Little Ted and the Boy in the Mirror

Little Ted has a regular playmate, the little boy in the mirror.  For a long time, Little Ted was only brave enough to smile at the little boy.  Without fail, the little boy would smile back.  Recently, Little Ted mustered up the courage to approach the little boy.  The little boy responded and approached him as well.  They bumped heads.  Little Ted thought that was funny, and so he tried it again.  The little boy was happy to comply, and they bumped heads again.  The third time, the little boy in the mirror (or maybe Little Ted, I'm not quite sure) was a bit too enthusiastic when he approached, and they bumped heads hard.  Little Ted backed away as fast as he could and began to cry.  After mommy comforted him, he made up with the little boy, and they continued to play.

(It may interest you to know that a "head bump" is the way Little Ted typically offers kisses.  So it looks like he is infatuated with his reflection.)

Grandpa Gonzalez,

I'm ready to shoot cans at the ranch!

Stroller Envy

Have you seen this stroller???  It's a stroller/bike/shopping cart all in one - genius!

Baby Gear

Here's one of the promised photos of Little Ted in our backyard pool, and it serves a dual purpose in also allowing me to discuss baby gear.  The day this photo was taken was our last pool day; on that day, we discovered that the sides would no longer hold air, meaning that we lost all the water in the pool - sad!  This was one of several baby-related items we own that just didn't survive for very long.

Another was our baby monitor.  We picked this particular model because it had a video feed and, according to its advertising, you could also monitor your baby via the web.  We quickly learned, however, that the monitor had to be connected to a desktop computer (not a laptop) to view your baby on the web.  Since we don't use a desktop, there went that idea.  Without the web viewing capability, we ended up with a plain jane video baby monitor, which served its purpose and worked well, but picked up a lot of interference and kept us up at night.  Not fun.  Last month, the monitor broke, so we resorted to using Skype and our laptops to keep an eye on Little Ted.  If we were smart, we could have just gotten an inexpensive netbook with a web cam and had the monitor we thought we were getting.  Oh well, now we know. 

We also have a mini-fridge in Little Ted's room, and it died this summer, too.  It was really convenient while it lasted, though, and kept me from having to march up and down stairs when he woke up in the middle of the night for feedings.  Thankfully, he sleeps much better now, so the fridge isn't really a necessity any more.

In addition to the failing baby gear, our A/C died twice this summer, and our wireless router went out today.  I guess what they say is true - when it rains, it pours!

Updates

For those of you who frequent this blog, you know that posts have been less than frequent lately.  Simply put, August is upon us - and so is the start of the semester (the first day is Monday!).  In other words, the Gonzabloggers have been occupied by other tasks.  Nevertheless, much has happened over the course of the month.  Here's a quick update:

Little Ted is changing fast these days.  He is learning to communicate in new ways.  While he can only say a handful of words (mama, dada, papa, uh oh, ow, eh?), he can get his point across pretty well.  He points at the things he wants, licks his lips when you eat a food that he wants to try, and pushes away his spoon when he's had enough. 

He is walking more these days, but crawling is still the preferred mode of movement.  It seems like he has to muster up the courage to walk from point A to point B, but when he decides to, he can get pretty far.

Little Ted has a molar coming in.  For the most part, he has handled it well, but this afternoon was rough.  It took a dose of ibuprofen and some cuddling to help him calm down. 

On Thursday, he had his second hair cut.  Unlike the first hair cut, which he handled well, Little Ted cried - loudly - through this one.  He only stopped when he realized a couple of little boys were watching him.  Once they left, the tears started again.  Apparently, he didn't like the sound of the scissors next to his ears - go figure.

At the beginning of the month, Little Ted went in for his one year check up.  He weighed in at 21.6 lbs (on the big kid scale!) and is 29 inches tall, putting him in the 16th and 22nd percentiles, respectively.  His head, on the other hand, measured in the 95th percentile! - might explain why the walking seems to cause him a bit of trouble.

We took Little Ted for his very first visit to the park.  He enjoyed the swings, but the slide was too hot for him to try out.  He also spent a little time walking while holding mommy's hands, but that turned out to be a frustrating process.  More than anything, he wanted to roam around the park freely like the rest of the kids there.  But the concrete sidewalk does not make for a good crawling surface, and it was a hot afternoon, so we decide to leave, much to the frustration of the child.  Maybe more frequent visits to the park will encourage Little Ted to try to walk more often. 

We've got more pictures and videos to post and will work to get them up this weekend, before the madness begins again . . .

Summer Music

This is Little Ted's favorite song right now.  He especially likes to see the sun rise; it puts a big smile on his face.