Dear reader

I had another "aha" moment, one of those spectacular times in life when you realize something that goes beyond the surface. The moment emerged as I received comments regarding this blog and is intrisically entwined in your reading.

Sometime during highschool, I discovered the joy and art of weaving words and content into successful papers. To me this was a very rewarding game. While I may have pleased or impressed teachers, my joy came from the fun of creating and knowing that I had written something excellent. The only thing I can compare the experience to is painting. When you have finished a work of art, you know it is done and a deep satisfaction wells up from its beautiful completeness. Except painting takes WAY more work for me than writing. Sentences can be spun out in fractions of time (and I like end products), whereas painting takes me forever (and I don't have much patience, which is probably why I should paint more!). It wasn't until this blog that I found some worthwhile purpose for writing. I mean, well written papers can get you a good grade, leading to a good letter for a class and eventually a degree, but so what?! How many MILLIONS of papers have been written over the years? I can just imagine the mounds of student work, some stunning, others lamentable, all sitting in the hallways of time collecting dust. The real worth of a paper or project is in what it teaches the student, not in what it shows the teacher.

I know the business world does not value your opinion of my writing to a high degree. You are most likely a relative, a friend or a friend of a friend. You could not be a reference for my resume, because your thoughts are of course biased. And not only are you be biased towards me, but my main subject matter (Ivan) gives me a decided edge over all the other bloggers out there. I mean, he is irrisistably cute, funny, handsome, developing, growing and gaining new skills as fast as our entertainment geared heads desire and he's many of your's grandson.

But there is no one to whom I would rather bring delight.

For the first time in my life, I can see that what I write and even how I write it matters to more than just me. If I can bring you even a small measure of joy, I am delighted. If I can share my heart and soul with you, I am enriched. If I can give you a glimpse of the miracle of our lives and motherhood, I am enthralled. If I can somehow express what a divine experience it is to know, love and take part in Ivan's life as his parent, then I have been given a gift to share pleasures from eternity. Perhaps by reading and thus sharing in our lives, you are allowed a chance to slow down, reflect and breathe in of Life's goodness. Ironically, I've never been one to journal much, but perhaps the fun of this unseen audience and this new medium has brought the impetus for reflection, pausing and drinking in Life's richness. We all win! You enjoy it, I enjoy it and most importantly it gives us the chance to grasp the incredible moments before they flit away with time.

So, thanks.

GMS' prize!

He stepped, he stopped. We're trying to get a video, but Ivan thinks his big first day was enough for a while. So, we tell everyone he took his first steps and they want to see him walk, but he has other ideas. Oh well, all in time!



Here's the prize for having the closest guess to the question "when will Ivan take his first step?". GMS guessed Oct.31st, just one day off from the crowning moment. Creative and hillarious answers came from: Grandpa Ray who said Ivan has been walking in secret a long time while no one was watching and Auntie Lin who said he'd walk later because we will keep carrying him. Not that I didn't think of it, Lin, when my back about gave out leaning over to walk with Ivan our long 3 block street while trick-or-treating!

Costume time!

Poor Ivan... He'd had a hard day with too short of a nap, so he was crying as I tried to get him in his costume and make-up. But as the doorbell rang and kids showed up at the door, his demeanor started to change. He went from frowns to smiles quickly when he saw the kids in their costumes. By the time we started out, he was ready to hit the town. I'd go to the door and knock and holler and Ivan would holler along with me. He thought it was great that all these people found him so cute, gave him stuff and that we got to walk outside at night. We met many friendly neighbors for the first time and Ivan loved the candy, even in the wrappers!
Enjoy the pics!

Contest winner!

Ivan has taken his first step! Actually, it was more like a sprint. Ivan seems to have one speed... fast. He speed crawls, speed walks with assistance, speed eats and now speed walks on his own. Of course I was a half foot away, but Ivan figured if he had to cross the distance, he may as well do it quickly. He ran into my arms, so of course we tried to re-enact this ad nauseum and get it on video, to no avail. I mean he did it over and over, but by the time we got the lighting right, he was out of gas (well, he always has some, um... gas). Rather, he was out of energy.


So congratulations to GMS who had the closest guess, although Grandpa Ray says Ivan has been walking in secret since his last visit! A prize will be awarded, just as soon as I've figured out what it will be! I'd send you the used and dirty socks he was wearing when he took his first steps, you know like when they give you the homerun ball in baseball, but lucky for you he was barefoot.

Three 1st you won't find in a baby book

They weren't hallmark moments, but they were significant milestones nonetheless. The first was brutal, the second entertaining and the third alarming...


More firsts by Ivan Baggett.

