Attack of the BabyMonster!

While I've been beating myself up about not posting as much to this blog lately, I've come to realize one fundamental truth about babies. They take all of your time. Changing a light bulb has gone from a 1 minute task to a one-hour afternoon adventure. Yes, we have a toddler. As a friend with older children recently explained to me, we are in the midst of the "hands-on" phase of baby-raising. We've moved fully out of the "baby-on-the-blanket" phase where only has to clear a 3-foot radius around the baby to be safe. We haven't even thought of the day when Evan will be able to play independently for longer than 5 minutes in a non-baby safe room. You see, we're right in the middle of the "I can crawl faster than you think" and "I'll put it in my mouth, thank you very much" phases.

Evan has started walking over the past few weeks, and can now confidently make it across the room without falling. He only took one major spill into the coffee table, which has led to me not wanting to take him out in public b/c of the big bruise on his cheek. Thank goodness he learns fast. Currently, Evan's favorite activities include walking while carrying something (he thinks it is hilarious), opening and closing any drawers, doors, or cabinets he can find, and pushing his high chair around the room.

NewDad continues to learn and is constantly amazed by this principle: The cheapest toy is quite often the best toy. For example, Evan was having a major crankfest this evening that was brought on by waking up at 4:30 AM with "digestive issues" and was further provoked through the day by a canine tooth coming in. Around 5:30, he'd absolutely had it with everything. Just when NewMom and I were considering running for the hills, I handed Evan a magazine renewal card that was on the table. You'd think that was the best toy ever, because it completely cleared up the storm that had been brewing all afternoon.

In other news, the Yahoo photo site I had been using before has closed its doors, so for now I've set up at Google's photo site. You can get there at http://picasaweb.google.com/ariail24. There's not much there now but a few pictures from Evan's 1st birthday and a few recent shots, but it's there.

NewBaby Sells House, Buys House, and Gets Dad a NewJob

Well, not really...

The NewFamily has been busy lately in the move from one small south Georgia town to mid/large-size south Georgia city. I have been busy packing up the old house and moving everything to the new house (with help from an outstanding moving crew...thanks, guys!). Christie has been busy unpacking all of the boxes that I have been bringing over. You see, she was bold enough to stay in the new house immediately after closing on it, bringing only a pack-and-play, an Aero bed, and a high chair for Evan to sit in while eating his meals. Christie sat on the floor. After two weeks on the Aero bed, she was very happy when I showed up with the real bed.

The new house is about half unpacked. The rest is waiting for the painting crew to finish. Some members of the painting crew aren't painting at the moment, b/c I can't type and paint at the same time. Christie has been living the dream of picking colors for each room, and so far, she's doing great. I just put paint on the wall. NewGrandma Julia helped paint the dining room last week, and today helped on the living room. NewGrandDad Julius watched Evan during this time so that the rest of us could paint. During one of these times, he also managed to shoot this video of Evan...and I hope it works. This is my first venture into YouTube, so we'll see how it goes.



Evan's new amusement is pulling all of his books out of a box and "reading" each one of them. With that, he's pretty self-amused for about 10-15 minutes...which is awesome. Of course, we don't get anything done during that time b/c we're just sitting around wiping up our own drool...it's hard to stop, b/c he's so cute! But seriously, he's starting to figure out that there is something out there besides sitting on the floor. He wants to crawl, but he doesn't quite know how to go about starting that process. Ventures into this domain have ended unsuccessfully in face-plants, which are immediately followed by the dreaded breathless red-faced crying. Thankfully, that is short-lived and pretty soon he's back to playing.

Editor's Note: Christie reports that this is not my best blog post of all time...and I respond that gosh darn it, I quit my job, got a new job, bought one house and sold the other, AND packed and moved almost everything we own...what else does she expect?*

*Yes, I know...she had the baby.

Cuteness Phase II Commencing Countdown, Engines On...*

Well, I didn't think that it would actually happen, but it has. I've let this blog fall prey to the "Yeah, I'll update that page sometime soon" laziness. After editing a bunch of recent photos of Evan, I realize that you must be going out of your mind waiting for a new batch of cuteness to look at. You can see this picture and a few others at my photo website. Cuteness booster shots might be a good idea before viewing them, though.

The past few months have brought many changes. In no particular order, they include:

1. Solid food. NewMom has been diving right into this hippie-style, making most of Evan's food from scratch. So far, we've explored the culinary world of the sweet potato, acorn squash, and carrots. Ok, the carrots came out of a jar. The hands-down favorite so far, though, is rice cereal. Usually, this part of the meal results in food on Evan's face, hands, and all over his chair.
   
2. Daily baths. See #1.
3. Evan sleeps through the night for 8+ hours. We're pretty sure this has something to do with #1.
   
4. NewMom's improved sleep pattern. We're sure this has something to do with #3.
5. Sitting with some assistance. Dang, ain't that boy cute?
6. Reaching for toys, dropping them, and then reaching for them again. I could watch that for hours.
   
7. Teething. We check daily for the first one.

All in all, Evan is doing great at the 6.25 month point. Both NewMom and I are not quite sure where the first five or six months went. We have pictures to document the experience, so I guess it must have actually happened. It definitely is a blur, though.

*My apologies to David Bowie and Major Tom.

NewBaby Goes to the Movies, Both Parents Give Him Two Thumbs Up!

NewMom and I achieved a major milestone of parenthood yesterday. We took Evan out to the movies! Ever since we moved here, Christie and I have enjoyed going to a small movie theater in Jesup. The tickets are reasonable, the popcorn is outstanding, and the theater offers two major benefits:

1. The seats have built-in carseat holders.
2. If someone is talking near you, you can just roll up your window.

That's right, it's a drive-in. And you thought those had all closed! The owners of this place are dedicated to the drive-in experience. It's really only good in the fall-winter months, as summer nights can be a bit hot here. Anyway, NewBaby fell asleep on the ride there and snoozed right through the movie AND the entire 30-minute ride back home. And, as a closing act, he woke up when we got home, ate, and went back to sleep for the rest of the night.

NewMom is happy to report that she is now regularly getting 6+ uninterrupted hours of sleep on a regular basis, and this makes me happy as well. NewMom is becoming an expert at reading NewBaby's signals. She can see the early warning signs of a nuclear meltdown and launch a full-scale nap-attack and avert certain disaster. So far, she's only had one baby-meltdown while shopping. We're sure that more will come.

NewBaby has developed several new skills, some of which are on display at my photo site in the 2006-Oct/Nov folder:

• sticking his tongue out when you stick yours out
• drooling (I'm so proud!)
• lifting his head when he's on his tummy
• grasping toys and moving them around
• showcasing his ChubMaster3000 cheeks

The cheeks are quite a show...at least we have no doubt that he's getting enough to eat! We're not quite as techno-capable as our friends over at Schmoopiebeta.com, nor do we have a video camera...but if we were, we'd post a video to illustrate NewBaby's new vocal abilities. He is starting to make lots of baby sounds now. This is a good thing, because I was worried he was too quiet and would one day just start talking with fully-formed sentences. We're well into the coos, goo-goos, and happy laughs. Who needs sentences, anyway?