San Francisco

Last weekend, we packed up and headed to San Francisco to visit Susan/Auntie Suz. We had a fabulous time! Unfortunately, we weren't able to spend too long there but it was great to be able to come out for the few days we did.

We just hung out and relaxed on Friday. Scott had flown in from Florida so he was 3 hours behind and Dougie and I were 2 hours so it was an early evening. On Saturday, we headed downtown to see the sea lions. Dougie was very impressed. He loved when they started to "bark".

Checking out the sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf




On Sunday, we went to meet a friend of mine in San Jose. She has a little girl who is just a smidge older than Dougie so we took the kids to the petting zoo. Dougie could not have been happier.













As you can see, Dougie was very comfortable there. I guess that's what happens when you have dogs that are bigger than goats.

We got back on Sunday not too much after the Patriots game ended and we hung out during the second football game. Dougie and Auntie Suz got some quality time in.

He fed her crackers


Played peek-a-boo with videos


And just played


We really had an incredible time! Thanks again for host Auntie Suz, we can't wait to see you out our way!!

Some Random Pictures

Dougie cooperated yesterday and let me get a clapping picture, so I wanted to share that. Keep in mind, clapping doesn't look like much in still pictures. :)



Some swimming pictures:







Dougie with the bus he got for his birthday

Clapping

Dougie finally started clapping this morning! I'm not quite sure why as there was really nothing going on but clap he did. When I clapped back at him, he got so excited that he's been walking around clapping all morning now.

Oddly, he has a very strange clap. His right hand stays still and his left hand makes the movement. It looks bizarre but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon as he watches us do it back to him.

Dougie wouldn't cooperate for a clapping picture so I have a Dougie sleeping picture instead.

We have "MUM"

Dougie has been walking around the house for the last little while saying "mum, mum, mum, mum, mum...!" I don't think he's has any meaning behind it yet, but at least he can make the sound!!! There is still hope for "mum" to be his first word.

First Useful Sign

Though we were all impressed with Dougie's ability to do the sign for "jump", as you'd expect, it turned out not to be overly useful. He'd almost always do it to indicate he was jumping, which was normally pretty obvious. But today, he did a useful sign, "no more." We were both shocked when he did it. We always do the sign at the end of a meal to indicate the food is over and he can get out of his chair. Tonight, he did it to us. It took a few moments for us to realize he was trying to sign (it isn't quite the sign we do) but he was very obvious with it. So, we cleaned him up and out of that chair he went. He even did it again later during his bath to let Scott know he was done with that. It's so nice that all that signing is starting to pay off!!

We Have a Climber

Yesterday, Dougie learned to climb. Unfortunately, he only knows how to go up but he can't get back down. He climbed on the fire place 6 times yesterday and 3 4 times today already. Shortly after he gets up there, he realizes that he can't get back down and gets upset.

Dougie on the Fire Place


Dougie on his Blocks


And, because he really will climb anything:

Dougie on Diet Coke

Is Dougie Left Handed?

We've been wondering for a while if Dougie will end up being left handed. He occasionally gives us little signs that he may be leaning that way. Handedness doesn't really settle in for a while, but we look for clues anyway. Today, we got the biggest clue yet, his hair whorl.

No, really.

Notice that Dougie's hair spins counter-clockwise:


Handedness is closely tied to the way hair spins on the scalp

It isn't certain enough that we're going to go out and get him left handed golf clubs yet, but I thought it was an interesting article and figured we'd share.

Dougie's New Do

We took Dougie in to get his hair cut yesterday. It was almost in his eyes in the front and it was well over his ears on the side.

This time, we decided to go to the same place Scott goes. We liked the place last time but, though it was cute, it wasn't as good a cut as we was hoping for. This cut is fabulous though. You can even tell that he cut his hair!

Dougie Before (in his old man jammies) - it's so long it's brushed to the side


Dougie After




Okay, well, we think it looks different. :)

Christmas

The wrapping paper is away and most of the presents have been put into their proper homes. The Christmas decorations are even coming down tomorrow. What a wonderful holiday we had.

We starting things off with stockings, as we always do. Dougie was excited to use his new personalized one.

Oooh, Santa brought Puffs


And... socks? (I hope you're noticing the matching jammies)


And of course, a clementine


Playing with a car while he waits for everyone else to finish opening their stockings.


Then it was time to open presents


Dougie is still working on his present opening skills but he got on top of the problem






After the presents were opened, we went to IHOP to breakfast and then settled in for a calm day. We bought a "family gift" of a new TV and a Wii for Christmas so that provided plenty of entertainment. We had a small turkey breast and the usual Christmas sides.

It was a great holiday!

Christmas Cookies, Part 2

Through the bustle of Christmas, I never got around to posting part 2 of the cookie-making activity... so here it is. We did these on Christmas Eve afternoon, just in time for Santa's imminent arrival.



Going in for a pig...





Mummy gets into the cookie spirit





"Daddy, when I said lots of sprinkles, I meant LOTS!!!"





