Kidville

Crazy Day

May 28, 2010 by Jessica

Wow…I’m exhausted. Micah woke up on the late side yesterday, and we did a mad dash to get hi to his art class before daycare…only to find out they canceled the class and forgot to tell us. We dropped him at daycare and came home. We got a bit of work done, but then we ran out to go to my condo to work on getting it ready for sale next week. We spent about an hour cleaning things out, then went to my my midwife appointment. The baby was doing well – I’m still 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced (or so). I was hoping for some more progress, but no such luck! I think she will be staying put for a little while longer. My belly was measuring around 35 weeks (I never got bigger than that with Micah). They did my group B strep test…let’s hope it comes back negative!

After the appointment, we came home. I finished putting a few things away, got a bit more work done, and then the architect and the builder came by. We talked about the new bid, finalized a few other pieces of information – and now we wait for a formal written bid (hopefully to come in on Monday). If the bid comes back as promised, we are all set to move forward and get these renovations on the road! Right after our meeting, Elliot ran out to pick Micah up from daycare. He did not nap at all yesterday, so cranky does not even begin to describe Micah’s mood last night. He was really difficult all through dinner, and we finally gave in and just put Sesame Street on for an hour before taking him upstairs for a bath and bedtime.

Micah woke a bit on the early side this morning (just before 8). He was still pretty cranky through breakfast, unfortunately. The babysitter, Christin, arrived at 9:00, and she helped keep him calm and get him dressed. My father showed up around 9:45 – it was the first day of the new semester of his Kidville classes, and unfortunately, I screwed up and scheduled an ultrasound during class. I wanted to go with Micah and Christin to show her the ropes, but I just couldn’t be in two places at once. My father volunteered to come down and go in with them so she would not have to do it on her own. Apparently, they had a great time – my father left the first class for a bit to run errands, but he was a huge help getting them down there and all settled into class.

While they were in class, Elliot and I went for the ultrasound. Twoey looked great…she is still head down. She was measuring at about 35 weeks (same as Micah at this point). They guestimated her weight at around 5 lbs 15 ozs (which I think is a bit smaller than they predicted for Micah at this point). I think she is going to be small like Micah. They confirmed a whole lot of hair again, too, so I think we are going to have another baby with crazy hair! She passed her biophysical profile with flying covers, scoring a perfect 8/8.

We made it home around 11:30. We scheduled Micah for back-to-back classes, so they did not come home until about 12:30. My father left and went about his day, and Christin fed Micah lunch. Our organizer, Leslie, showed up here around 12:00 – I immediately took her upstairs to help me finish digging out the bedroom. In the corner of the bedroom, I’ve had one last box that I never unpacked after we moved in, and a pile of a few other things. Since I gave up my office when we moved here, I don’t really have a place to store all of my papers and business items. Unfortunately, they’ve been getting a bit unwieldy. We sorted the box, sorted all of my papers, divided everything up for filing, and threw out several bags of unnecessary junk. I now have a space in the room to put a small dresser for Twoey’s clothing until we move into our bigger place. I feel SOOO much better to have unloaded a bit more (and Leslie also attacked Elliot’s half of the room and unloaded a bunch of his junk, too). So, things are looking up – we’ve significantly de-cluttered, which will make packing up to move MUCH easier (and I don’t have to feel like keeping the baby in our bedroom is a health hazard!).

Micah went down for his nap a little after 1:00 pm. While I was working with Leslie, Christin brought her friend Megan over (who previously babysat for us). Megan is thinking about changing her job, and might be interested in working for us as Micah and Twoey’s nanny beginning in September!! I’m so excited – if this works out, it really will be a great solution for us. She is responsible, good with children, and she is willing to work for a very reasonable amount of money since she is only 20 and has never been a nanny before (although she has TONS of babysitting experience). She would like to be a party planner when she “grows up” and my father has a lot of party planning connections (he owns a stationery business and does a lot of work in that field). We think we can hire her and help get her some internships/other part-time work in the party planning industry. Our hope is that she’ll work for us for two years full time (and maybe another year or so part-time), and that as our need decreases, we can slowly help her take off on the career of her dreams. Let’s see if this works out!