First Blood

It was a bad hour. Ivan had been calmly sitting near a doorway when suddenly he crashed forward, effectively cutting his upper gum and slightly bleeding his nose. Of course I had a hard time finding the cut, with all the screaming and him pushing my hands away as I tried to explore the inside of his bleeding, hurting mouth. Once I diagnosed that no serious damage had taken place, I soothed him and gave him food. That always works! Then about 30 minutes later, he did it again! I'm not sure if his head felt a little heavier that day or what, but he was definitely top heavy. At least no blood was drawn this time. I soothed him once again and diverted his attention with a toy. We were contentedly playing with his new baby sized soccer ball. I was throwing it up in the air and catching it, then bringing it up to his face and he'd laugh hilariously. That's when I accidentally missed the ball and it ricocheted off my hand and smacked Ivan right in the face. Oh, boy, did he scream that time! I quickly picked him up and told him I was sorry and we went in another room for a change of scenery. I declared that Ivan's face was off limits to any other obstructions for the rest of the day. I soothed him and we did something safe and calm... read books.

First Conversation

Ivan has decided he is more of a summer guy, but the weather has gotten cool. Thus the ongoing war of clothes. We put him in socks, pants and long sleeve shirts. He pulls them off. Well, at least the socks so far. He hasn't figured out how to remove the rest, so he just pulls on them and screams. He was doing this last week, so I calmly told him that he had to leave his clothes on since it was cool out. To my surprise he responded! "ummmahwannauwun", he said (or something like that). So I told him that I knew he didn't like clothes, but we all wear them. He answered me again! This give and take went on for several minutes. His voice slightly whinny and protesting and mine firmly explaining. After a while, he seemed to accept the fact and moved on to other adventures. Maybe this boy is understanding more than we think!

First Fridge Raid

Hot off the press! This afternoon a 12 month old made his own lunch. I was getting supper ready and while the fridge was open, Ivan started checking out its contents. He selected a plum and bit into it. He was quite pleased with his find and decided he should eat it then and there. I grabbed it from him momentarily to wash it off then gave it back to him. I had my back turned to him as I worked at the stove and when I turned around, I saw that he had what remained of the plum in his mouth. I realized that we hadn't seen a pit yet, so I pulled the plum from his mouth. It was pitless! I did that mother's-finger-sweep-through-infant's-mouth maneuver and found an unswallowed pit (just in time, I might add). I gave him back the half a plum, which he totaled off in less than a minute. Ivan also knows where the cereals are (his favorite snack). He can pull the boxes from the cupboard, open them and help himself, not to mention help his canine snack buddy who is quite delighted that the little guy is so resourceful, since she can only bark or sit pleadingly at her bowl, which is not usually very effective.

the Ivan funnies vol.3

They say kids can learn to read contextually by the litterature and even road signs all around them. In that case, Ivan would learn such valuable things like add a "z" to pluralize (for example: Spinnerz, Mezamiz- "mes amis" in French, Kidz zone...) But this is my favorite Abilene sign. It is teaching Ivan "Texan". For years, when people ask me what language people speak in Canada, I've said "English", but I now see that I was wrong. They speak "Canadian" and Texans speak Texan. Like: "I might, could do that", "Can you carry me to the store?", "I'm fixing to grill me some brisket" and the proverbial "y'all". For two years I thought my friend taught in "Glad", which is what I heard when she talked, but I then found out it was "Clyde". I also asked a girl how to spell her most unique name since she said it was ShAYnon. She spelled it out (S-h-a-n-n-o-n) all the while looking at me like I was from another planet. Not another planet, ShAYnon, just another country, where they speak English!!

Here is Ivan studying up on these complex issues of language, starting with the alphabet. We're back to the question, is it "zee" or "zed", English, Canadian or Texan?


Lucky for babies, learning to eat is a whole lot easier than learning to speak, spell, write or read. Here is Ivan doing what he knows best with some ravioli. Did you know they stain? Ivan's tray will never be the same!

Our actual birthday

The day of our birthday last week, I kept noticing the time and thinking back to that fateful day a year previous when we got to look into our son's face and hold his warm body and hear his sweet coos. It wasn't until then that I realized how weird it must have been for mom who was with us. Since my son and I share a birthday, and mom was there, she must have been thinking about where she was 31 years earlier, giving birth to me and now here I was giving birth to her grandson. OK, my head is spinning. So now the pressure's on, Ivan's first born could be born Oct.20th and we'd have 3 sets of parents in the same lineage remembering their fateful day in the hospital giving birth to their firstborn all on the same day!

In honor of this multi-generational reflecting, we'll travel through the ages together.

Ivan and mom celebrate their birthdays a year ago in 2004.

Fast forward a year to our birthday in 2005.

Cake was provided by Big Buddy (Ivan is Little Buddy).

Going back even further, here is Angela long before she became a mom practicing her verbal skills with the dial tone.

Before that was Ivan's daddy's debut which teens now think was back in antiquity (1971). I still think Ivan looks more like his daddy.

Its a party!

We had it all planned for outside. Lots of people in a big open space, with minimal mess. But the day started cold and windy and we just couldn´t subject the crew and little ones to that. So we moved it indoors. When we moved into our home from our efficiency apartment, we thought our house was huge, but add about 30 people, 2 twister games, a craft table, a food table, a gift table and cake table, extra chairs, 48 hamburgers, 40 hotdogs and all the fixings, 5 gallons of punch and about 5 major spills with numberless minor spills, teary kids over squished finger, he hit me, I want a turn... a pile of gifts and their wrapping tissue, bags, instructions, plastic containers, music here, music there, people talking, moving, running into each other everywhere. And you´ve got yourself some party! Here it is in pictures. If you were there, you can reminisce, if you missed it, here´s a taste... just add chaos, laughter, big smiles, too much sugar and a beeming birthday boy.


