Gra’noah’bar

Last night I went out with the girls (Yenis and Alissa). We had a nice time, but it was pretty empty downtown. Maybe because people were up late the night before watching election stuff, they didn’t feel like going out?

This morning I drove Evan to school so I didn’t have to rush around trying to get out in time to walk. While Evan was at school Noah and I just hung out at the house. I did laundry and just got little things taken care of. Noah started acting real cranky around 10:30, so I put him down for a nap and he slept for about an hour.

At lunch I gave Noah a straw sippy cup with some juice in it. He did pretty well holding the cup on his own and getting the straw to his mouth.

We drove to pick Evan up and Wendy told me again how much Evan doesn’t like art. They had some project with cut up bell peppers and paint. I think they were using pepper halves as stamps. Anyway, Evan wanted nothing to do with it.

Blanca came at 4 and I tutored 2 students.

It was almost 7 when I got home. As we were getting dinner ready Evan came up with a new nickname for Noah. He started calling him “granoahbar”. Evan made that up all on his own. Morry and I were pretty impressed.

Evan and Noah are in bed now and it seems quiet up there.

Flu Shots for Evan and Noah

I took Evan and Noah to their doctor today for flu shots. Noah needed the booster shot. For babies they have to give them 2 separate shots a month apart. I warned Evan ahead of time what was going to happen and that it would just hurt for a minute. Right as we walked into the waiting room this little girl yells to Evan, “They give shots here!” I guess she was trying to warn him. The parents seemed embarrassed, but I said it was ok and I already talked to Evan about the shot. I decided to have Evan go first. He did very well. He just whined a little, but was easily calmed down when the nurse offered him a sticker. Noah did well too and only cried for a few seconds.

After the shots, we went to Target to return something. We walked around the store. Evan loves walking in Target. I ended buying Evan some Spiderman tennis shoes. He really needed another pair of shoes. He only had one pair that fit him. They had light up Spiderman shoes that just happened to fit him.

After Target we came home and ate lunch. While I was getting lunch ready I put Noah on the floor and he actually crawled a little. It was more like an army crawl, but he was actually moving forward. We put up a video on YouTube. It should show up at the bottom of this page. We also added a video from Halloween of Evan looking at the candy in the candy bowl.

Blanca came at 1:45. I signed up for a focus group study about cleaning supplies from 2-4 today. I met 2 interviewers at HEB to talk about what products I used and how I clean the house. We talked for a little bit then we went down the cleaning aisle and picked a few items for me to try at home. We went back to our house. I showed them what cleaning products I typically use and did a few cleaning demonstrations of how I use them. I got paid $200 for those 2 hours. Good deal, huh?

Tonight I’m going out for a girl’s night. Alissa, Yenis, and I are going to Speakeasy (a bar downtown). It has been a very long time since I’ve had a girl’s night out. I’m looking forward to it. The Brew (salsa band) will be playing.

Election Day

Evan actually fell asleep in his bed last night. Usually he falls asleep on the floor at the gate and then Morry moves him when we go to bed. Last night he stayed in his bed. I can’t remember the last time that happened.

Noah woke up just once around 3am and I gave him his pacifier and he fell back asleep.

Both Evan and Noah woke up around 8am. We walked Evan to school and then got back just in time for the cleaning lady.

I usually do most of the cleaning, but our house really needed a good cleaning so we hired someone. I just don’t have the time to do a good cleaning and I don’t really know how to clean either. I never know what products to use or how to use them best. Do you use a sponge or a paper towel? How wet are you supposed to get the floor when you mop? Anyway, 2 people came (the main lady and a helper) and they did a pretty good job. I would definitely have them come back maybe once a month or so.

Noah and I went to the bank and then HEB before picking Evan up from school. Evan didn’t finish all of his lunch, so on the way home he opened up his lunch box and ate more of his lunch in the car.

Evan napped in his bed again. Yea! Let’s hope this continues.

I tutored 2 students today. I was supposed to have a 3rd, but she came home sick.

We made pork tenderloin and potatoes for dinner and then took a short walk.

It’s an exciting night. Morry keeps running back and forth to the computer to check election results. We’ll see what happens.

Evan changed his diaper

This morning when I went to Evan’s room he was at the gate with no pants or diaper on. He told me he took his diaper off. I looked around his room, but didn’t see it. I asked Evan where it was and he told me he threw it away in the diaper champ. At least it was just a pee diaper.

I went for a run/walk with the boys and Lizzy this morning and then we played in the front yard for a little bit.

Evan and Noah took good naps today. Evan actually napped in his bed (not at his gate). He must have been pretty tired. We had Asian pasta and chicken and stars soup for dinner.

