About last night's bar episode...

And I do hope that the fact that he appeared to
be the rowdiest bar patron, ripping lamps off
walls & throwing things around makes it into
Connor's blog. Perhaps that trait came from ME!

Krisi

You are my sunshine,

my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey.

Connor, you are a magical little guy. Daddy took this photo of us one night while we were eating dinner on the deck.

Tonight, we met Krisi and Kim for dinner and a drink at Chevy's. At one point, Ed was holding Connor and thought he would show him the light that looked very cool hanging on the wall. Turns out, it wasn't attached. Mommy intervened before there was anything broken. Ed's comment "I knew he would like it!".

Elaine

Go Royals!

Connor has been sporting his new Royals outfit lately. It hasn't brought them any luck, but it's one more outfit that shows how adorable he is.

Connor is getting so active lately, we've had to turn to finding new containment devices for him. Imagine what we'll resort to when he moves! (Actually, he's trapped beneath the clothes basket because he finds it terribly funny to see people with an obstructed view.)


Elaine

Does he look sick to you?

Two Sundays ago, Connor had a fever, accompanied by some obvious pain and lots of drool. Like the amateurs we are, we diagnosed this as a tooth coming in. The fever went away instantly with some baby dope. The same thing happened on Monday. The sequence did not repeat itself after that, but his nose started running and now he seemed like he had a cold. Finally, last Thursday, I decided his cough was getting icky enough that it was time to call in the professionals - and voila - turns out he has an ear infection. I will point out though, that the doctor said it wasn't very bad, that I probably caught it quite early, and that it was the appropriate time to come in. All this is to say, Connor, if you actually acted sick and were grumpy, you'd probably get better care around here.

In the midst of all of this, Connor is really acting like he wants to learn to crawl - although if he could skip this and go straight to walking, that would suit him just fine as well.



He is also an absolute champion at pulling himself from sitting to standing, using the clothes basket. (Please don't ask why he was in the clothes basket in the first place - let's just say Ed was involved.)

And...tonight, my little sweetheart rolled over - TWICE - from back to front. Most importantly, he didn't look scared when it happened - he looked sort of proud.

Elaine

Lullabye's by Ed

Sometimes it's great to not know the words...

Hush little baby, don't say a word,
Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring won't shine,
Papa's going to buy you a bottle of wine.

And if that bottle of wine gets drunk,
Papa's going to buy you a smelly skunk.

And if that smelly skunk won't stink,
Papa's going to buy you a kitchen sink...

What do little boys do?

My sister has a theory about girls and boys. Actually, my sister has many theories about all sorts of subjects - but I'll share just this one tonight. She once told me that when boys see something, they start beating on it until it breaks. When girls see something, they hold it in their hands and pretend to be staring at it intently, and then they come to you with a look of surprise on their face and tell you the object is broken. This theory is definitely true with Connor.

Here he is in the bouncy chair. Per usual, he was fairly unimpressed, until he learned he had the strength to pull the toy apart. Now that was exciting!



And, I've been playing more with him in his room each day, on the theory that he will learn to like his room and stay there the whole night at some point. Well...there are two trucks that are stackable blocks that he loves taking apart. I then put them back together, so he can them apart again. Each piece makes an excellent object to bang on the floor.




A fun day in the life of Connor.

Elaine

Happy Easter!

Yesterday, Connor celebrated his first Easter. I'm sorry to say there were no egg hunts involved, but next year I have high hopes of getting tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll. If all goes well, Connor will be an ace thrower by then and able to throw any eggs he gets at the man who sits in the oval office. That should make for an exciting Easter. After all, would the Secret Service really tackle a 20 month old child?

We had a nice Spring day here, which meant lots of outdoor time. Connor was getting over his cold, and I was in the midst of quite a doozy of a cold / allergies / something! I can now breathe out of one side of my nose, which is a significant improvement over yesterday. I'm drinking lots of fluids, taking large doses of Vitamin C and wondering when, if ever, does the mommy get to be sick and just lie in bed?

Ed missed one very important milestone in his monthly report, and that is that Connor now reaches up for someone when he wants to be held. It's really quite endearing. He'll also sort of push off whomever is holding him when I come into the room and reach for me, which is also quite endearing.


Connor is in first place in the family fantasy baseball league. Fairly impressive for someone who doesn't watch television. I guess he reads the sports page of the paper when I'm at work.

Elaine

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

Dear Connor,

Surprise! Dad is guest blogging this month. Sleep deprivation has robbed your mom of the ability to write (or think) in complete sentences.

No major milestones to report this past month. We were sure you were about to pop a tooth the other day -- you were grumpy as could be, and drooling like a waterfall. But still no sign of it. I feel like you're on the verge of a breakthrough with this crawling thing. You can go from sitting to crawling position, but haven't quite figured out how to propel yourself forward. Then, once that big head gets extended a little too far down you go. But, quite frankly, this house is probably a deathtrap, so it might be best for everyone if you wait a bit. Your walking is getting quite good -- you can (with assistance) go the whole length of the hallway.

And you can stand for short periods of time on your own. For the record, mom is the one living dangerously, letting you stand while she snapped the picture.




You're developing your own little whacked out sense of humor -- I can never tell what will get a big adorable cackling laugh out of you. Today, when I brought you to see the neighbor's dog, you laughed and laughed like it was the funniest thing you've ever seen (and you've seen the dog several times before). The other day, when I put your teething toy in my mouth (to show you how it worked), you thought that was even funnier than the dog. Or the other day, when I was crawling around (once again, to show you how it worked), I thought you were going to get stomach cramps you were laughing so hard.

You've become quite a character at the dinner table. Basically, you reject any food that is intended for you. But you can't get enough of the exact same food as long as you think that you've captured it from someone's plate. For instance, peas. When I puree up some peas for you, you act as if they're poison. But you're perfectly happy to eat peas from the exact same bag off of mom's plate. I have to confess we've tricked you by planting food on mom's plate that we want you to eat. I have a bad feeling that this presages a stubborn independent streak (can't imagine where that comes from).

You've started to get out on the town a little now that the weather is nice. You went to baby night at the local movie theater a couple weeks ago. Boy, those lights and fans on the ceiling are cool. And baby happy-hour the week before.

You've learned to sit on my shoulders to get from place to place. Good thing, because you're getting pretty heavy to carry around. I'll still have to steady you, because you don't have the common sense not to jump. You've only spit up in my hair once so far; thanks.

Yesterday you went to opening day. The Nationals had a pretty poor showing, but it was a beautiful day. You made a few friends with the people behind us, they were quite impressed with the volume of food you consumed. Only a couple years til you can have hot dogs with me.



And tonight, bless you're little heart, you made it appear that I'm actually the superior parent in at least one respect. Let's just say I think I'll continue to be in charge of bath time.

Sadly, I think you caught your first cold this month. Your nose has been running like a faucet the past couple days. Boy, do you hate getting your nose wiped. It wouldn't be so bad, except you can't breath while you eat when your nose is all stopped up. You've taken full advantage of the situation to undo weeks of hard work with the sleep training.

Love,
Ed

He eats bananas with the big boys!

On Saturday morning, Ed and Connor get up together while I sleep in (YAY!). Last week, Ed tried to eat a banana, but Connor decided to slobber all over it and claim it for himself. Reportedly, he ate about two-thirds of the banana, chomping away.

Tonight, I got to see this feat in action. For dinner, Connor enjoyed most of a banana. When he stopped eating it in Ed's lap, he was able to get many pieces of it into his mouth (the advantage of being a rather sticky food). He finished his meal off with a little avocado, a tiny bit of rice, and part of a tortilla chip. Yes, the nutrition police might make an arrest in this house any day.

This weekend we're going to say good-bye to friends we met while working at the IRS many years ago. Connor and I are going to a mom's group where one of the moms is going to lead a Music and Me class. Apparently it involves a parachute which I'm sure Connor will find delightful. Hopefully I'll have photos to share.

It's a good thing Connor lights up whenever I come near him, because last night was not a good night for sleeping. It's hard to stay even a teeny bit annoyed though when he flashes that signature, toothless grin.

Elaine

Do you remember...

when you were so little, that this bath sponge looked huge?

I do. I remember when you were so little that when Daddy held you in his forearm, you actually fit, without your head hanging over his hand and your legs kicking ferociously behind. I remember you neck muscles, like those of all babies, couldn't bear to hold the weight of your head, and Daddy had to hold it in his hand to stabilize.

Do you remember when you just laid there taking in the world as someone held you in their arms? I do. And now just look at you, Connor, you're sitting up in the bathtub making Daddy completely nervous every night that you'll slip and drown.

And though you might still prefer to have someone in the room with you rather than being left alone for even a few minutes, you don't necessarily pay much attention to that person. You've got toys to discover and manipulate. You're also trying desperately to figure out how to move to get stuff. So far, your best move is a freefall face plant that you can then roll - only from front to back - in hope of acquiring whatever it is that caught your fancy.

I almost cried today when I looked up at my calendar that has photos from your first four months of life and I saw you curled up in the Boppy (the post was titled Thank You NFL). It was a Sunday and you were napping oh so comfortably. These days, you don't even need the Boppy sitting behind to catch you if you fall you're so good at sitting.

And...you are Mr. Adventure. Your favorite activities are...

hanging upside down


and being tossed in the air.

The Next Apprentice

As you probably know, one of Ed's big hobbies is brewing beer. This afternoon, Connor was hanging out in the kitchen next to the latest batch and I can tell already he'll be an excellent apprentice for Ed.

First, Connor waved his hands around the beer encouraging it to ferment at just the right pace.

Next, Connor realized he was being watched and pretended to be innocent.

Finally, Connor worshipped his product like any good master brewer.


When Ed got home, he remarked about how good the beer looked, even though he had no idea Connor had been helping him earlier in the day. I have a feeling I need to worry about this in the future.

Elaine