A Father's Day Post

My dad has always been there for me, whether he was cooking dinner, playing games, or working overtime to support us. Without my dad, I don't know how I would have made it through college. He scraped and scrimped to help me pay for classes, and bailed me out every time I drove over a beer bottle and got a flat tire (Yup, it happened more than once!). He's one of the nicest, most jovial people I know, and he'd do anything for a friend. Ten days ago, Greg and I decided to make our new son's middle name Michael, after my father. We hope that Henry Michael will be every bit as kind-hearted as his Grandpa Mike. Here he is with Grandma Patty, holding little Henry on the day he was born.

Nick and Henry are very lucky to have three Grandpas. Happy Father's Day to each of them!

Here are Grandpa Jay and Grandma Linda (Greg's father and stepmother), holding Nick last year when we went out to celebrate Father's Day.

Here is Grandpa Ray (my stepfather), holding both of his grandsons on the day Henry was born.

Of course, I cannot forget Nick and Henry's daddy. He changes diapers, he cleans bottles, he burps, he chases, he snuggles, and he even does laundry. What a wonderful father.  : )

Here is the card I made for Greg this year. I was feeling a bit creative. This is the front. . .





Here's the inside of the card. . .



and this is the back.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads and grandpas out there! 

Crabbiness Abounds

We're a little frustrated today. Nick is over his fevers, but clearly still isn't feeling well. He's spent today throwing fits over every little thing. In the car on our way back to Plainfield this afternoon, for example, he had at least four screaming, thrashing fits lasting 20+ minutes each. Tonight, he's been growling and flinging himself around until he bangs his head. Then he cries even harder. Nick has gone from being able to tell us exactly what he wants to throwing himself around the room screaming incoherently, with his only understandable word being, "No!"

I took this picture during one of his few cheerful moments, when he was playing his grandma's piano this morning. Check out his hair. Nick had some major bed-head this morning.

We spent much of our weekend going up to see Greg's dad and step mom in Rockton, IL. Each year we go up around this time because Greg's birthday and his dad's are both in the beginning of February. Since Nick's fevers were gone by Saturday morning, we decided to keep our plans and drive up. I'm glad we did, because Nick seemed to be in a much better mood around other people. He was especially glad to play with the puppies. These are very tolerant dachshunds, and they actually like it when Nick pets them. . .

and chases them. . .

. . . and hugs them.

Plus, visiting Nick's grandparents always makes him happy. They fed us a delicious snack of Gorgonzola cheese and Anjou pears. They always have chocolates out in a little dish, and Nick needs to partake every time he goes near this dish. How many little boys enjoy dark chocolate? Well, this one does. Observe the interesting and colorful combination of marker and smeared chocolate on his hands.

Yummy, huh? The best part of our weekend was actually dinner on Saturday night. Nick's grandparents had two of their friends come over and watch Nick so we could all go out. How do you think he behaved for them? Perfectly, of course. They were charmed, and he was a perfect gentleman.

He waited until this morning to do his whole fit-throwing and inconsolable screaming thing. The dinner was probably the single best meal I've ever had this side of the Atlantic. I'll post about that meal, and the amazing bathrooms in the restaurant, tomorrow. Hopefully by then my sweet little man will have returned. I miss him.

Greg's Birthday Celebration

Today was Greg's 36th Birthday. It was a great day. We started out by having brunch at Meson Sabika this morning with Greg's dad and stepmom. It's funny how families have different birthday traditions. In Greg's family, there are cards but no actual presents, just a very nice meal. I like that tradition, especially when it involves tapas. Ever since I stayed in Spain for a month back in 2004, I've jumped at any chance to eat my favorite foods, like gambas al ajillo, and calamari a ala plancha, and champinones. (shrimp with garlic, grilled calamari, and stuffed mushrooms). We ate until we burst, and everything was delicious. Nick especially loved the fresh fruit, the shrimp, and the rice pudding. Oh, and he got a real kick out of the cup they gave him with the straw.

Ever since Nick was born, I've been using pictures of him to make my own cards for people. Basically, I take a picture of Nick and stick a hat and some props on him. It only takes a few minutes, and my family and friends really seem to appreciate a personalized card with a special message from Nick. There will come a point when he's old enough to forbid me to use his pictures in such a way. Not yet, though.  :)

Nick and I got Greg some new jeans, several very nice bottles of wine (A nice Pinot Noir and a few bottles of Australian Chardonnay), a new watch, and an ice cream cake. Can you see the excitement on both of their faces when they saw the ice cream cake?

I think Greg ended up with a pretty good birthday weekend. Friday, we went out with his mom and sister to Hugo's Frog Bar in Naperville. The food was superb, but they didn't seat us until 7:30 for a 7 pm reservation. Also, they didn't have a changing table. Of course, Nick had a dirty diaper. That's just Murphy's Law. Nick's Aunt Sarah and I were going to walk down to the Border's to change him, but Greg grabbed Nick and said he'd take care of it. I'm not sure what kind of miracle he finagled, but Nick got a clean diaper.

I think the funniest part of the day was when Nick got to demolish the ice cream cake. It was only a tiny piece, but boy, did he make a mess. Then daddy gave Nick a nice bubble bath, to get the chocolate out of his ears. Nice way to end a birthday celebration.