Two Months Old

Today was my dad's first day as a stay-at-home dad. Yay! He doesn't have to do it all by himself yet -- my Auntie Coop is here for the next month and a half to help both me and herself (she went crazy the last time they moved, so Uncle Jason is handling it while she plays with me and Dad). She brought Uncle Jason for a few days, too, and I couldn't pass up a nap on my favorite mattress. And their puppy came along -- Kael is even littler than me, which is unusual right now.

For Father's Day, Mom came up with this great idea for a gift that I could get Dad: matching outfits. I know, sort of dorky, but I'm not old enough to be embarrassed by it yet. We got Dad a T-shirt with this picture on it, and me a onesie with the same photo. I also got him an 8x10 of this picture, which my mom is framing for our family wall. I'm not big enough yet to make him breakfast in bed, but I think he liked what I was able to do for him anyway.

Aunt Cassie and Uncle Ben had a great visit here, I think. They got to go to Disney all five days of the week while Mom and Dad were at work, and then come home and have dinner with us and Grandma. Tuesday night we actually went to Pirate's Dinner Adventure, and I slept right through all the gunshots and sword fights and cannon fire. Mom's considering putting in Die Hard and cranking up the volume next time I have trouble getting to sleep.

Grandma went home Saturday, and my aunt and uncle left Sunday morning. It was hard to see them all go, but then Auntie Coop and Uncle Jason were here when we got back from Mom's work party Sunday night. She had one Friday, too -- I guess the first one was saying goodbye to the old residents and the second was greeting the new ones. All I really know is that I got passed around a lot, which Mom and Dad are learning is dangerous with a baby. After all, if you shake up a can of soda enough, sooner or later it's gonna explode, if you get my drift. Let's just say we used up all our travel baby wipes this weekend.

I'm excited for this week to end, because it means Mom doesn't have such a long shift at work! Of course, it's not so bad now that I have Dad to boss around all day. Being spoiled rules.

Hotel Avery

Today is my mom and dad's fifth anniversary. Yay! I'm glad they fell in love and got married, because if not for that I wouldn't be here today.

It's been a busy two weeks, everybody. With so many people around to fawn over me, I didn't have a chance to update last week. More people have come to see me in that time than have come to see Mom and Dad in the last two years. Not that Dad's bitter about sitting in the back seat, of course. Whatever, Dad. Besides, I'm way cuter than he is, and if he wants to fight about who's the boss he can just read my onesie.

My grandma's been here for a week and a half. She's been a big help in a lot of ways, not just because Dad knows he has a lot to learn and she can teach him but because he and Mom are both working (at least for now, and I'll get to that). Without Grandma, I think Dad might have had one or two meltdowns by now. She has another week to help remind him that I'm not out to get him, I'm just little. Oh, and snuggle me, of course.

On Friday my great-grandparents (my Nona's parents) came up to see me. They were actually in town all week, but they'd never done the Disney World thing before and so they decided to visit the parks while they had the opportunity. But that's pretty far from where we live, and Mom's on a busy work schedule, so Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma got a hotel closer to the house for the last couple days of their trip (they went back to Canada on Sunday) and we spent a lot of time playing. They were really excited to meet me, and of course they love seeing Mom and they like Dad too. We all went out for dinner at the Macaroni Grill on Saturday night, and the smell of that pasta made me hungry. Dad was quick on his feet with a diversion, though -- he took me for a little walk so Mom could eat her food before it got cold.

My Uncle Mike came out, too. He crashed on an air mattress in my room (since I'm not using it yet) for five days and helped Grandma take care of me while Mom and Dad were at work on Monday and Tuesday. Plus even though he wasn't at work, he did some troubleshooting for our computer and installed a new DVD burner. Now (well, as soon as Dad exchanges the video adapter that doesn't work) we can make DVDs of my adorability to send off to family members. One uncle/aunt down, three to go.

Blood uncles and aunts, I mean. There are a lot of people that Mom and Dad love but are not actually related to, but still get called Auntie This and Uncle That. Tomorrow, in fact, I get to see my Aunt Cassie and Uncle Ben. She's a doctor too, like my mom, so even though it's not the best timing as far as Mom's work goes, Aunt Cassie only has so many weeks in a year that she's allowed to take off too. It'll be nice to see them -- and I guess having Uncle Ben in the house will help Dad feel a little less emasculated by having so many girls around. Even the puppies are girls.

The other big thing that happened in the last two weeks is that Dad quit his job. Well, not totally quit, but June 22 is his last day. It was either that or put me into a day care, which I guess he had a bad experience with when he was little. (My Auntie Coop is coming after Grandma leaves, so I wouldn't have been in day care until I was almost four months old, but Dad's job is changing and he didn't want them to waste the money training him.) Plus Mom got really sad when she thought about someone else taking care of me. So they decided together that I could be Dad's full-time job, and if he wanted to moonlight and do some other little thing for money, that could be a future decision. So now I don't have to go somewhere else during the day, Mom and Dad don't have to worry about me as much, and we're all happy.

That just about catches me up, I think. Tune in next week, when I flaunt my awesome Father's Day present.

Announcement!

Nona and Mom liked this so much they said Dad should go into business making them.

Family Values

The nice lady over there is my Nona, my mom's mom. (Mom and Dad aren't all crazy thinking I won't be able to tell my grandparents apart if I don't have different names for them, but they're pretty cool about calling people what they want to be called.) She was here for a whole week, and we had an utterly fabulous time together, playing and singing and going for walks and all that fun stuff grandparents do to spoil you. We even took naps together a few times, which I love -- there's nothing quite like snuggling up to family while you're sleeping to really feel secure. Nona had to go home on Friday morning, and she and Mom cried a lot. I cried, too, but just a little, because I know it's not going to be long before I get to see her again.

The four of us went to a big Memorial Day barbecue at Mom's friend's house, too. A lot of her co-workers were there, so I got tons of attention. People just can't resist a cute baby, I guess, and I am adorable if I do have to say so myself. I was thinking about taking a little dip in their pool, just sticking my feet in anyway, but they forgot to turn on the heat, so it was too cold for me! Dad and Nona swam around for a while, though, because they're crazy.

Tomorrow's a big day for all of us in the house. It's essentially Dad's first day of school -- he's here with me all by ourselves. AAAAUGH! No, I'm just kidding. I love my dad, and he's going to do fine, even if he's a little nervous.

I will miss my mom, though, because she has to go back to work. She's been here for me the whole time so far, and it'll be weird for her to be gone for more than just a couple of hours. It's a good thing she loves her job, because a lesser position might have her wondering just why in the heck she ever decided to go back. I'm actually really proud of Mom, for recognizing how much hard work she's put in toward her job and not just giving it up because she doesn't trust Dad with me. But I'm still looking forward to Saturday.

Something else I have to look forward to this week: Wednesday my grandma (my dad's mom) is coming to stay for almost three weeks! That's why I'm not worried for Dad -- Grandma will get him whipped into shape and teach him to have some confidence even if he feels like he's not doing anything right. Also, on Friday (this is really cool) my great-grandparents are coming all the way from Canada, and my Uncle Mike will be here too! It's nice to have so many people who love me willing to come all this way.