Face Time with Ama

August 8, 2015

Hi Cole  - Nice Face timing with you tonight.  Mom read your Thomas book to you while I watched and listened.  She asked you to say some of your new words but you declined. "No" to be precise.  But that was okay.  Part way through our time together, you said "Potty" and daddy took you but you didn't really have to go.  You were running all over the place and even went outside by yourself!  You are getting so big and independent.  I can't wait to see you - and it's only about 10 days from now!!  YAY

FaceTime again - what fun!

July 31, 2015     This post is out of order...but cute nonetheless.  

What a great call tonight!  I showed you my kitty, Chamaca, and asked if you could say her name.  You said "ca ca".  And then I said "she's a hairy cat" & you repeated "hairy cat" in your special way.  It was very cool!

You were eating a peach and whe you were finished you went to take daddy the plate & it fell & broke.  You cried bug you looked at the mess & said "break"

You were trying to get yourself INTO the phone it seemed like so all I got a pic of was your forehead.

 But I did get one more:

Feeling under the weather

It was a rough couple of days for you. Not feeling well but better tonight.  Here's some emails mom and I had:

From: Alexandra Bianco [mailto:Alexandra.Bianco@aonhewitt.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 10:30 AM
To: Bonnie Mitchell
Subject: RE: Hello

 In other news …  Cole is sick again L.  He woke up from his nap yesterday with a very low grade fever and said his ear hurt.  We tried to get him into the doctor, but they said they didn’t have anything available and, in any case, it was really too soon to find anything.  That was a pretty acceptable answer, but it still sucked because, as expected, he got worse as the night went on.  We alternated Tylenol and Ibuprofen though, and it seemed to keep him happy.  When we were doing Ibuprofen alone it wasn’t enough.  It seemed to work for a few hours, but would wear off too soon and we had nothing to give him.  Anyway, he’s doing ok this morning.  Hanging out and watching TV with Nic.  He has an appointment to see the doctor at 1:30, so guess we’ll see what she says at that time.

 From: Bonnie Mitchell [mailto:bmitchell@cfpbmc.org] 

Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 8:43 AM
To: Alexandra Bianco
Subject: RE: Hello

So sorry to hear the news about Cole but it’s the way of kids I guess.

When they are little, it’s just so hard since there’s not much you can do to help aside from Tylenol etc. and lots of attention.  Give him a hug from Ama, not that it will help much at this time.  Hope the doctor can make him feel better.  (He gets to watch TV with daddy – so that’s a plus, I guess)

Love, mom

 From: Alexandra Bianco [mailto:Alexandra.Bianco@aonhewitt.com] 

Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2015 5:03 PM
To: Bonnie Mitchell
Subject: RE: Hello

Cole has an ear infection.  Wish we could have gotten him in yesterday.  The doc prescribed amoxicillin, but it’s not effective for 12 hours.  And to top it off, Nic didn’t pick it up while he was out (arrrgh!) so now he has to go back.  He said he didn’t want to deal with it because Cole wasn’t feeling well and the line was long, which I understand, but still annoyed.  The doctor also said that it could clear up on its own in a day or two.  But it might not …   So it’s up to us.  And if we don’t give him the meds today and the fever is not gone by tomorrow morning, then he can’t go to school Friday.  So I guess we’ll do the meds.  Once Nic goes back to get them that is L.

Ama was unhappy that you were sick but later that night, mom sent pics to show that all was on the mend and daddy was cooking up some good stuff for you.  Made Ama smile.   

July 28, 2015

Hi Cole:

I'm afraid I've done it again and forgotten to post your adventures.  When I called mom to say Happy Birthday, you were napping at first.  When you woke up, you said "Hi Ama!" with just a touch of prompting.  

Here's a little catch-up including the camping weekend in Pueblo for mom's birthday!

I guess you were a bit tuckered out by the time this pic was taken.  :)

Mom and Dad go on a Birthday date night to Cirque de Soleil 

Face Time

what a great visit tonight!   You said "hi Ama" and "night night ama" and "all aboard" and you danced!  

New Camper

And...your family got a camper!  

How fun will that be!!!!  

4th of July

Forgot to post your 4th of July festivities.  I think you had a great time - although can't tell so much by this pic.  :)

Here's a smile:

Pee Pee

Got a call from you and your mom today.  Rather a Face Time.  I was on my walk.  Mom said, tell Ama what you did today and you said:

PEE PEE IN THE POTTY

Here's what I look at everyday on the wall by my desk:

Mom and Dad and you did a fun Father's Day 5K Run today!  Here are some pics:

And the day ends:

Here's the thank you note "you" sent for the birthday presents:

You're Welcome!   I saw you playing with the hammer on Face Time.  Glad you like it!