At 3:00, Leslie left. I was amazed at how much we accomplished in three hours. My mom normally comes on Thursday nights for date night, but she has had a rough week at work (and an unexpected trip to the dentist), so I told her she could take the night for herself if she needed it. She apologized, but decided to head home after work. I’m just so lucky she gives us as much time as she does! Since Christin is desperate for more hours and to earn more money, I asked her if she would mind staying later tonight. She happily agreed! When Micah woke up from his nap, she asked if she could take him over to her mom’s (Laura’s) house. Laura babysits my friend Niki and Eric’s kids on Thursdays (that is how I found Christin last year), and Micah loves playing with them and loves going to their house. I said it was fine, and off they went! They played in the baby pool, and played with trains. Christin called and asked if they could stay at Laura’s house through dinner, and I said that was fine. When they took off, Elliot and I decided to head back to my condo to finish emptying it and do all the touch-up painting that needed to be done. By the way, I love those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers – they did a great job removing all kinds of scuffs and issues. We stayed there for about 2 1/2 hours, decided not to do anything more for date night, then made it back here before Micah’s bedtime. We walked through the door, and Micah was sitting quietly, cuddling with Christin, and all dressed in his pajamas. We got to spend some time with him and put him to bed, so it was a nice evening. Christin took off after a VERY long day, but they both seemed to have a great time (and we managed to accomplish a lot today).

I can’t believe we still have another day left this week! I’m looking forward to the long weekend. We are going out to dinner on Saturday night with all of my cousins. We are thinking of having a few people over on Monday afternoon/evening for a Memorial Day….gathering. Very small and low-key, but hopefully it will be fun. We want to keep it small and simple (I am not up for working too hard…and I want to be able to easily cancel if I go into labor).

So…happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

Hand, Foot and Mouth

April 17, 2010 by Jessica

My little man is SICK. Everything seemed fairly normal this week – Micah had been a bit cranky, but I presumed it was due to the teething. A few times on Wednesday I thought he felt a touch warm, but I figured it was just from the teething, and I did not even check his temperature. He was SOOO cranky on Wednesday night, so I was in a huge hurry to bathe him and put him to bed.

On Thursday, Micah woke up a bit early. He was very cranky again, and hardly ate any breakfast at all. I decided to give him Tylenol – it helps with the teething pain, and often gives him his appetite back. We took my car over to a free car seat inspection/installation event, and Micah had a great time! He wandered around, and I made the mistake of putting him in the driver’s seat – he LOVED it! Unfortunately, we could not convince them to install the car seat in the driver’s seat, so Micah was quite unhappy when we made him return to the rear seat.

After the car seat installation, we took Micah for a visit with his Grammy at work (while Elliot and I went for another ultrasound of Twoey). I was afraid he would be miserable the entire time. I’ll separately post the update about Twoey and our ultrasound appointment, but it turned out Micah actually behaved himself! When we went back to pick him up, I thought he felt a bit warm. We were running late, so we ended up missing our class and going home instead. While Elliot headed downtown to a meeting, I put Micah down for a nap.

Much to my surprise, Micah took a LONG nap. Elliot made it home before Micah woke up from his nap. I knew he was tired, but he slept for nearly 4 hours! When he finally woke up, he was burning up. I took his temperature, and it was 104.3. I immediately gave him some Tylenol. I called the pediatrician, and they said that I did not need to rush him to the emergency room unless he was listless, and I should work on getting his fever down and bring him in to the office in the morning. About 45 minutes later, I checked Micah’s temeprature again…and it was up to 104.8. I was concerned, so I called the after-hours emergency number to reach the pediatrician. While we waited for her to call back. Elliot informed me that we had gotten an email from Micah’s daycare informing us that there was a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease reported in his classroom. Immediately, I was fairly certain Micah had caught the virus.

