Learning to walk and Halloween

There seems to always be a theme to our blog, we are always trying to get caught up.

Brady is quite a pro at walking and running now so it seems so strange to think back to the fall of last year when we never thought he was going to get over the "knee walking".  For the longest time, he figured out that he could get places pretty quickly and didn't have to deal with the potential of falling by just walking on his knees.  It was pretty funny.  Thankfully though he gradually started showing interest in standing and took some steps while holding onto things in October (14 months old) and then on Wednesday night October 23rd after work, he decided to take the plunge and walk across the room without holding on to anything.  It was amazing.  We were both so excited for him and we could tell that he was so proud of himself.

First came the "knee walking".....

Then we took our first real steps.....

The following weekend was the weekend right before Halloween, so we had a baby halloween party at our place.  We had several of our friends over that have kids all near Brady's age and showed off their costumes.  It was adorable to watch, but the kids were not too pleased with our idea to line them all up on the couch.

Griffey even had a date for the party (Kirby, which is Kris and Tina and baby Tessa's dog) but was really embarrassed by his costume... 

And then the next day, Roscoe Village had their annual Kids Halloween Parade, where they basically block off the streets and everyone marches down the street a few block in their costumes and the local businesses hand out candy.  The parade was only a block away from our place, so we dressed Griffey up in his police dog shirt and all walked over.  Griffey seemed to like the attention and Brady enjoyed practicing his new walking skills.

Pictures with Brady

This summer we took some formal pictures with Brady and the family.  We figured we'd show some of the highlights here on the blog!

Driving to, from, and all over Ohio - July 4th weekend

For the July 4th weekend this year, we decided to make a last minute trip back to Ohio.  Katie had just started work on July 1st, so we didn't know whether she would have the 5th off or not until just a few days before.  Luckily she didn't have to be at work on the 5th, so we decided to drive back to Eaton after work on the 3rd, so once again we got in around midnight.  Charlie woke  up early on the 4th and went running to keep up with his training for the marathon and then we were going to head to Cincy for the Reds game but the weather was not cooperating and decided to rain us out.  Instead of the Reds game, we met Grumpa and Tom and Leslie for lunch at Gold Star Chili.  Brady didn't try the chili yet, just stuck with something a little safer for his tummy, chicken fingers and french fries.  The rest of the day we just relaxed at Grandma and Grandpa Mowry's house and then for dinner we took Brady to his first nice steak house - Ruth Chris Steakhouse.  Katie was a bit skeptical of how baby friendly Ruth Chris would be and how Brady would behave but she was pleasantly surprised by both.  The restaurant had high chairs and a kids menu and the waitstaff seemed to love Brady because every time they would walk by they would smile and make him laugh and Brady behaved like a little gentleman.  He tried alittle bit of our steak but mostly ate the mashed sweet potatoes.  Since Brady goes to bed around 8pm and it was raining off and on, we decided it would be too difficult to go see fireworks, so we settled on Graters ice cream.

We also got a picture with the Bengals stadium in the background.  Maybe Brady's first words will be "Who Dey"!

Friday July 5th morning, we drove up to Columbus to meet with our realtor and go inspect our condo.  We hadn't seen the condo since we moved out almost 3 years ago.  We have had very good renters though, so we were very impressed with how well the place looked.  We were contemplating putting the condo on the market, but the renters have been so good that we decided to keep renting it to them till next spring.  It was funny to take Brady to the first house we lived in together, and Katie was getting sentimental and remembering all the good times we had in that condo.

After seeing the condo we went to see a couple of our friends that were around with such short notice.  We got to see Ashley and Craig and their twins which were born just 8 days after Brady, so it was really fun getting the babies together again and swapping stories.  It's funny, Parker was so mobile - crawling all over the place!  Compared with Brady and Elliot, who seemed to be much more content to stay in the same place!  I guess it's true what they say that girls develop a bit faster :)

For dinner we went over to New Albany to meet Jeff and Stacie and their little 2 year old boy, Jack.  We were amazed at how much of a big boy Jack was and Brady and him seemed to get along very well.  Charlie went out for a few drinks with Jeff and some other former KPMG Columbus friends.

