Still Battling

Ben and I are all still a little under the weather, and after speaking with Kristin, it appears that we have the same stuff as her and Sam.  Runny nose, etc. in the morning, pretty good during the day, coughing at night.  It stinks.  We have had it for over a week now.  Ben was very fussy and ran a pretty high temperature the other evening (103 degrees) which was very stressful, but it subsided by the time he went to bed.  Janette said that this was normal with teething.  Normal?

Jet was off to work last night, and wouldn’t you know it, the second she leaves, Ben wakes from his afternoon nap.  I am not sure if it was related to the teething, but Ben was just in an awful mood as he always wanted to be held, which was not convenient for me as I still had a bit of work to do for school.  Ben didn’t mind, he just kept trying to pound keys on my laptop as I was trying to finish my work.  In honor of the big game last night (Packers v. Cowboys), I decided to grill the last of Dad’s brats that he brought with him during his visit in October.  Trying to keep up with Ben, however, caused me to loose track of time.  By the time I realized it, it was too late - the brats were charred to the point that they were no longer edible.  Well, I still had to try and see if they were edible since they were my last brats.  The first one I ate I had to douse heavily with ketchup to dull the terrible taste of ash and char.  I was almost in tears over the loss of such a wonderful treat as I started on my second brat when Linda called and saved the day – she had some leftover chili and cornbread and invited me over.  She didn’t have to twist my arm.

Needless to say, with Ben being in the condition he was, even though it was 60 degrees at 6:00pm last night, I decided not to take Ben to the Oxford Christmas parade.  There is always next year, right?  Or if I really wanted, there are about a dozen other Christmas parades going on in the next week in neighboring towns that we could attend.  I ended up staying over at Donald and Linda’s for a while and watched most of the Packer game.  Oh well, it could have been worse.  Hopefully the Pack can build off of that game for later in the season.  I didn’t know how Ben would be last night, but after playing for a little bit, he went to sleep on Linda’s bed right next to her as she was watching TV.  That allowed both Donald and I to watch the game undisturbed.

I will be staying home today, which is the first time in about three weeks I think.  Leaving in the morning has been a little different lately as I am usually just ready to leave when Ben wakes up.  As I leave out the door, he begins to fuss and reaches out for me as if to say “don’t go”.  Or maybe it’s just that he wants to go outside with me.  Who knows.  As you already know, he often claps his hands when he is in a happy mood and he can wave good-bye to people as they leave.  Ben also likes to dance a bit.  When you put on some music, sometimes Ben likes to bop up and down with it, only fast-paced stuff, though.  Also, when I chase him around the room for fun, if he wants me to catch him he will stop running and start walking backwards until I get him.  In fact, he also likes to run-in-place (best way I can think to describe it) when you get him excited while playing with him running around the room.  Now we are trying to teach him “touchdown”, but Ben just looks at Jet and I a little crazy.  This may take a little more time.  Perhaps by Christmas.

Our Christmas Lists

Ben

1. Age appropriate hard-page covered books (he likes to turn the pages as I read to him … he tears plain paper)
2. Age appropriate DVD (he doesn’t watch TV yet, but this may change in the coming months)
3. Age appropriate learning toys (he can’t get enough of toys!)

Jet and Andy

1. Target, Wal-Mart, Starbucks gift card (we will surely use these)
2. Starbucks or other premium coffee (for Jet - I still don’t drink coffee)
3. Kitchen supplies (pepper grinder, non-stick baking set, etc.)

Warm Weather Blues?

Jet called me yesterday at work confused about the weather.  “It’s 72 outside”, she said in apparent amazement, “why is the weather so crazy?”  Actually, we have 60’s and 70’s forecasted for the rest of the week down here.  Maybe the weather comes as such a surprise after having endured temperatures in the 20’s and 30’s last weekend in Milwaukee.  Perhaps it is just that Jet longs to be back in Milwaukee because she misses the time she was able to spend with friends and family.

