Sweet Baby Cheecks

Connor,

This is mommy writing. You just need to know, it is so much fun to nibble on your cheeks. For real. So, I'm sorry that you can't say "Mommy, stop, I don't like that" now, but when you grow up and have a baby boy as cute as you are, you will do the same.

Pool Pics

We had a great Memorial day weekend in Fulshear. Lots of pool time, good food, and we kept the trips to the emergency clinic to a minimum. Not too bad.

The middle picture below is my favorite. Before Grandpa McCoy took this one, I turned to the lifeguard and said, "You do know infant CPR, right?" She just looked at me like I was crazy which  I took as a yes. Then we were up and away!

 Connor's favorite thing to do right now is a) roll from his tummy to his back and b) ride on my shoulders. Both make him smile and he's super proud of both accomplishments. The former of those two feats is a new trick he picked up on Monday I think. He rolled over once. He then rolled over twice. Then he rolled over about 20 times.

Now, the second you put him on his tummy he says bye bye and flips over to his back. At this rate there's no telling when (or if) he'll ever crawl. Last time I checked that starts with being on your tummy and that's not part of his vocabulary right now. He's too busy flipping over.

Do you believe that?

Believe that.

Only Connor Knows What I was Whispering to Him...

The Most Powerful Words in the English Language

Me as a baby. A good baby. One that never would have done something like what follows...

I remember once watching this old movie or reading this old book that said they did a study to discover the most beautiful word or combination of words. I’m not even sure how one would discover such a thing. My guess the people who did it were of the artistic persuasion, not exactly scientists with any sort of evidence to back up their finding.

So!  What did they come up with? What did they find to be the most beautiful phrase in the English language? This:

Cellar door

I know, I know. Doesn’t seem like much. But think about it. Let it roll off your tongue. It’s wonderful really. It evokes a sense of mystery, possibility, perhaps even dread. There’s something beneath it, literally and figuratively.

Still with me?

Well I’m here to say “they” were wrong. There are two words that evoke even more mystery and definitely even more dread. Ready? Ok, this:

Blow out

Maybe I’ve written about blowouts before, maybe I haven’t. A blow out is a bowel movement of sorts that actually blows out the sides of the diaper, or the top, surely the bottom, and everything in between. It covers and consumes. It reduces sturdy, air tight, water proof diapers to pathetic and useless globs of their former selves. The child’s outfit is certainly ruined.

If you know what I’m saying, then you know. If you don’t, you don’t. But I can show you if you come over and the stars align just right. Life will change for you, an indelible line drawn.

There are different kinds of blow outs. I will not categorize them all. Suffice it to say yesterday Connor had a blow out of the “sweet potato variety.” It was this unearthly orange, rust, primordial goop that came from some other planet. I actually failed in my attempt to change that one. Becca swooped in, a mother’s work never done, and helped me out. And I’m actually REALLY REALLY good with changing diapers—I normally don’t even bat an eye.

That all being said, I can’t believe I’ve said this much thus far, Connor will be exclusively breast feeding until age 3. Or 4. Or whenever potty training is accomplished. We will put that little monster on the cover of Time to shame. You know the one. He will look like a baby compared to Connor by the time he’s allowed anything other than old fashioned, all natural breast milk.

Believe that.

My Little Best Friend

This is Connor, flying through the air, wearing the outfit I picked out for him and that his great-Mema Judy bought for him. This picture shows why he is my best friend. Well, him and Becca that is.

Basketball

We had another fun night at the Y. It's become a family tradition at this point. Tonight Connor, Becca, some little kid named Aric, and I played basketball. Connor was screaming out laughing at the ball and Becca finally doing a true act of "she shoots, she scores!" She's come a long way since the days of throwing little toys and making Connor laugh. She had a real basket and real ball. Bonafide.

Connor has come a long way too. We sat there and shot hoops and watched the sun set. Connor sat up for about 15 minutes without any help. Just sat there and laughed and smiled. If anyone knows of anything better in the world I'd love to hear it.

