That One Time... At Daycare...

My birthday weekend plans changed mid-way through Sunday when the littlest Seckman got sick. Turns out he has hand-foot-mouth disease, which I thought was something cattle got. Anyway - I stayed home with him Monday.

As I type, he is crying in his room with Fred trying everything he can think of to calm him down. We're both pretty sure it's either morphed into an ear infection or he caught Strep from one of the kids in his group.

Oh Daycare. Some days I love you. Other days not so much.

30.

I am 30. It's official. And I survived to tell about it.

It was kind of a birthday weekend.. Here's the re-cap.

Friday. Fred and Anna take a day off which includes Elliot going to daycare. We went to lunch at The Cup (delicious!!), the new Quilt Museum and poked in a few kitchy quilt shops (poor Fred). Then we picked up Elliot.

Next was a surprise party at the downtown Brewsky's where close friends and family gathered to wish me a Happy Birthday. It was nice and the cupcakes were tasty!

Saturday. My actual birthday. The day started with me getting to sleep in until 8 - ahhhh. We bummed around most of the morning and then I got my birthday present from Fred and Elliot - an IOU for tickets to The Lion King when it comes to Kansas City this fall! I am SOOO excited!!!!

In the afternoon I had my very first facial. I went with Stacey and had one of the most relaxing hours of my life. I should really try to have that done more than once every 30 years.

That night we went to Tecumseh for a family-style birthday dinner. We had yummy smoked pork chops, corn casserole, taters and my favorite - Texas Sheet Cake. Some kind of leafy green thing was there too but I wasn't going to touch that!

Then we drove home in the rain.

Sunday. That's today... and so far pretty low-key. I am going to a Yoga Class (my very first) this afternoon with my friend Kelly but that's about all I have planned.

So - all in all it was a nice birthday weekend. Sort of low key but also filled with friends and family. I should really get birthdays more often!

Approximation

I've got approximately 39 hours and 58 minutes left of being in my 20's.

In case you're wondering, I plan to stay 29 up until the exact minute. I will be 29 at 7:50 a.m. I will be 29 at 7:51 a.m. However - at 7:52 a.m. I will be another year older.

I'll probably be grouchy.

Container Gardening 101

Cindy, Judy and I took a container gardening class through SCC last Saturday. I think this lady is a few sandwiches short if you know what I mean.

We started at SCC learning that her way is the ONLY way when it comes to using and planting in containers. The second half of the day was at her house, eyeing a great variety of plants that she kept rearranging to show us how to plant a great container. Great colors, sizes - things I've never seen before.

We each paid $18 for the class, paid another $10 for supplies that day and brought our own pot. On the way home, I broke the ice by asking "Does anyone else feel like we just got screwed?" Our class instructor sent us each home with dirt in our pot and a stick. A stick. A cutting from a pussy willow in her own backyard, to be exact.

It felt a lot like buying a $28 reference book that I can't reference. I'm going to call the nursery to make sure she returned the plants we just bought her.

Finish the Sentence - Stolen from Stacey's friend Kait

Maybe I should stop conning Fred into eating out.
People would say I am shy, until they get to know me.
When I wake up in the morning I am unhappy. Mornings stink.
I lost my sunglasses on the interstate by using them to point at something with my arm out the window (duh).
Life is full of good and bad people doing good and bad things.
My past is nothing remarkable.
I get annoyed when Elliot can't tell me what's wrong.
Parties are uncomfortable and awkward.
I wish everyone would quit bugging us about another kid.
Dogs are Elliot's favorite animal - especially Bubba.
Cats are evil. Mine is, at least.
Tomorrow is Friday, thank goodness.
I have low tolerance for people with no common sense.
I’m totally terrified of train tracks, I don't know why.
I wonder why I'm having issues about turning 30.
Never in my life have I left our country for more than a few hours on either side of the border.
High school sucked. It made me hate small towns.
When I’m nervous I talk a lot.
One time at a family gathering I got to feel Ashley's baby's spine through her belly when she was pregnant.
Take my advice - You'll never know until you try.
Making my bed is never on my list of things to do.
I’m addicted to reading books, lately.

The Stagger

I think this barely meets the criterium of walking, it's more of a stagger really. I think he has yet to discover his knees.

He Walks!

Elliot walked last night!
Elliot walked last night!
He really walked last night!

He takes about 5 steps at a time before tumbling down in laughter. He has such a wide, proud smile the entire time too. I shot a little video of him walking to Fred - I'll try to post that soon.

How exciting!!

Rockin'

This week Elliot has been playing with two 'new' toys. His favorite came from Grandpa and Grandma Wenciker. It's a rocking chair that belonged to Anna when she was little. They had saved it through the years (and all the moves, thanks Grandpa and Grandma:)) and brought it for Elliot last year. We had it stored in his room and brought it out last weekend. He loves it. They sit on chairs at school so he already knew how to climb in and out. Once he figured out it rocked, LOOK OUT! He now loves to sit and rock, and tries to rock every chair he sits in now. I guess that goes to show you some things are worth hanging on to!

Also this week Mom and Dad (mostly Dad's idea) got him a Xylophone. He has one at school and loves to play with it (it's a commonly fought over toy). I never get to see him at school so I have been wanting to see him interact with his favorite school toy. Now maybe he won't be as possessive of it at school:) So now a little Elliot Zeppelin!

The Name Game

We have a picture book at home that includes pictures of Grandparents and such. This weekend we went through the book and he reacted biggest to the Seckman page.

When asked who Jim was he said 'Gampa.'

When asked who Cindy was she was sometimes 'Gampa' and sometimes 'Nana.'

I asked him if Grandpa had a puppy. He smiled and panted (daycare taught him this) and said 'Bubba' repeatedly.

Then it turned into a game 'Gampa heh-heh-heh-heh Bubba. Gampa heh-heh-heh-heh Bubba.'

Burrito Poop

If you don't like stories about kids' poop, don't read this one.

Whenever Elliot has burritos and corn at daycare you can bet on having a "burrito poop" that night... little mushy and full of corn.

Last night, Stace was over and I was joking about Elliot always having burrito day when I'm not home that night to get the full experience of the poop. (Surely Stace has that on her list of things to look forward to when the baby arrives!) Regardless, I leave. Stacey leaves. Here's how it went when I got back:

F: (Standing at top of stairs, hands me Elliot.) Here. He's your kid now.
A: (Gives the "huh?" look and takes Elliot.) Oh no, what happened?
F: (Evil Death Ray Eyes stare.)
A: Burrito Poop?
F: MM-Hmmm.
A: Blow out?
F: Nope. Bathtub.

That's right - our little guy made his first poop in the tub and it had to be the burrito one. Fred was still home alone when this happened so he pulled shivering Elliot out and got him dressed and went back to clean the tub. As you know, he loves baths, so Elliot spent the entire time over Fred's shoulder trying to get himself and his toys in the tub since it must be bath time again (why else would Dad be running water in there??).

I wish I could have been home just to see this all take place.