Always Up for Costco

This morning I brought Garrett downstairs earlier than yesterday, between 7:30 and 8:30, then went back to bed until about 10. We saw Andrea's dad before he left for his office, then Andrea and I had some breakfast, and a latte with Mariann (espresso for Mariann and me, Chai for Andrea). We spent most of the day lounging in our pajamas. Garrett was so smiley that we had a photo shoot on the couch.

Mariann told us she was interested in buying a video camera as a training tool for riding. She wanted our advice on selecting one. The prices on digital cameras have dropped amazingly. With new technology (hard drives and high definition) still several years from coming to the consumer market, it's basically a matter of choosing your favorite brand. There's no better place to purchase electronics than Costco, both price and their unbelievable return policy, so we planned an outting for the evening. Ultimately, Mariann selected the Panasonic model that Costco carries. As much as I am a fan of Sony products, I could not justify encouraging her to spend an additional hundred dollars when the Panasonic will function perfectly well.

Garrett was so calm during the entire trip. He was happy while I pushed him around the electronics and DVD sections, then he fell asleep while we compared Camcorder models. He got a little upset on the ride home, but quickly calmed and slept for the rest of the ride.

As we were leaving Costco, an employee who knows that Mariann is from Sweden approached me speaking Swedish. I did not hear him at first, but recognized that he was not speaking English. When I looked over at Mariann and she obviously understood, I realized he was speaking Swedish. Mariann answered for me that I "talar inte svenska". He and Mariann conversed in Swedish for several minutes and he spoke to Andrea as well, who understood the conversation. When we were loading the car, another Costco employee asked uswhat language we were speaking, and then wanted to know how to say something in Swedish. Per his request, Mariann and Andrea taught him to say "hurry up". This whole experience reminded me how much I have want to learn to speak Swedish. the first summer that Andrea and I lived in our house, I suggested we should speak exclusively Swedish; it was a very quiet hour!

Once we arrived back at their house, I charged up the battery and familiarized myself with the camera briefly as Mariann prepared dinner. We had intended to go over the cameras functions tonight, but started watching a movie after we ate, and Mariann fell asleep almost immediately. Andrea and I were interested initially in the story about foreign women imprisoned in Singapore by the Japanese during World War II, but decided to shut it after the third scene of graphic violence (when they hurt the dog, that was the last straw!).

Garrett was grunting like he was wanting to poop, so we put him on his play mat. Kicking normally helps him go! Only 5 minutes later, we heard the sound of thunder. Garrett had pooped!

Garrett's third Hannukah present was a butterfly with a mirror in the center that goes in Andrea's car, to let her see Garrett from the driver's seat. He smiled at the butterfly, and played with it as Mormor moved it around in front of him. The butterfly liked to kiss Garrett's nose and say "Puhpsies".

We spent some time going back through Andrea's calendar, compiling items for a pregnancy review blog entry. I will link to it when it is complete, but it will be dated October 13th and mention the major events in the 9 months after Garrett was conceived. When Garrett woke up we moved upstairs and continued reviewing the calendar until I fell asleep holding the sidekick.

At 3am, Garrett woke up with a wet diaper, so I brought him downstairs to change him, which woke up Mariann. Andrea helped her rinse a few dishes and take the dogs out. Garrett decided he wanted to eat, so we all had an after-midnight snack and returned to bed at 5am.