One of the Two

Today our family lost a very dear friend. Joe was a member of our Bird Ladder family (my family's business) and he was so excited about Eddie. My dad would always tell me how Joe had Eddie's birth announcement, various invites and pictures on his fridge. Joe was always incredibly generous and even sent my dad home with a Christmas present for Eddie - a train set, which we planned to put it around the Christmas tree from then on. That train set will now represent the generosity and caring nature of a wonderful person that we were lucky to know and have in our lives. A couple of weeks ago, Joe underwent a heart surgery for his chronic heart disease. I was hopeful that after his surgery, Eddie and I would be able to visit Joe at the shop soon.

Eddie was never able to visit the man that cared for him so much, thought of him often and was one of the two people allowed to call him Ed. Joe will be missed greatly and thought of often.

-maggie

The Taste! (Baby trips part gazillion)

The Taste of Chicago was a success! No crazies touched Eddie or tried to steal him, so that was a plus. ;) We ate a bunch - but not as much as I had thought we would have. They have "tastes" of their main dish, so for half the tickets you got a little sample, but it was perfect because you were able to try more things! We also decided to take the Skyline Boat Tour (with the possibility of Auntie Stef's infamous sea sickness) and Eddie did a great job - he kept trying to pull up on the railing to look over the side - he's a crazy little man, I tell ya (Auntie Stef didn't puke, either!). The pictures are a better representation, so we'll just get to those!

{excited to go in!}

{eddie practicing his 'don't touch me, crazy!' scowl}

{Listening to the Broadway bands rehearsing in the park}

{check out Eddie's tooth!}

{By Buckingham Fountain}

{Momma, I want to swim!}

{What a good day!}

-maggie

Proof

Uncle Mac has broken the fear that is babies, i.e. Eddie. In fact, he played with Eddie in the pool, threw him in the air a bit and even broke out one of his guitars to play for the boo. Eddie loves anything to do with music, so he sat right in front of Mac with his mouth open...just staring. It was so cute.

{whoa...this guy isn't so bad!}

{see? I told you! complete and total awe}

{Eddie even got to try!}

Uncle Mac has finally broken the barrier. He was so nervous around Eddie when he was smaller. He wouldn't even hold him when he was first born...but as Eddie has grown, the nervousness has gone down bit by bit. I was totally shocked when Mac went up behind Eddie, picked him up and tossed him in the air. Really? Did my brother just do that?? Awesome! Good job, Mac. Don't let today's cry delay you in your growth.

'

-maggie

A good trip to Rockford!

Maybe my brother, Mac and his wife Amy are our Rockford lucky charms. Well....kinda. The Anderson Japanese Gardens were beautiful and peaceful. They had wonderful volunteers that would answer questions and stood at crossroads to point you in the direction of the path that you were on. I was surprised how open the paths were to the water (see pictures below) and kept thinking how difficult that would be with a toddler, but I suppose a peaceful garden isn't the top of any 2 year old's list :) Eddie was a little crabby (crying at Uncle Mac, even though he loved him yesterday, which I will prove in the next post) and I think was a little hot, but other than that everything went smoothly. There were only 2 places that we couldn't take the stroller, but it was just a short walk to the point of interest from where we left the stroller so we felt comfortable with it. After the walk, Mac and Amy went back to our parent's house and our little family went to their on-site restaurant for the Sunday brunch. The view was spectacular with floor to ceiling windows and a view of a private garden, so we weren't looking at people walking around but at the peace and tranquility....ahh....zen. (you know something is coming, right?) So we're we over hear a large party next to us complaining about their waitress - she was rude - she hurried them - she over charged them - she didn't know how to deal with...erm...black people. Oh man. So this group starts complaining to every person that walks by. Finally they got the manager and complained to him. Then, a bright red umbrella blew from the second floor outdoor seating onto the peaceful, zen garden below. Like it was shouting - IT'S PEACEFUL, DAMMIT! at us. While pointing. And laughing. Because, what I've failed to mention is that our table was also peaceful. Eddie was eating his watermelon, Frank and I had some food and we weren't being disrupted by some pesky waiter. ERM...scratch that. A pesky waiter wouldn't be that bad, considering that we had no waiter. For 30 minutes. While Frank and I had 2 plates of food. Without drinks. In the meantime, the red umbrella is laughing its ass off while crashing the peaceful, pretty day. We call the manager over and Frank's exact words were "I'm going to go easy on you, because you're obviously having a rough day." HA! I love my husband. So he explains the situation, and the manager is the nicest guy. He even got us some water! Amazing!! While he was over chatting with us, I mentioned that it was a little funny that the umbrella was crashing the garden. He left, and I looked down - the umbrella was gone, and our meal was free.