The cake: top layer of chocolate (Mom's favorite) and bottom layer of coconut (one of dad's favorite's) ´cause Ivan can't tell us his favorite yet!

Lots and lots of friends! It was said at Ivan's dedication to the Lord that he would be a man of the nations. It wasn't until I was looking at the pics that I realized we had 1 and a half Canadians, Africans, Mexicans, Americans, African Americans and American Hispanics. I was a real mess trying to switch from English to Spanish to French. Ivan however had no problems communicating. He constantly had someone taking him with that winsome smile of his.



Wagon rides and games. We played twister with two boards, one oversized as well as musical squares. Ivan really enjoyed all the people, music and walking around to step on a square (assisted of course). The twister games were much more difficult. A two year old wanted to lay in the middle of the mat. Most the kids were so young they couldn't figure out which was left and right and the others got confused due to language barriers. But they had fun none the less.

Of course the favorite game was to hit the piñata. I´m not sure what we are trying to teach the kids with this one. Hit the creature and get candy? You can tell Saba is concerned with the morals involved and the delight in Ivan to hit the little paper maché dog with a stick.



Food was another hit! Burgers and hot dogs, chips, cake and 5 gallons (20 liters) of punch, which was spilled no less than 10 times I´m sure.


Ivan and his guests enjoyed the gift opening and playing. Each toy was carefully tested by eager youngsters and passed approval.


Of course the best part of a party is just being together. Now that I have become a mom, I´ve discovered the sad irony that you throw a party and lots of people come, but you don´t get a chance to barely say ¨hi¨to them. Some came early and others hung out a bit longer, so that helped. Brian had grill and talk time going so that was good too, but I wish I could be with all those same people and really get to hang out with them and visit. But I guess that is what the rest of the year is all about, not to mention all of their parties (where they are throwing together a social masterpiece and I´m dinning to my fill both in my stomach and my spirit). I hope this was a good bonding and meeting new people time for our guests. I know that our little family is blessed to know so many people we call friends and Ivan had a total blast!

Mysterious transformation

I wish I could describe how profoundly becoming parents has changed us. Today I called Ivan my "precious cargo" as opposed to the trunk full of groceries I'd just loaded, and I was transported back to the day we first drove him in a car going home from the hospital. We'd driven to the hospital less than 48 hours earlier. At that time, the least of my worries was traffic, but upon leaving, with Ivan, I was suddenly hit by how vulnerable we were. I mean, were we actually going to drive home in this metal shell we call a car and trust that none of the other flying bullets (every other car) would not hit us? I knew that Brian felt the same way as I did, but I still couldn't help begging him to be very careful.

I've been somewhat picky about what we eat, but now I read ingredients lists and look at the number of sugar and fat grams, making our shopping expeditions long and decisions even MORE difficult. We notice all sorts of "dangers" and act accordingly. Not that we are paranoid freaks (at least I don't think so), but we have safety plugs to block electricity from... what? (jumping out of the socket? or is he going to lick it? I did have a student put scissors in a plug outlet and the current blasted a hole in the metal, so I guess it could be dangerous). Our household decor is now tied up cabinets and miscellaneous groupings of shakers, stuffed creatures, puppets, balls, trucks... sometimes in plastic tubs, or more often artistically thrown all over the floor.

I've never been an impulse buyer and am still pretty restrained, but I can't help letting Ivan try out toys in the stores to see his reactions and often consider getting him another toy (like he needs more!) It's a good thing most books are expensive too, because I'm a sucker for books. Which to my delight Ivan enjoys as well.

I now notice and smile at every child around Ivan's age and smile knowingly at pregnant women. Words don't have to be spoken, we know we have been through similar journeys. I can not explain the shift in heart, soul and mind that occurs when having a child, but it is unlike anything I've ever experienced.

Now here we are a year later from that fateful day when we left the hospital with a son, an eternal being, a living, breathing, thinking and loving reflection of the King of eternity. We have been forever transformed and face continual improving. As Ivan grows, so will we. We will better understand life and living, growing and giving, hurting and overcoming all because of this little wonder, who won't be so little some day. I try to live in the moment, but the moments went so fast! I can hardly believe it has already been a year and while I can remember our lives before Ivan, I know deep within me that Ivan already existed, just waiting for his time to enter earth and time. I am soooo thankful that the Lover allowed our paths to cross. May our years together multiply like dust on the prairies and may we cherish each particle, each morsel, each delight of this journey together.

Happy Birthday Ivan!

We are so in love with you! You are amazing! We have had a wonderful year of loving, laughing, smiling and discovering with you. Thank you for your love, your acceptance and easy forgiveness during the countless times we fail you and for your exhuberant joy when we get it right.

Most of all thanks to our Lover and Designer for this incredible gift of our son, for the miraculous of each day with him, for his strength, health, intelligence and joy and for this priviledge of being his parents, of knowing him and You through him.