Here's to you, little man ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Almost there ...

As the one year mark approaches (sigh), here's a list of 10 things Alex is doing (or not doing) at this point. He's becoming such a big boy.

1. Alex is eating like a champ. Once we ditched the baby food and started the table food, Alex really started to get his eat on. He is now wearing 18m pants, despite that they're too long, because his 12m pants won't stay snapped. His favorite foods are meat, muffins, meat, and meat.

2. Alex is testing his boundaries. He is learning right from wrong, and likes to make sure we haven't forgotten which is which. His favorite no-nos to engage in are crawling up to the fire (darn floor-level hearth), opening the DVD bookcase doors, and playing with/smacking the PlayStation 3. He's gotten a couple of swats on the behind, but he just looks at us like: "Are you kidding? That's all you got?"

3. Alex is getting bored with his "baby" toys. Good thing his birthday and Christmas are right around the corner.

4. Alex is flipping over during diaper changes. Makes things difficult.

5. Alex is sleeping ok at night. He wakes up an average of twice a night, but at least we're able to pat him back to sleep relatively quickly. Still a vast improvement over the past several ear-infection-induced-screaming-all-night months.

6. Alex is starting to get a bit shy. No longer quite the big flirt he was, he is starting to clam up a bit when grocery clerks try to talk to him. That's ok, he's still manages to turn on the charm.

7. Alex is (according to his teacher) starting to get a little possessive of the toys at daycare. His teacher seemed to think this was funny. I'm not sure if that is because it is so out of character for him or what. As long as he doesn't become the class bully.

8. Alex is NOT walking. He uses his little lion walker all the time, but he's not so sure about letting go of it. He doesn't cry when he falls. I think he's just content with where he's at right now. And I'm ok with that.

9. Alex is NOT talking. Not even close. He's not even waving. He will imitate us, though, when we clench our fists in frustration and go "Grrrr!" Though his "grrr" sounds more like "eeeegggghhh!" or something like that.

10. Alex is growing up too fast!

Update

Tubes are in! Hopefully this will mean no more (almost) weekly trips to the pediatrician's after-hours clinic or calls from the day care saying "come get your kid; his ears are draining." Hopefully we'll all get some good sleep! Thanks to everybody for their words of encouragement!

Fun on the Farm

To celebrate Andy's, his mother's, and his brother-in-law's birthday (yes, they all share a birthday), we took the kids to Dreamfield Farms in Bullock County. Good times ...

Poor kid

Alex got another ear infection, which (again) burst through his ear drum. He's got an appointment next week with an ENT doctor. Looks like he'll be getting tubes. I'm feeling a little sad, but also a little hopeful. This lack of sleep for the last two months has been hell.

BOO!

Latest Pics of the Kiddo

Still not crazy ...

... Alex still has his ear infection (actually two). So on Friday he began a round of antibiotic shots. He's not crazy about the shots, but he already seems to be feeling much better. His cold has even seemed to clear up. His eyes aren't puffy and goopy anymore. He gets his last shot this afternoon. In his appointment on Friday the doctor actually said things like "I don't want to sound like an alarmist" and "we'll need to have a heart-to-heart about tubes" and "now, don't go all teary-eyed on me." Needless to say, I felt pretty crummy. But at least (yet again) my suspicions were confirmed that he still had an ear infection and that my little boy wasn't crying "just because." That makes me feel better. If only I could get baby to feel better too!

Late Bloomer

My name is Janice and my son is a late bloomer. There, I said it! Actually, I don't know if this is really true, but I think it is important that if it is true, I need to work on getting over it now. We're going to a wedding in Michigan on New Year's Eve and I was really hoping that Alex could stand/walk/dance by then. But here we are, on the verge of 10 months, and he still army crawls. He's not even really working on pulling up (unless you count the way he sits and yanks on the fireplace door handles). He seems perfectly content, especially now that he figured out how to sit up on his own (just last week). He doesn't eat baby food very well. Though he seems to really like trying to eat puffs. His manual dexterity is surprisingly good. He manages to pick up every speck of whatever the vacuum cleaner doesn't get (and, yes, we have a Dyson). Luckily, he's more interested in playing with his treasures than eating them. But he's still the only kid in his class that doesn't crawl up on his knees (several are walking by now). Maybe this means he'll just have a more laid-back approach to life. If that's the case, I'm totally down with this. If only his "laid-backness" extended to his nightly sleeping patterns. Sigh. One of these days we'll get to again bask in the luxury of uninterrupted sleep. Damn us for not enjoying those two months in which Alex actually slept through the night. We won't make that mistake again.

