7 Months

Our beautiful seven month old little boy is into everything- and we love it! I am so glad he is mobile and able to get where he wants. He is exploring so many things every day it's hard to keep up with what is novel and what is old news. He likes Kona's dog food, and he tasted it a couple times. He mainly likes to play the game "cover-the-floor-in-dog-food" followed by "make-the-floor-food-mushy-with-doggy's-water". And then Kona eats it and walks through it and the kitchen gets all muddy from dried dirt on his feet mixing with the spilled water. Oh yes, it is great fun! Now when there is a wet spot in the floor we don't know who's it is- puke or pee. Nice! But we absolutely love our boys. It has also made me even more sure I don't want another child. Alden is great, and he is enough. Joey feels the same way. So enjoy it, folks, cuz he's the one and only most likely. We may adopt later but it will be an older age.

Anyhow, enough about that. This weekend we didn't get to go biking AGAIN, but we took Kona and Alden to the park. I took Alden and Kona to the "Bark Park" last week which is here on the greenway. It is fenced so I could let Kona run off the leash. Alden got to be on grass for the first time. He ate it and played with it, but he didn't really explore much. I think it was weird for him. Kona still stayed close to us even though he had a large area to run. If he did run off, he watched Alden and I intently, and he would come back frequently to lick us both and make sure we were okay. He is very protective of us. He even barks at Joey when he swings Alden around upside down! He barks when one of us enters a room that that other is in when that entering person has been absent for an extended period of time. Of course, he quickly realizes it's us. He has adjusted quite well. He tells us when he needs to go out, though sometimes he has accidents still. It's only been two weeks though! He is so good with Alden and doesn't jump on him anymore. He heels and stays with us. He loves doing whatever we are all doing. It's truly lovely.

Alden is crawling, teething, talking, drooling, getting into things, you name it. He got a case of diarrhea about a week and a half ago accompanied by a slight fever, a mean diaper rash, and teething at the same time. Supposedly it was a stomach virus. His bowels still aren't back to normal, but they are better than they were. I might take him back to the doctor if that doesn't clear up soon. We went to the E.R. last Sunday night because he wasn't getting better, he didn't want to eat, and his diaper rash was so horrible. They told us, after 4 hours, it was just a tummy bug with bad diaper rash and that he happened to be teething at the same time, but that it wasn't related. I think I told you all that he cut a tooth on the bottom right (his right) already. Well, now he has his top left and bottom left right next to the other one in the front. He chews on absolutely everything and drools all the time. He is on skin creams for eczema and shampoo for ringworm which are both almost completely better. However, the skin cream will have to be applied for a long time as a preventative.

Other than that, he hasn't like baby food lately. He likes teether biscuits and bread and things like that, but he hates mushy baby food. I think I am going to have to try him on some higher stage food to get him to eat. He can hold a sippy cup for himself and eat finger foods. He is also becoming increasingly skilled at pulling up on things and walking around. He crawls and goes to sitting and laying and standing without a hitch now. Friday he went to work with me because I had to cover someone's shift in Wee Step (baby room). I will be doing the same thing over the next week and a half or so to get them through the full time teacher's vacation in Wee Step. Alden can come with me for FREE. But Maddy, our babysitter and friend, is still going to come over and be with Kona. I will be getting tons of hours, so I am excited about that. It is hard to work in Wee Step, but a job is a job and I get to be with my baby. He liked all the other kids and all the things there are to pull up on and climb on. His climbing gave me an idea for this weekend. We took Alden and Kona to Old Fort Park. We walked and jogged a little with them on the greenway, and it started to rain so we came back. We then went to Kid's Castle because the rain slacked off. Alden got to swing for the first time and loved it. He also climbed some steps at the castle as well! I was so proud. And yes, I have pictures of all of it! However, I think I might have to upload those later because we are about to watch a movie soon..

ah ok...

I'll give you a few.

But there will be more.

Valentine's Day!

Well, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!!

We have been extremely busy! I got a job working at Stepping Stones Academy taking care of kids and teaching ages 6 weeks to 5 years. I am mainly in step five right now which is 4 and 5 year olds. I work from 6:30-11 in the morning. I am only part time right now, but I will hopefully be moving up to full time in the near future. The main objective of the academy is to ready the children for kindergarten and to give them a major head start. I really like working there. Unfortunately, a child threw up on me Monday and now I have his stomach virus. I only got sick this morning, though, so I think I am doing better. I think I'll still be able to go out this evening with Joey for V-Day.

So what have we been up to? Well, both of us are now both hard at work. My friend Maddy stays with Alden from when Joey leaves for work until I get home. She is letting us pay her at a very low rate which is an awesome help to us.

On the weekends, Joey and I mountain bike! And we splurged and bought me a REAL front suspension bike! It's in the above pictures. It is a light blue Specialized Hard Rock Sport, the same type as Joey's, but it's a woman's bike. We got a new trunk rack that will more securely hold both of our bikes. It's awesome! We went out last weekend while some of Kevin's friend's parents watched Alden. It was frigidly cold, but SO WORTH IT! We have to go early now before the frozen ground melts into a mucky mush so we don't ruin the trail.

More exciting news- As if we weren't busy enough we have made another addition to our family. No, no, it's not another baby, it's a beautiful puppy! He is an Austrailian Cattle Dog, otherwise known as a Blue Heeler in the south. He is 3 months old, and we named him Kona. He is so smart and is fitting right into our family. He sleeps with us in the bed at night and doesn't have many accidents during the day. He loves Alden, and Alden loves playing with him in the floor. We are so happy they will get to grow up together. I know we are just adding to our responsibilities, but it is worth it for us to be a happy family and enjoy life! We're just SUPER busy! But we are so happy and loving every minute of our full life together!

Something about Alden. He has many skin problems. He has gone to a dermatologist about it. He has ringworm on his head (just a fungus) that we treat with a shampoo three times a week. He has bad eczema all over his body and especially bad on his face. We are treating him with creams and lotions twice a day and as needed. He's getting better. But we had a rough night last night. Alden was just screaming and feeling bad until about 12:30 in the morning when we decided to go on a car ride. He fell asleep and then we crashed. Of course, then I was sick this morning. Lovely Valentine's Day!

Oh, I forgot to say what Alden is up to! He is crawling like crazy and can now sit up from crawling, turn around, lower himself from standing to sitting to crawling, pull up on everything and "cruise", and screams and talks a lot. He can almost feed himself, but he likes to be lazy. He likes Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Pears, Oatmeal, Rice Cereal, and Ice Cream. He hates Applesauce, Apple Juice, Squash, Green Beans, and Peaches as well as all canned baby food meat! But he's a blast!