When the doctor called back, we mentioned the outbreak at his daycare and we discussed the fever. She suggested I try to give Micah Motrin, too, and place him in a lukewarm bath if his temperature did not start to drop within an hour or two. She said we should go to the hospital if the fever continued to climb and we could not get it to drop within an hour or two, or if Micah became listless and lethargic. At that point, my mom showed up (to babysit for our normal date night), and we stripped Micah down to his diaper. I checked his temperature one more time, and it was 105.1.

About 45 minutes later…we had gotten Micah’s temperature back down to 103.8. Who would have thought that a temperature of 103.8 would be a relief? Over the next hour, Micah’s crankiness started to dissipate. He started to drink some milk, he ate some graham crackers and some cheese, and he started to run around and play with his toys. He seemed to be in good spirits…so I decided to head out for a few hours and leave Micah with my mom. Instead of our weekly date night, Elliot decided to take a class that interested him, so I made plans to meet my friend Heather. We just went for dinner at a tapas place in Rockville. The weather was beautiful, but unfortunately, those Tea Party people were holding a rally on the square where we were eating. I was really annoyed to have my peaceful dinner being disturbed by that stuff. I believe they have the right to demonstrate…but I also believe I have the right not to listen!

I was definitely laughing when the Tea Party-ers decided to play their “anthem”… Independence Day by the Dixie Chicks. Yes, the Dixie Chicks. I’m guessing that the Dixie Chicks would not be thrilled about this political group co-opting their name or their song, and I think it is ironic that these are likely the same people who blasted the Dixie Chicks for being anti-war (and called them un-American). Ahh…the irony. By the way, can someone please explain to me how people can be pro-war and anti-government and taxation at the same time? Unless I’m mistaken, the war efforts are one of the biggest government expenditures (and a HUGE component of our current federal government). Sorry…got off on a tangent there.

Anyway, I came home after a few hours – apparently, Micah and my mother had a fun night together, and he went to bed easily. He did sleep until 6:00 am on Friday morning, but he woke periodically crying on and off overnight.

Friday morning, Micah still had a fever of 104. We made an appointment and took him to the pediatrician. Naturally, when we got there, his fever was only 98.4! Apparently, all the meds were helping. Micah looked fine upon examination, and we mentioned the case of Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (also known as the Coxsackie virus) at his daycare. Micah’s throat was red (and he had a negative strep test), so the doctor presumed that this was likely a Coxsackie viral infection. He warned us Micah’s fever would stay high for another day or two, and that he might develop sores in his mouth and a rash on his hands, feet, and possibly his tush.

We kept him medicated and comfortable all day. We also learned that 4 other children in his daycare class (out of 6) were out sick with this virus. Ah well…I guess in the scheme of things, this really has been fairly minor. Elliot took Micah on a long walk in the afternoon, we watched Sesame Street, and we had a nice afternoon.

Around 7:00, our niece Melissa came over for dinner – she was in town for a conference, and Micah got to spend some quality time with his cousin. We bathed him and put him to bed by 8:30, and the three of us stayed up talking until about 1:00 am. I then drove Melissa back downtown to the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

This morning, Micah woke up with some blisters on his tongue and a slight rash on his feet, tush and hands. Definitely Coxsackie! I have to say, that sounds so much better to me than Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, doesn’t it? I checked with the pediatrician again by telephone…I do not need to keep him isolated while he has the rash – just until 24 hours after his fever breaks. His fever has been below 100 today, so we will hopefully be able to return him to class on Monday.

In the meantime, Micah has been having some fun around the house. Apparently, he pulled this box off of the counter so he could play with it:
In the past few days, Micah has learned to shake his head “no.” Another sign of the terrible twos, I suppose. He says “no” when he doesn’t want food, or if he doesn’t want to go upstairs for a nap, or really for anything else. It is kind of cute, but I have a feeling I’m going to grow to hate that.

For giggles, here is a picture of Micah in “his” chair:

Here are a few other pictures from last week.

