Fleur de Aleta

My parents were out of town at the end of June, visiting with my brother and his wife in Maryland.  When my parents are on a trip, I go to their home on a regular basis to make sure everything is Ok, pick up the mail, water the plants, get any packages by the door if they are delivered, etc. Gregory comes with me and smiles when we get there.  One day I brought him into the front room and sat down at the piano.  My parents bought the piano when I was 8 years old and that's when I learned how to play. I touched a few notes and so did Gregory - it tickled me pink. I was holding him around his stomach and he was the one to reach out to play with both hands.  I hope to one day be able to teach him how to play....

What our baby would look like with a mustache. Gregory either loves or hates his swing - totally depends upon if he is too cranky already, but sometimes I catch him at the right moment and he'll fall asleep in his swing.... but then he gets what we call the "broken neck baby" syndrome. Friends and Family say that I spoil my son.  But he likes to be held up high and loves to look around. When I put Gregory to sleep for the night in his crib, I always face his head to the left and feet to the right.  One morning, my husband woke me up and said, "Did you put the baby in the same position as normal when you put him in his crib last night?"  I said "Yes" and Greg told me, "Come see this!" Facing the opposite way and smiling up a storm!  But the little bugger refuses to roll in front of me - he will get to his side or roll on a bed if someone is IN the bed, but never just roll in front of me in his crib! The la...

It's hot here in New Orleans.  Our seasons are Summer and Summer Lite.  But in the afternoon, sometimes we get a nice reprieve from the heat.  We took our babies for a walk... yes, as in plural. I had strolled Gregory in his stroller. And Greg took the dog AND the cat (in his own stroller)... hehe..

My Mom and I took a Greek cooking class together.  One part of the meal was a Greek salad.  The instructor is part Greek, part Italian.  She said, "When you go to a restaurant and order a Greek salad, it has a lot of lettuce on it.  But a real Greek salad has NO lettuce."  I was very happy about this, as I've never been a fan of lettuce. Mom and I really enjoyed making the vinaigrette and we thought it was delicious.  Last night, my husband and I tried out the recipe and I'm very pleased to say that he enjoyed it!  I will definitely be making this again in the future and for family gatherings :) Below is a picture of the ingredients, but unfortunately, I could not find a red onion (which is more purple in color), so a yellow onion was replaced.  The ingredients calls for any colored bell pepper EXCEPT for green.  Green has a more bitter flavor.  Red, Orange, Yellow tend to be sweeter.  I prefer orange or yellow. The vinaigrette is v...

At the 4 month doctor appointment, we were given the "go ahead" with feeding our son baby food.  I know Gregory likes apples and pears, but I'm trying to get him more into veggies first.  So far, he has taken a liking to squash and sweet potatoes... and right now, he is tolerating carrots. When he sees the spoon, his mouth goes wide open! It's definitely a messy and time consuming process.  At first he used his tongue to scoop the baby food out of his mouth, but he's starting to get used to the process of taking the food in.  Like anyone else, I think it's the experience of trying something new that our baby enjoys.  I'm sure there will be more "messy" pictures shared in the future :)

The video below is a little slow in the beginning, but when I start to count, he starts to smile and he makes this cute little squeaky sound that I just adore! To view it on YouTube, click here .

WARNING:  At end of post - picture post-op.  UGH. I had a few post “posted in advance” as I knew the eye surgery was coming quickly.  An update:  the doctor said all went well, even though I look like an 18-wheeler truck ran over me…. And I feel like it too.  I have to use an ointment in both eyes to stop any infection from happening, but that ointment makes my vision blurry, as if trying to see through wax paper.  (I haven’t put it in yet this morning, as I wanted to quickly write this post first.) I was also warned not to pick up anything heavier than 10 pounds, because the pressure could make my eyes bleed.  Which means no picking up the baby and that just about makes me want to cry! Cute Picture Next: Fortunately, my parents are in town and Greg’s family has helped as well.  My Mom said today, “I had two children and no help, because our families didn’t live close by.  People often don’t understand the constant w...

Another winner according to my husband.  And for me.  Because I really don't like barbecue pork.  But this was good.  I decided to try this recipe after reading so many rave reviews, but there was a warning - it stinks while it cooks.  So true - but so worth it! Whoops on the card - I put "quick and easy" - 6 hours is not so quick!

My Husband said, "This is a moment you should blog about to remember." We had just given our son a bath, the same routine as normal.  We wrapped him up in a towel, talked to him and then got the diaper ready.  Just as we put the diaper on... Gregory gave a loud FART!  We laughed so hard!  

Have you seen the Johnson Baby Commercial where the baby talks to Mommy?  It makes me cry every time I see it.  It's beautiful... and I never could have related in such a way if I didn't have Gregory... To watch on YouTube, click here .  I think it's the knowing we aren't perfect, but being loved and loving all the same and that being the most important gift we can give and receive.

