The Minneapolis McCues: A Busy Summer is Beginning

I can't believe how quickly May went by and our baby girl will soon be 9 months old!! I can't believe it! The last couple of weekends have been pretty busy. The weekend before Memorial Day we had a party at my cousin's house for her graduation from Law School (Congratulations Jessica!!), then Saturday I went down to Mankato to spend a night with my high school girl friends while Jon stayed home with Meredith. Then over Memorial weekend the three of us took flight to go to San Francisco to spend some time with Jon's dad and step-mother, Cynthia.

The party at my cousin's was nice, but a bit short-lived. We got there a little after 7pm, after Meri's nap and bottle and she was getting pretty fussy by 9pm, so we decided to call it a night. The next morning I fed her and then had to go to an ACLS course and apparently while I was gone, Meredith was freaking out and fussy. When I got home I temped her and she was 102.9. We immediately gave her Tylenol. I was worried about leaving Jon alone with her to go to Mankato, but he reassured me that it was fine and I went anyway. I had a great time with my gal pals - nice hotel room, nice dinner, then drinks and dancing and to bed around 2am. Needless to say, I didn't get good sleep and was tired the next day. Meredith had done pretty well after the meds, her temp was done and seemed to be recovering by Sunday. She had no symptoms but fussiness and not eating that well (surprise, surprise)!

We left for San Francisco the following Friday (of Memorial Day weekend). Our flight didn't leave until 4pm-ish, so we had plenty of time to finish packing, bringing the dog to the kennel, and doing last minute things before taking a cab to the airport. It wasn't busy at all and we got to the gate, no problem. As soon as I got to the gate, I spoke to the gate agent and just asked if they happened to have any open seats, that we'd love to have one for Meri and her carseat. She said the plane was fully booked, but not everyone was checked in - so if that remained so - she'd give us and extra seat. And lucky us, we got it!! So, the flight wasn't too bad. She took a bottle at take off and then slept. She woke up for awhile in the middle of the fight and we had her play with toys, try to eat Puffs (that was mess) and try to converse with another baby across the isle (she was happily screaming at that baby and ended up making that little girl cry like three times, I felt a little bad). Then she fell back to sleep in her carseat. All in all, it wasn't that bad. By the time we landed, his dad picked us up and we drove back to their home a bit north of San Francisco, it was 8pm CA time (but 10pm, MN time). Meri had taken a little nap in the car and was rearing to go when we got there. We ate a late dinner and finally put her down at almost 10 pm (midnight MN time). She went to bed pretty fast, but still woke up at 6am CA time after a 3 hr coughing, then crying for pacifier while eyes still closed fiasco of which I was up and down for. Luckily, my husband took her and I was able to go back to bed until 10 am (it was my birthday at this point, for God's sake!!)

My birthday was very nice. As I said, I got to sleep until 10am. Then we just relaxed around their home, as Jon and his dad were already smoking some pork for dinner. Cynthia's kids and their S.O.'s came over around 3pm. It was just a nice relaxing little get together: great conversation, great drinks and great food. It was really nice. Meredith was pretty well behaved, but I will have to say this..... I completely underestimated the work it takes to keep your child from choking on normal out door items - like leaves and stones. Being in CA, we were hanging out on my in-laws lovely deck, a lot and no matter how much you sweep, there's always another juicy leaf or stone for Meri to put in her mouth. It was a full time job trying to keep her from doing it, or at the very least getting the leaves out of her mouth once she got them in her!

The next day we took the ferry across the bay to San Francisco proper for a Dim Sum brunch. We left around 11am and didn't get back until close to 3pm. Meri did pretty well, she slept a little in her stroller on the ferry over and then sat at the table with us in a high chair and ate puffs and baby cheetos (and a bottle), while we ate dim sum. We were seated right near the kitchen so we were offered the food rapid fire and ended up going from starving to overly stuffed in a matter of 10 minutes, but it was still a very fun experience. Meri then slept a bit more while we waited for the ferry home and in the car back to the house. We then all grilled out some great burgers for dinner and then called it a night.

For our last day in CA, Memorial Day, Jack and Cynthia had some family friends over for a lovely brunch in the morning. We had great Bloody Mary's and Champagne Cocktails and a very tasty brunch. It was another beautiful day to enjoy on their deck. Later that day, Jon and I decided to go on a hike with Meredith. There are some trails on the hill/nature preserve right above Jon's dad's home. Jon strapped Meri in the Bjorn and we were off. It ended up being a bit more strenuous than we thought, but it was still a fun time. Then when we got back, Meri took a nap while we enjoyed some cocktails with a few more of Jack and Cynthia's friends. That night, Jack and Cynthia had offered to watch Miss Meri so Jon and I could go out to dinner. So, we headed into Sausalito to a French Cafe on the water. It was a nice evening out and Meredith did well with Gma and Gpa.

We were a little more rushed at the airport for the way home, but we were lucky once again and got a free seat for Meredith and her carseat (once again the flight was booked and there were even stand-bys, but we still lucked out and got a free seat!!). She did okay, but was freaking out for almost an hour in the middle of the flight before finally going back to sleep.

The trip was nice, but, as usual, it is always nice to get home! Since Tuesday it's been laundry, work, groceries, work, house stuff..... and the weekend is busy too! I'm looking forward to my next day off at home with nothing to do, I think that will be sometime at the end of June!!

And how is Meredith these days?! Pretty good. She still takes 3 naps a day and seems to like to stay up longer in the evenings. She could make it 3 to 5 hours if we can keep her busy. She is an expert on crawling and getting stronger at pulling herself up on things all the time. I just ordered her a walker today, hoping it will keep her happy and off the floor a bit. Her eating is still a bit tricky. She was doing great before her fever a few weeks ago, then that threw her off for a week. Now she's back to taking 4 oz, up to 6 or 7 oz. (but usually only when she's sleeping). When she's awake and eating it's a bit of a challenge. She's take up to 4 oz, a little at a time, then she's fussing and I just keep offering the bottle over the next hour and sometimes she takes more. But she still loves Puffs, but the Gerber "Cheetos" stuff even better. Tonight I gave her the Wagonwheels for the first time and she ate over 2 servings of them. She still hates anything on a spoon and any fruit or veggie I've given (avocado, banana, blueberry, carrots). I'm bringing her to that feeding evaluation in a few weeks and I hope to address all of her eating quirks and see what they suggest. But generally, she's still a smiley, happy girl and we just love her to pieces!

Other than all that, I am just SO ready for Jon to be done with residency (which is less than a month away now!! YEAHH!!) He is on call quite a bit and has several evening educational commitments every week. He's also very busy lining things up to start his private practice. He does his best to be available when he is home, but he' s tired and his mind is often elsewhere, which equals not really helping me at home. Being gone so much and having to play catch up, along with Jon being unavailable has equalled me being more stressed out then usual. I know the time is quick approaching that things will be changing for the better, but all of that is still a big unknown and scary too - so I can't wait until our new life has begun and stabilized a bit.

This summer will go by very quick and I just have to keep focused on Meri and all the new things going on with her. I will be doing my best to keep up with this blog, but forgive me when I get behind!!