Well, Christmas has finally reached Alabama.  Many of the radio stations that I listen to down here have switched to all-Christmas music, all the time.  More and more houses have also put up their Christmas decorations.  Even more, the Oxford Christmas parade is on Thursday at 6:00pm.  With Jet at work and temperatures dipping down into the 50’s and maybe even 40’s, I don’t know if I will take Ben there to watch.  I wonder if he would even care one way or the other.  I don’t think the parade would last too long because if it did, I would end up missing part of the Packer game.  Hopefully that will be a fun one to watch.  Keep the fingers crossed!

Jet has been pretty active with the Christmas shopping since we have been back, although I still don’t quite know what I want for Christmas.  I mean, there isn’t something that I really need so it is a bit awkward to come up with a list of suggestions of things I want.  Maybe I will just ask Jet to make a gift for me this year instead of buying one.  I’m sure that whatever Jet would come up with would be priceless.

Back in Bama

So Alabama loses the Iron Bowl again to Auburn.  Man, it will be a tough off-season for some people on the block.  We arrived back home last night just in time for kickoff (7:00pm) as we made good time driving again; the drive up to Milwaukee was 14 hours with 3 breaks, the drive back to Alabama was 13.5 hours with 2 breaks.  Although we drove at night on the way there and during the day on the way back, traffic was not a problem either way … likely because we timed it to drive through Chicago at around 5:00am-6:00am both ways.  The best thing about the drives was that Ben slept for most of them, and when he was awake, was in a pretty good mood.  Since things did go well, we will likely drive instead of fly for Christmas/New Year’s as well.

So how to sum up the holiday in Milwaukee?  The moment we arrived in Milwaukee it was snowing – it could not have been more perfect!  Though those were just flurries, we had 3 inches of snow for Thanksgiving, and a chance for Ben to experience snow for the first time.  He didn’t enjoy it.  I suspect that he likes the Alabama summer’s better.  I caught up with the Capt’n (Ron Janzen) and went with him and his brother to the Bucks game … and they beat Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.  That was pretty cool.  Thanksgiving day was as expected, lots of food, lots of family, lots of football.  Go Pack Go!  Kristin made sure I had peanut pershing donuts to eat each day.  It is the little things that makes going back so wonderful.  The worst thing about the trip was that we all came down with a cold!  I guess that is Mother Nature’s way of welcoming us back.  And to come back home at night and it was in the 50’s … talk about a change of pace.

There were a few interesting items of note over the holiday as well.  Ben learned to walk backwards.  Jet first thought this was a reaction to being in a car seat after a 14 hour drive, however, he did it repeatedly when I would chase him around the room playing with him.  Ben overcame his fear (for now) of climbing stairs, but he still does not know how to climb back down them.  Ben also overcame his fear of unknown dogs.  Kristin told a good story of how he first saw Griffy (German Sheppard), pointed at him from a distance, cried out of fear, took a step closer, and repeated the process over and over.  By the end of the week, he was just trying to get out of the dogs way as they kept wanting to lick his face – yuck!  We also had a chance to try an “Elegant Farmer” apple pie, which was delicious, and a “Country Market” summer sausage – outstanding.  So that is what the life of the rich live, that is, rich in calories!

Thank you for everyone that made our visit just wonderful.  First and foremost, thank you to Sandy and Matt for once again welcoming us in your home, going shopping with Jet, and not complaining about us upping the temperature a bit at your home.  You really did make us feel welcome and that is something that I am not sure how we could ever repay.  Thank you to Kristin, Bryan, Josh, Ty, and Sam for everything you have done for us – whether it was making sure we had plenty of delicious food to eat, to playing with Ben, to just hanging out with you, you made our trip worth every mile of the drive.  Thank you to Dad for cooking his ribs by request, which once again did not disappoint.  Thank you for Janette, Jeremy, and Abby for hosting Thanksgiving and being such a good sport for having Ben run loose in your home, and for me being a stick in the mud lying on the couch sick.  Thanks to Jack, Kathryn, John, and Kate for the wonderful dinner and for always being there to listen and give advice.  Thanks to everyone else in the family too that made our holiday a grand success and remind us what it means to be home for the holidays.  We look forward to seeing everyone again in a few weeks.

