Lee's First Christmas, Part III

We wrapped up the holidays at Papa Bill's house, and had a wonderful day.  Lee's second cousin, Patrick, was there, and we got to laugh at how different they are, even though they are only two weeks apart.  We enjoyed a great meal, and relaxed in front of ESPN on the new hi-def TV (that was especially relaxing for the guys).

  

Lee's First Christmas, Part II

Lee had another great day in Acworth with the Wilkes clan when we returned home from Memphis.  Aunt Lin-Lin had the inside scoop on these blocks, and Lee does love playing them.

Aunt Lin-Lin made two books for Lee that Mommy really loves!  (I know Lee will, too. :) )

Couldn't resist including this one of Aunt Lala and Brant in the crib upstairs.

My sister-in-law, Lauren, got engaged over the Christmas holidays!!!  We are all so happy for them, and can't wait for Pat (Uncle Pat-Pat) to be an official member of the family in 2009.  We love you both!

Lee's First Christmas, Part I

Since we are always fascinated by Lee, we found Christmas morning to be especially fun.  Two things were cute:

1.  We brought Lee in and set him down on the floor, and he immediately picked up one of his new toys and started playing with it.  Okay, he was putting it in his mouth, but same thing, right?

2.  When I opened his gifts, he would sit in my lap and help tear away the paper.  This was nice fore the gift givers to see, since he appeared to be excited about all of his presents.

The Presentation of the Toys

Christmas came early for Lee when we went to meet his cousins from Maryland for the first time.  Logan and Clara were very excited about meeting "Babilee".  They brought many of their toys from younger years to share with him.  It was so cute to watch them bring each toy to Lee.  His little brain had hardly had time to register a new toy when one of them arrived to remove that toy and show him another one.  When they had exhausted the toys they brought, they began rummaging through the toys at Toddy's house, looking for any offering that was remotely age-appropriate.  Summers and holidays are certainly going to be fun with this bunch!!

Who ya rootin' for? M-S-U!

Ok, so I am not going to teach Lee to call it Memphis State, but here are some cute pics of him watching his first Memphis State basketball game with dad.  He is sitting up so tall and becoming a little guy!  The Tigers lost to Georgetown in overtime, but he will still be their biggest Atlanta fan.

  

I succumbed to the box

Last week, I tried my hand at making homemade (organic, of course) rice cereal for Lee's first food.  I either did not follow the recipe correctly, or rice is just too sticky, or I used the wrong grain, but it was clearly beyond Lee's first-time eating abilities.  While he seemed to enjoy the taste of the cereal, and playing with the cereal, he did not actually enjoy eating the cereal.  This week, I gave in, bought a box of flakes, and he is taking it nicely.  He strangely does not have a huge appetite yet, but he takes a killer nap after lunch!

And, fear not; I am not totally discouraged with my baby food-making attempt.  Next week, I will be trying my hand at applesauce and some veggies.  We should get some more fun pictures from those!

The Dance of the Porcupine

I was reading yesterday about how porcupines hurt even each other with their quills, except for a short time before mating season.  During this time, they "may touch paws and even walk on their hind feet in the so-called 'dance of the porcupines'.  Only God could have thought up two porcupines fox-trotting paw-to-paw, where no one but they and he will ever see."

I am thankful today for the special moments that God seems to have created for just Lee and me.  I have tried to capture these moments on film, so others can experience them and so I will not forget, but it seems impossible to do.  When he sees I am going to share him with another, he stops and looks at me so seriously.  "Why are you doing that, Mom?"  Reading about the porcupines and thinking about God's enjoyment of their dancing made me realize that He may have created these times for me to enjoy when I am feeling discouraged with my new job.  They are to remind me that I would have missed this completely had I not taken this scary step out of the corporate world into the unknown world of Mothering.

The Buccinator

My sister Elise is studying anatomy this semester, and has informed me that the cheek muscles, known as the buccinator muscles, are especially strong in breast-fed babies.  As anyone who has been reading our blog can attest, we have a baby with some well-developed buccinators!  In fact, I have begun calling Lee "The Buccinator".  Said with the inflection of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his tag line is "I'll. eat. that."