Yay! I'm not crazy! Oy. Alex is still sick.

Well, not sick, really, but he still has an ear infection. Again, I'm getting ahead of myself. Alex started a round of antibiotics two weeks ago to treat an inner-ear infection. We were supposed to give it to him for 10 days. Well, at the end of 10 days I had the nagging feeling that the ear infection had not gone away. He wasn't running a fever and he wasn't displaying any sure-fire signs of feeling bad. But he just wasn't the happy-go-lucky Alex I know. Not to mention the whole not eating or sleeping thing. But I thought maybe I was just being paranoid and I didn't want to have to pay another $25 for the doctor to tell me he was just fine (I know, shameful, but we had gone to the doctor twice already!). Then, on Wednesday night, a miracle: Alex slept through the night! He was a happy baby all day Thursday (even his teacher noticed a difference). Then yesterday evening he started screaming bloody murder. It wasn't his normal cry. I looked at his ear and it was all "boogery" (doctor's adjective, not mine); blackish-yellow crusties all in and around it. I panicked, took him to the doctor and told Andy to meet us there (he was headed home from work). Long story short: there's good news and bad news. The good news is that because of the building pressure, the infection had bored its way through his ear drum and finally made its way out. The bad news is he still has an ear infection. So we're on a new round of antibiotics and some ear drops. The antibiotics may turn his poop orange or red. We're pulling for orange so he can show his Auburn pride. Joking aside, I think there's a lesson to be learned here. That is that I need to trust my motherly instinct. I knew, just KNEW, he wasn't 100 percent. But with the rising cost of gas (Andy's 120 mile round-trip commute is a killer) and groceries I have become uber-stingy. Luckily, the doctor felt bad about this being our third trip in two weeks, so he knocked $15 off our co-pay. What a nice guy. If only the oil companies were so understanding.

CIO sucks

CIO - that's online parent-speak for "Cry It Out." It's just what it says, a method of getting the baby back to sleep by letting him cry his sad little eyes out. Well, it sucks. We gave it an honest-to-goodness try last night for the first time. We've kind of tried in the past, but usually caved in after a few minutes. But I'm getting ahead of myself ...

About a month and a half ago, Alex got sick for the first time. Before then he was sleeping through the night, but after he got sick he started waking up several times a night. Then, about two weeks ago, he got another ear infection. Ever since then, his sleeping has gotten even worse. With one night being the exception, every single night for the past two weeks, Alex has ended up on the couch or in bed with us. He may wake up off and on the first couple of hours, but then it's like clockwork: at 2:30 a.m. he starts screaming crying and will not stop no matter how long we stand there and pat his bottom or give him his pacifier. Andy suspects that Alex has got us figured out - he knows that we will eventually give up. I'm not so sure he's that smart yet, but I don't have a better explanation.

Anyway, last night we were at our wits end. At 2:30 on the dot, he started crying. We lay (laid?) there in bed and listen to him cry. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. By this time, it was blood-curdling, on-the-verge-of-vomiting screaming. And crying always sounds worse over a baby monitor, for some reason. Andy caved. He brought Alex to bed. The crying must have worn him out, though, because he slept very soundly the second he hit our bed (he usually wakes up a few more times, just for fun). For about an hour after being brought to our bed his breathing was staggered, punctuated by hiccups; the way you do after a good, hard cry. I felt a little guilty, but I also have visions of trying to convince a seven-year-old little boy that it's not normal to still sleep in the bed with his parents. Besides, if Alex ever wants a little brother or sister, he has got to cut this out. 'Cause it ain't happening otherwise.

Latest Pics

GO BRAVES!

DON'T I LOOK SWEET?

GOOD KITTY.

HANGIN' WITH GRANNY AT THE GAME.

YAY! SPLASHING IS FUN!

Worst. Night. Of. Sleep. Ever.

