house. I think Jack's favorite was the school house. He seemed awfully excited to be there. We're hoping that translates to kindergarten and beyond.

Once we had soaked up just about all we could absorb, we began the long journey home. It was fairly uneventful, and we arrived safe, sound, and a little wiser. This trip had taught me a few things. 1) Herbert Hoover was a Quaker. 2) Travelling with a baby is about travelling on THEIR schedule, not yours. 3) Never EVER go anywhere without a supply of Cheerios and a bottle of juice. We learned that one on the first day when we were running late and didn't have time to pull over and feed Jack when he was hungry. Instead, we pumped him full of Cheerios, but I didn't have a bottle handy so he learned real quick how to drink water from a straw. Poor kid!

Planning His Escape

Yeah, we decided it was time to lower the mattress. He was only kneeling this time. Next time I might not have been so lucky!

Also, I updated a few older posts tonight. "Weekend Update..." has been updated with a green bean recipe (I know, you're all thrilled!). "Greetings From Fargo" and "Omaha: Somewhere In Middle America" have new vacation photos added, and I added the photo of Jack loving his pears to "Pear Perfection." Stay tuned for a post on the conclusion of our trip, as well as for today's adventure into the world of Zucchini.

Pear Perfection

***Updated with picture 4/12***

So Mommy still doesn't have her camera stuff back from Milwaukee yet, so I can't post any pictures. There are definitely some good ones! But I thought I'd say "Hi" so that Auntie La has something new to read.

Mommy did lots of cooking today. She made fresh avocadoes, carrots, pears, and something called zucchini that I don't get to try until later in the week. She made me sit in my circus and watch her, and I was pretty bored. I can't see what she's doing from way down there! And don't even get me started on that loud, scary machine she uses to cut it all up. I tried to tell her I don't like it, but she kept turning it on anyway! In the end, though, I got to taste some very yummy pears. I don't like pear juice nearly as much as I like apple juice, but pear sauce is just as good as apple sauce!





Pear Puree


Ingredients:


5 lbs pears (any variety)


6 oz thinning liquid





Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350.


2. Halve and core pears. Place cut-side-down in baking pan. Fill pan with about an inch of water.


3. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until tender.


4. Once tender, remove from oven and cool slightly.


5. Add to blender, adding some of the water the pears were cooked in to thin the puree out. Pears tend to be watery, so be careful of how much water you add. I pureed them in batches, so I always had more pears to add if I had too much water.


6. Freeze in ice cube trays. I got about 7 cups out of the 5lbs of pears.

Omaha: Somewhere in Middle America

***Updated 4/12 with pictures***
Mommy says we're in a place called Omaha, Nebraska tonight. We have been very busy since we left Fargo. The day we left Fargo we visited a very big boat and a very cold church. They didn't look like anything special to me, but Mommy said they were interesting because the boat was just like one made 1000 years ago and actually sailed to Norway, and the church is just like a church in Norway that is 1000 years old. Neither church have any nails holding them together, but I still wasn't all that impressed. My favorite part of the day was when the nice man gave me a pinwheel. When we walked, it spun around and around and it is so pretty! Mommy even propped it up so that it I can watch it when we drive with the windows down.





After we left Fargo, we drove past a lot of very flat land and then very hilly land to get to a place called Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The best part about that was that Mommy actually let me crawl around on the floor in the hotel instead of making me stay on the bed or a blanket. Daddy tried to, but Mommy said it looked clean enough that I was probably ok. I also got to sleep in my own room, which was good because I didn't keep getting woken up by Daddy's snoring!





This morning, Mommy and Daddy took me to see a big waterfall. I guess it isn't as big as the waterfall I'm going to live near, but it looked pretty big to me! My favorite part of the day was when we went to see an old boat called the Sargeant Floyd. That was not in Sioux Falls, but in a place called Sioux City, Iowa. It was a boat, but it was a museum. There were lots of old things to look at, and you could ring the bell and steer the boat. That was so much fun! I laughed and laughed the whole time we were in there. I'm not telling why, though!





Now we're in Omaha. Mommy and Daddy took me out to dinner, but all Daddy would share with me was his water. I wanted some of their steak! Mommy says we might go to a place called the Zoo tomorrow. She says there are lots of animals there and it will be like the aquarium but without any water. I liked the aquarium, so it might not be so bad. I'll let you know how that goes. Mommy wanted me to tell you all that she has now officially been to 49 states. The only place she hasn't been is a place called Hawaii. I'm not really sure what all that means, but she is pretty excited about it. There's no pictures yet because the stuff Mommy needs for that got left in Milwaukee, but she says she'll add them in when we get home. Bye for now!

Greetings from Fargo!

