Yesterday, we HAD to get out of the house. With nothing special in mind and a temperature pushing 100 degrees outside, we decided to go push Oliver around Chesterfield Mall. Fun, right?
Well, it was OK. And after we finished walking all over the dang place (and discovering the various elevator locations throughout the facility), we decided to grab dinner. There was the Cheesecake Factory (with a major wait to get a table), the food court (Panda Express anyone?), Auntie Anne’s (pretzels for dinner?) and Houlihans. We chose Houlihans.
Turns out that Houlihans employees are not exactly sure how to treat families with small kids. First example? As we were greeted at the entrance, we were asked, “Do you need a kids menu?” I’m like, “Ha. Well, he’s only 4 months old.” The kid waiter gave a blank stare. I said, “No. We don’t need a kids menu.”
Next, we were lead to a room at the very back of the restaurant. It was like a zoo back there, as they seated every family with a small child in this room. It was the “with-kids-only” section. I liked the fact that they felt we could not be integrated with the other diners. Heaven forbid a small child sit with the rest of the customers.
The final funny folly from this dinner experience came when we were feeding Oliver a bottle at the table. Our waiter, all of maybe 17 years old, said, “Do you want me to bring her some carrot sticks?”
“Her? He’s a boy,” I said, curious as to how this young man could have missed the blue outfit with construction equipment on it.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to bring HIM some carrot sticks?”
“Umm, no. He’s not quite ready for carrot sticks [SIGH],” I replied, trying not to laugh as I glanced over at Sarah.
I’m amazed at how idiotic these people at Houlihans were, but maybe I was that way a year ago before we had Oliver. I don’t know. All I know is that I’m glad the Houlihans crew works at the restaurant and not as babysitters.
Category Archives: Family
Take that Sarah: Oliver thinks his daddy is funny
I left work at noon today, so I got to spend the afternoon with Oliver. It was rough, for the most part, because he refused to take a nap. Other than a few moments here and there, he cried and cried and CRIED. But we did have a little fun, as evidenced by the video below of Oliver laughing at his daddy (yes, Sarah, I am a funny man). Enjoy:
Aging + Inactivity = Out-of-Shape Justin
This long, tiring weekend has let me to finally realize and admit that I am out of shape. Chalk it up to aging and inactivity, only one of which I can fault myself for.
Friday night, I grilled outside, then had dinner and a few beers. Around 3 a.m., I woke up to a massive Charley Horse in my left leg. Man, did it hurt. Should have been drinking more fluids, I guess.
Well, that was extra bad news, since I had a work-related kickball tournament on Saturday. Yes, a kickball tournament. You can read about it by clicking here. It was a blast, and I think I did fairly well. But during one of the games, I experienced an extremely painful Charley Horse in my right leg. So both legs were dinged in a matter of hours. That, coupled with the heat and running and I was gassed. I could have played ice hockey that evening, but skipped it to rest up for Sunday …
So this morning, we got up early and headed out to Sarah’s brother’s old house. I say old house, because he was moving into a new house with his girlfriend (an awesome house, by the way). So we spent most of the day helping with the move. Being slightly larger than the males in the Callies clan (and with no doctor-certified hernia or back issues), I was asked to do much of the heavy lifting. Thankfully, there were a couple other “big” guys there to help out, but it was an exhausting affair. It was also a sweaty mess. It was like a wet T-shirt contest, only nobody wanted to see the contestants.
Thankfully, I’m home now, Oliver is in bed and we’re resting on the couch for the evening. I think I need to start incorporating some exercise into my life. This weekend was tough, but it shouldn’t have been THIS TOUGH!
‘Where’d your mom go?’
We had a big family get-together at Sarah’s parents’ house yesterday. Her dad invited one of his employees over. Kenny brought his wife and two tiny, cute and spunky little daughters. One of them, about 3 or 4 years old, came over to me during dinner and told me, “Your mom is upstairs with the baby.” I had to laugh, since she was referring to my wife as my mom.
I was like, “She’s older than me, but not that much older.”
Later, when it came time to leave, we all went outside. Sarah and I had driven separately, so she packed up Oliver and left before I did.
Kenny’s daughter looked at me and asked, “Where’d your mom go?”
I laughed again. In fact, I’m laughing right now thinking about it. Poor Sarah — mom to a baby and, according to this little kid, a 32-year-old grown man.
The boy shows us a few new moves
No matter how tired I get, there’s no more amazing feeling than watching our son grow into his little body. OK, maybe at 17 pounds it’s not so little, but still …
Try as I might, sometimes I forget how amazing these feats are. My Aunt Sandy was here yesterday and met Oliver for the first time. She stopped by with Great-Grandma Carol. Seeing the joy in their eyes as they held Oliver made me proud and made me think about how cool our little boy is.
