Yar-tide Greetings

Here is Alexander on Christmas morning, tearing open a couple presents at home.



Then we went to grandma and grandpa’s. (Of course, we had to change into a Christmas outfit first. Grandma showed great self-control in not getting him anything that required antlers or elf ears as an accessory.)



(Due to the drool bib, you can’t see that his green outfit says “Baby’s First Christmas”. The velour seemed to just increase his rate of drool… and who can blame him?)

The next day, we traveled to Iowa to meet Santa…


We had an unexpected overnight due to the weather. So Alexander ended up wearing the same clothes for 2 days. Once he got home and got naked, it sure felt good. Ooooh yeah!



Alexander’s toy inventory has increased by 1200%. It’s a great haul, but if this trend continues we estimate that by 2012 Hasbro will complete its take-over on our house and we will be sleeping in the garage. But guess who will be happy?

Witness Learning in Action

Alexander has learned how to imitate the kissing sound.

If that doesn’t yar you out… then you, my friend, are made of stone. And I bet that makes it really hard for you to swim. So you are just drowning in a pool of yar right now. Good luck saving yourself from that convoluted metaphor.

Hilarity

What’s so funny? A little yellow starfish on this thing:



Yeah, I don’t get it either… but his slightly insane laughter is infectious.

Walking on Sunshine

Alexander has been training hard for the “Daddy- Grandpa Fun Run”.

OK, so you can’t expect a four-month old to really walk. But he does look like he has been studying old Lord of the Dance videos pretty intensely. He knows how to step, is what I'm saying... (*sigh*, no one gets Michael Flatley jokes anymore and yet I continue to tell them... must! move! on! from! hilarious! self-absorbed! irish! dancer!!)

Some of his clothes just aren’t made of his new active lifestyle. It’s hard to tell by this video, but he does tend to “walk out” of pants with footies. I guess that explains why it’s hard to find footie pants in adult sizes. Once again, please ignore the embarrassing high-pitched “mommy” voice. (It's hard to tone down when he is being so adorable.)

What big eyes he has...

Alexander just had his 4-month visit with the pediatrician. He’s now 17 lbs, 12 oz and is "developmentally advanced". Yes, he’ll be doing our taxes in no time.

He also had to get the same round of shots he had at his 2- month visit… an oral vaccine plus four shots. He cried, of course, but moments after I picked him up he stopped crying - so he did much better than last time. He even gave the doctor a smile before she left the examination room, so apparently he forgave her and her ridiculously long needles. (Although he probably won't be so forgiving once he develops a short-term memory that is longer than 15 seconds.)

In other baby news...Alexander has learned that when I pull the camera out, a big flash is coming. When he sees the camera, his eyes get wide and he starts blinking hard. It is hilarious. Here’s an example of what I am talking about… Alexander was happy and laughing. I bring up the camera and this happens:




OK, fine… so I talk to him a bit, get him laughing again, quickly put the camera back in front of him and I get this:


OK, we’ll try again. I tell Alexander his favorite joke (the one about the tongue that goes *pssssssbt*), he cracks up, I slowly bring the camera into view, and CLICK:


D’oh! One last time, and this time, I think I got it. I get him laughing again, take the camera out, he gets all wide-eyed and blinky, then instead of taking a picture I re-tell his favorite joke. He laughs, and I quickly take the picture:


YES! Ha-HA! I shouldn't feel so proud for having outwitted a 4-month old... but, come on... this is an "advanced" 4-month old. Let me have this victory.

OK, I've got to run out to Target because he has literally outgrown all of his clothes overnight. If I don't go now, we'll have to make him an emergency giant romper out of curtains.

The Collective Rosy Cheeks of Illinoisans

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe

Chicago and Springfield are so corrupt you almost get the idea that they are joking. It’s like the state is run by old-timey caricatures of greed and corruption. I mean, really -- who voted the bipedal pig with the top hat and monocle into office?

Here is a little local trivia to illustrate. When you are traveling along any north-south road that crosses the Illinois-Wisconsin border, you can always know which side of the border you are on based on the condition of the pavement. Really. You can close your eyes and actually hear the moment you pass the state line. It works on not just a couple roads… but every single one. How does Wisconsin manage to have pothole-free roads without toll booths set up every 500 yards? It's because cheesehead politicians take taxpayer dollars and actually use it for public good. Hurray!! Er... let me use a local colloquialism for exclaiming happiness: PACKERS!!!!

I want our property to succeed to Wisconsin. We live close enough to the border, it should be a simple transaction.

Let’s cleanse the palate with a bit of cuteness:


Ah, that’s better. Alexander seems to understand how life is a delicate balance of horror and hilarity. He is often laughing hysterically, then he’ll suddenly curl his lower lip over into a pout and start crying… then just as quickly return to laughing. I assume he isn’t bipolar – he just has a surprisingly sophisticated grasp on reality.