Last night was terrible!! Alex woke up about four times, then at about four a.m., he woke up screaming bloody murder. I'm amazed the neighbors didn't call the cops (of course, two houses on our street are owned by cops ...). Anyway, Alex was screaming his little head off. I think he had gas because when he screamed particularly hard, he would sqeeze out a fart. It would have been funny - if it hadn't been 4 a.m. So we gave him some Tylenol and Mylicon and settled on the couch. The three of us slept on the couch together for the first time since he was a newborn. It would have been nice - if we didn't both have to get up and go to work two hours later. On a lighter note, we attended our first Water Babies class. It was a blast. Alex loves, loves, loves the water. He was splashing and kicking and only cried a tiny little bit when we put him underwater. The third time we dunked him, he spit up in the pool. Oh well. I guess that's to be expected. At least he had a good time! Anybody think, though, there could be a connection between the swimming and the 4 a.m. screaming? Does swimmer's ear occur that quickly? Is there usually a fever with swimmer's ear? Do I need to buy a parenting book or what?

Sleep ... finally!

For a while there, Alex was a dream baby (well, actually, he still is). He was sleeping through the night - every night - and eating like a champ. But then, about a month or so ago, he got sick. Not just the sniffles, but a fever and a virus that caused blisters in his throat. He projectile vomited for the first time. Anyway, he got over the illness quickly, but hasn't been quite the same ever since. He has been a horrible sleeper; on Sunday night, he woke us up about six times in the night (Andy and I each got up three times). But then last night, we had an honest-to-goodness full night of sleep! It was amazing. Even more amazing than when he first did it months ago. But we still need to figure out the eating thing. Before he got sick, he ate everything we gave him except peas and apples (I know, weird). He ate carrots and sweet potatoes and prunes and more. His favorite food, though, was peaches. Ever since he got sick, he will only eat peaches. Anything else we give him, he cries and shakes his head back and forth and slaps the spoon out of our hands. He won't even eat baby food that has peaches mixed with something else (like "fruit medley"). And, yes, we have tried airplane motions and noises. He thinks they are funny until the plane comes in for a landing. Any recommendations?? Anyone???

Parenthood

It never ceases to amaze me how sometimes the smallest tasks are so much more challenging with a child. I thought going into this whole parenting thing that the biggest challenges I would face would be the ones you see on TV - a baby that won't stop crying, explosive poopies, and never getting enough sleep. And, yes, it's true, I feel like I just can't catch up on sleep, Alex has basically proven me wrong. If he cries, all we have to do is pat his behind, pick him up or give him a pacifier. And while he has had his share of nasty number twos, none has been horrifying or unmanageable. The challenges we've encountered have been more dealing with run-of-the-mill chores. Yesterday, for example, I realized we desperately needed to order new checks. Alex had just woken up from a short nap, so he wanted some attention. I held him while I logged on the computer to order the checks. I managed to keep him from banging on the keyboard, but only because he thought the inner flesh of my arm would be a good place to chomp down with those six teeth. Ouch! I still have a bruise. Then the stupid website would not accept my routing and account numbers as valid. So I called. I got an automated voice message system. Now, is there anything more annoying than that? Anyway, I was in the process of ordering checks and the robotic voice was informing me of the option to purchase a variety of designs. Alex started to babble and the voice stops short and says, "Do you wish to end this call?" No! So I completed the rest of the call by craning my neck and turning my head as far away from Alex as possible so the voice wouldn't mistake Alex's babble for my request. I don't want to end up with 20 boxes of kitten checks for Andy and Janice BLA MOB BA Dyer. Whew, I finally finished the call, checks ordered. I looked down and at some point, Alex had thrown up (not spit up; this was remnants from his lunch of carrots) all over my shirt and rubbed the top of his head in it. Ahh, the sweet (sour) smell of parenthood.

An Addendum ...

... to my last post: I'm sure some paparazzo are very caring, loving people. Who knows, maybe they even volunteer at their local homeless shelter. I just used that as an example. I know that a person's career isn't his or her only contribution to society. Ok, so no throwing virtual eggs at me if I've offended you and your camera-wielding ways.

No Pictures ... But a List!

Ok, so I've been terrible lately about updating this blog. My dear friend, who has a 7-week-old, has been doing waaay better than me about her blog. What does that say about me? Sigh. Oh, well, I have a good reason. Sort of. When Andy got his job, we celebrated by dropping a week's paycheck on a new camera. We love the Canon Rebel, but the bad part is the memory card holds too many pictures. We've taken more than 300 since we got the camera and haven't uploaded a single one. Yesterday I tried to upload some pictures, but couldn't find the USB cord. We'll get there eventually. In the meantime, here's another one of my lists to keep you entertained ...

