Yesterday morning, I took Hank to Pearlridge to meet up with his Great-Grandpa and his coffee gang. For those of you who don't know what a "Coffee Gang" is, it's basically a social group of retirees who meet up every morning to share snacks, coffee and conversation. Some of them were friends before this coffee gang began, others were already frequenting the area on their own and just joined the group naturally. I would say this is a true community. No hard and fast rules or membership requirements, yet everyone in the group has an unspoken role. It's pretty interesting. And cute. Most of them get the senior citizen coffee from the nearby McDonald's. I think it's something like $0.50 with free refills. You see all these cups strewn across the row of 9 tables (yes, NINE tables), each with a first initial written on the side. Every so often, one of the gang members (hehe) gathers all the empties on a tray and moseys on over to McDonald's for a mass refill. It was a great visit. Grandpa gave me a $20 to buy myself some breakfast (sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin with a hashbrown and fruit punch) and I think he was quite proud to show off his very first great-grandson. I realized I didn't take a photo of the entire group. I'll get one next time. I'm thinking of trying to make it over to see Grandpa and the Gang every Wednesday.
Hank enjoyed meeting the Coffee Gang and people-watching at Pearlridge
Next up...teething. I think Hank is teething. He's been drooling buckets and munching on toys and his hands for weeks now, but not a tooth in sight! Sometimes he chews so hard on his hands that it leaves red marks on his fists. Our pediatrician mentioned using a refrigerated carrot to help relieve teething pain and a friend of mine, Celina, reminded me of this tip the other day. So I thought I'd give it a try:
I put the carrot near Hank's mouth and he was initially startled by the temperature of it. He quickly jerked his head away. After a few more attempts, he got used to the cool sensation and grabbed the carrot on his own. It worked for a little while. The he threw the carrot on the floor. :P
