A Day At The Races!!

Today Aislinn, Afton, and I headed up to the great city of Milwaukee to watch the Indy Car race and enjoy a beautiful day. We watched the race from the infield and had a full day of tailgating and watching racing. Afton had to wear his earmuffs and had no problem with it. He watched a few laps, played in the grass, watched a few laps, read his book, watched a few laps, and ate grass, and a few Graham crackers and so on. It was a beautiful day and the perfect way to end a great weekend. Tomorrow we are going to Indianapolis to pick up some race car parts, and Friday we are going to MN. Busy week yet again!!Afton"These are my earmuffs. Functional, yet not a big help for picking up girls"Afton-"Picture Mom and Dad took while I was eating gravel in the parking lot"Afton" Mom read me a book before the start of the race. 5 seconds later I mauled her face"Afton"Dad must have been hungry because he had 2 or 3 bottles before the race"Afton"Mom and our friend Fee. She talks funny. Mom says she lives in a state called the UK"Afton" Just for the record, I wear my hat like this because I want too, and I like to be different!!"

Garage sale!!

Yesterday we took part in the annual Providence village garage sale. We sold some of Afton's old clothes, books, movies and other random junk and managed to make $120.00. Afton crawled around all day and attracted customers. Today we are going to the Indy Car race in WI. Look for pictures and stories early this week.

DAY IN CHICAGO

On Saturday we got up, got all packed and headed to the train station. We decided to head down town for the day. Afton's 2nd cousins Melissa and Allen were in town from MN so it was a perfect time for a day trip. The train ride was fun, it took about an hour because it makes several stops along the way. When we got down there we had some famous Chicago style pizza, then went to watch the Memorial Day parade. We went to Millenium Park and finished out the day with Melissa and Allen eating sushi. While at the park Afton met a random kid about his age, Afton tore this poor little boy's hat off his head, and the little boy tried to rip Afton's shirt off. Both boys then began to maul each others face and eventually had to be separated. It was a REALLY REALLY fun day and you can be sure there will be many more day trips down town in the near future.

Helmet

Some of you already know, but we are getting Afton fitted with a DOC-band or helmet as we'll refer to it (makes it much less medical and much more racecar). After much deliberation I am reluctantly agreeing to my sweet baby wearing this for 23 hours a day for 3-4 months.

Here's the deal...so with the new recommendation that all babies be placed on their backs due to the increase in SIDS in the late 90s, babies are now developing flat heads from all the time spent on their backs. Afton's isn't too bad at all, just a slight flat spot on the left side and our pediatrician in Indy seemed to think it wold get better on it's own. Well, we move to Chicago and suddenly this devil pediatrician thinks there's all sorts of things wrong with Afton. (minor things, but STILL) I finally took him to the consult at a place called Cranial Technologies and of course they say he needs a helmet. $3,000 out of pocket b/c our insurance sucks, why wouldn't they say he needs one?

Anyhow, we initially thought no way, but then after thinking about it for several weeks, we decided it probably was a good idea. I don't want Afton asking me when he gets older why his head had a flat spot and telling him "Mommy and Daddy couldn't afford it." I would feel like a failure.

Ideally, you put kids in the helmet when they are younger, and their heads are more malleable. Afton is nearly one but they say good results can be achieved. Most people don't even notice it now, so if it gets 50% better I'll b satisfied.

I'm distraught by this, obviously for many reasons. It's hot out now, he has to wear this on his head and sweat all summer. He can't wear hats and I will miss his hair. I love his head! I also am worried about people looking at him funny. He thrives on getting people to look at him and pay attention to him and I don't want people to treat him any different.

All in all, this is a good thing, and I'm glad we're doing it but I don't have to like it!!!

Here's a picture of what one looks like. Afton is getting measured today and fitted with it in 2 weeks. We're going to have someone paint it who paints racecar helmets so it will look cool.

Day at the BIG Lake

Today we had the day off of work because we are getting ready to leave for Salt Lake City. The weather was fair and the sun was out so we went to the beach on lake Michigan. When we got there the wind was blowing pretty good, perfect kite flying weather which we took full advantage of. We had lunch, Afton ate some cantilope. After lunch Afton played in the sand and ate a handful or two. Thursday Afton goes to Minnesota for a few days and he is excited. He is hoping that he can ride in a tractor.

Little Big Man

Nice Boy

So Afton has a new thing he likes to do when we read him his favorite book. The book is an alphabet book that goes through the alphabet and each letter has a picture. When you get to the letter Y the book says " Y is for you, go on take a look" and the page has a mirror on it. This is when Afton looks at himself in the mirror on the page and gives it the biggest, wettest kiss EVER. He does it every time and it never gets old. Here is a little clip of the action, enjoy!!!

Terrible Bloggers

I pride myself on being a fairly reliable blogger...I really do. I'm sorry to say that these past couple of weeks I have been a blog slacker...I know it, you know it, we all know it. For that I apologize. We've been so busy we haven't even taken a picture of Afton since we've been back from Oklahoma *gasp* the horror!

With that said, here's what we've been up to...

All of you know, Dustin and I have decided that we're finally getting married this year **applause from our families** and while there is no way on this green earth that I am planning some big event, there are some decisions to be made. We're having a 'destination wedding' somewhere tropical this November but as easy as this decision was to make, we still have to pick a place...I'm just not good at making decisions! All the places look great and we'd chosen Mexico but then the whole swine flu episode ruins that...don't even get me started on the swine flu and in my opinion, the overblown exposure the media has created...but whatever...we'll figure it out!

Afton is going to be ONE next month! This sends me into a state of panic at the thought. I feel like he was born yesterday and at the same time it seems like a long time ago. Either way, it makes me kinda sad. Don't get me wrong, he's lots more fun now that he's older and more interactive but I will not refer to him as a 'Toddler' yet. Not yet. He's still my baby.

For those of you who have voted on the them for Afton's party, thank you. I do have to point out, however, that the "cowboy" theme is not the orange and black variety, but rather the gunslinging, spur-wearing kind. Just to clarify. Oh, and I put the race car choice on there just to see how many people would choose that one...we're not having a race car party...we eat, sleep, and breathe race cars and I am not starting that with Afton yet... ;) Although he is going to the Indy 500 Memorial day weekend.

We've had some reasonable weather here in Chicago. And by reasonable I mean, not snowing. It's been barely warm enough to go outside so we've been doing some yard work. We even planted a vegetable garden that we've been growing in our sun room for weeks!

Afton's new favorite hobby is opening and shutting doors. All kinds. He loves it. I'll try to take some pictures this week!