Goodbye winter

A couple of weeks ago we loaded up the Volvo and headed to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River for a hike.  We took our friend Wendy, her dog Ingo, our dog Selkie, and of course we bundled up the little guy and took him too.  Note his SWEET outdoor wear in the photo above.  Fleece suit courtesy of his Auntie Kellie, Patagonia fleece hat and booties courtesy of his Uncle Anson.  Oh, and the AWESOME Kelty carrier from the Heaveners... which has come in handy from everything to snowy hikes (pictured here) to doing the dishes when Sully needed to be held but the dishes also needed to be done (read: the kitchen was starting to smell bad).  There wasn't a ton of snow, except on the road, which made for a bumpy ride. Wendy sat in the back with Sully, and described the look on his face as we went bumpety-bump over the potholes and snow as a look of "sheer terror".  We think that might have been a slight exaggeration, but he can be pretty dramatic sometimes, so maybe not.

 

We took turns carrying the little guy... he gets heavy these days. Last time he was at the doctor, he weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds!  

He enjoyed the hike, as far as we could tell, as did the rest of us. Probably the last of the snow, at least the last that we will see. Now we are hoping for some warmer weather, and maybe even some sunshine!  C'mon spring!

Two hospitals, a virus, and seven stitches. But don't worry... Mom's ok.

It's been a busy few days.  

It started on Friday (yes, the 13th) evening at California Pizza Kitchen, where Sully demonstrated his prowess in the Olympic event of projectile vomiting.  His distance was about four feet, and the volume was impressive as well.

As there was no fever, and it appeared he was otherwise okay, the doctor didn't think it was an emergency.  She instead offered some ideas on making his belly more comfortable.  Among them, a bottle of chamomile tea and a bath seemed to work best.

Day two brought another single Olympic training exercise, as did day three, both times as impressive as the first (he's gold medal material, we tell ya). Our doctor is really great about getting us in on short notice, so we saw her late on Monday evening.  She suspected that Sully had a virus and asked us to go the hospital sometime during the night to have some blood drawn.  We decided to go after Jon's soccer game (because, as is our MO, we were already late for the game).

Apparently, Jon didn't want to waste a trip to the hospital (he is really learning to multitask), so he managed to catch an elbow and open a rather nasty gash on his nose.  Again, I offered to stitch it up for free... again, he declined.

About 11:00 pm, we headed to the hospital closest to us, Valley Medical Center, to get Sully's blood drawn.  Hitting a vein in a pudgy, squirmy, sick two month old is a little like stabbing fishing line in bacon grease.  There were big tears and a trembling lip.  Sad, but so darn cute.  (For full view of "the lip", see the Sad Sully post earlier in the month.)  

After the blood draw, we walked to the ER to get some stitches for Jon.  The ER was packed, standing room only, looked like something out of a NYPD Blue meets ER syndicate.  Just think g-h-e-t-t-o.  (Really, I thought I was in New York City!) We decided to head up to Overlake Hospital, about 15 minutes away, in Bellevue.  It was a good decision, we were in and out of there in about an hour.

After all the trauma, dad still found time the next day to tidy up the house.  He's sweet like that.  I caught him and Sully doing a little vacuuming...

The cleaning must have worn Sully out; he slept for five hours in a stretch last night... in his crib!  Oh how I love my boys.

JSB times three

Many folks have asked if Sully is a "junior", since he has the same initials as his dad.  But what most people don't know is that he also has the same initials as his dad's dad.  We wanted to honor Sully's grandpa, and his dad, by naming him with a name that shares the initials JSB, but like his dad, by giving him a middle name that allowed him some individuality.  Hence, grandpa is Jon Servi Bial, dad is Jon Steven Bial and Sully is Jon Sullivan Bial.  JSB times three. Three generations of wonderful, loving, beautiful boys.  What a blessing.

Sleepy time

Shhhhh.... the baby is sleeping.  Is there anything more peaceful, more precious, or more adorable than a sleeping baby? 

Maybe when they fall asleep in your arms... that's pretty awesome.

Or when you get to cuddle with them in the wee hours of the morning, listening to their peaceful breathing, occasionally sharing a sleepy smile...

We are incredibly thankful to have been given such an amazing gift. First, we found each other, and didn't think that much could top the happiness that we shared together.  Now, we have Sully, and find a new bit of wonder and joy with him each and every day.  God is indeed good, and we have living proof of it.

Out and about in Seattle with Papa

We got to see a lot of things around Seattle while Papa was here visiting. We didn't want him to get bored!
Sully attended his first sports event with his Papa. UW vs Seattle U... It was a complete blowout, UW beat the pants off of Seattle U.This is largely owed, we are sure, to Sully's loud cheering from the nosebleed section of the arena.

We also visited the Museum of Flight, and toured the vintage Air Force One that's on display there. You can't see his hands under the blanket (it was coooold outside!), but Sully is giving you the Nixon peace symbol that was characteristically given every time Nixon boarded the craft. Wait... Sully says, "Nixon who?"

Sully really enjoyed hanging out with Papa each evening after a day on the town. We think Papa enjoyed hanging out with Sully too.

Sad Sully

Nana Judy had to stay in Nashville while Papa Ron came to visit.Sully was sad that he wouldn't get to meet her, but then we got even worse news not long after Papa arrived... Nana had fallen on the steps outside their house and broken her ankle! Poor Nana! She had to have surgery on Wednesday to fix her leg. The photo above is Sully's reaction when he heard the news.

Sully heard that Nana was wearing UGG boots when she fell. He recommends sturdier shoes next time, maybe something stylish yet supportive like these sweet boots from Baby Gap. (Thanks again, Noah, for the awesome footwear.) Sully says to tell Nana that when she gets her cast off, she can borrow his boots. He will probably have outgrown them by then.

Get well soon Nana!

Papa Ron comes to Seattle

Papa Ron came last Tuesday from Nashville to meet Sully.

Papa Ron is a coach, so Sully wore his sportiest Nike outfit to meet him at the airport.  (Thanks, Noah, for the hand-me-down!)