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I ain't gonna lie. This 4th month was not as glamorous as the first three. This month's title pretty much summarizes the most notorious thing about the past 30 days.What I want for Christmas is for every parent and parent to-be to read The 10 Basic Principles of Good Parenting by Laurence Steinberg. But since that's not gonna happen, I'll settle for the address of place that recycles saliva. And pays at least 10 cents per litter.

But let's be fair, there is something charmful about hearing him pronounce "GRRRRRRRRRR", his first word. Over and over and over again. Seriously, it's adorable - if only because it's the first time we actually feel like he's saying something to us....even if we don't really know what it is.



He is now able to temporarily sit down on his own, and can stand up if we balance him holding his hands.We attribute this amazing ability to a very high-tech device called the exersaucer. It allows him to work on his bionic leg-strength while developing extraterrestrial hand-eye coordination. Which leads me to my next point: how odd it is to see parents make such a big deal out of every little thing their kid does.

The boy has found his thumb and will not give it back. I swear I can see his eyes roll to the back of his head when he finally manages to make his elbow bend at the right angle to make his thumb land in his mouth. It's like a scene from the movie "The Exorcist". Not in this picture though.

Christmas is around the corner but we feel like Santa already swung by here - and left us the most adorable little human being in the planet - that has a mom that cheers him on when he poops.

"Do - it, do - it!"

Becoming a little person

Every month represents a new era of discovery. But frankly, I can't help but feel I owe somebody for the happiness Tyce brings us.
He is completely adorable and becomes more aware and more engaging each day.

Mommy is very happy with her work arrangement that has given her several Tuesdays free to allow her to spend the whole day with Tyce and attend the "mommy-and-me" lunch meetings at North Florida Regional.

I finished my first Ironman 70.3 triathlon a few weeks ago and knowing that he was waiting at the finish line brought me a sense of relaxation and motivation to get through it.
Tyce is a very happy baby. It's hard to say how much can be attributed to how he "came out of the box" and how much is due to the environment we create for him - but rest assured we will take credit for anything good he does for the rest of his life.
Haha, kidding. Well, kinda.

A couple of days ago Maria, Tyce and I had lunch at Westside Park and he got to see the park, see a bunch of other kids play...he was very intrigued. He got to ride one of those plastic horsies on the big springs and even got on a swing when mommy wasn't looking.

Mommy holds tight

As expected, Maria has become completely consumed with Tyce. She has a natural instinct for knowing what he wants, what he needs, how he wants it and when he wants it. Sometimes before he even realizes it. In other words, I taught her well. The first month was a big adjustment process for both of us - no more spur of the moment decisions like, "let's go eat at this restaurant", "let's go to the movies", "let's sleep without interruption"....wait, Maria just pointed out that it was HER the one who was interrupted.... hmmm... well... not my fault that I'm a deep sleeper....

Here's a little video of Maria and Tyce hanging out:

The rise of Tyce

Tyce was born on August 15th, 2007. This is the beginning of our journey into parenthood.

Maria and I have had the pleasure of watching the development of other children up-close like, Miguel Augusto (Mike), Juan, Carlitos, Dylan and Mia.

We feel that the experience we've gained from that, plus our inborn love for children and strong desire to be parents will enable us to be the best parents we can be for our little slice of heaven, Tyce.

I'm not a big baby-stats person but, here are the numbers: he weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and measured 20 inches. I hear both Tatoo and Shaq had those same stats at birth. Just kidding but, you get the point.