Vacation all I ever wanted, Vacation had to get away



Family Photo at Budd and Alley's in Seaside



Folks we just had an amazing vacation to Destin/Seaside, Florida.  (For those of you who remember, this is also where Adrian and I got married.  Such a great place!) We coordinated with our families to meet us there for various points in time of the trip and it was so wonderful to have everyone there to spend time.  Time is so precious and capturing all of that together is just awesome and reminds me a lot of my childhood vacations with the Robersons, weekends at the lake with family and friends (the Faiz's, the Roberson, the Adams family and many more), and travelling to other places with friends' families.  I hope to continue this tradition in some way for Teddy because so many great memories come from these wonderful vacations.  (Consider this your invitation to join us on our next trip, we love having people and Teddy loves going with friends.)



Teddy's first time seeing the ocean



The Ocean:

Teddy loved the ocean, I mean, he could not find enough waves to hit him.  (By the way, this was his first time seeing the ocean and when he first saw he signed and said "wahter" and just marveled at how much water there was out there.  I love seeing him experience things for the first time because its almost as if I am seeing them for the first time too.)  We would have a wave hit us just to hear him laugh hysterically and say (and sign) "mohr, mohr" and it delighted me to no end.  He also thought that the sand should go back in the ocean, so he diligently tried to put it all back in the ocean. 

My Awesome Husband:

Adrian is great with Teddy and Teddy adores his Dada.  I love watching my husband with my child and I love watching my son react to his Father.  The more Adrian tickles Teddy the more he laughs and he asks for "mohr" or "agan" and Adrian obliges every time.  It is hard for Adrian to pass by a toy store without finding something that Teddy "needs" or "must have."  Teddy is a very lucky boy indeed.

My Amazing Parents:

Being an only child, I knew that my parents would totally spoil Teddy the same way they spoiled me (I can admit it).  I love watching them read to Teddy, laugh with Teddy and do all the fun things I remember them doing with me.  Given that we don't see them as often, I am really grateful for the concentrated time we do get to spend with them and the spoiling they give Teddy.  Teddy totally eats it up!

The Gracious Azers:  

We get to see a lot of the Azers, except Auntie Viv who is a New Yorker, because we all live within a 10 mile radius but nothing compares to quality time at the beach with your cousins, your aunts, your uncles and your Grandparents.  All equally good at spoiling Teddy, it was fun to have that time together, as well.  One day we will all bring out the photo of Teddy and Jesse in the Pink Barbie Cadillac at the worst time for them and appreciate that we had this time together.  (And we will probably also equally marvel at how precious Teddy and Auntie Viv are in the same power wheel car!)

The Super Fun Matars:

The Matars have always been especially good at having fun with Teddy, from "teaching" him about yellow Coca-Cola (aka Johhnie Walker) to his first Pumas, Teddy loves all the Matars.  Magdi was hilarious tickling Teddy and making him laugh while Alex (Awhlex) became Teddy's newest best friend.  We cannot wait to have more time with the Matars and watch them trick Teddy into laughing more.

Life is certainly what you make it, and I love this life I have made.  We cannot wait to get to Jonesville for the 4th to celebrate with more family there and enjoy each other's company.  Time is truly the most precious commodity and I am grateful that we had this amazing vacation so rich in time with family and friends. 

On a different note, it does look like we are going to have to go with an endoscopy for Teddy to get to the bottom of the reflux issues.  While I am scared for this procedure, I am grateful that we may get an answer.  (And I am also in awe of parents of really sick kids and have a new found admiration for them because I am not sure how they find that strength to do this day in and day out.  I am holding fast to the idea that God will not give me more than he knows I can handle and I am grateful that Adrian is here to handle this with me.) 

Dancing in Baytowne

Playing with Daddy

Riding the Horsey in Baytowne

Pawpaw telling a Story

Adding back the sand one handful at a time

Checking out the awpwanes with Daddy

Feeling Sand for the first time

Quality Time with Daddy

Riding along with Auntie Viv

Riding with Faith







Just Floating Along

 

