Barcelona -- what a snoozefest!

Kevin and I enjoyed Barcelona very much -- we understand why everyone seems to love it so much! As for Alex, though, he seemed kind of bored.

At the castle at the top of Montjuic

At the slides in the park at Montjuic
At a soccer game
At the seaside village of Sidges
At a park in the city
He seemed especially unimpressed at the works of famous architect Gaudi. I don't think he had his eyes open once!

At Parc Guell
Still at Parc Guell
At La Sagrada Familia
At La Pedrera

Jess' giant

Those of you that know my cousing Jess will be very pleased to hear that she hasn't changed much in her time in Barcelona. Meaning, she is just as weird as she ever was.

Jess is very enthralled with the life of a baby. She loves the idea of someone carrying her around and snuggling with her. In fact, she loves the thought of it so much, she wants to have her own personal giant.

This became a theme of our trip to Barcelona. Jess would point out a stroller and say, "I think I would like my giant to carry me in a stroller like that." She thought tummy time looked like torture and likened it to "my giant hanging me upside down and saying 'Time for upside down time!'"

I pointed out the flaws in her plan -- you wouldn't make any decisions for yourself like what to wear or when to eat (well, okay, if you cried enough you would probably be able to). And you don't get many options for food. And, if your giant was anything like Kevin, he would make you take pictures like this:





She didn't seem deterred though, and we are still on the lookout for a gentle 15-foot man or woman willing to take care of a sweet college student.

Alex adora a prima Jessica

When we announced we were pregnant, everyone felt so sorry for my cousin Jessica. Since she is studying abroad in Barcelona for a year, she missed most of my pregnancy and the birth of Alex.

But the joke's on everyone else! Jess just got to spend nine straight days with our little man, and she can safely say (at this point) that she is the family member that he knows best!

We knew Alex would love Jess -- and why not? She has no shame and will do anything to get a smile (and sometimes even a laugh) out of him!

More on the Spain trip later, but here are some pictures of Alex and Jess. They don't even do her justice as to how much Alex enjoyed her!

Tummy time

Like a lot of upper twenty-somethings, Kevin and I had never heard the phrase "tummy time" until four months ago. Our peditrician mentioned it rather nonchalantly at our appointment when Alex was just four days old. "Try to give him a bit of tummy time each day," he advised while flipping Alex over onto his stomach. "It helps build his neck, arm and back muscles." Sounds simple enough. Little did we know how many conversations involving tummy time we would have in the next couple of months.

New moms talk about tummy time the way we used to talk about shoes. You cannot have a five minute conversation with a new mom without mentioning tummy time. "Does he like tummy time?" "I know I should give her more tummy time, but I hate to see her cry!" "Oh, look at her -- showing off with her tummy time!"

I find it quite amusing. First of all, being "good" at tummy time entails not crying. Really, that's all it takes to be good at tummy time! (I wish we used that criterion for other things in life -- I would be really good at a lot of things!) Secondly, some moms seem really upset when their children don't appear to like tummy time. Give him time, he'll catch on eventually -- it's not as if he is going to be five years old and still stuck on his back!

Alex was so "good" at tummy time when he was two months old, my mom friend Karen asked me, "So is you or your husband or a combination of the two of you that made your baby a Superbaby?"

Here are some pictures of Alex showing off his tummy time skills:






And Karen, to answer your question, Superbabies run on my side of the family.

What happens when Daddy and "Druncle" Ryan are in charge of the baby...