Under The Weather

Despite the sunny, warm temperatures we've been having, The Dude is under the weather. He officially has his first cold. Snarfely nose, sore throat... the works.
But, as can be expected, he is handling it with Dude-like style. Taking it all in stride. The Dude abides.
We'll be back soon with more (un-sick) Adventures of The Dude....

Word to Your Momma

How can Momma not be so smitten?

Thank you Dude for coming into our lives and oozing Dudeness. We love you.

7 months (+ 1 day)

We feel like we've been watching one of those time-lapse videos where the hands on the clock spin around and around, super fast... you know the one...

Our Little Dude is not so little anymore. He is changing so much every day. For instance, yesterday he figured out how to shake his head back and forth (like he is saying "no"), and now it is his favorite thing to do, EVER. He is sitting up, pretty well... he still needs the occasional Mama interference from the floor, but he's getting it. Most days he can roll both ways (front to back & back to front), and he's practicing getting up onto his knees, but only in his crib - at night.

He still loves food, and has so far eaten sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, peas, pears, and the beloved prunes. Oh, how he loves the prunes. The hands start moving fast from side to side whenever he realizes it's time to eat. Ah, just like his Mama.

Our hearts melt whenever he smiles, which he does often. He is really a happy Dude. Just recently he started giving "kisses", which means slobbering all over your face and chewing on your nose... now THAT gets us every time.

Over the Rockies - Part 2

Looking back over The Dude's recent adventures, we realized that we never told the complete story of our trip to Colorado. We left out the whole second half! Must have been all that altitude, but we could have sworn that we wrote a long soliloquy about how we left Colorado Springs and drove up to Boulder (in the beautiful snow!), went to Gram's cute little apartment, had the best Mexican food EVER and introduced The Dude to so many new family members his head was spinning! It was definitely a chock full 2 1/2 days.
A few highlights from the second half:
-Gram holding and squeezing Owen for the first time.
Needless to say, she LOVED him.

-The Mini Reunion at Kevin & Sam's place (Thanks guys!) where Owen was introduced to cousins, Great Aunts, and Great Great Aunts - oh, AND Jules. Whom we will not soon forget... we have a feeling that he will teach The Dude a few things in life. Like, How to Rock!

-Walking the mall on Pearl Street. We got to introduce The Dude to all the wondrous places where his Papa and his Auntie hung out in college, take in the glorious sunshine and again eat the BEST Mexican food ever.

All in all, it was a really nice trip. It was good for all of us to get a change of scenery, reconnect with where we (Papa) came from, and prove to ourselves that we've got a pretty good thing going here with our little family.

VIDEO!

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you the most recent video of The Dude. He's now 6 (almost 7) months old, believe it or not (and we realize that we neglected to post his most recent stats... BAD parents), and is changing faster than we can say "Schnikey!".
He is practicing mastering the art of sitting.
And he is also practicing his pronunciation.

Check it:

Over the Rockies

Sir Owen flew like a bird, over the great Rocky Mountains, and he did it with Dude-like style. We have to admit we were a little bit nervous... would we end up being "those people" on the airplane with the screaming baby, fending off the glares and whispered comments? But as always, The Dude took the whole thing in stride - from getting up before the sun (that wasn't too out of sorts for him), to the security check, to taking off. Within minutes of leaving the runway he fell fast asleep. And even when we started our descent, we worried about hurting ears and screams of pain - nothing. Drool out of the corner of his mouth.


After too long at the rental car office, we headed towards Colorado Springs. Just a short ride and a stop at the burger joint later, we arrived at Great Grammy's cute little pad. Auntie A, Uncle S and our dear Nora were awaiting our arrival as well.



Of course, Grammy outdid herself. She had dinner ready in no time and then breakfast the next morning, showed us around her great little neighborhood, told us stories of the family history and made us feel right at home.
The visit went by too fast, and it made us all feel sad to drive away that next afternoon.
We promised Owen that we would be back for a visit sometime very soon.

The Great Grandma Tour 2008

Hello All!

My, what a busy 4 weeks it's been! The Dude has traveled near and far, by car and airplane, met all of his Great-Grandmothers and saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time. We're still reeling from it all, trying to regain "the groove" of every day and sorting thru photos.

We have lots of stories to tell, and will do so soon...
so stay tuned.