No Sleep 'til Brooklyn'd

Actually, the babe is sleeping now, and if we're lucky, he'll sleep the majority of our 8 hour trek to Brooklyn'd.

And if I'm real lucky, I will get everything packed tight in the hatchback before he wakes and this rain will do a U-y & head west before we head East.

Wish me luck!

And have you checked out Craftsuki.com lately? JB is slowly teaching me all the cool tricks!

Peace out chickens, I mean, Tofurkies!

Sponge Baby Square Pants

Have I mentioned lately how lucky we are to have so many awesome hand-me-down clothes & toys? Well, we are!

After a few high-water weeks, I finally unlocked the hand-me-down dungeon and rescued a "new" set of baby closet captives. At first it was sad putting away Alexander's cute little liveries, but then I saw Sponge Bob...

Are you ready kids?

Ay, Ay Captain.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Absorbent & Yellow & porous is he!

Sponge Bob Square Pants.

If nautical nonsense is something you wish.

Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Then drop on the deck & flop like a fish!

Sponge Baby Square Pants. Sponge Baby Square Pants. Sponge Baby Square Pants.

(insert slide whistle & Daddy Grin).

Anyway, now that we don't have cable, Daddy's missed his fancy *pinkies up* fix.

Can you see that our little running back isn't holding on to anything in the picture above?

Yep, that's right, Zaney can stand on his own & he's starting to walk 3-4 steps at a time to get to the next toy (peanut, daddy, window).

But don't worry, he's still very interested in his old favorite past-time. Sitting in the kitchen drawers & eating cat food. Ugh.

We've finally transitioned Zander into the big tub (read: I finally scrubbed the tub). Since Baby wife's visit in October, we've been using Z's baby tub in the big tub; however, I just cleared the fog long enough to see that the wiggly baby in the slippery, sliddery baby tub were not a safe match.

Don't touch my bags, if you please, Mr. Customs man

Hopefully Diana, our Child Services insider, never gets her hands on our lackadaisical parenting videos. She'll get the wrong impression.

Zander's pretty quick, both on his knees & processing the best way to get what he wants. He points the remote control at the TV, crawls to the back door when I tell him, "Daddy's home," and, as you can see, figured out how to get to the picture frames without any help from us!

He loves to get into everything, literally, & I let him. Things only turn ugly when he's too tired to fall straight :). I tell myself that all this independence is good for him... I'm pretty sure that is true. I mean, I know it is true!

See, that's just proof that we're always there to catch him!

Stylin' & Profilin'

I think we might need to hire a stylist. Well, I'll need to hire one if I want to make any friends in this economy!

Zander & I spent the afternoon strolling around the waterfront, checking out the Canadians;

And posing with the Irish of Wheeling past.

I must admit, we fit in pretty good down under the bridge... with all the homeless, cracky teeny-boppers & homeschoolers.

But back to our need for a stylist. After our stroll, we headed up the mountain to check out the Oglebay playground. The park was empty, except for two other families.

A daddy & his squealing boy. Zander LOVED watching the boy, and just giggled & wiggled to get closer to the boy.

And a Mama & her 3 year-old girl. The Mama arrived a short while after we did and the first thing the mama said to us was, "nice shoes." She was obviously speaking to Zander, cause I was wearing flip-flops. But Z was wearing fuzzy brown slippers, so Im not so sure she really liked his shoes either...

Verdict... I should probably brush my hair before heading to the park tomorrow. Maybe we'll even score a playdate! :)

Do we have any yogurt?

Alexander likes to climb. And he likes to eat. So it's only natural that he likes to climb into the fridge & pull out all his yummies. Of course, his mummy won't be so happy when the electric bill arrives.

When little Z can't reach the treats he wants, he points & yells for it. This is mostly successful. Except when it is "Peter" that he wants.

Peanut is a surprisingly good sport, or should I say, Alexander is. Peanut hisses & swats, but Alexander just cracks up!

Again, long videos, not worth just anyone's time...

