KC or Bust

Whatta week! After some sad goodbyes, we left from Peoria on Monday morning and left for Kansas City. We've spent the last week in KC, where Timothy was finishing out his clerkship with Blackwell Sanders. The company was generous enough to put us up in a nice hotel for the week, so Alex and I got to spend some quality time together while Timothy was at the office.

I was really looking forward to the one-on-one time I would finally get with him, and I think it's safe to say that Alex was thrilled to spend so much time hanging out with Mama. Awww, that sounds so sweet, doesn't it...? Well, to Alex, "hanging out with Mama" means "I'd like to eat, then when I'm done eating I'd like to nurse some more, then I'd like to fall asleep nursing. I'd like to continue nursing until I wake up and it's time to eat again, and if you try to lay me down, I will remind you that I'd rather be nursing and will scream my bloody head off until you nurse me again." I wonder if they make a onesie that says "I'd rather be nursing", and if not, I should have one made. Like Grandma B would say, that's a million dollar idea!

Anyway, I'm sure it's just a phase - hopefully one he will quickly outgrow. Besides nursing, Alex has done a couple of other things this week. When we got here on Monday night, we decided to go to the grocery store to get a few things for the week. It was around 10:00pm at the time, so we figured that the store wouldn't be crowded enough for cooties to be an issue. Plus, we were specifically warned against the dangers of Walmart shopping before six weeks, and this was the Price Chopper - totally different. Thus, Alex had his first grocery shopping experience, albeit a short and harried one. And I didn't take any pictures! Bad mommy!

When we got back to the hotel, we decided that it was time to bite the bullet and give him his first bottle. I was surprisingly emotional about the whole thing, but I was a brave girl and did the thang. He took to it right away - kind of chomped on it a bit at first (like he used to do with me) - then figured out how it worked. Despite my reservations, I was very proud of my smart little guy (although I should probably attribute his success to instincts rather than brainpower, but whatever).

He slept really well the first night and spent the whole night in his bassinet - a rarity these days. The second night was not as smooth, so he ended up in the bed with me. Murphy joined us as well, so poor Timothy was all alone on the fold out bed in the living area (ahh, the sacrifices one makes for the family. At least it wasn't the floor, right?). He found us cuddled up before he left for work and decided to take a picture of his sweet family sleeping. Although I would normally hesitate to post a not-so-flattering picture of me sleeping, this particular scenario was special enough to overlook it. Props to Dad for taking advantage of this special photo op...

Tuesday night we went to a reception hosted by one of the partners at Timothy's firm. All of the clerks were very excited to meet Alex as they had all heard so much about him. He even got his very own name tag so that no one would confuse him with any of the associates or partners. Dinner was being served outside in a tent where it was about a hundred degrees, so they were nice enough to give A his own fan so that he would stay cool. It was a really good time, and as you can see, Alex was the life of the party.

On Wednesday, Alex and I shopped a little and spent a lot of time in the room just playing and napping. It is so hard to get anything done because even when he is sleeping I just want to sit and watch him so as not to miss a single minute. Ahhh, babies.

The Primms came up on Thursday night to hang out with us and we ended up going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner that night.

Saturday we walked the boys around the plaza all day, despite the ninety degree temperatures and heat advisories. Although Alex's stroller has two shading mechanisms that seem to keep all the sun out, I was a little afraid that I was cooking him like a baked potato inside of there. But honest to gosh, the kid does not like air conditioning and would much rather be outside in the steamy heat. He could be screaming his fool head off and the second that warm air hits him, he shuts right up and goes to sleep. He's definitely a boy after his mother's (and grandmother's) heart.

We stopped at California Pizza Kitchen for lunch, which was delicious but pretty crowded and probably chock full of germiness. I was a little paranoid about Alex being exposed to whatever might've been floating around, so this is how he spent the lunch hour:

After we ate, I changed a wicked nasty diaper in the bathroom and then passed Alex off to Joy while I used the facilities myself. He was a bit fussy after the diaper change, so I mentioned to Joy that there was a bottle in the diaper bag should he continue to make a scene. Which he did. So she was feeding him when I came back, at which point I realized that Joy is the only one that has fed him besides me. Not even Timothy or the Grandmas had fed him yet! Luckily Timothy was unconcerned and said that of all people, Auntie Joy was worthy to be the second one to feed him.

We gave the Primms an abbreviated tour of the Blackwell offices and the city Friday evening, then grabbed some Cold Stone Creamery before heading back on Saturday. We really had an awesome time, but we were more than ready to get back and start a normal life at home sweet home...

p.s. Today is our six year wedding anniversary! We celebrated by eating at the Chinese buffet and going to bed early. See, romance is not dead...