Trip to Greenville and Visit from the Haigwoods

Gosh, Mama. Do you think you used enough parentheticals in this entry?

Last weekend, Silas and I made our first solo car trip to North Carolina and, I must say, it went spectacularly. Silas was wonderful in the car. We left Arlington around 11am on Friday morning, stopped once in Emporia, VA to nurse and made to Greenville, NC around 3:45pm. There was little traffic, Silas either slept or played quietly in the backseat, and it would have been the perfect trip if I hadn't realized about an hour-and-a-half into the car ride that I had left our suitcase with all of Silas's and my clothes in it for the weekend back in Arlington. I blame the lack of caffeine in my life right now. I freaked out and called my mom from the road, who assured me that as long as we had the important stuff (i.e., Silas's Magic Chair, a.k.a., the "crutch," medicines, etc.), we could get enough stuff to tide us over for the weekend at Target when we got to Greenville.

We got to Greenville with plenty of time to make it to Target, where I shopped and participated in a conference call for work (look at me multi-tasking!). I needed non-maternity clothing that actually fits me because, alas, I'm still working on losing the baby weight, and Silas needed 6-9 month clothes (see last entry), so although it was certainly inconvenient, it wasn't a waste of money.

Saturday was extremely relaxing. Silas and I spent the day on my parents' deck enjoying the 78-degree weather. Silas's great grandmother and Mimi came over for visits and he spent some quality time with his Uncle Haig who came to town from Raleigh for the occasion. Saturday night, after putting Silas to bed, we ate ribs (nom nom nom) and I played gin for a couple of hours with my dad, and as bad as this will likely damage his ego, I won a set and he won a set, but I definitely won by a bigger margin.

Hey, buddy, get your own vibrating chair!

I've never been outside without sleeves on before!

I think there may be some family resemblance here.

Yep, Grand figured out that I am ticklish.

Watching baseball for the first time with my Uncle Haig.

Baseball almost makes Tummy Time tolerable.

Sunday, I went to church with my mom while my dad watched Boy Wonder. Apparently Silas screamed much of the time we were gone, unfortunately. After church, Silas, my mom, and I headed to my grandmother's retirement community for lunch, where Silas was such a big hit, it took us almost two solid hours to eat between visits to our table from my grandmother's friends and neighbors.

Sunday afternoon was the Duke - Carolina game. Although I had left both Silas's and my UNC t-shirts at home, I made sure the outfits we bought at Target contained some Carolina Blue, and Silas and headed to my Uncle Tom David's house where we watched the game with him and my grandmother, who, inexplicably pulled for Duke, despite the fact that her son and two of her grandchildren attended UNC. Sadly for her, Carolina whomped up on Duke and Silas stared in amazement as his Great Uncle Tom David and I hooted and hollered and slapped each other high fives.

Go Heels! Beat those Dookies!

Wait a minute. You actually LIKE Coach K? And we're related?!?

After the game, Silas's Mimi came by again and gave him such a good, pre-bedtime snuggle that he fell asleep in about five seconds after I took him upstairs for bed. Despite the change to daylight savings time, we woke up nice and early the next morning and we were on the road back to D.C. by 8:30. Silas again did a great job in the car on the way back, although traffic wasn't as awesome as it had been on the way down, but, still, we made it back home by 2pm.

Besides Matt, who missed Silas TERRIBLY while we were gone, waiting for us at home was Silas's great aunt (and my aunt) Sarah (Tom David's wife, for those of you following along at home) and first cousin once removed (my first cousin and Sarah and Tom David's daughter) Stancell, who were in town for Stancell's spring break (from UNC!). We had a great time hanging out with them Monday night, eating the AMAZING shrimp they brought us from NC, and telling stories. Tuesday, the four of us (Matt had to work) headed out to the National Zoo, where we saw all kinds of animals, including the new baby gorilla born in January. We spent a long time in the Great Ape house watching the mama gorilla, while I nursed Silas and she nursed her baby. My chest is significantly less hairy than hers, but the other similarities were quite startling. We then held Silas up to the window to watch the mama, baby, and other gorillas and he hooted and waved his arms and was generally very excited. The mama gorilla watched him very closely and I'm sure was as impressed by his cuteness as I was by the adorableness of her little one.

That night, Matt stayed home with Silas for some boy-time while Sarah and Stancell and I headed out to dinner. Our boy had some major issues that evening, whether it was gas, reflux, exhaustion, or teething, I don't know, but there was some MAJOR unhappiness all night long. Once we got back from dinner, I slept in Silas's room so that I could soothe him when he fussed and so that Matt could get some sleep. Despite a very rough night, he appeared to be fine in the morning and we ran some quick errands with Sarah and Stancell and headed to El Pollo Rico (delicious!) for lunch before they headed back down to NC.

I'm sensing an easy mark.

Hey, so it looks like you have some french fries left, Aunt Sarah (Shorty sees them too).

Oh, I LIKE these french fries!

Wait! You're leaving? Where will I get some more of those french fries?

As far as Silas's sleeping goes, we're doing much better. He's falling asleep at night around 7:30 and usually sleeping until 7 or 7:30 the next morning. His naps are more regular (still short) and he usually goes down without much fussing. Most of the time, I don't have to rock or walk him to sleep. I usually just rock him for a few minutes, sing one song, lay him down, swaddle him and he falls asleep on his own in a few minutes. (Although I definitely rely on one of the most brilliant baby inventions of all time to ensure that this process goes smoothly--it VIBRATES the crib mattress!) If he's overtired or super nap-resistant, we move him to the swing, where he naps like a champ (it's good to have a back-up plan).

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

For the most part, he's much less fussy and generally back to his easy-going first three months self, for which we are VERY thankful. His pediatrician did diagnose him with reflux at his last appointment and noted that it may have been the cause of at least some of his fussiness and sleep issues. She recommended we start him on rice cereal soon, which we have tried a couple of times so far, but plan do more of this week. We'll keep you posted!