Retro-Active Pic-Tures

These are some pictures I just got from my work baby shower. Wanted to make sure I got these in the blog so that I don't forget!

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Tonight is Family Night at the Y. Connor will get to see his favorite baby sitters while we work out. Last night he was flopping and rolling ALL over the place. We watched the Bachelorette with Uncle Chris and Aunt Susan and he would not stop jumping and rolling and diving everywhere. It was so funny and he was so happy.

Seriously, this kid just gets more and more fun. He is, as Aunt Susan would say, "Majestic."

How are the Tomatoes? Glad you asked.

Plants and Baby Video Here

Hopefully you paid close attention in the above video to second 0:55 to about 1:05.
Sometimes people ask me what happened to Becca's tomatoes that she planted about three months ago. One might think she has a full vine of red, plump, delicious tomatoes. That she has so much she's actually making bottles of ketchup in addition to salads. That she's frequenting the farmers market where wild groups of tomoatoe enthusiasts form lines to buy what's become known simply as "Becca's Tomatoes."

One would be wrong.

Becca watered them once. Got bit by a spider. Came back inside. Never went back outside. Tomatoes died about a week later.

We still joke about it. I ask, "Becca, could you please go out and pick some of those tomatoes? They are overtaking the garden. There are too many. Please, you have to control your tomatoes."

She usually then asks me, "How's your cilantro?"

That usually shuts me up.

Nap time

Connor and I took a nap after watching euro cup this afternoon. Becca snuck this picture!

Here are some pictures from last month that I meant to post earlier. Becca's grandparents came into town to visit us. They took us to dinner and brought some cool coffee cups from their latest excursion to South America. Connor is so blessed to have such a BIG and wonderful family. Becca and I are too!

What else is going on with Connor? He's rolling all over the place. He can go left, right, and back again like it's nothing. Forward and backward is another matter. I think crawling is a good two months off.

On a good effort he'll get up on his hand and knees, begin rocking a bit, and then lurch forward into a faceplant. This might result in tears, it might not. This laborious act gets him about half an inch at a time. Not quite the most effective movement. But cute! He gets points for cute!

Tonight we're taking him out to dinner with some friends. We have a great little Italian joint we frequent, second in line only to Jason's Deli. Whenver we go, and I'm not making this up, strangers will come and want to hold him. He's our little superstar.

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About a week ago we started out the new bed time routine. We're hitting about .500 on making that one work. But the last two nights we've got it down pretty well. It goes like this...

a) Connor eats at his high chair, food all over, mouth, hair, ears... We shovel the food in over about 15 minutes and he eats about 5 tablespoons when it's said and done

b) bath time. splash splash and soap and he loves water and then puts on his towel with an elephant hood and smells better than anything in this world

c) to bed. Eats his main course of breast milk and gets full and sleepy. Bed time arrives at last.

Ideally this starts at 7:30 and we've got eyes closed by 8:00. But you know about the best laid plans... We are getting better each day but still have a little ways to go.

His grandpa said the other night, "What's the best day to plant a tree? 20 years ago. What's the second best day to plant a tree? Today."

Well that's true.

Collage #3

Tomorrow I swear I'll write a proper blog with some updates. For now this picture collage will have to suffice. Connor is growing in awesomeness each and everyday!

We are now headed to the YMCA for family night!!!

Your Daddy

Dear Connor,

By the time you are old enough to read this, you will already know - your Daddy loves you sooooooooooooo much. I wish you could see now though, how his eyes light up when he sees you after coming home from work. Or how much delight he takes in watching you learn and play. I know this phrase is said many, many times, by people all over the world, but truly - you have the best Daddy in the world. He goes to work early, so he can come home early, in order to have more time to play with you! He proudly puts you on his shoulders so you can squeal with excitement. He plays silly games that some men wouldn't be caught dead doing, just to make you laugh. He plays beautiful Spanish classical guitar until you fall asleep. He protects you. He cheers you up. And he smothers you in kisses. If it weren't for your dad, you would grow up having no idea what baseball is. Or how to correctly kick a soccer ball. Or how to master a tremolo on a classical guitar. I am so, so happy that you have him as your daddy.

Michael, I love you so much for the husband you have become and are becoming, and for the dad you have become and are becoming. 

Look Who's Rolling, Both Directions!

Seems like it was about a month ago little tyke started rolling over stomach to back. As of today he's officially mastered that rolls counterpart, back to stomach.

I feel he's on the verge of crawling. We will certainly have our hands full at that point.

Tonight I'm babysitting. Could be  interesting.

Anniversary

Real conversation from the other day, out of the blue…

Becca: Do you realize that yesterday was our anniversary?

Me: Hmm… Not sure.

Becca: Our anniversary.

(long pause)

Me: Did you realize yesterday was our anniversary?

Becca: No.

Oops. Well, here’s the good part. We celebrate TWO anniversaries every year, one on 2/3 and then “the forgotten one” on 6/9.

And here’s the even better part. We don’t need a special day to celebrate and do anything different because every day is special and every day I love my family even more. That being said, dinner at PF Changs, our go to spot, is always fun. I guess we’ll have to make up for this weekend!

 Anyway, here’s a new picture of Connor from this afternoon-

Connor and His Girlfriend

The video below is of Connor and his girlfriend Addie playing chase this morning. As you can see, they are both on the edge of crawling. Connor can get himself forward about 2 inches at a time. Addie, I've been told, can crawl, but only backwards.

What do you get? Something like this:

Connor Playing Chase

New Video

Connor learned a new trick the other night. Not sure if there's a word in the English language for that, but here it is:
Connor's New Trick

How to Have Fun W/Out Spending Much Money

Monday has come once again. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. It’s just… here. That means time to get back to Connor & Co.

The family had a great weekend. Friday we all took a long nap, woke up, decided to stay home, and watch Into the Wild. Great movie and Connor learned about the dangers of leaving his parents and heading for Alaska.

Saturday we went to a café for free coffee with coupons we had, went to a fundraiser for the police department, got free lunch from them, went to the YMCA for a swim party, went to Chipotle with a gift card, went to our new Bubble Tea place to play board games, and then headed to Saltlick Barbeque with Aunt Susan and Uncle Chris.

Sunday was more subdued. We looked at new homes, mostly for fun. We napped more, cooked food, watched random movies, played with Connor. Connor and I had a bath time where he splashed the whole time. He loves the water.

Total amount of money spent all weekend: $30. That’s called smart spending and activities!!

Here are some pictures:

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.