Okay so there were no trains involved, but there was a plane and an automobile. Two out of three isn’t bad. The boys and I embarked on our trip to Oklahoma on Saturday, May 24th. We left from BWI and had a non stop flight to OKC.  Billy was excited, but wanted Bill to come along.  While I was in standing in the security line with Baden, Bill took Billy to the bathroom and then returned him to me.  Well Billy did not want to stay with me and wanted his daddy.  Finally after a quick kiss and a hug for Billy, we were moving up in the security line.  Billy hates to take his shoes off so I had him wear his Crocs to make things easier. He did take them off, but not without a fuss.  There are still nice people in the world and a couple standing behind me asked if they could hold Baden while I took care of getting Billy’s shoes off.  They were so nice and so helpful.  We made it through without a hitch well except if you count Baden spitting up on the floor which I did clean up!  The flight was good. Baden was able to have a seat so he slept in his car seat and Billy watched DVDs.  Thank goodness for portable DVD players.  He was actually pretty good.  He was so excited to see Bebe and Grandpa and ran right up to them and gave them hugs.  It is great to be back in Oklahoma.  I love the landscape. I know it’s flat, but you can see for miles.  Plus there is a Sonic in almost every town!  One cherry limeade, please.

In just a few short days Baden has gone from an inch worm crawl to pulling himself up and getting into everything.  He has been caught with his hand almost in the dog food. Fortunately, I was there to pull him away before anything happened.  So in light of that incident, we went and got the gates down from the attic. Dunowland is now fortified with a gate in the family room and one in the living room.  Baden wasn’t too happy with this confinement, but has gotten used to it.  If he is upset about something, he will crawl over to the gate and let me know.  It is amazing that in such a short time period he has gone from just rolling around on the floor to pulling himself up and standing.  He isn’t quite sure what to do once he’s up on his feet, but that will all come in time and the way he is going it will be sooner than later. 

Last night we went to see the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs play the Newark Bears.  It was our first time at the new stadium, Regency Furniture Stadium, that is located here in Waldorf.  I think it took us maybe 15 minutes to get to the game. That was nice.  The stadium is really nice and initimate.  We sat behind home plate and while the seats were good, we prefer sitting behind the dugout.  Billy was really excited to see Pinch, the team’s mascot.  Billy gave him a high five and a hug.  We had a good time at the game and it’s fun to see Billy get excited about the game and learn about baseball.  I love being able to share the love of baseball that I have with Billy.  It’s always been a big part of my family and I want to continue this tradition of baseball with Billy and Baden.  The Blue Crabs lost 5 -2, but that won’t deter us from many more trips to see them play. Bill says I am getting a little too crazy with all the games, but I have the fever. Tis’ the season.

We went to see the Bowie Baysox play the Portland (Maine) Sea Dogs last night. The Baysox are the AA team for the Baltimore Orioles.  It was Belly Buster night.  If you bought a lower reserve ticket you got a food voucher for a foot long hot dog, popcorn and a bag of peanuts.  We sat right behind the dugout.  It was a chilly night for baseball, but we had a good time. This was Billy’s first baseball game and he seemed to enjoy it although I don’t think he really knew what was going on.  He knew he wanted a ball and since we were sitting right behind the Baysox dugout, the bench/field coach, Moe Hill, threw a ball to Billy. He promptly threw it back, but he got it back and we put it away so that wouldn’t happen again.  The Baysox have a mascot named Louie.  He is looks a little like the Fanatic of the Philadelphia Phillies.  He was dancing and having a great time.  Billy was a little scared at first, but he warmed up to him.  Baden just stared at him and I wonder what he was thinking about the whole thing.  After the game the kids get to run the bases.  Billy wanted to go out on the field all night so he was one of the first ones out to run the bases. On his way to second base he totally biffed it, but he got back up and made it to home. If there had not been people on the field directing the kids where to go, Billy would have ran those bases until he couldn’t run anymore.  He told me this morning that he loves baseball which of course makes me smile because I love it too.  We are heading to another game next week. We will be watching the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs play the Newark (NJ) Bears.  The Blue Crabs are right here in Waldorf and we are excited about being so close to baseball.  Of course, we will probably take in a Washington Nationals game or a Baltimore Orioles game, but the minor leagues are so much fun and they are really family friendly plus they are a lot cheaper! Nothing can be better than spending the evening with your family at the ball park. 

PS: The Baysox beat the Portland Sea Dogs 4-3.

On Wednesday, Bill was invited to a Baltimore Orioles game. Knowing that I love baseball, he asked if I could go.  His friend said sure and I was so excited.  Bill had a campout on Friday with his 11 year old Scouts so he planned on using Thursday evening to prepare so I could tell that he didn’t really want to go.  I couldn’t find a babysitter and so I told Bill if you don’t want to go just call and tell him.  He did, but then he showed up for his Scout meeting and only one boy showed up so the campout was cancelled so Bill decided to go to the game.  I wasn’t a happy camper.  It wasn’t the fact that Bill was going out with friends it was he was going to a baseball game and he doesn’t really like it.  Well, Thursday dawns and Bill heads off to work.  My day was not headed in the right direction.  The boys and I went to the dollar store and on the way home Billy threw up in the car. Thank goodness for leather seats.  Then as I was opening the front door to get paper towels, etc… our beagle, Eddie, had pooped right at the front door!  I wanted to scream and I think I did.  After getting everything cleaned up, I was not in a good mood.  Bill finally called me while he was at the game and I told him I don’t want to know where you are sitting or anything.  He asked me how my day was and I told him all the gory details.  He came home later that night and said he decided that we will go to more baseball games and he would learn to like the game.  I am excited about that. I have been going to baseball games since I was four months old when my brothers played Little League ball. Baseball is in my blood and I hope to pass that onto Billy and Baden.  So even though my day didn’t go great something important happened and I am ready to play ball! 