{Fishies!} {Contemplating the world} {Mom, it's just like Nanna's! Let's swim!}

{Mac and Amy}

{Our little familia}

{the waterfall was beautiful}

{aw}

{cool angels, that were in the pond}

Eddie took a wonderful nap on the way home, so Frank and I decided to take a nice drive so we could cruise and Eddie could snooze. (Ha! see what I did there?) Once we got home, we rested for a bit, grabbed our neighbor, Jim, and went to Greek Fest in Dekalb. OPA! Eddie was just about done, but we were able to grab a bite (yumola) and visit with our other neighbors, Doug and Mariana and Mariana's very Greek and adorable family.

{kisses for Momma}

{yup, that's a fist full of my hair you see in Eddie hand}

Tomorrow, Eddie and I are going to the Taste of Chicago with Auntie Stef, so we should have an equally as exciting day. I am a little nervous about taking Eddie down there with the crowds and crazies and whatnot, so I am pretty sure that I am going to carry him in the sling so I can have him close to me and far from dirty hands and weirdo's that would like to touch my cuteness of a child. Wish us luck!

-maggie

Car Seat Mania

As I posted before, we thought we had a winner in Eddie's new convertible car seat - the EddieBau.er3in1 seat. Eddie seemed comfortable in it - it wasn't a heavy material and the weight limit went to 100lbs, so that was a plus (HA! Booster seat until he is 15!). When we went to install it, we realized that the level line was so tilted that Eddie was practically laying down when it was level and if we did it that way, we would have to cut out a large chunk of both the driver's seat and the front passenger seat to make room for this mammoth seat. On the plus side - replacing a pacifier would be much easier!

Doesn't he look comfy? He loved the arm rests, the latch was easy...the straps were easy to adjust at his shoulders. Everything was good - except for the size. In this case, bigger =/= better. There is no way this car seat would have been safe leaning back as far as it was. I read on one online review that they suggest to put a towel or pool noodle under the base to push it up if the car's bench seat slopes too much...well, this woman said that she had to put 4(!!!) rolled towels underneath to get the thing level. It was probably a full 8 inches off of the seat when leaning back at the 'appropriate' level. With how tall this seat was, that was beyond outrageous. So we had to return it and get a new one.

What did we get, you ask? Why, the king of all convertible car seats - the best rated, easiest to install and, coincidentally, the ugliest one they offer.

ooOOOOOoohhhHHhhh! Isn't it hideous? If I could get the aesthetic appeal of the Bauer seat with the safety notorious with Bri.tax, I would. Unfortunately, that is not the case and safety won. Eddie promptly feel asleep in about 2 minutes the first time he was in it, so I'll take that as a good sign. Who needs arm rests, right?

Moral of the story? Pay attention to the level lines when you get to test the car seat at BRU. We just threw it in there, figured it fit, and went about our lives. And I'll admit, I might have been blinded by the cuteness of the EB one. Don't be fooled, Internet!

-maggie

Baby Trip Let Down

We've tried once to go to the Botanical Gardens in Rockford and it was closed for an event. I should have taken it as a sign, but I didn't. I *love* the Morton Arboretum, so I thought I would love Rockford's gardens. WHAT A FALSE HOPE! They were like a glorified park, with the 'hosta garden' containing about 20 hostas planted around a tree. Big woop! The children's garden had a random hippo play thing and an alphabet garden that was probably about 4ft x 4ft. It was so disappointing. We stayed for about 15 minutes and then left...it was such a waste of a day. The only thing that was even pretty or fun there was the fountain garden and the pavilion in front of it - which was actually where we spent about 13 minutes of our total trip :)

{for real, the prettiest part RBG}

{Eddie loved the fountains!}

On our way home from our failed trip, we went past a sign for the Rail Road Park in Rochelle. Well, if you know Rochelle you know our expectations....and let me just say, it did not disappoint! Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado........