Things That Surprise Me, Even After 8 Months of Motherhood

1. High Cost of Food. I know that the price of groceries has gone up; blame it on biofuels, China and India, soaring oil prices, or whatever. But I never knew feeding a baby would get expensive. Alex gets four bottles of formula a day (my frozen breastmilk ran out about a week after I stopped pumping), baby food twice a day, and a bottle of juice once a day. The formula runs about $25 per week (and we go with the less expensive powder, not prepared stuff). The baby food about $15 per week. When I was in college, I could feed myself for $35 a week (it was a stretch, but I could do it). Nobody told me feeding a baby could cost almost as much as feeding an 18-year-old girl!

2. Pride. I knew I would feel pride at some point, I just had no idea that I would experience such strong pride at this early stage. It didn't matter that no one else was around to witness it, but when my baby army-crawled, slept through the night unswaddled, and drank all 5 ounces of juice for the first time (all in the last week), I couldn't have been more pleased.

3. Happiness/Sadness. It's funny how some parenthood moments truly are bitter sweet. Today Alex moved up to a new room at daycare. I was happy - he's getting older, he's becoming more developmentally independent, he's going to learn new skills from being around babies that are further along. But I was sad - he had a fantastic teacher in his first classroom, he's going to probably get less one-on-one attention, and he's going to be in a room with some babies who can walk (yikes!).

4. His Own Good. I'm surprised how easy it is to do things for Alex that I know are for his own good. I don't like to see my baby cry, but I will stick an aspirator up his nose twenty times in a row if that's what it takes to get all that mucus out and let him breath a little easier. He hates it and he hates me for doing it (not really), but I know it's best for him and that's what is most important.

5. Speaking of Snot. I never imagined how much it would suck to have a sick baby. I don't mean a seriously ill baby (I cannot begin to imagine the sorrow and anxiety that might cause), but a baby with a cold that just won't go away. I feel so bad for the little guy when I hear him cough or hear his wheezy breathing over the monitor. We do everything we can (saline drops, baby Vicks, two humidifiers, vapor outlet plugs, baby Tylenol/Motrin, warm baths, aspirator, etc., etc.), but you can't do much besides try to make him as comfortable as possible. But that's still not enough! Come, already, somebody invent a cure for the (all-too-common) cold!

6. Ralphie's Mom. Many moons ago I wrote in this blog that I wanted to be like Ralphie's mom from "A Christmas Story." I thought she was the image of a perfect parent - firm, but loving. Little did I know that I would be a lot like Ralphie's mom, just not quite in the way I pictured. Ralphie's mom had not had a hot meal in something like 10 years. We'll I'm working on it. The kid just knows when Mommy and Daddy are about to eat and he loves to get fussy just in time to spoil it. We're not sure if it is the sound of plates clanking or the smell of the food, but he has got it figured out somehow.

7. Magical Moment. I thought that by now the novelty of being excited to pick Alex up at the end of the day would have worn off. Boy, was I wrong. The best part of every day is the drive to the daycare, walking down the hall, and seeing my sweet baby boy playing in his classroom. I get all giddy and excited like it's the first day of school and I'm wearing the coolest outfit around. Ok, so maybe a different kind of excitement, but it really is fantastic. I know I probably walk in there with the goofiest grin on my face, but the staff all seem to understand. After all, who wouldn't be excited to see that cute chubby-cheeked face after a long day of work?

8. I Want to Make the World a Better Place. This doesn't require much explanation. I feel now that I have a child, my life has more value and I have more responsibility to build a more just world for my son and for all children. I know, sounds cheesy and a bit lofty, but I do. I just wonder how parents who have truly pointless jobs (like paparazzo who follow Paris Hilton around) justify their work. I know, I'm being judgmental, but seriously, does having pictures of some celebrity's cellulite do anything to create a better world for kids?

Noooooooo!

Yesterday, when I went to pick Alex up from day care, his teacher told me that when the babies went for a ride in the Bye Bye Buggy, Alex was holding a little girl's hand!

