Summer of 2006
So Summer of 2006 kept rolling on....my “baby” got his first haircut, and his first pair of athletic shoes! My goodness, what a difference that made in him! I came home from work one evening, and there he sat in his high chair, his daddy feeding him supper, with a new, short haircut and light up, velco Elmo shoes! He almost didn’t look like my same baby! But then....he smiled, ah, that’s my boy!
Alex was becoming very popular....he’s very friendly and says hello and waves to everyone! He had been to the beach a few times, and some play dates and birthday parties, and baptism receptions, and for the most part, he was very well behaved. I was very proud of my son.
We had a wonderful, long, July 4th weekend that year. We kept very busy. On Saturday, we went to St. Augustine and Alex took his very first boat ride. It was a scenic cruise of the Matanza Bay, about an hour and a half long. We saw birds and dolphins and heard the cannon launch from the old Fort. Alex loved it, and did not get seasick or upset at all, which is great for us, since we love boating, and anything on or near the water. We strolled the historic district and went shopping at the souvenir shops and the candy store. We saw a man dressed as a pirate, with a real live parrot on his shoulder; musicians, and a 1700's marching band. Later that night, we had dinner with some friends who are English, and they say the funniest things, which I love, like “pip pip” and “cheerio” and Alex, of course, took it to mean we were having Cheerios.
On Monday, we went back to the beach at Cedar Key. After lunch, Alex found a crab crawling on the beach and had his first experience with play ground bullies. Some older kids stole his sand bucket and his crab! Well, mean old mommy here is gonna have none of that...I marched right over and made them give it back. It pays off sometimes for a momma to be going through “the change”; she can be a scary old be-yotch!
On the actual day of the July 4th, we went with my parents to Silver Springs in Ocala. We had a perfect day: took the glass bottom boat ride, Alex got to feed the giraffes, pet a baby alligator, ride the carousel (3 times), took a safari jeep ride, visited bears and monkeys, the petting zoo and ride the lighthouse ride! We went from there to my SIL’s house for a cook-out: all in all, a perfect family day!
Alex continued to grow, getting bigger and bigger, off the charts to be exact! In the 95th and 98th percentile for everything. He really began to use a lot of words over the summer, too: boom (for broom); poo (for pool); baboon (for balloon); Ruck-ruck (for Luck-Luck); Mock (for Uncle Mark); dees (for cheese); doos (for juice); elmo (for elbow); ro-ro (for Grandpa’s dog, Rose). And to really brag, he could even say some actual, real words, too: down, up, mama, dada, pawpaw, bat, star, more, moon, beep, car, and then some. It’s been fun, really, to keep track of his words: we have to act as translator to visitors who are not fluent in Alex-ese.
He also listens too well, too, reminding me as always to pay attention, coz he hears everything I’m saying. Dateline, Summer, 2006. Place: my kitchen. Attendees: mommy and daddy, with Alex hovering nearby. I had been trying to reconcile myself lately to living with the clutter and uproar and chaos that having a husband and a toddler bring along. But by nature, I’m a very neat, tidy, precise, and immaculate person, so it was rough. I was complaining to hubby: “Hon, I don’t know, I know we really can’t afford it, and I hate to spend the money on something I SHOULD be able to keep up with, but I can’t seem to do it, so part of me keeps screaming in my own mind: ‘Get a maid! Get a maid! Get a maid!’ I don’t know, what do you think?” Before hubby had a chance to reply, Alex, who had been lurking nearby, came up to me, tapped me on the elbow, began nodding his head, very solemnly and seriously, with those big, blue eyes focused right on me and said, “Mommy? Get a maid!”
Once Alex’s language skills really began to take off, he began to chatter and has never really stopped. Truly, I tell you, the kid even talks in his sleep. I guess it’s good that he’s so verbal, but now he just wants to know about EVERYTHING. I love that he’s curious and inquisitive, I hope he always has a thirst for learning, but having to stop ALL THE TIME and explain and describe everything I say or do or pass on the street: it was getting exhausting. Once at dinner, during a rainshower that was turning into a rainstorm, Alex got a little afraid of the thunder. To calm him, I used the technique that my mom used with us: telling him there’s nothing to be afraid of, that noise is just God bowling. I caught myself, and so did hubby, because he said, “Uh, oh, you’re in trouble now...you’ll have to explain to him all about bowling.. Sure enough, Alex turns to me and says, in all seriousness, “Mommy? Bowling? Start talking.”
As summer wound down, we planned our annual Labor Day weekend: pretty much a repeat of Memorial Day and July 4th: A trip to Cedar Key (our new family favorite haunt) and Silver Springs in Ocala, this time including us, my parents, my Aunt Chris, Pete’s sister Gloria, BIL Darrell and niece Sandy, and our friends Wendy and Steve and their two little boys. What a crowd we were!
It had been such a wonderful summer. Lots of friends, lots of trips, lots of family, lots of good food, good fun, good times. We were blessed and we knew we were blessed. Alex was a healthy, happy, well-adjusted little boy, and we adored him. We thought about him being an only child (well, from my side anyway) but neither hubby nor I had been an only, and none of the older kids had been an only, so it was decided: we were ready to start our heart’s journey to find our number 2. Let the paperwork begin!
