Growth Spurt

Anders has developed quite a bit in the last week.
On Wednesday, we had a setback in the long process of trying to sell our house. I was on the phone much of the day and quite agitated. I needed to get out of the house, so I took Anders to the public library. Anders was totally keyed in on my bad mood in a manner I didn't fully understand until we entered the children's section and I put him down to walk. He took one step and then face planted. I picked him up and tried to comfort him, but for one of the few times ever, maybe the only time, he was inconsolable. I eventually slinked out of the library out the back door and walked around on the grass to reach the car. Anders continued to cry in the car until I calmly asked Anders to stop crying or else I might lose it; he immediately stopped crying. (I understand that when you read a sentence like that you say, yeah right, especially if you have a young child of your own, but this is literally true. Literally. Copyright Joe Biden.)
So yesterday, with his grandparents in town, we walked down to get Anders' hair cut. Without a morning nap owing to his excitement at the new audience, I didn't know what to expect. I should not have worried as the barbershop housed many of Anders' favorite things: mirrors to look at the baby, lights, and fans. Plus, Dave or "Bill Clinton" as my friend Bill and I call him, was a maestro. He ushered in grandparent photos to start the session, then ushered the spectators out, I remained in front of Anders, then at the beginning of the end of the cut, he called for the video camera. It all went off quite smoothly. Anders even sat patiently on the other side with his grandparents as I got my hair cut. The only hiccup was upon entering the shop, he threw his sippy cup of milk into the floor with the hard action of a left handed slider. Anders kept grabbing his ears and the back of his head as he tried to figure out where his hair went. We had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. After his food was ploped down in front of him, he immediately started chowing down on his fries like a hungry teenager. He also almost literally inhaled his macaroni and cheese. There is a funny video that I hope to get on facebook soon of his inhaling, then Dorene tried to wrestle the bowl away, but Ando's crazy baby strength was too much for her! Anders then led my by the hand through the bar side of Buffalo Wild Wings. Our future fraternity president looked right at home there! Paul jokingly said that Anders will want to go to OU. I think his mother would have something to say about that!
And on top of everything else, Anders took a record 26 steps on his own yesterday!

After St. Patrick's Day Haircut

Recent Pictures Before Haircut

Team Trudy

Today Trudy was looking out the window at a cat, which is a minor miracle itself since Trudy rarely notices other cats even if they are outside inches away from her face. So Trudy's hackles were up. Anders looked at Trudy looking at this cat on the berm. Anders said "Dee Do! Dee Do!" which means Trudy. Then he saw the other cat across the street and booed at it while wagging his finger at it. Anders is on Team Trudy!

If you will it, it is no dream...

I forgot to mention this...Anders was wearing a yellow baby version of the hospital gown. Well, this morning, he had Anna put on his socks and shoes. Then he started saying "bye, bye." Anna then tried to take his shoes off, but he would not let her! When the doctor was debating whether or not to release Anders, Anna told him the story. Anders probably would have been released anyway, but this sentiment certainly helped his cause.

Anders Stays in his Delivery Hospital

Anders had been running temperatures for a few days this week. We thought he was teething. We gave him baby ibuprofen and the temperature would break for a while and Anders would feel better for a while, but then the last hour before he could have more medicine, he would not be comfortable anymore.

Anders was feeling better yesterday, so Anna took Anders to the babysitter. She received a call at school around 10 am. Anders had a temperature of 105. Anna took Anders to the emergency room. They were later admitted. Anna slept last night in a bed/cage reminiscent of the digs of a captured Ottoman sultan. I wasn't there so I can't do justice to Anna's experience, but the summary would be that Anna and I are more happy than ever that Anders came in Minnesota. I was there for a relatively short time compared to Anna, which was good because I started to heat up. I flashed the Crazed Viking Eyes, but didn't get too warm.

I was away Thursday and Friday on a job interview in Memphis. Spring has sprung there with flowers blooming, trees with leaves on them, and buds everywhere. I had some great Memphis BBQ, at a place where Elvis ate. I'm not sure how frequently, but they did have his autographed picture on the wall. I also liked the school really well.

Anna didn't call and tell me about the new development until I was at the airport in the evening waiting to fly back. That was for the best as otherwise I would have been thrown off.

I'll know in a couple week about this job. I really enjoyed being on flat land again.

