Drew's First Earthquake

Yes, Drew and I survived our first earthquake. Yes, we live in Texas. No, earthquakes here are NOT common.

It was Saturday afternoon. Drew and I were running some errands (which I'll explain in a later post). My friend Courtney, who lives down the street, called and said, "Did you just feel that?" Since I was driving, all I felt was the motion of the car. She swore that her whole house had just vibrated. We talked for a few minutes and decided that either it was their foundation settling or the gas companies were starting to drill their wells nearby. A few minutes later Drew and I got home. I gave Drew a bottle and he went down for a nap. I sat down to eat my lunch and a little while later felt the floor vibrate. It wasn't like the house was shaking but felt just felt wrong. I assumed that was what Courtney had felt. About half an hour later, I heard a rumble and the whole house shook. It wasn't like the earthquakes on TV with plaster falling from the ceiling or anything, but it was enough of a rattle that I heard the glasses in the china cabinet clinking and the ice in my glass tinkling. It got my heart racing and I went outside to see what was going on. It's hard to describe, but I felt like there was a bulldozer next door. The noise wasn't as loud as a bulldozer but the rattle was certainly noticeable.

Here's Drew's take on the earthquake: "zzzzzzzz......" Yes, he slept through the whole thing. It's a fun story for his baby book but thankfully it wasn't big enough to do any damage. The news said it was a 3.3 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was about a half mile from our house. Yes, it was that close! We don't have any earthquake pictures to share, but we're headed to Amarillo for Memorial Day so I should have lots of great pictures to post next week.

Almost Cruising

For those of you not familiar with the baby terms, "cruising" means a baby can pull up onto his feet and take a few steps while holding on to something for support. For instance there's a girl at Drew's day care that can pull up on the toy shelves and walk alongside, holding onto the top shelf for support. Drew has certainly mastered pulling up. Most mornings we go into his room and he's standing in his crib talking to us. It's a great feeling when he spots me and breaks out a wide, toothless grin. (Yes, that's right. No teeth yet. Not even an indication of a tooth.)

This morning I put Drew on the floor of our room while I brushed my teeth and got dressed. He happily crawled around, talking and grunting at Sadie while looking for things he shouldn't be playing with. He got over to the bed and used the rails and bedspread to pull himself up. Once he was steady on his feet, he took a few little steps toward the bed (I guess to eat the bedspread because that's what he did next.) He hasn't tried to take steps on his own yet, and we don't usually let him pull up on the coffee table much since he'd knock his head if he fell down. He's such a happy little guy and is very proud of his accomplishments. This morning as soon as he was on his feet, he looked at me and grinned to make sure I was watching. Of course I rewarded him with tickles and kisses. I keep telling him that he's never too big for kisses from Mama. I'll keep telling him that forever.

Another video

One morning this week I was getting ready for work when I heard Drew start talking to me through the baby monitor. While I made his bottle, I continued to hear him talking to me. By the time the bottle was ready, he was getting irritated and hungry. When I walked into his room, this is what I saw:

Yes, folks, he pulled himself up to standing in his crib. He's been trying to pull up all the time and can get onto his knees. This is the first time he managed to get onto his feet. I'm sure it won't be long before he's trying to climb out of the crib on his own!

My Crawler

The video speaks for itself. My little baby is growing up!

Unintentional Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of recent blog updates. I came down with an awful stomach bug a couple of weekends ago when we were supposed to go to Amarillo. Needless to say, we stayed home. My mom came down to visit that weekend instead and would up catching the same bug. Luckily John and Drew avoided the sickness and we are all feeling better now. The big news in our world is that Drew is now crawling. After a few weeks of rocking on his hands and knees, then crawling army-style on his belly, he has managed to get the hang of the normal, hands and knees crawling. I'll set him down in the living room and walk to the refrigerator for a drink. By the time I turn back around, he's halfway to the kitchen with a big grin on his face. He's so happy to be able to chase Mommy around the house! I spent a few hours on Saturday babyproofing the kitchen because he'll be getting into everything before we know it. I have a video that I need to post, but of course it is still living on my memory card. So, I promise to update again soon so you can all see the amazing crawling Drew. A couple of days later he figured out that he could use the crawling to his advantage. Now he crawls to a piece of furniture (usually the coffee table) and starts pulling up. He can easily get onto his knees and has good balance there, so it's just a matter of time before he starts getting onto his feet. Bumps and bruises, here we come!