Dad's final cookies -- including the massive Snoopy doghouse cookie and a plain pig



Mum's final cookies -- with a heavy transportation theme

First Hockey Game

Texas has many sports passions -- football, NASCAR, football, tobacco chewing and football -- but hockey is not one of them. There is essentially no national TV coverage available here (don't even ask about getting Don Cherry -- though through the wonders of the Internet, even Texans can get access to the wisdom of Coach's Corner). We do get pretty decent coverage of the Dallas Stars on local TV but the NHL schedule makes it pretty rare to see either Montreal or Toronto -- which is a potential hurdle to the proper cultural development of our little man.

However, the hockey gods smiled on us yesterday -- Montreal came to Dallas for the first time in 2 years. We figured that Dougie was still a bit little to enjoy the game in person (especially for the price!) but we settled in at home to watch a bit of the game. (Our official "first sporting event" in HDTV!) We gave up after the first period as Dougie was starting to wane, but we had a good time all the same.

A couple of pictures of the two hockey fans:

Laying out the jerseys before the games (thanks to Auntie Suz for the extra-extra-extra small!)


What's the old Rocket Richard commercial... "Two minutes for looking so good!"


The newest Habs fan (gives new meaning to the term 'short-handed'!)


Dougie takes his first dive

Christmas Cookies, Part 1

An important part of the Sharabura family Christmas tradition (along with the infamous clementine-in-the-stocking) is the making of Christmas cookies. Ever since I can remember, each of the kids has received a chunk of dough that we mixed up, rolled out, cut the cookies, decorated and baked them. This also includes various sub-traditions..

• Fighting over who got the bigger chunk of dough (we didn't have a kitchen scale)


• Arguments over the optimum thickness of cookie (Mike always seemed to make them thick enough to have just 2 or 3 cookies)


• In a related debate, is it better to make many small cookies vs. investing all your dough into the big Snoopy doghouse


• Amazement at the various colors that Steve would use for frosting (I seem to remember orange, purple and green... no, not all in the same year, although I wouldn't put that out of the realm of possibility)


• What was the best canned good to use to prevent the pastry sheets from rolling up -- apple juice and soup were always a popular choice


• What the retail folks refer to as "shrinkage" -- the inevitable loss of raw cookie dough due to cutout scraps and random tasting


• ALWAYS a request from Dad for a thick, unsprinkled pig

Since Dougie missed out last year (contrary to popular belief, 10-day-old babies are not the most skilled cookie makers around) we figured that it was our duty to get things going this year. Yesterday, we made the dough -- apparently 12-month-old toddlers are still not that helpful but we're hoping that Dougie will have some fun with the cookie cutting later today.

Some pictures of the dough making...

Dougie and Daddy in the kitchen -- only a bit of flour on the nose!

Dougie is ready to start cutting cookies (yes, that is the infamous pig mold)

Blood Test Update

We got Dougie's blood test results back. His liver function test showed no issues and his lead level had actually decreased a point. In truth, that could just be a different lab running the test but I feel pretty certain that it isn't getting worse so I'm just going to hold on to that. All in all, a great report!

12 Month Check-up

On Monday, we brought Dougie in for his 12 Month check-up. Poor little guy wasn't feeling too well anyway so the trip was well timed.

Stats:

• Weight - 20lbs 5oz (17%)


• Height - 29" (25%)


• Head - 18.5" (69%)

As you can see, he's still a little guy though he is creeping above his standard growth line. The doctor is still pretty convinced that Dougie will end up being about 5'11" (despite my insisting that Sharabura's are tall), so, we'll see.

We got Dougie a Hep A shot while we were there. We'll need to go back in a month or so to get the MMR vaccine and we're going to hold off on the chicken pox vaccine for a while. It just isn't as good as actually getting chicken pox so we want to give Dougie a bit of time to see if he catches it.

They also took a ton of blood for various testing. We're expecting the results of that this morning. They tested Dougie's liver function as well as another lead level test. Both those results were a bit off in his last round of testing. The doctor felt the liver count was off because of the iron therapy and wasn't concerned but just wants to be sure it isn't something serious. The lead level we're just ensuring hasn't gotten worse. Once we know more about those tests, we'll let you know.

The doctor said that Dougie was doing really well though. He's well on target with his development.

Birthday Party Fun

We decided to just have a very small party for Dougie this year. We considered trying to throw a bigger shindig but we thought for his first year a party with just us would be nice. So, that's what we did. I didn't want him to miss out on anything though, so we made the party we did have a big deal.

We decorated the playroom




We even had party hats


Then Dougie started into his presents


Through whatever means necessary


This one was Daddy's favourite (thanks Auntie Suz!!)


Dougie eventually learned how to rip the paper


Dougie loved his wooden bench


And then proceeded to try to open all the other presents with his mallet


Mum helped open some too




Then it was time for cake


(it's supposed to be a hippo)


We all had a great time. Dougie seemed to understand that it was a special day, even if he didn't understand why.