Another Cousin Joins the Clan!

Yep, Maryanne delivered her little bundle of joy today. Little "Baby Boy X" was born today at 4:12. He weighed in at at a hefty 8 lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches. I say hefty because if you've seen Maryanne with her baby belly, you would think the kid could not have been more than 5 or 6 pounds. I don't know how she has these big babies! Good coloring and some hair to boot too.

Oh, and if you asking why I refer to him as Baby Boy X, it's because the name is still up for discussion. I'm sure the kiddo will have a name soon though.

The real treat came when I got word that she was in labor in the morning.....I was able to blow off about 5 hours of meetings to be her labor coach. Not a bad trade off if you ask me. (Now keep in mind that being a good labor coach usually means just keeping your mouth shut and not trying to crack jokes before the epidural kicks in.) So I suppose I didn't drive her too crazy as her coach.

And for those of you catching score, there are now 5 cousins on the Tweedy side, all under 3 1/2 years old. Family get togethers will be a little bit fun, and a lot of crazy!! :)

In-Flight Movies

I forgot to mention on my previous "Orlando" post that I had the opportunity to watch 2 movies. The first one "He's Just Not Into You." Great little romantic comedy...in fact, I think it is one that guys can like too. Ensemble cast where you recognize just about everyone. It was worth the $2 headset fee - even though the ear buds were uncomfortable. (Note to self - always remember to pack headsets.)

The second movie was "Bride Wars." I'm glad I already felt like I got my money's worth on the other movie because it was not worth $2. Only watch this if you are stuck on a plane or it shows up on TBS.

Not on the flight, but in my Netflix, was "The Duchess" with Keira Knightly. A great mix of Jane Austen and The Tudors. (Think 18th century England but not quite as smutty as The Tudors.) I really liked it. Am now reading the book upon which it is based.

Addi is Walking

Well, it's official. The little girl is walking. She can't yet "walk the house", but she can take 10 - 20 steps before grabbing furniture or sitting down. (Of course this mostly transpired while I was in Orlando - as I knew it would.)

And she moves fast. It used to be that I would put her down somewhere to play with a toy and go do something close by (like wash the dishes.) Now, I have to go look for her...and often find her under the kitchen table. (It's like a weird version of hide and seek.)

For those keeping track, she still only has one tooth. :)

Orlando

Being an accountant, I rarely have to go anywhere except the office. It's something that I actually like. If anyone knows me at all, they know I am a creature of habit. So it works out very nicely that I take the same route at the same time everyday.


Also, as any business traveler can attest, there is a HUGE difference between business travel and personal travel. It's one thing to go somewhere cool or amazing when on vacation, it completely doesn't matter when there is business travel involved. So needless to say, I do not volunteer for business travel.


This being said, I was asked to go to a conference in Orlando. My company is currently implementing a new software system and it's probably the biggest project I will be involved in. So I said okay and I flew out on Monday morning to the fine city of Orlando. (Keep in mind that in order to get to the airport, I had to get up at 4 something in the morning....which is another reason I don't care for business travel.)


I didn't realize how long it had been since I had been on the plane until I walked into the American terminal at LAX. They have the kiosks now to check in...and to easily pay that $15 for the checked luggage (Yikes!) But aside from that, the airport was, well, LAX.


I won't bore you with the conference details (unless you really want to hear about SAP as an ERP solution). But there are a few things of interest.


After landing, we were thinking about dinner. And for some reason, I was craving a steak. Don't ask me why, but I just wanted it and it turned out that it wasn't too difficult to convince the guys I was with to go for steak. So we ended up at this place called The Capital Grill. After seeing wine lockers for both Warren Sapp and Shaquile O'Neal, I realized that we were in a fancy place. (Never mind that I had to explain to our CIO who Warren Sapp was.) It was a good meal...definitely on the level of Morton's or Ruth Chris.


