Naked! And Standing!

Visit to the park

Visit to the library

New food: Guava; New Milestone

Paul had gerber Guava for dessert and loved it - the smell reminded Mommy of the Guava candy she had in Mexico so long ago. . .

Oh, and Paul pulled himself up in his crib! Luckily, Mommy was there to witness, call for the camera, and document the event. . . immediately after which Mommy had Daddy lower the crib bed to the lowest possible setting.


My, you really get the view from up here!

What's a baby gotta do to get a drink around here?

Yo, bar-mommy! Bottle me!

Oopsie!

I WILL EAT YOUR FACE!

Video Special Report: Why mobiles have an upper age limit.

YouTubing. . .

UmTenth Semi-Annual Slaw!

Our friends Jason & Christine had a mini Tonics BBQ in New Hampshire right on the Merrimack River. Paul and I (Shawn) made the trip up.

The whole crew on the deck

Larissa and Ren pose with Paul and me.

Nina and Paul

We open Larissa's awesome Baby Slaw shirt!

More Celebration!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Steve!!

Happy Anniversary, Grandma Shelly and Grandpa Steve!!

10th Lunaversary!!!

It's amazing to see how much Paul has grown and changed in his 10 months of living outside the womb!

He can:

• Roll over, sit up, do push-ups, weeble and wobble all around.


• Pick up small pieces of food and maneuver them into his mouth. He can also take big pieces of food and try to cram them into his mouth - I think that's a "gross" motor skill. . .


• Eat people food - well, food that can be sufficiently masticated by a person with no teeth, and has strong preferences (he likes bold, savory flavors).
• Hold his own bottle and drink from a sippy cup


• Take out and put in his own pacifier. Most of the time.


• Recognize his Mommy and his Daddy - and is thrilled to see us.


• Smile, laugh, chortle, and he exhibits signs of developing a very weird sense of humor.


• Bang things - hands on tables, toys together, feet on Mommy's lap, plastic rings on couch.


• Speak several phoneme groups - mamama, dadada, bababa, hey, duh, hee, etc - as well as make tongue clicking, guttural growling, and motorboat noises (as opposed to raspberries - no tongue w/the motor boat).

I know there's stuff I'm missing - he keeps changing so fast, it's hard to keep up. . .wait, he just published his first novel. . .oh, wait, he's actually CHEWING on a novel. . .never mind. . .

General update

Since Daddy is away on travel until tomorrow, Mommy was on day-care driving duty today. It was nice to see Paul get very excited when he recognized me, and it's especially nice since he's started reaching out his arms to be picked up (began a day or two ago).

He was cheerfully chattering at me and examining his pacifier on the way home, until he flung the paci out of range (I still can't find it), which ticked him off. He began complaining and fussing, and even me dropping a different, lint-covered pacifier from the bottom of his day-care bag onto his head didn't seem to appease him.

Then less than 5 minutes from home, I hear ominous quiet, and look in the baby mirror to see. . .



He's got his mommy's sense of timing, all right. . .

Other new things:
He slaps at the food on his tray with the flat of his palm, as if to smash it flat. This actually causes bits of food (like cheese and Cheerios) to get flung off the tray and all about the room. I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish, exactly, but he seems to enjoy it.

He has also begun to rock his upper torso and head against the back of the highchair - actually, slamming his head against the padded back - which alarms mommy, but which daddy shrugs off as "he's enjoying the movement." Paul does not seem the worse for wear, and daddy is the cognitive psychologist, so. . .

Paul has also learned that he does not like to hear the word "no" (for example, when he tries to pull down the shower curtains while taking his bath), and will scream like he's been stuck with a large, hot, pointy stick - and diverting his attention is becoming increasingly difficult as object permanence collides with stubborn will.

But then he giggles like a fool when I make a silly face, so all is forgiven. . .

Sooo close to crawling. . .

This is a gleeful Paul just after I caught him pulling wipes out of the box, one by one. . . Ah, Cheerios. . .the food that eats like a toy. . .
Please - no more pictures!

We love you, daddy!

Where's the basement?

We made a day trip to San Antonio on Suday. Saw the Alamo, the Riverwalk, had dinner at Rosario's and dessert at Madhatters! Wonderful.

Wedding in Texas

This weekend we packed up our shtuff, left our friends to enjoy our house, and took a plane to Austin, Texas for the wedding of one of my oldest and dearest friends. It was a beautiful wedding for two people who really should be married to each other. Despite Paul's constant low-grade fever, we had a great time! (He's feeling much better now, thank you very much!)

Beren, Shawn, Paul, and the groom. Seriously, is there anything cuter than a baby in a tux attacking his mother's pretty earring?



Sharing a laugh with Jeni.



Jeff dissects the Zombie head

Jeff & Erica's Wedding

Apparently I didn't get any photos of the bride and groom together. I was in the wedding party, and Beren was with Paul. You'll just have to imagine how wonderful they looked. Anyway, there are more photos if you click the link to Picassaweb above. Time to get on a plane again!

Yippee! Friends are visiting!

Mommy and Daddy's friends from grad school (Go Buckeyes!) came to town for a visit - bringing their adorable daughter, Ms. N! Ms. N and Paul got along swimmingly (not quite Michael Phelps swimming, but definitely Mark Spitz level).

I will love him, and hug him, and call him Paul. . .


All bow down before Zod!!!

Paul works on his floor routine. . .

One more video!!

Stuck in my onesie with you. . .

Um, can I get some help, please?

Fun with H2O

Paul has become increasingly squirmy and restless as he approaches his tenth (!!) month. . . since his bath toys no longer interest him, Daddy figured that actual water just might be the next big fun. . . and Daddy was totally right. . .