Motorin'...

Alec started walking this week. He started out with a step-step-fall-on-your-butt approach, but went directly from that to this:

Next week, marathons! Of course, it's important to stay hydrated...

Alec is 1

What a year! What a baby! What a dancer!

He's not quite walking, just letting go and bouncing a lot. He also does quite the shark impression. (sometimes you just happen to be singing the right song at the right time):

Finally, Alec's laugh is pretty contagious. I feel kind of bad about posting a video of him on the toilet, but hey, he needs something to talk to his therapist about when he's older, right? 

Happy birthday, Alec!

Hazel's joke...

I told this joke to Hazel, and for the last few days she's asked me to tell it to everyone we come across. Two days ago she told it word for word. Just today our friend Mish was able to catch her on camera,

Not Quite Bigfoot or Nessie...

...but I did finally manage to get a picture of Alec's new teeth! (The elusive ones on top.

Behold!

This may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but it took some doing. Sometimes Alec was pleasant...

And sometimes h was downright difficult.

Hand, hand, faceplant

One thing I learned from this video is that I need to enunciate better. It sounds like I'm telling Alec to get a smoke.

Pulling up!

Facial hair (mine, not Alec's)

One of my earliest memories is of the day my dad shaved off his beard. I must have been six or seven, which should tell you something about my memory in general, but anyway,,, 

We were at the beach, and Dad must have decided it was time for a change. He came out of the bathroom, beardless, and Tim and I jumped to out feet. 

"Dad!" we yelled, "You look like Superman!"

Dad obliged us by twisting a lock of hair into an "S" curl on his forehead and wearing a beach towel as a cape.

Fast-forward to a few decades later, I grow a beard of my own. (I think of t as my "lazy dad" beard, because I've decided I'm too tired to shave.)

Hazel doesn't like it. In fact, she tells me every day that it scratches her, and she doesn't want me to kiss her goodnight while I have the beard, (Luckily, Elise and Alec don't seem to be bothered as much.) 

Still, after several months, I give in and get rid of the beard. 

I walk out of the bathroom. Hazel sees me.

"Dad!" she says, "You look like a clown!

(Also, she says my stubble scratches her.) 

New foods! New sports! New teef!

The beauty of allowing so much time to pass between blog posts is that there's more to report with each entry. (Ah, ha, now you see my Master Plan, whereas before you might have thought I was just lazy... Shame on you for thinking such things.)

About a month and a half ago, Alec got his first tooth! Followed a few days later by his second tooth! At that rate, one would think that his mouth would be full of teeth by now, perhaps constantly growing them in rows, like the mighty shark. Apparently our baby is not a shark, because those are the only two teeth he has grown to date. So... we can file Alec firmly in the "Not a Shark' category.

 

Alec has also discovered his love of swinging. 

But more importantly, I have discovered just what great-looking fingers I have. Here, I photographed them to share with all of you! (These pictures also contain images of Alec, but mostly i wanted to brag about what fantastic fingers I have.) 

I mean, wow. 

Hazel has also discovered a fun new activity: Soccer! There's a group that meets on Saturdays, and they play lots of fun games that develop basic soccer skills. Watch out, Uncle Tim! 

Hazel and Alec are getting along great. We're starting sleep training with Alec, and it seems like he's alternating nights of good and bad sleep. (Still, as of two weeks ago it was all bad sleep, so we'll take it.0 

Other than that, there's not too much going on. Except that we're moving again. And Elise was offered a residency last week, which she'll be starting at the end of the month. And some other stuff. Plus Alec has started eating real food!

See? Isn't it fun to get blog updates that are chock full o' fun stuff? Lazy, indeed! :)

Valuable Life Lesson

You learn a lot from your kids. Hazel taught me a good life lesson this weekend, which I will now impart to you:

When living with a 3 year old, one can no longer assume the water cup that sits on the bathroom sink doesn't have liquid soap in it.

When I recovered from my gagging, retching, and coughing, we had a conversation that went like this:

ME: Did you put soap in this cup?!
HAZEL: Yes.
ME: Hazel, I just drank that!

Hazel looked at me for a moment, confused. Then,

HAZEL: Why did you do that?

October happenings...

