Climbing the stairs

We spent a really nice weekend with Dotty and Phil and Alec got to open his first Christmas presents. He has some really fun new toys and great books thanks to his Grandma Dotty.
This evening he decided to climb up our stairs. It caught us a bit off guard since we really didn't expect that until he was walking.

Happy Holidays

This is Alec's first Christmas and I know he won't remember anything. That won't prevent us from exposing him to all the Christmas traditions we hope to establish over the coming years. Christmas Eve after we return home from our Walbrun family party I'll have him help me lay out cookies and milk for Santa and maybe a carrot for Rudolph. We'll check the fireplace to make certain Santa can get in. We don't want a pesky closed flue to serve as an excuse for no presents. If he is good he will get a small gift to open before goes to bed. Christmas morning we will give him some warm formula and check out the status of the cookies and carrot. Bite marks will be a clear indication of Santa's presence. We'll sit down in front of a cozy fire and our Christmas tree and give him the gifts that miraculously appeared overnight. He'll be facinated by the bows and shiny paper and attempt to eat the corners of the boxes. He'll pull off the bows and wave them in the air and rip the paper into tiny chunks that will find his mouth much faster than we can take them from him. When we finally get beyond the paper to the gifts he'll be more interested in the boxes than any of the contents. All of this we will do because having a child reminds us of the excitement and magic of Christmas and we know that in coming years Alec will come to love this time of year but this year we will love it for him.

Happy Holidays to all of our family and friends!

San Diego Visit

Cookies

Alec helped his grandma make Christmas cookies today.

Flu

It's been quite the week in the Walbrun household. Alec picked up the flu bug or rotovirus or both and became really ill starting last Tuesday (Dec 4th). The poor little guy was wiped out. It's really tough to see such an active little boy so miserable and weak. By Wednesday evening Lindsay had the flu and then my mom (Alec's Grandma-nanny) got it that same evening. We all spent the Thursday waiting for me to get it but fortunately it never came. Lindsay recovered from the flu and was better by Saturday but Alec was not. We took him to Children's hospital Saturday morning because he was so listless and seemed to be in pain. They gave him a really good check-up and said that it was probably the rotovirus. We took him home and continued our regiment of hydration and constant holding. He started to perk up by Sunday afternoon and we finally were able to put him in his crib for a good nights sleep last night. He woke up in a good mood this morning talking in his crib. Unfortunately now Lindsay and I have an awful cold. Neither of us has slept a full night for over a week and we can't wait for this to be over! Oh, and my dad caught the flu on Monday! Hopefully we will all be better by the weekend so we can spend some time with our friends!

Laughter

Splash!

Nine Months

Alec is nine months old today! The little guy is full of personality. He is kind of crawling. He does a version of the army crawl but mostly uses his hands to pull himself forward. He loves to roll the ball back and forth and we try to play ball with him every day. Instead of waving his hand and arm to say goodbye or hello he stiffly sticks his arm in the air. He's also started sharing things, he will chew on a toy and then hold it up for us to have a taste. It's tough to deny a slobbery toy offered from our generous boy.

He will be going for his first multi-night stay with his grandparents this weekend. Lindsay and I are going to Edgefield with Leigh and Claudia. We are excited to have a little vacation but it will be hard to be away from the little guy for that long!

Pumpkin Carving Party - Late Post

We had our annual Pumpkin Carving Party last Saturday. It was a great success! We had about 30 people and some really great entries to the carving contest. This year our neighbor Merrilee won for "Best Overall" and Hilary won for "Scariest". Hilary took some great photos - Click Here to see them. I added some to our website too.

Tikka

We celebrated Hilary's birthday with her and some friends tonight at Tutta Bella pizzeria. When we got home Alec was in a great mood. He was a little punchy and playful. We were in his room getting him ready for bed and our obese black cat wandered in. He looked at her and said a very clear "Tikka". I think this will go down as his official first word. There was no mistaking what he said, in fact Lindsay and I immediately looked at each other to confirm what we heard.

Pumpkin Hunting

We took Alec to Snohomish to go pumpkin hunting with his cousin Roman, Uncle Keith, Auntie Natalie, Grandpa Randy and Grandma Kathy. He found the perfect pumpkin to enter in our upcoming annual Pumpkin Carving Party. This year he has delegated carving responsibility to me.

playing ball

Driving a John Deere

Alec "drove" a tractor last weekend.

On the move

I almost forgot! Alec has figured out how to use his ExerSaucer to move around the room. He jumps and leans in the direction he wants to go. I was hilarious last evening. I was in the kitchen at the sink and I heard him jumping. I look down and he is inches away from me staring up with a big smile. I'd push him back and soon he was by my side pulling on my shorts. He seemed pretty happy with himself. I have a feeling we will be chasing him around the house in no time.

Sleep!

The little boy has a cold. He was up many times last night. He seemed good this morning but his mom and I could use some sleep. My mom came to the rescue and said she will take him tonight. While we hate to give him up for a night we will really appreciate the sleep!

Tomorrow Alec and I start music classes at Chickadee Music of Seattle. Classes are close to home at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

I added another friends blog to our page. On the right you will find the new addition of Hilary's Blogoramadingong.

Sixth Tooth

Alec has been acting a bit lathargic and fussy over the last couple of days. A pattern we are now very familiar with. He is a really happy guy except when those pesky teeth burst through. Based on his recent behavior we suspected he had yet another tooth working its way to the surface. Risking the intense pain of razor sharp new baby teeth I inspected his gums and found number six, a lateral insisor in his lower jaw. I escaped unscathed. Poor Alec has to endure more achy, sore gums.
I took this photo yesterday with my camera phone.

Blanket

Alec's Auntie Hilary made him this wonderful blanket. We know she spent many caring hours on it and Alec loves it!

Our friend Leigh took some great photos at our Labor Day BBQ.

Cousins

Here is a photo of Alec and his little cousin Roman. We visited last Sunday after our camping trip to Bay View State Park. Keith and Natalie have links to a bunch of photos as well as a really cute video on Roman's blog. I've also updated our photo site and added a September page.

Is today the day?

Natalie is in labor! Little Roman Walbrun should be here soon! We can't wait! Here are some other notable people that celebrate their birthday on September 5th:

Johann Christian Bach
Jesse James
Bob Newhart
Raquel Welch
Freddie Mercury
Buddy Miles
Dweezil Zappa
Rose McGowan