Cheesey

Nothing really earth shattering happened this week, from an outsider's perspective.
But, for the sake of dietary ease in our life, things did get better (so far).
More on that later though.

Earlier in the week (on the day it was cold) we hung his new swing (a Christmas present from Nonnie and Poppy) from one of our cypress trees.

He doesn't care what he's doing, just as long as he's doing it outside.






Being in Louisiana, it was no surprise that two days after hat and jacket weather, it was shorts weather again.





He's learned to regularly pull up on the table.





and he really likes to play with his balls.





He's also learned to pull up on his ride-on toy from Caroline's parents, and to operate all of the noise makers.





But he does need to learn that the bead spinner plunger is easier to operate with your hand than your teeth (his current preferred method)



(For the observant people, yes, the dog is sniffing his butt)


I tried to teach him some responsibility by getting him to help with the laundry, but he was not a big fan of just being dropped into the hamper and told to sort.





Sunday evening, we went to WOW Wingery where he, amazingly, slept through half of the meal before waking up dumbfounded, but with awesome hair, and showing us all of the ways you aren't supposed to sit in a high chair (or sit at all if you're a guy).





He could be a model for safety labels, but all of his pictures would have a red circle with a line through it.



Speaking of meals, here's what Joan got at WOW.



TaDa!!
That's our big news of the week.

"Why?" you confusedly ask.

Because there's CHEESE on the salad, and she ate it...... purposefully. (and rediscovered that salads are waaaaaayyy better with cheese)

And even better, it's the third time she's had dairy this week, and he didn't react to either of the first two.

Monday, she ate Chick-fil-a which has a minute amount in the chicken breading.

Then, on Thursday, she ate some cornbread, which was made with milk.
Since he didn't react to either, she got brave and decided to eat some cheese.

Due to her pumping and his feeding schedule, he won't get any cheese tainted milk until Tuesday, at which time, hopefully, nothing will be different.

The doc has said she could start trying to phase milk products in after 9 months, which is now.

She'll work back in slowly and we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Sometime in the next couple of months though, Coyote Blues may be back in the rotation and she should be able to partake of the very cinnamony bread pudding at Johnson's. We're gonna get soooooo fat.


As an experiment to see how video works, here's what he sounds like when he's on his eighth wind and refusing to go to bed.



(Please let me know if this causes the page to load too slowly)


Finally, he's learned to bang on the keyboard when he sits with me, so I'll let him close out this week's post with his deep thought of the day:

cvvvvvvvvvvvvvhgygggsrxzw32w987 ., hnbgggggggggggggggggyyy n jkmklijm j



The End
(I typed those two words, and these)

Ketchup

I'm playing catch-up this week after skipping out on you guys last week, so I'm breaking this week up into two posts.

This post will be the usual, while the second post (see below) will explain why I didn't post last week.

He continues to stand up in his crib and doesn't like it when you suprise him with a camera flash in mid-cry.




Last Friday we braved the crowds and hit the lights at Acadian Village. The lights are nice, but it has turned into much more of a carnival/WalMart atmosphere since we last went 10 years ago. It was fun nonetheless.




Just Hangin' with Dad. (his favorite position)




With Granny Lynn and a Louisiana Christmas Tree





With Poppy and a helicopter




Traditional Uncle Eli pose




Meeting Santa




and posing for a profile shot





We found out that olive oil really does help to break up cradle cap, but he looks quite greasy while you let it set.




I don't know what he and Joan did Saturday through Wednesday because of what I was doing (see post below), except that he watched me work on his present for a little bit, while holding onto the Jeep as if to save his life.




So we'll just skip to Wednesday evening when we went to the children's service at Asbury and didn't have to worry about him making noise 'cause there were kids everywhere and the preacher encouraged it.

Then Joan's immediate family came here for gift exchanging and grubbing on a Brisket from Johnson's Boucaniere, a Logan's honey ham, Joan's corn macque choux with Johnson's tasso, and Liz's sugar free (but you'd never know it) Sweet Potato Casserole. We were doing it right.





This year, in an effort to recycle (not because of laziness, I swear) everyone's presents were packaged in baby themed bags which we received at the various showers. It was very efficient.




