Is Anyone Getting Married?

We haven't been to a wedding in years. COVID plays a huge role in that, given that we've hunkered down through the pandemic, but we're also at that season in life where we're not invited to many weddings. The cousins are all married, and we're (thankfully) too young to be invited to the weddings of kids of people we know. 

The downfall in this is that weddings are a great excuse to hit the dance floor. I'm down for dancing some, but children love to dance. AJ had so much fun dancing at weddings when he was younger, particularly when he was obsessed with the Cuban Shuffle. Teddy enjoyed hopping around the dance floor because at the last wedding, he was at the bunny hop phase of movement. 

Now, this child walks, runs and hops (on his feet now) everywhere. He spontaneously starts dancing when he hears upbeat music. While AJ struggled to figure out how to dance to the SuperBowl raptime (Haha, get it? Halftime. Raptime. Hahaha.) show, Teddy was down with it. 

I wish we had a wedding where this child could showcase his skills. Now, don't get me wrong, I'd be a sweaty mess from chasing him everywhere and he'd be into everything, but he'd have a blast doing it. I suppose the good news is I don't think his love of dancing will disappear anytime soon.

Can't Stop The Feeling!

Teddy loves music, as long as it's catchy enough to grab his attention. When he hears the infamous "Baby Shark," he immediately stops what he's doing to find the music. When a song starts playing during movies or television shows, he often stops everything else and starts dancing.

Dancing for Teddy looks a lot like jumping, which is one of my favorite things. A few years ago, jumping seemed so far out of reach for him because of his balance and coordination, but now he jumps to show his excitement, to dance, and to convey all the joy inside his not-so-little body.

We discovered a few Christmas seasons ago that Teddy really enjoyed those annoying toys/characters that play music. So now we have a collection of about a half dozen that play various songs. When we first pulled them out of storage, Teddy couldn't contain himself as we loaded them with batteries and started the songs. It's been two weeks now, so they're not the constant obsession anymore, but they're still high on his list of likes.

I'm sharing both videos because they're just so fun!

Party All Night 'Til the Break of Dawn and Then All Day

Welcome to my life.

I'm quite terrified for our upcoming vacation given Teddy's current track record for sleeping at his grandparents' houses. You might recall Easter or any example from my parents' farm. If he sleeps this poorly on vacation, I expect a very stressed family.

So this past weekend we headed to De Pere for a wedding rehearsal and left the boys with Dave's parents. We headed back to their house around 10 to sleep there until the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. for Teddy to participate in the Bellin Run with myTEAM Triumph.

Well, the Teddy alarm went off at 2 a.m. instead. Teddy woke up, and instead of falling back asleep, he decided he was wide awake. Dave took him for a drive to keep him from waking the rest of the house and hopefully reset him to allow him to fall back asleep. One bright note from their hour of driving is that Teddy knows where our sitter in Green Bay lives. He recognized where we exit for her house, began pointing and making sounds until Dave drove past her road. Since he doesn't talk, it's often hard to know what he knows, but this was pretty obvious and neat to know.

Unfortunately, that drive did not calm Teddy down, so I took over shortly after they returned and booted Dave to bed. (Dave was the best man at the wedding that day, so getting some sleep was pretty important for him.) Teddy and I played in the basement, although he was upset to be down there instead of upstairs by all the people, went for a drive, attempted to lay down a few times and then went to pick up donuts for all the kids once it was 5 a.m. When we returned, AJ and one of the cousins were awake and excited to see the donuts. Teddy was just happy someone was finally awake to play with him. Teddy ate a quick breakfast, and then we headed off to the Bellin Run, a 6.2-mile race.

Teddy was in a really good mood, considering his early morning. He enjoyed the run, smiling and making friends with two angels who were new to us. I've run the Bellin a number of times but enjoyed the opportunity to spectate to watch all the crazy fast runners as well as a bunch of the myTEAM Triumph teams cross the finish line.

When we got back to my in-law's house, all the cousins were awake and ready to play. I sent Dave back to lay down for a bit because he wasn't feeling well. After he came back downstairs, I decided to try napping for 20 minutes before showering and getting ready for the wedding. But then Teddy's cup went missing, which meant I ran to the store to buy another one since there are only a few cups that he can drink from easily. Dave managed to get Teddy down while I was gone, so at least Teddy got a much-needed 2-hour nap.

The wedding went well, and Dave's folks kept the boys until right before dinner. Teddy wanted little to do with sitting for dinner but enjoyed exploring the hall. As soon as dinner was done, I let him free from his chair to explore. He put on 2 miles (seriously, 4,000 steps) during the 2 hours after dinner. He loved the freedom to run all around the reception hall, grabbing random people to try to take them places and sitting at tables with people who I didn't even know.

Teddy's new hobby? He'd like to be a wedding crasher.

Once the music started, he began dancing in his own goofy way. He definitely loves music and likes to dance. Dave got a short video of Teddy dancing, but you can see the video ends when Teddy beelines to Dave to have him join our dance party.

Dave's folks came to pick up two exhausted, dance-weary boys around 9 p.m. Dave and I stayed until the end (since that's the expectation when you're the best man). It really was a fun wedding, but I was so ready to go to bed when midnight arrived. I do believe that's the only time I've ever been awake for 22 hours, and I'm good with that remaining the only time in my life.

But the next day, Teddy managed to sleep until 7 a.m. He had enough energy to explore and enjoy a dairy breakfast before heading to our house for a (remarkable, yet needed) afternoon nap.

This kid loves his tractors!

Hey Mister DJ!

Teddy discovered his vocation this weekend at a wedding reception. He is destined to be a DJ. Or to stare and smile at DJs ... repeatedly ... at least 20 times in a night.

We attended a wedding reception for Dave's cousin this weekend, and both our boys loved the "dance party" as AJ called it. AJ danced with mostly with his cousins, including a slow dance with one of his cousins, which was adorable with the slow awkward side shuffle step that his dad (and honestly, I) still use.

Teddy was in his element from the moment he was released from his Kimba Kruze after dinner. He loves being around people, so having 150 people in a room is pretty fun for him. He put on many steps, leading whomever around the dance floor, weaving in and out of people. We tried to get him to dance a bit here and there, but his version of dancing was racing across the floor.

He kept circling back to the DJ booth. He'd stop, stare and smile at the DJ. Then I'd lead him back on the dance floor. He'd go past the front of the DJ booth, turn it at the other side, stop, stare and smile at the DJ. Then I'd lead him back further onto the dance floor, and we'd make a lap or two before visiting the DJ again.

I was slightly worried when the dancing began with the strobe lights and flashing colored lights, even though nothing like that has ever been an issue for Teddy with seizures. Thankfully, my biggest worry ended up keeping up with him as he explored everywhere.

The wedding was way more fun than I anticipated (as I had expected it to be a lot of work to manage Teddy). I knew AJ would have a blast with his cousins, as he'd been practicing his dance moves for a couple weeks. (He also panicked that morning when he couldn't find his clip-on tie because he "wouldn't look snazzy enough." Don't worry, we found it, so he looked the appropriate amount of snazzy.) AJ even ordered his first drink at the bar by himself - water with a sword of cherries. I hadn't realized how much fun I'd have watching Teddy and AJ in their element.

Congrats Tracey and Eric! Thanks for a great evening.