Teddy is causing trouble....Again

Well folks, after a long hiatus, the terrorizer of the Koalas Room is back.  We thought we had taught Teddy to be gentle and play with the others kids, but of course, we were wrong.  I came to pick him up on Thursday only to find out he had pushed all the other kids down, pinned one little girl down and pulled her hair and insisted on eating lunch with the teachers and not the other kids.  What are we going to do with this kid?  Apparently, he intends to prove that even if he is the youngest and smallest, he is going to try and be the alpha in the room.  Yikes!  (Yes, this sweet little face he gives you after he misbehaves does make it hard to punish him.)

Back story is that he is still the youngest toddler in the room but likes to "fit in" with the bigger kids.  I think when they don't do what he wants, he gets upset and does not really know how to express it except by being a bully to older and bigger kids??? <<>>  Then when his favorite teacher went to lunch, he apparently threw a tantrum (yes, he is learning from the older kids to throw a tantrum at 1 instead of 2, thanks) and insisted to go with her.  Then he ate her food, another teacher's food and got mad when they got in his view of the TV in the teacher's lounge.  (He does not watch TV with us, it may be on but he does not watch it.  Not sure what was on, maybe soap operas!)  I have no idea where he gets this from.....okay, maybe we do but I expected this later not at 1.  His personality is certainly developing early!  Needless to say, he was in TIME OUT again that day.  

In other news, the pediatrician diagnosed Teddy's Exorcist ways as severe reflux, so we have him on Prevacid, and so far, (crossing fingers and knocking on wood) it seems to be a big help.  He is eating and sleeping better (Praise Jesus!) and we are not having as many Exorcist re-enactions and spit up episodes. This is all after a rough two weeks of a cold that led to an ear infection while we were in Chicago (yes, we made him fly with an ear infection but in our defense, we had no idea it was an ear infection...).   Being the little trooper he is, he smiled through almost all of it (biggest exception to this was when we tried to give him the antibiotic, he would scream and spit it out all over us causing a huge dry cleaning bill).

Teddy is showing an early interest in golf, or at least, eating golf balls!

Teddy's First Birthday

Where, oh where, to begin.  You see, we have an incredibly spoiled child (what you thought that an only child of an only child could somehow not be spoiled...ummm, No).  Not only did the Tedster have a birthday party in daycare with his friends there, complete with cupcake mashing goodness, he had another family birthday party on Sunday.  It was a weekend of Teddy (I personally celebrate a week to month of my birthday, so Teddy has a ways to go).  My parents flew in to spend the weekend with us and praise Jesus they were here.  Poor Teddy came down with pinkeye on Thursday so he had to stay home on Friday (his actual birthday) with my parents as babysitters...dun dun dun.  They survived, barely!  He is a handful and into everything and lightening fast.  I think he had them on their toes!

But let me begin with the daycare party.  His beloved teacher, Miss Helena, made his grandparents a collage of all his fun at daycare.  It was a huge hit.  We brought down the cupcakes for him to share with his other buddies and they all had a lot of fun.  (Cupcakes are big business these days but these were good old gourmet Safeway specials.  The good stuff is to come.)  I took many photos and Teddy had a lot of fun.  He LOVES having people sing and clap for him (I think he just likes being the center of attention, but I mean he does have shy parents...okay, even I could not keep a straight face on that one.  A guy in the elevator the other day said it was a real shame I had such a shy son after Teddy spent the ride giving him high-fives and bahbahbahing to him.).

That night GrandNan and Papaw arrived and it was fun fun fun for Teddy.  He must have had the baby equivalent of a carnival with them.  It was presents galore and lots of attention.  We went to the park to play then we just let him run wild at the house (sugar rush I suppose).