“Ban”

Our neighbor across the street (Amanda) died on Tuesday – a woman that I have never talked about because she pretty much kept to herself.  She came down with pneumonia only two weeks ago, but now she is gone.  Amanda was 45.  Amanda and her two youngest sons (two older sons are of adult age) had moved in with her mother (next door to Danny and Sarah) earlier this year.  If you recall, this was the family that had just moved in and shortly after put the house up for sale because they needed a larger home.  You may also remember seeing (or hearing about) her youngest son, Jackson, who is about 4 years old and has down syndrome.  One thing that we found out was that Amanda was the oldest daughter of our Master at the lodge – and we didn’t know that until Tuesday.

I took Ben to the wake for Amanda last night, following Donald, Linda, Danny, and Sarah in my car.  Ben behaved pretty good last night – it helped that there were a lot of people around, a few extra eyes and hands to help watch him, and a couple of large empty spaces where Ben could run around.  I pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve just inside the blade of my left shoulder yesterday morning and it had gotten progressively worse throughout the day.  I was sure glad for those extra eyes and hands.  Once we arrived at the funeral home, I gave Ben to Donald (“Paw Paw”) to hold.  After a few minutes, Donald’s arm started to get tired, so he gave Ben back to me to hold.  Funny thing was that Ben didn’t want to be with me – he wanted to be with Paw Paw.  He cried and kept reaching his arms out to Donald until Donald figured he could hold Ben a few more minutes with his other arm.  Never happened before that Ben didn’t want to be by me.  I bet that will make Jet happy!  Ben got better later on as I played with him and walked him around the funeral home.  Ben got several comments, “Oh, what a cute baby” or “Look how little he is … and he’s walking!”, but one person asked me what his name was.  I said “Ben”.  She gave me a confused look.  I next said, “Ben” a little louder.  Still puzzled.  She looked as if she was barely 40, so I figured that she could not be hard of hearing, but I couldn’t figure out why it appeared that I was speaking a foreign language to her.  Now feeling like an idiot, I say “Ben” one more time.  Just that moment, Linda happened to be passing by.  Linda stopped, said “Ban”, to which the woman gave an “eureka” expression because she finally understood what I was telling her.  Maybe I was speaking a foreign language.

I will be off to Oxford high school all morning today speaking to four different classes promoting our math and computer science department.  This is similar to the trip I took a couple weeks back to Gadsden to speak to a high school out there.  This “should” be a better experience as they should be captive audiences (a couple of career-oriented classes and a couple of computer-related classes) and the school is only a five minute drive from our house.

Visit With Santa

Jet took Ben to see Santa yesterday at the mall and Ben did very well – no crying or fussing.  Jet really liked the picture that was taken too and even bought a fancy frame to go along with it.  Well, Jet didn’t think that Santa looked the best, but a good picture of Ben is a good picture of Ben, and that’s what really counts.  Jet also had Ben’s hair cut yesterday as well while at the mall.  Jet was not happy for paying $14 for a pretty simple haircut the past two times, so this time she went for the $9 cut.  It is something that she regrets and has not stopped talking about it.  What do you think about his haircut?  Do you think his bangs are straight?  Do you think his hair is cut evenly around his ears?  Needless to say, that will be the last time that she goes there for a haircut.

Yesterday evening we had dinner with our Wisconsin neighbors as it was Julie (mom) and Miranda’s (daughter) birthdays.  Jet made some coconut soup as an appetizer and volcano chicken for the main course.  They were not disappointed.  After finishing my meal, I was busy chasing Ben around their house.  They have a staircase to a second floor unfinished bonus room that I took Ben to so that he could climb up and down it.  Well, mostly up it.  I figured he would need all the practice he would be ready for Kristin’s house over Thanksgiving.  Ben sure is a trooper.  He was very eager to climb step after step and got much better at it (actual steps instead of crawling from stair to stair) the more times he ascended the flight of steps.  The funny thing was as he got closer and closer to the top, he would take a step and look back to the bottom of the staircase, either out of pride for his accomplishment or out of sheer terror for how high he was getting.  When he reached the top step, he faced a door to the bonus room, and every time he got to that very last step, I could see him start to get “jelly legs” and his legs would buckle.  In fact, if I was not there to catch him, he would have fallen backwards end-over-end down the steps.  What was interesting was that he seemed to enjoy scaling those steps when I was with him alone.  Later on, Jet wanted to witness what he could do, however, when he got about halfway up, he would turn around to see Jet after every step and just cry.  I just wonder if actually seeing someone at the bottom of the steps brought home how far up he was traveling or if it was that he really wanted to be with mommy instead.  The funny thing was that he just kept going.  It was almost like we were punishing him the way he would wail, but he just kept going.  We still need to work on descending stairs as I had to help him each time down.  Maybe he’ll get the hang of it by the time we reach Milwaukee.