Hey, everybody! (Mom...) Thought I'd throw some more pictures/videos on the blog. Lots of interesting things going on here. Elise is looking for an Orthotics residency, my job is winding down, and in general all is well. If anyone was wondering which costume Hazel decided on for Halloween, here you go! 

We also went on a fun mountain hike last weekend. Hazel walked for most of it, but demanded to be carried most of the way back down.

Allan Piper was in town this week, representing his fun documentary "Married and Counting." He and Alec got along pretty well.

And finally, Alec has gotten more "conversational" lately. I managed to catch some of it as we were getting out of the car.

10 Weeks Old

Not too much to report. though Alec has started to smile. They range from little smiles (like the ones pictured here) to the great big grins that only appear when I'm not holding a camera. But they exist, I swear! 

 Other than some reflux issues, he's a remarkably chill baby. 

We all went down to San Diego last weekend for the Challenged Athletes' Foundation's annual triathalon. I got tired just watching, but it was fun. Especially the kids' area, where they had a mechanical surfboard.

 Also, we're all looking forward to Halloween. This will be Hazel's first year trick-or-treating, and she informed us in no uncertain terms that she wanted to be a pirate...

...but of course now that we've put the costume together, she wants to be a ghost. Or a monster. It changes by the minute. I'm guessing she lands on "The Ghost of a Monster Pirate" by Wednesday.

That's it from here! We hope all of our friends and loved ones on the East Coast are safe and sound.  We're sending good California vibes your way!
    

Almost six weeks old!

(And no new blog posts from Alec's terrible, terrible father...)

Here are some pictures from Alec's first bath. (Please note that said bath happened a long time ago. It's not like we just washed the kid for the first time yesterday.) Alec is growing, Hazel is doing well (though both have the sniffles right now) and we're having a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa, who are visiting us here in sunny (and very warm) Burbank.

I tried to upload a video of Alec's first bottle, but the stupid thing is upside-down, and I can't figure out how to rotate a video. (It's much easier with photos...) So, that one will not be posted until technical difficulties are figured out. 

That's it for now!

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Two photos

I'll upload more photos from my camera if/when I remember to bring the right cable in to work. In the meantime, here are a couple of pictures my Mom took. (Above: Alec, Dad and me. Below: Alec in the sleep shirt Elise made for Hazel three years ago.) So far, Alec is a pleasant kid and a good sleeper, which is fantastic.

Hazel is still adjusting to her new brother. Some days, she asks several times "Can I kiss the baby?" Then yesterday when Elise told Alec "I love you," Hazel  piped up "I don't!" Then, after a moment of considering, added "Maybe when I'm four." 

He's here!

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Alec William Pearson was born at 2:27pm on August 15th at Good Samaritan Hospital in downtown Los Angeles. He weighed 7 and a half pounds. The birth itself was very easy. (For me, anyway. I imagine it was more difficult for Elise, but I haven't gotten around to asking her yet. I'm sure she's fine...)

In all seriousness, Elise was amazing. The doctor and nurses commented on how good she was at giving birth. Which is kind of weird, but nice I suppose.

Hazel is doing great as a big sister, with occasional flashes of "Wait, who is this person and why do you guys seem to like him so much?" Lucky for us we had my mom and sister in town, which Hazel has really appreciated. (And so have we!)

Kate left today, but Mom's here for another week, and Dad gets in tomorrow. More pictures soon.

 

Hey, everybody! Since we're most likely going to have our second kid this month, I thought it was a good idea to start a new baby blog. We'll be posting photos here for several reasons, not the least of which is that it will keep my mom from hounding me daily for pictures. (Actually, my mom's coming out to L.A. in a couple of weeks, to help out when the new kid gets here. Hooray, Mom!)

As of now, nothing to report. Elise is all belly, which is kind of awesome.

And Hazel is getting used to the idea of having a little brother. (And also getting used to the idea that we will NOT be taking her advice and naming him "Table Giraffe Pearson.") We still haven't settled on a name, but while he's in utero we're calling him "Boba," after the delicious milk tea treat. Some of you may remember we called Hazel "Mochi" until she got here.

Anyway, no promises on keeping this thing up to date. I expect to be busy soon, and blogs for second kids tend to fall by the wayside. (Unless you're Allen and Elaine, but they're awesome.)

More later!