Month: May 2009

Melissa and I made another trip to the pool with Alex. Today was a success! Alex didn’t seem to mind the water and we played around for a short time:

Then it was time for Aunt Lissy to say goodbye:

Amy and AJ stopped by for a quick visit. Amy got to see a happy and then a sleeping Alex. I got to see her ring (congratulations on the engagement) and meet AJ.

Melissa and I took Alex for his first swim today. I would have to say he hated it. I had gone out to Dad’s house earlier in the week to turn on the heat for the pool and did something wrong. Although the pool wasn’t freezing, it wasn’t warm. We only tried a few times to get Alex wet before giving up. We’ll try tomorrow (when the pool should be warm) if we have time:

It seems that Alex makes huge improvements every time we come to Kentucky. When we brought him for Easter, his first night in Paducah was his first 7 hour straight sleep. I’ve had him in Kentucky for over a week and the colic finally seems gone.
He smiles when people talk to him (my cousin Christina):

Turns his head to the left (look at most of his pictures – his head is always to the right):

Coos, kicks, and holds his head up:

Puts himself to sleep on his stomach (and stays that way in the middle of chaos):

Holds items and can occasionally get them in his mouth:

He does still wake up at 6 am, but Mom has been using that as her time with Alex (Thank goodness):

It turns out that Grandma’s Jelly is Strawberry Freezer Jam, which is very easy to make. Mom and I made 12 jars while Alex took a nap on the floor. I can’t wait to take some home with me!

The recipe:
INGREDIENTS
2 cups crushed fresh strawberries
4 cups sugar
1 (1.75 ounce) package dry pectin
3/4 cup water
DIRECTIONS
Mix crushed strawberries with sugar, and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the pectin into the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 1 minute. Stir the boiling water into the strawberries. Allow to stand for 3 minutes before pouring into jars or other storage containers.
Place tops on the containers, and leave for 24 hours. Place into freezer, and store frozen until ready to use.

Today we were lazy – kind of. Mom ran some errands while Alex and I stayed home. Mom came home just in time for some tummy time with Alex:

Then our big visit of the day was to Great Granny and Papa’s. Alex fell asleep on the way over and didn’t wake up very well when we arrived, but he did manage a smile or two for Granny before falling asleep again:

My mom is constantly on the move and today Alex just tagged along. First we woke up happy and smiling at 6:30 am:

Then we got everyone into the car and Alex bandited:

Grandma was excited to see us and immediately asked to hold Alex:

After visiting Grandma, Mom and I decided on a visit to the mall. Paducah being Paducah, we ran into Carolyn and she joined us for lunch at Chick-fil-a (and I got a milkshake – yum!!):

Mom and I did a little shopping before naptime. When we got home we changed Alex (he gets crazy hot in his car seat) and he had two firsts: a happy tummy time and a nap on his stomach:

Mom and I spent the afternoon talking. After dinner we took a walk to see the Haughs and then tried a new method of swaddling Alex:

Since Alex (and therefore I) didn’t sleep well and he seemed to fidget all night long, I don’t think the new swaddle was a success.

Alex took a nice long nap this morning while Judy, Emily, and I sat around the breakfast table and talked. Alex woke up for a bottle and some play time with Aunt Emmy:

Then fell asleep again in Granny’s arms:

The ride back to Paducah seemed to fly by. Alex slept the entire way and was quite happy to see his Gram when we got to her house.

Alex met more of his family today. Uncle Jim (who was extremelty excited about Alex’s arrival) brough Aunt Jean, Jamie, Anthony, Marie, and Tina for a visit. Alex woke up a little too early and was quite fussy before we got him down for the rest of his nap. Then his Aunt Emmy fed him his bottle while the girls looked on:

Tina was the only one to hold him and Alex was quite enamored with her:

We decided Alex is still getting hot even when swaddled in a sheet so tonight it is diaper and a t-shirt:

Yesterday Alex and I made the trip to Collierville with no trouble. Today Alex was on his best behavior for the Sip and See given by Vicki and Bobbie:

He slept through being held by most everyone and even woke up at the end and put on a little show of laughing smiling.

We got home and Alex slept for a few hours while I visited with Granny, Pop, and Aunt Emmy. Alex woke up just in time for a walk around the lake and then some cuddling with Pop:

A trip to Paducah is never boring. Alex woke up at 6:30 am ready to go. We started the day with a trip to see Grandma:

Then we headed back to Mom’s for an overdue nap:

After an afternoon of errands (including a haircut to straighten out my uneven cut from the un-named $10 salon), the Upshaws came for dinner. Buddy and Mary Ann finally got to see Alex in a good mood:

When Buddy walked in my mother and I laughed. I told you Alex’s shoes reminded me of Buddy in a post here. I was glad I brought Alex’s shoes and we attempted to get a picture:

Wade is spending the next few days in New Orleans for work (and then remodeling the upstairs bathroom) so I decided to visit the grandparents for the next week and a half. Alex and I said good-bye to Wade and then got on the road for Paducah:

This is the view I saw in my rearview mirror for about 8 hours:

Alex was a dream and slept the entire trip. Surprisingly, he seemed pretty tired wen we arrived at Mom’s house:

It occurs to me that I never posted a picture of Alex’s announcement. Wade took the picture and it’s one of my favorites:

Wade has finished the book page on my website. A few tweaks are still needed here and there, but the website is mostly done! I forgot to mention this earlier, but please let me know if you find any errors or something odd. We’ve tried to troubleshoot, but have missed things I am sure. Wade is currently working on the comment problem. Comments should work if you are using Opera or Firefox. They do not work on IE.
And in other news, Alex is trying out his bumbo. He’s almost there, but not quite. His head seems to do some serious bobbing only in the bumbo – interesting…

Tonight Mike, Carissa, Wade, and I chaperoned Alex and Emelia’s second date. I cooked dinner and we did eat in the dining room, but we spent most of the night hanging out in the kitchen. I’m glad Wade finished our bar stools.
I kept trying to get good pictures and found the progression pretty funny:

Here’s one more for good measure. You can tell by the pictures that the dads took care of the babies most of the night – thanks Wade and Mike.

