Friday, May 30, 2008

Need a stunt man?

Andrew's latest favorite pastime has been climbing DOWN the stairs, much to our chagrin. He does it anytime he gets a chance, and BTW, the reward in this video is a Teletubbies clip (another HUGE favorite of his these days).
And while I'm writing, here's a Gymboree update for you: I sent my thoughts along to tellgymbo.com and the McAllen owner called me today with her regrets and promises of, yes, a beach ball et al as soon as I can come and pick them up. Kudos to Gymboree for making things right. Just another case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease, I suppose.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Things I'll Miss About South Texas, Part III

Breakfast Tacos

Obviously, it's a slow blog day, but a good opportunity to pay homage to a South Texas delicacy. It's no rarity down here to walk into your local convenience store and see a line of people almost out the door, awaiting homemade breakfast tacos made by the sweet Mexican ladies behind the counter. There are numerous possible components for the $.99 made-to-order tacos (on homemade tortillas, mind you). My personal favorite is ham and egg with cilantro-dense pico de gallo. Jon's favorite is a Q taco (its contents are still a mystery to me) with beans, bacon and chorizo. I tried to get a good photo of the taco distribution, but ended up sneaking around and popping up from behind the coffee counter to get this last photo because, hey, weird questions arise when a woman wants pictures of the breakfast taco ladies.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Caught in the Act

We temporarily interrupt this regularly scheduled trend of good hygiene to bring you
The Love Affair of Andrew & Dora




Told you there was French kissing.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

A Potpourri of Updates

(1) No house offers yet, but the showings are picking up. We hope to get an offer soon because cleaning, staging, dog/baby loading in 100 degree heat by myself is getting really, really old. We have lowered the price (again) and thrown in a couple of other incentives. 3 families have been here for a second showing (a good sign), but no bites. We will most definitely be here in TX for Munchy's 1st birthday (in TWO WEEKS - can't believe it) and Jon HAS to be in SC by July 15, so the tentative plan is for me to stay here with all the living beings until the house sells or I lose my mind, whichever comes first.
(2) Andrew is officially bathing in the big tub (he outgrew his inflatable ducky). He still adores bathtime and actually says "bath" (and "mama").

(3) We have a great stander now. So, we are scared out of our wits excited that walking must be just around the corner.
(4) Finally, God bless these poor dogs.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Magellan in our Midst (or maybe a food critic)

As is the case with most 11-monthers, Andrew is in a state of perpetual cruising, getting himself into every possible source of mischief. He's suddenly fallen in love with the dog crates, toilet paper, and door handles. Who knows what he'll discover when actual walking happens. The weirdest thing (to us... it's probably normal) is his sudden desire to taste everything. We're not talking a teething-chew, but full, tongue-out tasting. This includes, but is certainly not limited to: his toys, bath water, socks Daddy is wearing at the moment, and the dogs. Yep. There has indeed been some baby/canine French-kissing of late.





Here are the latest pics of our little explorer, and I did finally get off my bum to update the Shutterfly site. Bloggers won't see many new photos there, but the 10- and 11-month albums are at least up. The password is the same as it's ever been: the 5-letter word for Jon's gig.


Friday, May 16, 2008

Getting to Know You in ONE WORD

We've entered a technological age where we send sentiments to friends, not through letter-writing or even personal emails, but via mass-mailing games like this one. It's still fun, though!

You can only type ONE word - not as easy as you might think. If you want to play, copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on.
1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your significant other? Jon
3. Your hair? brown
4. Your mother? kind
5. Your father? missed
6. Your Favorite thing? Andrew
7. Your dream last night? tense
8 Your Favorite drink? beer
9 Your dream/goal? happiness
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your ex? unimportant
12. Your fear? danger
13 Where do you want to be in 6 years? lake
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? unfortunate
16. Muffins? okay
17. One of your wish list items? home
18. Where you grew up? Harrisville
19. The last thing you did? dishes
20. What are you wearing? comfy
21. Your TV? off
22. Your pets? asleep
23. Your computer? dinosaur
24. Your life? limbo
25. Your mood? content
26. Missing someone? family
27. Your car? dirty
28. Something you're not wearing? shoes
29. Favorite Store? Target
30.Your summer? MOVING!!!
31. Like someone? Jon!
32. Your Favorite Color? green
33. When is the last time you laughed? minutes
34. Last time you cried? days
35. Who will/would re-post this? Lisa

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Reminiscing About High School



While contributing to a friend's son's 2008 high school graduation scrapbook, I unearthed these pics of Jon and me in high school (in the 90s, mind you) and thought the big hair was too priceless not to share. I particularly enjoy the hairspray-plastered sides. Anyone else have big hair afflictions they'd like to share?