I could write more, but I'm tired and punchy. Oh, one other funny thing. My friend Jeff Bloodworth was born in Memphis and grew up there for part of his childhood. I feel like I understand him better now. For example, Jeff's office at Gannon University is decorated eerily similar to Corky's BBQ with JFK campaign posters, pictures of Bill Clinton, other political and Southern memorabilia. The only thing missing was the poster of the sheik who ran for city council in the 1970s that Jeff has in his office.

Okay, I'm really done now.

Drive Home

Anna told me a funny story, well funny to me.

She and Anders were driving home from Gallipolis yesterday. She looked in the mirror as Anders called out for water, "Wa, Wa!" She said he looked just like me, which made it eery and funny at the same time as if I were in the back demanding water. Then she said that at other times when she glanced back she saw her brother Josh. It's cool, but still kind of eery to have someone who looks like you running around. I imagine it only gets eerier the bigger one's family since there is a greater opportunity for eeriness.

Anders' Favorite Restaurants

One of the advantages of Anders not being entirely comfortable on his feet is that he feels like he's gaining a good bit of weight. His knee walking has become quite prodigious, but he just doesn't burn the calories that a walker would. He's got a little gut now and his thighs are starting to thicken. This happened before on the brink of crawling, and that weight went away after he started crawling.

Tonight we took Anders to Abrio's Brick Oven Pizza. Anders tried to go in the back and greet the staff like Bill Clinton did at the Decorah Culver's. He was also making eyes with two girls on a double date. He started picking his nose in front of us with a shit grin that said, "Wait til those girls get a load of what I do..." So he jauntily turned around with his index finger half way up the nostril.

The point?... Abrio's has a good child preserve. It's an old Damon's, so at the bottom of the well where the big Damon's TV once sat is a great place for Anders to play. It has a lot of space, but they don't seat people down there often.

Friday night in Athens can be a though time and place to find a table, but for whatever reason, not at Abrio's. Abrio's isn't the best place, but it's far from the worst. There are much worse restaurants that are always slammed. I don't get it. Oh well, it's always a place to go. The childlife preserve is the highlight of Abrio's.

China Panda is a good Anders spot as well. The staff there love kids. We often get a table out in the middle of the action, which Anders loves.

We returned to James Waite's Chinese last month, five years after the infamous pen cap incident. I don't think we'll be returning. It was dark and cold in there. The service was slow. Even the top guy from James Waite's has defected to China Panda. For Ping Center vets, he's the balding guy who used to always beat the Japanese professor at Ping Pong in the morning.

Chipotle is also an Anders pick. It has much traffic, a lot of action behind the counter, and he likes the food better there than anywhere else.

Bear is another of the "B" words that Anders says. He is now saying "Lady." I didn't want any Athens are feminist to get mad at him for calling her a "girl." When Anders sees an androgynous woman, he usually says "man" anyway. Anders has already angered the toddler community of Athens. Anytime he sees a toddler, he points and says, "Baby." He had a little boy hopping mad for this reason at Walmart the other day. It's funny to start seeing these tiny people as "big kids" compared to Anders.

One other thing I realized tonight is that I do something with Anders that my aunt Marilee used to do with me. When Anders is heading for an outlet, plug, or some other "no-no," I whistle "woo-hoo." For literally months I have wondered why I do this. Then, tonight I remembered that Marilee did that when I was doing something I shouldn't do. Well, Marilee couldn't really whistle, so she sort of shouted "woo-hoo." It's really interesting how such things lie dormant until you reuse these things on your own kids, even if it's stuff that's hard to place. Remembering such idiosyncrasies that Marilee and Grandma used to do is a great way of remembering them now that they are gone.

The Letter B

In attempting to remember some of the other words that Anders says, I organized them by letter. The letter B is a real winner. Anders says: "butt, booger, and..." two other words that I have now forgotten. These days when Anna has parent-teacher conferences and I spend a whole day with Anders do not leave me mentally sharp. Anna thinks he might say "butt paste" and "beer," but we probably need a bit more documentation on those claims.

He can find his nose.

He blows kisses. Well, really he just kisses his hand at this point without blowing them out.

I'm excited that March has arrived. It's meteorological spring. The weather starts getting really nice here. It tends to be fairly sunny, for Athens, and the teeth of allergy season is still a month away. This means more walks for Anders. The new development on our walks is that Anders get really bored and antsy on the long, quiet stretches of the bike path where there is not much action. By April, we might just be doing laps up and down court street with the furloughed mental patients.