September 8, 2003

I'm embarassed by how bad I am at this whole journal thing. Egh, life just gets busy. I need to make this more of a habit in my daily routine. Dexter's first bday, first summer, and tons of others firsts have come and gone. He's not walking, but I'm not rushing that too much. We are going to start the whole potty training thing with him this week...I have a hunch he's ready. He does the sign for Poop before he goes and when he's done he brings the box of baby wipes over to me....Yeah, i think its safe to say he's ready.

March 3, 2003

Wow, I am a slacker as far as this page is concerned. Dexter is fast approaching 8 months!! So much progress since the last entry. First things first....HE HAS TEETH!! His two bottom teeth came in over the weekend...He doesn't quite know what to do with them yet, just keeps making a puckering face. We gave him tiny pastas yesterday for the first time...he didn't grasp the concept that they were food, but he did enjoy trying to pick them up and wave them around. He's got the cutest little wave....does this little rocking thing with his wrist. He's crawling all over the place. He doesn't lift his butt up or anything....just uses his arms to pull himself along with a little leg kick from time to time

December 16, 2002

Bam, another two weeks down the drain. Dex has mastered the art of back to stomach rolling and eating cereal. I'm pretty sure he's got some teething issues bothering him.

Its been a busy two weeks....getting ready for the holiday season. We went down to the Lopano Family Reunion in Tarrytown last weekend. Dexter wasn't a huge fan of sleeping at the hotel. He did an awesome job at the party and it was fun and exciting to show him off to everyone. Dex had his first meeting with Santa....he seemed to enjoy the red suit and the baby cellphone he got, but he was more interested in the ceiling fan.

The lack of any extensive sleep period continues. Oh, whatever happened to those days I'd sleep till one in the afternoon...they are a thing of the past now.

December 1, 2002

Wow, time has flown and I've missed out on a bunch of entries. We just had Dexter's first Thanksgiving this past week. He's too young to enjoy all the good food, but nevertheless he enjoyed playing with family. He's ridiculously cute right now. He found his feet and is having an everlasting battle to try and get them into his mouth...along with just about everything else he can get his hands on.

He's been eating more and more rice cereal everyday...unfortunately it hasn't affected his sleeping habits too much lately. He loves to make the "mmm..." sound while he eats and shoves his fist in his mouth with each spoon full.

We're getting ready for Christmas season now. Got reunions and lots of family to get together with in the next few weeks. We can't wait to see everyone.

November 14, 2002

Doctor day. Dexter weighed in at 12lbs 2 oz and a whopping 24.5 inches. He got four more shots...took them like a champ...cried for a minute and then was all smiles again.

November 13, 2002

Happy Four Month Birthday to Dexter!! He's ridiculously cute. Nina watched him for a little while today while I ran around and did some things. Joe Wolfe came down for a visit. Dexter was definately intrigued by him....loved to stare at him while he talked.

Dexter ended the day with a nice bang. I got him to laugh for a good five minutes. Such a good sound.

November 12, 2002

Matt went into work today so Dexter and I had a fun day at home. His stuffy nose is getting worse...and surprise surprise, he's not a fan of the nose aspirator.

November 11, 2002

School was off today so Becca came over for fun. We left Dex at home with Matt so Becca could get her belly button pierced....which Dex was so eager to kick when we got back. Went over to Hudson Rd for some good dinner.

November 10, 2002

Sunday....football day. I did the routine weekly food shopping. Becca came over to visit and watch the game with us.

November 9, 2002

Nothing much exciting today. We all stay home and nursed our colds.

November 8, 2002

Matt went into work this morning and I woke up to the sound of Dexter talking to the animals in his crib. Becca came up for a visit and took us off the hill for the day. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Nina's and then Dexter's cousins...Kaitlin, Tyler, and Karissa came over to play some Dreamcast and Life. Kaitlin and Karissa slept over....hopefully I'll get up and make pancakes in the morning.

November 7, 2002

Dexter and I hung out most of the day. He's got a fever and a stuffy nose...used the nose aspirator on him for the first time...he's not a fan. We watched movies and played mellow. Nina came by around 4 and took him for a while so I could take a much needed nap.

November 6, 2002

Dexter spent the day with Nina while Matt and I rested up. I think I've finally gotten Dexter's room set up.

November 5, 2002

Dexter slept for a good chunk of the day....and so did I. While Matt was at basketball we went down to Hudson Road to visit and give me a rest.

November 4, 2002

I'm really sick. Dex just hung out patiently today because I was lacking in the energy department. Matt ended up playing with him most of the day.

November 3, 2002

Oh, no. I'm getting sick. We watched the Patriots kick the Bills butt. Dexter sported his football jersey sans pants...his routine football watching attire.

November 2, 2002

Dexter and I went over to Nina's today to play with Tyler and Karissa. They were very impressed with Dexter's growth. We took Tyler on a tour of our apartment and he approved. Dexter watched us all play scrabble and he wanted to steal my pieces. Dad got a very more giggles out of Dexter tonight.

