wonderful birthday weekend

lately my time to contribute here is limited, at best. so here goes a quick and dirty summary of a most wonderful birthday weekend.

it started thursday evening, when nissa stayed at grandma & grandpa a's house and adam and i went out. out, like when we first started dating: catch a show at double door, then hit up a couple bars afterward for a few more drinks, then breakfast at the diner. mmmm corned beef hash. it was awesome to be out and about and see a lot of folks i haven't seen in a while. it's always nice to be remembered and to gush about the kid to a new-old crowd.

thursday evening's outing made friday a bit slow going, but enjoyable none the less. we picked up nissa just in time to bring her home for a nap and watched movies all day. once nissa was back up, we watched "up," which was too cute, but surprisingly sad at the same time. sad but uplifting. man, i'm such an adult.

saturday we made yummy blueberry pancakes for breakfast, hung out, then went out to dinner as a family. we had intended to go out for sushi, but when the place needed a reservation to avoid a 40 minute wait, we walked down the block for some delicious "dressed up" mexican at jack rabbit. very tasty. looking forward to going back and trying the ginger creme brulee. that night nissa gave me a hug. this is a big deal because she's been hugging dolls and toys for a while now, but not people. but after our nurse and before laying her in bed, she wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a squeeze, just like the dollies get. it was wonderful.

sunday was hectic, but fun. we drove out to the burbs for a cousin's birthday party and got to hang out with rick and his family. nissa and sarah are cuter together every day. they even shared what could be described as a hug. i have a picture. . . it's cute, but i'm not 100% sure that's what sarah's goal was. after the party we went to adam's parents for a wonderful dinner and some birthday (carrot, yum) cake.

monday we went to the museum of science and industry together. the best part about the day was nissa's insistence on walking as often as possible. sometimes she'd hold my hand, more often she wouldn't, so i'd follow closely behind her while adam enjoyed the exhibits. we went into the "idea factory" area intended for kids, but found the little kid stuff too little/simple and the big kid stuff too big and overrun by running, screaming 10 year olds. it was pretty intense. for the first few minutes all nissa could do was stare at the mayhem. very much like the first time we took peter to chuck e. cheese. it's priceless. once we left that insanity, we felt comfortable letting nissa roam, and roam she did. the only time i'd pick her up is to move things along, or if she started to crawl. but if it was because of crawling, carrying was short lived and she was soon squirming to get back down. it's amazing how well she's walking now- getting better every day. that evening, while adam was at band practice, nissa and i called grandma and grandpa g on the webcam and the entire time we chatted (30-45 min) nissa was running (ok, walking) laps around the couch. she barely slowed the entire time.

the last few nights i've gotten hugs and i l-o-v-e it. sure, it kinda freaks me out that she's walking so well, becoming such a little big girl, but the process is so much fun and her excitement so obvious, it's absolutely the most fun i've ever had.