100
Topic: This and That
Happy Groundhog Day!
This is my 100th blog entry. Usually tv shows feel it's a big deal when they reach episode 100, so I thought I would point out the milestone.
So six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil says. I don't know if that counts in England, but from how the weather's been here, I'd believe it. I took the photo to the right yesterday. I had to go to MHS to run some errands. As soon as I got a couple miles out from Harrogate, everything was covered in frost. It was really weird. The landscape was very monochromatic. The photo doesn't really do it justice. It's been so cold here, but I didn't realize how different everything looked just outside of town. For some reason it really struck me.
I seem to have acquired Ryan's cold. It hit me hard this afternoon. Thank goodness for Tylenol! Ryan's been doing better though. The last couple nights I put vapor rub on him at bedtime, and he's slept right through the night.
I had some more things I wanted to write about, but I am really tired. It's hard to be sick and be the sole caregiver of a little one.

Nessie
Topic: This and That
I forgot two things yesterday. One, while we were at the toy store, Ryan grabbed a toy. What he grabbed was a beanie Loch Ness monster! I thought that was pretty funny. Since I've been to Loch Ness and the beanie was half off, I decided to get it. The other thing I forgot to mention, was that once we were home, I set my eggnog latte down on our coffee table. I was sharing an apple pastry with Ryan. After he took a bite, he real casual-like picked up my latte and started to walk off with it! I thought that was pretty funny!
Last night didn't go too well. Starting around 1am, Ryan was up off and on until around 4am. I think his nose was the cause. He's had this crappy running/stuffy thing going on that just doesn't quit. Poor little guy. I put some vapor rub on his chest. Don't know if it helped, but he eventually went back to sleep, and thankfully he slept in a bit this morning. After a night like that though, we're both tired. My legs are feeling all the running and walking I did yesterday, too.
It is really cold out today. I got myself and Ryan ready to go outside and once we went out, I wanted to just turn around and go back in! However, since we were all bundled up and ready to go, and that takes a certain amount of time and effort, I went ahead and ran down to ASDA. It is definitely one of those days you just want to hang out and drink tea and hot chocolate all day.

Now Playing: Phil Collins, Storytellers on VH1
Topic: This and That
Last night I finished reading the first Harry Potter book. Yes, I know. I am about ten years behind the rest of the world! In my defense though, my next door neighbor coincidentally just started reading them as well, so I'm not the only one! I only ever saw the first movie, so I have no idea what happens in the rest of the books. I've been told by more than one person that they get better throughout the series. I'm looking forward to reading them all.
Today was a busy day. It was overall a good day.
In the morning I took Ryan for a jog. On my way in I stopped at an electronics store that's right around the corner from my house. Larry's sister sent Ryan an activity center. Somehow in transit one of the wires connecting the power supply severed. I was going to try to repair it. I explained the situation to the man working at the electronics store, and he offered to fix the activity center for me if I brought it in. Sounded good to me!
Let me say that just walking to this electronics store was a mini-adventure in itself. It's located in Thompson's Yard, which is down sort of a semi-paved alley that leads to the back of the shops on the main street, entrances to other businesses, and a row of what look to be storage sheds, some of which seems to be used for some type of commerce. For I don't know what reason, I felt safe. Of course I would never purposely take Ryan (and myself!) anywhere dangerous. It did occur to me though as I was walking in Thompson's Yard that it normally wouldn't be the type of area I'd be inclined to wander around.
After that we headed out to MHS to mail a box to Larry.
I had planned on feeding Ryan lunch when we got home, but he was out completely cold. He didn't wake up when I took off his shoes and coat, so I figured lunch could wait. He took a very big nap. He didn't nap much at all yesterday, so I guess he was making up for it. After Ryan woke up, I fed him then we headed out again.
While trying to see if I could get the activity center in the stroller, I managed to sever the other wire to the power supply. Oops. I took it back to the electronics store and the man there told me to come back in a bit and it would be done.
On my way to the shopping center, I ran into my next door neighbor, Denise, and her four kids. They love Ryan! When they saw us, all four of them ran up to Ryan and were showering him with attention. I wonder what Ryan makes of it all! It was nice to chat with Denise for a minute. I hadn't seen her in a while.
I got to my first destination downtown, a toy store. Ryan loves to push his stroller around, but I would rather he didn't. This store had a little Ryan-sized toy stroller on sale half off. Unfortunately, the store sold their last one a half hour before I got there. Oh well.
From there I went to the Tourist Information center. The book I wanted wasn't there. The new edition won't be out until March!
On the way back, I stopped by Starbucks and got an eggnog latte, and for Ryan a cocoa.
I picked up the activity center. The man only charged me three pounds to fix it. I definitely think it was worth it.
As Ryan and I headed home, there was a pretty sunset. We're not often out at that time of day. It was really nice.

Closed
Topic: Harrogate
Yesterday, after the fog burned off, it was sunny all day. Today it was mostly cloudy all day.
There were a couple things in the shopping area I wanted to do, but both places were closed. It's always a crap shoot on a Sunday if something will be open or not. Some things are, others aren't. I wanted to pick up a book from the Tourist Info. center. It's called Harrogate With Children or something like that. You would think a TI center would be open both days of a weekend. Also, there's a toy store Sarah told me about that I wanted to check out. It was closed too. Oh well. Gives me something to do tomorrow. It was nice to get out for a walk though. I made a stop at Starbucks, which led to a pleasant surprise: they still have their holiday drinks. YAY!!! It's the little things.

