Home

We are home! It was a wonderful trip, but it's good to be back. It was an early morning on Monday, earlier than we all thought as Blanden didn't sleep well that night. Fortunately he slept almost the entire flight and took a couple of good naps that afternoon. He was very happy to see his dad and his pups. We made it to music class that evening, although he didn't participate -- just sat on our laps quietly and tiredly. And he has slept soundly for eleven hours the past two nights.

Belle isn't supposed to be on the couch, but when I looked up and saw the two of them sitting there I had to take a photo.

Although she doesn't look super excited about posing for a picture, Ella adores Blanden. She took it upon herself to become his guardian the moment he came home from the hospital (long before he could feed her to win over her affections!). She kept kissing him on Monday.

It took Belle a little longer to warm up to Blanden -- she was rather indifferent about him the whole first year, so long as she was still the "baby" too -- but she's been bringing him all of her toys since we got home. And she has become extremely tolerant of him climbing all over her and giving her full-body hugs. This is home, sweet home, with our family all back together.

Perking Up

Blanden has had kind of a rough couple of weeks since Grammy and Papa left. Last weekend, he fell out of his crib -- twice. He wasn't trying to climb out, just reaching over the side when he (and I!) was surprised to find himself nose-diving to the floor. His crib is standard, the mattress is standard, and the manual says to stop using the crib at 35 inches. But apparently at 32 inches, Blanden is too tall already. Alas, we're done with his lovely crib as a crib. But he's not ready for his toddler bed just yet -- and neither are we -- so he's sleeping in his portable crib for the time being.

Then this past weekend he was quite under the weather, though he is perking up, so today we took Belle to the local dog park. Fall has arrived here in Denver, and the weather has turned cooler (meaning 50s) -- mostly. Tomorrow it will be 70, so we just might take a little field trip again to one of Blanden's favorite places, the zoo, which I'm sure will perk up his spirits even more.

And although these photos feature Belle, Blanden's favorite playmate, we must also recognize Ella, Blanden's favorite friend and the get-well pup extraordinaire. A couple nights ago, when Blanden was inconsolable and not feeling well at all, we brought Ella in and sat down next to her. Immediately Blanden leaned over to rest his head on her back and his crying stopped.