Out on the Town

Mike had the week off for paternity leave, so we decided to spend Friday morning enjoying the nice weather in downtown Naperville. We loaded up Ben and Dee and headed off. We picked up some bagels and coffees at Einstein Bagels, and then walked over to the riverwalk to eat.

Ben was enjoying all the new sites and sounds of the riverwalk.

But all those new sites and sounds helped him to work up an appetite. Little "chub chubs," as we like to call him, sucked down 7 oz before he was content and ready to head out.

Dee waited as patiently as she could for us to finish eating so she could hit the road.

Once we got moving, Ben fell asleep. But every time we would go over a bridge, he would pop his eyes open and stare, looking a little freaked out for some reason.

Dee loved her walk and marked her territory wherever she got the chance, peeing like a boy dog.

Content that her spot was marked, we moved on.

After a nice walk, we packed up and headed home. Dee helped to navigate for a while.

Exhuasted and happy from her walk, she decided to rest it up a bit as we made our way home. A good time was had by all.

The Wild Card

If you've never seen It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the title of this blog probably doesn't make much sense. But while we were waiting for Ben to arrive, my mom and Mike bonded over a shared love of this show. In one episode, Charlie is given the title of "wild card" because he is supposed to act crazy and be the surprise element of the crew. My mom and Mike quickly took to yelling "wild card" whenever one of them would do something out of the ordinary. This eventually led to Mike's nickname from my mom being "the wild card," which was then passed on to Ben. I think his crazy hair alone earns him the title of wild card. So that is why this blog is titled The Wild Card. It is named for Ben and Mike, but mainly for my mom, who can't get enough of "the wild cards."

First Time Apart

Ben is 9 weeks old now, and except for a few quick trips to the grocery store while Ben stayed with Dad, I have not been away from him yet. To prepare me for May 12, my first day back to work from maternity leave, we thought maybe we should do a trial run to make sure I could handle it. So Grandma Nancy eagerly agreed to watch Ben for a few hours while Mike golfed and I cleaned the garage. I packed up his diaper bag and loaded him into his car seat.


As I started to say goodbye, I got a little choked up at the thought of his leaving without me.

Ben and Mike didn't seem to share my sentiments. They were perfectly happy and ready to go!

So I sucked it up, slapped on a smile, and said goodbye.

Ben had a great time playing with Grandma and their collies, Jake and Rocky. At one point, Jake even brought Ben one of his dog toys to play with. So sweet!

Ben came home exhausted after his busy day and slept for 9 hours straight, his longest sleep yet! And I think I will survive my first day back to work, after a few tears of course.