Just as an aside … cats beware of Ben!  Right before we left our neighbor’s house last night, their tabby cat (“Thunder”) made an appearance to Ben’s delight.  Ben got a kick out of patting Thunder’s back and pulling on his tail, which was fine for all.  What wasn’t fine was when Ben somehow decided it would be a good idea to give Thunder a big stomp on his stomach.  Thunder didn’t like that very much.  Thunder actually had a pretty good memory too because every time afterwards I brought Ben back to pet him, Thunder would get into a defensive position ready to take a swipe at Ben.  Cats beware.

Hello, Mr. Tooth!

After a week of extra (but not particularly exceptional) drooling and a change in temperance, the first tooth has finally emerged from Ben at about nine and a half months.  It is the bottom middle tooth that came out first, with the one next to it in the middle also sprouting out along with it.  I just hope that his upper two teeth don’t come in next else he will look like a rabbit! 

I have had to spend a bit of additional time taking care of Ben the past few days with Jet at work and her Mom back home in Thailand.  Ben appears to be feeling better (still has a bit of a cold), but how can you really tell the difference between an ill temper and a sour mood at this age?  As Janette predicted all too well, Jet informed me that there was a time this week when he was out of her sight that he went right to the Christmas tree and train to wreak havoc.  In fact, Jet mentioned that in the short time he had alone with the tree, he had taken off a candy cane and was happily sucking on it.  After watching him in the evenings for the past few nights, I can certainly say that you cannot let him out of your sight.  Gone are the days where I could watch Ben and do work at the same time.  Watching Ben now is just that, 100% watching and playing with him else he will be off and getting into something he shouldn’t be. 

The thing that makes me smile when I think about it is trying to discipline Ben.  He loves to try and open cabinet doors and dresser drawers – things that are off limits.  With all of the doors and drawers in the house, we could not baby-proof them all, so when Ben gets to a drawer that he can open (for example), I say in a loud, booming, baritone voice “No!”.  Since he doesn’t yet know what that means, he will turn to me with a wry smile as if to say “Whoops!  My bad”, but he will not hesitate to do the same thing fifteen seconds later.  I just don’t have the heart to spank him, so I am hoping I will be able to “talk” him out of mischief for the next few years.  Don’t laugh. 

Something else that makes me snicker a bit is that Ben loves going into rooms (our bedroom, bathrooms, outdoors, etc.) that we normally keep the doors shut to keep him out.  The thing that really gets me, though, is when he realizes that he has accidental access to those rooms, he makes a dash for it with a goofy laugh and cat-burglar grin.  If you weren’t watching him, you would know something was up by the silly noises he makes.  Priceless.

Too Early For Christmas?

So we are in agreement that it is too early now to get into “Christmas” mode?  Well, don’t hold it against us because we had planned for some time to get our decorations up early this year simply so that Jet’s Mom could experience the excitement for once.  Yes, we have our decorations up.  You could imagine the looks I got while I was stringing up the icicle lights outside the house.  They weren’t nice.  Needless to say, I don’t believe that I will be getting ready for Christmas so early again.  At least Jet’s Mom and Ben seem to enjoy the decorations.

