So, Sweets and I had to decide what to do. We both agreed we were not ready to leave Gavin in someone else’s care for three days and two nights. But, the question on the table was whether Sweets would stay home while I traveled or whether I’d drag them with me. I decided I wasn’t yet ready to be away from my boys for so many days/nights, so they were coming with me! Overall, the trip was both great and incredibly challenging. There definitely were some lessons learned about traveling with a toddler.

We tried to arrange our flights to align with Gavin’s nap time, which was especially important given the flight was 4 hours on the way to Vegas and over 3 hours on the way home. Gavin slept for 30 minutes on the way out and didn’t sleep at all on the way home. Even though we purchased an extra seat for him (best move we could’ve made!), it was still a huge challenge to contain him to our row of seats. He doesn’t yet “get” the baby apps we downloaded to Sweets’ iPad. Books go only so far. Lesson learned, next time we assume he won’t sleep at all (and bring appropriate activities to accommodate).

Another challenge? Staying in a hotel and planning meals for a toddler. When it’s just two adults in a hotel, the conversation goes something like this: We’re hungry. Great, let’s pick a restaurant and get something to eat. It’s then easily an hour between choosing where to eat, getting there, getting seated, ordering your food and getting served. With a toddler, it’s not as easy. Because, when the toddler is hungry, it’s go time immediately. There is no hour to give. So, we had to be ahead of the game, which can be challenging when you’re staying in a hotel, let alone a freaking casino in Las Vegas!

That said, the rest of the trip was pretty amazing. From a work perspective, I had worked really hard to organize this trip for my company. I only had six weeks to get hotel rooms, restaurants and meeting space for our company. In any other city, that short time frame probably wouldn’t be a big deal. But, in Vegas, where they host conventions in the tens of thousands, no one really cares about a 20-person meeting. I spent a week being seriously ignored by a number of different casinos. But, I eventually figured out a way to be heard … and everything fell into place.

We had amazing suites in the Palazzo (Venetian) hotel that included marble bathrooms with double sinks, separate bath/showers, vanity tables and private toilet rooms; sunken living rooms with sectional sofas, coffee table, desk and a table where we could eat; three flat screen TVs – one in the living room, one in the bedroom area and one in the bathroom; and view to die for! Our room overlooked a $600 per round golf course and a beautiful mountain range. Feedback about the trip has been amazing so far and my bosses both told me they were very pleased with how everything turned out. Phew!

From a personal perspective, it was hard balancing my work obligations with my personal commitments. But, we managed to make it work. Sweets was very accommodating – taking the bulk of the parenting over the three-day trip. And, Gavin was a CHAMP given his nap schedule was non-existent and his routine had vanished. He turned on the CHARM with all my work colleagues – seriously made some of my co-workers and the significant others of my co-workers fall in LOVE with him. It was sort of ridiculous how good he was. Especially since he didn’t go to sleep until 9pm on Thursday night (11pm Chicago time) and 10pm on Friday night (midnight Chicago time). Let’s not mention that our morning flight back to Chicago on Saturday was delayed, which turned into an all-day affair at the Vegas airport. Gavin didn’t melt down once during our trip. He’s my personal hero!

Here are a few photos from our trip. One thing is for sure: even though Chicago is having a mild winter so far, it was darn nice getting away to a place where a coat has no name!

The view from our 39th floor room. Not bad, especially when the sun was rising over the mountains!

In celebration of the Chinese New Year, the Palazzo has a Red Dragon display.
Every night, there is a display with lights and fire coming out of the dragon’s mouth.

After my work meeting, my company took a trip to tour the Hoover Dam!

Of course, we got back late Saturday night and both Sweets and I got really sick. I can’t believe I’m sick AGAIN! So, I apologize for my otherwise lack of presence in blogland. But, between the trip and my lack of good health, I haven’t been checking in with the internets. I hope y’all had a great weekend, too!

On Friday, Gavin began his transition into a toddler room, spending a few hours with the bigger kids. We then had a nice snow storm that decided to peak during the afternoon rush (thankfully I left work at lunch and it only took me an extra 25-30 minutes to get home). We then dressed up Gavin in his snowpants and boots for the first time to take him outside to play in the snow. He HATED the snowpants and boots, so he cried whenever we put him down. But, he LOVED the snow and was happy to explore our yard and all the places where snow was accumulating, so long as he was in our arms! Between the new room at daycare and the snow, needless to say, Gavin slept like a champ that night!

