Before Adler and Austen

Before Adler and Austen, there was Tom and me. That's where this story begins. Tom and I were friends first always going on skiing and camping trips together with our group of friends. Once we finally got together we traveled a lot together. This included going somewhere every New Year's (mostly because I think it's an overrated holiday and can't stand trying to catch a cab in the city when it's below zero)and every anniversary. Well, this month, Tom and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary and since we took last year off from an anniversary vacation, we decided it was time to get back to life before Austen and even Adler.

We dropped off Austen and Adler with the grandparents (they all participated in taking care of our brood)on Friday and enjoyed a nice dinner alone before catching our flight to Hilton Head early the next morning. (We toured Savannah and Charleston too.) It was nice to be able to eat out at restaurants with white table cloths and focus only on each other instead of the usual Chilis or pizza place and trying to eat as fast as you can before Austen decides he's ready to leave (or as is the case lately ordering in). It was great to sleep in and to be able to walk all over without trying to convince Austen he must stay in his stroller or hold your hand if he's walking. We did, however, talk a lot about Austen (and Adler) and it was weird to not have him with us, especially in Hilton Head where there were a ton of kids.

But, it was great to get away even if only for a short while. It allowed us to remember who we were before Austen and Adler. And, it made us realize that although we loved our life before, after about four nights, we were both ready to go home and be with Austen and Adler, and get back to our life now. We both agree that raising a child (a dog is easy - well, at least our dog is) is challenging, exhausting and sometimes just frustrating but it is an amazing experience and we wouldn't trade our life now for our life before.

The Playground

Did I mention that Austen loves the playground. Check out our little monkey (see the name really is appropriate). He's in a gym class now and absolutely loves it as he definitely doesn't like to sit still anymore and obviously likes climbing these days.



Here's a picture of Austen and his girlfriend, Camille, from school. They are the best of pals and have even been caught kissing. Austen and I met Camille and her mom at the park one Saturday and the kids had a ball.

Hot Spots

Adler has one. Now for those of you without a dog, a hot spot is a skin infection caused by any number of things including allergies, fleas, shedding and behavioral issues, and is usually common in long-haired dogs. Adler doesn't have any behavioral issues and she doesn't have fleas (I would know since my childhood dog, Bozo, had them when I was 7. Those things hurt!). So it may be allergies or shedding. Anyway, Adler's chewing and scratching of her left shoulder has left a raw, open sore that oozes a smelly fluid.

I tried to self-treat it by cutting the hair around the spot and cleaning it with mild baby shampoo and hydrogen peroxide but the next day it appeared even worse due Adler's inability to resist scratching it. I called our vet. She prescribed some spray that's supposed to help it stop itching and aid in healing. We also had to put a shirt on her to prevent her from scratching or chewing it - at least directly. Austen wasn't so happy we put a shirt on Adler. In fact, I was surprised that he was upset about it. I expected Adler to be but she didn't even bat an eye. Below are some photos and video of Austen telling us he doesn't like Adler wearing a shirt.

I'm Not Your Monkey

That's what Austen's going to be telling me because from now on I'm going to be calling him "monkey."

That's because of what he did today. He was supposed to be taking a nap. I had just put him in his crib and Tom and I were just settling in to have some lunch when we heard a thud. We thought it came from our neighbors upstairs but quickly realized it may not have when seconds later we heard high pitched crying. Tom went to Austen's room to see what had happened and I heard him say, "how did you get out of your crib?!" My brain quickly deduced that our little monkey had finally figured out how to climb out the crib!

I ran to Austen's room and caught a glimpse of him crying and rubbing his head. I'm sure his head hurt because for the next 10 minutes he kept rubbing it. I checked him out. No blood. No visible bumps or bruises and he didn't seem like he had a concussion so all in all my little monkey was okay. I think he probably scared himself more than his head hurt. Although I'm not going to say that the fall will prevent him from trying again. I bet he will.

Austen's Latest Mannerism

Ask Austen where Adler is or where daddy is or anything else he doesn't know at the moment and he promptly shrugs his shoulders and turns up the palms of his hands to give you that "I don't know" expression. I mean seriously, where did he learn how to do this?

It wasn't daycare because I showed them this and they didn't even know he could do it. And, it wasn't TV because he doesn't watch that much or even like it all that much either. And, it wasn't us - Tom and I don't use that expression. So he must've seen it somewhere even if only one time and now it's ingrained in him if you ask him a question. Sometimes it almost seems like I have a teenager on my hands -- when I ask a question that he doesn't want to answer he looks at me and shrugs his shoulders with those innocent little palms turned upward. Oh, it's going to be a long 16 1/2 years til he leaves for college (but I'm looking forward to most of it).

Adler is Afraid of Flies

I think Adler silently curses the summer months because that's when all the flies come out. Adler can't stand flies. In fact, I think she's afraid of them and glad that summer is almost over. They drive her absolutely nuts. If she so much as suspects a fly, somewhere in the room she's in she'll turn in circles endlessly scouring the ceiling for them. She will then pace non-stop until we tell her it's okay and to go lie down. Sometimes she'll even take refuge in the bathroom or she's been known to crawl under our coffee table - no easy feat for a dog of her size. So as nice as Adler is and as much as we say she wouldn't hurt a fly, I believe she really would hurt a fly if she could catch one!

Austen Watches Air and Water Show

As you may know we live in the city. This means we sometimes get to take advantage of cool city things in the summer without so much as leaving our condo. Try the Navy Pier Fireworks or the changing of lights on the Sears Tower to coordinate with the season or special event or even the Air and Water Show.

Since Austen recently discovered airplanes, he was so excited to see the B52 bombers and co. flying through his neighborhood. He kept telling Tom and me, "more! more! more!" like we could just order up some planes flying in formation. Check out a little video of Austen enjoying the show.