{TA-DA!!! Isn't it glorious?}

{Eddie loved driving the train, so that is all that matters!}

All in all, we had a fun day with Nanna doing a whole bunch of nothing. The only productive part of the trip was when we went to get Eddie's birthday invites printed, which I can't wait to share on here! Eddie loves his Nanna so much - she is crazy enough that he doesn't stop laughing the whole time she is around. The other day Nanna came over to watch Eddie for about an hour while Frank and I went to deal with some car trouble and he had so much fun with her, he actually cried when she left :( aww....it was so pitiful - he just slumped down and had himself a little moment. Hey, if your Nanna made you laugh like this, you wouldn't want to see her go, either!

-maggie

*please note that the RBG are not associated with the award winning Anderson Japanese Gardens that we also plan to visit - we have a trusted source who says that they are very pretty, so we have high hopes for those!

Big Boy

Just so I can have this to look back on, in the last month Eddie has:

- started to give high 5's - wave - point - say dada - try to say ball, hi, bye and dog - barks like a dog (ask him 'what does a dog say?' he says oof - and will also begin oofing if the dogs are barking at something -lol) - will 'give to mama' - gives hugs and kisses - loves his baby pool - is beginning to be more gentle to the dogs - has *kinda* learned 'no' - will stand by himself for a couple of seconds - climbs stairs like a maniac - throws any ball, big or little - loves being upside-down - puts anything and everything into buckets or boxes - will turn pages on a book - will play the 'I'm gonna get you!' game and will crawl away if we chase him and he babbles constantly!

Usually every couple days Frank and I will look at each other and say "He just looks so BIG". He has really grown into his face and looks more like a little boy than a baby...and it shows in his development, too. It seems like he has learned so much in the past month. I feel like just yesterday he was at his 9 month dr appointment....I can't believe that the 10 month mark is coming so fast. He suddenly comprehends what I'm saying, which is so neat....plus it means that I'm not having one-sided conversations anymore! His 1st Birthday seems so far, but so near at the same time....I can actually begin to think about getting his invites printed and sent out and it doesn't seem like I'm jumping the gun quite as much as I was a month ago. (or two months ago...hehe)

*sniff* my little man is growing up *sniff*

-maggie

Da-Da's Day!

Eddie had a special surprise for all of us today - he said DaDa for the first time!! Obviously, this was great because it was Father's Day but it was also Frankie's birthday! We spoiled him with tons of golf stuff, a new lawn mower and some other custom made items from Eddie.

The three pictures on the bottom left where Eddie is holding each letter - yup, he painted those all by himself! (also shown above the mirror in the top right pic). You can't see it, but Frankie's awesome cake had a beer mug on it and those awesome candles that spell out Happy Birthday. Cute! We had my parents, Frank's parents and Frank's sister and brother in law over for a birthday/daddy day party, which went well. Eddie was finally happy during a entire family event, so that was nice. He was even cracking up and doing a great job playing with all of his guests :)

Remember those cute letters above? Yeah.....this was how that cuteness happened. He was happy as a clam painting them sitting down - until we stood him up to clean him off, that is. He was sooo mad. I'm not sure if he wanted to keep painting or if the paint kind of crusted and dried and hurt a little...but we put him right into the bathtub (censored pic - hehe) and he was happy again. The letters turned out adorable, which was the most important part, right? He's a perfect mini-Picasso! Round one of Frankie's gifts - golf stuff!! Lots and lots....too bad I can't list half of what I got him because I'm not sure exactly what it was....but that is okay, right? Round 2 of presents - a new, super shiny lawn mower! Oooohhhh....isn't it beautiful...er...I mean...manly.... Eddie helped Grandpa Rick open his present - a little canvas with his hand prints on it which had 'Grandpa is wrapped around these little fingers' also printed on it. Aww....we go for simple, meaningful presents around here....plus the card was the best part (just between me and my Daddy).

Eddie also got to hang out with Grandpa Frank (demonstrating here how to use the phone). It is hard for him to get time with Grandpa Frank because the dogs monopolize most of it by forcing him to go on walks, pet them or just covering him in kisses...but he got to hang out with him on the couch a bit. He also showed Grandpa Frank how he pets Saddie - I'm sure he was impressed. I hope he was also impressed with my home made popcorn balls - there is a old fashioned popcorn stand in downtown Sycamore that has them and Frank Sr. fell in love, but they have been closed for a week! Argg...so I decided to bite the bullet and make them myself and what do you know?? They came out perfect! I was quite happy with myself.

All in all, it was a great but very busy day. I hope my Dad, Father in Law and Husband had a wonderful day....they deserve it!