The next morning, we drove back to Eaton to pick up our dog and see Grandma and Grandpa Carico.  We stopped in Dayton and meet up with Aunt Abby and Grandma Leslie for lunch at Cassano's Pizza.  Oh how we love Mid-west pizza.  Abby was getting ready to move up to Akron to begin her residency as a surgeon, so she was glad to take a break from packing to meet us for lunch.

Once we got to Eaton, Griffey was so excited to see us again.  He starts jumping all over us and runs around very excited.  We spent the night there and then headed back to Chicago in the morning.   Charlie had another work trip planned so Katie's mom actually rode back with us to come help with Brady while Charlie was out of town and Katie was only on her second week of work.  Oh thank goodness for Grandparents!

The Beach!

We've lived in Chicago for close to a year now, and that whole time we've lived very close to Lake Shore drive and Lake Michigan.  We've often taken Griffey to a dog park near us, and while it's fairly nice, Griffey doesn't seem to enjoy it quite as much as we'd hoped.  Plus, we can't bring Brady in the dog park, so one of us has to go in there while the other just waits outside.  Usually this would start out being Charlie, but once Griffey realizes that his mom is not around, he just wants to leave.  So then we'd switch up.

About a month ago, we found a much better solution.  There's a very large section of the Lake Shore beach that is blocked off and there for dogs.  It's right off of Wilson Avenue, which is just two stops north of us and thus less than a 10 minute drive.  We tried it one day, and - success!  Griffey loved it!  It's a great place for us to take dog and baby.  Charlie can let Griffey off the leash and follow him around, and Griff doesn't seem so worried about where Katie is.  He's much more interested in what those big dogs are doing by the water, or what that other dachshund is chasing around, or what the beagle is digging up in the sand!

So we tend to go there once a weekend to be sure Griffey gets good exercise, and Brady seems to enjoy hanging out on a towel when we're there as well.

A Festival in Griffey's Honor - June 15th

Hello.  It's me Griffey. The dog.

I know I don't write many posts.  Most of the posts are about that new little person the stork dropped off in New Jersey.  He's OK, I guess.  He is more interesting now that he crawls around, but sometimes he pulls my tail!  I don't mind, though.  He is my little brother and I think I'm supposed to protect him.

I just wanted to tell everyone that I am having fun in Chicago.  I don't have a big yard like in Jersey, but Chicago is very dog friendly.  In fact, it seems that nearly everyone on our block has a dog. This makes for some VERY interesting smells along the sidewalk.  Last month on the weekend of June 15th, there was even a festival in my honor.  It was just a short walk from our house on Sheffield and Addison. It's right by this big Stadium that daddy seems to like a lot.  Anyways, this festival must have been for my honor, because every one was stopping to talk to me and I even had a few people want to take their picture with me. The festival was called Sausage Fest and everyone got a big kick seeing a Wiener Dog at a Sausage Fest. At first I was nervous with all the people, but then I didn't care because I love all the attention.  Usually Brady gets all the attention, but not at the festival in my honor!

OK, that is all.  It's time for Brady's bath.  I sit in with mommy and daddy when he gets his bath.  Providing moral support is a very important task.

Abby & Leslie visit Chicago - June 7th-9th

My sister Abby graduated from Medical School at Wright State earlier this Spring.  We're all very proud of the new Doctor in the Mowry family!

Abby has moved up to Akron where she's starting her residency.  Now, after spending 4 years post-graduate paying quite a bit of money, she gets to finally start earning a paycheck (though I understand it's fairly minimal until the residency is over).  Abby and my Mom came up to Chicago to visit while she had some time in between graduating and moving to Akron.

