Saturday Adventures: Hot Harley Nights

We love Saturdays in our house.  I mean, really love them.  It's the only day of the week when we're all home and have no regularly scheduled plans.  Some Saturdays are filled with house projects and running errands, but lately we've been tossing productivity to the wind and just playing!  All throughout the week, the boys and I do all kinds of fun things ... the zoo, the park, play dates, etc.  And Chris was feeling a little, well, left out.  And so began the adventures.


Yesterday morning we went to Arrowhead Park to feed the ducks and fish.  If you live in Sioux Falls and haven't fed the fish there yet, trust me when I say that it's worth your time to do so!  But don't toss it in the first pond by the parking lot.  Follow the path up and around to the upper pond.  Just past the fence there's a small slope that goes down to a tiny rock peninsula.  Grab some old bread, head to that spot and toss it in the water and watch the madness ensue.  It's hilarious!


This weekend was also Hot Harley Nights.  A three day gathering of all the tough Harley dudes (and gals) from the area and around the country.  We obviously didn't participate in the hoop-la happening downtown, but last night there was a motorcycle parade.  Over a thousand bikes riding through the streets of Sioux Falls.  Fun!  We packed up the boys, grabbed some ear plugs (Brooks HATES loud noises) and set up along Kiwanis Ave.  It was a lot of fun!

Even with earplugs, Brooks still covered his ears. But at least he was able to enjoy the parade.  Carter, however was completely un-phased by the bikers revving their engines.  I think I better prepare myself for the fact that he'll probably ride one some day.

The most interesting thing for me, was seeing all the different motorcycles and the people driving them.  Because it was Hot Harley Nights there were mostly Harley Davidson's.  But there were also some Hondas, Suzukis, trikes and even a few crotch rockets snuck in (which seemed terribly out of place).

Most of the folks driving were your typical biker dudes (complete with tattoos and leather), but there were also some more "unexpected" drivers.  Like the 70ish year old couple.  It looked like Grandma might have gone home to weed her garden and bake a pie after riding on her hog :)  I also enjoyed the gentleman whose beard was flowing in the breeze behind him.  Or the guy riding his bike with a zebra paint job while wearing a matching zebra print outfit.  The guy with a skeleton riding as his passenger was interesting too.

And I've also decided that I have a lot of respect for chicks who ride motorcycles.  I mean, I'm sure they're lovely people and all ... I just don't think I'd ever mess with one.  When I was in high school, my best friend Theresa and I planned on owning and riding motorcycles when we "grew up".  We wanted to show our awesomeness to the world.  The only thing is that she actually did it.  I didn't.  I think I would except I can't quite figure out how to strap two car seats to the back of one :)  Maybe someday.

Watch Me Grow: 10 Months

Carter turned 10 months this week and he's seeming less and less like my baby and more like a toddler.  (sigh)  I knew it would happen, but given our many struggles during the first 6 months of his life, I wasn't quite sure what this age would look like.  I just couldn't imagine us making it this far.  But here we are!  Carter is very active, very "talkative" and loves and loves to laugh.  He brings so much joy to our home and we are so very blessed to have him in our family!  Here's what's new ......

Eating:

• Carter is eating all finger foods/solids now.  I still have some baby purees in the freezer I'm slowly using up, but it's much easier just to feed him what we're eating.  And Carter will eat anything!!  Which is good when it comes to food, not so good when it involves non-food items.  More on that later.
• Favorite foods: Um, everything?  Does that count as a favorite?  He really will eat anything.  This month he had his first taste of grain foods (other than cereal) - pasta, bread, muffins.  I try to give him mostly fruits and veggies, but I think he likes the variety.
• Not-so-favorite foods:  I can't think of any.  He'll even eat bananas now and applesauce.  He just likes to put things in his mouth.
• He's nursing just a handful of times each day.  Lately, with the 100 degree temps, I've been trying to nurse him more to make sure he stays hydrated.  He's an efficient little eater, but he's also very active. When he's just about done eating, he'll often try to turn, wiggle, crawl and stand up .... all while being latched on.  Ouch!!  "You know these things aren't portable, right kid??"

