Preferences

Over the last few months, Little Ted's communication skills have grown considerably.  At first, he started pointing to indicate what he wanted.  He added a variety of grunts to his hand gestures that made clear what he did and did not want.  And now, he is a master of "yes" and "no" (especially "no"), which has made understanding him even easier.

Because of his growing communication skills, he has developed and demonstrated a number of preferences.  For example, he has two small bins filled with board books on the floor of his room, right under the window.  Mornings and afternoons, you will often find him sitting in a pile of books, quietly flipping through Dr. Seuss.  He prefers to have his books spread out so he can surround himself with them and walk through them.

Mommy, on the other hand, sees the books strewn on the floor as a potential tripping hazard, especially when Little Ted decides to run wildly throughout the upstairs, and tries to keep that area tidy.  Little Ted is not a fan. 

Mommy proved this to daddy the other day.  We were all relaxing in Little Ted's room when I decided to start putting away some of the books.  Little Ted immediately protested.  I ignored the complaints and continued to put the books back in the bin. 

I must have put the books in the wrong order at some point because, all of the sudden, Little Ted became irritated, slid off of daddy's lap (where he had been lounging comfortably), and marched over to me.  He looked me right in the eyes, stuck out his tongue, and blew a raspberry at me.  Then, he proceeded to take the books out of the bin.

Could this be a sign of future mother/son disagreements? 

Graduation Information

Family,

Here are the details for my graduation:
Date: Saturday, May 14, 2011
Time: 9:30 am
Location: The Ferrell Center, Waco, TX
Click here for Baylor's Commencement Website

Formal invitations will be mailed in the next few weeks.

We hope that you can attend!

The Doctor is In

I successfully defended my dissertation this morning.  Yay!

Snow Day

We've had some really wonky weather this winter - arctic blasts followed by mini heat waves.  In the process, Little Ted enjoyed his very first snow day.  Here's some video footage of his walk through the snow in our courtyard.

Zoo Day

We are enjoying the tail end of our spring break out here, which has consisted primarily of spring cleaning (thanks to a couple of collapsing closets).  Today, though, we enjoyed the beautiful weather by heading out to the zoo.  This was Little Ted's first trip to the zoo, a much deserved break from being indoors while mommy and daddy reorganized their room. 

He had a blast.  He tried to make friends by saying "hi there" to the people we passed.  He took a trip down the otter slide (also a first for him).  And he loved all the animals and all the space to roam around.  You can bet we will make another trip out there soon.

And Just because these are Cute Pictures . . .

New Year's Eve 2010

We spent New Year's with Grandma & Grandpa Gonzalez, where Little Ted (sleepily) enjoyed his first New Year's party.  We think he makes a pretty cute Baby New Year.

Spelling Bee Champion!

Recently, our nephew, Matthew, won his school's spelling bee.  Here are some pictures from the event.

Congratulations Matthew!  We are so proud of you and all your hard work!