Well, it's so obvious, especially when I compared Alice and Len this past weekend, that my baby is growing up. I see her deliberate moves, I see her eating solids, I see her rolling over, and I see her getting frustrated with things - whether it's herself getting centered on a chair or with toys and situations. She's finding her voice in this big world. I want to hold on to every moment and she seems to be changing quicker than I realize. As we took her 5 month photo shoot, I watched her rip her belly sticker from her shirt and thought, hmmm, these photo sessions aren't going to get any easier.
On the food front, she's starting to get the hang of solids... don't get me wrong, we still are struggling. She grabs the spoon, she wants to feel the food in her mouth - with her hand, she thinks we aren't feeding her fast enough sometimes, but she's tried a few things and stained a few articles of clothing. I think we are getting 90% of each meal inside of her, which is better than when we started.
On the cat front, things may be improving there too. They have never hated her, but there's been a clear avoidance. Now they'll jump on the bed to take a look or jump in the tub to see what's going on.... Len will watch them and has reached out to grab them. We are starting to work on already "petting the kitty nice."
The weekend was a busy weekend...We went back for Matt's unofficial 10 year reunion. Since Eleanor's been born he's gotten a bit sentimental and nostalgic for "the good ol'days." We contacted Pinkertons to see if they were interested in coming back and taking in some of the homecoming weekend.
There was a lot prep as traveling now has involved more lists. We pack our bags and then also pack her bag and her sleeping equipment and eating equipment and toys and extra blankets... and pretty soon I find myself using a cart just to get things into our room. By the way, she didn't really care.
The first night, we had drinks and a tour of the house. I've seen pics and video but nothing compares to actually seeing it in person. Matt had a couple different rooms and I got to see a few of them. I was surprised at how big the house was. We met some of the current members and pledges. They were supper accommodating and nice, especially to us wives! We were also very appreciative to Allison's mom, who took on babysitting both Oliver and Eleanor while we went out. I was so glad she behaved herself well!
Laying in bed on Friday night,
ALR: So, what did you think of the house seeing it now?
MJR: Oh, it looked really good!
ALR: What?!
MJR: yeah, it was in good shape and they cleaned it up nice!
ALR: Seriously?
MJR: You didn't think so?
ALR: Did they give out free tetanus shots if you lived there or did they require proof before you could move in?
MJR: Awww, come'on it wasn't that bad.
ALR: Did you ever take your shoes off?
MJR: I walked around barefoot all the time.
ALR: I just threw up a bit in my mouth.
On Saturday, we had a full day. We did not attend the parade but we did a little around the down drive before heading to Green Mill for deep dish pizza with the Pinkerton posse. It was great to watch Oliver scarf food down by the handful... made me realize that in short order my sassy redhead will be in
the same boat! From there, we headed to the game. We had necessary equipment to watch the game... the carrier (which she is awesome in), baby noise mufflers, and the smallest foam finger that you ever did see. She was awesome during the game. UND won over Southern Utah but my favorite was during the third quarter (after her second quarter nap) was when she found her cheering voice! We hear the tiniest screams and when we looked down there she was cheering/screaming away! She didn't fuss/she didn't squabble the entire game! She even drew some admiration on how cute of baby she was - I think it was the sprout pony tail!
That night we had the formal for the Beta house. We dropped Len off with a team of babysitters who were excited to see her and headed off in our best dressed. This was my first "frat party" and it was an eye opener, I won't lie...I've been out of college for 9 years and it felt suddenly like 29 years! Everyone was supper nice and they had the party right at the house. The food was good, the music was loud, the dance floor was sticky from drinks, and if you were thirsty - it was your own fault... I am trying to decide what was my favorite - spending some time talking with Allison (as her and John are at the same space in their lives) or watching our men enjoy their alumni status and relive a bit of their glory days.
ALR and Allison standing on the balcony, men are behind with college kids.
MJR: Well boys, when I was risk management officer...
ALR to Allison: Oh, great... this sounds like a party conversation starter.
More gloating and boosting overheard in background
MJR and John: Yeah! We'll go play beer pong!
ALR to Allison: I've never seen Matt play beer pong in the past 5 years.
Allison: I've seen them play beer pong. They weren't very good when they lived here.
We had to leave earlier than the boys wanted us to... they were hoping we'd leave them there. We picked up Len from Scraperville and headed back to the hotel. We ended up sitting and visiting until 2:00 that morning about anything and everything, conversations that Matt and I have been waiting to have. The next morning, Eleanor woke up at 6:00, and she really couldn't be convinced to go back to sleep. We got ready, had breakfast, said our goodbyes and headed home. We can't party like we used to because it was the longest drive ever back home! At least we had a sleepyhead in the backseat who slept all the way from GF to Steele.
We both went to bed early and slept hard!
Best meal: Red pepper tacos! mmmmm!
MJR and John talking to pledges
Pledge: So man, I just want to talk about your jobs. What do you do?
MJR gives briefish explanation
John: I'm a commercial pilot.
Pledge: That's What I Want To DO! Which one?
John: Delta
Pledge: Yeah, dude! That's awesome! I gotta know, how much do you make?
MJR, John, and multiple Betas walking down the hall
John: Yeah, that's Berg's room.
MJR: That's the one where that chick (ruined) his carpet.
Beta guy: Hey, that's my room!
MJR to Allison and ALR: Yeah so John and I are going through the guys' rooms and getting beer?
ALR: Getting beers?
MJR: yeah, we are either going in taking them out of their fridges or walking in and saying Give us a beer.
ALR: Can you do that?
John: We're alumni.
MJR: If they don't want their beer taken, they should have taken locked their door!
Sunday morning
ALR: I'm sorry you had to go home early because we had to pick up our daughter.
MJR: It's okay, the way John and I were going, we were headed down a dangerous path.
Allison did a beautiful job putting it all together. She had appetizers for everyone to snack on. From minicorn dogs to jalapeno popper quiches - it was all tasty! The decorations were so smart and classy... I took notes and plan to copy a bit. Allison made Oliver's smash cake - Apple Cinnamon with a Blueberry whip cream frosting. Matt was a bit jealous as he wanted to try a piece. He was every bit as enthusiastic as I expected him to be... I loved his two hand grab approach to the cake!
