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!

The anti-Aggie conspiracy

I am convinced that Longhorn fans, including retailers, merchandisers, and common people alike have such a strong dislike for Aggies and anything Texas A&M, that they have resorted to subtle anti-Aggie propaganda to discourage the future generation college-educated individuals from attending my prestigious alma mater. The Aggie jokes....we've all heard them! Let's also take, for example, the Texas college display at our local Academy Sports & Outdoors here in San Antonio. Why is the display for Longhorn paraphrenalia much larger than the Aggie display? Why is there only 1 option for little boys and 2 options for little girls in Aggie baby gear but at least 4 options for both boys and girls in Longhorn apparel? Why, also, is the Texas Tech gear display larger than the Aggie display? Now, THAT, is a disgrace...

And the anti-Aggie campaign, has even hit baby toys. Look at the face (albeit a little creepy) of Alex's toy phone purchased at our local grocery store...




Now, take a closer look at the mouth. Does that not look like the Longhorn symbol (bevo I think they call it) to you? Call me crazy...call me a conspiracy theorist, but I know underhanded techniques when I see them! My little man will be encouraged to consider all of his options when making the big decision of which college to attend. I will not brain wash him, either way, although he will begin to wear a 12th man jersey when I can get him one that fits. :-)

Gig 'em!!!!

The verdict is in

I am officially allergic to vegetable gum which is essentially used in most thickened liquids that are not designated as "all natural," including, but not limited to, salad dressings, sauces, jelly, cake icing, chocolate products, creams, cream cheese, and many many more items that might include "xanathan gum." My allergist's recommendation was, "stop eating out at restaurants." WOW! We all know that's not gonna happen. So, if we're ever out eating dinner, you might request a brief tutorial on how to use my epi-pen if I pass out in front of you and/or start swelling up and turning red like a roma tomato.

Enough about the boring stuff. Alex's babbling is as delightful to my ears as a nice tall glass of lemonade on a hot day. Eddy believes, and now I might possibly believe, that Alex has said his first word....and NO....it isn't "mama." It is not "dada" either although he frequently babbles that string of consonant-vowel combinations, even when Eddy is not present. It is in fact "og" for "dog." Being the recently graduated speech pathologist that I am, I fully understand that many parents exaggerate this milestone and believe it to have occured when a child is in fact babbling. In order for it to be a first true word, it must be consistently used in the presence of the referent, or more simply put, a child must be referring to a particular object and consistently use that word to describe that object.

Any time Alex hears Bubba bark, he says "og" and looks at or for Bubba. He also proceeds to babble "bubububububu...." I didn't believe Eddy when he told me over the phone. I was in Houston for Anesha's bachelorette party, but now I might actually believe it. Now I might actually believe that my child loves Bubba more than he loves me. At least our first born's first word was that of a neutral party and the name of a beloved family member....The Bubs.

Diaper Changing Techniques

So, Alex continues to give me trouble every time I need to change his diaper and/or outfit. He continues to roll over and laugh as he proceeds to crawl away with a naked bottom flashing the world in the process of me changing his diaper. If there is a world record for the fastest diaper changing time, I might be close to breaking it if I haven't already. Today, I came up with a strategy that is slightly unorthodox, but it worked! After changing his diaper, I blocked him with my feet while I buttoned his onesie (he was on his belly.) He not only thought it was hilarious that I was restraining him with my feet (he likes toes) but it kept him still and steady long enough for me to finish buttoning his one piece jumper. AHHH! The fun times! I'm getting pretty creative although my word-finding difficulties still linger. You'd think as a speech pathologist that I would have strategies that I could implement, but I seem to have forgotten everything I learned the past 27 1/2 years.

Notice that Alex is not wearing shorts...it's impossible unless he is drowsy or there are two people to assist with the task. My child will always be known as that kid who is shortless or in a onesie!