Happy birthday

Happy birthday, Uncle Peter!!!

Love, CJ

My kind of town, Chicago is

To begin with, Christopher and I survived our first solo trip back east last week. He really is a great traveler, as long as he can look out the window. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Woglom and then got to visit Grammy over in New Jersey. The first day we were there, Christopher stayed over in Westchester while I went over to help Grammy find a temporary place to live. We checked out the house, which was pretty damaged by this 80 foot tall, 20 ton tree that fell on it last week. We are all just so grateful Grammy was not in the house when it happened. Anyway, the next day, CJ visited the Hillsdale Public Library, where Grammy works, and made himself right at home running through the stacks of books and climbing the stairs. Sheryl, Ally, and Julia, as well as Lauren, met us for lunch at Friendly's later on that day. The next day, we stayed in Westchester where little buds watched Grandma Woglom play tennis and then spent the latter part of the day playing in the pool and on the swings at the Manursing Island Club. Our plane ride home took place rather late in the evening and after about an hour, Christopher fell asleep in my arms until we landed back in KC.

The next morning, I got to go right back to the airport to fly to Chicago. I've had plans to meet Liz in Chi town for a couple months for a "girls' weekend." We had a fantastic time checking out the city, eating deep dish pizza, going to museums, and visiting Chrissie. We also saw a Second City comedy show which was great! The only downer on the trip was that I got food poisoning from some sushi I had on Saturday evening which did not make for a very pleasant plane ride home to Kansas. I'm still recovering today but things seem to be feeling a bit better... Brian did an awesome job taking care of Christopher while I was gone!

No Girls Allowed

As some of you know, Karin is up in Chicago, so it is a boy's weekend here in Kansas. Chris and I decided to make Kasey a honorary boy, so she can hang out with us cool guys. Everything is going well so far (knock on wood.) We have been busy doing manly stuff like having fun at the park, going for walks with Kasey, and reading lots of books over and over. We might even go to the bookstore and the sporting goods store later for a change of scenery. Karin comes back tomorrow night, so that gives us plenty of time to clean up after the big party we are having tonight :)

Daddy's race

Lil' Buds started yesterday morning bright and early (actually just early; the sun wasn't up yet when we got in the car) in all kinds of excitement to go see Daddy race in the Jackson County Triathlon: Long Course Edition. It was a bit cold so we had to bust out the Shelter Island sweatshirt (represent!) and long pants for the early part of the morning. Olivia's daddy was racing too so the little pals got to hang out once again. One thing I have to say about Christopher is that he is extremely adaptable, especially when it comes to eating. We had our breakfast on the go (aka, in the stroller) while we watched Daddy swim. Normally, Chris gets his breakfast heated up but he did not seem to mind eating cold oatmeal mixed with pears. In the picture above he is lounging whilst observing the swim portion of the race and munching on Cheerios. One challenging aspect of taking Christopher to races now is that he really wants to get in on the action. For example, we stood roadside to watch the turnaround on the bike and he kept darting away from me to run into the road. I finally had to put him back in the stroller which he was not very happy about. (Now I know why parents by leashes for their kids, although I'm hoping we don't!) The really cool thing about this particular race is that Christopher and Daddy got to see each other during each part and the little man cheered on the big man all along the way. He even clapped for Brian when he was in the transition from the bike to the run. So cute! Also, while we waited for Daddy's bike transition, they were playing music and Chris put on a little dancing show which a nice lady walking by enjoyed quite thoroughly. In between dancing, Christopher enjoyed playing with rocks, seen here:
Brian did awesome in his race! This is his first long course race (1000 meter swim, 25 mile bike, 5 mile run) and he did a great job. This is all in preparation for his half Ironman in Oklahoma City in September. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed being around the racing community once again.


Christopher and I are getting up quite early again tomorrow morning to catch a flight home to NY/NJ for a quick visit with the family. Some of you may have heard about the huge tree which fell on my mom's house. We are going back east to offer some moral support for Grammy. This will be Mommy's first solo trip with "The Buds." Please pray for us.

Bye bye bottle!

Christopher has officially transitioned to "big boy" status as he went to sleep last night for the first time without a bedtime bottle. I really think the transition of getting rid of the bottle is more difficult for parents than for kids. Brian and I both really enjoyed that time of just holding our little man in the rocker while he sucked down seven ounces of formula. These days, it is one of the only ways to get him to sit still! But the time has come and Christopher handled it like a pro. We are now feeding him dinner later (and, therefore, closer to bedtime) and offering him water in a straw cup while we read several stories. He really had no trouble adjusting and didn't even want that much water. He just wanted to read his books! I was expecting some fussing but there was none... Speaking of books, Christopher now picks out the book he wants to read and brings it to me no matter where I am. Then when I finish and give the book back, he again returns the book to me and shows me the sign for more. This is so exciting to see that I sometimes end up reading the same book four times! And this morning we took a stroll over to Buffalo Meadows park, right down the street from us, where they have the super cool baby swings. As he was swinging, CJ noticed his shadow, as the sun was directly behind us. So I told him, "Look, there's your shadow. If you wave, it will wave back." I then demonstrated how to do this and he started waving to his shadow. It was so cute! I really wish I could just attach an endless video camera to us all day so you could all see these things, but for now I will have to use my best descriptive skills with words.

