The little chap

Don't have a lot of time til the wee one wakes up but we wanted to keep you posted on his latest doings. 1) He definitely does not like kiwis (the fruit. He likes folks from New Zealand just fine.) 2) He has 2 new words: "nana" (banana) and "nini" (long i sound -- night-night). 3) He likes to be chased while crawling. 4) He has to have a balloon every time we go to the grocery store. Fortunately we go to Harris Teeter where they are free! 5) He likes it when you feel sorry for him after something disagreeable happens. He'll crinkle up his face and go "Awwww"and want you to do it back. 6) I think he's cutting his 1-year molars. We can feel huge bumps under his gums. 7) He hid behind his rocking chair today while making a stinky diaper.

We made it!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have survived the first year (and then some) intact! My boy's birthday party was great...we had a small chocolate cake for him to smear all over his face and a big white cake for everyone else. However, instead of getting a great pic of him diving into his cake and smearing it everywhere, we have a couple pics of him w/ just a couple streaks of icing on his cheeks and his little face is contorted into the worst of grimaces because he's most unhappy. Not a fan of the icing, I guess. We had about 20 guests, which was fine w/ us. We had enough food to feed the Marines.

Our son is a joy to raise. We both sit in awe every day and thank the Lord for giving us such a happy, strong, intelligent, healthy child. We know we're very fortunate in that respect. There are so many kids out there whose parents would give their eye teeth to have a healthy child. Still not walking yet, though we're not in any hurry for it to happen. He'll do it whenever he gets good and ready. Our kid is pretty laid back -- why walk when you can crawl and get there just as well?? This past weekend my mom and stepdad came up to see him, and he and my stepdad had a ball together. Dad fed him (rather, let him feed himself and make a mess) and they played for quite a while together. Dad's idea of teaching a kid to feed himself is this (overheard while they were in the kitchen eating oatmeal): "First you get the spoon into the oatmeal. Then you dip it down in there and get some oatmeal on the spoon. Then you take the spoon out and aim it toward your mouth. Then you fling it on the wall!" Fortunately my child didn't do as instructed!

I just can't say it enough what a great kid he is. He is so much fun to hang out with! If I had to pick anyone in the world to eat dinner with, it'd be him and his dad. They are two peas in a pod, for sure. Today while Hubs was out cutting the grass, my boy stood at the window the entire time he was out there and hollered "Hey!" at him over and over. All he has to do is hear the motor of the truck pulling in the driveway and he starts kicking his little feet and waving his little hands and squealing w/ delight -- Papi's home!

For about the bazillionth time, we're going to try to post some photos. Here's hoping. BTW, I'm working nights now. Have to go in tonight at 11. Haven't slept since 11 this morning. Hoping to have a little help from the wizard in the green can, oh yes, Mountain Dew. Adios!

Thursday nite TV

Last night as I stayed up to mop our kitchen floor, which was really gross, I decided that since I was up I'd watch ER, which I haven't seen in ages. I was pretty disappointed. Not in the actors themselves, but the story line was not so hot. Oh, how I miss the days of Carter and Ross and Green! Anyone else agree?

The King on his Throne

Yup, you guessed it. My boy now has a potty seat! Not that we expect him to use it anytime soon. Just for show. Just so he could get used to it being there, nonthreatening and all. But he did enjoy grabbing the handles on the side and pushing it all over the livingroom like a little old guy with his walker! And he flipped the lid up and hid his juice cup inside. And then took it back out and drank out of it. Yum.

Regarding Hubs' favorite movies, his input is the following: "Well, you know I don't really get into that kind of stuff, like hooked on it or anything." (We only sit every Sunday and watch whatever movie is on UPN, mind you.) But he did contribute that he likes movies with Jackie Chan or Jet Li. Of those, I believe his favorite would be Rush Hour (the first). He also likes the movies of Maria Elena Velasco, aka La India Maria, a Mexican actress whose movies are quite funny (clean fun, no less).

