Video of the week

MVP is at a really cute age where he thinks everything is funny. Sometimes I think I'm still at that age...



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Things making me happy right now.

There are several things making me very happy right now. The first of which is that our gardenia bush is in full bloom. I always look forward to this time of year because I know we will have lots of beautiful, fragrant blossoms. I apologize that these pictures are not scratch-n-sniff because the smell of a gardenia is amazing!! I've cut several blossoms and put them in various locations throughout the house in an attempt to make the whole house smell good.
The next thing making me happy right now are the calla lilies. I planted the bulbs about a year and a half ago and half expected them to actually bloom. Well, last year I got a few lilies and was quite pleased. Back in February, however, I noticed that there were holes in the ground where the plants were. I was quite confident that the deer or maybe some other mangy rodent had eaten them because if there's one thing I've learned from living here, it's that deer will eat anything and everything!! So I was extremely pleased to find out that not only have my calla lilies lived, but they are thriving. Whew!!

I'm not particularly a big fan of hydrangeas, but this hydrangea bush is so big and produces such large blossoms that I have a hard time not liking them. The blossoms can be seen through the window when you walk in our front door and we have so many that I have no problem cutting them and giving away large bouquets to people. So that makes me happy.

I'm thrilled that we have a couple (and only a couple) peaches growing. About a year ago I bought dwarf apple, peach and pear trees from Big Lots. Seeing as how the trees are from Big Lots, I had low expectations. Of course nothing happened last year, but I had high hopes that someday we would see the fruits of our labors. Literally. There's nothing on the apple and pear trees yet, but the progress with the peaches gives me hope. Deer don't eat peaches, do they?

Ever since I tasted my first fig at Grandma Palmer's house when I was about 23 years old, I've thought that Fig Newtons were a huge disservice to the fig! They really are tasty. About two years ago, I bought a fig tree from a local guy who sells fig trees as a hobby. The first year we had it, it produced maybe a handful of figs. Last year, we got ZERO!! I was devastated. But this year, the fig gods have smiled upon us and we have several tiny figs growing and I can't wait to eat them!! Deer don't eat figs, do they??

A lady I have become friends with through church is a master gardener. She has given us several plants and of all the plants we have planted in our yard, the ones she gives us seem to do very well and require minimal care. She recently gave us several more plants (including some Siberian Iris=wowza!!). Among the plants she gave me was a "Hardy Orchid". I have orchids growing in my back yard!! Can you believe it?!?! I don't need to take them inside during the winter or do anything extraordinary to keep them alive. So pleased am I.

Finally....and this is for the grandparents...how can I blog about things that are making me happy without posting a few pictures of this guy?!?! He makes me happy because he has a duck on his head....

and a monkey on his bum. Life is good.

Solids

MVP had his 4-month doctor's appointment and the doctor said that we can start him on solid foods. So on Saturday, we started with rice cereal. Note to self: getting a baby to eat from a spoon for the first time will take more than an hour. Uggh. Fortunately, he's a quick learner and is doing relatively well. I'm hoping that by the end of this week he will be convinced that getting more on his insides is better than getting it on his outsides.

In a word...

Dapper.

No wonder people love to hold this cutie pie!!

Look who's driving!!!

You know how there are people out there who will buy something under the guise that it's "for the kids" when it's the adult who really wants the item? Or there are those parents who "encourage" their kids to take up a sport because it's really the parent who wants to excel in that sport? Well, I will totally admit that this was one purchase that was more for me than for MVP. When I first saw this walker, I thought it was the cutest thing ever! Forget the fact that it has half as many toys and functions as most walkers out there. This one is just plain awesome. When I found it on sale after Thanksgiving, I had to get it. From the looks of his little face, I think MVP likes it too...or that could just be my biased opinion. (His feet don't even touch the ground yet!)

Birthday Greetings!

It's my mom's birthday today and since I got a little distracted last week, I've decided to make a blog entry in her honor. Of course as a grandma, I'm sure all she wants to see are pictures of her cute little grandson. So here it goes. In this picture, MVP was 9 days old. I won't tell you how old my mom was. ;-)In keeping with the birthday theme, here's a picture of MVP at a birthday picnic we went to on Sunday. He's just shy of 3 months old here.

Here he is at 3 months old. He has become quite the little sleeper. Ever since he was about two months old, he has been sleeping in his crib and has been sleeping through the night. Lately he's been sleeping for about 10 hours or more at night. It's wonderful!! He's even pretty good about taking naps during the day to allow me to work. MVP loves to coo--and he often sounds like an owl. He's a very smiley guy and we're certainly blessed to have him in our family.

One last picture. When my friend, Anne, came out to visit on the weekend after MVP was born, she gave him a Mylar balloon. That same weekend, she and a visiting toddler were playing with it and it floated up to our ceiling in the living room and was there for a very long time. On Monday morning, when I went into Mark's room, I noticed that the balloon was in there hovering a few inches off the ground and I wondered if maybe Andy had put it in there the night before. I proceeded to wake, change and feed the MVP and while I was sitting with him in the living room, I looked up and noticed that the balloon mysteriously started floating into the living room from his bedroom. I guess when you're as cute as he is even balloons want to follow you around. Later on, I let him sit and watch the balloon as it hovered in front of him. I think he's the balloon whisperer.

Rubber Duckie

We have discovered that in addition to his changing pad, MVP also really likes bath time. He has discovered that when he moves around a lot, the water splashes and makes cool noises. He has not, however, discovered that HE is the one who occasionally splashes himself in the face. Every now and then he will splash real hard and then get an expression on his face that clearly reads, "Hey! Who did that?!?!" He also really liked moving around on the crinkly paper at the doctor's office. Here's a picture of him enjoying bath time. This was taken last week, so he's almost three months old here.

Picture of the Week

What a happy baby...usually!!

6 Weeks Old

If it weren't for the constant reminder of how tired I am all the time, it would be hard for me to believe that our MVP is 6 weeks old already. People still comment on how small he looks, but to me, he is growing like crazy. He's getting a double chin and he's also getting chubbier limbs. This is a picture of my two boys--just hangin' out.

When he first wakes up in the morning, MVP loves to stretch and smile. Sometimes he will yawn, stretch and then exhaust himself so that he goes back to sleep for a few minutes. This cycle can go on for up to two hours sometimes. At some point, he will remember that he's hungry and the fun and games will come to an abrupt end. Here's some video I took of him on February 26th. He's smiling a lot more now.

Something we have discovered is that he really loves his changing pad. When we put him on there, he smiles and is very well behaved--which is a relief because I would hate for diaper changes to be a traumatic experience. The funny thing is that he not only seems to enjoy his own diaper changing station, but we took him over to a friend's house last night and he was just as thrilled with their changing station! He must really appreciate a clean diaper!!

Our Little Houdini

Like most babies, we have discovered that our little MVP REALLY likes to have his hands up by his face. In fact, it frustrates him so much to have his hands bound to his sides by a blanket that he will squirm and turn red in the face until his hands are free. Even Andy's technique of folding the blanket over his hands before swaddling him into a baby burrito has lost it's ability to keep him restrained.

One day, I was telling my brother about MVP's ability to break lose of just about any swaddle and I referred to him as our baby Houdini. Last week, my brother sent us a little gift. He sent a blanket that can convert into a cape and he also included a mustache! The perfect gift for our little Houdini.