Carter's first time eating spaghetti!  He was also VERY tired and not interested in pictures.

Sleeping

• Not much has changed this month.  Carter still takes an afternoon nap around 12 or 1pm.  I'll nurse him before nap.  Sometimes he falls asleep while nursing, sometimes not.  If he's still awake, I'll lay him in his crib, sing him our bedtime prayer song and kiss him good-night.  He may fuss for a minute or two, but then falls right asleep.  So nice.
• Carter goes to bed between 7 and 8pm and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30am.  He's an early bird for sure.  The nice thing is that Chris will take him downstairs with him while he's getting ready for work so I can sleep a bit longer.  That's really nice!
• Carter usually wakes up around 2 or 3am to nurse, then falls right back asleep.  He may wake up again around 5 to nurse again, but then goes back to sleep for a few more hours.  I'm finding I'm only up for less than 10 minutes when he wakes up to nurse, but I'm looking forward to the day when he'll sleep all the way through the night.  That's a good goal for his birthday, right?

New Discoveries:

• The kiddie pool.  As I mentioned earlier, for the last week or so the temperatures have been in the 90's and sometimes have even broken 100 degrees!  Ish, that hot!!  So the other night we filled up the kiddie pool and both boys were able to splash around and cool off.  Carter loved it.  It was just like the bath, so why wouldn't he?  In fact, it was so much like the bath that Chris and I decided just to wash up the boys while they were in the pool.  We brought out the shampoo and some rags and cleaned 'em up.  Worked out pretty well :)
• All small objects.  Carter has a very keen eye for small things on the ground.  He observes them, picks them up and immediately shoves them into his mouth!  I try to tell myself that that's his way of discovering his world, but does he really have to put everything into his mouth?  I mean, it's great at mealtime.  He'll eat anything we put on his tray.  But his loves of tasting things reaches far beyond food to things like grass, sand, crumbs on the floor, stickers, wood chips, game pieces and rabbit poop.  Yes, rabbit poop.  Ew.  Chris and I have become very good at the "finger sweep" to remove the many objects he places in his mouth.
• Kitchen cabinets.  You know those doors on the lower cabinets?  Did you know they open??  Carter realized that they, indeed, do open and there's a whole host of treasures inside of them.  Pots, pans, lids, toaster, strainer.  Oh, the fun!

please don't look too close at my ugly cabinets!

• Bike Riding.  Last week we hooked up the trailer to the bikes and went for a ride.  Carter loved it.  Or so I was told - I couldn't see behind me.  And my discovery while doing this?  That I'm horribly out of shape.  After 20 minutes, I was out of breath and ready to head home.  Baby steps.

• Camp.  At the beginning of June, we all traveled out to Deadwood, SD for Adventure Camp.  I was the speaker for the camp for K-3rd graders.  It's the second year I've gone, but the first that my family could come with me!  I loved having them there.  Carter explored the camp grounds, played in the sand and water at the beach and hung out with all the big kids.  Before we headed home, we stopped at Reptile Gardens for a few hours.  Carter touched a big tortoise!  We had a lot of fun!

New Abilities:

• Crawling, standing, climbing.  I know he started doing all these things last month, but now he is much faster!  I'll move him out of the bathroom and into the living room and by the time I walk back to the bathroom to shut the door, Carter is right on my heels.  It's hard to keep up with this kiddo sometimes.
• Flushing the toilet.  I know this isn't a typical "milestone" for babies, but Carter discovered the neat little handle on the toilet and realized it makes a fun noise when he pulls it down.  I'm still shocked that he's even tall enough to reach it!
• Walking with help.  Carter has figured out how to use a push cart, laundry basket, large bucket, etc to push as a he walks.  He walks all over the place ... well, at least until he runs into something and can't go any further. Then he sits down and cries.  It's pretty cute.  So one of us will help him "steer" toward an open area where he can walk again.  I have a strong feeling he'll be walking by his first birthday.  Always on the move!!!