Thursday we ran all around, starting at my parents' house, where he racked up on the toys.




Next was Joan's paternal extended family, where Riley hung with Cousin Lillian and racked up some noise making toys.




Finally, we headed to Joan's maternal extended family. Unfortunately, the host has a trampoline. After Riley was done bouncing with Cousin Courtney, I took him through some bouncy antics, which I am still paying for today.

I'm pretty sure I fractured all of the vertebrae below my shoulders, but it may just be muscle soreness. Hopefully the pics Paul has make it worth my pain.




Like Thanksgiving, Riley watched Caroline eat (she rarely stops) while she watched him bounce around (he rarely stops). Maybe they'll motivate each other to pick up the other's skills.







Aside from a trip to Johnson's to refresh his pulled pork supply, the weekend was just cleanup and another DIY project (see below)




Joan and I did go see the Curious Case of Benjamin Button which we enjoyed and I would recommend. (just ignore the incredibly forced Katrina tie-in)

We hope everyone's Christmas was good, your New Year celebrations are safe, and your neighbors (unlike ours at this moment) only set off fireworks at reasonable hours.


PS- I forgot to write about one of our interesting experiences this week.
Earlier in the week, while working on the tables in the garage, I smelled something horrible. It smelled like a rotting dead animal, and I looked all over the garage but found nothing. I then walked through the yard and spotted what we thought was surely an alien life form in the now neglected flowerbed.

It looked like a folded up starfish, made of sponge/grapefruit, coming out of an egg, with a glob of cat crap in the middle, covered in flies, and smelled like freshly baked roadkill.


We pulled it up and found that below it were more of the "eggs"





Then on Friday another egg hatched one of the alien beasts.



Fortunately The Robert & Sherie family stopped by and the spectacle piqued their curiosity.

Within juts a few hours, Sherie's research informed us that out new growths are Columned Stinkhorns. You can read more about them here http://www.mushroomexpert.com/clathrus_columnatus.html

and here

http://www.thisisby.us/index.php/content/fighting_stinkhorn_mushrooms (warning- adult language

They are often spread through mulch and thrive in the winter.

They are a fungus of the family Phallaceae, which is appropriately named, though we are lucky enough to have a less "adult" looking variety in our yard.

Joan has tried to dig them up, and hopefully that is enough.

But remember the name Stinkhorn if you ever have a rotten smelling fungus in your yard. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT actually an alien.

Project Life

Here's the second post of the week, and the one I'm most proud of.

I've spent the last week and a half all up in the projects.
But not in the rapper sense of the phrase.

I was unable to post last week because, from Saturday morning at 9 until Wednesday afternoon, if I wasn't sleeping or at work, I was working on crafting Christmas presents for Riley and Caroline.

My Dad and I built them activity tables with toys mounted on them.
These things are cool.

Each table has 5 toy stations.

Each station is a separate 15x15 wood square with a toy mounted to it. Each square bolts in from the bottom and each of the squares can be changed out, individually, for another toy without having to physically remove the toy that is screwed on to the square.

The idea was to make the tables very modular so that the tables can grow with the kids.
For that same reason, the legs easily unscrew and can be replaced with taller legs as the kids grow.

There is no metal hardware holding the table together, just glue and joints.

We found some really cool looking "butcher block" type wood for the toy mounting squares, and a really neat looking, knotted up piece of wood for Riley's table frame.

The edges and corners are all rounded and each table bears 5 coats of hand rubbed poly finish. (I am sore all over from putting that stuff on.)

The two tables are built in the same way, except that Riley's is a full rectangle, while Caroline's has a notch in the middle of one side to allow her to be surrounded on three sides by toys. Paul liked that idea, while we opted to go with a storage bin that hangs below for the legos and wood blocks.

Here are the pics:

Starting with a pile of lumber




The tables forming up.







Countersinking the anchors





Routing the edges





Sanding & Finishing








Mounting the toys





And the Finished Products










Like seeing a child off to college, I watched Saturday as Caroline's table was carted off to BR.




It was hard work. Cold and dusty, but totally worth it.
Riley, Anna and Gabe will definitely get lots of use out of ours, and Paul said Caroline is already learning to move around hers.

