A Day at the Park

We went to the park today and had a blast! It's hard to believe that tomorrow he'll be 17 months old already!

Here we are!

My good buddy Leah (Hi, Leah!) has been hassling me about being the non-blogging-est blogger ever. So here are some photographic updates so you can see what Griffin is up to these days. It's been a hot summer, so we're swimming almost every day when I get home from work. He just had his first day of daycare today, he'll be going three days a week. That way he'll get some socialization, Baba will get some time for writing and cleaning, and I'll get some "free" evenings when she helps out on the days that he has daycare, instead of me taking over when I get home every day so she can breathe.

Griffin has yet to say his first word, although he does sign "more" and waves. He's just so into thinking about stuff and studying things that I guess he's just keeping it all in his head for now. We'll see if daycare has an effect on that, but so far he's definitely the kind of kid that likes to check things out and see how they work or figure out how they're supposed to be. (Case in point, if we don't shut the baby gate when we go into the kitchen, he'll try to close it for us!)

Yep, he's a year old!

So we decided to throw caution to the wind and get him a Kid Tough digital camera for his birthday. We all love it! Here's a shot of me showing him how it works:

And here's the first "successful" photo he took of himself:

And here are some recent photos taken with a "big kid" camera:

Our Amazing Little Boy

Griffin loves to figure things out!

It's been way too long since I've posted anything about our amazing boy and what he's doing these days. It's ridiculous how fast the time goes! I know, I know, everyone says that. But it's true! He's nearly a year old, and already he can do so much. He amazes us regularly with the things he figures out!

For example, he loves my digital camera. He knows how to take the lens cap off and put it back on, and (get this!) he knows how to press the sides of the little dish-shaped button to get the pictures to change on the LCD screen. OK, so he doesn't get it every time, but he does as well as some adults I know! The point is that he figured out how to do it, just by watching me switch the pictures for him.

Not amazing enough? OK, how about this... Mombi's computer is fairly close to his play area, and there's a bit of a gap between the sections of the mesh playyard fence. The other day, she noticed that one of the cables on her computer was jiggling. She looked down, and saw that he had hooked a piece of play-mat foam (one of his favorite toys, go figure) around the cable. She marveled and wondered how he'd managed to get it caught on a cable, and un-hooked it for him and put it back in his play area. A couple minutes later (you guessed it!) the cable started jiggling again. The little bugger was doing it on purpose, trying to get something that we'd made sure was out of reach!

Need a bit more proof that we're raising an amazing kid? Well try this one... I have a graphics tablet that I use instead of a mouse. It's basically a hard mousepad that I "write" on with a stylus. (Do a search for Wacom if you can't visualize it.) Anyway, I also have a program on my computer called "Keyboard Pounder" which basically makes my keyboard and mouse (stylus) baby-proof. He can bang on them all he wants, and instead of messing with my computer, it just makes fish show up on the screen while some fairly horrible Midi classical music plays. Anyway, he sits on my lap, takes the stylus pen from me, and taps it and drags it around on the tablet to make fish show up. While looking at the monitor screen! I know, studies say we shouldn't be over-exposing him to computers and TV at his age, and truly he doesn't spend that much time watching screens (although you wouldn't think it by the way he gravitates toward them). I don't think it's doing much harm, though, and he certainly is ahead of the curve so far for computer skills!

Beyond blowing our minds daily in general, he's still a total treat to hang out with, he's nearly always in a great mood, and he has yet to get truly sick. He had a mild fever for a few days while he was teething (did I mention his 12 teeth?) but other than that he's been healthy since he came home from the hospital. He's funny, he makes great faces (he has mombi's overactive eyebrows) and he's so proud of himself every time he walks someplace by himself without a crash landing. He's even starting to get some hair! We're still waiting to identify a definite word, but it's only a matter of time.