We all had a lazy Saturday. We went to work out, did a few projects around the house, and then went for a long walk. We stopped at a park for Madison to play:

Wade was playing with his camera and took a few of Alex and I:

He informed me this is a look he sees quite a bit around the house:

We ended the walk with a stop at Gilles for dinner, but sadly didn’t have custard.

I put Alex down for a good 20 minutes (longest nap of the day) and got pictures of my plants. Mom helped with the pots on the front porch. The hanging baskets were bought as a fundraiser for church. The window box I did all by myself. Please ignore the peeling paint on the house. One goal of this summer is to get the outside of the house painted.

Maren and Elise have been doing a stroller exercise class and we tagged along today. Normally the stroller always quiets Alex, but not today. I did more watching (and holding Alex) than I did participating, but I still can’t wait to go back. I met quite a few other moms and would have gotten some great exercise.

It took two hours, but Alex is asleep by 8. Wade and I are going to actually spend some time together.

Today Alex went to sleep (and stayed that way for 30 minutes) without being swaddled. He’s going to have to learn eventually – we don’t have air conditioning!

Alex is not a very good napper so my time while he is asleep is spent on quick projects – or ones that can be broken up. I’m all caught up on my work work so now I am removing caulk from all the windows in my sunroom. The previous owners must have spent hours caulking all four edges of each pane and weren’t very neat about it. Now I am spending hours removing the caulk.

After Alex’s nap, we joined Carissa and Emelia for a walk. Alex seemed in a reasonably good mood so then we went plant shopping:

Wade and I took turns getting Alex down for the night (he definitely doesn’t like this – whether it is colic or just Alex I’m not sure) and I did get my plants planted. Because it is dark out pictures will have to wait till tomorrow.

I went with my Mom’s method of giving Alex a bath in the sink and he seemed to like it. We even got some real smiles today.

Last Halloween I bought a grab bag of candy. Wade discovered “Take 5” candy bars and fell in love. It turns out they are a little difficult to find and probably makes them more special because of it. My mom and I tend to find them at a random gas station and then tuck them into gifts for Wade. I bought quite a few recently and now Wade tells me he is going to eat healtheir. I am home (with Alex sleeping) and craving some chocolate. I decided to try one of the candy bars – wow! They are really good. Maybe I’ll eat all of the stash I have for Wade and he’ll never know….

Alex has been an awesome baby today. He has taken nice long naps in between feedings and hasn’t cried when he is awake. Maybe this colic stuff is starting to disappear. With everyone in such a good mood, I got us all bundled up for a walk. Somehow I think I am forgetting something?

I thoroughly enjoyed my first Mother’s Day. Wade got up with Alex for his “early” feeding at 5:30 am and evidently stayed up with him till 9 am (when I finally got up). We spent the day around the house and running errands. Then “my boys” took me to Habanero’s for dinner – yum! We put Alex to bed and then finished the downstairs bathroom!!!
Before:

After:

We still plan to replace the sink and the tub hardware – maybe within the month. The floor and toilet will be replaced at some point – no time soon. Wade and I are still discussing whether to leave the tile on the walls or cover it with wainscoting.

Today was full of activities. Wade arrived home late last night after a crazy flight schedule and numerous plane changes. He had a little bottle bonding time with Alex early this morning:

Then Mom had a few last cuddles before she left for her train:

Heidi and Andy had given us Brewer’s tickets so Wade and I left Alex for the first time with a paid babysitter – Naomi from across the street. Naomi says Alex only cried in the beginning (thank goodness). He was very content and almost asleep in her arms when we got home. I got him ready for bed and then we decided to take some pictures:

While at the game, Wade and I had some waffle cheese fries. They were served in a small plastic Brewer’s hat. We decided the cap just might fit Alex and brought it home with us:

I posted a few days ago about Wade’s response to Alex’s fuzzy outfit. He called Alex a yeti (and also posted this on facebook).

Today we received the coolest gift in the mail! Adam and Lyz sent Alex (and Wade) a onesie from threadless titled, “Everyone loves a Yeti.”

Wade loves funny t-shirts and threadless is one of his favorite websites. He has already ordered matching t-shirts for both of us. Thanks Adam and Lyz!!!

Today has been a great day for new toys. While waiting for paint to dry, I went on a shopping trip with Mom and Alex. Alex came home from the trip with a new monkey:

When we got home, there was a big box of presents from my Aunt Gayle and Uncle Bob. Alex quickly became attached to his musical seahorse:

My Mom arrived on Monday and has been watching Alex for me all week while I have been working on the house.  I have been sanding, sealing, caulking, and painting the downstairs bathroom.  It’s starting to look great – but no pictures till I am done.  Due to the mess in the bathroom, Mom gave Alex a bath in the kitchen sink.  I think she may have discovered a better way to bathe Alex – and let him keep his pacifier.

Then we always have the snuggle in a towel: