Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Or perhaps that should be just two "Rollin'"s! I was getting ready to put W down for a nap when I decided to do a bit of tummy time. He has really been holding that big noggin up easily this last week or so, which means he hasn't hated tummy time nearly as much as he used to.

After a couple of minutes staring at one of his favorite toys, he rolled right on over to his back like he's been doing it all his life. Now his head did not go down all that gingerly, but have no fear - we were on a rug. He didn't even flinch. I wanted to see if it was a total fluke, so we tried again. Pretty soon, he rolled to his back a second time!

Naturally, when I got the computer to take a video, he wouldn't even consider doing it again. He told me he's saving his third "Rollin'" for his daddy.

I'm so amazed at how much William has grown and developed in the last four months. I remember longing for him to interact with me even a little bit. Now he's a 25.5 inch, 14.5 lb bruiser who rolls over, laughs and is full of opinions!

Sick baby

Poor William has been sick all week long. He has had a fever at night and has been congested most of the time. I took him to the pediatrician on Tuesday, and he said he had a little virus and what could become an ear infection. I hate taking William's temperature before bed and seeing the numbers climb on up. As you can see by the video below, he is a happy camper! My mom keeps reminding me that he's not terribly sick if he is acting normal. It makes me feel better.



Now if only he would get back to waking up once or not at all overnight. Last night was particularly brutal. Mommy's tired!

Reporting from Palacios

Well, our trip to Palacios has not quite gone as planned! William and I drove down on Sunday and enjoyed Mexican food that night with Mom and Michael. When we woke up Monday morning, Mom told me that Michael wasn't feeling well. Uh oh! He had a fever, and it was rising. So W and I packed up our stuff and headed back to Houston. No need to risk getting William sick if we have another choice. I felt a little defeated that my family vacation was so abruptly cut off but knew it was the right move, especially when Michael cratered for the next couple of days. His fever was pretty wicked. He got on a bunch of meds, and we were finally cleared to come back Thursday afternoon.

This time, William and I were joined by Mikey and Buster. Mikey had already planned to take Thursday and Friday off. We had a leisurely morning and headed down so we were here 48 hours after Michael started on antibiotics. Luckily, William and Michael attend the same pediatrician, and Dr. C understood our desire to hang out even though Michael was sick. He and Mom conferred on the matter and decided 48 hours would suffice. We love our pediatrician and feel very fortunate to have him - even if he doesn't take insurance. It's worth it to us to know that we can call any hour of the day or night, holiday or weekend, and his wife will answer the phone. Plus, they live just a few blocks away, and if anything major came up, I guarantee they would come by in a pinch. Not sure how I got off on a Dr. C tangent...

Mikey, Mom and I have come to the seemingly crazy conclusion that William is teething. All the signs are there. I haven't stuck my hand in his mouth to feel his gums (I swear I wasn't afraid of germs at all until I had a baby!), but everything else points to teething. From my online research, it is altogether possible for it to start this early. Awesome.

Here is what you really came here to see...


He's chewing on everything. It'll get even easier on him when he loses the reflex to push everything out of his mouth with his tongue.

I think I see a resemblance between these two!

The life of a Mom. My dog sits up front now!

What a boy! He loved being in a recliner.


The mobile is one of the new entertainment tricks up our sleeves. It is very popular right after naptime.

He doesn't love the Bumbo quite yet, but he is warming up to it. His chunky thighs make for a tight fit!

It's a rough life for a little guy!

What a sweetheart.

My little head case

I got an explanation of benefits form from our insurance company yesterday. Now this in itself is not unusual - you wouldn't believe how many bills/insurance forms we have gotten for my relatively uncomplicated delivery and hospital stay. This one showed five different dates of service by a Dr. Harris for William D Brown. Wait a minute. I don't know a Dr. Harris. That in itself isn't terribly unusual. The dates of service started on October 27. For those of you who keep track, William was born on November 7.

I decide to call the insurance company. I thankfully had no trouble getting through to a real live person. She asked for the details and started going over the form. I said, "But you see, I don't know a Dr. Harris." And I told her about the dates. I had no procedures or tests run in the weeks before he was born, and if I did, they would be attributed to me, not William. She did some research and said, "Well I see what you mean. It would be rather unusual for an infant to have psycotherapy appointments." Um, yes it would.

So we laughed about it, and she had to look into it further. She told me that she had a cover sheet attached to the receipts from the doctor, and the cover sheet had all of our info - Mikey's social, our address, etc. She asked, "Is there any way your husband submitted this?" Lady, you're crazy. No, there is no way in the world Mikey submitted a request to be paid back for five therapy sessions for our as-yet-unborn child. "It has all your info right here." First of all, Mikey doesn't touch insurance stuff with a ten-foot pole. I handle all of that. Second, I have never heard of this doctor. Third, William is three months old and of sound mind and body as far as I can tell. At one point, she even asked, "Would you have written 'see enclosed' on the form?" Right, because I remember such inconsequential wording as "see enclosed." It's altogether possible, but that doesn't mean these forms are mine!

I finally convinced her that it was a mistake on their end. They messed up and put my cover sheet (for a pediatrician visit) with these psycotherapy visits. It all worked out in the end, but I sure got a kick out of it.

Oh, and I know I need to add more photos. We are going to the Pink House tomorrow, and I should have a chance to show you what William has been up to.

The 'burbs

No, we aren't moving to the suburbs...the suburbs seem to be coming to us! I was pulling into the Target parking lot today and was talking to Mikey on the phone when I stopped mid-sentence and exclaimed "PETSMART!" Rude, maybe, but I was in total shock!

I have always marveled at how there are strip centers in the suburbs that seriously have every store you could possibly need to visit on your weekend errands. But here in the heart of the city, it seems like there's never more than one big store in any given spot. Not a huge deal, but it is a bit of a pain if you need to hit a lot of places on one trip.

The Target shopping center is about to get a Petsmart in addition to the Staples that has already opened. Those are three useful stores in one place. Hallelujah! Add in a Home Depot and a bookstore, and we will be good to go. No need to leave our little corner of the city!

She's allllll mine!

A mere 4 years and 11 months later, this shiny beauty is officially mine! Of course it's not so shiny anymore (I literally never wash it - I know that's terrible). But it is a wonderful car, and I'm excited that it is FINALLY paid off. I paid it off a month early when I realized I would save over $25 in interest.

I remember that when I bought the car, Ken was so amazed at the navigation system. He called it the Batmobile. Of course now, cars can actually park themselves. My system is old news!

Now on to the next car...just kidding! I'm hanging on to this one until it's no longer big enough for us. And when the time comes, I intend to find a lovely used car. While it was exciting to drive a new car off the lot, I can't justify that extra expense. I'll just buy some New Car Smell fragrance and call it a day!

Wow

A friend of ours took photos of us last weekend, and I don't even know how to choose which ones to show. It's good to have talented friends!















There are about 90 more where those came from. I don't know what to do with so many beautiful photos!