By the Grace of God

That kid might (might) survive being raised by me. Prime example:

While in Florida with Lisa's folks, we had put him down to bed and were playing cards. He woke up after an hour or two and started crying. I volunteered to go in and check him and to make sure his diaper was dry/clean. After 9 months, we've learned that the quickest way to make this determination is to pick him up by the armpits, raise his waist to nose-level, and sniff.

So, I went into the darkened office that was serving as Clay's nursery, pulled him out of bed and hugged him for a little bit to comfort him. Then I lifted him up for his diaper check -- I had barely begun to sniff when I heard, "Thunk Thunk Thunk" from the general region of Clay's head. I quickly lowered him, wondering what was on the ceiling that might make such a noise, only to realize that "Thunk Thunk Thunk" was the sound of Clay's head intersecting, at a regular beat, with the ceiling fan that we had turned on to keep the room cool.

Needless to say, I felt awful. Absolutely terrible. But he seemed to get over it quickly. He cried for a moment or two, and then went back to bed. I can tell you if someone stuck my head in the ceiling fan, it would take me far longer than a few minutes to get over it.

I went outside, green with angst, and performed my mea culpa to Lisa and her family. They were extremely gracious: limiting themselves to no more than 5 coma jokes each.

In any case, he's likely to grow up to be a tough little bugger (assuming he matriculates from the School of Scott).

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jog

Lisa and I got back into town around 5AM on Saturday morning after being in Florida all week. The drive from Jacksonville went smoothly -- Clay slept the whole way. Driving at night means no traffic, which is really nice. But it also means that Clay is asleep (no feeding, no diaper changing, no entertaining) which is really nice!

We had a wonderful time catching up with Lisa's family and appreciate all their hospitality. If they could line up some real Florida weather next time, that would be great ;)

More photos to come soon, I promise.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

This little guy untied my shoes and was very friendly.

Clay Meets the Wildlife

Clay got up-close and personal with the wildlife at the Brevard Zoo.

Clay Goes To The Zoo

Clay took his first trip to the zoo, and Scott took over a 100 photos. You can view most of them here.

Clay Meets the Luthers

Todd was in town for business and invited us up to join him and his parents for dinner.

Dennis and Peggy Luther treated Lisa and I to a fantastic dinner when we drove up to meet them in Gaithersburg on Friday. This was their first time meeting Clay, and he didn't dissapoint. He was well behaved throughout dinner and got plenty of compliments from the staff.

When the evening was over, the Luthers generously donated a playpen (which I immediately dubbed the "Claypen") so that Clay can roam but stay out of trouble.

We had a really great time catching up with them and appreciate all their generosity!

Swinging Babies

What you can't see is the pot of boiling oil right beneath them -- and the "natives" dancing around in circles.

And Lisa gives ME a hard time for swinging him around!

Jack In The Box

Lisa took Clay to visit Oma and Opa this week. Oma pulled out many of Scott's old toys and, despite being ancient, they still managed to amuse.

Rhythm Section

When we visited the Ritners for Homecoming, Clay enjoyed playing with some of their home-made rattles. Stealing their idea, I took a little soda bottle, put some popping corn kernels inside, and super-glued the top on.

Clay took over from there.

Clay's First Bookmark

Clay already has a favorite website: Banana Phone. Whenever he's sitting in dad's lap at the computer and starts to fuss, Scott brings up the page and, Bingo! -- instant gratification.

Learning New Tricks

Clay has discovered that if he drops a toy, Lisa will pick it up. Watch him giggle each time he gets it down to the floor. He's always in the best mood right after eating.

Civic Duty

This evening, Clay's civic duty was to keep Mommy & Daddy amused while waiting in line to vote.

I almost let Clay push the final "Vote" button on our spiffy new computer voting machines, but I figured that might be a violation of some sort of law. Plus, I'm still not sure of his party affiliation ;)

I hope everyone did their part and placed their vote today!

Clay's Pulling Ahead

In the spirit of this week's elections, I'm happy to announce that Clay is surging ahead in the race to secure Addison's hand. See the latest poll results here.