***Updated 4/12 with more pictures***
Sorry it has been a few days. This is our first quiet night. You might be thinking that's because we're in Fargo, ND and there's just nothing to do here, but it is actually because Daddy decided to eat half a cow for dinner and needs to just sit around and digest. :) Luckily, we ate dessert first, so there was no issue with us not getting our homemade ice cream. Jack was definitely a fan! We're having a great time out on the open road. But let's start at the beginning...

We left not quite early enough on Friday morning for Daddy to get to his talk in South Bend, IN in plenty of time. He made it, but it was close. It would have been one thing if he was just going to a talk, but no, he was giving the talk. He kind of needed to be there. While he was at his conference, Jack and I hung out in a fairly sketchy Days Inn. Yeah, Mommy would only let me play on the blanket or in the crib. It was pretty boring! We did go for a little walk, but it was very cold. Mommy doesn't usually take me for walks when it is so cold. I was happy when Daddy came home and we got to play together.

Saturday, we took Jack on his very first campus visit. We went to Notre Dame and saw "Touchdown Jesus" and the rest of the University. It was a very nice campus! It was a little cold, but a very sunny day. After that, we drove to Chicago for a visit my my friend Ann. She and I went to Italy together, and I hadn't seen her in years.

Sunday was my favorite day. Mommy and Daddy took me to see lots and lots of fishies at the Shedd Aquarium! There were big ones and little ones, plain ones and colorful ones, and even ones with very big teeth! I especially liked when they came to say "Hi" to me. I really wanted to play with them, but Daddy wouldn't let me. We saw a baby beluga named Miki who is just a little older than me, but he was lots bigger! And then Mommy bought me a stuffed Miki, but mommy's friend Matt said his name was really Caviar, and somehow it stuck. So now I have a new friend Caviar. I don't love him as much as Puppy, but he is lots of fun to play with!

Jack is right. The aquarium was very cool. We went with some more of my college friends, Matt and Laura, and then afterwards we went to Michigan Ave to go to the Ghirardelli store. That was also fun. A very sweet afternoon all things considered! And then, to top it all off, we headed off to Milwaukee to see yet another college friend - Kadie and her new husband, Steve - for the night! That would have been a perfect visit except for the part where Mike decided he was done loading the car before he was actually done loading the car and left my main diaper bag and camcorder case with all my camera stuff in it at Kadie's. That's why, after this post, you won't see any more pictures until we get home!

Monday we stopped in Madison, WI on our way to the Twin Cities. It was cold and rainy, but we walked down State St. anyway. Madison is a very cute little college town. I was sorry we didn't get to spend more time there, but we were in a little bit of a hurry to get to Minneapolis/St. Paul considering the blizzard we were scheduled to drive into. Sadly, it was 64 in Terre Haute. There were a lot of scary-looking accidents, but we got there safely despite the 5 inches of snow that fell that day. I wouldn't have expected anything less of Minnesota!

The whole point of this trip was to get to the last 4 continental states that I have not yet been to. Minnesota was the first of these states, so it was very exciting to be somewhere new. We were staying with Mike Smith and his parents, and we were actually there for 2 nights, so it was very relaxing. Mike was an excellent tour guide! We went to the Mall of America, the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden, and a driving tour of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul. They are such different cities! I didn't really know what to expect of them, but I wish we had had more time to explore them. I guess we'll just have to go back! And we also got to see Eric Ufferman while we were there. That's 6 old friends we got to reconnect with in all!

Yeah, I don't know about Minneapolis. The only part I really got to see was the giant dinosaurs made out of tiny blocks at the big mall. There were lots of kids at the mall, and they all looked like they were having such a fun time. There were rides and games, but Mommy said I was too little for all of them. I won't be too little for much longer, though! And then I'll be able to go on all the rides I want!

Today we got up and drove to Fargo, North Dakota. We weren't expecting much of Fargo, but it is actually a lot warmer and a lot nicer than I thought it would be. It has a very cute downtown area with lots of stores and restaurants, and it was almost 60 degrees today. We went for a walk and got ice cream before heading out to Famous Dave's for dinner. Like I said, Fargo had a lot of restaurants downtown, but they were all a little too high-class for us. Go figure! Fargo is just full of surprises. Unfortunately, though, I can't show you any pictures because, like I said, Mike left my camera cord in Milwaukee. I was only able to get the other pictures on the computer because I was able to borrow Mike's in Minnesota.

Well, that's all for now. Jack and I will let you know how the rest of the trip is going. And for those of you keeping track, Jack really loves apple sauce, carrots, and ice cream. (Again, Daddy was not amused, but what is a mother to do when her child is begging and whining like a puppy for something that is clearly God's gift to humanity?) Tomorrow we see a little more of Fargo and then start heading down toward Omaha, NE. Not sure how far we're going to get, though, so you'll just have to check back in with us!