Stay tuned for easter and birthday photos, coming soon! And if you haven't yet done so (thanks, Aradia and Ava!) please consider sponsoring Griffin in his first charity campaign. He's going to be participating in an Arthritis walk to support finding a cure for his ten-year-old cousin. See the post below for all the details!

Griffin needs your help!

Hi, This is Griffin!

My cousin Valerie is ten years old, and she's been on medication for arthritis almost every day since she was about my age. I think that's just crazy! I've just learned to walk, and I'm just in time to support her by participating in this year's Arthritis Walk. I was only a few days old during last year's walk, so my moms didn't get to walk last year, either. I'm trying to make up for it all by myself by raising $100 for each of us!

I don't really understand the details of Valerie's illness, so here's what her mom told me about it: Valerie’s story and her struggle with Arthritis is not unlike others. I would like to tell you her story so you can see why it is so important that we keep funding the Arthritis Foundation so they can find cures and provide support for people with arthritis. Valerie’s story begins shortly after she learned to walk. We noticed her walking with her knees straight, and she wouldn’t bend them when she got up and down from playing. Just after her first birthday, after a few different doctors and x-rays, she was finally diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. We have had many years of ups and downs. Valerie has to get a shot every week and was at one time taking six pills a day. She recently had to start taking another pill that is supposed to provide some relief from her other medicines that are making her sick to her stomach. She thought she was successful in beating the disease a couple of times only to relapse and have to start her medication all over again. Recently we tried to let her take her medicine orally instead of injecting it, but that small change made her knees swell so much she could hardly walk. Each time she comes off her medicine and relapses it is more challenging to get the arthritis under control again. We have had to get the fluid drained from one of her knees three times because medicine alone could not bring down her swelling. Her last relapse affected her range of motion in one of her knees and, we have to try to correct that. Valerie is on her fourth try with the medicine with only a combined period of about five months out of nine years not on medication. She will have to wait at least three years before we can try to be off medication again and see if we have beaten it this time. Without the research that the Arthritis Foundation does trying to find new medicines and a cure for Arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, Valerie could go through this cycle over and over her entire life.

Now you see why I want to help! I'm going to walk as far as I can (and maybe ride in my fancy backpack for a while) and make sure Valerie will always be able to run with me when I get old enough! If you can help me make my cousin healthy by donating a few dollars, or even more, that's great. I'll make sure to chase Valerie extra hard when she gets well to show my appreciation!

Your buddy Griffin

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Arthritis Foundation.

My whole family thanks you!

Peek A Boo!

“Gay” vs. “Ghey”

The Question of “Gay” vs. “Ghey”

Introduction

My postings up to this point have been about Griffin and our experience of his conception, birth and his almost 10 months of growing up. Though we have had both positive and negative responses to our family we have chosen to express the positive.

So I have debated writing articles on this blog that shed light on the negative experiences we have had; such as:

Should I make another blog?
Or just not bring it up to our readers?
Should I make a web site then link it to our blog?

Then I remembered that we are going to guide our son through both the positive and negative experiences in our lives.

In contrast my family had always swept anything negative under the rug, as if it never happened, and I have learned that you might not see what’s under the rug, but you sure as hell have a hard time running a vacuum over the mass below the carpet.

So the first controversial article I’ll post here.

I am going to write this article directly to you, dear readers, raising questions and hope to have feed back from our heterosexual, GLBT, asexual and reserves-the-right-to-refuse-to-take-on-a-label ( J ) readers a.k.a. all of you lovely folks.

This started as a single question I was going to ask you, but as I began to write it blossomed into something much longer.

An important note before I continue. The term “gay” has its own controversy within the GLBT community; Wikipedia has a well defined history of the term “gay”. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay] For this article I will not delve into that controversy, it would only complicate matters, but that doesn’t mean I am not aware of the controversy; so I use the term “gay” to define GLBT Community in whole as that is how a majority of society outside generalize the GLBT community.

Definition

I want to use the quote below from the wiki article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage] as a pseudo definition of ‘ghey’ because the wiktionary article [3] doesn’t explain the details of the pejorative non-sexualized usage enough for me (though it does contain some quotes that explain very well the ignorance of using it).

Quote:

When used with a derisive attitude (e.g. "that was so gay"), the word gay is pejorative. While retaining its other meanings, it has also acquired "a widespread current usage" amongst young people, as a general term of disparagement. This pejorative usage has its origins in the late 1970s, when homosexuality was more widely seen as negative by a majority of people. Beginning in the 1980s and especially in the late 1990s, the usage as a generic insult became common among young people, who may or may not link the term to homosexuality, especially when directed at inanimate objects. This practice is frowned upon in some communities that seek to ensure respect for people of all sexual orientations, and is considered by some to be on par with ethnic slurs. Many defenders of the word's pejorative usage choose to spell it "ghey" to avoid any sexual connotations. Critics object to this change of spelling, often comparing it to the use of words like "knigger" or "nigga" for nigger to evade accusations of racism.

Personal History

Most of my free time is spent playing a MMORPG [4] (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) which I enjoy very much, not only because of the strategy, scenery and objectives that can be experienced but for the social interactions that are developed with other players from around the world.

The other players range from ages 8 to 80 so one gets a really diverse social experience.

What?!
Social experience from a game?!?
Mombi, have you gone nuts?!?

Yes, I know, I get that all of the time. Consider, however, that even if you don’t have personal experience within such an environment, it really is taking you out of the real world for a brief time and thrusting you into a whole new arena…but unlike your favorite movie or novel you are not alone in this journey; you’ve got others there with you.

The battle of Gay vs Ghey

In my experiences with players of the game I have had a pet peeve that has grown beyond the usual irk: the term “ghey”.

At first I thought that the young adults (and some mature adults) that used the term were actually using it, consciously, as a derogatory term against GLBT Community.

This I learned wasn’t always the case.

What Mombi are you crazy?!?

Seriously, the people that I’ve talked to both within my guild (group of players that play regularly together) and without do not always mean to offend the GLBT Community. (Note: HUUUUGE thanks to the officers of said guild who have considered the term “ghey” as offensive to GLBT Community and haven’t accepted the term simply as a way to describe something negative “these days.” They have made it an offense that could possibly get one kicked out of the group if the behavior continues.)

They meant “ghey” as in stupid, lame, boring, bummer, or to defame a person or event. Not “gay” to call the GLBT Community stupid, lame, boring, bummers or to deface them or what they do.

To quote Momai it is like the difference between a simile (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile) and a metaphor (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor ) they’re just saying that one is okay and the other isn’t.

The very sad thing is the term has become so inundated into the lexicon of youth today that they do not realize what they are saying. I’m going to use a few examples which I found very interesting.

I had resolved myself to keep silent when I heard others use the term, just feeling it was something irksome that I had to get over because what would it change?

What can one woman do to change such a thing?

Then it hit me, it only takes one person to voice out to realize that there are others who voice out, and even tough people think this is not an issue its something to “get over”.

So (damn it!) I was not going to simply get over it and learn to live with it.

So begins the battle, which I will not wage aggressively against the people I know by yelling at them. Rather, I simply say that offends me and when they ask me why I answer:

Why do you think “ghey” is different from “gay”?

This is from the Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com) which is sort of like a Wiki for users to write what they think the term means to them and by others.

And by the way there are more than 39 definitions of the term, quite a few more than the other words I’ve found on the site; I’m just going to list 4 examples:

Bud E Love says that “Ghey” means usurping the traditional term “GAY” to take the homosexual meaning out and leaving in the lame.”

DigitalLion feels that “ghey” means the same as “gay”. This term began as a way to get around videogame servers and other profanity filters. “gay” is blocked, but “ghey” is just fine.

