What we did without each other

*I have a new new nickname for 'the Husband.'  I've never liked referring to him this way.  I finally figured out a more appropriate name- the Editor.  He is an editor and it just fits him (and my referring to him) much better.*

As many parents get their kids ready for the first days of school and pre-K, I too have come to realize that Noah can and did survive without me (and I without him).  Last week Noah traveled with the Editor to Boston without me (I blogged a bit about it HERE).  He existed for the good portion of 4 days without me knowing what he was doing every minute.  He came back seeming to me much older and bigger than when he left.

I did not sleep in; somehow I woke up by 8 or 8:30 every day (one day 7:30!).  I also got to video chat with Noah every morning, though many times Grandpa was much more interesting than me, but he did kiss the screen every day for me.  And I was only my control-freak self once via text to the Editor about open windows.  Coupled with my pre-trip hand holding advice, crazy only appeared twice and that's pretty good.

-Thursday I started a list and got right to it.  Laundry, errands to the tailors, making some yummy homemade granola bars.  I also went to the pool to finish my book, took a bath, got my eyebrows threaded (and by the way, the waxer asked me about my upper lip??? Do I have a mustache? I don't think I do; I declined but am now very paranoid.  If it needs to be done, I will do it), shopped, ran, and watched Project Runway.

                                      

-Friday I woke up not feeling so good- head cold, snuffly, coughing.  So I did a video chat with Noah from bed with bedhead and then retired to the couch for the whole rest of the day.  And I must confess that Tucker is one lazy ass dog because he parked on the couch for the remainder of the day right along with me.  I watched some trashy tv (Gossip Girls- how have I never seen this show before?)

Our Friday positions

Even a squirrel attack couldn't get Tucker up.

-Saturday I woke up feeling better so I cleaned the house.  I took my time, I cleaned blinds and window sills, I cleaned the sides and bottoms of furniture with actual polish (not just the tops).  I made meringues and watched a chick flick.  I also found  a nice surprise on our front porch. A cat/fox/animal killed a bird/bunny/other animal on the porch leaving some fuzzy and gross remnants. 

-Sunday I went for a run and then went for waffles and coffee at Bean Traders with my next book.  Well they were out of waffles but that's okay. It was a beautiful day! When I got home I sat outside and read some more.  I roasted fruit for the meringues, took a shower, and it was 2pm- time to go pick up my boys!  And I checked everything off my checklist!

I got tons of texts and photo updates of what my little man was up to.

-Thursday their adventure began and Noah didn't even turn back to look at me as the Editor walked away curbside with Noah packed into the Ergo.  The Editor went out and bought Noah a new stuffed Big Bird and Curious George book for the flight (yes, the Editor did all the toy shopping, snack shopping, and packing for the trip though I was on call for tips and help).  Apparently the people behind them on the plane were a little tired of hearing the phrase, "Big Bird."  Grandpa picked them up and Noah actually napped after lunch!  That evening Noah and the Editor headed over to a friend's house who has a son a few months younger than Noah.

Happy traveler on his way to Grandpa's house.

Flying the friendly skies with Big Bird

- Friday Noah woke the Editor up bright and early at 6:30, and yes they were sleeping in the same room.  This is pretty unusual for Noah; he's a 7:30 type of kid.  After breakfast, they drove to the Editor's sister's part of town, jumped on the T with Aunt & Grandma and went downtown. Apparently on the T, you 'exit on the right' because I hear that phrase quite frequently now when we play with trains. They went to Frog Pond, went on the swan boats, rode the carousel (he chose the  chicken), and played on a playground before riding the T home for a nap at Grandma's.

-Saturday Noah started to get a little restless and there wasn't a huge plan in place for the day.  A trip to the pet store and a ride on the commuter rail into Boston and back again.  Noah did not nap and went to the library and ran around the high school football field instead.  And he finally asked, "Momma coming too?" Followed up by asking if his two besties would be there.  I guess they are the next best thing to me.

Finally picking up the exploding hand at the end of 'pounds.'
And what might have been the most exciting thing about Grandpa's house-
the mail slot in the door!

-Sunday morning was spent with a little park time before boarding the flight.  Remember to empty out those sippy cups before putting them through security!  This was the Editor's only flight hiccup and luckily they just ran the backpack/cup through the machine 3 times to iron out the details of the two sips of mystery liquid left in the sippy.  When I saw Noah walking like such a big boy through the airport back at RDU I was so happy to see him (and the Editor).  Noah, of course, didn't see me until we were about 3 feet apart- I guess he wasn't looking for me!

