And The Award Goes To...

Ok, so I am not going to win the Mommy Of The Year Award... I am ok with that.

When Travis and I first got married we made a promise to never have a television in our bedroom. When Little Man first joined our family we made a vow not to spend our evenings comatose in front of the den television so we dutifully got rid of cable and my beloved tivo. Our evenings have been so much more enriching without the constant noise and we are hoping to spend the extra time making the most of God's green earth. Really the only thing I miss about cable and tivo is "Lost". Fortunately, Nana and Pop did not get rid of cable or Tivo so when Little Man and I spend the night with them (when Trav is on shift) I catch up on that week's episode. It is really the only time that Little Man gets to watch television (which I know is horrible for kids under 2 years of age...please spare me the lecture) but boy does he enjoy it! As you can see, he can't believe that Ana Lucia and Libby were shot. He has also been known to talk back to the television (don't you hate it when people do that?) and yesterday it sounded like he responded to a question with "Ok".

Catch Me If You Can

Little Man will be 5 months old this week and will have his 4 month old checkup next week (weird, I know). We've been a little concerned for the past couple of weeks because Little Man is right on track developmentally for his age except in one area; hand coordination. Up until about a week ago, Little Man had tightly closed fists at all times and would only "hold" things if we put it in his hand. The doctor said that at some point he would just open up his hands and would then start grasping, playing, and putting things in his mouth. Even though his hands have been "open" for a week, he had yet to have any interest in touching, grasping or holding until this morning when he not only grabbed for a link-a-do, he pulled it to his mouth! I know this probably isn't a big deal for most but for us it was a BIG DEAL because he meets with the developmental specialist on Monday to determine if he will need Early Childhood Intervention (ECI).

These Arms Of Mine

I have such fun memories of Saturday mornings when all 6 of us would pile up in mom and dad's bed and just snuggle and giggle until it became so crowded that the 'rents would flee for some personal space. Although technically I only have one child, our Chihuahua, Daisy, honestly believes she is my two-year-old little girl and while fiercely protective of Little Man also suffers from a severe case of the green-eyed-monster "jealousy". My arms are so full of snuggles right now I have a tough time imagining all the love I will be able to hold when our family expands later on in life.

California Dreamin'

We just returned from a marvelous trip to California for the Pepperdine Lectures. Our good friend Tim Spivey presented the opening night lecture and Nana and I were honored to be a part of our church's representative praise team. Not only did we get to meet up with some of our good friends and relatives, Little Man had a bunch of new and fun experiences.


It began with his very first plane ride with Mommy, Daddy, Nana and the praise team. Little Man slept for most of the trip and didn't cry one single time! Little Man and I had to fly back by ourselves and although he fussed when we first got on the plane, he slept peacefully the whole three hours home. We were very fortunate to be seated next to a very nice lady who helped mommy throughout the trip.

Mommy's good friend Eva and her youngest son came out to see one of the Praise Team's performances and then stayed and had breakfast with us. I haven't seen Eva in over a year so it was really nice to see her and finally hold her little guy. Little Man had a lot of fun making a new friend.

The next day we made an inpromptu trip to the Getty Museum in between some of our performances. Little Man took a ride in the baby bjorn and had so much fun looking at all the bright colors of the paintings. He was so interested in the Italian paintings most likely for all of the bright colors but Mommy's favorite was "Noah's Ark" by Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The next day Auntie Nicky and Cousin Trey came to hang out with us in between performances. We all made a trip to a hamburger place in Santa Monica called "The Counter" for GQ's #15 burger on the "20 Hamburgers You Must Have Before You Die" list. Little Man had a lot of fun hanging out with his cousin and we had lots of opportunities to get some good pictures of the boys as they hung out together.

Since gas prices are outrageous (even more so in California) we crammed both boys into the car (and Nana and Aunt Nicky in the backseat) and they had a wonderful time riding along together. Trey seemed mesmerized by Little Man and at one point reached out and held his hand as he slept in his carseat.

That night we all met up with Uncle Troy and Grandpa Block at El Torrito for dinner. We got to take lots of pictures of the Block boys (minus Trid) then the girls took the opportunity to eat dinner uninterrupted while the daddies took care of the babies.

Daddy left for the airport the next morning so he could take a fire test but Mommy and Little Man stayed later and spent the night with Aunt Nicky and Uncle Troy. We had lots of fun hanging out with Cousin Trey and took the opportunity to take lots of great photos. Mommy and Aunt Nicky had a good ol' fashion slumber party complete with a marathon viewing of the first season of Grey's Anatomy.

The next morning we all got up and had breakfast at Roman's before heading out to the airport for the trip home. It was such a fun weekend and now that we know Little Man travels well we will have to start taking more trips!

Movin' On Up

Little Man has decided that he is a big boy now. It began this weekend on our trip to California; midway through the flight he decided he didn't want to lay in Mommy's arms anymore and would arch his back and try to sit forward. After the third or fourth time Mommy finally caught on and set him up in her lap. Sunday Little Man threw a fit when Nana tried to snuggle him like a baby because he wanted to sit up in her lap. Since he still doesn't quite have the trunk control to sit like he thinks he wants to, we brought out the bumbo chair and he is hooked! We thought after about 10 minutes that he might be getting tired of the work it takes to keep that rather large noggin sitting up straight but when we tried to take him out he cried. Guess Little Man is movin' on up!

On Solid Ground

For the past few days my Little Man has become insatiable. No amount of nursing or supplementing with bottle seems to fill that little tummy. Last night I realized that he has been eating every two hours instead of the normal 3-4 and we decided to give the doctor a call...the answer? Time to start solids! Ever the skeptic, I began researching when was the best time to introduce solids and if the "magical age" was different for preemies, etc. It turns out that each baby is different and will "tell" you when it is time to start eating big boy food. Little Man was more than ready to get started and once he got one taste of that malt-o-meal like rice cereal he was hooked. By the second spoonful he was opening his mouth like a little bird in anticipation. Apparently rice cereal is also very funny because he laughed over and over again in between bites. And yes, my little man is licking his bib, guess that cereal is yummy!

One Tooth At A Time

It seems that our Little Man is teething. We thought at first that the low grade fever was left over from the "kiddie crud" that had hit our family but now that doctor says he is over the crud, the fever remains. At first I couldn't believe he could really be teething because even though he is "technically" 4 months old (when I first cut a tooth), he should really only be 2 1/2 months old. Now I can't deny the appearance of the little bud on his upper gum, the excess drool, loose stools (sorry guys) or the constant knawing on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g!