Alex was becoming very popular....he’s very friendly and says hello and waves to everyone! He had been to the beach a few times, and some play dates and birthday parties, and baptism receptions, and for the most part, he was very well behaved. I was very proud of my son.
We had a wonderful, long, July 4th weekend that year. We kept very busy. On Saturday, we went to St. Augustine and Alex took his very first boat ride. It was a scenic cruise of the Matanza Bay, about an hour and a half long. We saw birds and dolphins and heard the cannon launch from the old Fort. Alex loved it, and did not get seasick or upset at all, which is great for us, since we love boating, and anything on or near the water. We strolled the historic district and went shopping at the souvenir shops and the candy store. We saw a man dressed as a pirate, with a real live parrot on his shoulder; musicians, and a 1700's marching band. Later that night, we had dinner with some friends who are English, and they say the funniest things, which I love, like “pip pip” and “cheerio” and Alex, of course, took it to mean we were having Cheerios.
On Monday, we went back to the beach at Cedar Key. After lunch, Alex found a crab crawling on the beach and had his first experience with play ground bullies. Some older kids stole his sand bucket and his crab! Well, mean old mommy here is gonna have none of that...I marched right over and made them give it back. It pays off sometimes for a momma to be going through “the change”; she can be a scary old be-yotch!
On the actual day of the July 4th, we went with my parents to Silver Springs in Ocala. We had a perfect day: took the glass bottom boat ride, Alex got to feed the giraffes, pet a baby alligator, ride the carousel (3 times), took a safari jeep ride, visited bears and monkeys, the petting zoo and ride the lighthouse ride! We went from there to my SIL’s house for a cook-out: all in all, a perfect family day!
Alex continued to grow, getting bigger and bigger, off the charts to be exact! In the 95th and 98th percentile for everything. He really began to use a lot of words over the summer, too: boom (for broom); poo (for pool); baboon (for balloon); Ruck-ruck (for Luck-Luck); Mock (for Uncle Mark); dees (for cheese); doos (for juice); elmo (for elbow); ro-ro (for Grandpa’s dog, Rose). And to really brag, he could even say some actual, real words, too: down, up, mama, dada, pawpaw, bat, star, more, moon, beep, car, and then some. It’s been fun, really, to keep track of his words: we have to act as translator to visitors who are not fluent in Alex-ese.
He also listens too well, too, reminding me as always to pay attention, coz he hears everything I’m saying. Dateline, Summer, 2006. Place: my kitchen. Attendees: mommy and daddy, with Alex hovering nearby. I had been trying to reconcile myself lately to living with the clutter and uproar and chaos that having a husband and a toddler bring along. But by nature, I’m a very neat, tidy, precise, and immaculate person, so it was rough. I was complaining to hubby: “Hon, I don’t know, I know we really can’t afford it, and I hate to spend the money on something I SHOULD be able to keep up with, but I can’t seem to do it, so part of me keeps screaming in my own mind: ‘Get a maid! Get a maid! Get a maid!’ I don’t know, what do you think?” Before hubby had a chance to reply, Alex, who had been lurking nearby, came up to me, tapped me on the elbow, began nodding his head, very solemnly and seriously, with those big, blue eyes focused right on me and said, “Mommy? Get a maid!”
Once Alex’s language skills really began to take off, he began to chatter and has never really stopped. Truly, I tell you, the kid even talks in his sleep. I guess it’s good that he’s so verbal, but now he just wants to know about EVERYTHING. I love that he’s curious and inquisitive, I hope he always has a thirst for learning, but having to stop ALL THE TIME and explain and describe everything I say or do or pass on the street: it was getting exhausting. Once at dinner, during a rainshower that was turning into a rainstorm, Alex got a little afraid of the thunder. To calm him, I used the technique that my mom used with us: telling him there’s nothing to be afraid of, that noise is just God bowling. I caught myself, and so did hubby, because he said, “Uh, oh, you’re in trouble now...you’ll have to explain to him all about bowling.. Sure enough, Alex turns to me and says, in all seriousness, “Mommy? Bowling? Start talking.”
As summer wound down, we planned our annual Labor Day weekend: pretty much a repeat of Memorial Day and July 4th: A trip to Cedar Key (our new family favorite haunt) and Silver Springs in Ocala, this time including us, my parents, my Aunt Chris, Pete’s sister Gloria, BIL Darrell and niece Sandy, and our friends Wendy and Steve and their two little boys. What a crowd we were!
It had been such a wonderful summer. Lots of friends, lots of trips, lots of family, lots of good food, good fun, good times. We were blessed and we knew we were blessed. Alex was a healthy, happy, well-adjusted little boy, and we adored him. We thought about him being an only child (well, from my side anyway) but neither hubby nor I had been an only, and none of the older kids had been an only, so it was decided: we were ready to start our heart’s journey to find our number 2. Let the paperwork begin!
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