We loved the Dinosaur Park so much that we went back during the first week of June. This time, Brian came with us. We had a lot of fun even though it was quite hot. Connor was just as excited about the dinosaurs as he was during our previous visit.
We had a lot of fun showing Brian around the park, and Connor especially loved pointing out each dinosaur we saw.
Each time we saw a dinosaur with visible teeth, Connor would immediately point to them and then point to his own teeth. It was so cute.
Once we had our fill of the dinosaurs outside, we headed inside to look at the dinosaur bones and fossils. It's a smaller exhibit (compared to the dinosaur collection at the MET in NYC), but still really cool. Connor was just as impressed with the dinosaur skeletons as he was the outdoor statues. Some of the bones and casts are unprotected and visitors are allowed to touch them. When Connor saw Brian and I touching one of the bones, he wanted to touch it too. After that, he wanted to touch everything, and insisted upon doing so.
I've never heard of a woolly rhinoceros before, but there was one on display near the woolly mammoth skeleton. After I snapped a picture of Brian and Connor in front of it, we noticed that some child had been braiding its hair. Haha!
The museum's second floor houses a large display of minerals, gemstones, rocks, crystals, geodes, petrified wood, etc. It may sound boring, but it was actually very interesting. There were a lot of things I'd never heard of before. We especially liked this display of rocks shaped like food. It made us laugh.
We had a great time again at the Dinosaur Park and may visit again before the summer is over.
The first Sunday in June was Connor's first official day in the nursery at church. Brian and I were so excited--we could now go to class together without a little munchkin to chase after. I was very much looking forward to being able to listen to the lessons again. We thought he would be fine when we left him, because he never really even noticed us when we took him and stayed with him the few weeks before. As soon as we entered the room and put him down, he would run over to the toys and not pay attention to us until it was time to leave. So we thought that it would be an easy transition for him to not have either Brian or myself stay with him. Boy were we wrong.
We dropped him off and left. As soon as the door closed behind us we could hear him crying. We decided just to go to Sunday School, figuring he would calm down after a few minutes. Almost an hour later, one of the nursery leaders brought him to me--still crying. Poor kid had cried the entire time. He'd also wet through is diaper and his pants were wet. I took him to the bathroom and changed his diaper, a difficult feat since he was clinging to my neck and wouldn't let go. He was crying so hard, that it took me awhile to calm him down. Once he stopped crying, I walked back to nursery with him, thinking I'd take him back in but just stay with him. As soon as I touched the nursery's door handle to open the door, he started screaming again. I got him to calm down again and then took him to Relief Society with me. He fell asleep while I was holding him--it was the first time that he relaxed his grip around my neck. Poor kid.
He woke up when church ended and seemed to have forgotten the whole ordeal. He was back to his happy, busy self. I tried to get a picture of him before we left for home (to document his first day of nursery) but he wasn't having it. He either ran away or got down on the floor in his downward dog pose. Silly kid. I still managed to get a couple pictures of him despite his protests.
I wish I could say that nursery has gone better since then, but it hasn't. We tried again the next week to drop him off, but it didn't work. I went in with him and waited until he started to play with the toys. I snuck out once I thought he was distracted, but as soon as the door closed I heard him start to cry. I went to Sunday School in hopes that he would calm down. I figured the leaders would come get me if he didn't stop crying. Sunday School was almost over when a member of the primary presidency came to get me. I went to the nursery to find Connor still crying. He had cried so hard and for so long that he had thrown up a little. Strike two. I wish they would have come and got me after ten or fifteen minutes, but also I should have gone and checked on him after that much time had passed. I calmed him down and he fell asleep while I was holding him, so I took him to Relief Society with me.
Since then, we've traded off staying in nursery with him. The first time back, he sat right by me the whole time and had to be touching me or he would start crying. Every time I shifted or even moved he started to get worried. He's a bit traumatized. We're going to keep staying with him until he gets comfortable with the leaders and going again. I hope it doesn't take too long!
Our next adventure happened on June 5th. I was in the bathroom washing my hands and Connor was standing next to the bathtub. I don't know how he did it, maybe tripped on the rug, but he fell and hit his mouth on the edge of the tub. He started crying really hard, and no wonder. It looked like it hurt. I picked him up and held him until he calmed down enough for me to look for any damage. He wasn't bleeding and his lips looked fine, so I thought all was well. But then I noticed that both of his front teeth looked different. That's right, he had chipped both of his front teeth. Gah! It was late enough in the day and once he stopped crying his teeth didn't seem to be hurting him, so I waited until the next morning to get him into the dentist.