Quiet and Shy



Teddy honking at the neighbors in Daddy's
not so quiet and shy supped up Subaru



This week I had the first (of many to come) parent teacher conferences at Teddy's preschool.  Needless to say, I was nervous because I had no idea what they were going to tell me but I was sure it would include the words "wild" and "loud."  (Sidenote, anyone who knows me will tell you that I am the worst about reviews of any sort.  I literally freak out about them, imagine scenarios where I am getting fired, etc but then they usually turn out okay.  I call this my pessimistic optimism because if I prepare myself for the worst then anything seems better.  Weird, I know.)  So I was settled in with his teacher and imagine my surprise when she told me that Teddy was generally a (and I quote) "quiet child"---seriously.  I literally had to ask her to repeat that because the Teddy we know is anything but quiet.  As we were running down a list of things, most were accurate of him: Does he run? Yes. Does he climb the walls? Umm, Yes. Does he draw? Yes.  Then we got to language and there were some No's.  Miss Lizette told me that they had not ever really heard Teddy use more than a couple of vocabulary words at school but that he says "Please" a lot. (Well, I have to sort of be proud of that, I mean at least he is polite.)  I was shocked and I began to rattle off the words he used in the car with me that morning and then I asked if he sings the songs, etc. Apparently, he gestures a lot and says "please" to get what he wants but does not use the words he knows to ask for them.  She also told me that is likes projects, particularly art projects, and is always the first at the table for art project time (which as I told you last week explains why we have so many pieces of art).  Are you a quiet brooding artist here Teddy?  Because at home you are a rock and roll hotel crashing kind of musician--quite the juxtaposition!

Now, I am probably too smart for my own good in some ways, because every time I tell my mother something, she says not to worry about it.  I take it that this is common amongst others experiences with their baby boomer parents because I literally worry about everything and have to explain to my mom why things they did are no longer accepted practices (e.g. infants on their backs, blankets, etc).  And darn that Google for being so easy to access information because I no more than got to work on Wednesday than I was looking up everything I could on Teddy being so "quiet" at school.  I bet you know this story, you read too much, freak yourself out even more, then you really start to panic.  So I did what I think every parent often does: I called the pediatrician.  We are really fortunate that they have a Developmental Specialist who called me back and gave me the second piece of shocking news:  Teddy is just "Shy."  Again, I could not have been more shocked than if she had told me that he was a girl instead of a boy.  (There is some sort of phenomenon, possibly related to his reflux issues, where some children are generally non-verbal in large social settings but are engaged/learning and having a good time.  The example she gave me was that 30 kids go to a playground but only 29 play but all 30 sets of parents report that their child told them they had a good time at the playground.)  So he has this shyness/self-consciousness that he only expresses himself in small groups or at home, which explains why his teachers thought he did not have an extensive vocabulary and why we are amazed at just how many words he has (and that would be 57 at the moment, because yes folks, I made a chart of every word that we could think of that he knows and says on his own).  The specialist told me he will grow out of it and that to those who have not heard him speak it will seem as though he suddenly started talking with a huge vocabulary (the whole, once the spigot is on it will be on phenomenon) but that we will probably not notice a huge difference. 

So thank you Teddy Azer for continually surprising us with your mysteries.  Quiet and shy are not words that I would have used to describe you but it seems you may have more than one side to your personality.  We are amazed by all the words you know and I bet Miss Lizette will be too once you finally share them with her.  One day when you are just babbling on and on driving me nuts (because I hear that the "why" phase will come soon enough) I am going to come back to this post and reminisce about my quiet and shy child.

Baby I'm Amazed by You

While the title of this post may be a country song (yes, I am a sucker for country and I will go to the mat with anyone on how this is the new classic rock/Jimmy Buffet genre of country, but I will also take some good old Bluegrass any day and it is the music genre that Teddy prefers, so what can I say), it also accurately describes the stage I am in with Teddy now.  I am just so amazed everyday by all the things he is learning and doing.  Out of no where a new word will appear or a new combination of words and I just look at him in amazement (and I am still waiting on him to come out with some curse words because no one is totally censoring themselves...yet).  This morning he told us he wanted (yes WANTED) to "pee-pee in da pahty" so we let him do it (um, mind you he likes to also divert the stream which is another issue altogether) but we have not even asked/forced him about potty training but given he is asking, we decided to encourage it.  (I have to admit that this whole thing makes me really uncomfortable and I am not sure how I will survive certain other parts of having a boy....)

