And Baby Makes Four

Our sushi dinner was the highlight of the day for me.

It is 3:20 p.m., and Benjamin miraculously fell asleep after resisting his afternoon nap for half an hour. He was confused about why I was making him take a nap when it felt like 5 p.m. to him. He’ll probably be ready for dinner when he wakes up. Meanwhile, I crashed on the sofa for a few minutes, exhausted from a day of doing basically nothing, if nothing includes chasing around a toddler who has a limitless supply of energy. Now I am enjoying a cup of decaf coffee, brewed right here in the room. Usually hotel room coffee is pretty unimpressive, but this actually isn’t bad. Let’s get on with the rundown of the day.

Day Two:

• 6 a.m. – I rolled out of bed, quietly, but assuming that Benjamin would wake up soon after me, since he usually wakes up at 8 at home. Thankfully, since he went to bed at 8:45 last night, he didn’t wake up until 7:15. I used that time to get ready, check my email, and drink some coffee. Brad impressed me by going to workout in the hotel exercise room for half an hour.
• 8 a.m. – We all headed to the lobby area for the complimentary breakfast – ours included freshly made veggie and cheese omelets, much-needed coffee, and assorted fruit and muffins. Benjamin ate his usual – oatmeal and fruit.
• 8:45 a.m. – We arrived at Boston Scientific, where Brad proceeded to guide us through the maze of cubicles to introduce Benjamin (and me) to his co-workers. Benjamin charmed everyone, but also proved to be a disruptive force in the workplace. (What? A toddler being disruptive?) I always enjoy meeting Brad’s coworkers, because most of them I only know by name and voice (from all the speaker phone conference calls I hear at home).
• 10:00 a.m. – Benjamin and I arrived back at the hotel, and after a few minutes of playing, I put him down for a nap. He slept for an hour and a half, during which time I entertained myself on the computer, including writing my Day One blog post.
• 12:00-2:30 p.m. – Benjamin woke up happy, we ate lunch in the room (I had leftovers from Macaroni Grill), and then we wandered around the hotel for awhile. We spent some time out by the pool, but it is super windy today from the Santa Ana winds, so we came back inside. He loved looking at the waterfall fountains in the lobby. See below for some pictures of our time exploring the hotel.
• 2:30-3:30 p.m. – This is the time I already summarized above. 30 minutes of Benjamin fighting his nap while I tried to rest, followed by his 30 minute nap while I drank some in-room coffee.

It’s now 9:45 p.m., and I’m the only one in our suite still awake! I’ll now finish my rundown of this not so exciting day.

• 3:30-6:30 p.m. – Benjamin explored the suite, focusing on the suitcase and the microwave. I kept one eye on him, and the other divided between an enjoyable episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show and my computer. By 4:30 I was counting the minutes until we picked up Brad from work. After I fed Benjamin dinner, we drove to pick up Brad, then we all stopped back by the hotel for a few minutes before heading to dinner.
• 6:30-8:30 p.m. – I was in the mood for sushi, so I was glad that we went to a place in Valencia called Maru Sushi. It was excellent – the best nigiri sushi I’ve ever had by a long shot. Not only did it all taste great,with subtle balances of texture and flavor, but it was presented so artistically. It will be hard to go back to our local sushi place (at least for nigiri) after this meal. We were joined by a coworker of Brad’s and his fiance. Benjamin cooperated, despite being exhausted and on the point of delirium, so we enjoyed nice conversation with the delicious food.
• 8:30 to bedtime – That’s about all she wrote. Tomorrow will be more of the same, although I will try to leave the hotel with Benjamin at some point.