It is true that LA is not one of my favorite cities - I much prefer London or New York - but the city of Pasadena is not without its charms. So far Cedric and I have been to the Public Library (where Stephanie works), City Hall, Maranatha Campus (where Peter works), and Old Town. Some of the places we have eaten are Pinkberry and Jones Coffee. Here are a few pictures..
Peter and Stephanie's apartment has a fabulous double sink in which Cedric has enjoyed a few baths.
Hello from Pasadena California! Yes Cedric and I have made it safe and sound and I will never travel solo with him again. Not that he wasn't terrific, earache and all. I feed him puffs when we took off and during landing and he hardly seemed to notice changes in air pressure. What makes traveling hard is schleping through the airport with the insane amount of stuff I felt was necessary to bring; car seat, stroller, diaper bag, ergo baby carrier, not to mention a decent supply of baby food, pumped breast milk (for making cereal in CA), amoxicilin, and baby tylenol, oh and don't forget Cedric! If it were not for the kindness of strangers and answered prayer I don't know how I would have made it.
The first flight (yes there were 2 to get to Pasadena) we sat next to someone who was not a kid person. She tried very hard to just ignore us, which is fine I know there are people out there who are not comfortable with babies. But when we got to Chicago I prayed that we could sit next to a grandma on the 5 hour flight to LA. Sure enough we were next to Swedish Grandparents who were delightful. They loved Cedric and Swedish Grandma held him, let me go to the restroom alone, and entertained him when he got bored. She was also very pleasant company, amazing since they were traveling to Fresno, CA to visit their pregnant daughter and had been traveling for over 20 hours.
Before I go I must also send a shout out to Scott, Captain of our United Flight 945 to LA. After our plane landed and everyone had disembarked, I was still waiting for the stroller to be brought up and there I stood right outside the door of the plane, waiting and waiting. Scott wandered out of the cockpit and asked if I was waiting for a stroller and then went to locate it. He couldn't find it and we both assumed it was buried in a mountain of luggage and would show up in the baggage claim. However as I was greeting Peter and Stephanie, here comes Scott carrying the stroller! That's going to extra mile. Fly the plane and then find the stroller. Way to go Scott.
OK Steph just woke up and we're going to get ready...pictures will be forthcoming
Today marks two milestones in Cedric's life, the first time he successfully fed himself and his first earache. Not all firsts are fun.
I have been giving Cedric puffs for almost a week now as a new food texture to explore. He is pretty good about chewing them and not swallowing them whole, but he is also quite skilled at dissolving teething tablets in him mouth so I suspected that the puffs would be no big deal. He has been trying to feed himself puffs for a few days and this morning, sweet success! Here is a video of his new found skill.
Sadly, I've had suspicions that he might be ill for a few days. A little cough in his sleep, runny nose and moodiness but all these things are symptoms of teething for him as well. Thirty minutes after he went down for an afternoon nap he woke up crying and was basically inconsolable. Plus he was starting to pull at his ear. So off to the Children's Clinic we went. Let me tell you it is no easy feat to try to keep a grumpy, crying baby still so that the doctor can look in his ears. It took three hands to hold him still. I had a classic *mom moment* too. While leaning over Cedric towards the doctor, I noticed that I was sweating probably from a combination of exerted effort, worry and a warm examining room and the thought went through my mind "Do I stink? Did I put on deodorant? Umm not since early this morning so I probably stink. I wish I had at least put on a clean shirt." I compromised by leaning slightly away from the doctor. Anyway, Cedric has a double ear infection and is on a 10 day dose of amoxicillin.
Sunday was an amazing, beautiful day here in St Louis, MO. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the temp was around 75 degrees. It was a day that makes you feel happy just to be alive. I took Cedric and Ari to the park and Cedric loved swinging in the toddler swing. I really need to get video of this because it is really cute.
However, things took a dramatic turn Monday evening when it began to sleet and snow. Tuesday it snowed 11.5 inches at our home - some places in the metro area only got 8 inches. There were also confirmed reports of thunder snow, which if you are in the market for a band name or super hero persona, I think Thunder Snow would be a great one. Zach's brother Brad and his wife Sylvia went out to Art Hill to enjoy the festivities. I can't wait for Cedric to be old enough for sledding, what fun times will be had.
