Back on the Boards

What a big weekend!!! Mommy returned to the stage as the nurse in friend Tekki's show, Blurred Vision. This is such a fun show to do--it is really Tekki's monologue piece about her life in and out of hospitals and her search for answers to health care questions. Or you can just read a much better description at: www.tellintales.org
I think that's the site. I'll check it for my next post.

Anyway, Tekki is a comic genius and I get to play her crazy nurse in many incarnations: mean nurse, nice nurse, nurse chewing gum. I have no lines--I simply dance and prance and make faces and try to remember my blocking. Oh, and I lift Tekki and carry her around the stage a few times. Because I am a post-natal warrior princess. And Tekki is very light anyway.

I have done this show so many times--we take it to hospitals, conventions, anyplace that will have us. It is the most fun and I never tire of it. I last performed it in October when Charlie was about 6 weeks old. I pretty much stuffed the old bra with sweaters to keep the nursing whites dry.

Prior to that show we performed at Second City when I was 5 months preggers. Ironically, the costume never fit better than that time. It just stayed in place, held still by my belly.

This week we did it at the Acorn Theatre in 3 Oaks MI. What a beautiful little town with cute cafes and shops and galleries. It is all quiet escape from Chicago vibe and very cozy. We stayed in the theatre! David and Kim, the owners, operate the theatre and keep 3 or 4 very nice guest rooms for visiting friends and actors.

ROb and I thought about taking Charlie to the matinee but rethought that when he had one of those "I'm too tired to take a nap in that pack n play" cries. Instead, mommy went onstage while Daddy found the local historic artifacts park and the boys had a good stroll.

I look forward to that day when I'll be onstage and I'll hear that tiny voice in the front row---"Mommy! Mommy!" Ahh--some other day.

I Spy........

the Charlinator and I had an excellent day. We went to the bank with Daddy and then drove him downtown to work. We took a long walk in beautiful Horner Park and then went to lunch in Lincoln Square.

Since he passed out in the car between Lincoln Square and home ( a tedious 5 minute drive), I thought we were golden for a long winter's nap. Not so. I put Charlie in the crib and listened on the monitor as he babbled for a good 30 minutes. Okay, I thought. So you're not tired. We'll do a nebulizer treatment and you'll get exasperated and pass out while I'm holding you and then I'll dump you into the crib and you'll sleep for hours and I can get my Winsor Pilates on.

Well.....the treatment did not tire him out. He seemed giddy and goofy. So we played around on the floor, rolling, tickling, giggling, babbling. And I took my daily "do you have teeth yet" look into his mouth and spied a small white sliver of bone just barely jutting from that lower gum. Oh yeah! It was so exciting. I can't wait until the real thing comes all the way in. Or can I? more to come on that. Oh my little guy is growing up too fast.

And after all that, the boy DID nap! What a guy.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nebulizer

Just look at that baby! 19 pounds of sweet huggy love! (19!) Because Butters is so well fed and sleeping and happy and pleasant, little bumps in the road make me overly anxious. Last week's cold turned into wheezing that would not go away so we took Charlie to Dr. M. on Monday. Dr. M. definitely heard wheezing and suggested that we might want to try a nebulizer. We hesitated for 4 days and then charlie and I went back in yesterday. He's still wheezing.

So now he gets asthma meds by nebulizer 3 or 4 x a day until the wheezing clears up or we know what's going on. He's not sure if he likes the little stream of air--sometimes he holds the mouthpiece and sometimes he bats it away. So hopefully this will work and its just a temporary thing. If it is asthma, that's okay. Nothing we can't handle.

I got a little overwhelmed this weekend trying to deal with this on top of errands and work and all. But it's all good. I did get to have a baby fall asleep in my arms twice! Something I haven't seen in a long time. That was well worth it.

Mom and Baby Good Times

Charlie and I have been fighting colds but keeping busy! I lost my voice but am slowly getting it back. Charlie's voice is fine but he has that raspy breathing thing so we are going to check in with Poppy about that.

Yesterday, Kay and her wonderboy, Sam (age 10) paid us a visit. Hopefully they did not contract our diseases. They brought presents suitable for a little Vikking (ginger cookies and a Snip, Snap, Snurr book) and entertained and fed Charlie. It was especially cute to see Sam play with Charlie; I remember Sam crawling around the CMC office in my early dancer days. Now he is one inch shorter than me and writing essays about Presidents and stuff.

Kay and I got to chat about the dance world and she filled me in on everyone I haven't seen. Lots of catching up to do this summer!

Nothing big planned for today except a nice fat walk in the park --it's 70 degrees in Chi-town!!! I already worked out and went to Target so the rest of the day is for Mom and baby good times.

Grandparents, Part Deux

Post Easter, my parents came to town for a visit. That's Momala reading to Charlie. the kid likes a good, chewy board book, what can I say.

With Grandpa and Momala here, we had a fun, relaxing visit. We had a nice time visiting Daddy at work, downtown, looking at big coloful works of art and visiting the art studio. Maybe our tiny genius will pick up a paintbrush on his first birthday. Or a calculator--I'll keep an open mind.

Both grandparent visits allowed Rob and I to go on a few dates. In Tenn., Gran and Poppy babysat while we stepped out to see the critically acclaimed "blades of Glory" A most enjoyable night! We had not seen a movie since Borat. Borat was good but this movie had figure skating.........

With Momala and Grandpa in town, Rob and I dressed up and hit the town for dinner at Cafe 28. We were home before 9 and I think my parents were surprised. I guess we're just not the club rats we used to be.

Cousins

Charlie's Nashville cousins, Joshua and Noah, read him the Belly Button book at bedtime.

We're Back!

Hello loyal readership! Have you missed Tummy Time dearly? All 7 or 8 of you who faithfully read about our mother and son adventures?

Never fear! We are back and what a time we've been having:

First of all......Grandparents!!! We have seen all 4 in the last 3 weeks. We kicked off spring break with a trip to sunny Nashville, TN, home of Gran and Poppy! (That's Charlie with Poppy, above) Charlie not only got to love and play with his sweet grandparents for 5 whole days but he met many new friends! Oh, and he met his Nashville cousins--Marley, Noah, Joshua, and Aunt Lynn and Uncle Jody.

Gran hosted a "sip and see" (that's a new term for me and all you Yankees out there who don't know. It literally means you sip sweet tea punch--Gran's is the best--and see a baby, or wedding gifts) Charlie met lots of Nashville friends and family: the Hortons, the Chazens, the Farrars, the Henderson's, G'anne, Sam and Emily, Beth and Marty, and more!

It was a beautiful warm weekend and we witnessed our little man rolling over for the first time (first time we saw it, anyway). Now he just rolls and rolls and rolls. And sleeps on his tummy! Who knew he would CHOOSE tummy time eventually? Maybe, secretly or unconsciously, I did.

And that's why I called my blog Tummy Time.

Or not.