First Day of School Jitters

I knew putting Alex in day care would be difficult, but I had no idea just how difficult. I have always heard that putting your kid in day care is hard; I just thought it was so because you're away from your kid and you miss him. Well, I've been back at work since February 1, so I'm used to not seeing my son nine hours a day. But putting him in day care was about more than not seeing him. I have no doubt in my mind that he is going to a place that is safe and he is being looked after by people who will give him the best care. My concern - and the reason I could not concentrate at work at all on his first day - is whether he is happy. How aware is Alex of the situation? Do 7 month olds have the capacity to feel emotions like abandonment? I don't know. I wasn't at all worried about putting him in day care until Sunday, the day before his first day. We went to church and put him in the nursery. There they give you a buzzer (like the kind popular restaurants give you while you're waiting for a table) and only seconds into the sermon, the thing went off. And quite loudly, I might add. As if to scream "This lady's kid won't stop crying!!!" to the whole congregation.

So, understandably, that made me concerned about how Alex would handle a whole day without mommy and daddy. I stopped by on my lunch break to peek in the window. There was Alex passed out on the carpet next to one of the teachers (who must have been sitting there patting his back the whole time) and with a full bottle beside him. I called the day care about 2:30 to check on him. His primary caregiver said she couldn't get him to take his bottle, but he had no problem devouring the sweet potatoes I had brought for breakfast (what can I say, the kid's a true Southerner).

I left work at 4 p.m. and excitedly rushed across town to the day care to pick up my son. I could not wait to see his face transform from sad and forlorn to exquisite happiness at the sight of his beloved mother. I went into his room and at first couldn't even find him. Then I looked down to my right and there he was, passed out, again. His teacher picked him up and he did not budge. I took him from her and rubbed his back to try to wake him up and get my long-awaited smile. He just rubbed his eyes and looked at me expressionless. I stood and talked to the teacher for a few minutes as we looked for his pacifier (note to self: bring pacifier strap). A few minutes go by and one of the other teachers walks by (a pretty, young one) and Alex flashes her his million-dollar grin. Huh? Where's my smile?!? Oh well. I guess that means he doesn't hate school.

Quick Update

Like mother ...

Alex doesn't like peas. He's not really a picky eater (so far, anyway), but he really doesn't like peas. We've tried sweet peas alone, and a country vegetable mix with peas. Like his mama, he just doesn't like peas. If you really want to know how much I hated peas as a kid, ask my dad about the time I sat at the dinner table for hours and was only released from that prison cell after I regurgitated peas onto my white t-shirt. Well, that's pretty much the whole story, but, trust me, if a kid is willing to make herself puke, it's probably just easier to give up. I promise, though, I will not force brussel sprouts on the poor kid.

Daddy

Daddy will no longer be a stay-at-home daddy. While Andy has thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Alex, he's looking forward to embarking on a new career path. On Monday he starts work as a recruiter for Hyundai's manufacturing plant in Montgomery. Which leads us to ...

School

Alex starts school on Monday! We got Alex into our #1 pick for day care (it only took us calling three days in a row). He begins his learnin' on July 7 at Growing Room. Yeah, it's one of the pricier ones, but we believe it will be well worth it. While I'm not looking forward to leaving him with strangers, I'm (selfishly) looking forward to seeing the happy (I hope!) expression on his face at the end of each day when his mama comes to get him!

Rollin', rollin', rollin'

Alex has figured out that wherever he wants to go, he can get there by rolling. That's bad news for us. In the last week, we have found he has rolled off his mat and doing the following: pushing his pacifier beneath the couch, pulling on the dog's butt hair, knocking the fireplace tools off their stand, and smacking the heck out of Andy's PlayStation 3. He's not supposed to be so mobile yet! Aack - we need to baby-proof the house quick!

First fruits (and veggies) of our labor

So it's not much, but at least there's no salmonella!

Alex at 6 months

Here are Alex's latest stats:

weight: 19lbs 14oz

height: 27 inches

head size: 17 3/4 inches

He is two inches and two pounds away from being too big for his carrier. The kid better learn to sit up soon or we'll be in big trouble on trips to the grocery store! Here's a funny picture of him in his "Team Rural Sociology" shirt. It's a big hit with my cohorts.

Best Buds

Alex has a new-found friend. Actually, Riley's been around since long before we first brought Alex home, but he's just now decided Alex is friend not foe. They love to snuggle and rub against each other. The only problem is when Alex gets a fistful of white fur and sticks it in his mouth.