Now it's time to cook dinner with Becca. Connor is taking a pre-bedtime nap. Oh wait he just woke up. Duty calls.

Fun Day // Fun Week

I can't even remember the last time I blogged. It's been a while.

This week Connor was off and on sick; Becca and I were likewise. They are both back to 100% and I'm almost there. Just a little sore throat lingering (for me).

Becca ended up off work for most of the week due to trying to keep the babies healthy. I was home most of the week as well. Even though we were sick, we all made the best of things. It's been a great week spending time together.

Today we watched a soccer game. My Germans did NOT come through but life goes on. We then went for blizzards or something at Sonic... quiet the indulgence but worth it. Then we went swimming at the Y and Connor had a blast! We've been doing lots of swimming this week at various pools. I even bought a kiddy pool that I inflate in the backyard.

Then we headed on a country drive and ended up in Driftwood which only can mean Saltlick time. The wait was an hour and a half. If you know anything about Saltlick you know that's not even long. Luckily we ended up playing boshi (too hard to explain it) and Becca beat everyone!

During the aforementioned country drive we pulled over to feed Connor and took some pictures. Becca's brothers were nice enough to give us new iphones (we had dropped both of ours in various fashions and shattered the screens) so we took some crystal clear snapshots. It was a beautiful day in Central Texas. Tomorrow we need to find a good spot to see the lunar eclipse. I actually think we will head to the exact spot we took these pictures from.

**

I am sick of hearing myself say it but I love Connor. I have so much fun playing with him. He is the coolest little dude and I never knew it'd be so great being a dad. It truly gets better each and every day and I am taking it all in. I love it and him and Becca.

His fu-rav-or-it thing to do is right below. I put him on my shoulders and he laughs and screams out in joy. I love having him there too!

Collage

Look what I made...

Tonight Tonight

Today Connor and Becca stayed home sick. I went off to work and found interesting things to do all day. There is a high school that wants to hire me. More pay, three months off a year... but, I love my current job. Hmmm... what to do? what to do?

We went to the YMCA. Connor was feeling better by tonight. He slept in the nursery and then woke up and played with the nice girls who think he's cute. Becca and I had a good workout and then I went swimming.

It's actually kind of impressive how bad I am at swimming. I've never found a sport I couldn't do pretty well. You can imagine my swimming by thinking of a rock being dropped into water. But with more splashing and ripples. Not good.

Connor finally went to bed and we just ate some chicken I cooked and Becca made sweet potatoes in the oven. They were awesome. Coincidentally Connor had sweet potatoes tonight for his appetizer. He shivered a couple times but overall, did a good job of eating like a big boy. This kid better like to eat healthy because no concessions will be made. For example, whatever the family is having or whatever is served is what he'll eat. Sure sure he'll buck a few times but hunger has a funny way of making you come around.

And you can put that in the bank. Goodnight.

First Mother's Day

Today has been a great Mother's Day. We came to San Antonio for the weekend and had fun with Becca's parents. This year was Becca's first mother's day.

If you are reading this then you know Becca and if you know Becca you know the kind of mother she is. There's nothing more true than the fact that Connor and I are the two luckiest guys in the world.

It was more of a mother's day weekend than day. Friday night we watched The Vow and had dinner at Nona Gina's with her grandparents and aunt. Yesterday we came to San Antonio to stay with her parents. We ate at Pei Wei and then went to the Cheesecake Factory to share a ginormous piece of cheesecake. Today we had a big breakfast, Becca got some good presents, and then spent the afternoon bowling and playing video games. Not a bad weekend at all...

Anyway, this was the first of many mother's days and I am so blessed that I will get to spend the rest of them with this girl!!

YMCA Night

Last night we went, for the first time, as a family to the YMCA. It was our maiden voyage in what we have deemed Family Y Night. Since we cancelled cable we are finding more active and fun things to do. Things went pretty well...

They have free baby/kiddo care. And by free I mean they include it in my monthly membership fee.

