Albequerquequeque

Halen and I went on a trip to Albequerque to visit my aunt Melanie and Puckett the cat. Everywhere we went, Halen had people awwwing at him. He really is such a handsome and pleasant baby. He adjusted to the dry climate just fine, but I had boogers in my nose that felt like razor sharp rocks. We went to Santa Fe one day and saw the Georgia O'Keefe museum. Halen let out a huge belch during the film. It was out of respect I'm sure. I had to take his pacifier away from him because he might "toss it" at the artwork. It's a good thing he's not that attached to it. He was good on the planes for the most part. He was slightly inconsolably crying for about 5 minutes once. That's not that bad, considering the amount of time we where on those planes. We had to transfer in Denver. It was 3.5 hours to there, and then another hour to Alb. Okay, I'm gona find some pics to go with this and then get my ass to bed. It's late. Halen's friend Connor is coming to play tomorrow while his mommy is in class. It'll be fun. I'm sure I'll get some cute pictures.

Mom's New Threads

I got new clothes! I got a whole slew of shirts with secret boobie revealing holes! It's great!!! Halen is happy too. Not only is his mommy so stylish, but he can get to the boobie without being covered up by a blanket in this heat! I never knew secret boobie holes could make me so happy, but they most certainly do! Yeah Boobies!

Plumber In Training

Here's Halen trying to get into the cabinet to look at some pipes. He's got the style down too.

The Terror Begins

Here Halen is trying to pull everything from the drawer out and onto the floor. He also tries to pull himself up out of his walker and hang on the drawer.

Little Vegan buddies. How awesome would it be if all of our parents where as cool as we are and raised us vegan??? I am so happy that Halen has Connor.

Happy 4th!

Look at the little patriot!

Thumbs Up!

Here are Halen's little knee pads. He approves.

Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

Hands and Knees!!!

Looky who's figured out how to get up on his hands and knees. Pretty soon he'll actually be able to go forwards! Lately it's just been rolling over and scooting backwards.
It's a good thing we're making baby knee pads at craft night Thursday!

This and That

Halen rode the carousel and the train at Zoo Atlanta. Yes, we went to the zoo. I know it's not very vegan of me, but I had to meet my sis-in-law there to pick up my niece who was visiting from out of town. Halen didn't really notice the animals, but he did like the train. Later that day we went to the Bodies Exhibit at the Civic Center. Halen said that he likes people with skin on better than off. I agree.
Finally, here's a picture of his shark bib from aunt Lisa. He's holding it up so you all can see it better.
Halen hung out with Connor at the Bingo game benefit hosted by Artists to the Rescue. The benefit was a big success. They raised almost $2000 and one dog got adopted, while 3 others are in the application process! Halen just had fun hanging with his buddy, swapping drooly toys and such.
Halen is getting really close to crawling. We're going to host a baby craft night this week where we're going to make baby knee pads so his knees stay nice and soft once he starts moving all over the house.

Dudes

Hangin' out. Bruce and I showing Halen the ropes on chillin. Me showing the ropes on how to kill stuff.

Tybee Time!!!

We had a nice relaxing weekend on Tybee Island, thanks to Aunt Kelly and her family's beach house. Halen went swimming in the ocean, faceplanted in the sand on the beach, and flirted with all the ladies. He had his half-birthday on Saturday! He's now weighing in at 22 pounds and is 30 inches tall. Both figures are still off the charts for size. He's not far from the weight one, but he's the height of a 9 month old in the 95th%. Halen got a sweet air brushed shirt with a pirate ship on it. Dan had his first father's day. Halen was extra sweet to him and got him some shoes, kinda.

UTOH

We're in trouble, Halen instantly fell in love with this Baby Beamer. Maybe we'll buy him this one and then he'll buy Dan and I matching ones when he's a big pro sport man. That's fair right?

Teeth

Okay, here it is, the first picture I've been able to get of those teethers!!!

Pictures So Cute That They Must Be Shared

Look how cute my men are when they're sleeping.
Thanks to aunt boobie (Nicky) for the whale bib. Stay posted for pictures with the scary shark one from aunt Lisa! YUM.
If anyone needs some tennis lessons, Halen doesn't charge much, but he drools on the court alot.
Look who can stand up!

Where's That Red One Gonna Go???

