Surprise Visit

My dad came up to see Alden and me today, on a spur of the moment trip. Alden was in an awful mood this morning. Utterly inconsolable, which is so weird because he's always consoled by a boob when nothing else works and even that wasn't working this morning. I live in fear that he is already starting to teethe. The thought of returning to the first 6 weeks of his life (i.e. no sleep and very sore nipples) when we've made so much progress makes me want to crawl into a corner somewhere and rock. He's producing extraordinary amounts of drool - the kind that would put any Great Dane to shame. It puddles in the corners of his mouth and on his shirt collars. And he's really getting serious about the hand gnawing. He's recently figured out how to grab objects he wants to bring to his mouth, including his own fist. That's right, he now prefers to grab his right fist with his left hand and guide it to his hearty jaws rather than just bringing up the hand directly. Perhaps he's so excited about this new grab-and-nosh technique that he's temporarily abandoned more parsimonious methods. Who knows? It's really funny to watch, though.
Anyway, it was an overcast morning and he was crabby, so we bundled him up and took him out in his new jogging stroller. When he's well bundled, he fits in the seat really nicely, which is good to know. I desperately need to start jogging, as my midriff is alarmingly blubbery. I burn ever so slightly with shame when I try to squeeze myself into my pre-prego pants, especially when it seems like all the gals I know with new babies are also now sporting gleaming size 2 slacks and 6-packs. It goes without saying that this jogging stroller was a very welcome gift indeed (thanks Joseph, Sandy, Kenny and Beth!). I'm happy to report that Alden was placated by our 2 hour stroll and the jogger handles like a dream. I even did a little (gasp) jogging with him it and he slept soundly. Whatta stroller!

After the walk and a meal, Alden and I were feeling much better. He even had a few smiles to share.
My dad helped to clear out our raspberry patch before the rain came. It's been frightfully neglected and we've only recently been able to try to rein it in. Geoffrey did the lion's share of this task when he was up visiting last month, cutting the canes down to the ground. Kerstin started clearing the pathways through the raspberry patch over the weekend. My Dad finished this task and took the rogue canes home to transplant in his backyard.