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Fun in a Real Pool

Andrew experienced his first real swimming pool today at a friend's home. Fun was had by all. He was so comfortable, in fact, that he took an hour-long siesta while drifting around in his "Munchy Boat."







Friday, May 9, 2008

My Review of Li'l Squirt Baby Pool

Originally submitted at One Step Ahead

Babies love cooling off in our gentle splash pool, with extra-soft sprayers to play in and explore. Now 40% larger, for even more fun. There's even a pat mat area with floating 3D fish! Vinyl mat features entertaining undersea graphics (tickle a turtle; cover the whale's blow hole!). Attaches to yo...


Great the First Time

By MK from Edinburg, TX on 5/9/2008

 

2out of 5

Pros: Easy to clean, Great Features, Easy to Construct, Lots of Fun, Entertaining, Portable

Cons: Not durable

Best Uses: Toddlers, Newborn, Infants

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

Used it once and our 11-month-old adored it. The second time, it filled deeper than usual and I quickly noticed it was due to one of the middle seams ripping open. Our son was not rough at all and the total use of the thing was probably one cumulative hour before it broke. I was originally thrilled with its price but am reminded that you get what you pay for!

(legalese)

Thursday, May 8, 2008

It was bound to happen...

...the posts have slowed down, as predicted by me. Andrew turned 11 months today and I have not even updated the 10 month Shutterfly pics. Don't even ask me when I last wrote in his baby book. I'll let ya know when (and if) I get on the ball again, because I know folks are pining away for more photos of smeared food and play yard hijinx.
P.S. He is sleeping great again. He gave us one bad week and we thought our lives were over. We are now including cereal with his last milky-snack of the night (YES, I am at a point in my life where I use the term milky-snack) and that seemed to do the trick. He has sprouted a fourth tooth on the bottom (8 total - are you excited yet?) so that could also be the sleep-deprivation culprit.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Do We Have a Mama's Boy?




A neighbor stopped by yesterday with her 15-month-old girl. Andrew is 11 months. We initially thought it might be fun for the two of them to play together for a few minutes until Andrew kept getting knocked around and stepped on, which led, naturally, to a couple bouts of hysterical crying. He does pretty well with the kiddos at Gymboree, so I was puzzled by this behavior. In his defense, though, he was due for a nap at the time so we might be able to chalk it up to tiredness. Regardless of the details, however, the fact remains: The Munch got pushed around by a girl. And I thought that would only happen in junior high.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

To Cuddle or Not to Cuddle? Sleep Issues!

Andrew has been mostly a textbook sleeper since he was two months. He has grown teeth without a whimper and endured loud parents/dogs rumbling past his room with not even a sniff. Jon and I have enjoyed seemingly endless nights of 8+ hours of sleep. In my head, I was pretty smug about this. Now, however, I believe in karma more than ever. For the past couple of weeks, we can count on our almost-11-month-old to awaken at least once during the night and have a really difficult time getting it together again.

Honestly, I have to save this now and write again in a minute.... he's crying again....

Well, now I'm back. Anyway, we have read and applied the advice about bedtime routines, putting him to bed drowsy but not asleep, crying it out (NOT into that - tried it once and will never again), patting the back, cuddling, yadda yadda.

The more advice I read, the more I realize all parents are a little befuddled and indeed no one truly holds the baby sleep secret. Some babies are easy, and some are a step or two away from a leading role in the latest Stephen King flick just a little challenging. I try, especially during the frustrating nights, to remember that he is only going to be little for a little while longer, and someday I'll miss these 2 AM cuddle sessions.

Still, I ask you, wise, seasoned moms.....

Any tried-and-true comforting or proactive sleeping techniques you'd like to divulge?