November 1, 2002

Dexter and I ran around Hudson and Acton trying to find me a costume for tonight's party...no luck....ended up with the pseudo-snowboarder outfit. Nina and Pop Pop babysat Dexter while we went out. He went to Becca's last volleyball game.

October 31, 2002

Its Halloween...Dexter was a handsome devil. He went trick-or-treating to Nina and Pop Pop's and Ken and Joan's house...no candy, but his costume was a hit. We got a healthy amount of treaters ourselves. Dad threw on last year's batman costume to great the kids. Maddy had her princess dress on for about 2 minutes.

October 30, 2002

Dexter spent the day with Nina while I had some alone time to get some things done. His room is slowly coming together. Another two days and maybe I'll be done. We watched Dexter's first Celtic game of the season....they lost, not a good sign. Next game we'll have to put his Celtic outfit on for good luck.

October 29, 2002

More fevers today. Dexter slept a good chunk of the day away. He woke up all happy and rejuvenated in the evening. He reached another milestone today...laughed a real laugh for the first time...he apparently enjoys Matt's rendition of Peek-A-Boo.

October 28, 2002

Hooray, we finally set up Dexter's crib today. Look's great in the room, etc. I'll have to get a picture up eventually. That's about all that got accomplished in his room today.

Dexter had a fever. He's definately a little sick, possibly teething. Fever vanished in 5 minutes after a little children's tylenol.

October 27, 2002

Dexter spent more quality time with Dad while I went into Watertown. Think Dexter's getting sick. He didn't sleep at all when I was gone and was acting a little off.

October 26, 2002

We started the bedroom switch today...long long process. We basically only got our bed moved. Dexter spent some quality time with Dad while I went out to the mall, etc. on my routine "I Gotta Get Out Of The House" trips.

Dexter ROLLED OVER twice today while on his stomach. His face was pretty funny after he did it...very surprised.

October 25, 2002

Today Dexter, Nina and I went into Natick for a little shopping and lunch with Matt and Pop Pop. Dexter is overwhelmingly happy whenever I take him shopping now; which is kind of nice because it gives me someone to talk to so I don't look crazy talking to myself :-)

October 24, 2002

Now that we have Dexter's crib we need to get the two bedrooms in order to set it up so today Dexter went over Nina and Pop Pop's while I ran to Walmart and got a bookshelf. Up until now, all our books have been in boxes taking over the office. Dexter slept forever today. I swear, everytime he wakes up he's bigger.

October 23, 2002

OH MY SNOW!! We woke up this morning to Dexter's First Snow. Nothing significant, it was all melted by 11 a.m. Dexter and I then headed off to Cliff and Dyane Smith's for lunch with Nina to say goodbye to Nana. Dexter watched Elmo's World for the first time today...seems to be a big hit (Thanks Bern and Jen).

October 22, 2002

Today is an important day in Dexter's life....he got his very first big boy crib from Nina and Pop Pop. Its beautiful. Now we just need to finish setting up the bedrooms so it will fit. Hopefully this crib will bring many sleep-filled nights ahead.

October 21, 2002

Boy, travelling to NY and bouncing all over the state for four days sucks the life out of you. Thank goodness Dexter is the awesome baby that he is or that trip would have been that much harder for us. A late departure on Thursday night landed us in NY around midnight; just in time to visti with Grandpa and Grandpa Sheeran and Uncle Cailean before they went to bed. Its amazing how much Dexter had grown since they'd seen him in September.

Dexter finally got down to Long Island to meet his Great-Grandma Miller and Great-Aunt Bernadette, as well as visit with my cousin Jennifer. He put on a good show for the family. Lots of smiling and talking. He got some awesome gifts that we've already had fun with.

We then headed into Brooklyn, where Dexter got to hang out with his awesome Uncle Justin and Nina. Sunday we all walked over to the Promenade and took lots of pictures. As it turns out, my Grandma Miller used to live on the same street as Justin and Nina.

We headed back up to Garrison to spend one last meal with Grandpa and Grandma Sheeran and stopped at the O'Rourke's house for Dexter's final appearance in Garrison. It was good to see everyone again. Dexter slept the WHOLE way back to Stow, putting a nice final touch on the whole weekend.

October 17, 2002

I decided to start keeping a daily journal about Dexter and what's he's done for the day. Once I get my act together I'm going to have to go back and fill in the weeks since he was born, but I'm not holding my breath for that to happen any time soon.

We're getting ready to head down to NY for the weekend tonight so that Dexter can meet most of my family and friends back home. We're so excited. Dexter got to spend the day with Nina(aka Grandma Cornell) so that I could get some packing and cleaning done. Nina got to see for the first time that Dexter is really getting grabby and finally is realizing that his hands are good for more than just waving around in the air.