Other than those big ones, there were little incidents like the bath that Cole didn't want to take - kept pointing to something and saying "bee". I think Alex may have conveyed her fear of bees - he doesn't seem scared but points bees out everywhere (even when they are just flies) He didn't want to stay in the bath the one day because of it.

The next time we tried, he had a successful bath but I banged my shin REALLY hard while taking him out of the tub! I was jumping around and Owwwwing - Cole didn't laugh though, I think he knew I was really hurt. I asked him to kiss it and make it better and he did (but it didn't).

Some things that happened while I was on baby patrol:

1. I decided to take Cole in the stroller when I went to the store since Alex had a shopping list a mile long and I wouldn't be able to hold everything.  But, when I got Cole into his car seat, I couldn't collapse the stroller.  And it was SO hot that I didn't want to take the time to figure it out.  

So out of the seat Cole came, back up to the room to deposit the stroller and then I held his hand as we went back down to the car.  (see #2) Even though it was a smaller grocery list than intended since I wouldn't have the stroller as a backup to hold stuff,  it was darn heavy! 

 2.  On our way back out after the stroller fiasco, we got in the elevator and Cole who loves to push buttons, pushed the HELP button.  OY.  An electronic sounding voice came on and I waited to see if I could tell them it was a mistake but it kept repeating "someone will be there to assist" or some such.  Double OY.  I took Cole's hand and said "let's get outta here!"

3. Nic had mentioned that they had ice on the 2nd floor.  So we got Cole in the stroller, I took a bowl and we went down to the 2nd floor.  (He could have walked but he likes the stroller)  No machines. Frustrated, we began to return upstairs but we happened upon someone who worked there and I asked him. He said it was on the 3rd floor.  So off we went and YAY, ice.  I was so happy because I had been so thirsty and was looking forward to a nice icy glass of anything!   So back up to the room, pop the key card in the lock and NOTHING.  RED/YELLOW   no GREEN (open).  And I did not have my phone or my keys or my wallet.  Nothing!   
Back down to the 1st floor.  There is no lobby or check in, but thankfully, there is an attendant on duty (some of the time at least) and she was there.  I explained the situation and she called admin and they said they would come and let me in.  She said if I had the key near my cell phone it might have de-activated it.  No problem.  They will come in 5 - 10 minutes.  Go up to the room and wait outside.  10 minutes????   OY.    But, as luck would have it, I ran into the young man from before (the ice question) and I explained my predicament. He went up with me and finally, after Spanish/English conversations with the office, was allowed to admit me.  Later, they came with sets of new keys since they had to re-key them.  

After lunch, Cole and I were on our own with the the good old GPS which messed me up again - she didn't speak up fast enough and I went the wrong way so had to correct (do you see a pattern here?) but quickly got back on track and headed for the Vacation Village. Just when we got back to the parking lot, Jeremy called. We spoke for awhile with the car - and A/C on, but Nic was trying to call (wondering where we were) so I cut the call with my son short and we went upstairs. All of us were tired (and me, after 2 margaritas - yes, I had 2!) and I had been counseled by my son to take a nap before getting back on the road (home) plus he was right. We all lay down to rest. I didn't really sleep but shut my eyes and then rested and read a bit. Alex and I exchanged little Mothers Day presents (I got her a fairy figurine and she got me a magnetic chalkboard and connecting picture frames and a beautiful card with words of thanks for my stint as babysitter and grandma) and then I hugged them all and we said our goodbyes.

Mother's Day - May 10th

Cole got up about 9:30 (he slept in both mornings) and I gave him some oatmeal and an O-ROW (orange). He then told me "down" and "go" and walked to his stroller and began to get in. 

So he wanted to go for a walk. We did. And it was very HOT out. We walked a long way - about 2 1/2 miles by my phone app which left me HOT and exhausted -but mainly hot. 

We were supposed to meet Alex and Nic at 11:30 at a restaurant which I thought was about 20 minutes drive. It was already after 11 by this time and I needed a cool down and a change of clothes. Cole was fine. So I did a quick turnaround and we got on the road. I tried my Google map again and there was no sound, so I switched to the GPS and followed the whispered directions. Got on 14 which was PACKED. Evidently everyone and his MOTHER was going to Disney. We were on our way to Universal - Margaritaville.  It took forever but Alex called and said they were running late too, so no problem. 