The past 10 days or so, Oliver has been showing off his new moves. Since we are now back in possession of our camera cord and can upload pictures again, I present a few of those moves:
Today, he rolled over for the first time. He can go from his back to his stomach, but doesn’t appear to have mastered getting back into his normal position. He makes the cutest faces when he gets propped up on his arms.
He’s also been laughing at us for the first time. Here, he’s laughing at Grandpa Neal during our trip to Springfield, Mo., the previous weekend.
Oliver’s hair has always been full and thick, but now it’s long enough to support a baby shampoo-endorsed mohawk.
And we just started putting him in his “exer-saucer,” since he’s able to fully support his head. Though he’s played with everything (not all the toys are in place in this picture), he’s shown a preference for a goofy-looking sunflower thing.
Soon, he’ll be crawling around and cutting teeth. Can’t wait to see how he amazes us next.
Frequently Asked Questions – July 7
As happens (I guess) when you’re a new parent, I have been asked the same questions with some frequency of late. That said, I present another in my popular series (though it’s been a while) of FAQs. Enjoy:
Q: How old is Oliver now?
A: He turned 4 months old on July 6.
Q: Is he sleeping through the night?
A: No.
Q: Can you elaborate?
A: I will, if you ask an open-ended question. Please try again.
Q: OK. How is Oliver sleeping at night?
A: Good question, though I am tired of giving the same response. He is not sleeping well at all. On a typical night he wakes up around 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. for feedings. If we’re lucky, he falls right back asleep. If it’s a night this past Saturday, he keeps us up for an hour or so.
Q: Have you tried [giving him cereal, letting him cry, etc.]?
A: Yes, we’ve tried everything. We’ve read everything. We’ve been told everything. And no, your idea didn’t work.
Q: My baby started sleeping through the night at six weeks.
A: That’s not a question. And it’s also really rude of you to rub that in my face. We can compare stories and have a good laugh about it after I’ve slept for six hours straight for more than three or four consecutive nights.
Q: Are you tired today?
A: Yes.
Q: I thought so. You look like you have bags under your eyes.
A: That’s an excellent observation. Thank you so much for pointing that out.
Q: Enough about you. Can you tell me how big Oliver is now?
A: Yes I can. He went to the doctor today. He officially weighs 16 pounds, 15.5 ounces. His height is 25.25 inches, and his head circumference is 45.3 centimeters.
Q: Wow, that’s a big boy. What percentile is he in?
A: He’s over the 90th percentile for each of those figures.
Q: How is he developing?
A: According to the doctor, his development compares to a baby that’s over 5 months old, so I would say he’s doing quite well.
Q: Is he cooing a lot lately? And, umm, please describe.
A: He coos a lot now. He’s also starting to learn about volume, so he adjusts his voice to different octaves. Just this evening, he made a noise I had never heard before. Sarah and I were a little startled by it.
Q: Is he smiling? Laughing?
A: He smiles all the time. He’s just now starting to laugh, too, which is really cool. Grandma Annette figured out a couple tickle spots today, so we plan to explore those thoroughly in the coming days.
Q: How’s he doing holding up his head?
A: He does OK at tummy-time. He’s been holding his (huge) noggin up pretty well of late. He gets better at it every day. When we hold him in our arms, he’s able to move his head all over. It’s kind of amazing, really.
Q: What’d you do for the Fourth of July?
A: We visited my parents in Springfield, Mo. Had a nice time. Saw fireworks in Nixa (Oliver slept through all of them, even the big boomers). Went to a smoke-free “cosmic” bowling alley on Saturday (Oliver loved the way things looked under the black lights). Ate a lot of good food.
Q: I still don’t care about all these words on the blog. Can you please just shut up and post some pictures?
A: OK, and with that I’m going to end this Q&A. Upon request, below are pictures of Oliver eating food for the first time and taking a bath last week.
Modern technology makes up for lack of geographic luck
Sarah is lucky in many ways, one of which is the mere fact that all of her immediate family lives here in the St. Louis area. Her parents, her brothers, her grandparents, her aunts and uncles. You name it, they’re here.
For my side of the family, things are a little more scattered about. I have a grandmother and uncle who live in the area. That’s it. Two people. Everybody else is elsewhere.
I have one sister who lives pretty far up north, and another who’s been moving all over the country for the past two years on short-term medical contracts. My parents have lived in Springfield, Mo., for 14 years. I have aunts in Vegas and LA, along with a grandma who’s been staying with her daughters in these various locales since moving from her permanent home in La Joya, Texas, about seven months ago.
