For Megan & Porter (& Rockwell too!)

So my friend Megan is an amazing blogger! Every time I read her blog, I laugh so hard a nearly wet my pants (or pant, as she would say). Well in a couple of her posts there were pictures of her baby son, Porter, wearing this very cute onesie that says, "Favorite Things: mommy, hugs, kisses". When I first saw this onesie I thought to myself: Hey, I think I know somebody who has that onesie.
Well, it turns out I do... Stephen!

Today I was looking for something cool (as in opposite of warm) for Stephen to wear as he had spent what seemed like 18 hours in his car seat/stroller while we got a flat tire fixed (the flat tire is a whole other Oprah). Anyway, when we got home he was hot! I decided to get into the bottom drawer of his dresser where we've been keeping the "don't fit yet" clothes. Under some totally cute brown and white striped pants I found the "Favorite Things" onesie!

Sooo, since Megan's blog has become one of my favorite things, and because Megan could quite possibly be the only person besides my husband who reads my blog, here's to Megan and Porter, and their wonderful taste in onesies!

(By the way, if you're reading this and you're not Megan (or Steve) then leave a comment for Pete's sake so I know you're reading this!!)

One Insulted Family Member!

So it has been a while since I last posted an entry in my blog! Please allow me to explain. It seems the title of my blog has greatly insulted a very close family member!

Meet Cooper -- shown here after an unsuccessfully attempted at deleting my blog completely!

He reminds me daily that before Stephen came along he was perfectly happy being an only child! He felt very lucky to be a member of the family. For this reason he is extremely insulted by the title of this blog!!

I love Cooper! He's great. He came into my life at a time when I really needed him! I've always said I rescued Cooper, and he rescued me! Even with all his quirks (and there are many) he is truely a blessing! So where do I go from here... I could rename the blog "Three Human's A Blessing" but that doesn't really make it better. So I begged Cooper's forgiveness, reminded myself that Cooper is a dog and can't read, and now I can go on. He did make me promise to throw in a picture or two of him once in a while. Since I'd do just about anything for this four-legged friend I agreed! I love you Coop!

Grandparents

Today is Grandparents Day. Stephen is so lucky to have four living grandparents and three living great grandparents. All but one are pictured above. In the top left is Grammie (Steve's mom, Karen), next is Grandma (my mom, Cheryle), then Poppy C (Steve's dad, Steve), and then Granddad (my dad, Jess). In the bottom left corner is Great Grandpa Leo (Karen's dad) and next to him Great Grandma Betty (Karen's mom). Not pictured is Granny (my dad's mom). The hands pictured are Stephen's with Granddad and Grandma.

The dictionary defines grandparents this way:

grandparent n. 1. A parent of one's mother or father; a grandmother or grandfather.

I found this poem which I think says it better:

GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents bestow upon their grandchildren

The strength and wisdom that time

And experience have given them.

Grandchildren bless their Grandparents

With a youthful vitality and innocence

That help them stay young at heart forever.

Together they create a chain of love

Linking the past with the future.

The chain may lengthen, But it will never part...

~Author Unknown~

No matter how you define them, and no matter what you call them we're very lucky to have these very special people in our lives. I don't know what Steve, Stephen and I would do without the grandparents in our lives.

Happy Grandparents Day! We love you all!

It's Storytime!

Today Stephen attended his very first storytime at the library!!

The theme was "Going Places". Giny, one of my wonderful co-workers, was the leader. She is so great at what she does, and Stephen just loves her! We traveled all around: by car, truck, boat, airplane, train, and even horseback. The hoops you see in the pictures are steering wheels. As you can see Stephen wanted them to be a picture frame, a Hula Hoop, and LUNCH!

The Opposit of Crawling

Within the last week Stephen has discovered that when he's on his back he can use his feet to scoot across the floor. Right now it's pretty entertaining. However, I have no doubt that once he figures out he can flip over and do it on his tummy we're going to have a hard time keeping up with him.

Fresh Air

Last Sunday Stephen and I spent some time in the back yard. I put our blanket under a big tree and we just laid on our backs and looked up at the leaves. Later I moved him to the edge of the blanket so he could put his feet in the grass.

He loved it!

Discovery!

It is so fun to watch Stephen discover the world around him! I put these car seat toys on his car seat when he was only about 8 weeks old. Earlier this month he discovered that they were there! It was really neat to watch how gently he reached out to touch them. He was completely fascinated... and so was I!

4-Month Check-Up

On August 13 Stephen went in for his 4-month check up.

(I know, I know if I was better at keeping up with this blog you would have know about it much sooner!)

All is well. He passed his 4 Month Ages & Stages Questionnaire with flying colors.

He is a little on the small side. He weighed 12 lbs 9.5 oz and was 24.25 inches tall?... long? ... whatever! Even so, the doctor says he's eating enough (my all-time greatest worry) and having a good amount of dirty diapers (my second greatest worry). I never thought I would have so many questions about poo! It seems like that's all the doctor and I talked about.

He had to get four vaccinations -- one oral and three shots. I'm not sure who was more upset, him or me. I did manage to get one picture before the screaming began.

Parent Tested... Kid Approved!

Steve and I have really begun to enjoy watching Stephen play with new toys. This has meant many trips to Toys R Us. So many in fact that I am currently not allowed in the store without daddy supervision! On the day that we bought Stephen's second floor gym (that's right he NEEDED two) Steve decided he wanted to see what it was like to be "inside" the gym. So... he crawled in!

He made it sound so great I just had to take a turn too!

Don't worry... we fully understand your need to shake your head slowly and sigh as you say under your breath "New parents!"

He Did It!

At 3:57 p.m. on July 16 I received a text message from Grammie (a.k.a Steve's mom, Karen) that Stephen had just rolled over from his tummy to his back. It was very exciting. I was a little sad that I hadn't been home to see it (I was at work), but Stephen gave a repeat performance that night when I got home. Later he rolled over so daddy could see. However, since then, he hasn't seemed that interested in doing much rolling. He's been plenty active in other ways.

He plays in his floor gym.

He also practices sitting up in his Bumbo.

Yesterday afternoon I put him on his tummy in his crib and he promptly rolled over to his back. I was so excited I flipped him back over to see if he would do it again. Sure enough, he rolled to his back. So I raced down stairs to get the camera. I put him on a blanket on the floor to get a better camera angle and placed him on this tummy. There I stood poised to get the worlds best "rolling over" picture. Stephen had other ideas. The little turkey wouldn't roll over for anything! (Believe me I begged and promised him all kinds of things.)

Today at work, Steve sent me this video with the title "He did it!" The video was taken with Steve's cell phone so it's not the best quality. Even so, it's great to have this event captured so we can share it with everyone.

I can't believe how such a little thing can make you feel so proud. You'd think he was the first child to ever master the art of rolling!

Getting Started

It's hard to believe that 3 months have already pasted since our little one was born. I wish I could say that I've been really good at getting pictures out to all our friends and family, but I can't lie! I'm so in love with our little boy and I feel so blessed to have him -- I want everyone to share in the joy! So I've started this blog! I'm not going to promise that I'll post to this blog daily, or that every post will be entertaining. I can promise that there will be a little glimpse into what is going on in our household, and a chronicle of milestones Stephen has reached. More importantly, there will be lots of pictures of our handsome little guy!

Like this one!

Taken on April 26, when Stephen was only 12 days old. We were napping together in the recliner. Stephen still loves to sleep on the boppy in my lap. Don't tell his daddy though! Sleeping in mommy's lap has been strictly forbidden. But we won't tell if you won't!