Southbound

Now that I've told my boss and coworkers, I feel like I can make the official announcement...no, Vince isn't going to be a big brother (yet). Dan recently started a new job with the Army Corp of Engineers. He is a construction rep and he loves it!! He is doing a fantastic job so far and he always comes home in a great mood...the only thing is, he only comes home on the weekends for now because the job is in Southern Illinois. We are going to be relocating to the Carbondale area soon, specifically Murphysboro. Our house is on the market and we're looking forward to closing on a new one in December. We will be just a few blocks from our dear friends Art and Cathy and little Finn. I know our friends and families are happy for us because they know how long Dan has waited for an opportunity like this, but I know that with the joy, comes a little taste of sadness that we'll be moving so far away. As I told my mother, however, be happy he didn't get one of the other jobs he applied for in California or Florida or Colorado or even Germany. Compared to that, four and a half hours is nothin'!

A special day at church

Today we dedicated Vincent to the Lord. Our pastor read some Scriptures from 1 Samuel about how Hannah was barren and prayed for a baby boy. A priest in the temple heard her and told her to go home and that God would give her a baby. Sure enough, He did. When Samuel was weaned, Hannah brought him back to the temple and fulfilled her promise to God: that she would dedicate Samuel to His service all the days of his life. We made similar commitments today after church. Vincent looked so handsome in his little suit.

This is all of us with Pastor Mike Baker.

YYYUUUUCKKK!!!

That's what my little man's face says when I see these photos. I didn't think he actually ingested any of the cereal until today when it came out the other end. Boy oh boy, did he ingest it. I can't imagine what it will look/smell like when he actually takes a full helping of it instead of just a few random drops that don't make it onto the bib. Anyway, hope you love the photos. Still working on the video.

He had no idea what he was in for!

Okay....let's give it another shot!

Huh? What the heck is going on here?

Wait a minute! That's mommy's milk with a hint of gross in it!

No, thank you. I'll take the unadulterated pure stuff please. You can have this back.

By the way, we gotta give a shout out to Cathy Kunz. HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Vince says "j,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, h nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn "

He can't spell very well, but that was him typing with little to no guidance from mommy.

FOUR MONTHS! WHAT?!

How the time flies. Vincent had his four month check up today. He was cleared for take off on the baby cereal. I was pretty excited because I thought maybe that would help him sleep a little better at night. So he was starving when we got home and I decided just to go ahead and give it a shot while he's hungry. Well, he didn't really care for it. In fact he made the most adorably disgusted face I've ever seen on him. The cereal was so runny it just ran right out of his mouth. Then he had a really uncomfortable poo tonight, so I'm not sure it agreed with him too well. We'll try again soon though. I'll post the video soon....the video of him eating; not of his poo. :-)

His doctor said he's doing just fine; he's right on target for his developmental milestones, so that is reassuring. At least we're not screwing him up so bad that he's the slow kid. She also said that he should not get veggies or fruits until he's 6 months old. I'm kind of glad about that because I want to prepare myself a little more for that. I would like to try making as much of his food as possible. I know the jar food is much more convenient, but to make it myself would be much more economical. Anyway, we'll see how it goes and if worse comes to worst, we'll buy the baby food.

She also said it seems like he's too dependent on his pacifier and it's interupting his sleep. I think she's right. So we're going to work on taking it away. She said it's a hard problem to have (I assume that means we're in for a long haul) and that it will take lots of patience. Good. That's what I've been working on. What a fantastic opportunity.

I'm updating his growth progress below, so have a look at it if you want. I hope to get the cereal video posted soon; for now, I'm going to BED!!!!

Lonely mornings...

I was reminded this morning of a really funny story that Dan likes to tell about his old school mate, John Tyler, aka: Johnny Tavern. When they were in high school Johnny would ask his mom for some cash so they could "get something to eat." This boy didn't ask for the normal amount of cash. He would regularly ask for $50 at a time. Dan witnessed, on more than one occasion as I understand it, Mrs. Tyler putting her foot down. The exchange would go something like this:

JT: Mom, I need 50 bucks so we can get some food.
Mrs T: Johnny, I just gave you $50 two days ago. Where did that go?
JT: C'mon mom!
Mrs. T: Johnny, I am not giving you $50. You can forget it. (reaches into her purse, rifles around a bit.) I am not made of money you know.
JT: I know, Mom.
Mrs. T: You are not getting $50 from me today, Johnny. I'm putting my foot down. (Still digging around in purse, finally coming up with something). You're going to get $45 and you're going to like it, Mister.

Boy, she sure showed him. How, you ask, was I reminded of this comical recanting of Dan's past? Well it all started when I woke up alone in bed this morning. I looked around and thought, well, maybe he's in the restroom. . . nope. Not there.

Hmmm....Then I vaguely remembered a miniature someone crying from his crib in the wee hours. As I began to survey the situation, I realized Daddy must have gone up to comfort the little one, returning the coveted pacifier to the tiny mouth, and lost his way back to the parental suite on the main level of the estate.

So I used our high tech intercom system to send a message to the upper level. That is, I shouted up the stairs for Dan to bring Vince down to me so we could get ready to leave. When I asked what happened to him, this was his explanation.

"Well, he kept losing his pacifier and I went up there a few times and I got tired of walking up and down the stairs. So I said, 'That's it. This is the last time I'm coming up here, Mister. I'm not going up and down these stairs one more time. You better keep this pacifier. But in case you don't, I'm going to take this throw pillow, put it right here on the floor, curl up and have a nice little nap, because gosh darn it, I'm not going up and down those stairs one more time. You hear me?' And that's why I was sleeping upstairs this morning."

Wow, he sure put Vince in his place, didn't he? Man, I don't know what I would do if I had such a strict dad. I mean Dan really showed Vince who's boss. And Dan really stuck to his guns. He didn't go up those stairs one more time the whole night. I'm so proud of my rock of a husband. I'm so glad to discover he's definitely not a pushover or a softie. heehee. Just goes to show, a whining baby is enough to bring a 190 pound man to his knees.