Natural History Museum on Tuesday:

Hanging out with Daddy (after stealing his glasses):

Thursday night with Grammy:

Friday Spring Fling:

I Saw Micah Kissing…

March 14, 2010 by Jessica

Sometimes, there are moments that I could just scoop Micah up into my arms and squeeze him tightly and kiss him forever because I cannot get over how adorable he is – the simplest things just make my heart swell. I just want to take those moments and bask in them forever, but it seems they have a way of passing in a heartbeat. We had one of those moments last night.

I was sitting on the couch with Elliot and Micah was busy playing. I got up to walk into the kitchen to grab something to eat, and all of the sudden, I heard this noise. It kind of sounded like kissing, but I thought it could have been sucking, too. I walked back to the living room, peeked around the corner, and there was Micah, his hands firmly grasping his Elmo doll and holding it nose-to-nose in front of his face, kissing Elmo squarely on his mouth. I just about died – it has to be one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen! I asked Micah if he was giving Elmo kisses, and he smiled at me before he resumed kissing and hugging Elmo. Micah spent the better part of the next 20 minutes kissing Elmo. It’s official…Micah is in love with Elmo, and I can’t say I heard Elmo complaining.

In other news, Micah is 15 months old today!! I can’t imagine where the time has gone. Micah is running now, not just walking. He climbs into everything (and is especially fond of standing in tupperware containers). I wish I could grab a picture of that, but he just doesn’t sit still long enough. He loves to play his kazoo, and he now has 6 teeth all broken through (and it looks like another 2-4 on the way). He recently discovered his long eyelashes – sometimes he just sits there and yanks on them. It makes me laugh – I can’t imagine that it doesn’t drive him nuts.

Micah has been getting picky about eating the last week or so – I’m not sure if it is a phase or because of the teething. Some days, we can barely get him to eat anything at all, and other days he’ll eat a ton of food. We’ve also noticed that he is refusing to eat several “reliable” favorites – like bananas. He will still eat the freeze dried bananas, so it may just be a texture/teething thing. He still loves oranges, peaches, apple sauce, strawberries and grapes. We have been working on expanding Micah’s food horizons – he now eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cream cheese and jelly, and cream cheese and olives. We’ve been trying to give him more lunch meats/deli slices, and he seems to love fish sticks. I have not been experimenting as much as I planned with chicken (he is kind of hit or miss about eating that). We did try giving him sweet and sour meatballs, and he seemed to like it, but he has been a little less willing to eat melted cheese sandwiches and pizza this week, but cheese sticks are at the top of the list. He also loves crackers – Wheat Thins, Cheez-Its, graham crackers, etc. We still haven’t tried the mashed potato croquettes or risotto cakes, but we have the ingredients ready to go.

Micah is just over 20 lbs now (still a tiny little thing) but I think he is quite tall (considering his weight) – perhaps 33 inches or more! We have our 15 month checkup on Tuesday, so I’ll have the official stats then. I think he will get his MMR vaccine at this visit, and perhaps chicken pox as well (we did not give him the chicken pox vaccine last time). I have read in some places that the chicken pox vaccine is not safe to give to anyone in a household with a pregnant woman – I need to verify that before we make our decision, but if it is safe for me, we will likely give him that vaccine as well. My little guy is still only in the 12 month (or 6-12 month) size. We have several outfits in the 6-9 month size I have not completely pulled from his closet, but those are definitely starting to get a little short in the sleeves. There are a few things he can “get away” with wearing in the 12-18 month (or 18 month) size, but they are still pretty big on him. I have purchased him all 12-18 month (or 18 month) sized clothing for the summer – I think that should be the right size.

