This was a week of mainly catching up on sleep! Although Alan did not do as much socializing as last week, he still has some new experiences under his belt.

Monday was a day that changed Alan's life forever. Yes, his first shots. Daddy even took an hour off of work to accompany Alan and I to the doctor. Alan was as happy-go-lucky as ever, unaware of the doom that awaited him, right down to the last few seconds as the nurse swabbed his pudgy little thighs with alcohol. Then, as I held him down and Daddy focused the camera, in went the needle. About a second went by, and then it hit him. His face flushed red, his eyes went wide, and his scream filled the room! But he only cried for about 10 seconds - it must have stopped hurting, and luckily Alan doesn't have a very long memory yet.

Earlier in the week, Alan did something that his daddy likes to call "one of the 25 things men don't do." He watched Olympic figure skating with Grandma Gloria and I. To his credit, he slept through most of it anyway.

A note from Mommy: what have I learned this week? Two things. #1 - I am glad no one is around to hear me during the day. I have made up so many songs using the name Alan (my favorite of these is "Baby Al, Baby Baby Al") and I make so many ridiculous noises in an effort to see the smile that is worth millions to me. Some of my antics could make it onto America's Funniest Home Videos. #2 - I have learned something about God from being a parent. God calls himself our Father. Now that I am a parent, I can have a small glimpse into what He means by this. What do I want from my child? I want him to love me, to want to be with me, to grow and flourish, to have the best life possible, to make good choices. And those must be the things that God wants from me, too. I am His child, and I guess what amazes me most about this is how much I really love Alan and delight in just being with him. Is it possible that God feels that way about me too? He just loves to hang out with me? That is very cool and I guess makes me feel more comfortable around God. (When are we NOT around God?) But I feel that God and I can just enjoy each other's presence. It doesn't always have to be something formal.

Until next time . . .