I've read a couple interesting books lately, both fiction and non. The fiction ones were Sam's Letters to Jennifer and Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas both by James Patterson. They were sweet, sappy, chick novels that you can read in an afternoon. The nonfiction books were the ones I really learned a lot from. They all dealt with the same thing: the killing fields of Cambodia and Pol Pot's regime in the late 70's. All were horrifying, heartbreaking, you name it. I couldn't believe that the world could be completely oblivious to what was going on in that country, especially after Vietnam being just next door and we'd been there for how many years??? You'd think we'd have learned our lesson after Hitler. Which brings me to the question I've been turning over in my mind recently.....why do we go in to supposedly liberate Iraq and free them from oppression but stand by and do nothing while essentially the same thing is happening in the Sudan? And happened in Rwanda, Cambodia, etc.? I support our troops wholeheartedly, but I'm not so sure about this war we're in. Why do we not call it what it is, which is genocide? (Book titles are: 1) Haing Ngor: A Cambodian Odyssey, 2) To Destroy You is No Loss, and 3)First They Killed My Father)

On a brighter note, my boy's bday party is this Sunday. We are all excited, especially Mom and Papi!

Road trippin' with my little man....

....is not all it's cracked up to be. First, he's not crazy about his carseat. Second, his carseat still faces backward (for 1 more week) so whatever I do to attend to him I have to do waving my right hand/arm around blindly in the back seat praying that I'm putting his dropped toy or cup or whatever somewhere in the general vicinity of his face/hands. He is not one of those children who conks out the second he's in the car. The entire way to Yaya's house (my mother) (about 3 hours) we alternated between happy babbling (I can tolerate that), screeching at the top of his lungs to hear his own voice (not quite as pleasant but still tolerable in small doses) to meltdown mode (which almost drove me to drink). Now you have to realize, my boy is not a bad child. He's a great baby and we've been really spoiled to have him as our first. He is just not a fan of road trips. At all.

Anyway, after 3 long hours we got to Yaya's house to see her and Nana (my grandmother). We stayed from Thursday til Saturday and most of the time we enjoyed ourselves. My boy & Nana became fast friends playing peek-a-boo, which he could play all day long. Yaya enjoyed getting him dressed after his bath at night, which usually turns into a wrestling match that WWE couldn't even compete with. Usually at our house bathtime goes somewhat like this: 1) Have all the stuff ready -- towel, powder, diaper, PJs, butt paste (that's what it's called). 2) Get Wee One out of bathtub and onto towel. 3) Spend next 20 minutes chasing a half naked baby all over the bed trying to get his clothes on before he pees all over everything and/or crawls off the edge of the bed. Fortunately for Yaya, he was on his best behavior and let her dress him w/out incident! And don't you know my boy just hated all that attention from those 2 old ladies. He sat & watched the hummingbirds with Nana and tolerated it when Yaya pushed him around the yard in her wheelbarrow.

However, we were both really glad to be back at home with Papi. That afternoon/night my boy was stuck to Jesus like superglue and started screaming when I tried to put him to bed. He wanted Papi to do it! Of course Hubs wasn't happy about that at all! :) They are best buds and I am very blessed to have a husband that puts so much effort into being a phenomenal dad. Hubs didn't have a great role model growing up (dad was abusive and mom died when he was young) and he has more than proven to himself and the world that he is not repeating history. I know they are crazy about each other just by watching how they play -- and far be it for me to interrupt them! Half the time my boy doesn't even want to nurse if Hubs is around for fear he might miss something funny that Papi does! Yesterday Hubs took him to have hamburgers with the guys and they both had a blast. Now that he's less dependent on Mom for milk and other stuff they get more time together to scratch and spit and belch and do guy stuff. They love to go out in the veggie garden Hubs has in the back and water the flowers and see if there are any ripe tomatoes.

I'll try again to post photos of Young Master G. I've tried unsuccessfully several times. Either I'm computer-challenged or the computer is photo-challenged. He really is worth seeing, even if my own opinion is a bit skewed.

Still no input from Hubs on the favorite movie bit. I have to catch him at the right time; otherwise he's likely to give me silly answers. Adios!