Baeron, my hero!

And he helped Baeron kill a mean gladiator too, so I could come back home again!

I’ve near given this blog up for a lost cause…not because I don’t believe in its value, but because I rarely find a tranquil moment, such as now, when I can think and type without distraction or little fingers grasping at my screen.  Baeron is fascinated by my computer, but I try to limit my time on it to when he is sleeping or with David.  My FLVS (Florida Virtual) work tends to make me hate the computer for leisure anyway–after logging so many hours grading papers and whatnot, the last thing I want to do for fun is be on the computer.  Know what I mean?  Living life gets in the way of documenting life.

In April, while visiting my family in Tennessee, we all went to the Hermitage, former President Andrew Jackson’s plantation home in Nashville.

…whether you’re having fun or not!  Fortunately for us, it has been mostly fun, but we have had our fair share of stress.  March and April are typically blackout months for anyone in education, so with Dave and I both working as teachers, our lives got pretty hectic for a while…and it has hardly slowed down since!

Baeron certainly hasn’t slowed down.  He cut his first  two teeth at 6 months, during our trip to TN to see Nee Nee and Papa (I guess that is their names for now.  Baer will christen them officially sometime in the future, I am sure.).  We flew into Nashville at the end of March, and Baeron did GREAT on the flight.  I had read up in advance on how to alleviate any discomfort he might have during takeoff and landing with strategic nursing.  I was determined not to be one of those people whose child is screaming his head off during the entire flight.  When I boarded the plane, however, I looked all over for that warm, inviting grandmother to sit beside…but she was nowhere to be found.  Of course, I would wind up in an aisle seat, completely surrounded by men of all ages…I kid you not.  Grandfather, husky biker dude, college guy, middle-aged dad and prepubescent son–there was not a sympathetic woman in sight!!

So, as we’re taking off, I have no choice.  Gotta take care of biz’nis.

I was discreet.  I had a blankie to cover.

But every single man KNEW what was going on underneath that cover.

I just about died.

I think the dad beside me almost died too.  He would not make eye contect with me during the rest of the flight.

…………

Here are some pics from the month of March:

The pictures from our TN trip will appear in the next post…those actually were taken in April.  I figure if I can tackle a month at a time, I’ll get you up to speed in a few days. 

Dave and I looked at each other the other day with that melancholic realization…”it’s happening,” he said.

“I know…”

He’s growing.  Everyone said that it would happen, and that it would fly by so fast.  And while we are excited with every new little thing that Baeron does, a look through the iPhoto library confirms how much our little boy has grown in 5 months!  He doubled his birth weight at his 4 month checkup (16 lbs. exactly) and added 5.5 inches to his length.  He’s rolling over from belly to back, and just this past week has learned how to throw his weight around from side to side while lying on his back.  It won’t be very long before he’s crawling…if he doesn’t just skip that stage and start running instead!

Daylight savings time has thrown his clock off a bit.  As I type this he is “swimming” next to me, hands and legs flailing in excitement.  These days, he’s in love with his feet.  He has recognized the routine with diaper changes, so now he holds his little feet in the air for me in anticipation.  AND…he’s also discovered his you-know-what…so he makes a grab for it every chance he gets. 

In January, we went to the Butterfly Rainforest.  I promised some pics:

He was pretty tuckered out by the end of our visit, as you can see.

We also had a little photo shoot at church a few weeks back.  Baeron was part of the fall ‘08 baby crop.  So we got all four babies (and Mommies) together for some Valentine’s photos

In order from most hair...to least hair!

Angela and Baeron, Jessica and Charlotte, Christi and Gabby, Megan and Jared

And finally, I’ll leave you with my first attempt at a video upload…shot tonight just before I sat down to write this post.

Oh well…it didn’t work.  Til next time then!

]]> http://arogueangel.wordpress.com/2009/03/10/growing/feed/ 0 arogueangel dsc_03421 dsc_03461 dsc_0350 dsc_0362 dsc_0433 dsc_0043 dsc_0063 http://arogueangel.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/summer-camp/ http://arogueangel.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/summer-camp/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:42:40 +0000 Angela http://arogueangel.wordpress.com/?p=230 ]]>

Our friends from camp, the Russells, had little boy Brooks in December.  Since all of us have worked camp for the past several years, our babies have naturally been dubbed “Future FC Campers.”  So, the camp website has just been updated to announce their arrival and to display their readiness for camp!

Check out the pics (scroll down):

www.floridacollegecamp.com

So the truth is out.  After weeks of trying to catch him in the act, our little cub finally exposed himself.  For what felt like forever, he has swiftly and secretly performed the act twice while our backs were turned evading our heart’s desire.  Despite prompting with cheers and enticing with proper placement of favorite toys, our attempts to see Baeron perform his first victorious roll toward independence and freedom have been futile.  Even the great “Toots,” our infamous PT who recently informed us that, “he should be rolling over by now,” (thanks for the confidence booster Toots) only fanned the flame that burned within to see our boy roll.  “Roll baby, ROLL!!” I cried, but to no avail….That is, until today.  As of 4:27 on this 17th of February, 2009, I sound a new cry, “Roll on baby, ROLL ON!