As for talking – Micah has a number of words, and he is beginning to mimic us more often now. He regularly says hi, bye, mama, dada (or dad), nuh-nuh (for the dog), night night, ball and bubble. He signs more, all done and milk, and he will say (on occasion) Elmo, Big Bird, bang, uh oh, and a few other words. He seems to understand a lot of language – he’ll bring me things when I say “bring that to mommy,” and he will go pick up certain toys that I mention by name. He is starting to know his body parts, but he does not always respond (sometimes he prefers to smile at me with an expression that says “Mommy, you need to learn that I do not perform on command.” He knows to clap and to wave in response to those words, and he likes to play the “belly drum.” He does know where his head and nose are, and I think he understands the word hand, too. He is so curious about everything – he inspects and investigates everything, and he is always trying to climb onto or into anything he can.

So, in honor of Micah’s 15 months, here are some pictures:

Playing the Kazoo and clapping:

Stealing Daddy’s tie…

Fun with tupperware:

And some video for good measure:

Just a few photos from the last snow storm:

And a weekend visit and a trip to Kidville with Uncle Jeremy, Paige and Peyton:

Pumpkins, music, and epi pens, oh my!

October 14, 2009 by Jessica

On Sunday, Micah and I had plans to meet my parents, Paige and Peyton at the pumpkin festival at Butler’s Orchard. We arrived around 10:30, and off we went! There was so much to do – face painting, pony rides, games, a maze, a tractor ride, some playground stuff…it was a mad house! They also had a pumpkin chuck machine, festival food, and big slides. We had such a good time – we played, took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch (Micah ate straw and loved it), and enjoyed our day outside. Paige and Peyton took a horse ride and jumped on the moon bounce. Micah spent the morning in the Bjorn carrier – he was having so much fun! While the girls were on the moon bounce, we looked through the mesh on the side, and Micah’s feet just touched the edge of the bounce, and he was bouncing, too! After a long day, we ran into some friends from our playgroup. On the way out, we tried to stop and pick raspberries, but there were none left. I grabbed a bag of apples from the market there (I see more apple pie in my future!), and we headed home.

We got home around 2, and Micah kept me running the rest of the afternoon while Elliot was at a conference. Micah was exhausted, but he just wouldn’t nap. Elliot came home around 5:45, and I crashed on the couch for a while Elliot fed Micah dinner and played with him. We then put Micah to bed at his usual bedtime.

Monday was a federal holiday, and Micah was not in daycare. So, Elliot and I took him to a special “Columbus Day” performance of the Little Maestros at Kidville where we got to spend time with some friends. He had a great time – crawling around, dancing and laughing. He just LOVES Kidville! He even spent some time crawling around in their playspace. We came home around 12, and he napped for 3 1/2 hrs!!

Naturally, Tuesday was insane. I had to leave in the afternoon for a conference in Miami. To make matters worse, I had forgotten that my driver’s license expired (I learned that on my last trip when they weren’t going to let me through the airport), so I had to get up early to get it renewed. I was up and out of the house before 8:00 am. I waited in line forever, finally got it renewed. Of course, I also had to squeeze in an appointment at 9:45, so I went racing down after I finished at the MVA. Naturally, traffic was HORRIBLE – it took me 45 minutes to make a 15 minute trip. I finally got to the office, and Elliot was there waiting with Micah (he needed to hand Micah off to me so he could go to a meeting). Unfortunately, Micah had a big old stinky diaper going on (Elliot conveniently didn’t smell it before he left), and Micah did not want to sit still for mommy. Oh – and did I mention it was Micah’s nap time AND Elliot forgot to bring a bottle for me to feed him? Yeah, that was a fun appointment!

After I was finished, I took him to the car, strapped him in, and had a decision to make – we had class at Kidville at 11:45, and it was already 11:00. I was 10 minutes from the house, and 15 minutes from Kidville. I needed to decide if I should go straight to class, or try to drive home (10 minutes), get a bottle and some lunch food for him to try and feed him in class, and THEN drive back to Kidville (about 20 minutes from the house). I knew from experience, going home would mean Micah would wake up, not nap well, and we would be late for class. I decided to drive straight to Kidville and hope Micah napped and could hold out for his bottle until after we got home from class.