Um, there's a tent in the basement

So let me give you a little background here... Six years ago, when Brian and I first moved to Michigan, I was planning on going camping with some of my new friends up in the northern part of the state. In preparation for my trip, I purchased this nifty little three person tent and brought it along. Of course, other campers brought bigger tents that made more sense for the the 12 of us to use so my little tent remained stored in its original box. In fact, it remained in its box until this past Monday morning when, out of boredom and a stroke of creativity, I decided to bust it out and create a little cavern for Christopher to play in (what can I say--it's been raining like crazy and I didn't plan many outings this week!). Initially, Kasey was the biggest fan of the tent and proceeded to jump around inside it. With a little coaxing, however, CJ was game and began to play with his toys inside the tent. It is a little tricky to get in and out of for him because there is a six inch lip on the bottom (probably to keep the snakes out of it in the wild) that he must navigate but our coordinated boy has become an expert at this obstacle. Here are some pics from inside the tent:



Something that is so cute that Christopher has been doing recently is giving big hugs! When I'm sitting on the floor, he comes up to me, stands in front and starts bouncing up and down (to get me to make room of course). He then runs in and practically tackles me, putting his arms around my shoulders and resting his head right below my chin. As you can imagine, this is one of the highlights of my day! We have been having so much fun recently. Today is Christopher's first day with his new babysitter Kristen. She is coming to give Mommy a little break this afternoon so we'll see how he does. It appears that the rain has finally stopped so maybe they can play outside, Christopher's favorite place to be. Here is a picture of Chris watching the rain, an activity he really enjoys doing:
And just a post script to Grammy and any of you other Tom Chapin fans out there (Duren-Lubanski family, you know who you are!). This morning we were listening to a playlist of Tom Chapin songs on the iPod and Christopher was dancing big time to "Don't Miss the Bus" and "The Happiest Song I Know." It was so cute! I know, I know, I'll try and get video.

The Moonwalk

A funny thing Christopher started doing today is walking backwards. It is so cute! He is really deliberate about it and it looks like he is concentrating so hard. What happens is this: Chris will be walking around (running really) and then he'll stop, focus on one spot, and take two or three steps back. We were watching him do it this evening and joking that his next step will be the moonwalk a la Michael Jackson (did I just write MJ's name in my child's blog? really?)... Anyway, this morning I did the Sunflowers to Roses bike ride to raise money for Livestrong and let me tell you, it almost didn't happen for me. We had thunderstorms that lasted all night and throughout the morning. I was really looking forward to the ride so I went over to the starting point and waited with the other cyclists for the weather to clear up. As I listened to the announcer, I realized that thunder, lightning and torential rainfall does not stop cyclists. Thank goodness for the pre-ride champaigne toast! The first 10 miles of the ride were in said monsoon until it finally cleared up. Long story short, it was a fun event and riding 35 miles was not quite as exhausting as I thought it would be. Riding for a good cause creates a great atmosphere and I would like to thank everyone who donated to such a worthy cause!

Tails on the Trails

The whole family had some major fun this morning as we made our way over to Ad Astra Park for the annual Lenexa Tails on the Trails festival. This is a day when the town has all kinds of dog vendors come into the park to market their companies and they close down the town pool to let the canines romp! For all you germaphobes out there, fear not! After today, they drain the pool and it is closed for the season. Anyway, we walked around the park checking out the different rescue groups, doggie daycare places, and treat boutiques before making our way to the pool. Kasey, of course, was helping herself and playing the "starving beagle" role as she collected her fair share of treats from the various vendors. Christopher was laughing up a storm as he saw all the doggies. However, he did not laugh as hard as when he saw THE SWING! He was distracted from all his four-legged buddies as he noticed a little boy vacating the baby swing and he said (in so many words), "Mommy, to the swing immediately!" We went over, had a few swings and when it was time to get off, little man threw a 13 month-old fit. He calmed down as we walked toward the dogs again. On our way, we heard my name announced saying we won a gift card to a local daycare place for Kasey. I'm pretty loyal to Pawz at Play but it's two free days for Kasey and I really don't think she cares where she plays. On to the pool! Kasey Moe had a ton of fun romping in the water, attacking the mini waves, and chasing other puppies. She especially loved rolling around in the mulch under some shady bushes. We got Christopher's feet wet and then rounded up the pup and headed for a nice healthy Sonic lunch. Enjoy the pics from our day!




