New Video

Lately Connor has been discovering his tongue. He loves to stick his tongue out at you... You can see this new video of it:

Video Here

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It looks like yesterdays link for the new video did not work. So here, this one will:

Here is the working Video

Connor has had a runny nose and teething but we've still managed to go swimming and have some fun here and there. We have 0 plans for the weekend for the first time in forever. It's actually kind of exciting!

Fav Video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YnpfsRiIYOA

I hope that link up above works. I promised my parents I'd post it tonight. I'm typing on my iPhone, which makes no sense when the laptop is right here. Anyways, the video up there is by FAR the best. Ever. Period.

True Love

Here is an older picture, but certainly one of my favorites. Of course they're all my favorites. At least once a day I see a picture of Connor and it makes my heart swell up and my throat feels tight. And then I can't wait to see him in the afternoon when I get home. And I feel so happy that I'm lucky enough to get to see him everyday.

Now is that love or what?

Up

Yesterday Connor was able to reunite with his girlfriend Addie, who has been out of town for a week or so. He was very happy to see her and showed it by trying to eat her foot. She reciprocated her joy by bopping him on the head. My understanding is that this happens daily.

Then we went out to eat for Becca’s birthday dinner part IV w/ her girlfriends. I took Connor next door to hear some cool music at a cool café in cool South Austin. Everywhere we go Mexican women come over and touch Connor. Touching can mean pinching, kissing, rubbing, patting, squeezing, or poking. Basically if they look at him they have to touch him, or risk the dreaded mal ojo. I suppose that’s what you get living in Texas, or should I say Tejas.

It’s actually pretty cool because it just means more people coming up to interact with him. I love watching how people smile and laugh when they see him. Perfect strangers who I’d never talk to coming up and engaging with us. Makes you realize how much joy and love babies can bring…

Que mas? Oh yeah, Connor is moving around like crazy. He’s refining his crawl and can now sit up and pull up. He also spits up, but hardly ever. He’s a good eater and I don’t remember him ever having to burp or digestive issues. Score yet another point for breast feeding. He also has never gotten sick (touch wood), which we attribute to mom’s milk.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the last week or so. Included is my 94 year old grandpa and some lightning in the backyard!

Videos, Catan, Kayaks, Pictures, and More

Video Time:

Connor's Mandolin Song Video

Connor at a few days old playing Piano w/ Mommy

Up above there are two videos. The first one is Becca playing Mandolin, which she picked up and for the first time playing it can play songs. Musical. Genius.

The second is Connor when he was about one week old and Becca's playing piano with him. One of my favorite videos for sure.

Becca and I are toying with the idea of trying to turn him into a musical prodigy. I've been reading a lot about the current trend/idea that genius is largely made through practice and dedication. If Connor shows a natural interest in music then we might try to foster that at a young age. Becca truly does have some natural gifts that she hopefully imparted. If this little squirt can couple that musicality with my physical abilities we might be onto something. It's just something we've been thinking about... time will tell!

Maybe our little Wolfie will become a little Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!

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Today we are continuing Becca's b-day from Wed by going kayaking w/ her brothers. It will be Connor's first time kayaking. What an outdoorsy week he's having--first big hike and first big kayak trip. I'm super excited to get him out on some live water (as opposed to the pool) this afternoon!

Last night we played some more Catan at Sarah and Josh's house. Becca attempted to play the robber several times to steal my cards. But do I even have to say it? Her plan was thwarted, and once again the people of Catan rejoiced as I settled the land. They already know who the truest settler is and his name is Michael Rice. I will one day impart my settling secrets to Connor, prince of Catan.

How nerdy have I actually become? Always going on and on about the land of Catan.

B-D.A.Y.

Yesterday we had a great B-Day for Becca... She got a massage, we went to the zoo, PF Changs, and the YMCA. The zoo was great and tomorrow I will have a picture posting extravaganza! We were practically the only ones in the zoo and Connor saw all kinds of new things.

This is a short post but tomorrow I will put up a tone of pics and new vids. Tonight we are all headed to some friend's house for Catan and they are making Becca a late B-Day dinner.

Catch Up

Well it's been an action-packed four days since my last post. Friday night my sister Maegan and Bruce arrived. It was great to see them and Connor loves them a lot too. We played four (!!!!) games of Catan in less than twenty (!!!!!!!) hours. Becca settled twice and I settled twice, though I admit Bruce was robbed. Robbed of his sheep and oar, robbed of settling the highly variable land of Catan, and robbed of glory.

Saturday we took Connor to a surprise b-day party for Robert and Venus. He made some little playmates and experienced wii (sp?) for the first time.

Sunday was J-Del (Jason's Deli to the un-initiated) and friends over for a quick visit. Quick turned into long as cloudy outside turned into torrential rainfall. We got rained in and had a blast with them. Connor's godfather now heads to Lala Land (L.A.) to pursue film and television stuff. But he will leave us with Jordan who seems promising as a Catan companion.