Water Baby

Alex took his first dip in a pool this week. He loved it. We spent an hour in the kiddie pool behind Granny's house. I guess there are some benefits to 90-degree evenings in Alabama.

I don't have anything too exciting to report beyond that. I just thought y'all might like to see some pictures of our big boy. I know it's cliche, but they do grow up too fast!

Tooth!

Ok, it's a little blurry, but here it is:

Changes and More Changes

Alex has gone through an incredible number of changes in the last week. He seems to be changed from an infant to a little boy overnight! Since my last posting (less than a week ago) he has done the following:

1. Started using both hands on a regular basis

2. Started to roll over both ways (the first time I ever saw him roll over, he went back to front to back)

3. Started playing with his feet

4. Growing leg hair

5. Started to sleep on his side during nap time:

6. Sprouted a tooth! (Which explains all the drooling.) I would post a picture of it, but everytime I pull down that bottom lip, he sticks his tongue out over it.

Yay!

He figured it out. The trick is to keep ALL your fingers sticking out.

Mother's Day and More

Mother's Day

I had a pretty wonderful Mother's Day. I didn't think I would get all excited about it, but I did. We went to the traditional Mother's Day gorgefest at the Emondson's. We ate way too many deep-fried appetizers, too much casserole, and too much pound cake. I guess that's what holidays are for, though. Alex (daddy) bought me a beautiful necklace with a mother and child pendant. It looks like those statues I like so much where the mother and child are one:

I had asked Alex for only one thing for Mother's Day: that he sleep through the night. And he did - five nights in a row!! Woo-hoo!

Garden

A little bit off topic; our garden is starting to shape up:

We have been doing it totally organic, using only compost and "tea" made from worm castings to fertilize it. We were so proud of it until we compared it to my mother-in-law's garden. Let's just say her garden put ours to shame. Those Miracle-Grow folks really know what they're doing. Anyway, last weekend we broke down and bought some fertilizer. But we're still sticking with organic-only. Someone asked us why recently and we didn't really have an answer. I guess we're just trying to see if we can do it. Not to mention that whatever chemicals you put on the ground will eventually end up in the local watershed. Plus, organic veggies are yummy!

Alex's progress

Unlike my squash, Alex just keeps getting bigger and bigger. His physical development is pretty remarkable. Just in the last week or two, he has really started to figure out how to use his hands. He will sit there and stare at his right hand, twisting it back and forth before his eyes. He is just fascinated with it. He still hasn't quite got the hang of thumb-sucking (he keeps tucking it beneath his other fingers instead of holding it out), but he's getting much better at putting his pacifier back in his mouth after pulling it out. He's also starting to use both hands to pull on the edge of his blanket and put his teething ring in his mouth. Here is Alex trying to sit up:

I made the mistake the other day of visiting babycenter.com. It's a website that tracks babies' development week-by-week. Or at least how babies are supposed to develop week-by-week. I should have known better, but I looked at it anyway to see if Alex is supposed to be sitting up (not really) or rolling over both ways (maybe so). He seems to be on-par with his physical development, but not so much with his mental or "emotional" development. What does this mean? Am I going to have a mindless athlete for a son? Or an overgrown oaf? Am I going to be Lennie's mother? I guess the more important question is: Why am I freaking out about this? I'm sure Alex is progressing at a perfectly normal rate. And even if he ends up a Lennie, I'll love him just the same. I just won't buy him a puppy.

Signs of progress ... maybe

For a while there, Alex was doing great sleeping at night, going 10 hours on a regular basis and giving Mommy sweet, uninterrupted sleep. But then, about two weeks ago, the progress stopped and he began to regress, waking at about 3 a.m. to feed and then making noises and waking off and on from about 5 a.m. on. I've been told that regression can be indicative of a growth spurt or the onset of a major milestone. I really hope this is the case. Losing sleep would be made more bearable if he started flipping both ways or sitting up or prepping for his SATs.

In all honesty, though, Alex really is making progress day by day. It's amazing how much babies change in such a short amount of time. It is so much fun to watch as he discovers new and exciting abilities and things in his environment. It's a little sad, too, to think about how quickly it's going and that each "first" is, in a way, a "last" as well. But I keep telling myself we'll have another kid, so wait and get really sad when he or she has his or her "lasts."