So Connor's first trip to the dentist was for chipped teeth, not for a routine checkup/cleaning. Connor was not happy about having to get an x-ray, and he struggled a lot while sitting on my lap. I had to pin his arms and body down against me with one hand and his head with the other. Once I got a good hold on him to keep him still, it only took a second, but it was quite the wrestling match to get him to that point. After the x-ray, we waited in an exam room for the dentist. The assistant gave him a little car to play with and that helped occupy him while we waited. The dentist came and looked at the x-ray, and then I had to hold Connor down again just long enough for the dentist to get a look at his teeth.
The chips are very minor, just on the bottom edges of his teeth. The impact didn't damage his permanent tooth buds, which I was glad to hear. The dentist warned me that one or both of his teeth might turn a dark color if there was bleeding inside the tooth, but so far that hasn't happened, so I figure we're in the clear there. The chips were so minor that the dentist didn't even file the edges of the teeth down. He said we could build them up, but the filling would most likely come right off when Connor was eating. So as long as the chipped teeth don't hurt him or become sensitive to heat or cold, we're just going to leave them alone for now.
We still have the empty diaper box that was Connor's favorite toy for awhile. I thought about throwing it away, but almost as soon as I had that thought, Connor had a renewed interest in it. Instead of pushing it around though, he has decided that it's the perfect object for climbing onto and into. He likes to climb on top of it and then slide off of it head first. I don't like it when he does that because I'm worried he will hit his head too hard, but he just laughs and laughs. He also likes to climb on top and just lay on it, or crawl inside. I don't know how he still fits in there, but he manages to disappear inside. Silly boy.
Layne and Kris came to spend a weekend with us. While they were here, they babysat Connor Friday evening so Brian and I could go on a date. It's been so long since we went on a date without Connor that I can't remember the last time we did! We went out to dinner and then to a movie. We saw the new Avengers movie (Infinity War) and loved it. We'd both been wanting to see that one and finally were able to. We had a lot of fun and it was really nice to have some much needed alone time.
On one of our outings while they were still in town, we stopped at Petco. We thought Connor would like to see the animals. We were right! He was SO excited and ran back and forth between the different cages shrieking with happiness. He really liked the mice, hamsters, snakes, lizards, turtles, and especially the fish...so basically everything.
We also took them to one of our favorite parks. It was really hot and it was close to nap time so we didn't stay super long, but Connor loved playing on the slides and swinging.
Saturday evening (June 9th), Layne and Kris watched Connor again while Brian and I drove to Salt Lake. We went to dinner with Matt Murray and his mom at the Roof Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It's a very nice place to eat and has an amazing view of the Salt Lake Temple. Matt's mom was in town from Washington and this was our first time meeting her. We had a great time, and really enjoyed meeting her and spending time with Matt.
Brian ended up going to an urgent care Sunday morning. He had volunteered in the Church's peach orchard a couple evenings earlier that week. Our ward is assigned a section of the orchard to care for, and the fruit needed thinned. He came home with tiny hives covering his arms. It was very itchy and had been bothering him all week. He had been applying hydrocortisone cream which seemed to help somewhat. Sunday morning he woke up and the hives had spread up onto his shoulders and neck and his throat was feeling scratchy. Layne and Kris were still here and we were planning to go to church. Instead, I went with Brian to urgent care while they watched Connor. The doctor diagnosed Brian with folliculitis and prescribed him an antibiotic, a few days of prednisone, and told him to take some Zyrtec as well. After a few days on these medicines, along with some topical applications of eucerin lotion, witch hazel, and vitamin E, Brian was felling a lot better. It took about a week for his skin to completely heal.
Connor is obsessed with getting into our cupboard full of canned goods. The other day I found a collection of cans on one of our chairs. He had been dutifully moving the stock from the cupboard to the chair. Haha! I love finding little surprises like this. He also likes to play with bottles of any sort--empty milk jugs, laundry detergent containers, vinegar bottles, etc.-- pretending to drink from them. He found a bottle of vinegar one day and carried it around for quite awhile, taking "drinks" from it with his mouth fully covering the cap. It made me laugh. If he really got a taste of the vinegar it would shock his socks off, and he wouldn't be so eager to chug it down.