-maggie

Baby Trips - Part 5

Yesterday we had a real family day and went down to the Museu.m of Scie.nce and Indus.try in Chicago and had an absolute blast. Frank found online that they have a modular home in the backyard that is an amazing example of the ultimate green home, so that was our main reason for going. Frank also has a love of John Deere, and the tractor may have played into his plan...

The green home was awesome. I loved the design and colors on the interior and exterior, which included lots different environmentally friendly concepts. They wouldn't let us take pictures of the interior, which is a shame, but you can see how pretty the outside is and just imagine the inside :) The tour guide told us that the home alone would cost around $450,000, but upon further investigation Frank found the builder (creator? it is a modular home....it comes in 5 pieces) and also found that the home would really cost about $150-200,000 - depending on the model of course. We think one of these homes would make the *perfect* lake house.....ah, a girl can dream :)))

See? I told you the tractor would play into his plan! Frank waited very patiently in line (among the 6 year olds) to have Eddie sit in the driver's seat. As you can also see, Eddie was thrilled. LOL. Frank was happy, and that was all that mattered.

Eddie loved anything with the cows. God, I hope I'm not raising a farmer.

I think he looks much happier as an astronaut, don't you? Ha - he was cracking up while Frank was holding him up - granted, it could have been the attention from the other museum go-ers oohhhing and aaahhhhing at him, but I think he really just wants to grow up to be an astronaut. I see space camp in some one's future! Maye he'll like science like his Uncle Mac :)

On our way home, we decided to crash the get together that my parents were having with their friends, Mike and Carrie and their daughter Mikayla. I have only seen pictures of Mik, so I had to go over and meet the cutie myself. It made me sooo super excited to have a 2 year old - oh my gosh, she was beyond cute. I can't wait.

On our way home from that excursion (can you believe Eddie is still happy at this point?!) We went to the Vi.llageSqui.re for some Saganaki and MaiTai's...while the food was yummy, I'm of the camp that $40 for something I can get at any greasy food joint (minus the MaiTai, of course) is a little out of line. Either way, it was nice not to cook and have some convo with the hubs.

I know Frank reads this and I have to say that he gets major props for this day. I was so happy to have him all to myself, it was even worth the traffic :) I hope to have more days like this - with and without Eddie - when I can continue to make memories and daydream with my boys.

-maggie

Water Bug

Sunday while my Dad and Frankie went golfing, my Mom and I took Eddie in their pool for the first time. He was a little apprehensive to be in the pool at first, but he quickly warmed up when he learned that it was just like a big bathtub! He did try to drink it a couple times, which is pretty gross, but at least we know that my Dad has been crazy about testing the chemicals this year. As a plus, Sydney only jumped in the pool twice while Eddie was in there! Now, I know that may not sound like much, but when you take into consideration that Sydney spend most of last summer in the pool about 10 times daily, it was quite a big deal. (You can see Sydney itching to get in the pool in one of the pictures...)

There are no words to describe just how awesome Eddie's new pool/splash zone is. Even though the water was super cold (hellooooo hose water....brrr!) he had a great time and we had to pull him out when his little lip started to quiver. I can't wait until it gets warmer out so we can have Eddie in there without worrying about the chill factor. I was planning to leave this outside, but it attracted such a crowd, I am worried that we'll find a random in there passed out one morning. And while I love my neighbors, this pool is invite only. :)

-maggie

Lions, Tigers and Bears, OH MY!

Not only did we have a beautiful day to go to the Broo.kfield Zoo, we had a super fun group to go with it. Eddie and I went with the wonderful Auntie Stef, her friend Heather and our friend from high school Sara, her husband Paul and their adorable daughter Lillie. After about a million and a half pictures of the babies in their animal hats, we decided that maybe we should see some animals...you know, being at the zoo and all.

{Momma's boy}

{Animal hats = cuteness}

{Eddie, complimenting Lillie's dolphin hat} {Big smile!} {Lillie is wondering why Eddie is so crazy} {Waterfalls are facinating to polar bears and babies!}

{and brown bears, too}

{Zonked}

My favorite part of the day? We went into the underwater viewing areas for the dolphins, and Eddie started clapping right away! I'm convinced he remembered the fun we had at the She.dd and was excited to see the dolphins again. Since it was so nice out, we came home and broke out Eddie's new baby pool/splash zone, so I'll post about that tomorrow - it is supposed to rain until Saturday, so maybe the pictures will keep us in the summer frame of mind.

-maggie