Halen and I participated in a study last week at Emory University. It is a study on language and development. First they asked me lots of questions and I had to fill out tons of paperwork. Then they strapped Halen in a car seat and played a very boring set of noises for him. I and the other guy in the room had to be behind curtains. Halen wasn't into this study. The Ba ba ba and Da da da noises where boring him and he started screaming. The poor little guy was lonely. Oh, they had him hooked up to heart monitors to measure his reaction to the noises. They where just little stickers with wires clipped to them. He didn't mind. So then we moved on to the table where Halen sat in my lap and the study guy proceeded to play with Halen. He would show him a toy, then do what he wanted Halen to do with the toy, then put it down on the table, and see what Halen did. He was a rockstar!!! He did everything that he was supposed to do except for 2 things. They (there was another person observing through a one-sided mirror) where very impressed with his development. They said that they didn't expect him to do as well as he did at his age, that the study was aimed for a large age bracket, and he scored on the level as a baby much older than he is. I was surprised by how much he could do as well. I play with him every day, but I hadn't 'tested' him in this way before. They did things like show him a block and a cup, then hide the block under the cup, to see if he looks for it. Many babies at his age don't understand that once a thing is gone from view that they are not really gone from existance. So, if he looks for the block, then they know that he realizes that it's just hidden from sight. They score higher if they grab the cup one-handed by the handle than if they pick it up two handed. He went straight for the handle, picked it up with one hand and got the block with the other. Then he would show him different toys that made noises in different way. He would show him how to make the noise and then set it down. Halen would then grab the toy, bring it to his mouth for a little taste, then move it away from his mouth and shake it or press it to make the noise. Everything went to the mouth first. Then we got on the floor to see if Halen could sit, roll over, and stand flat-footed when balanced. Of course he did all that stuff with no problem. When a toy was placed out of his reach, he would squirm or roll to it.
After all that brain workout, Halen got some boobie and went to sleep. They then hooked sensors up behind his ears and played sounds. They measured his hearing ability this way. When a sound is made, the nerves behind the ear send a signal and these sensors read that. He hears well. While he was sleeping and being tested in this way, I peed in a cup, got some blood drawn, and took a hearing test of my own. There where several different tests. First I had to repeat muffled words. Next I had to repeat muffled words while background chatter was also being played. Then I had to repeat two different words that where played simultaneously, one into each ear. First I had to repeat the one I heard in the right ear, then left and then vice versa. Then I had to hear two sentences simultaneously and repeat the one I heard in the right ear, then a series where I repeated the one I heard in the left ear. this was fairly difficult, but I managed to get almost every single one right. They where also surprised by how well I did. I guess I'm a rockstar too.
Halen had to give a peepee sample as well. they put this ushaped sticker attached to a plastic bag around his cock and balls and waited for him to pee in it.
Halen then got a toy, a t-shirt, and $50!
We recently got asked to do another study too. Next week he's going to watch a puppet show while wearing a swim cap with brain sensors attached to it. we get a copy of his brain wave activity. i'll post it and you can all marvel at his genius level, because I'm sure it'll show that he's super highly advanced.
Oh, and the little guy is so close to crawling it's ridiculous. He's pushing up to his knees now. I think he'll be taking over the neighborhood by next week! Maybe he'll take his first real crawl for his daddy for father's day.

Guess Who's Cutting His First Tooth

bottom front left! I'll get a picture of it if I can. It's really hard to see, but you can feel it. That's why Halen was waking up and crying all through the night!!!

Another Blog? Their Entry About The Quilt Is Better Than Mine.

This is the company i got the fabric for Halen's organic quilt from. They liked it so much when I sent pictures that they wrote a blog about it. How sweet. I meant to get on here today and write about thet tests Halen took yesterday. I don't feel like it now though. I guess you'll all have to wait on pins and needles till tomorrow.

Quilt

Well, here's the quilt. Halen likes it.

Touch those toes!

Sorry it's been so long. We had alot going on for a few days. I also had a plugged milk duct in my right boobie and I was cranky as hell. It hurt! Apparently my bra is too tight. I'm in constant denial that I need to go buy a bigger bra. I still think I'm part of the itty bitty titty committee or something.
I've been working on a quilt for Halen and it's moments away from being done. I'll post pictures when it is. I started a webshop on etsy to sell my crafts. it's kinda like ebay, but not an auction and it's only handmade items. it's a great site to check out in general. alot of the same people that sell things at youngblood are on there. alot of it is wholesale too. anyway, my page is www.crustychristy.etsy.com Right now there's only 5 things on there. I'm slowly adding more. I hope to sell baby quilts, but I don't know how I'm going to actually get them done because it takes fucking forever!
We took Halen and the dogs to the dog park. Halen loves dogs so much, we figured he'd go apeshit at the dog park. There was no one there! One other dog came and left while we where there and he wasn't interested in Halen. Oh well, the dogs got wore out for a little while.
Kelly and Frances had a bday party. Halen was the hit of the party, showing off his mobility with his walker. The dogs all got doggy frozen yogurt. Lucy fought another dog to try to get some more. She got put in time out.
Well, I'm gona go back to bed. I got up to let the crazy dogs out. In the morning, they school around me like sharks. It kinda drives me crazy. Halen is still asleep so I'm going to go join him.
There's another baby craft night tonight, my place, 6:30. Other people (non-reproducers) are allowed to come as long as they make stuff for the babies! Haha.
Later,
Christy

BIG DAY

Halen had two big things happen today. One, he was left in the YMCA day care with a stranger! I felt nauseous on the way to the Y and after we left him in there. He was fine when we left and fine when Dan went and got him half an hour later, but I couldn't do anything but think about him the whole time. I felt guilty the whole time I was swimming laps, like I should be swimming with Halen. It did feel good to swim laps though. Two, Halen went in the pool. He had fun. There was another baby there who was the same size as Halen. I thought he was probably just a little older (cause Halen is usually as big as the older kids), till his parents put him down and he was just standing there. He was seriously the same height at Halen, but walking and talking. He was 15 months. We sat them next to each other on the pool edge and laughed at them. Halen splashed and kicked like mad! He never got cold of upset by the water. In another month, he'll be old enough to start the parent and me swim class. We'll definetely be signing up for that. He is going to be a fish! It's awesome that you can leave the baby with someone while you workout, but it's hard on the mommy! It'll be easier when he's old enough to play with the other kids.
tonight is babie's pizza night. only 2 more hours. i'm starving!!!