One morning I constructed a simple fort in our living room using a couple chairs and a blanket. Connor loved it! He wouldn't crawl inside and sit, instead opting to run through it and around the right chair and then back through it again. It was great fun for both of us. He wouldn't hold still long enough for me to catch a picture of him, but I did manage one semi-blurry shot.
Connor had his first experience with throwing up this month. When he was on bottles he would spit up, but never vomit. This was full on vomiting. Poor kid. Brian was sitting with him in the living room watching a show while I was cooking dinner. All the sudden I heard Brian yelling for me and I go over only to see Connor throw up all over Brian. He did it multiple times and it was like a faucet had opened. I couldn't believe his little tummy held that amount of liquid. Connor immediately started crying and Brian and I were both in shock. Luckily most of the mess ended up on Brian with only a little on the carpet and couch. Brian carried Connor to the bathroom, I turned off the stove top, and then put Connor in the bathtub while Brian got himself cleaned up. Poor kid had thrown up so hard it had come out of his nose. He was quite shaken, and so were we. I hate, hate, hate vomiting, to the point it's almost a phobia. I hated that my little guy had to experience it. After I cleaned him up in the bathtub, I put him in some pajamas. He had no energy and just laid on my shoulder. Brian took him and laid down in bed with him, while I went to quickly finish dinner.
I was almost done cooking, when I heard Brian yell for me again. Connor had thrown up again, and it had gotten all over Brian again. I hate that Connor was sick, but now it is kind of funny that Brian got it twice. Brian was so traumatized by the experience that he felt sick to his stomach himself that night. Luckily, Brian had once again managed to take the brunt of it so only a bit of the mess ended up on the bedspread. Cleanup was a breeze once the boys were bathed. I got Connor in the bathtub again, and Brian took a shower. Once he was cleaned up and in clean pajamas, I made a bed of blankets on the living room floor and laid down with him while Brian went to the store to get some pedialyte and popsicles. I've never seen Connor so sick before. He just laid there on the pillow beside me with no energy, looking pail and very frail. It scared me a little. He didn't fall asleep, but just laid there so still looking at me with his big, dark eyes that looked so large in his pail little face. About an hour later, Connor stood up all the sudden and started smiling, laughing, and running around. It was like someone had flipped a switch. Whatever he needed to get out of his system or whatever bug he'd caught had passed and he was feeling much better. He was back to his normal energetic, hyper self and didn't slow down for the rest of the evening. I was so happy (and more than a little relieved) to see him feeling better. He drank some pedialyte, enjoyed a popsicle and some yogurt. Afterward he was quite the sticky mess, so he got a third bath before bed.
We got to celebrate Brian on Father's Day. A happy occasion indeed. He's the best father and husband-- kind, good, supportive, loving, hard-working, devoted, generous, funny, and so much more. Connor and I are truly blessed. Our favorite part of the day is when Brian gets home from work. Connor's face always brightens with a smile (mirroring my own) and he runs to the door with excitement when he hears Daddy walking up the stairs to our front door. Watching Brian and Connor together, whether they're playing, reading, wrestling, running around pretending to be dinosaurs, or watching a movie makes me so happy. You can easily see the love of father for son, and son for father. I'm so grateful for the man that he is and the example that he is for our son.
Connor wasn't very happy about the idea of getting his picture taken, and honestly neither was Brian. But I made them do it anyway, and I know they love me because they let me! Between all the crying, struggling, and silly faces, I managed to get a few great ones. They'll thank me someday for all of the pictures.
After church we enjoyed a lunch of chicken fried steak, German potato salad, and vegetables. For desert we had bear claws. It's always easy to spoil Brian on a birthday or other holiday...all I have to do is make one of his favorite meals. He opened his present--a card and a ear hair/nose hair/beard trimmer. Haha! I thought it was an appropriate Father's Day gift. He's actually used it and likes it, so my humorous present was also practical and useful.
Connor has become obsessed with trying to dress himself over the last few weeks. He's always pulling out a pair of pants or shocks or shoes and trying to put them on by himself. He can usually get his socks on and at least one one pantleg on, but can't quite figure out how to get both legs into separate pantlegs. He gets so frustrated and starts to cry when he can't figure it out after a while, but he refuses to let either Brian or myself help. At this point, I have to take the item away and distract him with something else to get him to calm down. Haha! He comes by his perfectionist tendencies naturally. The other evening. he found one of Brian's socks and was so excited by how easily he could put it on. Connor pulled the sock on, got up and walked around, and then sat down to take it off and put it on again. He continued this process for quite awhile, excited every time he put the sock on. We were all laughing at his funny antics. Brian's sock reached up to his hip and he just looked so silly walking around with a giant sock covering his leg. Now he plays with Brian's socks every time he gets the chance.
