ATL for MLK

It's been a busy week. Sam caught a cold, traveled to Atlanta, visited the doctor for his 9 month appointment, and saw snow for the first time.

Sam's pediatrician didn't have any concerns with the little guy's health or development. His weight 28 lbs, 9 oz (60th percentile) and height 28 1/4" (50th percentile) are normal. He didn't have immunizations at the appointment, but his heel was pricked for blood work.

Snow fell on Charlotte on Tuesday -- a whole two inches at our house. And yes, the city shut down. This is our third winter in Charlotte and third snowfall. In fact, we did some research and Charlotte averages three snow days a year -- so it's not as uncommon as we thought. When it does snow, it usually melts when the sun comes up, so if kids want to play in the white stuff they have to be outside by 5 or 6 a.m. This time, however, the snow stuck around until noon. As of today, Thursday, there are a few patches left; along with the remains of snowmen in our neighbors' lawns.

For the MLK long weekend we traveled to Atlanta to visit our friends Lynne and Josh. The adventure began Thursday night when Sam would not, or could not, sleep. I stand corrected, he slept for a total of 4 hours (instead of his usual 12). I stayed up with him so Dave could get sleep in order to drive us to our destination the next day. Plus, Sam had a cold. So, off we went with a sick and tired baby. All things considered, Sam was a trooper. When we arrived at the Gunn household Sam was greeted by their Boston Terrier, Nola.


She was unsure of the baby's presence, but gave Sam tons of kisses, which he loved. Lynne had a dinner party so our other Atlanta friends could meet Sam. I told them, "he's not on his A-game today," but no one complained. He even got to meet Kelly, the first redhead he's met, to my knowledge. It was a super fun evening with great food, and the four Wheeling girls pulled out some old pictures and laughed at the good old days.

The next day we headed to the Georgia Aquarium, along with every other person and child within a 100 mile radius. I mean, goodness gracious! The place was packed. It was still a fun experience, but the next time we go it's during the week in the early a.m. The rest of the day we relaxed, talked and watched a movie. We had a lot of fun and can't wait until the Gunn's baby girl is born so Sam has someone to play with the next time we visit. On our way home from Atlanta we had lunch with Matt and Molly since we were passing through Greenville during lunch time. Much of the conversation was about the Pittsburgh Steelers. I must mention the fact they're in the Super Bowl or Dave will kill me. Go Steelers!