Luc's First Birthday

Saturday was Luc's first birthday and we were fortunate to celebrate it with friends and family. Our celebration was centered around a mid-day lunch/party at the Hot Potato Cafe, a local restaurant walking distance from our house.

The morning began with a first for Luc... he squirmed out of his Bumbo chair. This little blue chair has (heretofore) been able to restrain him and support him (so he didn't tip over). But on Saturday he learned how to twist his body and fall forward out of it like a modern day Houdini. I guess it's a good sign that he can get out but it also means more chasing around the house for his parents :)

Later that afternoon Diane's sisters (May and Fran) arrived from NY along with their friend Louis. Then the group of us packed up Luc and walked over to Hot Potato. We brought with us a birthday cake made by a co-worker of mine which has the face of Curious George... Luc's favorite! We have some photos of the cake in the new photo set, including one photo where Luc is reaching out to the image of Curious George reaching out to him. It's too cute.

The meal at Hot Potato was delicious and the service was good. We got there before they normally opened and then had the place to ourselves for an hour. And actually even after they opened we still had the place to ourselves as business was slow. Hot Potato is a nice little place but not that busy yet. For those of you who watch Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares show, the Hot Potato Cafe is one of the restaurants that he gives a makeover to. They are hoping that once the episode airs on FOX that business will pick up. When the episode airs I will let you know.

After lunch we enjoyed the cake and coffee and mingled a bit. Luc got to meet other kids and everyone was well behaved... even the adults! Then we walked back home to open presents. Thanks to everyone for your gifts, they are all much appreciated. We have some photos of him opening gifts in the photo set too.

So how fast did this year go! It seems like just yesterday that we were in the hospital waiting for Luc to arrive. And then he did and it has been a whirlwind of activity. He is growing up so fast (every parent's lament) and we feel blessed to be witness. It is a miracle watching a young baby slowing grow into a little person... learning first words, taking first steps, standing alone without being held. And there is so much more to enjoy!

Two Weeks To Forget

The last two weeks were not our best. First there was the SEPTA strike. SEPTA is the Philadelphia train/trolley/bus system and they went on strike two weeks ago without advance notice. We awoke on a Tuesday morning with the news that the trolley and subway Diane takes to work would not be running. This meant that I had to drive her out to Upper Darby where she would take a suburban trolley (which were still operating) to King of Prussia. Then I had to drive back into town and drop Luc off at the day care. And then continue on to New Jersey to my job. Total commute time: 1 1/2 hours. And I would have to do it all over again in the evening. And traffic was particularly heavy since SEPTA was not operating... UGH!

By Thursday things got a little better because Diane found a co-worker who lives about 15 min from us and who could give her a ride to work.

Then on Friday the day care called to say Luc had a fever and was not holding down food. So I had to leave work and take him home for the rest of the day. Apparently he had gotten a cold and was sneezing and coughing his little head off :( By Sunday night he seemed to be doing better and we thought about letting him go to day care on Monday but since the SEPTA strike was still on Diane decided to stay home and let Luc rest for one more day.

By Tuesday he was back at day care but by Wednesday we got another call saying he was very cranky, pulling on his ears and his temperature was starting to go up again. We did not have to pull him out of day care but Thursday morning when his temperature was 102.3 we decided to call our pediatrician.

We ended up taking off work and brought Luc to the doctor and discovered that while his cold had cleared up he now had two ear infections! So we got a prescription for antibiotics and I stayed home with him on Friday. The antibiotics worked quickly and by Saturday night he was already doing much better. But with Diane and I missing so much time from work we each had to work OT on Saturday... no rest for the weary.

Then just as Luc was improving Diane came down with a cold... which she is still fighting off. So she is sleeping downstairs in the living room to avoid re-infecting Luc. All of this has been going on while both of our jobs are asking us to make up missed time and to work OT. Needless to say it has been a stressful and exhausting couple weeks. But it appears the worst is behind us now and we are looking forward to Saturday, which is Luc's first birthday! We are going to a local restaurant with a bunch of friends to celebrate. Presumably we'll have plenty of photos from that to post here.

Anyway, that's it from now. Thankfully we are on the mend!