Prisilla R. says that “ghey” is used to describe someone who is extremely lame or boring. Not to be confused with “gay” which describes a homosexual. Prisilla continues her opinion by offering an example. A conversation between friends Brett and Gary. “Brett: hey lets go pick up some chicks. Gary: Nah dude… I’d rather stay home and check my myspace. Brett: Stop being a ghey and let’s go!”

“Ghey” is “Ghey” feels that “Ghey” is a way to take the guilt out of offending [the] GLBT Community by calling something unfavorable “gay”. Since verbally, the new spelling is virtually unnoticeable, this rationale is rendered a waste of time, but as mentioned, it serves its purpose in the mind of the homophobe-in-denial.

I could go on and on but I won’t, those are the examples that I picked out to give my interpretations.

Bud E Love is apathetic and ignorant.
DigialLion gets straight to the point but a defeatist.
Prisilla R is just blasé and has no idea she just contradicted herself with her example.
Ghey is Gey is idealistic and hits the nail right on the head.

I myself went from defeatist to idealistic in the course of two years playing the mmorpg.

Most still do not understand why I am offended, if they are really interested in knowing I explain further by a few examples, and they are harsh.

WARNING: I detest having to say certain words; I use them ONLY to make a point against discrimination.

“What if I came along after losing a battle against another player, and I started to rant about how knigger he was, and that the game company was a knigger for allowing the game continent in the first place and that the whole team should shut up because that was being such a knigger?”

It makes me sick to say those things, and usually is a slap in the face to the player that I voice the question. They immediately find what I said offensive (because it was) and I ether get an “oh” or a “but that’s not what I mean when I say “ghey”, it just means stupid.”

I don’t go any further than that hoping that they will at least think about it next time they use the term “ghey” or hears it being used.

Here is where I realized that this has gone beyond a simple change of language.

These young adults, will soon be adults and have no comprehension that “ghey” is derogatory because all of their lives they have used the term and really, really do not feel that they are being offensive.

To me that is repugnant that it has been allowed to go so far.

Schools allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Chats allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
Games allow it (though “gay” isn’t to be used).
BBC allows it (good grief, see below for a quote)
“The word 'gay' ... need not be offensive... or homophobic... The governors said, however, that Moyles was simply keeping up with developments in English usage. [...] The committee... was "familiar with hearing this word in this context." The governors believed that in describing a ring tone as 'gay', the DJ was conveying that he thought it was 'rubbish', rather than 'homosexual'. [...] The panel acknowledged however that this use... in a derogatory sense... could cause offence in some listeners, and counselled caution on its use. ”
—BBC Board of Governors


So it all comes back to this: “gay” vs “ghey”

Or to put it in new terms: Homos vs stupid.

Many who condone homosexuality find the use of term to be offensive, but remain silent because it is “just something kids say now-a-days.”

Ouch.

In closing

Thank you for listening to my rant, I hope it was food for thought about next time you hear a young relative using the term, or experience the same thing on a chat or in a blog, or are a concerned parent.

I do not know how to continue, or where to go from here to even start to seriously begin to curb the use of the new ‘word’.

Okay I will go as far as to ask how to start getting this word banned?

How did words like coon, spic, white trash, yellow or kike get banned from the politically correct lexicon?

I am not delusional.

I know that in familial, social and ethic circles these terms are still used, and the term “ghey” will still be used even if it is banned as offensive by those who are morally and politically correct.

I know one thing:

I do not want my son to grow up with the word “ghey” as part of his every day lexicon.

I do not want him to grow up confused over the definitions of what “gay” vs “ghey” is.

I do not want to explain to him that no one means to offend his mommies or himself when they use “ghey” as a negative.

I do not want him to be afraid to tell his friends about his Mama and Baba because he knows they would be called “ghey” (less of a person)… not meaning “gay” (homosexual).

I do not want him to accept “ghey” as a casual negative term.

And most of all I do not want him to have to take the brunt of this battle of “gay” vs “ghey”; he is going to have enough adversity to overcome.

This should be our stand, not his.


