Weekend Update

I sit here holding my 14 lb 10 oz child, and I no longer wonder why my back hurts. He has doubled his weight in 3 months. Everywhere I go, I hear, "Wow, he's a big kid!" and wonder if 1) he actually is a big kid or 2) he looks bigger because I am, as I say frequently, the size of a fourth grader. Who knows... I need to get over the fact that I've got a 'big kid' and just need to lift weights or something to keep up. I can carry him just fine, it's the darn car seat that's killing me right now. When I have him out in public, people always run up to help with the door (thankfully!) and almost always comment on his size. I get a little tired of saying, "Yeah, my kid likes to eat" but I don't know what else to say! And I'm over it... just had to get that out.

Our trip to Topeka went well. I was super anxious about how Keaton would do on the plane, but he barely fussed at all. He sucked on his binky and slept in my lap on the way there. Before landing, we fed him a bottle and it apparently helped with his ears because as soon as we landed he was smiling at the flight attendents. What a little flirt! We spent the first night hanging out with friends at my parents' house, then headed out to the Hetricks for bed. He didn't sleep overly well the first night (and neither did I) but Case got up with him in the morning and let me nap for a few hours. Leslie's open house was that day at the Hetricks, which worked out well because all of our clothes were there, so we were able to relax a little bit before people started to arrive. Keaton slept almost 2.5 hours in the Bjorn... I think people were disappointed because he was asleep most of the time, but it put him in a much better mood later in the day, so I didn't worry too much about it. He sat in his bouncy seat when he woke up, and everyone stood there watching him. He must have liked it, because he was smiling up a storm and really interacting with everyone. :)

Sunday was Leslie's graduation. Again, Keaton and I didn't sleep very well Saturday night, but Keaton made it all the way through the graduation without crying, and slept on me most of the time. He woke up when the band started playing right as the graduates tossed their caps... we were very lucky to be able to see the graduation all the way through and did not have to miss watching Leslie walk across the stage. Sidenote, I cannot believe she is going to college now. I met her when she was 6. I got a little emotional at first when we were at the graduation, not only because Leslie was graduating, but because I flashed forward to Keaton's high school graduation. I have a feeling when that day comes, I will think that it felt like yesterday that he was this small. Or "small". Whatever. ;)

After graduation we took a bunch of pictures, then met the Hetrick family at Baskin Robbins for some ice cream. The Shrimplins got to hold Keaton, which was nice since they didn't get to see him much the day before. Afterward, we went to Aaron Brumley's house to celebrate his girlfriend Laura's birthday. We got to meet her Mom, sister, and grandparents, as well as catch up with Aaron's family. Keaton was pretty fussy when we first got there, but after we put him in the car seat to go home, he suddenly became very smiley and happy and started flirting with Laura, and Aaron's sister Laine. He likes the ladies!

Monday morning we took Keaton to my parents house, and Case and I went out for coffee. It was a nice break, and it gave my parents a chance to hang out with Keaton again. I had a hard time making myself not call to check on him, but of course I trusted my parents and knew they would call if anything happened. It was just hard not to think about him most of the time, because he's always near me. It was good for us to get out by ourselves, though. Our 7 year anniversary is coming up next week, and I think we'll get someone to watch him so we can go out on a 'date'. I miss those! But I know I'll miss Keaton during the date. There's never a good balance anymore... when Casey's not here, I'm thinking about him. When Keaton's not here, my mind is on him. And of course since we left CB at Petsmart all weekend, my mind was on him as well. He apparently had more blood in his stool on Saturday, so we got a few phone calls from the vet about new medication they are putting him on. He now has 5 bottles of medicine. I guess it would probably be worse if he was on chemo. The good news is that the medicine seems to be taking care of the problem, and he still has energy and is happy. That's all that really matters.

So anyway, we flew home Monday afternoon. I cannot tell you the stares you get when you walk down the aisle of a plane with an infant in your arms. I got a lot of smiles, and a lot of looks that indicated I was not welcome to sit next to the people giving them. We sat as far back as you could go, right next to the bathroom. He started getting pretty fussy near the end of the flight, but luckily it was only the last 5 minutes on the plane, and you could really tell when his ears popped, because he was almost instantly happy again. Thank goodness!

Tuesday is a big blur to me, as I attempted to catch up on sleep. I got absolutely nothing done around the house. Today's been a bit better. I took Keaton to Cradle Talk this morning (which is where I found out he weighs almost 15 lbs with clothes on). I got some of the dishes done, as well as some laundry. Every little bit helps.

I guess that's about it. We are going to attempt to transition Keaton to his crib this weekend. We started to last night, but that resulted in about 8-10 trips to the crib for binky duty from about 11:45 until 1:30 a.m. I got fed up with it and finally put Keaton back in the bassinet in our bedroom. It will be nice to have Casey home this weekend to help with the binky patrol. ;-/

Well, my little guy is squeaking at me so I'd better go. I think someone is trying to teethe.

-Ash