Labor Day

We have had a wonderful Labor Day weekend, and I have been spoiled by having Eddy home since last Wednesday. It's been great...Eddy's been letting me sleep in, and nothing is easier than having 2 parents to manage a fussy teething baby. I have the best husband ever! Ahhh..those days will soon be over as Eddy head back to work this Tuesday. It was great while it lasted and my stress/caffeine eye twitch still persists. Ah well. I guess that's life!

We have managed to convince Alex to try whole milk via a sippy cup in the past 2 days in place of his lunch bottle. He still doesn't understand the concept of drinking large quantities from a sippy cup, unless there's juice in there, but we're hoping we get there sooner than later. Eddy and I are both very motivated people, so we're hoping to have the bottle be out of the house by Alex's 1st birthday....only time will tell. We have 2 bottles to go (breakfast and dinner).

We had a visit from Eddy's college (undergrad) roommate, Martin, and his beautiful family this past Saturday. Alex enjoyed meeting Jack and Kyle Prati, and we had a couple of hours of baby bliss in our living room. Jack absolutely loved Bubba, and Kyle was happy as ever with whichever toy we presented him. Alex attempted to give love pats to Jack and Kyles' heads. The Pratis are a wonderful and loving family, and we had a great time seeing them this weekend.

Otherwise, Eddy is being Mr. Handyman around the house, and I love it! :-) We now have ceiling fans...yea fun! I'm convinced that Eddy is now electrically brilliant, and I'm going to try to convince him to change our light fixtures in the house...we'll see! :-)

Milestones & Diaper Fun

The past few weeks have been interesting during diaper changing time. For the most part, Alex understands that diaper changing doesn't have to be torture time if he is entertained (i.e. biting on his lotion bottle, ruffling around his clean diapers, biting on mommy's ankles). Diaper changing time has become more peaceful. Changing outfits, however, can still be a battle if Alex is cranky, sleepy, or hungry. His first molars are ready to come out so he has been very cranky lately.

We experienced a very interesting diaper changing time a couple of weeks ago. Let's just say that Alex is very "regular, "and he awoke from his morning nap with a potty-filled diaper...only he decided that he didn't want his diaper on anymore so the potty was everywhere...including his bumpers, sheets, shirt, hands, legs, eyebrows, and mouth...yes...I said mouth. I jumped into crisis mode, and cleaned his hands and face first with a wipey, then the rest of his body, and then I quickly undressed him and gave him a bath....FUN TIMES I TELL YOU!!!! He smiled the entire time, and I knew it was one of the moments I would never forget. For parents who know the diaper smelliness changes that occur with the transition from puree to table food, you'll understand that it was a very smelly situation!! And smells are strongly linked with memory...HA!

As we move closer to Alex's first birthday, the awesome milestones I spent the last 3 years learning about in my classes are starting to appear. Alex just took his first steps yesterday while playing with his friends Presleigh and Sydney at their house. I was so excited, and Alex has since tried to take some more steps at his Gymboree class and at home.

We are working on the transition from bottle to cup, and Alex is not having it. It is every speech pathologist's nightmare to see a child drinking from a sippy cup so I was adamant that Alex would never drink from one...until I learned that going cold turkey from a bottle to a drinking cup is going to shock a child into not drinking anything at all because of the fast and steady flow of liquid. Sippy cups are now my friend until Alex's bottles become obsolete in this house.

Oh well...I learned...and I also learned to ignore other people who will pass judgment on you for the decisions you make as a parent. My baby is healthy and happy, and he might kick and scream when I wait just 10 seconds to read "Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See"....but instead of seeing the screaming as a tantrum, I learn to see and appreciate his passion for reading. :-)

How the time flies by

As I'm preparing to throw Alex's 1st birthday bash, I think of all the great memories he's given me these past 11 months, and I get sad that the time has flown by and that I still don't have my pre-baby body back. HA! I don't think my abs will ever be as taut so I'm just moving on thankful that the rest of my body is intact. :-)

We had a great time in Houston this past weekend with Grandpa & Grandma, and I'm learning everyday that Alex is just as much of a ham and attention hog as his mama. He's a very happy baby and would rather be making friends with other small children than playing in his Gymboree class. He is however, teething again, but this time with molars. AHHH! We thought we were done with that when his 8th tooth came in last month, but we were wrong. He is Mr. Cranky Pants right now but he's still laughing every chance he gets and trying to chase Bubba around the room.


Alex at 5 months on the way to get baptized when his first 2 teeth had just come in...you can see them in that picture.

The five love languages of Mars & Venus

I have never claimed to be an expert on love, that is knowing how to effectively receive and give love, or rather letting people know how much I love them and that I appreciate the love others give me. So, I am always trying to better myself by reading books about love. Often times, those books are found in the dreaded, often embarrassing, self-help section. In the name of love, I do it anyway.

The first book I read was The Five Love Languages, and this was a couple of years ago. The languages are: words of affirmation, quality time, gifts (giving and receiving), acts of service, and physical touch. The author, Gary Chapman, basically says that these are 5 love languages that people speak, and we speak and understand some of them better than others. Most often, people have 1 or 2 that they speak better than the others. For example (and this is completely hypothetical), I might feel most loved when someone verbally praises me and I receive gifts from them. My languages would then be words of affirmation and gifts. Get it?

Anywho, after reading the book and taking the quiz that helps determine your most proficient love language, I am almost equally proficient in 4 of the 5 languages with gifts receiving the least importance and quality time being the most important. That makes me a very complicated person to love...sorry!

I am currently reading Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray, and I think it is hilarious. I can't help but overanalyze every disagreement I hear or read about, or even experience myself with Eddy.

The point of this blog is that by reading all of those books, it's helped me to realize just how much of a Martian my husband is, and how well he's learned to tolerate my Venusian ways, despite my constant questioning of his competence (a huge no no in the world of the Martians).

My Eddy is and continues to be one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He tolerates my quirks and hormonal outbursts. He is an amazing Daddy and wonderful husband, and I love him very much. He is this week's featured family member of my blog.




Eddy's best blue steel!