Monday, December 31, 2007

It's All Relative

My cousins, Sarah and Ethan, came to stay with me for a day on their way to New Mexico. It was a lot of fun to spend some time with them. Unfortunately, Dean was fussy the whole time because he's developed a second ear infection and a killer diaper rash from the new antibiotics.

I've spent time with Sarah recently, but haven't with Ethan in a few years. He's now 17 and has of course changed during the past few years from his experiences abroad and just growing up some. He's a pretty neat guy, and I hope to spend more time with him as time goes on. To sum up Ethan, he's quite the comedian, yet calm, caring, and very intelligent.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

A Night Out



The week before Christmas we went to our local zoo to see the Christmas light display they do every year. There were lights everywhere! They also had a train ride and carousel for kids to ride for free. The line for the train was way to long, but we did take Dean on his first carousel ride. We sat on the bench of course.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The Funny Farm

I got quite a kick out of Dean's gifts this year. Most of the toys he received were around a farm theme, though no one conspired for it to be so. He received a farm lego set, a barn, a baby animal book, a cow xylophone, and Curious George riding a vibrating cow.
Dean also received some other gifts, like clothes, for which we were grateful.
We spent Christmas down in San Diego visiting my family. It was a lot of fun, but I think we're going to have to start inviting people to our house until Dean and any possible siblings get a little older. It's hard to keep babies out of things when you're not at your own house.






Tuesday, December 18, 2007

More Drama

I'm on a posting kick. Is it ok to post 3 times on the same day? I'm going to because I have a little bit of catch up to do, and the three posts are about totally different things.

Late last week I was putting Dean in the car when a few police cars went streaming past my house. I live in a quiet neighborhood with low crime, so I thought they must be meeting the ambulance that I could hear for a heart attack victim or something. I briefly wondered if I should bring Dean back inside and wait a few minutes to be sure. I decided against it and left the house.
As I drove, I saw more and more police cars driving very fast in all kinds of directions and beginning to block off streets. Then I pulled over for the ambulance that I had heard. Further down the road, I had to slow down for police vehicles and an abandoned car (doors still open). About a block later, I watched a few police officers handcuffing a man. By this point I was feeling a little edgy and ready to get the heck out of dodge.
Here's the story I've pieced together from various news reports:
When police showed up in response to a panic alarm, they found an injured 12 year old boy crawling out of his window to get help. Officers were told about robbers inside, one armed with a gun. Before officers could get into the house, they heard glass breaking, then the sound of cracking wood- a fence being broken down. One of the men began shooting at the officers. Police returned fire but the armed suspect kept running. Minutes later police arrested an unarmed suspect. (The one I witnessed). Meanwhile another man was sitting in his driveway when the first mentioned suspect hi-jacked his car. He drove the car just a few blocks and ran into a field. Police caught up with him and killed him after he fired on officers. In the end, we found out that both the boy and his grandfather had been shot during the robbery. The grandfather is still in the hospital in critical condition. The entire morning, police had the area shut down looking for other possible suspects. I'm glad my car wasn't hi-jacked with Dean in the back.

Steal my stuff, but don't shoot me or hurt my family.

Dean Update


I've been holding on to this picture to post for a few weeks now. Mostly because at the end of the day I'm too tired to plug in the necessary things to transfer my picture to the computer. I think some people might even call this "lazy".
Anyway, this is one of Dean's latest Houdini moves. He has figured out that he can crawl into the first side of the cabinent and unlock the other door from the inside. Cute picture!
His other Houdini trick may or may not have been his fault. He is still not sleeping through the night, so we were trying to teach him to calm himself and go back to sleep without a bottle. One such night, I went in to pat him and left. Then listened as he fussed. The whole time all of the new mother worries were going through my head. What if he crawled out of the crib? What if he's hurt? This is never going to work. Followed by telling myself that the crib is the safest place and I can always go get him if he really starts crying. Finally I gave up and went in to "save" him, only to find him on the floor. One of the sides of the crib had somehow fallen apart. Poor, poor Dean. The next day I of course hopped online to look at crib recalls. Man what a great way to scare myself. Apparently this is how some babies have been strangled recently. Anyway, now his crib has been placed back together and is extra secure thanks to Lucas' handy work. Dean is still not sleeping through the night. As for my mother worries they are the same, only now they aren't "new mother" but rather "experienced mother".
If you are one of Dean's grandmothers and this post truly scares you into thinking Dean needs his grandma to drop everything and come rescue him, please call your son. Truly, everything is ok.
I've been told the best way to write a letter or a note is to start with a positive and end with a positive.
Positive ending: Dean takes about 4 or 5 steps before falling on his well padded behind.

Grand Finale

We had our last weigh in for the Biggest Loser competition at work today. I won second place ($200), with a total of 13 pounds lost. They are talking about starting a new one in the spring. I might go for a second round. I do have about 15 more to lose to reach my goal. The first place winner lost 29 lbs (wow!).

Sunday, December 2, 2007

Disclaimers

To my beloved family members,

If you receive a present from me, it will most likely be in crinkled wrapping paper. Dean helped wrap the presents this year.

Also, if you are a member of my family with children of your own. It is likely that your children will receive gifts this year and you won't. I hope no one is offended, but man do we have a large family! I know, I know I'm doing my part to increase the size.