Just in case you needed another reason to think that babies are God's greatest gift: Yesterday after I balanced the checkbook, I looked down at Alex, sighed, and said "oh, baby, we're running out of money." (Don't worry, we aren't really; I was being dramatic.) As I said this, he looked up at me with those beautiful baby blues and gave me the biggest grin. As if to say "I love you mommy! At least you have me!"

Here are some of Alex's newest favorite things to do:

1. Scream (I know I had this on the list last time, but he's taken it to a whole new level)
2. Pull things into his mouth (pacifier, blanket, stuffed lion, Mommy's fingers)
3. Push his bottle nipple out of his mouth (then get frustrated that he's not getting food; does this mean he's ready for solids?)
4. Squat thrusts (you know the dreaded exercise - he loves it)
5. Be Superbaby (It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Superbaby!)
6. Be lifted in the air by his hands (Yes, this makes Granny very nervous, but Daddy is VERY gentle)
7. Blow rasberries
8. Pee in his eyes (Yes, still)
9. Watch sports on TV, especially golf (he was enthralled by the Masters)
10. Sport a mini-mullet (he's rubbed the hair off the back of his head, but left a tuft at the nape of his neck)

I'm glad my son isn't crookneck squash ...

Otherwise he would look like this:

The sad part is that this is the best-looking one. I guess it's good that I'm better at raising a baby than produce. Though, to be fair, the squash was looking a little sad before I even put it in the ground. Andy's peppers, on the other hand, are looking great.

This is our first stab at growing a vegetable garden (we haven't faired well with flowers in the past). Hopefully our friends and family can enjoy the fruits (or veggies) of our labor in a couple months.

On to Alex news ...

We took Alex to his first Auburn football game on Saturday. We promised him the Tigers would win no matter what (it was the A-Day game), but he still didn't enjoy it. I don't know if it was the crowd, the noise, the blazing heat, or the sunlight, but he was not a happy camper (can't you tell by the picture?). It was his first time in Alabama heat and it appears he has his father's distaste for humidity. But he did look awfully cute in all orange.

He had his 4-month checkup today and weighs in at 16 lbs, 7 ounces. He is 26 inches long. He is doing great. He and Andy have formed a bond and, while I am a little jealous, any parent (or anyone who loves their family, for that matter) will tell you that there is something special about seeing those you love the most happiest in one other's company. Here is a list of Alex's favorite things to do:

1. Clench his fists so hard it's impossible to clip his nails

2. Lock his legs

3. Smile in the mornings and tell us what's on his mind

4. Fuss in the evenings and tell us what's on his mind

5. Flirt with strangers by smiling shyly and turning his head away while maintaining eye contact (it works well with the ladies)

6. Suck on everything in sight, from his paci to our shirt collars

7. Listen to Sullivan howl and bark (it's weird, sometimes it's the only way to get him to quit crying)

8. Try to stuff his entire fist in his mouth

9. Poot loudly and frequently in the mornings, especially when he stretches

10. Drool

Another Update

Apologies again for a long delay. Here's a totally self-centered update on my life ...

Body

My body is pretty much back in the same shape as it was before I got pregnant. Except my tummy is a little poochier. And my boobs a little bigger and saggier. And my butt and thighs riddled with cellulite. Oh my gosh, my body is nothing like it was before I got pregnant! Oh, well. It's totally worth it.

Sleep

It seems no matter how Alex sleeps - whether it's 10 hours straight through the night or if he wakes up to feed twice in the night - I never get enough sleep. I don't know what it is, but I'm always tired. Right now is probably the worst because not only is it dark when it's time for me to get up in the mornings (stupid daylight savings time change), but Alex is starting to wake up hungry at 5 a.m. I would rather him either sleep through the night or wake up at 3 a.m. At least then, I would have another three hours of sleep after feeding him instead of 45 minutes.

Anxiety

My emotions have been on a bit of a roller coaster lately. I don't know if it is hormones, Andy's employment situation, or just Chuck's blood running through my veins, but I regularly have mini-panic attacks. Or is it just motherhood? I feel like I'm a hamster in a big wheel - I'm just running and running and tumbling all around me are dirty clothes, stinky kitty litter, unwritten Thank You notes, a matted Old English Sheepdog, and a never-ending grocery list. I need a haircut, a teeth cleaning, and (at the moment) a shower. You may be thinking, "Well, why are you taking time to write a blog?" Well, it's because I'm a less-than-ideal employee and I'm doing it at work. Will someone please tell me if what I'm experiencing is normal? And will it go away anytime within the next 18 years?