We were supposed to do a family-only thing on Saturday. It involved snow and being outside and ice sculptures and music and other fun things. But, my hair appointment (I got my hair chopped, y’all – photos coming soon) bled into Gavin’s nap. And then, it was suddenly late afternoon and we weren’t going anywhere. We even skipped a birthday party that evening, preferring to stay home, order in ribs and hang with our neighbors (who were equally as lazy and showed up in pajamas!).

But, we made up for it on Sunday! We went to Gavin’s first music class – he’s now in the 12-24 month class. We have the same teacher (whom we love), but the class is in a bigger room with bigger kids! The structure is much the same as the infant music class, only the songs focus more on words kids say, rather than sounds babies make. Gavin was a bit overwhelmed at first, but warmed up towards the end and had a blast banging on the drums. We then headed out to the suburbs to meet up with Gavin’s city cousins at a children’s museum. It.was.awesome!!!!

Apologies for the number of photos – it was hard to choose which ones would best reflect our day!

The Car Room, with race tracks galore.

The Art Room, where Gavin preferred music!

The Nursery, where Gavin fed babies and stood up to bigger kids when they wouldn’t share the baby bottles.

There was lots of talking on the phone. Even when no one was listening.

Gavin learned how to stamp library books.

Gavin competed with his cousin on dueling computers.

Gavin and his other cousin on dueling video phones.

Pretty much everything was either too big or had to be explained. But, Gavin was a good sport and seemed to have fun.

And then, Gavin discovered the water room.

Where he proceed to get.soaking.wet!

But, was fascinated with the buttons and handles and other hardware that made water appear and disappear.

And it didn’t matter that he was too small…

… because all he wanted to do was play with water.

And so, at the end of the day, he was an exhausted little boy. As we were exhausted parents. But, it was so worth the energy to see our little guy have so much fun. I’ll leave you with a few of my favorites from our day!

And, now I want to know how on earth it’s already Wednesday? No, seriously. I’ve got packing to do (a work trip – more on that next week) and photos to take (y’all want to see the new locks, right)? And that’s above and beyond the pile of work I have and taking care of an especially tired toddler (it’s Gavin’s first full week in the toddler room – we are all going through the transition together!). And, oh wait, Gavin turns 15 months today! Good—NESS!! I hope everyone is having a great week and you can count yourselves lucky if you see another post from me this week!

However, every once in a while, it’s good for us to get out. So, when friends asked if we wanted to join them to see Trombone Shorty in concert, we jumped at the chance. We discovered Trombone Shorty a few years ago on the HBO show, Treme. He’s a New Orleans jazz musician who has now gone national. We have two of his CDs and love the energy that his music brings.

Last night, we went to his show. All night long, I kept turning to Sweets saying THIS IS SICK! Trombone Shorty and the Orleans Avenue band came out swinging and never slowed down. Two solid hours packed with high-energy, get your dance-on kind of music!

One of my favorite moments was during the encore when they played musical chairs. Imagine this scene, the show consists of Trombone Shorty (he’s lead singer, plus he plays trombone and trumpet), a guitarist, bassist, drummer, congo drummer and two saxophonists. For the last song, they exchanged instruments, so everyone played something other than their main instrument. Bassist took the trombone, congo drummer took the trumpet, Trombone Shorty took the drums and so on. They played a pretty kick-ass song in their new roles. It was damn impressive.

Oh, and let’s not forget to mention that Trombone Shorty is pretty darn easy on the eyes. Seriously. He comes out fully clothed, but next thing you know, he’s playing in his landmark tank top and bam! That is, he looked fine when I wasn’t looking at my husband, which I did a lot of. ha. Just saying.

Here are a few clips of his music – hang with the videos for a second for them to load. And when you’re done listening, tell me what you think!

Pull-ups. Gavin decided over the weekend that he really wanted to work on his upper body strength. He started with perfecting the Gavin crawl. However, he spent the most time working on pulling himself up onto anything bigger than him. Sometimes it worked, like when he made attempts by grabbing the coffee table, ottoman and couch. Other times, it didn’t, like when he tried climbing chair legs (without reaching up to grab the seat) and scaling a flat wall (fail!). As he got he also improved his leg strength, I worked with him on ideas like, HOLD ON. He’s still trying to grasp that concept, so there were a few falls as part of the learning curve. Finally, he began cruising around the coffee table, across the couch and from one kitchen chair to another.

