My Birthday

Today was my birthday. Nathaniel did his part by being a little bit better than he had been being in terms of naps. Our schedule actually worked out okay where he plays for a while in the morning and then lets me rock him to sleep while I watch QuickPitch for a bit and then he naps and I can get some things done in the morning. Lately he hasn't been sleeping much at all--like less than 30 minutes, so my exercise regimen has disappeared.
After Stephanie got home, we went to McCormick and Schmicks for dinner, and I had a delectable Fillet Mignon and Crab Cake. Stephanie had a crab cake as well with some shrimp and salmon. They gave us a free little dessert for my birthday also--a dark chocolate cup with chocolate mousse and strawberries in it. It was really tasty. Afterwards we walked around downtown Minneapolis for a bit looking at the options at Candyland, but not getting anything. We took the train back home and walked home from the station, taking about an hour for the two and a half mile walk. Nathaniel stayed at home with Diana and Erin and Isaac. Diana and Erin went to get them Davannis and I guess Nathaniel was mostly ok with Isaac but was looking for someone he knew after a bit. They also told us that he climbed the stairs on his own too. We're in real trouble with this guy.

Took a walk today to go see my dad in the afternoon. He has been traveling a lot recently, so it's good to try to get some time where he and Nathaniel can see each other. He's going to be giving me some work to do as well from these trips. He's got some transcription work that needs to be done, and since I've got a pretty good typing speed and can arrange to do it on the days when Nathaniel sees my in-laws, I can get the word done and bring in a little bit of money too.
While we were there, I got some weird pictures of Nathaniel in the playpen. The ends of the playpen are sort of translucent, so there's a strange surreal effect on the pictures. Almost creepy, but if I had had my real camera instead of just the phone I think they could have been some really interesting pictures.

Prunes

We've been giving Nathaniel a half of a banana each morning for breakfast the last several days, and I don't know if that's a partial cause, but he has seemed to be a bit constipated the last few days, and his poops have been pretty thick and hard, so we decided to try giving him prunes. Today was his first experience with them. I mixed the prunes with some apples and mangoes that were premixed, and he actually ate them quite well. I suppose it makes sense since prunes are rather sweet, but I wasn't expecting it. He ate them pretty well, and if he slowed down at the end, it was probably because there was more food than usual. He still ate his Cherios well.

Race for Justice

The Race for Justice 5K was today, and despite the rain it seemed to go pretty well. I got there earlier than was called for in the instructions, but found a lot of people already hard at work, so I kind of wish we'd gone in at the regular time instead of having Stephanie head to work a little later than usual. Anyways, I was stationed at the head of the Stone Arch Bridge, and watched for a little over an hour as people ran, walked, or jogged past me.
After the race I went to my parents house, as they were watching Nathaniel. My mom had gone to Ikea and bought a tunnel for him to play with and I guess he really likes it. She said that she hadn't even finished opening it all the way (it was still V shaped) and he crawled right in. When I got there, he toyed with me pretending that he'd go in, but then pulling back out of the tunnel. I did get a couple of blurry pictures, though.

First Stars Game

It is nice to have a team to watch, but the Stars experience was essentially the same as the last few years of the Thunder. Slogging out to Blaine to watch a gritty, scrappy, and frankly poor game between two poor teams. The highlight for me was when I took apart the Thunder supporters section sign and turned the word "thunder" into "stars." I used the E to make the S, the H and the U to make the A, and the D to make the final S. The T and the R obviously I just reused. I got props from some teenagers while I did it, and I kind of hope to leave it like this rather than get new lettering because it seems appropriate, somehow.

Another good mail day today. My diploma came.

Park

Our third trip to the park today, and it's definitely that Nathaniel isn't a fan of the swing. I put him in the swing again and he really looked uncomfortable. He leaned forward a lot, and reached up to be let out. I think he'll enjoy it a bit more when he's a little older and a bit bigger. He definitely does enjoy playing with the sand, though, and all the little helicopters and everything else in the sand.