Ready to see Momma (and a burpie/paci appearance).
And no, despite those tired eyes, Noah has yet to fall asleep in flight.

The trip was a success and I think it was a great 'experience' for all of us. The Editor seems to think this is the first steps in me letting Noah go off to school where he won't be in my sights all day.  While it was a success and I'm so glad they went, who are we kidding, I'm pretty sure I'll be going to school with Noah when the time comes.

Weekend Photos

Whenever the Husband is out of town I end up taking a ton of Iphone photos so I can quickly text them off to say, "This is what we are doing now!"  I know it makes him smile.  Though admittedly when I'm out of town I love getting the photos because I need to know what's going on but they make me a bit sad too because I'm not there.  Anyways, here is my Iphone photo dump from the weekend.

Friday's Soup Lunch (Noah had a fever Thursday & Friday morning).

Post nap he was feeling SO much better.

So we went out to eat at Nantucket Cafe.

Enjoying Nantucket's free cake.

Sampling South Durham's Farmer's Market Saturday.

Morrisville Fire Dept's Open House.

Noah is ready to leave the Fire Dept- nap time!

Tucker took a nap Saturday while we were out. (I did make the bed before I left).

Saturday night bath- Noah's saying DADA!

Sunday morning vehicle line up.

Enjoying Noah's nap time with a little Sunday afternoon sunbathing.

Gotcha Day

Today is Tucker's Gotcha Day.  The story of how we got Tucker is HERE.   But there is more to the story.  There always is with Tucker.



This is Tucker's/Bob's website ad.  A co-worker's sister worked at Greenwood Vet and told me about Tucker and we looked him up online.  I'm not sure I think that Tucker really looks like his ad in real life.  The day we visited him he had just gotten neutered and was very drugged up.  He tried to jump out of his crate, which was about 4 feet off the ground.  Of course, his legs didn't work.  He was very happy to see us though.  It took about a month to get the adoption together.  I think there we were one of three people who put in an application.  The vet wasn't sure we were a good fit for Tucker.  One of the other applicants had a lot of acres and no fence and just wanted Tucker to run around (hello! he would never come back). Another had a little lap dog who needed a friend (um, befriending lap dogs is not Tucker's forte either).  So finally we were reluctantly chosen.  I think it's worked out for the best.  

Though Tucker's ad should be edited a bit.  It should say, "Bob loves to cuddle and lick you incessantly until you cannot take the sound or feel of it anymore." And, "He is very friendly with adults, (he does not like animals or children) and needs constant attention."

9 years ago I picked Tucker (who was named Bob) up from what was the Greenwood Vet on Highway 55.  The Husband (to-be at this point in time) was playing tennis with a friend (a girl!) from college and couldn't make it.  So I picked him up after work; paid the $125 adoption fee and went straight to a pet store in New Hope Commons Shopping Center that is now a 5 & Below store.  I didn't have a leash or a collar so that was pretty interesting.  We borrowed a crate, but I needed, food, bowls, toys, pretty much everything.  This dog does not do cars.  Even with a car crate he gets carsick on occasion.  Without a car crate he will try to jump out of any open window (yes, he tried to do this) or just run around in the car.

Sometime later, the Husband came to my apartment to start our life with this dog.  We quickly renamed him Tucker after looking at baby name websites. Tucker didn't make much noise when we first got him.  It was probably two weeks before he barked for the first time and we remember exactly why: his lion toy got stuck behind the couch while he was playing with it.  Those that know Tucker, know that he now has no problems letting his voice be heard.

After 9 years he has provided us with a lot of funny and not so funny stories.  He's eaten a battery, ran away, eaten 3 dozen Christmas cookies to just throw them back up all around our house.  He's terrorized puppies, gotten a bloody nose from a Boxer, caught a squirrel, befriended several large brown Labs.  He's lead us home on hikes when the trails have vanished, he's been attacked by two cats, he has an unhealthy fear of water.  We love Tucker and are so happy to have him in our lives.   

We have more pictures of Tucker than we do of Noah by a long shot.  Hey, we've had him 9 years! Noah's hasn't even been with us 21 months yet.  This is one of my favorite photos from May 20, 2003 the day I moved into my new apartment.   

What's unique about this photo is that both of Tucker's ears are down.  Tucker is similar to an orca whale.  Most of the time his right ear is floppy and his left ear is perked up.  Tucker lived with me at this apartment the summer of 2003; he moved into the Husband's townhouse in August.  For the whole summer his ears were both down.  In the website ad, both his ears are perky, which he has done a few other times also.  But when he's comfortable, he has one perky ear and one floppy ear and that's what makes him the cutest!  And I think he deserves a treat on his Gotcha Day!