I can really tell that being in a more structured environment like pre-school is helping him too.  His lesson last week was on air transportation and this week on land transportation.  Now all I hear about are "aihpwanes," "twucks," and "twactors."  We drive down the road and must discuss every single twuck we see and, guess what, on 495 an 395 that equals a lot of trucks to discuss.  He also knows the sounds that each of these make so its a lot of "vrooms" as well.  Watching a child learn vocabulary is truly amazing and I am starting to think we need to put him in foreign language classes now to help him gain another while he is a sponge.  The Zoo was especially fun, with him making the sounds he knows, plus just being mesmerized by the animals and refusing to leave them.  There is a Sandra Boynton book that he knows, almost by heart, and I can tell because I try to trick him but he knows what is supposed to come next in Moo, Baa, La La La.

Teddy is also unnaturally strong for a child his age (his teachers told us this too and now I know what they meant).  At Gymboree there is a wooden dolly for pulling kids around.  Teddy decided that he wanted to pull the dolly and his friend Anna around today.  I tried to help me and he literally came over and smacked my hand away.  He pulled her all around the room, which is fairly large.  I like to encourage these things because (a) they wear him out and (b) it gives him such a sense of accomplishment.  I just wish he felt the same way about picking up his toys!  Apparently, his teacher told Adrian that Teddy needed projects or he gets in trouble, so they give him lots of projects apparently, which explains why we have 2-3x more artwork than other cubbies at the end of the week.

Another thing Teddy is doing is engaging everyone around him, and yes, he will do things until you notice him.  His Auntie Vivien will indulge him and here is a video of them having an epic hide and seek game.

You have my child in a Grocery Cart...on the Street?

The Easter Bounty

Egg Hunting

Well folks, April showers brought many things to the Azer household:  fresh Spring flowers, mosquito's, allergies and GrandNana and Pawpaw.  Yes, my parents came for an Easter visit and we had so much fun.  They decided to keep Teddy home for 2 days (brave folks) and I decided to laugh while they did it.  But in reality, they had so much fun and I am pretty sure that my Mom has not done that much laundry in quite a while (in fact, I think she was wishing that Deb and Bev had come up with them to help clean up after Teddy).  So in true GrandNan fashion, she brought so many fun Easter things for Teddy that we had to space it all out so he was not overwhelmed.  We had 3 Easter egg hunts, 4 Easter egg baskets and so much candy that Teddy almost became the Tasmanian Devil several times.  (GrandNan and Pappaw were both so worn out from the first day with Teddy that they both went to sleep right after Teddy did...at 8:30.  I tried to warn them, but you know, you have let people learn for themselves.)

On Good Friday, I took a holiday and stayed home as well, which of course meant that it would rain and ruin our plans to go back and visit the Zoo.  So we had an indoor Easter egg hunt, then we got outside to play, picked up some of the basement, organized the closets and made Pawpaw babysit (seriously, he was a good babysitter).  For some reason, we thought it would be fun to go to Old Town (which was pretty much underwater at this point from all the rain) for a seafood dinner.  And we somehow got the time wrong for the opening of the restaurant, so we stood, in the rain, for 30 minutes waiting on them to open.  (The food is good, not wait in the rain for 30 minutes good, but good.  Not sure what we were thinking except that the $1 Oyster Happy Hour sucks us in every time.)  How could I forget our run-in with the Easter Bunny?  You see, in theory, Teddy likes the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause but when its time for me to leave him with these people for a photo....well, you have seen the results.  (We had to keep him from running to the Easter Bunny while we were in line but the minute I walked away for him to take the picture...disaster.  Not even sitting there with him was good enough.  Maybe next year.)

Saturday was another fun day, with Adrian and Daddy planning to go golfing, except, yes, you guessed it, rain in the morning.  I was running some errands and my parents called me to see if I could pick them up from Mt. Vernon Ave, our little neighborhood main street.  I was right there so of course I did.  And you will not guess what I found when I did, okay, I see that the title of the post gave it away.  That is right.  They had found an abandoned grocery cart that someone had taken and, yes, they were pushing it down Mt. Vernon Ave. with Teddy as if it was a normal buggy.  I seriously almost died on the spot.  Then I was laughing so hard at them I could not stop laughing.  Only my parents would think that is normal and do that in a city.  (I was also thinking Thank God none of my neighbors are here to see this spectacle.)  I did not have a camera but what a picture that would have been.  Oh Teddy, if you only knew son, if you only knew.



