Rough Night saved by Corn Fest

Welcome back blog readers.  We have so much to catch up on after such a busy summer.  Last night was like going back in time to when we only had Quentin to deal with but he didn't sleep a wink.  It was discovered after a long day with little napping happening for either boys that Gavin was sporting 104 degree temperature.  We were planning on going to the Sweet Corn Festival (oh, Iowa!) but since neither of the boys took even an hour long nap I could see the crabby map on the wall and saw numerous public tantrums and didn't want to go down that path.  We hoped we could squeeze it in on Sunday.  Turns out Gavin was having a tough time sleeping because he was sick as a dog. His screaming led to big brother not being able to get to sleep and the afternoon adventure was in full swing.

We had our typical long, tear-filled afternoon when the boys don't get a robust nap filled with, "Dad I burned my hand touching the hot grill," touching the hot pan the cookies came out of the oven for the newly moved in next door neighbors (oh Iowa!) and my play lawnmower attacked me and smoked me in the chin.  We literally ran out of ice packs.  When is bed time!?  We finally got Quinny tucked in without much fanfare, after all the Brewers had a late afternoon national game (national! - they are so going to the World Series.  You know they haven't won a pennant since 1982 and made the playoffs exactly once since then as a wild card team in 2008) and that game was immediately followed by the first pre-season Packer game.  Boys, oh boys, can't you throw me a solid on a such a sporting afternoon?  What happened to the Sundays of, "Go Pack Go!"?

Carrie and I got little sleep with Gavin trying to navigate his way through his fever.  He was burning up, which put us on edge and was having such a tough time.  We were giving him ibuprofen and Tylenol, which helped bring his temperature down to the 101-102 range but all day today he was still sporting it.  He was still eating pretty well and wasn't dehydrated.  We can't really find any other symptoms.  By the time we were getting ready to put everyone to bed tonight he was feeling a little better but not much so he'll shuffle of to the doctor's office tomorrow.  He just made it to 10 months and we're pretty sure he's been to the doctor's every month.  I think it's just daycare.  It's been so hot that the kids don't go outside for recess so they've been trapped inside most of the summer.  They get stuck inside all winter and then it's too hot in summer to go outside?  This is bizzaro world! I don't get that but then again I'm not running a daycare center.

He's in full motion these days crawling all over the place.  He's still mostly pulling himself around army style but can prop up on his knees and crawl in the traditional sense if he wants.  He's able to sit up and down now and has begun pulling himself up.  The other night he woke up and I went in there to give him his bah and he was standing, much to my astonishment.  It freaked me out a little.  I think we may need to lower the crib again. He's entered the realm of table food as well so he's trying new foods on a regular basis.  We haven't found anything he doesn't like but we haven't given him too much either.  We're taking it slow but he's well on his way to walking, talking and eating. 

Since Gavin was sick we didn't think it a good idea to bring him to Corn Fest 2011 so Q and I went on the adventure together.  All morning long Quinny kept saying, "Dad we're going to the cornfield right?  Dad, I want to go to the cornfield!  When are we leaving for the cornfield?"  It's funny when he gets mixed up.  It's crazy to go back just a few months on video and hear what he was saying.  In just that short time his vocabulary is larger and enunciation is so much clearer.  He's growing up big time.  He and I straight up dominated the fair.  The Corn Fest is totally set up for little kids under 10.  The thing is super cheap (free parking, free to get in, $1 for an ice cream cone, corn on the cob for $.50, brats for $3, rides for a $1, games for $.25) so we did everything.  Deep breath - we rode the ladybugs, bumper boats, spinning strawberries, rocket ship, and the swings.  He won tic-tac-toe, played the ring toss game, played the launch a frog onto the lily pad game and finished it off by winning the catch a fish game.  And of course Quinny ate a ton of food.  He had an icee, a brat, a hot dog, a bag of popcorn and finished the day off with an ice cream cone.  It was good fun but we missed the other half of the fam.  Best of all it was a tantrum free day.  Hooray!  We're very much focused on listening these days so it was nice to hang out with such a good listener.  Enjoy the pics!