August 9th - Week 17 - Nanny, Jenna, Cubs games, Hot Doug's

Boy was my Monday and Tuesday confusing! Mom woke me up at 6:30 on Monday morning, packed my bags and took me to Talia's house. My new nanny, Monica, was there and I got to explore Talia's house and all the new toys/swings that she has to play with. Monday was suppose to be a dry run with the nanny and to see how I'd do at Talia's house for 10 whole hours without mom and dad. It took mom 45 minutes to finally leave me. She kept making up excuses not to leave because she wasn't quite sure how to fill her day when I wasn't with her. She realized she drove around aimlessly for 15 whole minutes once she left me at Talia's before realizing what she was doing. She did her best to avoid a lot of tears until she picked me up that night. Monica told her I only slept 20 minutes all day and cried for 40 straight minutes in the afternoon. I've never cried like that for mom but I was pretty overwhelmed by my new nanny and all the new surroundings. Mom hadn't told Monica about the hairdryer trick and how it calms me down but Monica finally turned on a big fan that Talia had at her house which got me to stop crying. Mom was hoping that I'd do better on Tuesday when Monica and Talia came to my place for the day but I still had a tough time. I was much better about sleeping during the day but I'd cry each time Monica came to pick me up from my nap. I'm just not use to waking up to someone other than mom or dad. I'm usually really happy when I get up from my naps. Mom says her favorite part of the day is coming into get me and being greeted by my big smiles. She took a quick video so she can remember those smiles when she's stuck at work all day.


As scary as Monday and Tuesday were it was made better by the fact that my very first cousin, Jenna Suzanne Reeves, was born on Monday. She was 6lbs 13oz and I can't wait to meet her. Mom thought it was ironic that my Aunt Amy was spending her first day with her new daughter when mom was spending her first day without me. Hearing about my new cousin brought back so many good memories for mom of our first few days at home together as a family. We were all very excited for the Reeves family and can't wait until Labor Day when we get to go meet Jenna in person! Mom met her friends for her last 'movies for moms' on Tuesday but she had to go by herself since I was with Monica. It helped to make the day pass by for mom but it was so hard for her to have all her friends there with their little babies and be sitting all by herself. At one point, mom's friend Mindy looked over and saw how sad mom looked during the movie and let her hold her little girl Riley. It did cheer mom up for a little bit but then it just made her miss me more.

On Wednesday, we went for my 4 month check-up with Dr. Norwood. I weighed in at 11lbs 13oz and am 23 inches long. Dr. Norwood said I'm perfectly proportioned. I'm at the 25th percentile for my height, weight and head circumference. I also had to get another set of immunizations. I did pretty well with the shots. I only cried a few minutes after they stuck me with the needles and then I settled down. Wednesday night, we went with Mindy, Riley and her dad Scott to the Cubs game. I can now say I've been to as many Cubs games as White Sox games...phew! Unfortunately, even my being there wasn't enough luck for the Cubs. They played terribly and ended up losing 12 to 5. We still had a good time and Riley and I got all kinds of attention for being two young girls dressed in our Cubs outfits. Dad ended up taking Thursday and Friday off of work to spend with mom and me before she goes back to work. Dad got up early on Thursday and played 9 holes of golf before mom and I even got out of bed. For lunch, we went to this famous Chicago Hot Dog restaurant called Hot Doug's. People line up and wait for hours to eat at this place so we went for an early lunch. You can order all types of specialty hot dogs. Everything from a traditional brat to a rattlesnake dog or a chicken sausage with goat cheese and berries (that's what mom ordered). Mom and I had met some of her friends at Hot Doug's early in the summer but this was dad's first Hot Doug's experience. In the afternoon, we took dad to some of the parks mom and I had visited over the summer. My legs have gotten really strong over the past week and I showed off my standing skills to dad in the sandbox at Adam's Park. On Friday, dad's friends from Tremont, IL came to visit and had 2 extra Cubs tickets for us. It was a day game and they were giving away Dora the Explorer dolls so I had to go. This game made up for the terrible game we saw on Wednesday night. The Cubs ended up winning 17 to 2 and scored 10 runs in one inning. It was also the weekend of the air and water show in Chicago. The F16 fighter planes kept doing fly bys over the ball park during the game. They were really loud but they didn't scare me. It was a beautiful Friday afternoon and after the game, we got to hang out in the outdoor areas around the ball park. I was being so good, that mom didn't take me home until 8:30 that night. On Saturday, we got to meet the newest baby in our group of friends. Austin Nicholas Kolentus was born on August 5th. He is one big boy. He was 9lbs. 15oz when he was born and they think he's almost 11 pounds now that he's two weeks old. It won’t be long until he's bigger than I am! In the afternoon, we headed over to a friend's rooftop BBQ to see the air and water show. It was a little too hot for me to be on the roof the whole day so mom and dad took turns watching me inside until there was enough shade on the roof. I helped entertain everyone at the party and I even got to meet another little girl named Ava.

On Sunday, we were suppose to meet some friends at the Bucktown baby pool but the weather didn't corporate. That was ok with mom because we were able to spend one last relaxing day at home together. Sunday night was pretty sad and mom didn't want to put me to bed but there was no avoiding that the summer we'd enjoyed together for the past 4 1/2 months was coming to an end.