Without pulling too many muscles patting myself on the back, I must say that these are two beautiful pieces of woodwork. Heirloom quality in my opinion.

Given the cost of materials, toys and labor (at my usual legal billing rate), I calculated that each of the tables is worth about $3,500 (I spent over 35 hours on them and my Dad spent another 18).


But finding a place for our table led us to another set of problems.

The only reasonable place is in the corner of the living room, next to the fireplace. But with a couple of kids just learning to crawl and walk, brick ledges and walls do not make the best play area borders. (I've got a nice scar on my forehead from a toddler run-in with a brick windowsill)

We weren't happy with the selection or price of the protective items sold in stores, so we got crafty and made our own.

So after spending about $50 on some plywood, mattress toppers and vinyl, our hearth and one chimney wall are covered in three inches of memory foam.

I did the woodwork, Joan did the covering.

Despite knowing nothing about upholstery, these things came out quite professional looking.









That's it for the week. No more DIY projects for a while.

Skimpy

Due to ongoing Christmas preparations which have already consumed over 20 waking hours of my time this weekend, (and which are still classified as semi-secret), I really have no time to write this week. I'll catch up next weekend though.

Here's a few pics to hold the junkies over.

And I hope everyone has a great Christmas. (I don't believe in the phrase M***y Christmas)


He's a truck man already.




And pretends to be bilingual.




He's got big ol' teeth...




but it doesn't help him keep the food in his mouth.

We live in Louisiana?

I apologize in advance for the complete lack of creativity in this blog.
I'm sick and waiting for my NyQuil to kick in. (original formula, the stuff you can make meth with)

From what my mom tells me, our home has turned into a battle zone during the day, as Riley and Gabe play "Bumper Walkers" and push each other around and into things.



Anna seems to be showing a inclination toward the automotive repair industry given that she was spotted this week crawling under Riley's walker. I would guess she was fixing damage from his most recent battle with Gabe.





In addition to fixing vehicles, she also like to pretend to drive them. But, like most women I see on the road, she spends most of her time in the mirror. (I keed, I keed)




Riley is steadily expanding his solid food diet, and, judging by his posture and expression, is getting quite cocky about his eating abilities.





He definitely shows better posture when he stands up every time we put him into bed now. But it's usually just a matter of going in and laying him back down two or three or seventeen times before he gets the hint and goes to sleep.


Speaking of solid food, he's eating his first meat this week, and in case you can't guess what it is, here's a visual clue.




Yup, he's eating pulled pork from our friends over at Johnson's Boucaniere. (the boudin shirt was just a red herring)

We ordered a four ounce cup of meat and are giving him a little everyday. He's really tearing it up too. We would both be crushed if he had poor taste in food, but he appears to be on the right track.


We spent about an hour there while he kept everyone laughing with his horribly goofy faces and sounds. He embodies the ultimate in cheesiness, especially with his top two teeth coming in.

Here he is showing his Poppy his mean face.




Which was quickly blasted away with a little tickling.




He repeatedly showed us his cheesy whale call face.





And then, in a moment of absolute awesomeness, he made one of the most horrific faces ever. Keep in mind, this is not a lucky snapshot. He made the face and held it. Such a Goober!




That seems to be about it for the week.
But it feels like I'm missing something.
What could it be?
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Oh yeah!

It snowed here.

That sentence is really hard to type without the expletives needed to reinforce the significance of the statement, but this is a family blog.

On Wednesday afternoon, the weatherfolks predicted light snow overnight, and we, of course, paid no attention.

Everyone was surprised though on Thursday morning when they woke up to find their streets looking like this.




Snow has fallen a few times in the last decade or so, but the last time that I remember any real snow on the ground was in the late 80's.

Judging by what was sitting on our fence, I'd say we got 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.




My truck had a nice blanket over it.




The flakes were really big and showed up perfectly on Jimmy's coat.



We tried to get a good pic, but, between the lighting conditions at 6 am, and Riley's refusal to be still, this is the best we could do.




Baton Rouge got it even harder than we did. Check out Paul's blog, CookingDaddy.com (linked on the right) for a rundown of BR's climatological freak show.

