We call him Gilligan

As planned, we went to St. Charles today for the Paddlewheel ride on the Fox River. It was the perfect day for a boat ride - the sun was lightly covered by some cloud cover, there was a slight breeze and the temperature was warm but not too hot. Perfection!! After the LG boat incident, I was a little worried about being out for an hour and not being able to turn around, but Eddie did wonderfully and we all had a great time. The boat launches from Pottowatomie Park in STC and they recently built a replica of a shelter that was there long ago. The detail on this shelter is stunning. They also re-landscaped around the main parts of the park, so they really created a beautiful place for residents and visitors. We got to check it out while we were waiting for the boat to get going...Eddie was also able to flirt with some of the ladies on the boat (clapping, giggling - ever the charmer). Once we got going, he enjoyed watching the paddlewheel on the back of the boat, and even tried to share with it his paci....aw, such a good sharer!

The river was pretty busy, so that was also helpful in keeping Eddie occupied by looking around at the various boats, jet skiers and tubers. Thank you to everyone on the river today!

On our way back (2 miles each way) Eddie started to get a little sick of staying in one place (could it have been the pictures? No way!) so we had to work a little harder to cheer him up. Mommy kisses DID NOT do the trick. Haha - like all of the black and white? We're riding a historic paddlewheel boat, here! LOL. I did end up just sitting him on the bench and he went back and fourth between pulling up on the bars and playing with his toys on the bench (aka trying to throw them on the ground and trying to push them between the bench slats).

This was really the best plan of the trip - he felt 'free' enough to not freak out that I was holding on to him but we felt safe enough.

After the boat trip we went to a little place on the river for lunch, where Eddie promptly choked on a cracker. FUN! It was the first time he had really choked, and while I am good under pressure (years of CPR training will do that to you) it was still scary. He got it up by himself right before I flipped him to give him back blows. Thankfully, we haven't had to do that yet, so we're still counting our blessings. For all the parents out there - PLEASE make sure you know what to do in this situation. Get trained....it isn't hard to learn and you could save a life.

-maggie