Teething. Gavin has been a terrible sleeper for the past week. He’s been waking up a number of times overnight. Most times, we can settle him down by finding his pacifier for him. A handful of times, we’ve had to pull him out of the crib to console him. (Please don’t ask me about the Cry It Out method, as I might yell at you just like I yelled at Sweets when he brought it up at 2am!) And a few times, I’ve given in and slept with him in the spare bed (where I could prop up Gavin on a pillow, which seemed to enable him to sleep better than lying flat). Finally, we bought a raw Baltic amber bead necklace, which when worn, is supposed to offer healing to teething babes (never heard of it, this link provides a fairly level-headed explanation). I’m not sure whether it really works (have you mamas had any good or bad experiences with it?), but it doesn’t hurt to try (and for those whose jaws hit the floor with the thought we leave a necklace on overnight, we don’t – we string it around his ankle instead). Yesterday, we confirmed tooth #3 is coming in (top front)! At least there’s a reason behind the madness.

Eating. Poor eating habits have accompanied Gavin’s teething over the past week. He’s quitting bottles ounces before he normally does and he’s outright refused solids on a number of occasions. I was talking with a girlfriend about feeding solid pieces of food (not just purees) and she remembered the exact moment when her daughter was ready for big kid food – she screamed and screamed and screamed when mom and dad were eating their food – and she immediately settled down when they shared with her. We’ve been experiencing screaming and ear-rattling shrieking from Gavin over the past week when we’ve presented him solids. Last night, it dawned on us that maybe he’s ready for fewer purees and more solids. We fed him beans and tomatoes and bananas and he was totally content (though, don’t ask me about the string of toots that woke him up in the middle of the night!).

We also moved him from the travel high chair that attaches to the table to the real high chair we inherited from a friend of Sweets’. The upside to the real high chair is there’s a lip that allows Gavin to more easily pick up pieces of food. The downside is, he’s still a peanut and could stand to grow a bit before comfortably eating from the high chair.

Playdates. One of my goals during this time at home with Gavin was to get together with girlfriends who stay at home with their kids on a full-time basis.

• We met one friend (who, up until this week was an online friend, only) at a local kids’ cafe. Her 3 year old ran around, playing with kid cars, basketballs and trains. We sat with our 7- and 9-month babes while they played with baby toys and practiced crawling and climbing. It was here that Gavin climbed through a fabric tunnel for the first time (something he’s refused to do at daycare!). I was tickled this friend is absolutely lovely and we look forward to getting our whole families together.
• We met another friend with her girls at the zoo – it was Gavin’s first outing to the zoo. My friend’s 3 year old led the way to the polar bears, giraffes, fish and groundhogs. We also set up a nice picnic in a grassy patch within the zoo.
• We went to a 0-24 month playdate, organized through a mama’s group to which I belong. It was OK. I was late and felt the playdate was winding down. I also felt very few of the other mamas were all that interested in welcoming in a new mama. Both those reasons made me feel on the fringe of the playdate. So, we stayed a while, but left before too long.

Family time. Between gearing up for our vacation, being away for two weeks and trying to settle back into a routine when we came home, we’ve sorely neglected seeing family.

• Gavin and I met my aunt at the theater where she works. She got to show him off to her co-workers and bosses … and then we went out to lunch together. Gavin totally charmed the pants off her with smiles, giggles, babbling and a total lack of crying!
• For the second week in a row, Sweets folks joined us for live music in a local park. We brought blankets, food, beer and toys. Met up with some of our friends. And had a grand time. (It helps the weather was absolutely perfect!)

Check-up. I was a bit delayed in scheduling Gavin’s 9-month check-up, but we went this week. His official measurements are:

• Weight: 21 lbs, 8 oz (50th percentile – no change since 6 months)
• Length: 28.5 inches long (50th percentile – up from the 25th percentile at 6 months)
• Head circumference: 46 cm (>95th percentile – up from the 75 percentile at six months)

The growth in Gavin’s head provided for a short conversation about size. Without going into too much detail here, I will say we are going to further investigate the size, though my instincts tell me his head shape/size is hereditary. We also discussed Gavin’s developments, which are anywhere from on-time (babbling consonants) to ahead of average (pulling up and cruising). I inquired about the  amber beads for teething (the pediatrician politely balked). Gavin got his final Hepatitis B vaccine (I had my nose in my phone when he got the shot – I heard a brief whimper and then nothing – it hardly phased Gavin that he’d been poked). The appointment went well.

Shopping. And finally, what would a few days off from work be without a little retail therapy?! Only, when you’re a SAHM, you have to be focused with your shopping list. I was good and stayed on track with what was needed for home. I’ll let the photo speak for itself.

(Yes, that would be beer and formula!)