Connor continues to like to put things on his head. We watch him carefully so he doesn't put anything over his head or face that could hurt or smother him. One evening he was playing with his toys and decided to put this basket on his head. It covered his head completely but still allowed him to look out the bottom and see what he was doing. He continued to play with his stuffed animals with the basket on his head for awhile. It was hilarious.
Connor has SO many stuffed animals. I seriously don't know how we acquired them all, but as soon as we had him our house seemed suddenly full of stuffed toys. Connor's newest game is to see how many stuffed animals mom or dad can hold. He thinks it's the funniest thing to load our arms up with the animals and then knock them out of our grasp onto the floor. I came out of the bedroom one Sunday morning and found Connor loading daddy up with toys.
We finally went to the water park near our house. I've been wanting to go since we moved in, but we've just never made it over there. It's ridiculous because it's seriously just across the parking lot behind our place and takes not even two minutes to walk there. One Saturday we finally decided to take Connor. It was so fun! The place is bigger than it looks from the road and has something for everyone. There is a wading pool that is only a couple inches deep on one end and three feet deep on the other. There is a lazy river, a splash park, water slides, a full sized pool, and a jungle gym in the middle of the wading pool.
Connor was a little nervous/cautious at first, but soon warmed up to the water quite well. This was his first time in a pool and he did great. We had fun walking around in the wading pool with him, going deeper and deeper to get him used to being in the water. We tried playing in the splash park or near the jungle gym but the spray was a bit intense for our little guy so we went back to the wading pool. We did walk/float around in the lazy river for awhile and Connor loved that.
We were there for almost two hours, and could have stayed much longer, but our little guy was shivering and it was time for lunch and then Connor's nap. When he realized we were leaving he started reaching for the water and whining. He didn't want to leave even though he was tired, hungry, and shivering uncontrollably. We have yet to go back, but plan to soon.
Connor and I discovered a tiny park (if you can even call it that) a short walk from our apartment. There is a fresh water spring there which is very cool. We took a drink of the water and it was great! People go there and fill up jugs of water to take home. There also is a small stream flowing through the park and a little bridge. There are lots of ducks and geese in the park that like to swim in the stream and hang out on the surrounding grass.
We walked across the bridge and sat down near the water. I'd brought a few slices of bread so we could feed the birds. I pulled out the bread and broke it into pieces, handing some to Connor. I showed him how to throw a piece of bread into the water near the ducks, and boy did he get excited when he saw the duck swim over to eat the bread. Connor immediately tried to throw his own piece but it didn't go very far, landing near our feet. We are still working on throwing. It didn't matter though, Connor was still so happy and clapped and shrieked in excitement after throwing the bread. Each time a duck or goose ate the bread he started laughing and clapping. Whenever a pesky seagull would fly by and swoop in to steal the bread, he would jump up and down. Such a simple activity, but Connor thought it was the greatest thing he'd ever done. I loved how much joy it brought him.
One day I was at Target with Connor shopping. We have two family weddings coming up this fall, and I was looking for some possible clothes for him to wear to those events. I found this cute little hat and put it on his head. It was so adorable on him and he was making the cutest faces while wearing it (I think he liked it too) so I had to snap some pictures. This kid is just too adorable.
As a bonus for reading this far, I've included a short video of Connor dancing. We were eating dinner at Costa Vida and he kept dancing to the background music. So cute. I'm so glad Brian got a video of it. This is his signature dance move--pumping his arms up and down, sometimes accompanied by running in place.
So that sums up June. Summer is in full swing and we're trying to make the most of it before the summer heat really hits. We're heading up to Idaho the first week of July, so house hunting will have to be put on hold for a bit. We're going to visit both families. It's going to be a very busy but very fun week. We're ready for a vacation, and I know Brian is especially excited to take a break from work. I've been trying to pack and get things ready for our trip and Brian is working hard to get a little ahead at work. That's been keeping us busy this last week. Goodbye June, bring on July!
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