Yesterday, Jack and I joined my parents for a lovely lunch at a French bistro that recently opened near their house.  It is so French, in fact, that they had no soup du jour.  Why?  Because they are closing next week for one of their several trips back to France to relax, refresh, and dream up new menu ideas.


You had me at bonjour.


Anyway, as I enjoyed my seared salmon with tapenade butter (served on a slate tile for extra presentation points), Granddad and Jacques hung out in their delightfully French surroundings.

La vie est belle.


à votre santé,
Proper Paige

Taking a Moment

Yesterday was a crazy and hectic day.  In the midst of it, I had a sudden moment of quiet peace.  I was glad for it.

In the vein of the lovely "unstyled life" entries on one of my favorite blogs, Pancakes and French Fries, here is a snapshot from that moment.

Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hope this finds you well,
Heather

Jack Goes to Dinner

Last night, both Durel and I were spent.  Long days of being busy professionals had taken their toll on us, and we just needed Mexican food to make it right.  We convened our family meeting at Guero's, one of our favorite restaurants in Austin.

Jack wasn't entirely sure he approved of the plan to dine out.  As we watched, horrified, he fussed, fussed, and fussed some more.  I know that we were both thinking the same thing:

Are we destined to eat at home for the next 3 years?  The next 10 years?  We should leave.  We can't leave!  We already ordered!  What should we do?

Enter:  Heather.  No, not my alter ego.  The best server, ever.  Heather is the proud mom of a teenager, and so misses the cute and wordless bald baby fussiness that we were finding a bit perplexing.  In order to help us enjoy a few chips with some pico and a few sips of our respective beverages, Heather taught Jack a little lesson about waiting tables.

He learned with rapt attention about printing out checks.

And so, this is how you do it, Jack.  See?

And with that life lesson learned, Jack was then happier with life in the restaurant, at least for long enough to let his hungry parents eat.

What?  It's totally my bedtime, you know.

So, thanks, Heather.  And thanks, Guero's.  We needed that.

Hope this finds you well,

Heather

Tubes = Volume.

Fall of 2010 was a bit of a haze for Durel and I.  It was a happy one, filled with work and play and fun with Little Dude, but it was also full of ear infections.

Before having a baby, I always wondered what the "deal" was with all of these baby ear infections that you hear about.  Well, I've now learned in spades.

Rather than getting technical (which is not my forte with medical things), I'll leave it at this:  Babies' ears are not fully developed yet, in a way that can cause fluid to linger in their Eustachian tubes and get infected when they have a cold, etc.  Some babies are more prone to ear infections from this, and one remedy is to have small (tiny, really) tubes inserted to help the fluid drain.  Tubes = draining = no fluid hanging around to get infected.

And, as we learned, tubes = even happier babies that share their joy at EVEN GREATER VOLUMES.

Photo courtesy of babysitter extraordinaire, Megan.

Ah, life is good (and loud).

Hope this finds you well,
Heather

Jack's Way or the Highway. Sometimes, Both.

This weekend, Durel and I had the rare pleasure of a date night.  We were heading out to a lovely dinner with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday (Yay, Mom!) and cleverly bookended the reservation with pre-dinner drinks and post-dinner drinks.  (This makes us sound like lushes.  Oh, well.)

Our good friend, Megan, graciously offered to hang out with Jack while we were out.  She was our hero for offering, but she became even more of a hero when (1) she gave up a Saturday night for this; (2) Jack was bawling and snotty when we left; and (3) she didn't seem fazed.  Yes, she really rocks.

We realized that we just had to leave.  If we stayed, the crying wouldn't stop.  Forgive me for saying it this way, but Jack is like our dogs -- he's figured out when we're leaving, and if he's not going with, it stresses him out.  Pablo and Lucy are the same way.  So, we bolted, with a casual word to Megan over our shoulders as we head out the door:  "Oh, he likes being outside..."

As we settled in for our first drink, at the new W Hotel, we received this picture from the intrepid Megan:

Yes, you will do just fine.  Keep walking, woman.  I will give you my laser-like stare while I suck my thumb.
Dinner follows this, right??

Hope this finds you well.
Heather