Andrew is out of town at a conference in Rhode Island.
Here is what Miles thinks of that...
Here's what he misses...
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Our First Date Night
Wednesday night, the Wagners were kind enough to offer and babysit for us while we went on our first date night since Miles was born. I was so excited the whole day. We drove Miles over to the Wagners' house around 6pm and rattled off a litany of instructions before heading downtown.
On the way, Andrew surprised me with some chocolates from the Candy Factory (http://thecandyfactory.biz/) and a sweet card. He said he had gone to three places to find my favorite flower but I guess they were not in season...for the record...
We arrived at Sycamore and I was tickled. I love that place. The food is good and the atmosphere is great. I would say it's one of the top three restaurants in Columbia.
On the way, Andrew surprised me with some chocolates from the Candy Factory (http://thecandyfactory.biz/) and a sweet card. He said he had gone to three places to find my favorite flower but I guess they were not in season...for the record...
We arrived at Sycamore and I was tickled. I love that place. The food is good and the atmosphere is great. I would say it's one of the top three restaurants in Columbia.
Andrew and I are kind of like small town foodies. We love cooking and food - especially good food. I was delighted to sit down to dinner and ordered the fried yellow tomatoes and gnocchi as appetizers. For dinner, I went for the spare ribs. Andrew, of course, ordered the filet.
After a wonderful meal, we went for a stroll around the downtown area. It was one of the fall nights in Columbia where the temperature is in the low 60s and there is a buzz in the air from all the people taking it in. We stopped by Sparky's and enjoyed some homemade lavender honey and green tea ice cream (my favorite).
It was a perfect evening and for a little while, we remembered what it was like before Miles.
It was a perfect evening and for a little while, we remembered what it was like before Miles.
We headed back to pick up Miles toward the earlier end of the window we had quoted for the Wagners. Despite the fun we had, we were both excited to see the little guy again and give him a hug and kiss before putting him in bed for the night. He had been a good boy for the Wagners and I had plans to institute a regular date night - about 2 times a month if we can swing it.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
No One Gets Offstage without Singin' the Blues'
This past weekend was the Roots n Blues festival in Columbia. As we have done in the past, we snuck into the lab before the shows got started and hung out in the conference room, listening to the music enter through the open window. Andrew traditionally buys bbq to share and others furnish drinks and snacks. This year was special for a number of reasons. One, because our friend Kristie was in town to hang out and collaborate on a few projects. Two, because it was our son's first music festival. This being Miles' first time in attendance, we decided he needed to dress the part.
He was very well-behaved and seemed to enjoy the social aspect of it all - not sure who he gets that from ;) We left pretty early though; Miles was in bed by 8:30p Friday night.
Generally, Miles has been pretty active. He just hit the 10 week mark. He seems to be growing so fast! Here is a recent pic in some of the cutest little duckie PJs I can imagine.
In terms of milestones, it has been an exciting past few days. Miles is seemingly close to being able to hold his neck steady on his own while in arm. He is getting pretty good, during tummy time, at holding his head and chest up for a bit on his arms.
Miles has also recently discovered his fist and loves to shove it into his mouth. Another day last week, I looked over while he was playing with Captain Calamari ("and Friends!") and he had grabbed a ring on one of his tentacles and was pulling it toward his mouth.
Finally, he recently was imitating my sticking out my tongue at him, which he was tickled by. Still no laugh, but I can tell it is coming soon! I will be sure to try and post a video of that once it happens. Maybe it will be slightly maniacal like Thomas' first laugh or perhaps a squeal. Either way, I am sure we will do everything we can think of to keep it up.
Lots of changes on the little stage of the play gym. My friend once said that babies change so fast that it may be different from "one nap to the next." That is most certainly true! I can't wait to see the other things he figures out in the coming weeks.
Generally, Miles has been pretty active. He just hit the 10 week mark. He seems to be growing so fast! Here is a recent pic in some of the cutest little duckie PJs I can imagine.
In terms of milestones, it has been an exciting past few days. Miles is seemingly close to being able to hold his neck steady on his own while in arm. He is getting pretty good, during tummy time, at holding his head and chest up for a bit on his arms.
Miles has also recently discovered his fist and loves to shove it into his mouth. Another day last week, I looked over while he was playing with Captain Calamari ("and Friends!") and he had grabbed a ring on one of his tentacles and was pulling it toward his mouth.
Lots of changes on the little stage of the play gym. My friend once said that babies change so fast that it may be different from "one nap to the next." That is most certainly true! I can't wait to see the other things he figures out in the coming weeks.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Vacation turned Staycation
I had been looking forward to this past weekend for a while. It was our first family vacation. We had plans to stay at the Moonrise Hotel next to the Pageant in St. Louis. For a Groupon Deal, we got 60% off our room for the evening.
The Cooks (Sheila, Jon & Thomas) had joined us for the weekend. Here is a pic of the cutie, Mr. Thomas, from his birthday celebration recently.
We meet at Cafe Berlin in Columbia on Saturday morning for a nice breakfast. We were all supposed to go to the Japanese Heritage Festival while we were in St. Louis. It has demonstrations, exhibits, a market, and even sumo wrestling. Here are a few pictures from last year's festival.