THE LAWN MOWER



That night we had an Easter celebration at Uncle Rida's, which is where Teddy met his new best friend....the Lawn Mower.  I am not sure how man and machines build such strong bonds but Teddy and Jesse decided to argue over the Lawn Mower all night long.  Teddy was no longer interested in egg hunts with his cousins, eating a gorgeous meal prepared by Auntie Val or even playing with his Mama and Dada.  Nope, that boy wanted to mow grass all night long....seriously.  You would have thought that I was beating him the way he cried when I had to take the mower away--big, cries, screams and hitting, biting and kicking.  So Teddy will have fun later when I assign him the chore of mowing our lawn and I will refer back to this day to point out that he owes me this one.



Adrian as the Boat



We finished up Easter with church, where I told the poor woman in the nursery that she can page me and I will come deal with him, she told me that she had a 15 year old boy and not to worry.  I doubted her but decided they could page me...well, no pages, but when it came time for pickup, Teddy was screaming (as in so loud, I knew it was him from down the hall).  She said he started when other kids were leaving (which I believe because that Teddy does not like to be left-seriously, is he already trying the abandonment guilt because I thought this would wait several years) and that he was "all over the place" the entire time.  Shocker!  Then we went to Baka and PopPop's, where guess what, Uncle Nigel bought Teddy his very own lawn mower.  And guess what, he has barely let go of it since then, in which case he has only replaced it with "bahbubles" because, yes, he is also obsessed with bubbles.  (We must play bubbles in the bath every night for several minutes and then we must pop all the bubbles in the bath.  You can imagine how long this takes and why I have considered the elimination of BUBBLE BATH but I think I enjoy his laughter too much to do that...yet.)

Teddy also has a new couple of friends in the neighborhood.  That's right, he is besties with all the dogs near our house.  Once we pull into our driveway, he starts yelling for Chase, the next door neighbor's dog, who obliges us every time and brings Chase over to play with Teddy.  And across the street we have Chance, who loves Teddy as much as Teddy loves him.  His owner, Pam, told me that Chance makes her stop in front of our house to see if Teddy will come out.  They are true buddies and its so fun to watch Teddy (but not fun enough to make me want to buy a dog for him...).  We also use Chase and Chance as bribery materials..."eat one more bite then we can go outside and look for Chase,"  "stop screaming and we can go out front to look for Chance," and my favorite "Chase would not like it that you are acting this way."  Ahh yes, bribery, the tool of parents for generations. 

We had a fabulous Easter and we are now the proud owners of a new lawn mower for Teddy. 

I am not sure what the next adventure is but I am excited to see it (or hear it). 

My way or the highway

Teddy in Time Out...he looks very affected.

Regular readers know that our little Teddy has a penchant for climbing and being in Time Out.  He has mastered these skills, along with spotting "woof woofs" and "bahbeez".  I had a conversation with his preschool teacher about Teddy and these were her exact words "he is a strong willed child; if he does not get what he wants, you will hear about it."  Hmm....I resemble that remark!  So I have to say he comes by it honestly, I mean, he has 2 parents who are both so "strong willed" that everything becomes a debate--everything, I mean to the point where often because neither side will give on a restaurant location we end up eating canned soup "to prove a point" to the other one.  "Strong willed" is such an interesting choice of words too because that is supposed to be a nice way of saying headstrong or spoiled (or perhaps, something worse?), which hey, those are probably true, but I guess "strong willed" is a nicer way to put that to parents.  Teddy is definitely going to let you know when he is not happy with your plan.  He has also mastered crying on demand, with tears I might add, so you can just go ahead and expect that right after the word "No" comes out of your mouth, in fact, expect it with with the first part of "nnh" that comes out of your mouth.  But then it's so funny when he knows he has done something wrong, and he you can say "do you need a timeout" and this little shy guy emphatically shakes his head "no, no, no" and tries to smile sweetly.  This is how they get you I think--lull you in with their sweet, deceptive ways just to get their way.  MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY for sure.  I definitely walked into preschool to pick him up and caught him climbing up the radiator to the window again...seriously, this kid is determined.  He will even wait until he thinks you are not looking to try it again.  He also tries this cute new thing of doing something wrong but stopping or putting the no-no back before I can get to him.   Apparently in his world, that means no punishment.....