So, there you have it. A little bit of everything. I’ve got to admit. Staying at home AND trying to have a life (AND dealing with a teething baby) is exhausting. I have a new appreciation for moms who choose to stay at home. For me? I’m happy Gavin’s daycare opens again and we have some help in raising our child!

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Saturday morning, Gavin began swim class. I wasn’t too worried about taking him to class by myself, because he loves his bath time with Sweets. He sits there patiently while Sweets cleans him. He plays cooperatively with bath toys. He’s his normal easy-going self in the tub. So, why would it be different in the pool?

And it absolutely wasn’t. This pool at my gym has big stairs that are easy to walk down for entry into the pool. As I dipped Gavin in the warm water (it’s a heated pool), he was unphased by the open water. During class, he observed with intent the other kids, the instructors, the noise echoing in that room. He was a good sport when I poured water over his head (and into his eyes). He was even a better sport when I lost my grasp and he momentarily was submerged in the water. When I pulled him out, he sat there blinking the water out of his eyes. Looked around to re-orient himself. And that was it. Not a peep resembling a cry. One of the exercises had us throw a water toy in front of baby. When baby is on his belly, natural reflexes make him move his arms and legs to get closer to the toy. It’s pretty cool to watch.

The one and only time Gavin had a breakdown was in the locker room after class. I put towels on the floor and sat him down. He proceeded to wail. Loudly. I gave him a toy. He continued to wail. I dried him off and changed him into dry clothes. More wailing. So, I raced through getting dressed (no changing out of dripping wet suit for me) and putting on shoes. I picked him up and he immediately silenced himself. I put him in his carseat and he immediately fell asleep. Before we got out of our parking spot. I take it the little tyke was a wee bit tired.

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Over the weekend, the Cardinals were in Milwaukee to play the Brewers and we got ourselves some tickets. Mostly because Sweets, an avid White Sox fan, is scared to death his son will become a Cubs fan. In order to thwart that possibility, Sweets has sworn off any trips to Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play. That means, if I want to see my beloved Cardinals play, I must travel. Luckily, the Brewers are in the same league and are close enough to make an annual trek. Our inaugural trip to Milwaukee took place on Saturday afternoon. Lucky for us, Miss Nora and her fiancé, Knight, were also willing to make a day trip out of the game. So, we met them at the ballpark for Gavin’s first major league baseball game.

Overall, I’ve got to say I was way impressed with Miller Park, where the Brewers play baseball. It’s a relatively new stadium and details in planning this stadium were not ignored. We purchased parking ahead of time and the signs from the highway to our parking area were very clear. What we didn’t expect was that getting there an hour early is almost like getting there late. The parking lot was almost full … lots of tailgaters made an afternoon of this game. The best tailgating activity we saw was some game involving sombreros, holding a coin between your thighs, walking with it and trying to drop it in a plastic cup that was sitting on the ground. Miss the cup and some form of drinking was involved. These guys were two sheets to the wind.

Once inside, there were plenty of walkways, stairwells and escalators to get us to our nose-bleed seats. We situated ourselves next to some very nice Cardinals fans who had made the trek to Milwaukee from St. Louis and some not so nice and very drunken guys on a bachelor party outing. I’ll spare you the choice words between our neighbors later in the game. The retractable roof was closed and the noise of the sellout crowd was intense. I’ll also spare you details of the game … needless to say, the good guys didn’t win.

Gavin was a super champ the entire game. Before the game started, he smiled at everyone around him. He loved sitting in a seat all by himself (an empty one, not one we actually purchased). He was unphased by the fireworks that were fired each and every time the Brewers scored (hint: they scored more than once!). He didn’t bat an eye when the drunks behind us yelled mean and nasty things about my team, nor when they exchanged inappropriate things with the people sitting next to us. He batted his eyelashes at Nora and had fun sitting with her while Sweets and I ate. And, instead of crying when he got tired, Gavin snuggled up to his mama and took a nice nap in the middle of everything. Clearly, he’s a baseball fan, because his very best behavior only encourages us to bring him to more games in the future!

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Another first this weekend was all mine. Though I’ve walked through the store before, this weekend was the first time I bought something from Anthropologie. And you know what’s the coolest thing ever? They offer to email your receipt. That’s right. Save paper. Save the planet. They email your receipt and you only waste paper if you need to make a return (and thus, print off the receipt). Plus, I can’t tell you how many times I “lose” receipts that are in my purse so long the ink rubs off and I have no idea what it’s a receipt for, let alone how many receipts I just throw away without thought! But, to have a receipt filed away in my email? Brilliant!

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All in all, it was a great weekend full of firsts. Here are some photos from the weekend and this week of my sweet Gavin.