Attorney Work Product

Like Meeting a Movie Star

Alex just transformed by leaps and bounds before our very eyes this weekend. We were lucky enough to travel to my city of birth to attend the fabulous wedding of our friends Jason and Julie. Alex did just a fantastic job on his very first plane ride. He and mommy sailed through security unassisted while daddy parked the car (thanks in no small part to our Ergo baby carrier and the hand-me-down back pack diaper bag from Keri -- I wore Alex on front, the diaper bag on back, my purse slung across me with the ID window accessible, and was basically handsfree!). Alex served as our ticket to preboard, so it didn't really matter that we were stuck with boarding group B upon arrival (and C on the way home!). And in both directions, we managed to snag the only unoccupied seats on the plane for Alex, so had a little bit of room to spread out.
Alex mostly just played with Mommy and his toys and flirted with the people around him (he even was sure to wear a shirt with an airplane on it for the occasion). He didn't seem to have any ear problems at all, thankfully. He slept for about an hour of the flight in each direction, and spent the rest of the time playing or nursing. On the way out, he made friends with Sarah, the four year old across the aisle who enjoyed patting his head and picking up dropped toys. On the way back, he and 19 month old Patrick behind us had a grand ol' time babbling at each other. In both directions, the flight attendants and people around us commented that he was just a wonderfully happy baby and a joy to have on the plane. Once we hit the ground, Alex spent quite a while staring out the window as daddy explained to him what the baggage handlers were doing. He was really into it!

Once we got settled in the rental car, Alex surprised us by entertaining himself in the seat by clapping. I had been working with him A LOT the week before to try to get him to clap, and he didn't seem interested in doing it on his own. But all of a sudden, there he was doing it! It's not the greatest video, but I did snag a few seconds of him clapping in the car and posted it here. He'll now do it on command about half the time.

We stopped for lunch -- tex mex, of course! -- and Alex charmed the waitstaff. Surprise, surprise. Great, great tacos and burritos were had. Alex had his guac sans tomatoes and spices and plus the occasional Oatio, but it was all good.

At the hotel, Alex decided to do another first -- he climbed off the bed, several times. Claudia has been trying to get him to climb off of her bed for a while, but she told me today that she hasn't seen him do it on his own yet. He hasn't done it at home yet, either. But at the hotel, conditions must have been optimal, because the little scootch turned around and backed off the bed no problem.

The wedding itself was fantastic. It was at the Austin Children's Museum, which is a great venue for kids of all ages. Alex enjoyed the texture corner, hitting golf balls together and placing them on a ramp, and beating on the star tambourine. One of my favorite exhibits had real and fake instruments for the kids to play along with videos of country stars. Alex rocked out on the drums and fiddle, while his new friend Julien "If that's too long for you, you can call me J" Brown did a guitar solo and hit the applause sign repeatedly. Luckily, Alex was happy to oblige.

Now I must interject here to say that I didn't realize how many people actually read this journal until I attended this wedding. Mike knew many of the other guests from his trips to SXSW, but I really only knew Jason and Julie prior to the big night. Still, people were coming up to me all night telling me how wonderful it was to finally meet Alex. They knew his whole life story. Someone actually said to me "meeting Alex is like meeting a movie star!" because she had admired him from afar since he was a little in utero bean. But unlike most movie stars, the general perception was that he was even better in real life than in person. So a big shout out to all of Alex's fans in Texas and beyond!

Alex fell asleep toward the end, and let Mommy and Daddy get some dancing in before the party was over. Friends took turns watching him as he slept blissfully in his carrier on a bench right underneath the DJ.

On Sunday, we awoke to the sounds of loud music outside our 9th floor window at around 7 am. The room next door? No, actually, the live band cheering on the runners for the 10K race going on just below us. So we got dressed, had a nice breakfast with friends, and took a walk toward the Capitol and back (Alex fell asleep during the walk).

We came back and packed, and this time the ruckus outside our window was a parade. Weird. Alex handled the flight home just as beautifully as the flight in, and we made it home safe and sound. A whirlwind but very worth it two days!