Mommy and Daddy are escaping tonight to go to a fundraising event for Girls on the Run, hosted by a woman in our triathlon group who is doing an Ironman in a few weeks and raising money for the organization on her way. We are excited and I am especially happy to say that I will be fueling up on Boulevards tonight in preparation for my 35 mile Livestrong ride tomorrow. It's not a race this time so I can have one extra wheat beer if I want. Why? Because I'm the mom, that's why. Hehehe.

Spa day

Meanwhile... I definitely have the life, people. When I heard another baby was coming to visit today I thought, "Ugh, now I will have two walking babies chasing after me and stealing my toys!" Mommy must have been reading my mind because she booked a daycare day for me at Pawz at Play complete with a luxurious bath, manicure and pedicure, and dental hygiene treatment (you never know who I will be kissing next). Seriously, I have never had it so good. Ever since my days on the mean streets of Independence, Missouri ended, I have been pampered, spoiled and everything in between. Now with Christopher growing, my parents are finally starting to pay attention to me again. Although I have to say I am a little perturbed that they have not been letting me in the backyard recently. It appears that a family of field mice have moved in, right in the middle of my territory, and Mom apparently frowns on me killing mice babies. I am not happy about this as I have missed countless opportunities to chase the rabbits and snakes that also call our backyard home. I even heard that Mom called the exterminators to take care of this "mouse problem." Um, hello?!?! You have a free exterminator right here! A four-legged one! Who is cute too! Some humans will never learn...

So many girls...

You know how it is. When you're as fun as Christopher, all the ladies want a piece of you! Today, Maddie came over to go swimming in our neighborhood pool. Since it was Olathe's first day back at school (I know, I hear all you east coasters saying "What!?!? Summer just started!") we had the pool all to ourselves. CJ and Maddie love splashing water the best, and they both just love jumping up and down in the pool! Maddie stayed for lunch and the two kids played with some fun toys and just had a blast walking around the house together. Yesterday morning, we met Olivia at the farmer's market and later went over to Danna's house to play with Lahna and Liam. (Okay, so there is one boy in there!). Tomorrow morning we are getting together with Olivia again and her little friend Addison. You will notice in the previous sentence that I said "morning." That's right, I believe Christopher is slowly starting to drop his morning nap. After the famer's market yesterday, little man did not take an AM nap and today it took him over an hour to fall asleep, and of course I had to then wake him up when Maddie and Randa arrived. I don't think he's completely ready to lose that nap yet but we're slowly getting there. I figure that if it's going to take him so long to fall asleep in the morning, we might as well stay up and go play with some other babies! And speaking of babies... congratulations to my stepbrother Dave and his wife Abigail on the birth of their son Luca! Here is a picture of the big guy:

Slicin' and Dicin'

Cut cut cut.
Slice slice slice.
Preparing food for CJ
Is always nice!
But for hours on end
I chop chop chop
This food prep thing
Just does not stop!

Race day!

Despite the fact that today was a million degrees (at least!), I decided it was a good day to race. I participated in the Octomax sprint distance race at Hillsdale Lake in Hillsdale, Kansas. Crazy right?!?! Hillsdale, Kansas. It was such a cute little boonie town with an old school saloon from 1912 in the middle of it. Anyway, when I checked the temperature before I left, it was 81 degrees out and that was 5:30AM. We knew it would be roasting today and I'm glad I did the short course, not the long one (very long! too long!). My fan club arrived a bit after I did and the boys were cheering in full force!

The race went well. I have to say that as I was swimming through the choppy waters of Hillsdale Lake, the thought running through my head was "You know, I really dislike the swim." It is my worst discipline of the three and I seriously do not enjoy getting kicked in the face/chest/shoulder or getting grabbed on both ankles while navigating cold, rough waters. I'm glad that the swim comes first so I can get it over with. The bike portion rocked! I felt so fast, aside from the wind pounding at me in the face. Why is it that the wind is always against me when I'm going different directions throughout the race? Finally, the run was awesome. It was completely on sandy, beach-like trails with the exception of a small portion toward the finish. By that time, it was really hot and the first 1 1/2 miles were directly in the sun. At least I got to work on my tan! All in all, the day was great and I placed 3rd in my age group. The prize: a sweet bottle of wine. Because the overall women's winner was in my age group, I actually got a second place prize which was cool. Meanwhile, Daddy did a super job managing our little buds who got to play in lots of dirt! Maybe one of these days Kasey will once again get to join us for a triathlon.

