This past week, I had my first 3-day stretch at work in a while. I know most jobs are five days in a row every week, but at my job a full-time week is three 13-hour days. Different people like to arrange their schedules differently, and I’m still figuring out what I like. It’s nice to get stretches of multiple days off in a row, and mostly it’s nice to have continuity with patients when you can have the same group two or three days in a row. But you get pretty tired by the third day, so a lot of people just do one or two at a time.

Ari’s always still up when I come home, so his bedtime has been like 10pm lately, which I think is too late!

My first day off was Sunday, and we all went to Thousand Acres dog park. I love that place because it’s huge, with lots of trails and even beach access, and your dog can be off-leash while you hike. Andrew had SO MUCH FUN, especially after being cooped up for three days!

At the beach, he raced around and around with a couple of other dogs. Here he is resting afterwards:

Here he is stalking some dogs walking towards him:

And then racing around some more:

Considering that it was a Sunday afternoon and the parking lot was beyond full, I was surprised that it didn’t feel at all crowded or overly busy in the park. We had lots of times it felt like we were the only ones there, hiking in the wilderness. Of course that might be because we got lost and had to do some bushwhacking!

I put Ari down to check out the sand:

Look, Dada!

We stopped for some breastfeeding, too:

On our way home, we stopped and bought a baby bicycle helmet so we can start using Ari’s bicycle trailer!

That night, we went to a local kid-friendly brewpub we hadn’t tried before. We had to wait a while to be seated – here is A. keeping Ari entertained:

While we ate, Ari enjoyed chewing on teething biscuits, carrots, and, surprisingly enough, my pickle spear:

 

Yesterday we went to book babies at the library and then he played at this toy afterward. He pulled himself up on it!

In the evening, we had dinner at my friend’s house. Ari played with and nibbled on cauliflower and broccoli while she cooked. Her dog had his own broccoli, but he was still jealous!

Ari is getting really into putting his feet on the floor and trying to stand up. This morning, he pulled up on our coffee table and he almost stood up on the changing table!

I want to share a couple of new things in our house. Jan loaned us this baby gate that she doesn’t need for Baker anymore. It’s a lot easier to keep in place at Ari’s door and swing it open to go through:

A friend made this beautiful quilt for Ari! I can’t believe it! I love the stars and the colors. My photos don’t do it justice at all!