Ward's Daycare, now open for business!

Overall, our weekend was pretty low-key. But on Sunday, my nephew Aiden stayed with us for a couple of hours while my sister went to work. Since Patterson is now crawling and Aiden is beginning to walk, it was quite the circus! Aiden started off pretty shy and sat in my lap for the first 20 minutes or so, but soon he was down on the floor playing with Patty. They negotiated toys, played follow-the-leader, laughed at each other's hilarious jokes, toasted over apple juice, pulled each other's hair, "sang" songs, chased and ran from Bassey and showed each other the skills they had acquired. They seemed to be having a blast!

Matt and I noticed that when Aiden (13 months) was around, Patterson paid very close attention to him and tried things that she hadn't before. For instance, Aiden would stand without holding onto anything, and Patty would give it a try. He would use the wall to get to his feet and Patty followed. Since no one had told her she couldn't do the things Aiden did, in her mind, she could! (I like her thinking!)





At 3 PM, Matt had a brilliant idea - nap time! He turned to the Watercolor Jazz station on XM and closed the blinds. They must have been exhausted because they were asleep within moments and slept for the next hour and a half!

Keeping up with the two of them was exhausting, but watching them interact was high entertainment value! Shortly after Aiden left, Matt and I decided we had earned a toast of our own! Matt was in bed by 9:00 - no joke.

“Goodbye World”

My Gran has always been a huge baseball fan. For reasons I’m not aware of, her favorite teams are the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs. It’s so funny to watch her watching the games because she really gets into them. I don’t follow baseball and am not familiar with all the ins and outs of the game, but if you’ve ever watched baseball with my Gran, you know that you don’t need to know anything about it in order to keep up. You just need to listen for a couple key words:

1. “Sapheaded Cogy” – “Sapheaded (adjective) Cogy (noun)” indicates that someone made a major mistake. If these words ever left my Gran’s mouth, I knew things weren’t looking good for her team.

2. “Goodbye World” – When Gran yelled “Goodbye World,” it meant that something brilliant had happend. Someone had really “knocked one out of the park.”

On Thursday, June 12, Patty had a “goodbye world” moment. Up until this point, she had only been able to say “Da Da” (a LOT) and “Ma Ma” (on occasion). But when I got home from work that day, Matt informed me that Patterson was now able to say “bye-bye” AND perform a wave to go with it! While he was explaining this new development, I was thinking “yeah right, man.”

When I got home the next day, she was playing in her play saucer. I "chatted" with her for a sec and then left the room to get changed. When I came back, she looked right at me and said “bye-bye” and waved at me!! In case you, too, need proof, click on the following link to view video of Patty knocking one of her first words out of the park! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOC8VjToD7o

Popeye has graduated

Patty had never been a big fan of “tummy time.” We’d get her to play on her tummy for about 45 seconds, and then she was done. I mean screaming done! Once she mastered rolling over, she enjoyed being on her stomach much more. She quickly graduated from lying on her tummy, to pretending to fly (sometimes screaming in frustration), to scooting backwards, to dragging her body around with her arms! To be honest, when I first noticed this dragging situation, I was concerned. I asked Matt if he thought something was wrong with her legs since she wasn’t using them to get around. He said “no, but she’s going to look like Popeye if she doesn’t start crawling soon.” ( Jeez, dad! Can you believe we are in charge of managing every aspect of someone’s development? Me neither!) So, Popeye dragged herself around for about a week and a half, and then over Memorial Weekend, she went for it! She finally started crawling! She’s gotten pretty fast and her favorite things to do are chase Bassey around the room and find the smallest little piece of anything to put in her mouth. Matt tells me that when he gets home from work and Patty’s grandma leaves for the day, Patty chases her to the door and waits for her to come back in!

Up next, WALKING!!

Cousin Aiden

May 11, 2008 was my first Mother’s Day and the celebration of my nephew Aiden’s first year of life. His birth was scheduled for August 2007, but he decided to arrive three months early – guess my sissy was getting on his nerves – I don’t blame him for wanting out of there! (JK, sissy) He started off tiny – only 2 lbs, 7 ozs (top photo). By his first birthday, he was close to 30 lbs! You wouldn’t believe any of this if I didn’t have a photo to prove it because he’s grown so much in just a few short months. He’s the cutest!

We all knew he’d be a stinker because even during his 3 month stay in the hospital he made several attempts to remove the tubes that the nurses inserted for feeding, monitoring, etc. Here’s a picture of my sweet Aiden after eating (and by eating, I mean playing in) his birthday cake (bottom photo).

P.S. I love the top photo of Aiden because I took it while he was in his incubator and, even though he was hooked up to all the machines, he looked as cool as a cucumber having a day at the spa.

Nothin' but gloom

The evening of April 1 was the first time Patty and I slept apart since her birth. I had to go on a work-related trip to Washington, DC. I love the city, but it was miserable being away from Patty – especially at night. Plus, it was the first time Matt and I were not together to celebrate his birthday.

Patty was in good hands since Matt was home and my mother-in-law was with her the whole time. Even still, it was pretty tough. I have to admit, though, once I finally fell asleep, I slept pretty well! Since Patty outgrew her bassinet, our bed has become a “family bed” (we can’t seem to get her to sleep in her crib - call me with suggestions…seriously).

I took this picture while I was away. I thought it was pretty representative of how it felt to be away from Patty for so long (only 2.5 days, but still).

Cool like that

Patty and I were on the go, practically, from the time I got her home from the hospital. I’d take her on short trips to the mall or grocery store making sure to breastfeed her before and after each trip (I figured this would help her combat any germs we came in contact with). When spring finally arrived, I was so excited because we were able to start taking Patty to outdoor events and festivals (my favorite)! We started with the Deep Elum Arts Festival and have taken her to the Farmer’s Market and Taste Addison, so far.

We quickly noticed that she wasn’t a fan of bright sunlight. Every time we’d get out of the car, she’d bury her face in my chest. It was the cutest thing. Patty’s grandma solved the issue by picking up some sunglasses for her. Whenever she puts them on, it’s like her whole personality changes. She gets so cool. So, here’s a picture of the cool Patty at the Farmer’s Market (top) and Patty at the Deep Elum Arts Fest (bottom).

Shot through the heart

Valentine's Day was shots day for Patty. She had already survived her first round of shots and had pretty much cried for the first two months of her life. So I was ready! A breeze, right?

Uh, WRONG.

What happened next was shocking. I had never heard a baby (or any human) scream the way she did after the first shot -- I thought I'd expired -- and there were 3 more to go. She looked at me like "do something!" I felt terrible, but we got through it and they even let us come back for more shots! This is a photo of the calm before the storm that occurred at Dr. Shinn's on what we will call V-Day.

Day 2

On day one, I was convinced I had the wrong one. She looked...very...well, let's say "strange." And, she kept staring at me as if something was wrong with me. Wasn't she supposed to be sleeping anyway? The fact that she kept staring should have let me know she was mine. While I wouldn't say we're "nosey," we're definitely excellent people watchers (Matt, too)!

Since posting a "day one" picture was obviously out of the question, here is Patterson on day two...looking a ton better (trust me)!