My prize

Flexing like Daddy

Snuggles

This morning, Christopher and I were busy playing with one of his toys when I noticed Kasey walking over to the couch, which she usually does when she realizes we are not going to pay her any attention. I noticed the pillows moving around a bit and when I went over to check out what she was doing, this is what I saw:
Ah, what a life. No one knows how to look more comfortable than Kasey Moe Woglom... BTW (that's "by the way" for all of the technologically-challenged folks out there; don't worry, I'm there with you), take note of the Yankee throw blanket behind our comfy dog. Even from out here in the middle of nowhere, we are very proud of our Yanks who, according to espn.com, destroyed the Sox in a 13-6 rout. I love it; nothing better than a rout to start your Friday off right!

The Scrapbook

Okay, everyone. This is my final announcement about the scrapbook being put together for Christopher's first birthday. (Yes, I know his birthday was three weeks ago!). I have begun working on the layout for the scrapbook and I have many pages still to be filled. If you have already sent or given me your piece of writing, thank you. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, let me fill you in... As part of Christopher's birthday gift, we are putting together a scrapbook of things his family and friends have written, about either his first year or just a simple birthday wish. I would ask that you write something on a paper 8 1/2 by 11 or smaller and please write only on one side as I will be gluing it into the scrapbook for him to see. I know there are a lot of you out there who read the blog that I might not have sent an email to about this before his birthday. We would love to include something from you too! I want this to be a very special gift, something that Christopher can read and enjoy throughout his life so the more people, the better. Hopefully you know our address already, but if not just write a little note in the comment section of the blog and I'll let you know what it is. Thanks!

Curious George

Now that Mr. Christopher can walk, excuse me, almost run/motor/fly, he is into everything! And I mean everything. When he first started crawling, people would say to me "Well I guess you have to really close everything up and keep things out of reach now, huh?" While I thought that would be necessary, it really wasn't that bad. I had to make sure he didn't fall down the stairs but aside from that, he stuck to some usual places. Now, however, it is as if the world has opened up for him and he discovers a new haunt nearly every day--no, every waking moment. For example, Chris has taken it upon himself to rearrange our cabinets and he also enjoys placing objects in new locations. You know, the blocks don't really need to be in one specific location. There should be some in each room. (Geez, Mom, why are you trying to be so organized?) Also, CJ has continued his scientific experiments (see "Drop it like it's hot" post) and now likes to place objects IN, well, anything. Yesterday, he wanted to see what would happen when he placed his pacifier in Kasey's food dish 18 times in a row. The other day (and Grammy told us this would happen), I was in the living room and saw him go into the bathroom with a puzzle piece. Next thing I know, I hear "plop" and, no he is not so advanced that he's potty trained; the puzzle piece somehow found its way into the toilet. Mmmm... lovely. The cool thing about his exploration happens when we go outside. I'm a big one for being out in nature and it seems to be rubbing off on our little man. Yesterday he was totally looking at these five different colored leaves I put in front of him in our yard. He was just examining them for 20 minutes straight. It was so cool! I can't wait to see what he thinks to check out next.

A new toy

Should we get this for Christopher?

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Our weekend

There are three reasons why I have not been entering posts on the blog as much as I used to. First, it is getting close to impossible to get a good picture of Christopher because he is moving too fast to catch on film. In the picture to the left, he was just about to start walking toward me and I was lucky enough to capture him in a non-blury sort of way. Second we've been just so busy on the weekends between Brian's mega-workouts in preparation for a half-ironman, my semi-mega-workouts, and then everyday life with a one year-old. (Plus, I was captured by a fabulous book that I just had to finish this weekend during CJ's nap times--hence no blog posts during those times). And now I can't remember the third reason... Anyway, in between workouts, we took Christopher to a local place called Ernie Miller Nature Park which has lovely hiking trails and a nature center with owls and hawks and fish tanks and observation rooms. After checking out Ernie Miller on Saturday, we had a lovely pizza dinner with Dan, Mary, Tristan and their two dogs, Oliver and Coco. Tristan was showing Chris how to be a big boy and Chris was a major fussy pants due to his three molars that have officially emerged. Kasey was in heaven because her two best doggie friends were there to play with her and it distracted her from the fact that we pay more attention to Christopher now. In between naps on Sunday, we took our little man to the neighborhood pool which was freezing! Chris didn't seem to mind as much as Mommy and Daddy did though. Later in the day we met with a young woman named Kristen who is going to babysit for us once a week (and then maybe on weekends every now and then so Mommy and Daddy can have date nights). She was very nice and Christopher seemed right at home with her. It was a busy weekend and a fun one too!
(See! I have to take pictures of Chris when he is restrained in his high chair. It's the only way!)