Momnesia

I forget a lot of things these days. My friend, whose daughter is a month younger than Alex, calls it momnesia. So if I don't call or email you back, it's momnesia. If I forget to take the grocery list to the store, it's momnesia. Or if I leave my debit card in the gas station pump on South College Street, it's momnesia. And I curse the bastard who took the card and used it at a gas station in Hatchechubbee, Alabama (what kind of a redneck name is that anyway?).

Questions, questions, and more questions

When we went to register while I was pregnant, I had a little panic attack in Babies 'R Us. I know part of it was not just the overwhelming amount of crap that's out there, but also that I just didn't know a thing about raising a baby. I now know that after almost four months of child rearin', it ain't gonna get easy anytime soon. As our four-month mark approaches, we're asking ourselves several things: When do we start cereal? Are those big, sticky poops four days apart a sign of constipation? When do we move him into his own room at night (yes, he's still in his Pack 'N Play in our room; at least he's not in our bed)? Are his 5 a.m. wakeups really because he's hungry (he usually only eats for a few minutes) or just having little fussy moments? Should we just let him "cry it out" when he gets fussy? If so, how long? What if Alex has ADD and he forgets or loses his lunch at school? Will the teacher lend him money for lunch? How many times will she/he do so before saying "forget it!"? Aaaggghhh!

Happy Baby

I've joined the ranks of women everywhere (you know who you are) and I'm now officially a total sap. I get all teary-eyed over those emails that talk about how wonderful being a mom is. It takes enormous willpower not to forward them to everyone in my "contacts" list (not so sure the director of the Alabama Soybeans Producers would get as much out of it as I do). But they are so true! I read something about how much joy a simple little smile can bring. It's incredible. Alex has started getting extremely happy in the mornings when he wakes up and Andy and I are both bending over him and saying "Good morning!!!" It makes the whole sleeplessness thing a bit more bearable. Plus he is so gosh darn cute when he stretches and twists his whole body around after being swaddled all night. The point of all my rambling is that no matter how little sleep I get or how far behind in chores I fall, it is important that I remember to take time to savor each sweet little smile. Because before I know it, Alex is going to be a grumpy 14-year-old who thinks I'm the most horrid, embarrassing, callous parent a child has ever known.

Finally ... An Update

I know, I know, I know, I have been TERRIBLE about keeping up with this blog. I don't even know if anyone checks it anymore; I know I wouldn't. But I suppose I'll go ahead and give an update; if for no reason other than to show off to random strangers who may stumble across this blog how cute my son is! I've put here some of my favorite pictures of Alex. He is growing so fast and quickly becoming a little person. He doesn't really have a personality yet (does an affinity for diaper changes count?), but he is starting to display little tendencies and quirks. Like first thing in the morning when he looks at me and gives me a look like, "Who is this lady? Should I know her? I'm not so sure I trust her ..." The look is usually accompanied by the Frew wrinkly forehead. Alex loves his Daddy and in most cases Andy is much better at soothing Alex than I am; I suppose that comes with the territory of being a stay-at-home parent. Alex still hates baths, but his screams have dropped a decible or two. He has finally decided that being on his back is not so bad and even enjoys spending short amounts of time in his bouncy chair and swing. He's not quite sleeping through the night, though last weekend he went eight hours one night (he decided later it was a fluke and has since returned to his normal routine). He is up to almost six ounces each feeding. He poops once a day. And now, because I love lists:

Things I Love About Alex:

1. His sneezes

2. His chubby cheeks

3. When I come home from work and he smiles because he hears my voice

4. His half-sneezes (I know, I hate it when that happens to me, but it's so cute when he does it!)

5. His chubby thighs

6. When he gets really happy he throws up his hands (but sometimes he hits himself in the face)

7. His monologues (I'm starting to wonder if he's going to be a talker like his cousin Cole; sorry Gramma!)

8. His stubborness when he wants to "stand" (it's weird, sometimes the only way to get him to stop crying is to support him while he stands in your lap)

9. The way he looks in Andy's arms

10. Every little yawn, poot, expression, noise, smell, touch, and look that comes from him; every moment is precious