Baeron has come up with a few slick maneuvers in the last week.

Trick #1 Back arching:

This past Friday at a friend’s home, I had set Baeron down in his car seat where he sat there happily watching the people talk as I resumed a conversation.  I would glance at him from time to time to see him observing, docile, with paci bobbing.  Well, after about 10 minutes, when I looked over at him, his feet where straight in the air!  I went over to pick him up and he arched his back for me, which sunk his chest even deeper into the seat where his bottom should go, thereby pushing his little legs further into the air.

Now he’s been arching his back ever since…anytime we unbuckle his carseat; sometimes when we put him in it; on the changing table–especially right before I fasten his Snappi on his diaper, lifting his bum out of the diaper I have just arranged and causing me to start over.  Apparently, he gave Gramma Reed some diaper trouble when she came to stay with him last Thursday…word on the street is that our wiggle-worm caused Gramma to prick herself with the Snappi–OUCH!  Dave and I noticed some weird brown stains on one of Baer’s diaper covers…wait a second…it’s blood!  We should have taken a picture of the casualty, but she’s probably glad we didn’t think to do so before we rinsed it off!

Here’s what a Snappi looks like, for the record:

Snappis!

Watch out--these things have teeth!

Trick #2: I don’t know what to call it!

I can smile OUTSIDE the paci too!

Aren't I clever?

And of course, as soon as I called David into the room to see it and we both laughed, Baeron would do it again and again and again…

I read recently that the 4-month old stage is also known as the “village idiot” phase–where everything is funny and babies are just goofy and giggly without a care in the world.  He’s not even 4 months yet, but I can see what fun lies just over the horizon!

……

And some recent pics:

Next time…pics from our trip to the Butterfly Rainforest–very sweet!

It has been much too long since our last post–this blog is harder to maintain than I thought it would be!  The Christmas holiday was great–so relaxing, festive, and comfortable being with family.  We spent Tuesday through Thursday lunch with the Reeds and then made it to Ocala for an extended family get-together with the Livingstons on Thursday afternoon.  We hung out in Ocala for a couple days, playing with Laura and Mackenzie’s Wii Fit, and enjoying our last holiday at the Miller homestead before the fam moves up to Tennessee.  It just won’t be the same. 

I’m still working on Dave to get him to make a post here every once in a while.  He’s the video man–got a ton of footage of Thanksgiving, some of Christmas, and most recently, a clip of Baeron enjoying his Baby Bungee Bouncer!  Yes, Baby Baer has finally grown into his bouncer and I must say that he’s much more fun now that he knows how to bounce around.  So cute!  I hope we get the video up soon.

Here are some pics from the past month:

Baeron says…c-ya later!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE shopping on the internet.  It saves time, offers a wider selection than in local stores, allows for quick and easy price comparisons and product reviews–what could be more satisfying for the savvy shopper?  It only made sense, then, for me to register for Baeron at one of my favorite online retailers: Amazon.

Besides getting to know and spend time with my squirmy little guy (!), nothing has been as much fun as getting baby gear in the mail!  I get so excited every time I hear that familiar rumble coming up the street, followed by the peal of brakes as the UPS truck stops outside our house.  Woohoo!  A package!  It’s like Santa-On-Demand.

Well, here is our latest acquisition, courtesy of our friend Ramona Johns, a fellow English teacher at UCHS.

Alright, let's check this thingy out!

Hmmm...not sure about those polka dots on my legs....this is mortifying!

I'm done now...get me outta here!

So, under the guise of buying gifts for Baeron, many of you have unsuspectingly purchased new toys for his parents!

Don’t worry about Baeron, though; we won’t leave him in that “Baby Bungee Bouncer”…he’s got a couple months yet before he can appreciate it as much as we do!

Our Thanksgiving was a little different this year.  Since we were married, we have alternated the time we spend with each family on Thanksgiving and Christmas day.  Thanksgiving gives only break enough to visit one family during the time off, while for Xmas we roadtrip it to see both sets.  Well, with a new baby in tow, we decided it would be fun (and much appreciated) for us to see both our families.

Baeron was adored and cooed at by all.  He watched Fox News with Tim (Papa), was rocked to sleep by Momma (NeeNee?), laughed at when he fussed with Michael (Grampa), and admired his own reflection with Jenny (Grandma?  Grammy?).  As you can see, we don’t really have the grandparent names down yet, but some say that the grandkids will choose the names with time…

Sorry Reeds for not having more pictures from our time with you…but we do have video footage, courtesy of aspiring videographer Davido…so we will tackle that fun project for a future post.  And Millers…we’ve got footage of you too, so watch out!

All in all, it was a wonderful time spent with family…now on to the Christmas whirlwind!