1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay#Pejorative_non-sexualized_usage
3 http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ghey
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_role-playing_game
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simile
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=metaphor

The bears, a must have for sleeping.

So we have found Griffin's security objects, we've had them for awhile and for some reason (no idea why) we haven't shared them with you.

My mother send him a little blue bear made out of a soft blanket, it looks like a little stuffed bear holding a blanket with a satin lining. It's cute.

Well Griffin can't sleep without it.

Griffin's perfect sleep.

Step 1
Have bottle while geting a change

Step 2
After bottle, recieve a passifer...if no passifer given within a few seconds of bottle....fuss.

Step 3
3 Books (must be chosen from a selection or he won't sit through a reading)

Step 4
Into crib, smile because he knows what's comming next.

Step 5
Eather bear!!

We named said bear after the version of cloriform because he just cuddles the bear, smiles and then when he's ready he just lifts it over his eyes and he's out.

Seriously...out like a light.

And sleeps all through the night (yes...we are very very lucky).

So, one day we forgot Eather bear while visiting Nana....uh oh.

No sleep.

So we had his Aunt head out to the store to pick up an exact copy of Eather bear.

He was worried at first, it didn't smell like eather bear...wasn't as worn out as eather bear...but it felt close enough..so he was soon alseep.

Thus, dubbed by the Aunt who rescued Griffin from a night of fitfull sleep (subsiquently all of us too) Benzo Bear. Benzo being short from Benzodiasopam a family of drugs to help passify folks (did I mention said aunt getting her masters in psychology).

Anyway, I thought you'd get a kick out of the twins Eather and Benzo bear.

Benzo stays at Nana's on a perminant basis.

Slices of Life

Here are a few random videos from the past month. Warning: the first one is about five minutes long. I couldn't decide where to cut it off.



Coughing is Funny!

Swinging with Nana

That's a Lens Cap!

First Words

Well groovy news.

I've graduated from pthf pthf to Baba.

Today Griffin looked at Momai and said Moma....turned around and looked at me and said Baba.

I, of course, was shocked and shot up out of the chair like a mad woman and scooped him up and gave him a baba hug and kisses. Which he thought was odd but very funny.

I was crying and grinning like a fool but very happy.

First Holiday Season

I love Momai's family, there is such a wide range of beliefs when it comes to spirituality and yet it has never ever been an issue. We gather at or around Christmas time, I call it Christmas time but it's more like Family Celebration.

This year was extra special for me for two reasons.

One, the obvious, is to watch Griffin play with paper, be given a box to open and do nothing but squish it and slid around on his knees (thinking wow! best gift ever....carpet slider!!), explore new territory, play with his cousins, play with his cousins animals, laugh with Grandparents, laugh with his Aunts, laugh with his Uncle, get pictures taken of us all in matching pjs (thanks to Nana) and I can keep going and going, we will post pictures soon.

Second, I got to watch my Momai's parents witness the love of their children. Momai's sister Jeanne came up with an idea to make a floor plan of their old house, and each of the four children were to make a laminated overlay to said map and mark places where they have memories and write them out with corrosponding numbers. They weren't suppossed to get together and work on the project, only at the end when the books were put together did Jeanne get to first witness the memories.

I sat back watching the love from Momai and her siblings as they watched their parents open up the best gift of all. Witnessing what their children remembered about growing up, the love, the humor, the tears, the fears and the comfort. Many memories had been forgotten, many memories renewed and many of the memories were marked by two, or three siblings but seen through different eyes.

I saw in that moment, myself and Momai, lucky enough that our son Griffin, and perhaps his siblings, will be so cared for and so loved that he will have memories, and we will have memories. Some memories will be shared here, shared with strangers as we reach out for support for the uncommon family.

To all the single mothers, to all of the single fathers, to all of the daddies, all of the mommies, the lesbian dads, the lesbian moms and so so many more labels, I wish you the best at this time of the year, and into the new year.