In the middle of all this madness, Mommy ended up having to work some major hours and miss a lot of the fun.  Adrian, Teddy, GrandNan and Papaw went out to eat then took Teddy to the driving range (clearly I was missing from this escapade, I mean, I would NEVER choose to golf on a birthday).  It looks like they had a lot of fun.  Then on Saturday it was riding his new Choo Choo Train from Murad, Benedicte and Alexander, playing in the pool, going to the park to swing, getting all the love and attention that GrandNan and Papaw can muster, and playing with all his new toys.  We let him try some new foods, but like father like son, his favorite is fruit over chocolate (sometimes I question whether this is my actually my child, then I see the stretch marks and remember).  Probably the funniest story from Saturday was Mommy going to get the balloons for his party.  At his friend Jack's party the week before, Teddy stole Jack's balloons (literally, he tried to run away with them at the park, it was hilarious).  So I made sure to order some balloons for his party.  Problem that I did not consider was how to transport all these balloons in my car.  You see, Adrian took our SUV to Baltimore to his friends wedding (yay Jason and Michelle, mazeltov!) and left me with our little sporty coupe.  Umm, 40 balloons do NOT fit into a sporty coupe.  I seriously looked like a clown car, as I had them coming from every place possible and I had to drive like a granny home, plus had them hanging out of the trunk.  People were laughing and pointing at red lights...and I would have too, it was a sight.

Sunday was the big day of his Ferrari themed party.  Teddy was decked out in Ferrari gear thanks to his Auntie Viv and we were off to the races.  It was a super hot day, so we made sure to have everything outside of course.  (I figured if I had to endure having a 10 lb baby in August everyone can endure his birthday outdoors in August.)  We had a full speedway theme going on at the Azer estate on Mount Vernon Circle.  Teddy loved every minute of it, especially the singing, clapping and cake.  People showered him with love and spoiled him with many gifts!  We appreciate everyone sending us gifts, as Teddy has already tried them all out, and surprisingly the wrapping paper was not his favorite toy from the party (the cardboard however could be a close second).  It would not be an Azer family party without a story.  Needless to say, I made home with about 36 of the balloons I purchased and I made sure to keep them separated to get them to the party.  Guess who decided that they could just grab them all in one hand and try to shove them into our SUV???  Not naming names here <<cough cough Adrian cough cough>> but it was an unmitigated disaster.  They become almost hopelessly tangled and we could not get the doors shut to get to the party and try to untangle them there.  So, we spent about 30 minutes in our driveway untangling balloons while the neighbors laughed.  Now you know who to call when you need me to untangle your fishing lines, apparently I am an expert according to my Father (thank you hours and hours of prom decorating at JMS and LHS in the 90's!).

Thank you to everyone for helping us celebrate the Teddy Roo's first birthday!  Here are some photos of the event in a slide show.

Oh, yeah one more thing.  Someone though that Teddy needed a haircut.  I personally thought it could wait.  So someone just took our kitchen utility scissors and whacked at Teddy's hair cutting a gap.  I tried to fix it but I think we need a professional, when it grows out some.  Here is the evidence of the first cut before I tried to fix it....the guilty shall remain nameless <<Adrian>>.

A Letter to My Son from his Adoring Mother on the Occasion of his First Birthday

Today is your first birthday, congratulations son!  To say you have been a joy is an understatement and words cannot describe how much we love you.  You came into this world one year ago on a very hot and humid DC day.  Today was perfect; sunny, breezy and hot, but not too hot.  (I ordered the weather special delivery for you.)  You woke up this morning with a little pink eye and a bruise from that other child in daycare who bit you when you tried to take his toy, but neither one seemed to bother you.  We sang Happy Birthday to you at 6:30am and you clapped for yourself and gave us high-fives.  Your smiles were extra large and so were your hugs and kisses.  I treasure each one as if it was the first. 

You are such a delight to parent.  You rarely cry, unless I leave the room or punish you, which I rarely do.  You smile and blow kisses on cue, which delights even strangers.  You light up when I am picking you up each day and race over to give me love. I look forward to seeing you the moment you are out of my sight and I count down the minutes of each day until I pick you up. I love reading you stories and listening to you babble.  I dream up adventures to take you on, places to see, people for you to meet and love.  I take as many pictures as I can to embarrass you with later.  I tell and re-tell stories about your funny ways to anyone who will listen.  I imagine the man you grow to be and dream about the life you will lead. 

We will celebrate this weekend and take many photos for you to look back on and cherish.  We will delight in your antics with cake and frosting, laugh as you eat the wrapping paper and ignore your gifts, and sing as you clap for yourself.  You have changed our world, made us better and more loving, feeling people.  We cannot thank you enough for choosing us to be your parents.  You are gift from heaven; a little angel here on Earth. 