What's that you ask? Last year's festival? Well, it was just too hot (~100) to attend with two small children. So, we decided to do some shopping throughout the day. We stopped at Carter's Outlet on the way into St. Louis and they were having a mega-sale, plus I had a coupon for an extra 20% off. Needless to say, we are set on clothes with Miles until after he is at least 6 months old.
After we arrived in St. Louis, we ate lunch at a really great Indian Restaurant, Rasoi. It was delicious! We typically go there while we are in town if we can swing it.
Then we checked into the hotel. It was pretty freakin cool. The rooms had a moon theme (obviously).
After checking in, we drove to Ted Drew's to get some frozen custard. As soon as we pulled in, the torrential downpour started. It literally dropped 22 degrees in 15 minutes. Sheila and I got pretty drenched, but it was worth it. After eating our custard, the rain stopped. It didn't last very long and the sky looked to be clearing up. We headed to Borders to shop around because they were having awesome deals (going out of business sale). Andrew got a book on PreCalculus. I got one on Renegades from American History. Miles got one (not kidding) called "Say Hello to Zorro!" about a little dog that joins a family that already has a big grumpy dog. Of course in the story, the big dog is not named Savannah, but every time I read the story to Miles we take that literary freedom. After the bookstore, we went to whole foods and then headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we noticed the power was out. No big deal because it was still light out, but we started to wonder what would happen if the power was out in the middle of the night. How would we change a diaper? As soon as we were about to go down to the front desk to ask about getting our money back, the power came back on. At this point, we decided to take a stroll down Delmar to look for a place for dinner. On the way, we notice a tree had been split in half - appearantly it was quite the storm! We we got back at dusk the power went out again. This time we decided to throw in the towel. The management was pretty great about it. They refunded our money and we are able to get the Groupon Deal again. Miles thought the entire adventure of packing everything up by iphone light was quite exiciting. He was all smiles. The manager has already emailed to apologize and promise that our next stay will be extra special.
We decided to make the rest of the weekend like a little staycation. On Sunday, it was so beautiful outside we asked our friend Alvaro, Pilar, and Nicolas to come over for some bocce ball. That was great fun and the women dominated the men in a decisive victory.
On Monday, it was gorgeous again and we headed to Indian Hills Disc Golf course in the afternoon.
We basically had to whole course to ourselves. Miles slept the whole time - a testament to how beautiful and relaxing it was. Andrew and I enjoyed the scenery and gentle breeze.
All in all it was a great weekend. One that was both exciting and rejuvenating at the same time. Good times!
The Cooks (Sheila, Jon & Thomas) had joined us for the weekend. Here is a pic of the cutie, Mr. Thomas, from his birthday celebration recently.
We meet at Cafe Berlin in Columbia on Saturday morning for a nice breakfast. We were all supposed to go to the Japanese Heritage Festival while we were in St. Louis. It has demonstrations, exhibits, a market, and even sumo wrestling. Here are a few pictures from last year's festival.
After we arrived in St. Louis, we ate lunch at a really great Indian Restaurant, Rasoi. It was delicious! We typically go there while we are in town if we can swing it.
Then we checked into the hotel. It was pretty freakin cool. The rooms had a moon theme (obviously).
After checking in, we drove to Ted Drew's to get some frozen custard. As soon as we pulled in, the torrential downpour started. It literally dropped 22 degrees in 15 minutes. Sheila and I got pretty drenched, but it was worth it. After eating our custard, the rain stopped. It didn't last very long and the sky looked to be clearing up. We headed to Borders to shop around because they were having awesome deals (going out of business sale). Andrew got a book on PreCalculus. I got one on Renegades from American History. Miles got one (not kidding) called "Say Hello to Zorro!" about a little dog that joins a family that already has a big grumpy dog. Of course in the story, the big dog is not named Savannah, but every time I read the story to Miles we take that literary freedom. After the bookstore, we went to whole foods and then headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we noticed the power was out. No big deal because it was still light out, but we started to wonder what would happen if the power was out in the middle of the night. How would we change a diaper? As soon as we were about to go down to the front desk to ask about getting our money back, the power came back on. At this point, we decided to take a stroll down Delmar to look for a place for dinner. On the way, we notice a tree had been split in half - appearantly it was quite the storm! We we got back at dusk the power went out again. This time we decided to throw in the towel. The management was pretty great about it. They refunded our money and we are able to get the Groupon Deal again. Miles thought the entire adventure of packing everything up by iphone light was quite exiciting. He was all smiles. The manager has already emailed to apologize and promise that our next stay will be extra special.
We decided to make the rest of the weekend like a little staycation. On Sunday, it was so beautiful outside we asked our friend Alvaro, Pilar, and Nicolas to come over for some bocce ball. That was great fun and the women dominated the men in a decisive victory.
On Monday, it was gorgeous again and we headed to Indian Hills Disc Golf course in the afternoon.
We basically had to whole course to ourselves. Miles slept the whole time - a testament to how beautiful and relaxing it was. Andrew and I enjoyed the scenery and gentle breeze.
All in all it was a great weekend. One that was both exciting and rejuvenating at the same time. Good times!
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