Category Archives: Family

Sean had a little friend over today. Her name is Elizabeth, and she is cute as a button. It's funny - he seems to have gotten over his stranger anxiety with adults, and even with older kids - but babies still freak him out. They were playing nice together, but if Elizabeth touched Sean at all, he would immediately start crying. Maybe pretty girls make him nervous, just like his daddy!

A year ago today, a purple, bald-headed, wrinkly man affectionally known as "melonhead" was born. He came into the world six weeks before his time. Some say it was fate. Some say it was destiny. Some say Lori didn't follow the doctor's orders concerning bed-rest. But whatever the cause, a little bundle of happiness came forth to enrich our lives with joy. And poop. But mostly joy.

He was a quiet and introspective child, and spent most of his early months comtemplating this strange new world. And pooping. But mostly contemplating. Bald as a cue ball, and serious as an undertaker, we eagerly awaited a crack in his stony facade.

And then, the deluge. Once he had determined that we were acceptable stewards of his well-being, he graced us with the light of his smile. We were overjoyed. The poops became almost fun, if a smile could be stolen in the process. But alas, the poop-to-smile ratio was still mind-numbingly large.

Over the following months, he surprised us again and again with his ever-increasing array of skills. From sitting, to crawling, and then to standing - he was always ready to try new things before we were ready for him to change. As soon as we could adapt to some new ability, he would move on to the next step. In the baby-raising arms race, Sean was building his arsenal faster than we could keep pace.

As time has progressed, his personality has started to emerge. Lori and I have learned the ins and outs of his sense of humor, and have quite a few techniques in our bag of tricks that will score a guaranteed laugh. He has become very independent. He can play alone without getting bored, but also enjoys a bit of rough play with his daddy. He has inherited him mom's sense of goofiness and good humor. The two of them can get each other to laugh with only a look. Lori has been the cornerstone on which this family is founded, and has become the mom I had always hoped (and expected) her to be.

He also seems to have picked up an affinity for absurdity from his daddy - as nothing seems to crack him up more than the sillier aspects of the world around him. Just today, he had a bout of side-splitting laughter from the mere sight and sound of a goose. Admittedly, if I were seeing a goose for the first time, I would think that Mother Nature had played a pretty good joke as well.

We'd really like to thank everyone who has visited Sean, and those who haven't yet been able to - but have thought about him nonetheless. It has been tough to be away from all of you this past year, and to not have been able to share Sean with the people we care about. The number of times we have said "I wish so-and-so could see this!" can't even be counted. Wish us luck in the coming year!

Sean's birthday party was today. We kept it small - only a few close friends. Lori's dad was also here. We all had a great time, and Sean got some great new baby bling. We gave him a big slice of cake, and for the first time ever, Sean managed to eat something without getting a single crumb on the floor. He just wasn't willing to give any of it up.

Sean got an early birthday present today! Thanks Grammy and Grampy! As you can see, he loves it!

These pics have been a little delayed. I know it's been over a week since Christmas, but I've got new toys to play with and didn't feel like posting. :) So without further ado, here are the Christmas pics!

These first few pics were taken Christmas morning, as Lori and I got Sean's new things opened up so he could try them out. He really seemed to enjoy all his new toys. There wasn't a single toy that he was not interested in at some point. But I've got to say, Andi's gift took the prize. Even with no batteries in it, he played with that activity table all morning!

After everything was opened up, we all wound down a bit. Sean had breakfast in the living room (for the first time ever), so he could watch his new Curious Buddies DVD. The girls were pooped from all of the excitement - although Sadie kept an ear open for possible treats.

These last few pics were taken later on in the day. What a cute little outfit Santa brought!

Here's some recent pics of Sean getting a tubby. Somehow, he worked it out so that the ducky blocked his manhood in every shot - otherwise these photos would have made men jealous and ladies swoon.

I had to write a staff profile for work recently - the management claims "it's a good way for us all to get to know each other". Well, I'm not sure whether the profiles actually -do- that, but I wanted to share it with you guys. Some of you may not know all the stuff I put in there, and the rest of you might get a little kick out of it. It's in an Excel spreadsheet, but I assume everyone has MS Office. Enjoy!

My Staff Profile

I've been telling all of you that Sean has been standing up a lot lately. But with no new pictures on the website, you must wonder if I am full of it. Well here is some photographic evidence! :)

Today we took Sean to the playground for the first time. He's -seen- playgrounds before, but we've never tried to actually get him to -play- at the playground. So we took him today. It was about 75 degrees out, clear skies, and a nice, stiff breeze. Beautiful! Sean loved the swings - he started laughing and smiling as soon as he got his first push!

Hey all! Here are some pictures we took this afternoon while hanging out in the backyard. This set even includes a couple of rare "family" pictures - usually I avoid getting my picture taken like the plague!