After I made the red sauce and served it over spaghetti and browned some ground beef... my husband said, "You need to can this red sauce!"  That made my day! For me this was super easy, because I already had all of the ingredients chopped and in the freezer.  By the way, chopping parsley - super fast when frozen! I'm going to try something a little different... I put the recipe on a recipe card and saved it as a picture.  Hopefully this comes out clear. Hmm, when I say "add all of the other ingredients" - I mean add the tomatoes and other ingredients into the pot.  I'm assuming people will understand that, but you never know :)

Gregory whispers to my bloggy friends, "Mommy is having surgery on both eye lids today.  She's nervous about it, because it's painful.  I gave her a hug and smile this morning.  Please say a prayer for my Mommy.  Oh and I make 5 months old today!"

My aunt who lives in Mississippi lent us the bassinet.  It was greatly appreciated and used every day and night for the first couple of months of our son's life.  I love the bassinet; it has an heirloom quality to it, with old fashioned solid wood spindles along the side.  When I stayed up all night with the baby, I could gently rock the bassinet from side to side as it was capable of swinging. But now, my baby is no longer an infant and he has long limbs that exceed the bassinets abilities... and so, we say "Bye Bye Bassinet".... so sad to see you go.  But before the fond fair well, we took some pictures.

So, I thought about going private... because sometimes time is just not available to blog.  I'm going to try to pre-post some blog posts, because there are things to share and maybe this will help to do time management - to be able to share and also free up some time.  I'll give that a go first and so how it works out.  Thanks for putting up with me :) My son loves to suck on his fingers... and at times he will try to grab my fingers and suck on my knuckles. Which to be honest, is a little bit strange.  It feels weird.  He uses his gums in a strong grip.  Ok, this will sound funny, but it reminded me of something. Have you ever fed a sting ray?  At the New Orleans Aquarium there's an area where you can feed sting rays - you put a small fish between your fingers and lower your hand down into the water.  The sting ray covers your hand and you FEEL the mouth sucking the fish from your hands with a powerful grip. That's what a baby suckling...

Just wanted to drop a line that in a couple of days, this blog will be going private.  I might still post, but it won't be open to the public and will just be more baby stuff.  If you want to keep up on the baby pictures, feel welcome to friend me on Facebook, see link at the top of the blog. I'll still visit blogs and later, might bring this one back online, but for now, I just this need, so I'm going with my gut.

At least, that's what everyone thinks, myself included :)  But we could all be wrong.  He does tend to go after things with his left hand.  Here are two YouTube Videos... To view on  YouTube, click here. To view on YouTube, click here.

Mommy does a lot for you, my sweet little boy... but she doesn't like to trim your nails.  She's too nervous about cutting your skin and biting your nails just doesn't seem right either. Mommy to Baby:  "Do you know how many adults it takes to trim your nails?" Baby to Mommy:  "I Know!  I Know!  It takes ONE adult to trim my nail." Mommy to Baby:  "No Sweetie, it takes more than one adult to trim your nails." Baby to Mommy:  "I Know!  I Know!  It takes TWO adults to trim my nails!  I have two fingers in my mouth Mommy." Mommy to Baby:  "You need to go up a little higher than that Baby." Baby to Mommy:  "I don't know any higher than Two Mommy." Mommy to Baby:  "It takes THREE adults to trim your nails my sweet little boy.  Mommy holds your legs so that you don't kick.  You have really strong legs and when you kick, your little body goes all over the place.  It takes your Dadd...

Have you ever seen the commercial where the baby starts talking about his investments.  I'd love to make a video like that with our son.  Greg would do a great voice over.  :) I took these pictures, thinking of that commercial. "Daddy, we need to talk about my college funds." "We need a better portfolio!  This is the account we should go for!" "Yeah!  We make a good team, Daddy"  :) I had to include the video below, because I don't think Greg realizes when he makes those funny sounds and starts singing.  Too cute! To view on  YouTube, click here .

It's so cute to see our baby looking into the mirror.  He gets all excited!  In these pictures, I'm holding him in front of my dresser mirror.  The pictures are a little lopsided, because I was trying to snap the pictures off to the side while making funny faces with Gregory.

Gregory says that his Daddy has Super Powers.. Daddy picks him up and flies him around the house.   Under his work cloths, he wears his Daddy shirts :) He is SUPER DAD!  :) But the ONE thing Daddy did NOT expect was to have one special little bond with his little boy... you see....  Daddy calls Mommy during the day and asks, "Did you just change a dirty diaper?"  Daddy is miles away when he calls....  it appears Daddy has a Super Nose and it is (per your Daddy's words) "a psychic tie to Gregory's turds!"  LMAO.  So, though Mommy is there cleaning a dirty diaper, both Mommy and Baby smile, because they know Daddy is sharing in the experience, at least in the olfactory perception!