Growing up, I faced a similar situation. I hardly got to know some of my relatives like I wish I could have done. I’d see some people, like my Aunt Shirley and her family, once every few years. The times we’d spend together were always memorable and awesome, but there was always that initial awkwardness the first hour or day, when you’d feel like, “Who are these people again?” Thankfully, we’ve had bar/bat mitzvah’s and weddings almost every year since 2000, so we’ve been able to grow closer, but it’s still hard looking back on my formative years and thinking about the lack of family contact.
I don’t want our boy to not know his family, so that’s why it’s exciting that modern technology has allowed us to bridge the gap, sort of, in terms of face time with each other. We’ve been using the Skype Internet phone service, utilizing our computers, Web cams and microphones to talk, much like they on the “Jetsons.” Picture phones. It’s pretty cool stuff. My mom gushes when she sees and hears Oliver coo as I hold him up to my laptop. My sister tears up when she sees the boy wave his tiny arm around in circles. Grandma grins ear-to-ear as she catches a glimpse of Oliver for the first time. It really is amazing.
My only fear now is that Oliver will think of his grandparents and aunts as the “people in the box.” It makes sense when you see what I’m talking about. This is what our view of Grandpa Neal and Grandma Sharon looks like:
So what do you do to stay close to distant relatives, short of traveling? Has modern technology allowed you to connect like we have? Any other suggestions?
Isn’t it great to have great-grandparents? Oliver thinks so …
Oliver is really lucky to have met five of his great-grandparents. He’s so blessed to have been able to meet these wonderful family members (and share in the collective 400-plus years of wisdom!). This past weekend, he met his Great-Grandma Carol for the first time. She was in the St. Louis area by way of Springfield, Mo., by way of Las Vegas by way of La Joya, Texas (long story!).
Anyway, it was awesome, and you could really see the love in Great-Grandma Carol’s eyes. We can’t wait to see her again.
The great-grandparents are wonderful people, all of them, and we love them very much. Pictured with Oliver below, from top, are Great-Grandma Carol, Great-Grandpa Gilbert and Great-Grandma Marie, Great-Grandma Frieda and Great-Grandma Lil.
First Father’s Day – Poll to help pick the best pic
My first Father’s Day is pretty much over (Oliver’s in bed for the evening — well, at least until his next every-two-hour-every-night feeding). It was nice. We spent the day over at the in-laws. We barbecued and played Wii Fit, which was pretty cool.
Afterward, I made the long trek from this hills behind Six Flags and Jellystone Park down to Brentwood for an ice hockey game.
This afternoon, Grandma Annette took some nice pictures of me and the little one. I thought I’d pick the best of the bunch to put into the new swivel picture frame that Oliver Sarah picked out for me. Then I can put it on display at my office. Here’s where I need your help. Please let me know what picture you like best. Just leave a vote for your favorite photo as a comment. At the end of the week (say 6 p.m. Friday), I’ll tally the votes and have a print made of the most popular shot (unless I change my mind, of course, which I have the right to do!!!).
Option A: Giving the boy a lift.
Option B: Monkey/senior pic pose.
Option C: The Charlie Brown and Linus shot.
Option D: The neither-one-of-us-really-knows-how-to-play-piano shot.
Visit by Aunt Carrie, a baby girl for Jason and Jamie
First, I would like to congratulate one of my best friends, Jason, and his wife, Jamie. They had a beautiful baby girl on Saturday afternoon. She looks just like her daddy, who I’ve known since the summer prior to third grade (for the math whizzes out there, that’s more than 20 years ago).
At our household, Saturday brought a visit by Oliver’s Aunt Carrie and her boyfriend, Eli. They stopped by for a couple days after moving from Florida on their way to Springfield, Mo., where they are staying before starting their next roving medical gig in Seattle in a couple weeks.
Carrie hadn’t seen Oliver since the day after he was born, so much had changed. She seemed really surprised by how big he is (well, he HAS more than doubled in three months, so what’d she expect?), and she was a really caring aunt. When they left on Monday morning, they left a nice little gift for Oliver: An Elmo doll they had pooled their tickets for during an outing at a Dave & Busters. I’m sure Oliver will love it as much as I loved my Grover back in the late 1970s.
We had a great time, and I thought I’d just share a few of the pictures we took over the past couple days. Enjoy.
Carrie gave Oliver a bath (I’d give her an A for effort and a B for quality!):
Oliver was nice and clean, and happy, when finished:
He was all smiles this weekend, as seen here:
Carrie was a sweet Aunt, and gave us a nice break by holding him (often!):
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