Monday Connor was teething but after he felt better we headed to the Greenbelt for a long hike. We went about three miles. Connor fell asleep after the first mile and slept the rest of the way. The green belt was rushing with water and falls and was just great. Practically no one out there but us.

Then we came upon a tree that I chickened out on climbing because it was a) seven feet to get started b) covered with fire ants and c) soaking wet

But Becca wouldn't let me chicken out, began speaking in parables, and somehow cajoled me into it by talking about my jumping abilities, which really aren't all that great. She even video taped it for me...

Me failing, then failing again, then succeeding to jump into a tree video...

From the greenbelt it was off to Whole Foods and My Fit Foods, nap time, then a trip to the Y for swimming. Becca then watched some Gay's Anatomy (not a typo) and we called it a night.

Today I'm at work and headed the kickball championship. Tomorrow is Beck's b-day and another day of family fun. What a life!

Visitors Tonight

What a great day! Almost...

Tonight Bruce and Maegan are coming to visit and spend the night. They are supercool and play Catan. Was that redundant? Playing Catan makes you, by default, supercool.

Other cool things... Maegan designed lots of the "theme" pictures we used to take, buys Connor cool toys, plays with Connor, changes his diaper, buys us brunch, visits us in Austin, introduced us to Quy, trades with me in Catan, and married Bruce, thus giving Connor a great uncle.

So there you have it. Hopefully they are on the road as I type. Super excited :)

Fame Monster

This is a picture of Connor with his great grandpa. His great grandpa is a famous and brilliant chemist who invented the inside of a golf ball. I hope that one day Connor becomes famous for something.

At the moment, he's famous for a couple things within our household. Things like:

-Passing gas and laughing
-Putting his fingers in my mouth, nose, or mouth and nose simultaneously
-Being spoiled
-Crawling two feet, flopping over, and waiting for you to help him
-Making lots of sugar
-Getting strawberries all over the place at dinner
-Destroying the Catan board when we play

These things are all absolutely the things that make Becca and I love him so much. It's what makes being a parent the best experience this world has to offer. So here's to Connor and his fame!

New Game for Connor and Mommy

Connor enjoys lots of games. One game is called "spinning around and making baby laugh." Here's a video, since I have lots of them, and they all make me happy:

Spinning Mommy

Sunday we went to a waterpark to visit his grandparents and aunt. Here is a picture of us with Aunt Maddie...

So Advanced

He's so advanced! After playing a jig on mandolin, he decided to pay his medical bills!!

Connor and His Horse/Dog

Well the title explains it all. Sometimes we let Connor ride Macy. I can prove it:

Video of Connor Riding Macy

In OTHER news Connor can now move himself about six feet a time, if he feels like it. I'd say full on crawling is a couple weeks away. We will then have a new little monster on our hands!

One Week Cliff Notes

Has a week really passed since my last blog? It seems like ages ago that I was writing my daily dose of Connor and Co. Time to catch up.

Thursday night my parents and brothers arrived. This means five more, full grown adults in our 1,200 square foot home. Did I mention my thirteen year old brothers are all pushing 6 feet and 160 pounds? Because that’s important. It was crowded and it was great. We love having company.

We did tons of fun things over the weekend. Catan was settled numerous times (mostly by me), crown molding was put up (between Connor’s naps, no easy feat!), new faucets were installed, Home Slice pizza was eaten, Salt Lick was visited, swimming at the Y, Grandparents got tons of snuggle time, we played 9 holes of golf, a trip to Curras, watched Sebastian Maniscalco, got haircuts, etc etc etc.  Two other highlights include my brother losing money to me due to his gambling addiction and the same brother getting dropped off at a “mental farm” for crazy people called Marbridge and me driving off. Great visit.

Monday was back to work for me. Becca got to spend the whole day with Connor. She’s got the week off right now!

Tuesday was a double header kickball and Becca got sick. Then she thought she was gonna die. Then she got better.

Wednesday we had Becca’s parents come in town and celebrated 4^th of July with them. We found this field/swamp/snake breeding ground behind the house and watched the Buda firework display about 5 miles south. Becca and Kay even held an impromptu concert of patriotic tunes.

Thursday we went to Belton in the morning and saw my grandpa Garvin who is 95. He was born during WW1. He got to play with Connor and we ate at his favorite Chinese food restaurant. The fam then headed out to the Bell County Rodeo and we headed back home.

Today I went to work or something like it and tonight we went to the Y for swimming and then Jason’s Deli. We got our meal for free again from the manager. This happens a lot surprisingly.

Now it’s 11pm and Becca’s parents are over and her dad’s telling stories. We were gonna go to the pool hall as per usual but they have to wake up early. What are the odds of that actually happening?

So yeah, that was the week in a nutshell. Oh, and one other thing happened. Connor decided he can move around. He's not quite crawling, but he can move about 4 feet by lunging and flipping around. He will be crawling in a matter of days! OH MY GOSH!!! BRACE YOURSELF!!