We had a busy weekend with a trip to Evanston to see Gram and PopPop for the first time since Christmas. Now, it used to be fairly routine for six weeks or more to pass between in-person visits, but somehow that's all changed in the last year. Kidding aside, it was great to see them and my brothers, who were also home for the coldest weekend of the winter. Temperatures struggled to stay above zero and lost the battle once the sun went down. But it was well worth it to see the look on my uncle's face when we, along with 100 of his closest friends and family members, shouted "Surprise" at his retirement/60th birthday party on Saturday night. No one is more deserving of celebration!

Believe it or not, we were more than an hour into the eastward drive on Friday night, with Edward sound asleep in the carseat when I thought, "Hey, we didn't pack the camera!" That's right...a whole weekend with no Ed photos. Well, one or two might have been snapped with PopPop's camera and the various cell phones. In fact, I know P.J. took a phone photo and sent it to Bridget so she could see Ed sporting the cool birthday present she got him, which prompted her to send me a text message, which provided me the opportunity to send my FIRST text message. I believe I acquitted myself quite well, though I didn't know how to backspace/delete, so there may have been a typo or two.

In any event, I realized during playtime yesterday afternoon that I'd better capture a few blog-worthy shots. And now I have the opportunity to post them, since we are home from work/daycare on Edward's first sick day of the winter. He had a few last summer with ear infections and such, but he's been amazingly healthy through the cold and germy months. He was coughing over the weekend and a little less active than usual (which didn't bother Gram since it meant he took TWO naps while she cuddled him.) But he was OK Monday and Tuesday mornings so we went about our usual routine. This morning however, he didn't want to eat or drink much and when I sat him to play while I ate breakfast and John showered, he just kind of whined and moaned until I picked him up. When he laid his head on my shoulder I knew we were in for the day. He doesn't have a fever though so I think he'll be able to rally soon. As recently as yesterday afternoon he was playful enough for one of his favorite games--peekaboo with the living room curtains. It's pretty cute to watch and I don't think he can pull hard enough to do any damage other than wrinkling the curtains. If that's the worst decorating blunder in my living room, I'm doing pretty well.
He's napping now. We'll see what else the day might bring.