5 Year Anniversary

Today is our anniversary!  The love affair started on December 30, 2006.  It was made official in mid January 2007.  The Husband and I closed the deal and moved into our house March 4, 2007!  I love our house.  I found it on the MLS after stalking the particular neighborhood and told our agent we wanted to see it before going to Williamsburg for NYE with friends. It was the third house we offered on since September and we had been on a house searching break since November.  I can honestly say every time we walk into our house from being out of town I say that I missed and love our house.

We moved from a crowded townhouse in Chapel Hill,

March 4, 2007

to open spaces in this house.

 November 28, 2007

We've jumped for joy,

January 20, 2009 #1

 fallen, 

January 20, 2009 #2

 and gotten back up in this house.

January 20, 2009 #3

We expanded our family in this house.

January 30, 2010

December 4, 2010

We've hosted baby showers, 

May 22, 2010

homecomings, 

August 9, 2010

and birthday parties in this house.

August 7, 2011

We've worked,

November 28, 2007

put in a fence, 

November 10, 2008

painted,

April 17, 2010

played in the yard,

March 19, 2011

and napped in this house.

July 7, 2009

We've laughed, 

October 4, 2010

acted like animals, 

October 19, 2010

October 31, 2010

and cried in this house.

August 12, 2010

We've played games,

September 6, 2010

baked cookies,

December 21, 2011

gotten messy,

October 19, 2011

and cleaned in this house. 

August 3, 2010

Happy Anniversary House!

January 8, 2007

Vets, Peds, and Orthos Oh MY!

And that is just this week; last week was a physical and dentist appointment!  And I really dislike the doctor.

We started off with a trip to the Vet for Tucker.  It was his annual visit, but we've noticed he's had some accidents lately and that's unusual.  So we ordered a urine analysis.  Can I mention that the vet tech couldn't get the urine sample?  She kept calling Tucker a 'she;' I think that was part of the problem.  So the little cup was sent home with us.  And you think obtaining your own urine sample is gross?  Try following around a sniffing dog, who keeps looking back at you in confusion.  The Husband got the sample and dropped it off; this is why he's the best husband!  Tucker has magnesium phosphate crystals in his urine.  He needs an Xray to determine if he has stones in his bladder that would need to be removed; if there are no stones then we re-evaluate his diet. I'm already thinking about how to explain this to a toddler so he'll stop feeding the dog!  This Xray can be performed when we schedule his teeth cleaning (which has doubled in price since last time).  Did I mention Tucker vomitted in my car?  And the real reason The Husband is the best is that I don't do vomit.

Tucker has gained two pounds in the last year. I wonder if Noah has anything to do with this?

9yrs old, 24.2lbs!

On a happier and less gross note, Noah had his 18 month appointment.  Noah was happy and healthy.  He had to get two shots and was a trooper considering the nurse fumbled the second needle.  The nurse stuck herself and then Noah twice- Nice!

25lbs 5 oz (50%) 33 inches tall (80%)

And last but not least, I had my Orthopedic appointment on Thursday for my possibly fractured wrist, which has been feeling a lot better this week.  I've been using it less, especially when carrying Noah.  I ended up seeing an Occupational Therapist who said that it could be a small fracture or just a strain/sprain of the tendons or ligaments, which he would treat the same.  I got three different splints, that look like braces, to try.  I had my choice of how soft or rigid I wanted the braces that go from an ace bandage to plastic, or corkboard splints and hard casts.  Luckily for me it was my choice and I got the mid range ones.  The OT said 5 years ago I'd be in a hard cast for this injury, so I feel lucky!

 If I don't see an improvement with my splint, exercises, and rest I can move to more rigid splinting (yeah right!) and  invasive steps, like iontophoresis (a little shock therapy) and finally getting the MRI, and seeing the hand surgeon to see what really going on in there.  I felt relieved after the appointment, but my wrist hurt so much more after all the testing he did on it to see where the strains were.  Funny, and not funny at the same time, to see how little my range of motion is right now.

My newest accessory

After wearing the splint for about 24 hours, I'm in more pain.  I realize that I'm fighting the splint to keep my activity level the same.  Cutting snacks, wiping bottoms, turning doorknobs and more are almost impossible with the splint.  Let's not talk about typing this blog!  I will need to work on resting and pacing, two things the OT talked about at length.  This will be hard.

For those who noticed, yes I did paint my ring finger nail Carolina Blue for Wednesday's game.  It probably didn't work out for UNC because I forgot to also paint the left ringfinger blue; I kept going with all taupe/grey.  Oops.