The End

The Old and The New

Busy week, but I'll try not to waste many words.

When Joan's Mom babysat him last Sunday, she did something magic to his hair, as we discovered when he woke up on Monday.



Even after wetting and brushing, it stayed like that all day, and was still at peak spikiness when I got home to find him and Gabe attacking my mom.




Tuesday, we caught him on the monitor kneeling in his crib.
Just a day or two later, he had learned to pull himself up, and we caught him standing against the rail. He's also started crawling on all fours.

While we don't have any pics of either of those, I do have documentation that he has learned the lazy habit of pulling down his crib bumper instead of lifting his head, when he wants to see out of the bed.



He can stand up for as long as he wants, if he's holding on to something.
I've been trying to teach him how to fall, but look at the kid, even with a diaper on he's got no padding to fall back onto.




Thursday we got to visit our old law school bud Jennifer, her hubby Ryan, and their month old baby, Connor. He's bigger that Riley was, but we were both amazed at how light he felt. In eight months, we've forgotten how small a baby really can be.



As the veteran parents, (snicker, snicker) we entertained all of their questions. Jennifer, like Joan did eight months ago, asked important questions about caring for the child.
Ryan, like I did eight months ago, wanted to know when the kid would get to be fun to play with.
I guess it shows that the characteristic "Fun Dad" genes transcend even the differences between a large, LSU-football playing fireman, and a puny, LSU bashing lawyer.

Friday was not very eventful aside from a terrible meal and terrible service at O'Charleys. While there though, we did catch him sucking on the pacifier, something he hasn't done in months.




Saturday he cruised the aisles of Target, making all the chicks swoon, then had lunch at Johnson's, where he tried bread and a tiny bit of pulled pork. He'll be tearing it up in a few months.






Saturday evening was big because a couple of my cousins threw a surprise 75th birthday party for my Grandma. It was Hollywood themed and even had a Marilyn Monroe impersonator to sing Happy Birthday.






Riley got all dressed up in his preppy sweater vest (which, despite being cute, he is not allowed to wear after he reaches a year old)




He was behaved enough to sit for a picture with all of the other great-grandchildren. (ranging in age from 10 years to two months).




He also confirmed that he really is CAJUN Baby Wallace by putting a serious hurt on a bowl of gumbo.




We got to see some family that we hadn't see in a while, and found out that a cousin that has recently also joined the Cult of the Big Green Egg. A good time was had by all.




After he slept off all of the good times, he was ready for Lafayette's Christmas parade, which was, sadly, way worse than I remember it being in the past.

We went mostly to see the Lafayette High Band, which finished in 12th place at the Bands of America Grand Nationals. That is amazing considering how much more money some of the other bands have and how much more some of the other bands rehearse. 10 years ago we were happy just to be the best in the state, but now they've got national aspirations.




Riley enjoyed playing cowboy in his Poppy's hat and playing with his first cheap plastic beads.





Mostly though, he just sat in the back with his Mommy and Anthill and played one of his favorite games, "Try to Rip Out The Adult's Teeth."






His Uncle Eli had fun by standing in the background and being "That Guy" in the pics.



Switching gears, I know by watching the keyword searches that lead people to this site, that alot of people find it while searching for baby tummy issues.
If you've been lucky enough to figure out your baby's problem, but unlucky enough to find out that it was a dairy allergy, yet you plan to keep nursing, here's a couple of pointers rendered from Joan's research.

Vegan products like Smart Balance Light buttery spread, contain no dairy (regular Smart Balance contains whey, and some other varieties contain sodium caseinate, so be sure to look for the "100% Vegan" logo on the label). There is also a dairy free vegan parmesan cheese called "Parma!", available online. Joan says they aren't bad.

It hurts me deep down inside to allow Vegan products into my home, but I just cancel them out by eating some Johnson's beef jerky while wearing a wool sweater and sitting in a leather chair watching bull-riding on TV.

Also, because observers of Kosher diets can't mix meat and dairy , look for Kosher designations on products. Thing that are classified as "Parve" will not contain any dairy product.
Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

Adios.