En route to Kidville, I realized I needed to stop for gas (I was on empty and knew I wouldn’t have time to refill on the way to the airport). After refilling the gas tank, I realized I was STARVING and stopped for some lunch (Burger King was the only drive-through in the area…so veggie burger it was!). Naturally, I was late getting to class. We went inside, and Micah had fun, but he was very clingy – probably hungry. After class, Micah had a total melt down on the way home – he was sobbing as if to say “Mommy, I’m starving and going to DIE if you don’t give me a bottle.” It was heartbreaking – I kept telling him I was trying to get him a bottle, but he just did not understand.

When we got home, I realized that it was already 1:15. I gave Micah his bottle, fed him lunch, and started to try and plan the rest of my day. I had a lot on my list, and only a few short hours left to get it all done and get to the airport. Much to my surprise, Elliot showed up relatively on time…only 10 minutes late. I still had to finish packing and load up the car and then I ran off to run one more errand before heading to the airport. I made it to the airport, only to find out my flight was delayed 30 minutes. How annoying!! We finally took off, and the flight seemed to last forever. About 15 minutes before landing, the girl in the seat next to me accidentally ate some salmon (she tasted something the little old lady at the end of our row offered her)…and she is allergic to salmon! She had an epi pen, but didn’t know how to use it (apparently, her parents had always administered it in the past). The flight attendants were freaking out when she asked if someone else could give her the shot, so I stepped up and offered to do it. So I grabbed the pen, quickly skimmed the directions, ripped the top off, lined it up, gave her fair warning and hit the trigger. I also had benadryl in my purse, so I gave her some of that.

She was worried about what to do when she landed, so I told her I’d call my friend Tammy (with whom I would be staying) who is a thoracic surgeon and double check with her what she had to do next. Upon landing, I called Tammy who said it was all good, but encouraged her to continue taking benadryl for the next 24 hours. I felt like such a mom – I was explaining to this girl how to transfer her prescription refill down to Florida, and I gave her benadryl from my stash in my purse to take with her, and I made sure she found her boyfriend who was picking her up. She seemed so scared – she was only 22!!

When I finally arrived at Tammy’s (that was an adventure – according to Garmin, her building doesn’t exist!), we went out to dinner. We ate at a place called Yuca, and it was delicious. I was so exhausted, though, and when I got back to her condo, I did some work, then went to bed at 1:30. On a side note, I have decided that Garmin sucks in Miami. The Garmin seems perpetually confused, it has a hard time finding the satellite, it calls out turns and directions at the last second, it changes its mind about the route a number of times, and sometimes, you do what it says and then it decides it no longer likes the route! I don’t think I could keep the Garmin in Miami.

Tammy and I woke up this morning, grabbed breakfast together and then I came to the conference. I sat in boring meetings all day, and finally left a bit early. They have a networking event tonight, but I think I’d rather stay back and go out to dinner with Tammy. Tomorrow is my presentation in the afternoon, and then I will be flying back home!

Visit with Grammy and Goppy

September 21, 2009 by Jessica

With all the traveling I am doing, the holiday, and my computer issues, this is the first chance I’ve had to blog about our trip to Atlanta (and Micah’s visit with my parents). Our flight was last Sunday evening. We went over to my parents’ house in the late afternoon. We took some time to unpack all of Micah’s things, to run through the routine with my parents, and to get him prepped and ready for dinner. Around 5:45, we took off for National Airport.

We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, but nearly missed our plane because they changed the gate and we did not realize it. Because we were the last ones on the plane, we were forced to gate check our bags. We arrived in Atlanta, rented a car, then went to check into the hotel. We stayed at the Omni Hotel, and I have to say, that was the MOST incompetent staff we have ever experienced. First, as we arrived the valet was giving car keys to a very drunk woman. We complained to the manager about that, and supposedly, they took her keys back. The woman checking us in could not find our reservations. It took us almost 1 hour to check in, and they did not give us the correct room rate.