We went up to Mount Cheaha today for some good pictures.  It was a clear day and with the fall colors in full effect, it was too much to pass up this opportunity.  It was a bit chilly up there this morning (50 degrees) and Ben has not been in the best of moods lately, so it was a brief, but pleasant experience.  Don’t worry, it warmed up to the mid-70’s today again, so we are staying warm.  And by the way, Go Pack Go!  Just for the heck of it.

I usually look forward to the end of daylight savings, but with Ben, that just means that I have to get up an hour earlier for him instead of getting to sleep in an hour later.  As mentioned earlier, Ben has been a bit of a tiff for the past two days.  He has had a slight cold, which could explain it, but Jet really thinks that Ben is “cutting teeth” now.  She has been claiming that he has been getting his teeth in for the past month now, but she may be onto something as I can tell a real difference in Ben’s mood.  Ben is still learning more and more as he is now able to stand up on his own without the aide of someone or something.  That has given him confidence, which turned against him today as I was walking with him outside in our driveway.  He was holding a stick with both hands (like a trapeze artist), lost his balance after several steps, and instead of dropping the stick, he went down on his knuckles for a moment, then right to his forehead – in the same place where he had his lump a few weeks back.  He has another lump and bruise on his head, but he did hold onto the stick.

Christmas in the Aire

Well, it must be in Milwaukee with two radio stations (95.7 and 99.1) playing Christmas music already.  I suppose it was only a matter of time that it reached the day after Halloween, I just wonder if it will reach before then in the coming years.  I have noticed Christmas-themed advertisements on the radio, TV, and on billboards in the week leading up to Halloween, so it may be a possibility.

Halloween went very well for us this year.  We had a lot of fun at the faculty member’s party, the only problem was that the two other kids Ben’s age dressed in the same costume!  Oh, well.  So what did you think of the costume?  What did you think of mine?  Of course everyone loved Ben’s costume, but the best comment that I got about mine was from our neighbor Lori just before we headed off to do trick-or-treating on Halloween night, “Oh my God … you dressed as Donald!”.  That brought the house down for at least a minute.  As for the trick-or-treating, it was a lot of fun and the weather cooperated … low 70’s – upper 60’s with a comfortably cool fall breeze.  We walked in a group with our neighbors Chris and Lori and their two kids (about 6 years old and 7 months old) as well as Dan and his two kids (about 12 and 10 years old).  Ben really enjoyed that because there were so many people and so many things to keep his attention.

Speaking of Ben, there have been a few more new things in the past week.  Most exciting for me is that he now can wave good-bye as I am leaving for work in the morning.  In addition, just last night Ben was able to play “peek-a-boo” with me as he was sitting on Jet’s Mom’s bed.  He would just pull the bed sheets over his head for a second and then pull them back down with a big smile on his face, just like we do it when we play with him.  Jet has also claimed that he has said “Andy” as well, but I will believe it when I hear it.  If he does say that, I believe that it will have been out of coincidence rather than deliberate.  As for making noises, Ben’s new thing has been to make these short, loud screams of excitement when we play with him that are very cute.  I can imagine that if those screams were in a different context, however, that they might wear you out quickly, but that hasn’t been the case yet.

The weather has gotten cooler over the past week as we have had temperatures in the low 50’s and even 40’s when waking up in the morning.  The difference between our weather and Milwaukee’s at this time of the year, however, is that we may start off at similar temperatures, but during the day we still reach the 70’s.  Just before our faculty Halloween party on Tuesday, I took a stroll through the campus in the late afternoon.  I don’t know why I don’t do that more often, especially this time of year, because it was likely the best and most beautiful conditions that I had ever experienced down here … that is outside of it being in the 70’s all through December last year.  I walked through the common area (large field) about 30 minutes before the sun was going to set, it was just the right temperature, not too warm and not too cool, and the sky and everything around had a lovely glow to it, which made the color on the trees on the surrounding mountains stand out a bit more (it is almost the peak time for color in our area now), and further, there was the smell of burning wood in the air, you know, the smell of a campfire that just brings out so many memories.  It really was a sensory explosion and it was just awesome.  I am really looking forward to coming back to Milwaukee in a few weeks, however.  I am sure it will be a stark difference than what we are having right now.