It was harder for me to leave Connor with a stranger than Becca. The day care is in the middle of the facility and you can look into it whenever you want, as it's pretty much surrounded by windows. The staff is awesome. But still I found myself checking on him every five minutes, leaving the workout room to peek inside.

I kept trying to be discreet and kind of casually walk by or slip around the corner. Everytime I looked in I ended up making direct eye contact with the staff. It's like they knew I was coming. I'm sure they looooove parents checking in on them every ten seconds.

Connor did great, the staff did great, Becca did great. I did okay. It's hard to work out when you keep going over to the nursery.

Dos Pictures

Connor has discovered his thumb. He also discovered his little piggy toes, but happened a month ago.

The Little Wolf is Coming Out

There was this indelible shift in Connor about four/five days ago. We don't know what happened. But it's like he woke up one morning and said, "I'm gonna have a personality." He flipped some switch and just like that we have this little... new baby.

It's been crazy. There is no way to explain it. He also learned how to throw fits. Arms flailing, feet kicking, feel my wrath and rage fits. Of course, dry eyes. Just a good old fashioned fake fit. To get what he wants.

He's also doing more things to amuse himself and mess with us. It's so hard to put your finger on, but Becca and I know it happened. And when. But not why.

Hmmm....

He also really likes this game now: Catch a Tiger By His Toes Video

Into Everything

I think the days where Connor lied, passively and quietly cooing, in someone's arms (like pictured above) are drawing to a rapid end. And just in time for the dog days of summer... Should be interesting.

Today Becca picked me up for lunch. During lunch, the entire time, Connor was trying to get into any and everything. He was grabbing and throwing keys, trying to knock over water, trying to kick the salt shaker, flopping all around... it was like a mini Where the Wild Things Are.

Judging by these portentous events and his wild parents, this child is going to be a handful. I mean that in a great way. We can't wait.

Water at Kerby Lane

Video: First Time Trying Water

I guess the above description says it all. It's a video we made at Kerby Lane Cafe a few weeks ago.  Becca suprised me and picked me up at work and we headed over there to eat. I feel deja-vu... Have I blogged about this already? I feel like I have but am too lazy to go back and look at the blog. Oh well.

We almost have too many videos and pictures and blogs at this point. Just one blog a day can't keep up with multiple videos and pictures a day. The mind reels. I guess what's important is that it makes us happy to blog and record things. One day I'll be old and I can have Connor come read  my blog to me on his ipad32 or iphone 25g.

Or whatever piece of technology the powers that be are pushing on us... I mean, isn't it always something? Everytime I buy some shiny, sleek new piece of technology I always am acutely aware it will one day end up in the trash. Antiquated, obsolete, and worth nothing. I digress. Connor can then he can take me to Jasons Deli.

**

Last night Connor took another stab at eating some rice/water/breast milk concoction. He did a little better and only spit out half of it. This is a 50% improvement over last time.

What's Been Going On With Little Wolf

It's been a big couple of days. Monday night, around 6pm, Connor decided he could sit up by himself. He had this look on his face that said "I got this." We then headed to Aunt Suzie and Uncle Chris's house so they could see. Becca started crying because he's growing up so fast. Well... That's true I suppose. He's becoming a little wolf.

It's been almost five months. Connor is strong as an ox and his hair is growing in. Growing in fast. His eyebrows almost have a reddish tint to them; I'm hoping his hair has some of mom's color in it. He's almost rolling over by himself. He's has a swim suit that will be put to use very soon. He tried eating some rice baby food stuff but said, thanks but no thanks, I'll stick to mom's milk. All the better.

It's getting more and more fun for me to play with him. He's bigger and stronger. We love to hang him upside down and throw him in the air. We can almost wrestle a little bit. I can't wait for him to start crawling. At least I think I can't wait--it might open up a new world of necessary supervision. Knowing Connor so far, he will get into everything. Which is fine, because that's what it's all about.

**

Here are a few pictures Becca took last night around sunset. I like how the sun looks in the background coming into the house...

Arrrrrgh

We did another scene with Aunt Maegan! Here are some of the results. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh