Quite a Decade

I knew that the end of the year was approaching, but I did not think much about the decade ending until recently. I am not sure if any other decade of my life will include as many changes as the Aughts. I graduated from college, went to grad school for a master's degree, moved over 1200 miles away to San Antonio, married John, bought a house, and HAD A BABY. It was a busy decade!

Happy New Year!

Yellow Wall

When we bought our house, all of the walls were painted white or had been wallpapered. All of the paint was in good shape and had only been done a couple of years before the house went on the market. Despite all of the HGTV I have watched over the years, I was not motivated to start changing this until it was time to make one of the rooms into a nursery for Alex. Initially, I wanted to paint the nursery yellow, but John preferred blue. We went with blue.

I must still want yellow in my house, since that is the color I chose for our entryway after my mom and I took down the 1970's wallpaper. John painted the entryway yesterday and it is quite yellow.

Curious

Alex manages to pull himself up onto his knees to look into one of the drawers that he can now open. He can also now open some cabinets. I see some rearranging and baby-proofing in our future...

Lots of Teething

Alex has 4 teeth coming in on the top. This has led our sweet baby to chew on all kinds of odd things:

1. My big toe
Alex was having a bottle early one morning, and I dosed off a little on his floor while he ate. I woke up to him chewing on my toe.

2. The Fisher Price Shape Shorter
Alex actually chewed off some of the plastic on the edge of one of the shapes. This toy has been put away indefinitely.

3. The rocking chair
Alex, you may not chew on the rocking chair that Nana and Pa gave my parents when I was a baby.

4. Shoe laces
My dad's are his favorite, but no shoes are safe!

He has not chewed on Paddy's tail yet, but he has that look in his eyes when he grabs her tail...

He is chewing on so many things and can do the pincher grasp, so he seemed ready to feed himself some cheerio-like puffed cereal. (These will dissolve in your mouth though.) He was not interested in this at all yesterday. He did not want to chew it and luckily it dissolved in his mouth.

Park

We took Alex to the park for the first time yesterday since it was a nice day around here. We have taken Alex for countless walks in our neighborhood, but we had not taken him to a park yet. Paddy came along since she likes car rides, but we left Frida at home.

It turns out that Alex is now big enough for the baby swings. At first he was unsure about it, but then he liked the swing and watching the older kids play. You can see a picture on John's blog. (I have some pictures on my new phone, but I have to figure out how to get them off the phone...)

Paddy made friends at the park. One little boy wanted to let Paddy off of her leash to run. I was able to get ahold of her collar before he got ahold of the clasp for her leash.

Christmas Toys

This is a longer video of Alex playing with his Christmas toys. I take these videos with my camera and don't have much practice. At the end of this one, Frida is chewing on the Christmas tree for some reason. It gets a little chaotic around here sometimes, but it is a good kind of chaos.

Presents!

We waited until Christmas morning to place the presents under the Christmas tree. Alex had fun with them, and he especially liked the ribbons, bows, and tissue paper.

Alex Playing

Here is a video of Alex playing on 12/18/09.

Christmas Menu

Today we enjoyed:
Ham
Tamales
Green Bean Casserole
Scalloped Corn &
Crescent Rolls

We have some ice cream for dessert. I think we got our fill of pie at Thanksgiving when John bought two large pies from Costco.

Christmas Photos part 4

Our kitchen was overtaken with Christmas today. Alex played with his new toys and watched Ken Burns Baseball with his grandpa.

Christmas Photos part 3

Alex enjoyed opening presents.

Christmas Photos part 2

Paddy snoozed while we opened presents. We waited until this morning to place any presents under the tree since Alex was immediately interested in them. My parents had a Santa hat that fits Alex, and he did not mind wearing it.

Christmas Photos part 1

Alex was very interested in the ribbons and bows!

All Alex wants for Christmas...

are his two front teeth. They are coming in nicely. Two more teeth are poking through on the top now. Alex will have six teeth soon!

When Alex goes to bed

the dogs take over!

Friends

Christmas Crafts

I made the two cards at Stamp Club and the NOEL letters for my brother. The NOEL letters became one of our favorite family Christmas traditions. I will also make a set for us once I get some more supplies. I wish that I had more time to make Christmas gifts and crafts. I should just start earlier next year...

Toys?

I am not sure what to give Alex for Christmas. Currently, his favorite "toys" include the dog bowls and shoes. Also, he is not as interested in the Christmas tree as I expected.

9 Month Photos with Shrek

It is hard to get Alex to sit still now that he is sitting and crawling!
Photos taken 12/13/09

Oh Christmas Tree

Our tree is up and decorated. It is actually my parents' tree, and John had to do tree surgery to get all of the lights working. We considered putting a baby gate up, but Alex is being good with the tree. He touches the lower branches, but that is all so far. We decided to use (mostly) non breakable ornaments and leave the bottom free of ornaments.

John also put up icicle lights outside, which I really enjoy.

More Baby Houdini

I laid Alex on his stomach to play and walked out of the room. When I returned he was sitting up! I missed it...

Updated: Alex was crawling around his room this morning (12/14), and I saw him push himself into a sitting position on his own. He is also starting to respond to his name and has developed oject permanence.

Christmas Preparation

Alex is excited about Christmas, but the dogs are not. John had to do some tree surgery to get all of the lights working. Next, we need to decorate the tree.

9 Month Check-Up

Alex had his 9 month check up today. He is 29 and 3/4 inches and weighs 20 pounds and 14 ounces. He is growing fast! The pediatrician did find that he has an ear infection, but it does not seem to be bothering him. He is on antibiotics now and stayed home from daycare today.

Beagle-proofing

Paddy and Frida passed their test of being left alone in the house for an entire work day. When I came home I discovered that Paddy had been able to open a lower kitchen cabinet. She got out a couple of items, but nothing that she could damage. Luckily, baby-proofing is also Beagle-proofing, so we should work on the kitchen cabinets soon.

More Teeth!

I discovered two top teeth coming in this afternoon as I was putting on Alex's coat. (Yes, it is actually coat weather in San Antonio!) You can see the white poking through his gums. I did not know that I would get so excited about my baby's teeth!

Making herself at Home

My parents' dog, Paddy, was not adjusting well to life in an apartment since their move to Texas. Did you know that Beagles can get separation anxiety? Paddy is a little neurotic but a great dog. After many visits, Paddy just stayed on Saturday (12/5). So far, so good! She has Frida here to keep her company; they are quite an odd pair.

I have been coming home during lunch to check on them, but tomorrow is the next test. We are going to leave them all day in the house. I am hoping that Paddy can smoothly transition and make this her new home. So far, she is making herself comfortable in our yard, couch, chair, and bed...

(I played with the fade color feature on iPhoto.)

The Wave

Alex waved at us (Mom, Dad, John, and me) after waking up from a nap last Saturday (12/5). He immediately had four adults eagerly waving back at him. Since then, he has not waved. Did we scare him off from waving or was his wave just a coincidence?!?

Recent Photos

Photo 1: Alex and his Grandpa watching football on 11/27/09.
Photo 2: Me removing wallpaper on 11/27/09. The 1970's wallpaper in the entryway came down easily. The 1980's wallpaper in the master bathroom is going to take lots of scraping!
Photo 3: Alex likes to crawl under his jumperoo. This photo was taken on 12/2/09. Alex is 9 months old!
Photo 4: It has gotten cold in San Antonio! Alex and John are bundled up and ready to go to school and work on 12/4/09.

Leadership

I will take a break from posting about Alex and write about myself.

I co-chaired the 2008 UTSA Advising Conference, which was held in September 2008. Around that time, I did blog about it and my experiences that lead me to that point. Today I enjoyed the 2009 UTSA Advising Conference as a participant and committee member. Unlike the past two years, I did not have a large role in this event. (The conference was held in December due to the timing of the NACADA annual conference in San Antonio.)

This conference was a success because of the hard work of the committee members. With just a bit part in the conference, I could stand back and observe how hard others were working. I think that jumping in and doing the hard work is true leadership. My first experience with this was over ten years ago at Springfest at Case. I remember walking around the festival picking up trash and emptying full trash cans. Someone needed to do it, and a couple of us from the Residence Hall Association filled that role. I have been fortunate to be part of many successful events, and have seen first hand people working hard for the benefit of others.

Decorating

I'm decorating my blog for Christmas with red and green. I cannot believe that it is already December 1st. Next to decorate my house and office... Happy Holidays!