Short Week

Despite being an active week, I really can't think of much to write about.

Having a couple of days off gave me and my buddy a few chances to get out and about.

Thursday morning, we went for a long father-son walk and spent some time watching the cows along the Camellia extension. He brings his tunes along for the ride, so the cows got to hear some good music.






Friday morning we took a bike ride and had breakfast at Sonic. When pulling approximately 40lbs of baby/trailer/diaper bag, you can quickly find out how out of shape you are.






Thursday we made 3 stops at various family functions and he put on his best cuteness show, but needed to rest a little between performances.





not being one to settle for inactivity, he headed down to Erath on Friday where he got to pet a horse and hang out with his great-great-grandmother, who is over 98 years older than he is, and a gaggle of his 2nd cousins.






While we were there, I was almost killed by a snake.
It was, I would estimate, a 12 foot long cross between a black mamba and an anaconda.
It was either that or a two foot long garter snake. But, regardless of those piddly details, I almost set my hand down on it and I'm pretty sure it struck at me. Fortunately, my scream did not sound as girly to third parties as it did to me, but I was beyond paranoid for the rest of the day. Every leaf that blew into me felt like dive bombing pit vipers. I've moved on though, as you can tell.

Saturday evening, we ate with my parents where he was, of course, completely ignored.





Tonight, he was in for even more of a treat when Joan's mom babysat him. Since he was born, we've only made it to Blue Moon once, but tonight a guy that we would usually see at the Blue Moon, Scott H Biram, played an early show in Scott at Bourque's Social Club. We got to see a rockin' trucker-blues-country show from an internationally touring artist in a room not much bigger than a large living room,and we're still getting to bed before 10. It doesn't get much better than that.


And SHB is a great entertainer. Joan was laughing out loud at his witty banter.

Not sure if we've got anything good going on this week, but you'll find out in 7 days if you're nice enough to come back.

Disclaimer: To any of my co-workers who may be coming for the first time after having seen the link in the Winter Newsletter- if you're on a work connection, you're may not be getting the full effect. SF's intranet has recently, on a couple of occasions, blocked flickr.com which is where all of my pics are stored and linked from. Without the pics, this blog is pretty bad. But I promise that if you check it from any other connection, the pics of the cute kid make it all worth a click.

Cuttin' Up(per)

This week has flown by, and I expect that next week will do the same, with only three work days.

Thursday, the little dictator was benevolent enough to allow us to go to the final Rhythms on the River of the season to catch a good set from Roddie Romero.
It was a little chilly, so Riley got to break out his long sleeve pearl snap shirt. I was so proud of him. Now he just needs some boots.
He would've fit right in at a Weary Boys show, if only they were still around.



(we miss the Wearies, one of my "top 3 best bands, ever")



After that, he tried to go for the 50's tough guy look with the white T and Jeans. That look is hard to pull off though when your chin is covered in drool, and you're only a few drops away from getting into a wet t-shirt contest.




Around the house, he is loving the fact that he can roll his deathtrap walker right up to the table and have his choice of toys. He doesn't love it though, when he pushes them just out of reach. I say "Get used to it buddy, you're gonna be short all your life."




On Saturday he got to visit an estate sale that Aunt Sherie was holding at her childhood country home.



There, while holding him upside down ( it allows more blood to his brain, thus making him smarter) we discovered that his top gum has split and there is a little pearlie just waiting to peek out. It should be here soon.




Later in the day, he accompanied me for some attempted Christmas shopping, but cut the trip short after offering up more nastiness than his diaper could handle. After about 15 minutes of trying to clean him up in the back seat of the truck, I realized that I couldn't find any spare onesies in the diaper bag, so he got to ride home Speedo style.



That evening, while we ate at Outback, he demonstrated that he can fit a whole pacifier in his mouth, backwards.




Sunday was slow and not very noteworthy.
It did give me a chance though, to document his early propensity for good dental hygiene. He'll sit there for a long time chewing on his toothbrush and babbling, without complaint.






and for one final pic, we think this one looks like a baby version of Heath Ledger's Joker mixed with Stephen Adler of Celebrity Rehab/Guns & Roses fame.




Hope everyone has a good thanksgiving.