My love for you is as steep as the hill, as many grains as in the mill, as dry as the desert, as deep as the ocean, and as infinite as the stars. I love you as much as a mother can love.

Happy Birthday Teddy Azer, my precious baby boy!

In case you wonder where he gets it from

Don't look at me.....the evidence speaks for itself:

These are the moments

Sometimes I love a really cheesey song, you know the Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You," Celine's "My Heart Will Go On," Bette's "Wind Beneath My Wings," and the list could continue.  I make no apologies for liking basically easy listening music (it takes way too much time to like something that is outside the Top 40 for me, I mean, I barely have time to look at current events much less discover the coolest indie pop band).  Now with Teddy I try to sing to him (yeah, not an American Idol contestant but Teddy does not seem to mind, Adrian on the other hand, well, you know him, always making his preferences known) and have dance parties, both of which he loves.  It's amazing to watch children really connect to music and recognize songs and words when they are not able to be verbal. 

 

I also like photos and I like to take a million photos (not necessarily of me, because, well, that just ain't a pretty picture) but of Teddy, Adrian, family and friends.  (This probably stems from two things (a) the fire that burnt down my family home in 1999 and (b) Sandy Roberson and my love of her photos.)  I also want to be sure we have lots of photos to cherish for years to come (and probably embarrass Teddy and our other children with later).  There is also something unique about looking back at a photo and recalling why it was taken, the circumstances, and many times, the fun memories it captured. 

Recently, I have been following a blog about a little boy who was born the day before Teddy with cancer and I blogged then about how watching that struggle can give you perspective on life and your blessings.  He passed away last night a week shy of his first birthday that he would have celebrated with his twin next week.  I am again thinking today how blessed I am to share all these precious moments with Teddy and Adrian.  I can hardly believe he will be one year old next week and we will sing, laugh and celebrate the fun and joy he has brought to our lives.  I wish that I could bottle all this up and savor it.  I feel like it will not be long before he is running away from me at school or embarrassed that I am picking him up.  I want to acknowledge that he is a blessing, every friend we have is a blessing, our families are blessings and learning to appreciate these are the lasting legacies of Hudson and Declan.  Sometimes we all get caught up in work and other drama, but I am trying to appreciate that spending time with family is the most important thing we can do and we should do it more often.  I am excited to spend next weekend with my family to celebrate Teddy's birthday! I will post lots of pictures of the event, likely set to cheesey music ("Memories" anyone), and will likely sing an off-key voice to him "Happy Birthday"!  All of this will be to create a memory in photos and video for Teddy that he can watch later and appreciate all the love and joy he brings.  Children really change your perspective and I LOVE that mine has changed.  Teddy Azer has changed my world for the better and made me a better person (I hope) than I was before.  I have never laughed as hard, cried as much or worried more than I do now but being a parent is the best thing to happen to us and we love every minute and every tear. 

P.S. Thank you again to everyone who reads this blog!  You can become a follower if you want so I will know how to tailor the content, as I know not everyone is family.  But I appreciate you reading and welcome you into our universe--it's a wild ride but we are loving every minute of it!

My Grandma Lillian

Now that I have a child I want to share him with everyone (which is maybe why I started a blog, with the added side effect that our children (yes, Adrian, plural) will have a record of their beginnings).  For some reason that is somewhat unexplainable I started missing my Grandma Lillian.  It brought me to tears to think about how she is missing out on Teddy and just thinking about how much she would have loved to see him.  Instead of reading bedtime stories last night, I told Teddy stories about her and all the things I could remember doing with her as a child. I thought it might be best to relay some of those here for him to treasure later.