So we get to Universal -  I really hate going to places I'm not familiar with - it makes me nervous! Alex called just then and calmed me down telling me what to do. The parking garage, once I found it was okay - they lead you into the spots. I parked and then took Cole out of his seat, opened the trunk to get the stroller AND I couldn't figure out how to open it!! I know Nic showed me but I got myself all out of sorts worrying about Cole and my inability to get the stroller open!   I started to look for moms who might be able to help me.  I called Nic and he told me to look for a latch. I am worrying about Cole (putting him in the trunk to sit but scared to death and watching him with one eye) and trying to open the damn thing. Nic said just tell Cole to sit still and he will so I did and he did. I called out to some passersby and they came and helped and the stroller finally came to life as I released the lock at last! I really was almost in tears and then Alex had alerted me that I would have to walk quite a way to the restaurant from there so I wasn't sure what to expect. I saw escalators and an elevator and it said Spiderman but I didn't know what that meant. Was that the way to a Spiderman exhibit or show or something? I wanted to take the Elevator with the stroller but wasn't sure where that would lead. And I was a bit afraid of holding the stroller on the escalator, but I had seen Nic do it at some point so I guessed I could too. Anyway I ended up taking it and it worked. I went down two levels before I realized I didn't know where I had parked and how would I find it later??? I knew I had come down 2 flights and there were numbers so I was able to calculate that part and then realized that Spiderman was my area so I jotted both down. 

Then, I saw people being stopped on the way to "the attractions" and thought that I was in the wrong place and that I would have to pay to get into the park. Alex called and I was practically in tears, I was so flustered. She calmed me down and I figured out that they were just checking people's bags before allowing them through. She sent Nic to meet me and we connected thankfully and he walked me to the restaurant where Alex had ordered a margarita for me. AHHHHHHHHHHH that was good. It seemed that everyone was a bit late and they were just ordering and she ordered for me and we ended up having a great lunch Cole was a bit fussy (the only time he had been the whole trip) because he was hungry and tired but overall he was great.  Alex wasn't too thrilled that he didn't greet her in a "mom! I am SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU" fashion. And everytime he called for his "Amah" I smiled.  Delightful.

It was a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!

My Weekend with Cole - Starting with the return trip

So I will start with the end of my trip. 

I left my lovely little family at the Vacation Village in Kissimmee 

- hurrying into my car so I wouldn't think about missing them - on Sunday at close to 6 pm and plugged in my GPS (I tried to use my Google maps on the front part of the trip and couldn't get the darn thing to TALK - I can't keep looking at the map to figure out where I am going when I am actually GOING there!  I know she talks but darned if I could figure it out.  Plus, the directions seemed to be taking me the wrong way! So I went old school and used an old fashioned - and out of date - GPS that Jeanie bought several years ago that needs updating BUT IT TALKS TO ME!) So, I plugged in my home address and proceeded on my way.  The volume is very low and although I could have - and should have - taken the time to go to the menu and find the volume control to raise it, I did not.  Suffered instead - and caused myself to take the wrong turn.  I could have sworn she said take the ramp to the right.  But of course that was the wrong direction. RECALCULATING.  So I ended up going several miles out of the way to then return by a circuitous route to where I should have been and then hitting the turnpike JUST AS a terrible accident had occurred not minutes before.  So it was a parking lot!   About 1/2 hour later we were finally allowed to gradually get past the mess and back up to speed again.  

Once that happened, two things occurred.  I noticed that the parking pass that Nic had procured for me (which was laying on the dashboard) was casting a shadow on the windshield and I, of course now that I was back up to speed, could not reach it to remove it.  AND, worse, although I was now in control and did not need the GPS anymore and could remove it from the charger so that I could charge my phone, I could not find the phone charger (which I had removed earlier to put in the GPS!)   Anyway, since I couldn't plug in the phone, I was afraid to use it lest I might need to call someone should I get bored or a calamity occur.  Thus, I took to the radio.  I found an interesting station - talk radio and then later as a tribute to mom's (and old ones, I guess), they played a Mother's Day episode of Our Miss Brooks (radio version) from 1952 (just had to listen to that!) Eve Arden still rocks.   And after that, there was a Mr. Somebody or other, detective who solved a crime of passion.  Love old radio!  So I was comforted by these things even while I didn't get to chat with bff Jacque who was awaiting my call.