I told Alexander we were going to play on the Jungle Gym @ the park. I guess he doesn't know the word "park" yet... Since he decided to climb around the kitchen drawers, instead.

Although I didn't think A could have anymore fun than a little drawer-sit, we attempted the park anyway, and to his delight we met up with Isabelle & two of her friends there.

Of course, in all the pictures he is so enthralled looking at the other kiddos play, he isn't smiling... I think mama might get fired as the family's official historian.

When we were leaving the playground, a very nice looking, random mother said, "That outfit is so cute. I mean, so cute. Seriously, Christmas Card Worthy." What do you say? Her kid was wearing Steelers gear, so of course, he looked great. But, you can't return that kind of compliment without sounding crazy. Well, you cant really give that compliment without sounding crazy either. I should have asked for her number. Unfortunately, D said I couldn't make mama business cards. He said that would be a little too "crazy."

My garden variety Roseola

Disclaimer: Most of the videos are Babushka-best... so, long & probably uninteresting to the non-related.

Our baby is finally feeling better; and eager to make up for some lost time! After four days with a high fever, and another three days with the Moyna-blotch, we will never have to deal with Roseola again!

While A was out sick, he missed the local Health Department's Swine Flu clinic for little buggers, and when I called late last week to see if I could reschedule the shot, the receptionist said there was no way. So, when I went to get my seasonal flu shot on Monday, I thought the lady would just thumb her nose at me when I asked again. But instead she said, "We're in the business of keeping people healthy, not letting them get sick." So hopefully, that means we'll all be healthy the rest of the season!


BTW, I read a great article this morning in Wired about vaccines, Thirmerisol & Autism. The writing was great, and it's something else to consider, www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_waronscience.


So, to celebrate our health, and the wonderful Wheeling Indian Summer, we've been spending a lot of time outside. Last weekend D & I finished winterizing the yard, while Zander rode his hippo around the fire & tried to eat dirt out of the garden...


After a quick swing at the neighborhood park earlier this week, we decided to give the Wheeling Park Playground another go-around yesterday.



Alexander loved the swings even more this time, but he wasn't so sure about the super-electrified plastic sliding board. Even my hair was standing on end!


But his favorite thing at the park was playing in the leaves.


D has been trying to teach the little pumpkin to turn around & scoot off the furniture or climb down the stairs. Well, although he doesn't quite have it at home (it is way too much fun to go head first off the couch when mama's there to stand you on your head), Alexander really impressed me with his new-found skill at the park. As Z was crawling around the park he came across a small hill/slope and he turned around, and backed down the hill. Oh my, so cute!



Although the little guy lost his appetite for about 4 days while he was feverish, he's still gained more than 1 pound in the last month and weighs 23.3 pounds now. Size 4 Diapers, here we come!


Cheerios are by far the fella's favorite, but there really isn't anything he refuses... unless he's full & done eating all together. We're trying to bottle feed the babes less and fill him up with yummy "people" food.

The night before the babes got sick, we were in Carlisle for Jerry & Traci's wedding. Unfortunately, D had to stay @ grandma's house & babysit, but a fabulous time was still had by all!


I started crying as soon as Jerry walked out, but luckily pulled it together by the time I had to talk to anyone! The ceremony was beautiful & the reception was so much fun!

Jerry was one of my best friends for much of my youth, and it was so wonderful seeing him all jazzed up & happy with Traci!
It was also pretty fun seeing Nolan letting it all hang out:)

And Papa was waiting for us with a sleeping baby when we made our way back home.

My sick little pumpkin

Alexander got a high fever Sunday morning, while we were still in Carlisle visiting.

Yesterday we went to the doctor; and after a battery of blood tests, the doctor determined that it doesnt look like Swine Flu, "just a virus." (His lead paint addiction also hasnt hurt him & his Thyroid function is just fine!)

Last night his fever got up to 105.7 around 2am. Before he went to bed his temp was down to around 100, so I thought it would be OK to let the little plum sleep through his scheduled Ibprofin dose. Bad idea.

This morning, he's pretty cranky, but kinda cuddly.