Just a quick update for everyone who is wondering. We are all moved into Chicago now! Our internet is active, but we are still unpacking and getting organized. Becky will post further once we get a little more settled.
EDIT: There are some images now in the Sniderkin: Chicago gallery of our apartment and the views from our windows. We’ll get some of the outside and of the area in Chicago soon as well.
Cavan learned how to pull himself up to standing today and hasn’t stopped doing it all day long. He had been pulling up onto his knees, but this morning he got his feet under him and it’s been all downhill since then!
So within the last 3 days Cavan has 1) learned to crawl 2) learned to sit up on his own 3) learned to pull up onto his knees, and 4) learned to pull up to standing. Holy moly!
Also, yesterday while we were driving I was riding in back with him and we were stopped at a light. I looked at him and he was smiling and being a weirdo, so I looked around and saw that a gruff looking guy in a work van next to us was hanging his head out the window talking to Cavan and smiling and generally being a doober. That was pretty amusing, but not too surprising since he also tries to get the attention of people at the gas pump. A couple weeks ago I noticed he was smiling and being a super-flirt and looked around and saw a girl pumping gas next to us. She said she looked over and he was grinning at her.
It seems that what Shannon and I lack in social skills, Cavan has managed to perfect. We’re much more social now that he’s with us than before, he simply won’t let us go about our day without stopping to talk to everyone!
Cavan is now 7 1/2 months old! Here’s the rundown…
He’s been army crawling for awhile now, but today he learned how to all out crawl. And now, we’re in for trouble. Also today he seems to have figured out how to pull himself up (he’s been trying for awhile). Mere seconds ago he pulled himself up onto his knees using one of Shannon’s desk drawer handles. Of course, the drawer rolled out and left poor Cavan hanging there and very confused. While Mommy and Daddy were busy laughing at him, he let go and fell over backward, which promptly set him off laughing.
Cavan is also Mister Grabby Hands, anything within reach is fair game, from waitresses shirts or aprons to the shopping bags of passersby. Luckily all of his victims thus far have been good natured and found it amusing.
Today we went to visit my friend Beth who just had a baby boy, Cavan wasn’t sure what to make of Aiden. When Aiden started to cry in protest of being changed Cavan looked very concerned and started to fuss a bit as well. Once he was able to watch Aiden and realized that Aiden’s Daddy wasn’t torturing him, Cavan calmed down.
We’re still waiting on first words, we get a lot of baby chatter but no actual words yet. I suspect that as soon as he connects words to meanings we’re never going to get him to be quiet. As it is, he sits and talks to himself for hours.
Things Cavan thinks are funny: People yawning, Things with long necks (giraffes and horses), Dogs, and Mailmen.
Things Cavan is afraid of: Nothing yet. We’re working on not always catching him when he falls so he can learn cause and effect. The other day Cavan was playing on the bed and trying to climb off the edge. I decided I would let him fall (catching him, of course). I thought it might scare him a little and help him learn that not every surface is safe. Instead, he rolled off, I caught him before he hit the floor, and he proceeded to laugh like it was the most amusing game ever. *sigh*
Cavan is a really great eater. He’s eating squishable finger foods now (avocado, gerber fruit puffs, cheerio-type things). He holds his own bottle now (and trying to get it away from him is like trying to wrestle Chuck Norris). We have also progressed into a realm where he wants to control the spoon entirely when being fed. Feeding now requires 2 spoons, one for me and one for him. Cavan has made the connection that food comes from the plate/bowl, but still doesn’t have the coordination he needs to get it onto the spoon and into his mouth. So… he puts the spoon on the bowl/plate, I fill it up, and he puts it into his mouth (and sometimes his ear.) He’s also not so good at the whole idea of not shoving the entire spoon down his throat, so I bought a couple spoons with looped handles made to prevent exactly that. We’ll see how they work out!
Now that Cavan is crawling, the animals are in severe danger. Cavan LOVES the cat and the bunny and if they don’t move fast enough, he’ll pull their fur. Luckily, they’re both faster than he is… for now.
Also, Cavan is is a stage where he’s very intrigued by textures. He likes to feel everything. Combine this with his need to grab and put everything into his mouth, and we’ve got our hands full! Most recently, he likes to crawl over to the bunny’s mat and try to share his lettuce.
And… we have two bottom teeth and are learning to use them to chew!
We have a place to live! It’s in a good location in the Near North/River North neighborhood. We’ve got the Gallery District to our west, the Magnificent Mile to our east, the Trump Tower, Design District, and the river to our south. The Lincoln Park area, with the zoo, parks, and gardens, is directly on our street to the north. As Becky already mentioned, there’s also a nice Whole Foods Market and a Walgreens within steps, which covers all of our daily needs. Basically everything is within a few minutes by foot, bus, or subway. All of Chicago will be just outside our doorstep!
