First Haircut

Well, there was that one freakishly long wisp that I cut off back in the summer, but today he got his first real haircut. Not too, short, just shaped it up a bit.

Road Trip: Hyde Park, New York

Ian and I went on a road trip two weekends ago to Hyde Park, NY, a short 7.5 hour jaunt. On the drive to NY, we left at 5 am. He doesn't usually wake up until 8:30 am or later, so he slept the entire way except for a late breakfast stop. We arrived at my friend's mother's house in time for a late lunch. He had a great time playing with my friend's almost two year old daughter, Stella. Stella kept trying to hug him and he kept trying to escape, but it was funny to watch.

He felt very relaxed at Nanny Tanina's (Jay's mom) house as he made 4 or 5 dirty diapers there. Grandmother's seem to have this effect on him. He also ate large quantities of food which every Nanny likes to see.

We spent the night in a hotel and met up the next morning. After lunch out and more playing, we left at about 4:30 pm. The trip home was not as easy because Ian was not happy to be in the car. It started to snow outside of Syracuse and since it was also dark and Ian was fussing, we pulled off the highway and spent another night in the hotel.

Sesame Street in Jamaica

The resort we were staying at had a Sesame Street kids program. The staff would dress up as the characters and have activities throughout the day and do performances at night. Ian didn't pay attention to tv (except when Mary J Blige was on tv) before we went down to Jamaica so he did not know the Sesame Street characters, but he loved them. Since he was in so much pain wit the teething and the Sesame Street characters made him so happy, we paid $40 for the three of us to go to a brunch with the characters. It was really fun, but they served the same food as they did in the buffet that was already included. Most of the Sesame Street stuff is included in the price of your trip, but they have to get you somewhere. He said,"Mo or Melmo" for "Elmo"; "Beer" for "Burt" and "Ee-ee" for Ernie. He got a lot of attention from Burt and Ernie, but Elmo quickly became the favorite.

I was really surprised at his reaction because he wasn't that impressed with The Wiggles when we went to that concert, but they are humans instead of plush monsters/animal-looking creatures. He "woofed" at them as he does with animals he sees.

Do What I Want, I Have Beautiful Eyes!

People often come up to Ian and say,"You have beautiful eyes."
In response, he has begun pointing to his eye and giving a look that ranges from flirty to Blue Steel depending on his mood. All of this attention has apparently gone to his head because now when he throws a tantrum, he points to his eye, which I interpret as,"Do what I want, I have beautiful eyes!"

Daddy Dolls

My cousin, Steve, is leaving for Iraq soon. His wife, Christy, ordered a "Daddy Doll" for their daughter and "Daddy Dog Tags" for their son. Using pictures, the doll is a lifelike, hugable subtitute for Daddy while he is gone. The company was started by two military wives targeting military families, and although that is still their focus, the dolls, pillows, dog tags and other products can be great for any child missing any person for any reason. It has already helped my cousin's little girl sleep through the night while her dad was away at training.

Ian is too young to need a product like this, but if Curt ever has to back when Ian is older, I would definitely look into it.

Breastfeeding through Illness

Curt, Ian and I are recovering from a 36-hour bug that flattened us. It started Monday when Ian was very clingy and refusing to eat. Of course we had family pictures and Ian was not cooperative. As soon as we got home, Ian threw up. Curt started to feel ill a few hours later and then I woke up inthe middle of the night with it. Yesterday, we were destroyed. We couldn't even stand up, All Ian wanted to do was nurse. This was a little annoying, but we could just lay down and nurse which kept him occupied. He felt a lot better than we did yesterday. Today, we are all better, though still eating limited amounts and Ian is still clingy. Just in time to go to Jamaica tomorrow!

Ian Loves Mary J.

Mary J. Blige that is. My soon-to-be 15 month old son does not care about Elmo or Dora or Thomas the Train, but he has a definite thing for Mary J. Blige. It started this summer in Cairo as I was preparing for the packout. I was trying to work and Ian was following me around and fussing until Mary J. Blige came on Oprah. He stopped dead in his tracks and started watching the tv (which he never did before) and dancing. They play the same shows on the various AFN channels so hours later as my sister was flipping through, the same Oprah show was on and again, he stopped and danced.

Now, Mary J. has a new i Pod commercial and he is doing it again. Today, he was fussing for milk and as I was preparing to nurse, the commerical came on. He jumped off and danced his way towards the tv.

So, Santa is pre-ordering the new Mary J. Blige cd for Ian.