Alexander Scott Huslage

I was going to post an update about how our no eating out experiment is going, but you’ll have to wait. Aaron and I are watching Torchwood and I’m totally engrossed.

Aaron and I have decided to try a drastic experiment. Until Labor Day we will not eat out. Now, there are a three exceptions to the rule. 1.) We will go out for special occasions – i.e. Aaron’s father’s birthday, etc. 2.) We will occasionally bring something like Neomonde over to a friend’s house. 3.) We will still go out for dessert to places like Goodberry’s and Rita’s. Other than that, we’re going cold turkey, even if someone offers to buy our food. The purpose is for us to break our horrible habit of eating out, to eat healthier, and to see how much money we save by eating at home.

To begin this project we will be going grocery shopping tomorrow to cook food to eat during the week. We’ll freeze and prepare meals in advance so that it is easier for us to eat after Aaron gets home from work. Alex and I will eat lunch at home, and Aaron will bring his lunch to work. We’ll all eat breakfast at home. It’s going to be hard for us, because we have such a horrible habit of eating out, but I think it will be a fun exercise. We may start a new blog to chronicle the process and if we do I’ll post a link here. Wish us luck, and if you have any words of encouragement or suggestions, please share.

Thankfully the fever is gone, but in it’s wake I think we’re entering into some pretty serious teething. Alex’s hands have been in his mouth a lot today, and he gets seemingly upset for no apparent reason. In fact, tonight he was nearly inconsolable for a good ten minutes or so. I hope it’s teething, at least, because otherwise I have no idea what’s going on with him.

So, I failed at the posting every day for a year, but that’s ok. I’m still going to attempt to post every day. Those first few posts were simply a trial run…yeah, that’s it…that’s the ticket.

We finally got around to signing Alex up for Gymboree. We looked at a few other options, and finally decided that this was the best option for us. The Little Gym classes we tried were way too structured for him. When I went, there didn’t seem to be enough play and explore time. We were working on very specific skill sets, which are certainly good to have, but just not what I think Alex needs or wants at this point. I’d love to sign him up in the future, because I think he’d really enjoy gymnastics. We also took a look at some of the classes that Pullen Park and other places offer. For his age group, I just didn’t find anything that seemed a good fit or the times just didn’t work out.

Gymboree is great for him. There’s enough structured play to make it feel as if I’m getting something for the money, and there’s enough free time for him. And although I’ve heard time and time again that it was really expensive, it just doesn’t seem to be the case for us. The pricing is comparable, and in some cases, better than the other options. The added bonus is that Gymboree has open gym times five days a week. At least, I’ll always have some place to take him during the week, regardless of rain or weather.

I’ll do my best not to go so long posting next time. I’m going to try to limit myself to missing one day. It’s the same rule I’ve given myself for exercise. It’s ok to miss one day, but not ok to miss two. Speaking of which, I have to go do some sit ups or something. I skipped the Y yesterday.

Man, I’m beat. I went to the Y again for the second day in a row. I road the bike, and Alex had a wonderful time in the nursery. I was feeling pretty good, so later this afternoon we headed over to Triangle Town Center. He absolutely loves the play area there, but I also forget that I have to run after him the whole time. Now that he’s so much more confident on his feet, he’s so fast! And he’s not even running yet!!! I’m going to be so dead in such a short amount of time. I mean, I seriously built up a sweat trying to keep up with him.

Alex went swimming at the Y today. He LOVED it, with one exception – he froze his butt off. We were in there for all of five minutes before he started shivering. I mean, I was cold, to be honest. Next time I believe that he will need more clothing. So, I took him into the locker room and let him hang out in the warm shower. It was a fun day.