We are gardians of such treasures and hopes; and I for one am proud to stand and call each person who reads this family.

To memories old and new, Blessed Be.

Baba Oops

So remember those photos of the fauxhawk the other day?

Well it was at a request by Momai's coworkers and she was at work, so of course I took up the task.

As I've said before I take no where near as good of pictures as Momai's so I knew that I'd have to take /lots/ of them.

Ahem....soooo I went into our bathroom and picked up some of Momai's styling gel thinking I'd give his hair a hand in standing up for the photo shoot.

All of the gels and stuff say uber hold, ultra style, 12 hour spike and stuff like that so I picked the first one that I could reach thinking that "yeah yeah they're all the same."

So I styled the little guy's hair and sure enough it stayed up through the whole photo shoot and all the way up until Momai got home that evening... and through till that night.

As we marveled at the fact that his hair was still standing up Momai asked if I'd used something to help it stay up. Which I answered quickly (with pride at my own cleverness) about the gel (which now that I remember back was the consistancy of almsot dry elmer's glue) and then promptly got a giggle, then a laugh.

Apparently I'd chosen the most powerful styling product that we own, that also happened to be water proof.

Needless to say through all of Griffin's play, washings, hair brushings, sleeping he kept that fauxhawk for about 6 days.

Yes my friends, 6 days; even after it was slicked down it'd still dry and retun to resemble its former style.

I wonder if I should call the company and compliment them on their very effective product?

Editor's Note

I am retracting my previous statement regarding Griffin calling me Baba.

I am pleaed to announce that he has dubbed me Pbff pbff.

I wonder how well that'll go over at the social secruity office when I go to change my name.

Tee hee

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Not as good as pictures taken by Momai.

Almost 8 months...wow!

No pictures with that post; that's usually Momai's department so we'll get some up for you soon.

So what's happened since we last shared:

-8 teeth in total
-Eating solids more than formula
-Pulling himself up to sit
-Pulling himself up to stand
-Lots and lots and lots of babbling and starting to take his turns in babble.

Whew...yeah lots has happend and I think (I hope) I got a fair video of Griffin standing up his first time. I looked over my shoulder because he was quiet and sure enough he was standing. So shocked me tried to go for the camera before I startled him and he sat back down (or fell).

So talking, babble and we've started to identify ourselves to him as Momma (Momai) and Baba (Mombi) so we'll see how that works. He hadn't really picked up on the different sounds and the family gets a bit confused so we're going to give these changes a go. Not quite ready to change my name on the blogs though.

Yah, back to talking.

Tee hee

So I do quite a bit of talking over the computer internationally and he has started to pick up on the cadence of a conversation. He knows that when a computer is talking he is quiet and when the computer is quiet I star to talk. Only issue with that is he usually babbles over me when I'm trying to respond, which gives everyone a good laugh. He gets a bit confused when there is more than a few people talking at once and I've been quiet for awhile so he just stares blankly.

So we've started watching a couple programs on Nick Jr. to suplement what I'm teaching him on my own. I've been really pleased with the programing, and wow we have come a long way since Sesame Street when I was a kid. There are four that I love (and some a love hate relationship) that he gets into.

Well I say gets into is he usually watches the first ten min or so of the show then goes off to play, and either listens while he plays and usually goes back to it in a few minutes.

So onto the list.

Blue's Clues
Nice slow scene transitions that don't make his eyeballs go crazy. Very good educational tool, I was impressed that their episode on colors consisted of the primary, secondary and terciary colors. I wish I'd learned how to identify magenta when I was a kid. Draw back for me is the songs, they're so easy to get stuck in my head and they're the kind that don't seem to really have an ending.

Backyardigans
Love this show and how it explores imagination. Right now he's only processing the colors, voices and music but the boy loooves music and the songs are fun as well as the episodes

Wonder Pets
Uber cute, almost too much cuteness but again the music, good themes (even though he might not understand them yet) and nice slow scene transitions. Major one for this show is their "different" song every show is really just the same song with only a few minor changes....so oooh yeah do I get this one stuck in my head.