If you know me, then you know I LOVE TV, especially reality TV.  It has been said that today's reality TV is the new soap opera, and for years, I have LOVED soap operas.  I grew up on a little Y&R, Days of our Lives, Another World, Santa Barbara, Passions, and probably some others I am forgetting.  I can also remember my Dad telling me how these will make me dumb and dumber and now Adrian repeats the same thing about my reality TV shows (peas of a pod I tell you).  Well, I like to think of it as an homage to Grandma.  You see, Grandma was another loyal and devoted soap opera watcher.  When she was babysitting me, I could not even ask for something during her "stories" because they were on and she had to know what would happen next (as if the cheating, lying, killing, reincarnating, kidnapping, and weddings would change in a days time).  So of course, at the tender age of 4, I was hooked.  But then, sometimes I had another babysitter who watched different stories than my Grandma and I got addicted to those more than Grandma's.  We only had 1 TV in our house at that time (can you even imagine a time when a house only had 1 TV?) and given my age, I was not going to be in control of that remote.  I began to whine and make Grandma miss part of her stories.  She told my parents that if she was going to keep babysitting me, I had to have my own TV to watch my stories while she watched hers....and my parents capitulated.  So at the age of 4 I had my very own TV.  I will always be grateful to Grandma for that!

Grandma, at least by the time she was taking care of me, was not so into cooking.  I cannot really blame her, given she had 9 children of her own, plus helped raise several of the 30+ grandchildren she had.  At that time, there was a restaurant in town called Woody's.  Grandma and I would walk there (she did not drive, not because she couldn't, she just did not like it.  I too prefer to be chauferred and also attribute this to Grandma), eat whatever we wanted and charge it to Daddy (and by charge I don't mean on a credit card, I mean they actually would just run a tab and send you the bill at the end of the month).  It was great because I was a super heavy kid (some things never change) and Grandma would let me eat whatever I wanted; burgers, fries, milkshakes, etc.  It was always so much fun with her.

For years Grandma had 2 jobs:  she worked at the public library and wrote a column in our local newspaper.  For a woman without a high school diploma, she certainly had a way with words.  I used to love getting a card from her, reading it as if it were a novel and thinking how special I was to have a card from her.  She also taught me a love of books.  I can remember going to the library and reading and reading and reading, which I also attribute to my mother. They both would encourage me to read, and even as much as I read for work, I still love to read a book for pleasure.  I also take a special joy in reading to Teddy and eveytime I am near a bookstore, I buy him another book.  There is something special about owning books and it makes me think of Grandma and my mother everytime.

Grandma had a sharp tongue and did not mince her words.  (I know, I know, apple does not fall far from the tree.)  It was always funny to see what she would say.  I remember the day I was leaving for college and we stopped to stay with her.  She was so proud of me.  Towards the end of her life, she and Aunt June would come to Jonesville for a couple of weeks at a time to stay with my Mom.  Aunt June and I spent one of these trips canning a bunch of vegetables from the garden.  Even though Grandma was not really able to help, she still "directed" us on the finer points and made her preferences known.

When she passed away in February of 2004, Aunt June (blessed saint who took care of Grandma for years through many illnesses) found some really neat things I had forgotten that I sent Grandma.  She had a letter where I met this author and I wrote her that even though I liked interviewing the author, I wanted to be an attorney (I went wrong very early on you see).  She kept that letter for almost 20 years and I have no idea why, but I am so glad she did.

I said at Teddy's Christening how much I missed her but that I knew she was still working her magic.  She was truly a special lady, instrumental in my life and in so many memories of my childhood and early adulthood.  Love you Grandma!

Teddy is a Chipmunk

People always ask me if the name Teddy is short for Theodore.   As you all know, it is short for T. Edward Azer (I know, I know, I said I would never use a middle name as the name in use but what can I say?  It adds character!), and truth be told, I liked the name Theodore but Adrian used his veto power over that one.  It's too bad that he did because I think Teddy is really that cute little green chipmunk that is friends with Alvin.   We are working with Teddy on solids and I find that he hides food in his cheeks, just like a chipmunk.  The other day he spit out a piece of apple that we had fed him from about 3 hours earlier and he had eaten since that time as well.  So weird.  Today I found blueberry way after he ate it. Teddy also likes to eat his food then spit it out, apparently all the almost 1 year old babies are doing that this season, its the newest trend.

We had a fun playdate with Alexander.  Here is a photo:

We also jinkxed ourselves and of course the one weekend Adrian is supposed to be away is the one weekend that Teddy gets sick.  Even the doctor was not sure exactly what it was (maybe coxsackie again) but it was enough to make a miserable weekend without Daddy worse.  Then Daddy came home sick.  Truly, this was a weekend to avoid this Azer family but we made the best of it.

Here is a question to ponder:  why can't babies be born with teeth already partially in so that this whole teething thing could be avoided?