Inside our doorstep won’t be too shabby either. It’s a nice two-bedroom apartment, with all the modern comforts including air and laundry, in a mid-rise building with a swimming pool, sauna, and fitness center on the top floor. There is a sundeck with tables and chairs, along with some grills for cooking while enjoying the view of the city. If that wasn’t enough, there is an on-site dry-cleaning service, guest suites available for rent, housekeeping services available, and a doorman for the building.
There is parking available for rent, but it’s expensive and in general Chicago is very foot-friendly so we are going to get rid of our car. For those times when we need a car, there are rental places around as well as something called Zipcars which rent by the hour or day. There are also bicycle lockers in the building, so we’ll definitely have to get some bikes because the lakeshore trail along Lake Michigan is beautiful. You’d be surprised how many green areas, beaches, and harbors there are in this city.
All in all, yes, I think we are going to do well in Chicago. 
We have now been to Chicago twice in the last week looking for apartments, and still don’t have more than a few maybes. It’s all pretty overwhelming, and tiring. It’s already September 18, which means we have about 10 days to find a place and get moved in… yeah.
Cavan doesn’t mind Chicago at all. There’s a lot of noise in some areas, but he doesn’t care. He just looks at all the people and sights. During our apartment search yesterday Cavan made friends with pretty much every mailman and doorman in Chicago. He looks at them and smiles and laughs, he’s pretty hard to ignore, especially when we’re walking down the street and he’s sitting at the edge of his stroller seat looking around and trying to get everyone’s attention. Good thing our friends Jen and Fred bought a monkey-backpack-leash for him, I suspect we’re going to be needing that thing!
I’m still holding out hope for finding an apartment in a quiet neighborhood, we looked at a few in Lincoln Park yesterday and though the neighborhood was really quiet and safe, the rent is pretty absurd for old units, many of which don’t even have central air. Right now our primary contender is in a highrise just north of the Loop [Ed. River North near Michigan Ave - Shannon], but the area is pretty crowded and the rent isn’t exactly a bargain. The bonus though, it’s a new building with all the ammenities you’d expect for the price, and there’s a Whole Foods Market and a Walgreens on the same block.
Time is flying by and I’m freaking out more than a little bit…
In other news, our junky apartment in East Lansing is having more issues. It’s been pretty cold here at night and in the mornings but when we turned the heat on this morning the fire alarms upstairs (by the furnace) went off. We couldn’t see anything that would have caused it, but decided it’s better just to bundle up and say no to the heat until we move. And to think, someone rented this place without even seeing it. Boy, she’s in for a surprise.
CHICAGO!
After months, months, and more months of The Great Job Hunt, I have accepted a position that ended up being surprisingly close to Michigan. I’ll be working in downtown Chicago in the AON Center, which is the tall building on the right in the pictures above. In fact, it is the second tallest building in Chicago, behind the Sears Tower. I’ll only be about halfway up, but I may still keep a parachute under my desk just in case. It’s also right next to the waterfront and the beautiful Millennium Park.
We’re very excited to be finally moving on from East Lansing and we are looking forward to the change. We are also planning on living in the city, so that will be a huge lifestyle adjustment, though we don’t know precisely where just yet. The Great Housing Hunt is the next action on the agenda, which I’m sure will bring lots of excitement and stress of its own.
Cavan is just a few days away from 7 months old. During the last month he’s had an abundance of milestones:
He got his first tooth.
He got his first pair of shoes.
He can sit up without support.
He can almost go from laying to sitting on his own, he gets up on one arm and a hip.
He’s become a pro at the “hop-scoot” method of locomotion, nothing is safe!
He can now hold his own bottle (and is reluctant to let it go even when empty).
The other day we went to the pet store to pick up supplies and Cavan and I stopped to look at the birds. He thought they were pretty interesting, especially a bright red one. While we were there a boy, maybe 12 or 13 years old, smiled at Cavan and told him he was a cute baby. I found that to be pretty unexpected - Cavan gets attention from women and girls all the time (he pretty much demands it since he learned how to flirt), and an unusual number of men also give him attention, but young boys usually can’t be bothered to notice babies. But then, as I mentioned, he doesn’t exactly let people not notice him. In the last 3 days Cavan has charmed more people than I can count. We’ve been out and about preparing for Shannon’sinterview and all along the way Cavan has been making friends. The girl at the tailor thought he was just the cutest thing ever and she managed to get him all out laughing in hysterics (something he usually reserves for mommy and daddy). He really liked her! We’re going to have to be careful, I think Cavan’s going to be the type of kid that would happily go home with anyone, he’s so outgoing!
We’ll get a picture of that tooth soon! It’s really sticking up now!