Hugging Alexander

Which brings me to the other greatest thing to happen lately--our basement is finally finished.  After a couple months of work and some "strong willed" parties negotiating about the carpet, it is all finally ready. (Carpet is such a mystery to me and I was shocked at how expensive carpet can be, but here is one area where I refuse to spend money and Adrian is all about doing it "right"--give me my Gucci any day over nice carpet, who is really going to notice?)   It is a kid heaven--toys, more toys, toys, closets, rooms to explore, toys and a train table.  Teddy loves it and will "demand" to go to the basement, and he has figured out how to turn the doorknob but not that you have to turn and pull simultaneously, thank goodness.  (He has also figured out how to break the child-proof locks on the cabinets, and I read the package to see what it says about this and note that the package says that these are not child proof but that they are merely a deterrent...touche.)  We have had a few playdates with friends to break in the basement and it has been a real hit.  Our neighbor loved it so much, he declared he would just stay with us but his parents thought he should maybe come home.  (In fact, his Mother told me that he talks bout it constantly and every time we see him he asks to come over--too cute!)

Hugging Baby Enoch

I am glad to report that we have (knock on wood) made some progress in the hitting and sharing departments.  He now wants to give everyone hugs, even if they don't want one, he gives them one.  He is also becoming a little bit better about sharing, but only with toys he is no longer interested in playing with, because you best believe that if you are playing with something he wants, he will stalk you and throw a tantrum until he gets that toy.

"Hiding" in the Basement Closet

We are still working on the reflux/allergy issues.  It looks like an endoscopy will be necessary to figure this all out.  I have a new respect and admiration for parents of children with serious medical issues-beyond the emotionally draining aspects of having a sick baby, it is physically and mentally exhausting.  We should all donate to St. Jude's more often, because I am here to tell you, there is nothing worse than having a sick baby that you cannot help.  (I think its the feeling of helplessness that leads to the feeling of failure that is also such an exhausting part of the journey.  Some days I am so consumed by worrying about him, reading Pediatric GI journals and other Internet research that I am not sure how I can focus on anything else.  I imagine other parents feel that same way and just wear themselves out.)

 We are looking forward to Easter and to GrandNan and PopPop coming to visit.  It will be a celebration visit for GrandNan, as we toast her completing the requirements to obtain her Ed.D and officially become Dr. Wandaleen Adams.  We are so proud and cannot wait to celebrate!

Mommy is 32 today

Well, what can I say, today is my birthday.  I am 32 years old.  I am the wife to a wonderful husband and the mother of a beautiful boy.  I am not sure I could really ask for much more at this point. 

I am not sure if I knew what 32 would be about but it began early this morning with Teddy not feeling great and accidentally head butting me (luckily, no fat lip for me).  But all that snuggling and cuddling made up for that.  My day was full of flowers, Facebook birthday wishes, emails, calls and cupcakes. 

I used to think that being in my 30's would be this crazy time of nothing but work and I have to say that I am truly glad it is more about family and less about work (which is not to say that sometimes work does not win, sadly, but I have bills to pay right?). My 10 year college reunion is this year and I am shocked at (a) how fast 10 years have gone by and (b) that only 10 years have gone by.  Some days I feel like just yesterday I was at the Biltmore and Coupe's with the Chi O's having drinks, and then other days, I cannot fathom that I was getting ready for Xanadu and FoxField and all the other fun Spring UVA activities.  Life is crazy that way, kind of like when you have a newborn, you cannot see the end of the tunnel to know how quickly sleep is coming and then you cannot even recall how bad it was when they are 6 months old. 

I am so lucky to be a momma to Teddy, wife to Adrian, daughter of Roger and Wandaleen, niece and cousin to many.  I am grateful and blessed by all my friendships and humbled by their love. 

Thanks to everyone for a perfect day!  And to Teddy, please know that you are the joy of my life and the light in my eyes!  I love you so and every birthday I have shared with you has been the better than the rest. Love you Teddy Roo! 

Spring is in the Air

The first 2011 Cherry Blossoms

I would be lying if I did not say that Spring is one of my favorite times of the year, especially here in DC (actually, Charlottesville probably beats out DC in my mind (and memory) but the Cherry Blossoms definitely gives DC a boost).  Besides it being my birthday season (and I LOVE my birthday, your birthday, any birthday, because let's face it, I ain't a girl who turns down cake), it's a season of color, blooming flowers, fresh smells, warm weather--I mean it has it all in my book.  As I have written about before, Teddy loves being outdoors, and I am not exaggerating.  He will put his coat on (and his snow hat oddly enough) and beg you to take him outside, going as far as grabbing the keys and trying to unlock the door for us to get outside.  (I am not kidding--he apparently does it all day at school as well and they go out 2x a day, so he is just dying to get outside and look for puppies.  Seriously, he is obsessed with puppies and, no, we are not getting one any time soon.  He knows which neighbors have dogs and will go looking for them and their puppies.  Our neighbor Pam and has this beautiful Brittany Spaniel that he will walk over and knock on her door to beg her to bring that puppy out.  I swear, people are just so nice to him and it's spoiling him!)

