Checking In

Yes, I know I haven't posted in a long time. Honestly, I've been busy doing ...well, life. After I get Declan to bed, I've been working on my garden, the landscaping, cooking, cleaning the house, catching up on Lost and Survivor, and playing Mass Effect 2. Awesome game, by the way. I can't even get close to my computer when Declan's awake because he's in my lap, under my feet, or trying to pull the keyboard and mouse onto the floor. Oh yeah, he's also pretty good at turning my computer off. So if I get online, it's usually on the laptop which is parked on top of the kitchen counter. It works, but I can't download my pictures to it, edit them and write a decent blog post. Hence, the long delays between posts.

Anyway...I've been taking Declan out with me when I run errands on the weekend or after work. He's tired of being inside, and I'm tired of hearing him screech at the top of his voice. So we went to the park a couple weeks ago. They have a nice playground set for kids (1?-) 2-3, and he's just getting to the age where he can toddle up the short steps and try out the itty bitty slide. However, as soon as he started exploring the playset, it was taken over by kids about 5-7 years old, and they were running roughshod over him. And I had to keep an eagle eye on him to keep him from trying to eat rocks.



I like his little hat. Okay, so maybe it's a little early for the 4th of July, but I don't have a ton of hats for him to wear, and I've misplaced the baby sunscreen.

Next we moved to the baby swings. He really loves the swings. We have one at the playset in our subdivision, and Daniel takes him there fairly frequently. This one's nice because it's under a sunshade, which accounts for the blue tone of the pictures.

Isn't he adorable in this one?




After he got tired of swinging, we went to run around in the field. Except that the only place he wanted to run to was another kid's birthday party. I guess he's practicing learning to crash parties at a young age. But I did get one good shot of him.



Last Saturday, we went to the Children's Museum of Houston again, and this time we got the family membership. After we go 3 times, it'll pay for itself, so why not? It'll be good when it gets too hot in the summer to go outside.

He absolutely loves playing with light switches, and they have little dioramas they can interact with.


And he got up close and personal with it.


There's things on the wall that are bright and spin around.


There's a track with cars that race downhill.


There's a whole corner that's filled with padded steps and holes, and lots of toys to play with.


They have a sled, and he loves to ride around on it.


However, his absolute favorite this trip was the water faucet.

One year checkup

Not much to report, actually. He weighed 24 pounds, 14 oz, and was 30 inches long. He's almost tripled his birth weight, and on the growth curves, he's gone from 95th percentile on weight down to 70th. On height, he's gone from 60th to 75th, so he's really starting to stretch out. Still can't fit pants over his baby bootie unless they're nice and loose though. :)

Otherwise, the pedi said he was developing just fine. He's still never had any illness (because he stays home with dad). She said not to worry about his speech yet. Just make him work for what he wants a little more. A little more pointing and trying to say the word and encourage him to imitate the word.

Poor guy got 4 shots, and he looked so betrayed when he got the first one. He stopped crying fairly soon; although I think it must have tuckered him out. He slept 2 hours in the morning and 3 in the afternoon. Hurray for long naps!

Toothbrush Giggles

We had our one year appointment yesterday, and one thing the pedi mentioned was to make sure we brushed his teeth at night after his bedtime bottle. I'd made some halfhearted attempts, but he really hates it when I try to force the issue. If he thinks it's his idea, he's fine brushing and chewing on the brush. Otherwise...Yeah, not so much with the brush and more with the screaming and squirming.

So last night, I was prepared to lock him down and brush those 8 little teeth. But he discovered he could flick the brushes with his thumb and make a noise. Then I laughed and he laughed. He kept doing it to make me laugh, and that sent him into paroxysms of laughter. We must have sat on the rocking chair for 10 minutes with him just lying on my lap, alternating chewing on his brush and flicking the bristles, and both of us giggling up a storm.

That's one of the memories I want to cherish forever.

The Value of a Couple of Hours

Since having the baby, my life is composed of short segments of activity. Play with the baby, keep him from whining, read to him, feed him, change him...he's down for a nap! It's my time! :) Oh the wonderful things you can do when the baby is sleeping, either for a nap or at night time. I love those few hours I get each day. The only problem is trying to decide which of a multitude of projects to do.

In the past 7-10 days, I've napped, cleaned and reorganized one cabinet, made 8 grow bags, gone shopping a couple of times, planted veggies in aforementioned grow bags, made a shirt for Declan, watched Lost and Survivor, gone to bed early, and started playing Mass Effect 2. That's about half to a third of what I have on my list of stuff to do. Sometimes it's frustrating, but I keep telling myself that it's no big deal if the house is messy, and my tv shows are recorded on the DVR, so I can watch them anytime. The sewing machine has migrated into my bedroom on my work table, so I can leave it up. When I had it on the kitchen table, I was forever taking it down and putting it back.

It's just another way of looking at life. There's a new guy in my life and he takes up a lot of time. I don't begrudge him that. He's a lot of fun, even if he's whining or pulling things over on his head and crying about it. (I really hope the lesson about not pulling things down on your head sinks in soon.)

Declan's First Birthday, Part Two

My mom was visiting, but she had to fly home the morning of the 31st, Declan's actual birthday. So we had cake and ice cream the night before. He was all decked out in his "Birthday Boy" bib that Grandma Page got him.



We tried a birthday hat, but it barely stayed on long enough to get the one picture.


Then we lit his cake, and Daddy helped him blow it out.


Then it was time for his first taste of birthday cake. Yum.




Next it was time for presents. Meme Burkybile got him a cool truck carrier with cars and animals and even a CB radio with a button to push.


Here's a family picture with one of the cats. You may notice my hair color changed. Not sure I like it yet. Jury's still out.


More presents. He likes the 5 silly monkeys book.


And more books, from his Grandma Page




After we dropped Meme off at the airport, it was time to go on an adventure! we went to the Children's Museum of Houston.







I think he still has a ways to go before he can really work at my computer.


We spent the afternoon playing in the Tot Room. It's a great place. It's set up for kids from birth to 35 months, and it has all sorts of play areas, different textures and toys, things to push and pull and make noise, things to climb. It's just a lot of fun. He played there for over 2 hours. He didn't even cry or fuss when another baby took his toy away. He just crawled over and picked up a new one.



The door with the light switch and door bell was probably his favorite thing.




The sand table with magnets to move the cars inside around was a big hit.


It's actually hard to tell if the door or the water faucet was his favorite, but I'm leaning toward the door.


Later he decided that everything must go back into the ball pit.


Afterward, we ate at a nearby taco shop, and it was three times as much food and probably 10 times better than the what we would have paid at the museum cafe.

Little guy had a blast on his birthday, and we had a good time too. There's tons more to see at the Children's Museum as he gets older. I have a feeling we'll be getting a family membership to it really soon.