Ryan Report
Topic: Ryan
(This photo was taken around this time last year. Thought it would be fun as a blast from the past. At the time it was one of my favorite Ryan photos.)
Not sure where to start. Over the last few days Ryan has alternated between angelic and demonic. He's going through a phase where if he doesn't get his way, he starts screaming and pitching a fit. I'm not sure if it's because Larry left, or if the beginning of this phase just happened to coincide with Larry leaving. Anyhow, it's definitely been wearing on my nerves. I try to just walk away from him when he does it, or if that's not an option (such as on the changing table), I try to tell him I understand that he's frustrated and it's ok, or I try to distract him will silly noises. I don't want to jinx anything, but this afternoon it seems to be a little better. We were having a dispute over going up and down the stairs. I finally figured out he was after something specific up there. He seemed to mellow after he got it. I know it's frustrating for him since he can't speak English yet. Anyhow, after he got what he wanted, I put up the baby gate and Ryan didn't protest. I told him he was a good boy. I figure positive reinforcement for his not throwing a fit once the baby gate was up could only be a good thing.
He's napping right now. I've been trying to avoid naps late in the day, but since he hasn't napped at all today, I don't think he'd make it until bedtime.

Just Checking In/Random
Now Playing: 100 Greatest Pop Videos (As Voted by the British Public) Hosted by Jimmy Carr (whoever that is)
Topic: This and That
It's been a couple of days, so I thought I would post. There's a danger that I could ramble, so I will try to keep this short.
Ryan's in bed, but I can hear him kicking around in his crib upstairs. He's really tired, maybe too tired. That always boggled my mind that a kiddo could be too tired to sleep. How does that work???
I tried to go for a run today. After jogging almost four minutes, I decided I was going for a walk instead.
It was weird outside today, weather wise. It was foggy, but extremely locally. There was low fog around my house and part of the Stray, but then not too far down it was completely clear. I took a couple pictures of it I'll have to post. It was like Lower and Upper Uncton.
Not much is up. Talked to Larry briefly. I put the phone up to Ryan's ear and his face lit up when he heard his daddy's voice.

Topic: This and That
I talked to Larry on the phone today. He sounded good. It was nice to hear his voice. He hadn't gone to his orientation yet, so there wasn't much to report. It's kind of nice that I've been to Goodfellow before, so I have a mental visual to go with where he is.
Today Ryan and I didn't do much besides look for a table cloth. Oh, I forgot to mention in the Ryan section that I took Ryan to the Darley Mill Center in his backpack. That place is not stroller friendly, and I didn't want to carry him (he's a bit squirly to try to let him walk). We got a few comments from other shoppers. One person said, "That's the way to go!" and their companion replied, "It sure is, but I'm not giving you a piggyback ride!"
Not too much exciting is going on at the moment. I think I will have some hot chocolate, watch an episode of Lost on DVD, then go to bed.

Ryan Report
Now Playing: Washing machine, Blue purring, ER muted on tv
Topic: Ryan
Things went more smoothly tonight at bath and bedtime. Now hopefully Ryan won't wake up at some weird hour again..
Today we went back to the highchair. I'm a big believer in gradual transitions when possible. No reason to yank Ryan from his chair cold turkey. The main reason we went back to the chair was because Ryan seemed a little uncomfortable sitting on the wooden chair (we don't have any cushions yet), and he was getting up before he'd eaten much of anything.
Today Ryan and I went to the Darley Mill Center to look for a table cloth. No luck. Larry suggested Woolworth's, which is walking distance from our house. I think I'll try that.

Tired
Topic: Ryan
Ugh. I am tired.
Last night Ryan really missed his daddy. The closer it got to bed and bath time, the more Ryan was out of sorts. Daddy is always a part of bath and bedtime, and Ryan was NOT happy that daddy wasn't there.
For some reason, Ryan woke up at 2:45am and was awake for an hour. I kept hoping he would just go back to sleep. I kept falling back asleep before I could will myself to go check on him. (Ryan wasn't crying or anything, so I didn't feel the need to jump up.) Finally after about an hour, I got up and put his stuff back in his crib, put his pacifier back in his mouth, gave him a cuddle, and put him back down. That seemed to do the trick.
I don't know why I feel so tired today. Could be the weather. Could be the return to single parenting. Could be my sleep's been messed up lately. (I'm thinking all of the above.) Also, Ryan seems out of sorts. I can't tell if he's coming down with something, or if it's just what's referred to around here as, "the Harrogate Crud." Basically when the weather turned, Ryan's nose started running non-stop. It cleared up almost instantly after our arrival in California. A week or so after we got back to the UK, it started to come back. Now it's really going. So it's hard to tell if it's a slight cold, allergies, or what. He seems ok otherwise. No fever or anything. He seems a bit out of sorts, but that could be for all kinds of reasons (teething, daddy gone, etc.).
Anyhow, I know this blog has been very Ryan-centric. He's my focus right now.

Larry Left
Mood:  down
Topic: This and That
This morning at 4:45am, Larry left for BNCOC (basic NCO course). He'll be gone until April 2. I am a little down and lonely. There's plenty to do though and there are social things going on with the URG. Of course Ryan keeps me very busy!
Today we went for a jog together (me and Ryan) and later ran some errands on post and went to the bx and commissary. I hadn't been on post in a long time. With one car and living away from post, Larry would just take a list from me and do the shopping. That's nice that he shops, but it's also nice to actually get to look around myself now and then.
I need to go get Ryan up from his nap and figure out something for dinner. There's plenty to eat, since I just went to the store!