When we finally made it to the room, we were exhausted. I called my mom to check on Micah, and apparently he had a great dinner, but it took a little while before he fell asleep. We did our best to leave familiar things with him (his blanket and the mobile). I thanked my mom again, and hoped he slept through the night. We discussed what they needed to do to get him to daycare in the morning, and I said good night.

I woke up early for meetings beginning at 8:00 am, and Elliot was scheduled for an afternoon tour of some of our client’s facilities. Apparently, Micah had a good day. He slept until about 7:30, he had his bottle and breakfast, and then my dad and Micah dropped my mom off at work and drove down to daycare. Monday night, Elliot and I had a working dinner, and then I spent the rest of the evening finishing my two presentations for Tuesday. I did call a few times to check on the Micah man, and he did well at daycare. My parents gave him a bath and he went to bed easily.

The conference began bright and early Tuesday morning. My presentations went well, and I think I generated some new business. Micah had a great day, too. He woke up at his normal time, ate breakfast, and hung out with his Grammy in the morning. It was his first day of his story/music class at Kidville, and my parents took him there (I was so sad I missed taking him!). They said he had a great time singing, playing and listening to stories. Apparently, Micah was smiling, clapping, and all over the place – far more interested and active than the other children in the class. My mom went to work after the class, and my dad brought Micah home to their house for lunch and his afternoon nap.

I have to say, I was quite impressed by my father. He was very hands-on as a dad, but so far, as a grandfather, he has been a bit more hands-off. He mostly has seemed uncomfortable with the idea of caring for Micah (or really any of his grandchildren) alone. Much to my surprise, he spent a lot of time alone with Micah last week, and he did a great job! He changed diapers, fed him, put him down for naps, played with him on the floor. Mostly, I was pleased to hear that he was so comfortable with Micah. They seem to have bonded this week, and I love seeing that.

Anyway, back in Atlanta, Elliot and I had a reception Tuesday night, and we were too tired to go out to dinner. Once again, Elliot and I stayed in and worked on our presentations for Wednesday. I have to say, we were in the same building as the CNN Center, right near the Underground, the Coca Cola Museum, and all of downtown Atlanta, and we not only barely left the building the entire trip, we couldn’t even explore WITHIN the building.

On Wednesday, I had a third presentation, and Elliot gave two presentations. Another great day for both of us! Micah went back to daycare (after helping my dad drive my mom to work). He had a great time there, my father picked him up around 4:30, and the two of them went and picked my mom up from work. They had a wonderful evening, a good dinner, playtime, and my parents gave him a bath. We called to say goodnight to him – I was having a tough time missing my baby.

After Elliot’s presentation Wednesday night, we took our friend Katherine (who was in Atlanta to present at the conference) out to dinner at Flip, the burger restaurant owned by Richard Blaise (from Top Chef last season). I had trouble deciding what to order, so I got both the falafel burger and a mushroom burger to taste. They were delicious (thankfully, Elliot finished the burgers for me). Ellilot and Katherine ordered an organic burger. We ordered a few sides, too – french fries and tempura squash (think squash fries) – and then we topped it all off with a nutella and burnt marshmallow shake. The shake was pretty cool – it came in a glass with liquid nitrogen dumped in it to turn it into a milk shake as we waited. After our fantastic dinner, we headed back to the hotel to crash.

Thursday morning we were up bright and early again. We had a few more meetings, and then we left for the airport. Meanwhile, back in Micah land, my mom spent the morning with Micah, and my dad took Micah to his gym class in the afternoon. The other women from my playgroup were there, and I got a bunch of text messages telling me how much fun Micah (and my dad) were having. On our way to the airport, Elliot received a call from the airlines informing us that our flight was delayed. As we pulled into the airport, we received a second call with bad news – our flight was canceled. When we got to the airport, we stood in line and begged the attendant to let us on a flight. All of the flights were booked, but we managed to get booked on a flight into a different airport near home. Luckily, my father was able to come pick us up, and we made it back home in time to see Micah before he went to bed.

All in all, it was a successful trip. My parents and Micah had a great time. We missed Micah terribly, but it was a good experience for all of us.