On Thursday, we went to Navy Pier downtown to Harry Caray's Tavern for dinner.  The restaurant used to be up near where we now live in Wrigleyville, but moved down to Navy Pier a few years ago.  There's a little sports museum inside the restaurant that has a bunch of things from Chicago sports history, including two famous baseballs from Cubs history:

• the "last out ball" from the 1945 World Series - which was the start of the famous "Billy Goat Curse" and the last time the Cubs made the World Series.  The ball is suspended in a ghostbuster-like case to keep the negative energy away.
• the remains of the "Bartman Ball" from the 2003 NLCS, which the restaurant purchased and exploded a few years ago.

I took Friday off and we all went to the Cubs game during the day.  It was a bit cold, and we'd gotten seats under cover in case of rain.  But Brady seemed fine and enjoyed the game.  Including the part where he took a nap in the middle of the game!

On Saturday I had my usual run with the Team in Training group, and Abby came with me to do part of the run.  We were up to 6 miles, which was a bit more than Abby wanted to do, so she ran the first couple of miles with me and then after I turned around I caught back up and we finished the last mile or so together.

After the tiring run, we went with Mom, Katie and Brady to one of our favorite restaurants - Southport Grocery.  Southport Grocery is just about the best place I've ever had for brunch - and we all left full and happy.

Abby & Mom watched Brady during the day while Katie and I went out with some friends to some bars nearby - and, more importantly, they put up some gates in the house to keep Brady safe!  Now that he's crawling around, our house was not the ideal setup.  Given his druthers, he'd crawl all over the place and probably try to eat Griffey's dog food or throw his water bottle across the room.  But Abby & Mom helped set up gates and make the TV set up more baby friendly!

It was great to see Mom and Abby while Abby had some free time - Brady and Griffey always enjoys all the attention!

*************

Baseball park info:

Park: Wrigley Field (3rd time for Brady)

Friday, June 7, 2013

Score: Pirates 2, Cubs 0

Winning Pitcher: Francisco Liriano

Brady's Home team record: 1-3

Visit from Katie's parents - May 2013

For the weeks of May 13 and May 20, we had quite a lot of activity going on in the Mowry household. Charlie had back to back week-long trips for work, so Katie's mom decided to come visit and help out with Brady and Griffey for those 2 weeks.  And it was perfect timing to have the extra help because Katie came down with a terrible stomach virus that lasted 4 days.   So Grandma Carico did what she does best and took care of Brady to help prevent the virus from spreading to him.  And good thing because he never caught the virus.  Katie had all these plans of projects that she wanted to get done with the help of her mom, but unfortunately the virus kinda put things on hold.  The weekend in between Charlie's two trips, we got to have 2 nights out while Grandma Carico babysat.  On friday night, we went to our first dinner and a movie since before Brady was born.  We ended up eating at this crappy little restaurant called El's Kitchen across the street from the theater....definitely would not recommend it.  However, we put our bad restaurant experience behind us and walked across the street to the theater to see Iron Man 3.  We both gave it two thumbs up.  On Saturday evening, one of Katie's friend's from college who now lives in London was in town visiting with her boyfriend, so we met them and bunch of her friends at a street festival in Lakeview.  Chicagoans love their street festivals and there are many to choose from.  The one we went to was called May Fest and had a band called Two White Crew....which played some great cover songs from our high school days and it was really fun to see Shannon.

Katie's mom actually shared a ride up to Chicago with one of their family friends who also has a daughter that lives in Chicago so Bob, Katie's dad, drove up by himself during the 2nd week to hang out with Brady and take a very tired and worn out Grandma Carico home.

When Grandpa Bob got here, we all went out to D'Agostino's for pizza over on Southport Ave.

It was so nice having Grandma Carico stay with us for 2 weeks and help take care of Brady while Katie was sick.  We just hope that we didn't wear her out too much.

A Week in Eaton - January 28th

The week of January 28th, Charlie had to go to Denver for work and Katie decided to pack up the kids and drive to Eaton to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Carico.  Katie really enjoyed being in Eaton because it meant having lots of help with Brady and Griffey.   And Griffey especially likes their house because they have a loft where he hangs out at the top of stairs and keeps watch over the house.

