Reunited and it feels so good

Timothy has been sick with a terrible cold this week, and in the interest of not wanting to break a seven month long sickness-free-baby streak, he was not allowed to come within ten feet of Alex. Not allowed to breathe the same air, occupy the same room, or share the same sippy cup. In the morning, before naps, and before bedtime, I would run by the door of the bedroom with Alex in my arms so Daddy could see him, and he could see Daddy, and they could exchange a quick howdooyado from a safe distance. Timothy was really starting to go bug nuts trying to adhere to the strict "looky, no touchy" policy, so when he woke up this morning feeling...mmm...80% better, we decided it may finally be safe to let him out of quarantine. Kisses were still off limits, but he got some hugs in, and then we went to the mall, as one happy - and mostly bug-free - family.

It was wooooooonderful to get out of the house, especially on a beautiful day like yesterday, and to finally have a second set of hands to help with Alex. In case you didn't know, being a single parent is pretty hard, especially when you've got two babies to take care of and one of them has a terrible cold...

We had dinner plans with our friends Nick and Brandy, so after the mall, Alex got his afternoon nap and then we headed to LouLou's Fish Shack. Nick and Brandy hadn't seen Alex since he was two months old, so they were pretty surprised when they saw how big he'd gotten. Alex is what you might call a "people person", so he was completely content to be tickled and tossed around by what was essentially a couple of strangers.

Dinner was good. Alex was pretty stoked when the calamari came out, and although we didn't let him have any, Timothy and I were excited by the prospect that Alex may turn out to be an adventurous eater. A wannabe foodie myself, I love the idea raising a "real" one. Last night, though, he enjoyed a bottle and a vat of peas while he rest of us feasted on fish and peach cobbler.

For his seven month birthday, I had bought Alex a Taggie blanket which I broke out on the way home from the restaurant. The official intention for said blanket is for the baby to feel the different textures of the tags that hang off of it. In true Alex fashion, however, that wasn't good enough. He chilled in the back seat, all the way home, with this funny expression and a tag hanging out of his mouth.