I tutored one student tonight and got back around 9.

Tonight is a football night. Morry is upstairs watching the Steelers.

Evan and Noah are in bed now and quiet. Let’s hope for a good night. Last night was a lot better, by the way. We gave Noah gas drops before bed and that really helped him sleep. He slept until around 7am. Much better than the night before.

Classifieds

Free to good home: A 7-month old little boy who is as cute as can be with big blue eyes and a wonderful smile. He comes with one problem: He suddenly is having issues sleeping through the night. Last night, at 1am, he woke up from sleeping and began to cry and cry. We tried to let him cry it out but he just worked himself up into a greater frenzy. So we brought him into our bed and sat him up and he was as happy as can be. He just sat there playing with the remote control, cooing and smiling. Finally at 2am, we tried to put him back down again and he went back to sleep...

Until just before 5am (well 6am, but the time changed). The same thing happened. He screamed and cried until we brought him into our room. We put him in the exersaucer and he had a great time. As soon as I tried to put him back in his crib, he started to scream again. I rocked him and he fell asleep and I put him down in the crib and as soon as his body hit the mattress, he started to cry. I ended up rocking him for another 20 minutes and was able to put him back down...around 6:10am.

Oh, by the way, this is Morry again. Yes, two posts in the last 3 days. All of our readers should feel honored.

Once the day really started, we went for a walk to the elementary school. There's a dirt field next to a playground on the school property. Evan did not want to play on the playground, he just wanted to run back and forth the dirt field. He'd pick up a rock and throw it and yell "Home Run!!" and then run around as if he was touching each base - except he was running the wrong way around the bases. He and I raced a bunch (He won every time). Then we found a kickball. Evan just loved kicking the ball and running after it. I think he may have a future in soccer actually.

We got home and has some lunch. Noah, exhausted from having been up all night, fell asleep in his high chair. Evan spent much of lunch "reading the newspaper". Actually, he was just deep into the Toys R Us ad.

We then went to Ben's birthday party. Alissa and Matt threw a very nice birthday party for Ben. The boys ran around playing football and then everyone participated in a scavenger hunt. Somehow I ended up looking for all of the stuff, while Evan walked away.

After the party, we came home for naps, and then went back to Alissa and Matt's house for dinner. Evan was very excited to play with Ben's GeoTrax and only ate his yogurt. When we had to leave, he cried. He really loves all the toys that Ben and Molly have.

Now, both boys are in bed and they both are quiet. Hopefully, Noah is able to sleep through the night tonight.

Uh oh, I hear Noah! I wonder how much the La Quinta Inn down the road costs...

Sleepless in Austin

I don’t know what Noah’s problem is. He kept us up all last night. He woke up just about every hour crying. We tried everything. He had a 101 temperature during the middle of the night, but this morning had no fever. So, we’ve been pretty tired today. It was a hard night.

We decided to walk around the Barton Creek greenbelt. Morry and I had never brought the kids there and it had been a while since either of us had been. The weather is beautiful today and we wanted to do something outside. By the time we left the house it was about 12:30.

We took Lizzy and the boys to the hiking trail. Evan walked and Morry had Noah in the baby backpack. Evan had a great time and wanted to stop and touch everything. Noah liked being outside and slept some of the time in the backpack. Evan walked almost the whole time except for the very end when I carried him to the car. On the way home we stopped at go smoothies at Jamba Juice. Normally what I do at Jamba Juice is get a medium sized smoothie and have them put some of mine in a kid’s size cup for Evan. This time, I guess they misunderstood and they split the smoothie evenly in 2 small cups. We thought that was a lot for Evan, but he had no problem finishing it.

For dinner we went to Alborz (Persian). We go pretty often since Evan usually does well there and likes the food. Morry and I got the buffet and when Morry was up getting his food Evan asked me where he was. I pointed to Morry and Evan yelled, “Hi Daddy. Daddy, Hi.” Evan ate lots of tabouli. At one point we noticed Evan was wiping his nose on the bottom of the table cloth that was hanging down near him. We told him not to do that. Then he lifted up the tablecloth and said, “Look at the booger.” It was hard for Morry and me not to laugh.

After dinner we stopped at Target to get a present for Ben’s birthday party tomorrow. Evan loves Target. Morry thinks Evan touched every single item they had at target. We got a few things for Noah like formula and pacifiers. Noah’s pacifiers seem to disappear around the house. The problem is that they are rubbery and bounce really far whenever dropped. We also got some candy (Morry’s idea) since all the Halloween candy was 50% off.









Last night Morry sorted Evan's candy (something Morry does every Halloween). He says that way you can see what you got better. Evan did pretty well. :)