take me out to the ballgame

Baseball. Americas favorite pastime. And Steven's too. We went to our first baseball game last Saturday at the Dell Diamond. The Round Rock Express were playing the Iowa Cubs...and I'm sure you can guess what Steven was wearing...

I think he had to be the cutest baby Cub fan there- and there were more than just a few Cubs fans! They beat the Express, so we went home happy. Ordinarily, we would have been rooting for the Express, but not when they play the Cubs.

I think it's safe to say Steven had a good time...

But it did tire him out.

I'm sure this isn't the last you will see of Steven at the ballpark.

poo explosion = baby's first shower

With the introduction of cereal came changes in Steven's digestive system. It took his little body a few days to get used to the solidity of his bowels. He went from having a dirty diaper at almost every diaper change to not having more than one in 36 hours. Needless to say, the next one was a doozy.

He has this horse jumperoo that he loves to jump around in and at the particular time of this blessed event, he was in it. Only by the grace of God Himself did none of the mess get on the jumperoo. Matt had just gotten home from the gym and was about to go start the grill to cook hamburgers. I went to go pick Steven up out of the jumperoo and when I did I felt something wet drip on my foot so I looked down at it and saw what it was that landed on it. I held him out to look him over and knew it was bad without even seeing the inside of his outfit. And wouldn't you know, the outfit I put him in had to go over his head...or be cut off. Looking back, I should have just cut it off.

When I saw how bad it was I hopped over to the tile floor and yelled for Matt to bring me a towel- and fast! We wrapped him up so no poo would get on the carpet (little did I know what was waiting for me underneath the horsey) and we took him to the changing table. I had no idea how I was going to get his outfit off without getting waste products all over his face and head. I knew he was going to need a bath, but what I didn't know was how I was going to get him in it without bringing all the poo with us into the tub. So, I told Matt to get the shower ready and to go ahead and get in it- it was time for Steven's first shower!

I was sure he was probably not going to like it at first. He's not a fan of water in his face (well, what baby is?) and I was thinking this was going to have to be a quick one. Just a rinse to get the majority of it off and then I would get him in the tub. I handed him to Matt and went to start cleaning up the mess on the changing table and this is what I came back to:

Turns out, he's a big fan of the shower! He would not stop giggling and laughing! It was hilarious, and obviously I had to stop mid-poo clean-up and catch these gems on camera. It really made scrubbing the carpet for an hour and hosing down the shower and changing table with bleach totally worth it. :)

rice cereal's newest fan

We decided to try Steven on rice cereal last week to see how he liked it and if he was ready to start solids. The first night was interesting! He didn't really seem to know what was going on, but was having a lot of fun laughing at Daddy while he video taped it. I'm not exactly sure how much of it he ate, but he had a lot of fun! The next night he seemed to like it a lot more and even started to open his mouth for it. By the third night he was lunging for the spoon with his mouth wide open and there was nothing on his bib! The boy loves cereal!!!

We tried jarred sweet potatoes yesterday but he didn't seem to care for them at first. He would kinda squint his eyes like it was sour or bitter tasting, so I smelled them and ICK! They didn't smell anything like sweet potatoes to me (and I LOVE me some sweet taters!), so I'm definitely going to start making his food- STAT!

Here is a photo progression of the first night we tried rice cereal:

He knows something's up.

What the.....

Okay, so this might not be so bad...

This stuff is awesome!!

I hope he doesn't end up being a picky eater like his daddy... ;)

holy hail!!!

Wednesday night we had the mother of all hail storms here in Austin. To make matters worse it hit right at rush hour. Thank the Lord Matt was already home! It was SO loud! I was cooking dinner and had the dishwasher running and I could still hear it. We had probably golfball sized hail and lots of dime sized pieces as well. We didn't even get it as bad as some people in Austin did. Others were reporting baseball sized hail and many people had their windshields and windows shattered.

Matt's truck was in the driveway and did get some damage on the hood, so we'll have to see about getting that fixed.

After it stopped hailing I ran out into the yard to grab some of the bigger pieces and get a picture of them. These were sitting in the yard for about 15 minutes and Matt was holding them for several minutes while I went and got the camera ready and they were still this big:

the nursery

I am very proud of my decorating skills! I think Steven's room turned out really cute and I think it's a room he can grow into. It was a lot of hard work though! Not on my part being pregnant, but Grampy B, Nana and Matt all helped to paint and put up the chair rail. After running to The Home Depot to replace the Minnesota Vikings purple that I thought was blue we had relatively no issues! The room now sports a lively Chicago Cubs royal blue. It will go great with the MLB bedding that Pottery Barn Kids has once Steven grows out of his crib and into a big boy bed....but let's not talk about that just yet.

Steven loves to be rocked and this glider is so comfortable! We rock several times a day and usually before nap time.

And the room would not be complete without some sort of Cubs paraphernalia.

we survived....

...the 4 month shots. As I noted before I was not going to go by myself. Matt came and we had a lovely visit with Dr. H. Steven is in the 78th percentile for weight, weighing in at a whopping 16 lbs, 3 oz...and that's on an empty belly. :) He's in the 53rd percentile for height, at 25 in. He looks great, and we got the okay from Dr. H to start solid foods whenever we want! Rice cereal to begin with, followed by baby food a few weeks after that.

Strangely, I'm looking forward to starting solids. I am going to make most of Steven's baby food and I'm eager to get started. I have not been putting our wonderful and expensive blender to good use. Actually, the only thing it's been used for so far is making pina coladas. ;) So, after Steven sleeps off his shots, we're going to go shopping for ice cube trays and produce!

And about those shots....well, I'm just glad Matt was there. He held his arms while the sweet nurse poked him. I looked away. BUT I was right there with lots of kisses and hugs when it was over. He actually did really well. He didn't cry with the first one, but when the second one hit he got this "Wait, what the....THAT FREAKING HURTS!" look on his face, or so Matt said. I think the 2 month shots were more traumatic for me because that was the first time my baby actually had tears. This time I held it together. It was hard, but I got through it. :)

And here's some of the cuteness I'm sure you've all been patiently waiting for. We tried a new photo spot, but he didn't want to smile there.

besties

A few weeks ago I went to Houston for the weekend to visit family and friends. Mimi was working all day on Sunday so Squeaker and I decided to go over to my best friend Bethany's house and hang out. Bethany has a 5 year old daughter, Kenslie, and a 7 month old little boy, Keaton. I knew she would have some things to entertain Steven with since Mimi's house isn't exactly covered with annoying flashy and musical toys.

Steven and Keaton are already besties. Bethany and I knew they would get along great, what with all that they have in common: poopy diapers, short naps, bald on the sides of their heads, and the look that can only be explained as "What the hell are you doing, mom?". See exhibit A:

"Give me your ear so I can snack on it"

Check out that tongue! It's exactly like Bethany's.

Here's Bethany with both boys and I'm pretty sure they were both crying. Hahaha!

And here's a cute one of Steven