On Tuesday, Katie, Sue and Brady drove down to Cincinnati to see Grandma Leslie, Aunt Abby and Grumpa.  Grandma Leslie took us over to the Cincinnati Women's Club where she is not only a member, but the President.  So we got to park in the President's parking spot and had a diaper changing meeting in the President's office.  We had a very nice lunch which included a dessert called "Gooey Butter Cake".  I'm sure Brady will love to try this some day as it was awesome.  Poor Brady had to stick with his pureed green beans and oatmeal.  Leslie took us on a tour of the beautiful building which is located in Clifton and Brady flirted with all the ladies.

On Wednesday Katie's good friend from college, Sarah, drove down from Columbus to see Brady and hang out for the day.  They had a great time catching up and Brady even fell asleep in Sarah's arms.

(ugh..why do I always blink in picutres ? I wish we would have taken another, but this was just too cute not to post even with the blinking) 

The rest of the week in Eaton was basically just spent relaxing and Katie caught up on some things and miscellaneous errands while Bob and Sue enjoyed every last minute of watching Brady. 

(Brady loves it when his Grandma Carico reads him books, especially when she makes the buzzing sound of bumble bees.  And Griffey seems to like story-time as well.) 

(Katie's Great Aunt Mary stopped over one day, so Brady got to meet his Great Great Aunt Mary.  She was very impressed at how good and happy he was.  

Griffey always stay right close to Brady when we are packing up to make sure he doesn't get left behind.  

Brady's (and Griffey's) first babysitter

Since moving to Chicago, we have walked or driven by lots of cool bars and restaurants and thought wow that would be fun but most of these places are not exactly baby friendly places.  So it was about time to find a babysitter so that we could start going out on some dates again.  Katie joined a website called Care.com where you can search for babysitters using certain criteria and run background checks on them.  The website even allowed her to search for local babysitters that went to Miami University (our alma mater), which gave us some level of comfort that the babysitter had similar tastes in colleges and went to what we consider a good school that produces trust-worthy people.   Obviously, in this day and age you can never be too careful though, so Katie did her due diligence and interviewed her at a neutral location, ran a background check and called several references before hiring her.

After everything seemed to check out, we asked her to babysit for the first time on Saturday January 26th for a short night out (4-7pm)...thought we would start off easy.   When she first arrived, Griffey must have thought that he hired her, because he was so excited and jumping all over her and trying to get in her lap...he even went over to his toy box and pulled out several of his toys to the middle of the floor as if to show her "look, play with me".  It was really cute, but unforunately Brady was getting more of the attention because Katie had to show her the routine with Brady.  Griffey seemed ok though and just followed us around the house as we showed her where things were located.

Charlie had picked up food from Toon's, a nearby bar on Southport Ave, for us a few weeks ago and saw an advertisement for their Annual Wings Fest.  The Wings Fest was being held from 3-7pm on Saturday, so we decided we would go there for an early dinner.  Charlie being the wing connoisseur that he is was quite excited for this event and Katie was just excited in general to get out of the house and have a couple of beers.  Apparently it was only the 2nd Annual Wings Fest at this bar, but word must travel fast, because it was packed.  We got there at 4pm and could barely get in the door and purchased the last 2 tickets for the all you could eat wings buffet.  $20 for all you could eat wings and a drink ticket.  The wings were very good and they had all sorts of flavors to try like Bacon and Jalapeno.     There was also a lively band called BS Brass which was a group of 6 guys - 1 trombone, 1 trumpet, 1 sousaphone, 1 drummer and 2 saxophones.  It was quite the outfit and they even marched through the bar.  It was was a lot of fun listening to them and enjoying a couple of beers.

When we got back to the house, we were relieved to hear that Brady and Griffey had done quite well with the babysitter.  She seemed right at ease with both of our babies, so that made us feel very comfortable.