Teddy taking his big boy steps at the Jefferson Memorial

We are also blessed to live in a city and area that believes in playgrounds and there are a ton of them all around.  We tend to frequent those close to us and Teddy LOVES the swings.  He cried today because we had to leave and he had to stop swinging.  (We would buy one for our house but no good trees; GrandNan already thought of that one.)  He is also into climbing.  Now I am not sure I can blame Gymboree for this, given that I signed him up for it and I encourage the behavior there, but he is trying to climb EVERYWHERE.  I came to pre-school to pick him up the other day and heard the Miss Shirley telling him to go to time-out (which, even funnier now, is that I can ask him if he needs and time out and he will respond "yes" because he knows he has been bad).  When I asked her what he did, she told me he tried to climb up the radiator to get on the window ledge.  I mean really?  Is this what I have created with Gymboree?  I had no idea that signing him up for Gymboree would lead to his future as a the Time-Out King, but I think everyone has a talent.....(if you turn your head for a moment, he is climbing and now trying to jump--he jumped off of our bed the other day, thankfully onto a pillow on the floor, but he has No Fear and a twinkle in his eye when he does it....SCARY).  I would be remiss if I did not report his biggest milestone, which is taking "big boy" steps all by himself.

Teddy and his cousin Faith

Those of you who have spent any amount of time with Teddy know that we will warn you about his Exorcist qualities.  He is known to just puke out of no-where and then go on about his business.  Well, Mommy finally reached her breaking point with The Exorcist (especially when he was losing weight and not eating, I mean, you all know me, I am not a girl who orders a salad on a date, so having a child that does not eat just baffles me, especially when he weighed 10lbs at birth) and I took matters into my own hands.  Yes folks, I called a specialist without a referral (I know, so bold and brazen).  I just decided to follow my mother's intuition and call a Peds Gastroenterologist after talking with an adult Gastroenterologist who is a friend (actually it was his wife, but I also count her as a GI specialist).  Anyway, long story short is that Teddy does have a more serious issue (not too serious, but not a "he will eventually grow out of it just wait it out" type of thing).  It turns out The Exorcist may be allergic to DAIRY, which again, also baffles me.  This is a kid who LOVES Cheese (brie, in fact) and loves his milk, so having to switch him to the amino acid $50 a can formula was painful, but so far, we are seeing a huge difference (as in actually eating a lot of food, multiple times a day).  Still some Exorcist episodes but those appear to be reflux associated, which we also need to get under control.  Bottom line is that my boy had gained some weight at his 18 month checkup, which was great news.  (24lbs (and change), 31" to be exact).  Now get this, his head is huge at 19", which apparently puts him in a very high percentile for head circumference.  Too funny that we have a little pumpkin head!

Not to be outdone by the ladies, Teddy is also talking up a storm.  Words like "butter" and "mustard" randomly come out but we love it.  He sings a lot too which is also funny.  And you better clap for him when he sings and dances because my boy thinks that this world revolves around his actions (no jokes here please).

Teddy and "The Tourist"

Aunt Linda also visited us and Teddy had a great time visiting with her, pulling her all around the restaurant to ask every other diner if he could sit with them.  (Today at the Jefferson Memorial he randomly walked up to a tourist and asked for him to pick him up.  (Dude was speaking another language before switching to broken English which is why I am calling him a tourist.)  The gentleman obliged and loved it.  So funny to have such a social little man and not totally unsurprising.  Then this other woman wanted him to blow her a kiss and he was not into her.  He just waved and said "bye bye".)  We were at Alexander Mahmood's first birthday party and Teddy was the oldest little man there, loving every second of his younger sycophants.  He is obsessed with baby's and wanted to hug Baby Lyla constantly, which both scared her mother and me.  He then gave little Miss Sophia her first kiss, which gave her Father his first heart attack.

The joys of parenthood are just an embarrassment of riches.  I revel in it everyday and love the whole process.  Adrian and I are truly blessed.