A Very Busy Weekend!

This last weekend was incredibly full of activity. Saturday morning Brandon and I had our first parenting conference at church from 9-5. My Mom watched Alyas for us. I was late picking him up because my friend's father, who was helping her move some boxes out of the PAC house fell down the stairs, hit is head on the banister and needed stitches - so I took him to an urgent care to get them. Anyways, I called to see if things were going well and to say I'd be late and she said, "Philly, he's crawling!" Can you believe it? Alyas' first times crawling we missed because we were learning how to be better parents. Funny! His crawling meant he took a few "steps" with his arms and legs for the first time. The rest of his "crawling" has been similar to a worm like motion he employs to get from one place to another.

Here's a picture of Alyas on the move!

Alyas and I did some laundry this weekend as I always do. I figured since he was getting so big it was time he started helping out with some chores around the house!


Well, he didn't get much done but he had fun anyways. One thing new though is Brandon, after learning a lot about discipline at the parenting conference, has tried to start teaching Alyas what "no" means. We read that you can start my placing an object in front of a child that they shouldn't touch and saying "no" when they reach for it. To discourage them you can tap their hand lightly with an object (Brandon is using a pen). Alyas is learning quickly. Although it doesn't hurt when he's tapped, after he figures out he's not supposed to be touching something he usually starts crying pretty hard. A few times he has let go of things when he hears "no" already. That's promising, but I'm sure we are in for some rough times!

Also this weekend Alyas was dedicated at church. Bing and MarySue drove in that morning and my parents came to the service as well. Here we are with Matthew as Alyas is dedicated. Alyas slept though almost the entire thing. Can you believe it...the child who hates to take naps falls asleep with all that commotion going on? Brandon seriously has a special way with Alyas and can get him to rest his head and ease him to sleep. I have no idea how he manages this because I can't seem to pull it off unless we are in his room when its dark and there are no distractions.

Our family at Alyas' dedication.



Another example of Brandon getting Alyas to fall asleep in the day light in Mom's living room. Mom had us all over for lunch after church. Alyas and his Dad must be so alike that no one else can mimic Daddy's special touch. It's kind of hard to admit being the Mom - but I'm proud Brandon is such a great Papa!

Lastly, on Sunday night the PAC house made ginger bread houses. Here are the two we made. We split into teams. The first picture was the house (plus outhouse) my team made. The second was Brandon's team. Their house had some structural issues and ended up caving in so they properly named it the "PAC" house. HA!


Here's a video of our little buddy doing some crawling action. You see him take a few "steps" then do the "worm" the rest of the time.



Here is another fun video of Daddy and Alyas playing "catch" so to speak. It is so cool Alyas is starting to understand directions.