PS: The Orioles beat the White Sox 6 to 5 in ten innings.

We went to the National Zoo today. We almost didn’t make it. There was an hour construction back up on Route 301 and then when we got to the Metro station there were no parking spaces.  We drove and driving in downtown DC is not fun.  Luckily, we picked the right day because the Pope arrived later in the afternoon and roads were shut down.  I definitely dig the Metro and prefer it to driving anytime.  Once at the zoo, we had a lot of fun looking at the animals. I really enjoyed watching Billy’s reaction to the animals and how excited he was to see them.  The last time we went to the zoo he was not in a good mood and so we ended up leaving. That was a bummer.  Now he is at the age where he really loves this kind of stuff.  Baden enjoyed himself laid back in the stroller taking it all in.  It was a beautiful spring day in Washington and a perfect family day for us.

All is well in Dunowland.  Baden has really got a taste for bananas and carrots not together of course.  He really loves to grab the spoon so it can be quite a messy experience.  Baden had his well baby appointment last week and he weighs 18.3 pounds and is 27.5 inches long.  He is such a happy guy that we couldn’t figure out why he was crying or getting fussy at odd times (i.e. when he wasn’t hungry) and last night we found the answer. His first tooth is coming in. It is on the bottom and it is barely through the gum, but visible.  It is probably good that he is getting teeth since he tries to eat our food.  He has a look on his face that just seems to say hey, where’s mine.  Billy is doing great and showing more indenpendence each day. Yesterday he didn’t want me to go into his speech class with him. He said you stay out here and wait while I go to speech.  According to his teacher, he did really well. I think having me and Baden in there was a distraction for him.  He is doing great.  He is all about stickers since we started a rewards program with him. He gets stickers for doing different things and then he can use those stickers to do things like play Wii or watch a movie.  It has been working out pretty good.  Bill’s evaluation is over! YAY!!!!  He was named an outstanding performer due to all of his hard work that he put in following up to this evaluation and during the evaluation.  Now he can concentrate on getting some things done around the house.  I am doing good.  I just finished my last IV Iron today and have so much more energy.  Before the treatments, I was always in search of a nap.  I am trying to do some spring cleaning, but haven’t been too successful.  Just need to get motivated! Things are good though. Spring is here and baseball is back. What more could you ask for?

You may notice that the blog is a little different.  We decided to go with Word Press so that we don’t lose anything.  If we switched internet providers that could happen and this is a lot of work. 🙂  We hope you are all enjoying our posts of the things Billy says and of our happenings here in the wilds of the nation’s capital.

 I am convinced that Billy is crazy for the Wii.  He says he can hear the Wii music even when the Wii is not on. I think he says this in hopes that maybe the Wii will be turned on and maybe just maybe he will get a turn.  The Wii is off limits to Billy, but on Thursday morning he climbed on the pellet stove to the mantel and got some games down and the controllers.  I was upstairs and as soon as he heard me coming downstairs he ran away into the living room. He was sent to his room.  Thursday night I put the games on top of a storage cabinet in the computer room.  The next morning using the computer room chair he retrieved the games.  This time when I came downstairs he ran to the stairs and said I need to go to my room.  I already knew what happened.  On Saturday morning after the games had been stored away on the top shelf of the closet, he turned the Wii on and used the guitar from Guitar Hero to look at the news and weather and the Wii Store.  He was sent to his room for the entire morning.  Tonight, I am making a cinammon crumb cake. I was checking on its progress in the oven and Billy said what’s that. I told him it’s a cake. He said for me and I said yes and for me and daddy, too.  He said you mean we can eat cake and play the Wii.  His dreams must be about the Wii and I am thinking that maybe he will be on a video game team like the ones in South Korea where they play games against other teams and the competitions are held in stadiums with cheerleaders.  Is there any money in that?   School starts tomorrow after a week off for spring break.  I am hoping that will help him get over this obsession. Otherwise we may need to send him to Wii rehab.

1. Billy and Baden laughing

2. Getting hugs and kisses from the boys.

3. Spring!

I got to thinking about this when I heard Baden laughing this morning.  He was playing and was having a good time because he was just laughing and giggling.  It was such a sweet sound and I know this may sound corny but it made me feel so good inside.  I guess I am in a reflective mood today. I don’t know why.  I just am so thankful for my family and all the joy they bring to me.  I just had to share. 

We went to the movies today.  We saw Horton Hears a Who.  It was really cute and we all enjoyed it even Baden!  I recommend it.  We had ice cream afterwards at Cold Stone and it was a really nice afternoon out. We haven’t had a family day in a while.  We need to do this more often!