The other cool thing was that the conference brings in someone every year to do a concert on the last night and this year it was Don Henley. I didn't realize how many songs I knew that he sang. (I also didn't realize he fronted the Eagles until a couple of weeks ago either...but you can mock me for that later.) So it was a good time. There was one unexpected item...when he sang Tear 4 Fear's "Everyone Wants to Rule the World." It sounded good...but I had to wonder if he was really doing a tongue in cheek song since he was pimping himself out to a "corporate gig."


And lastly, I flew back yesterday. After a few delays with the flight, I was able to get to my car right before 5. Yay - right into 405 rush hour! Oh, and I had a parking ticket too. Either we forgot to put my current sticker on my license plate or it has been removed. Either way, the economically deprived city of LA will be getting $25 from me.

Needless to say, I am glad to be home to the kiddies.

More Like Our Parents Every Day...

It goes without saying that as parents now, we will inevitably do things that our own parents did. Some of us never thought that we would be driven to this while others recognized that the tactics our parents took worked and therefore there must be some magic to it.

For example, I have found that while Drew is watching TV, it is virtually impossible to get him to listen. So I have to do what my mom used to do....stand in front of the TV. (Mind you, I HATED this when I was growing up.) But, hey, it's a tactic that works.

On a lighter side, I've found that after a few tries, it's really not that hard to spell everything out (or decrypt what Patrick is spelling.) In fact, today he decided to be a smart-*** and tried to ask if we should give Drew a c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e-c-o-v-e-r-e-d-b-a-n-a-n-a. As you can imagine, there really was no need to use so many letters...but back to the point, a good ole encrypted message between parents, just like my parents used to do. (It's like an enigma machine I tell you....that's a History channel reference folks.) It will probably be a few years before we have to pull out the next trick to thwart the kids....spelling things backwards.

But the reason for the post is that Patrick had to pull out an oldie but goodie this morning. Drew asked for a waffle for breakfast and Patrick obliged. After giving Drew the waffle, he said he wanted something else and Patrick told him that he had to eat the waffle. At which point Drew turned the plate over and the waffle went on the floor. After some discipline and tantrum, Patrick told Drew "you will get nothing and like it." I'm sure this is music to some grandparents ears....

Drew's a Fast Little Devil....

So, as a few of you know, we are in the midst of trying to potty train Drew. (Side note to any of you who have not tried this....this takes WAY more time than I ever imagined.) We've felt very proud of our accomplishments, especially when he doesn't put up a fight to sit on his little potty and even starts to sing while he "waits." (It's as if he may actually be enjoying the experience.)

The other day I put him on the potty and it happened to be a time that he didn't particularly want to be on the potty. So what's a kid to do you ask? Of course the answer is to run through the house with pants around the ankles and even start playing that way.

The funny part isn't so much that he insisted on playing without bothering to pull up his pants, but how FAST he got away from me. That little guy can MOVE (Nevermind that any of us big people would have fallen by the 3rd step with our legs constricted by pants). It was like watching an old guy shuffle along, only his legs were moving so fast I couldn't catch him!

I tell you, when there's a will, there's a way...

Addi's New Skill

The other day, I noticed that Addi would start crawling down the hallway like a madman. At first I couldn't figure out where she was off to and then realized it was the bathroom (of all places).

I then noticed over the course of the week that she kept cruising into the bathroom. Of course, I had to cringe because if there is one place that the germies love, this would be it. At least she didn't seem too interested in the toilet.

She showed interest in Drew's stool and the next thing I know, she's trying to climb onto the first step.


Well, guess what this little critter has figured out how to do?? Yep, not only can she climb onto the first step, but she climbed up both steps and stood up!

For the first minute I was amazed. Then I realized that both of my children are like little monkeys. First Drew would escape from his crib and this little one wants to climb on steps before she can even master standing up. I have my work cut out for me!

Needless to say, we will be keeping the bathroom off limits from this one...
(She'll probably notice that I'm running interference on her, but oh well!)