Yo Gabba Gabba
Hmm...this one is my least favorite out of the four only because it's a bit too much for his age...and yet he giggles when he sees the puppets so if it happens to be on when we're at a stage that he'd like some entertainment other than Baba (yes shock and horror I do get boring after awhile) I go ahead and let him watch some of it. If you've never experienced the show... it is...well I'll try to sum it up in a few words. DJ, orange fro looking hat, orange 70's jump suit, magical boom box straight from the late 70s....nuff said.

Well I think my quiet time is over, I promise we'll get new pictures (and hopefully a video or two) posted.

Blessed Be,

Baba (just testing it out, Mombi)

6.5 Months Full of Personality

I took Griffin to the park today to get a couple outdoor shots of him before it gets too cold out. He was all grins, but somehow all the big grin shots came out blurry or were focussed on the background. He ran out of energy toward the end, but we had a great time. Enjoy!

Also, a big "Hello!" to Griffin's Tati Fifi, who finally got to meet him in person today! Unfortunately it was at the end of a long day and when he was uncomfortable after an unfavorable reaction to his first carrots, and he didn't have many smiles left. She did manage to get a couple chuckles out of him, though!

Griffin is 6 months old!

On Monday, Griffin will be six months old. Wow, how time flies! He got his first two teeth at around 4 months old. He's recently learned to sit by himself, and yesterday morning we saw him up on his hands and knees for the first time. He's been doing it frequently ever since, and even doing the rocking forward thing, so we wouldn't be surprised if he's crawling within the next couple weeks. He never did develop a love for rice cereal, but he just started baby oatmeal and he loves it! He's got a great personality and a wonderful sense of humor, and we're having a fabulous time being parents. It's the most amazing experience! Here are a few random photos from this weekend (the grins and the one of him sitting) and one from last weekend (with the giraffe in the background). Enjoy!






And just for fun, here's a video from a few weeks ago:

Bringin' on the Scripture

Baby conversations with people really run the whole range. There are those who just want to hear that no one but the cat gets any sleep, and that the cat is bald from the baby pulling its hair out. There are those that want to gush about what a wonderful experience parenthood is, and how much they miss "that age." And then there are those conversations that are, well, just plain interesting.

The other day I was getting my morning coffee at work when the woman next to me at the other coffee machine asked, "How's the baby?" So I replied with my usual "He's wonderful, he's growing so fast" and mentioned that he has two teeth already. She was very surprised, as most people are, and then exclaimed, "Whew! You just brought on some scripture!"

She went on to exclaim about how the Bible says that in the end times, children will grow up quickly, and isn't it amazing how reminders are everywhere these days. I was just trying to figure out how to respond to her enthusiastic suggestion that my child was an indication of the impending end of the world when she exclaimed, "Well, have a great day!" and walked off.

People are so odd.

Happy End-of-August!

Wow, next week Griffin will be five months old. Where has the time gone?!? Well, a lot of time has gone to changing and washing diapers, cleaning and prepping bottles, and loading and unloading the washer/dryer. A lot more time has gone to smiling, laughing, tickling, bragging, yawning, and a fair bit of crying (by all three of us.) Griffin is absolutely enchanting. He's very happy and easy going, and apart from some dry skin issues, the worst health scare we've had from him since he left the hospital was a big spit-up in bed followed by a day of wanting to be held the whole time. He has two (count 'em, two!) teeth already, both on the bottom. He's even balder than when he was born, and his eyes have brightened to a lustrous light blue. He squeals and coos with joy, and is developing quite the vocabulary of sounds. It's so wonderful to watch him learning and growing. We love our baby boy!

Here are some recent pictures:

Random July Photos

This is the blanket that Griffin's Aunt Amy made him.

The obligatory "cute when he cries" shot.

Making faces for Mombi after a bath. Griffin loves swimming in the tub!