Names Have Meaning (Most of the Time)

Turns out, however, that most of our names for Titus don't mean anything. All the same, they might provide a little entertainment. Like Katie's Mom, who has called her everything from "Katie" to "Boo" and "Bopper" (and calls her husband Bruce "Ralph"), we have carried on the fine Wray Family tradition of calling our son whatever comes out at the moment. A few of them:

• The Boop (the definite article is key here)
• Doodle-bop (taken from one of Titus' nurses in the hospital)
• Butterball (also taken from the nurse)
• Bubber (origin is obscure)
• Mr. T (you know where this comes from)
• Little Baby Titus (I mean, come on, that's pretty cute - plus, it has good meter)
• Bro! and Dude! (Graham's terms of endearment)
• Mr. Man (Graham's personal favorite)

He takes it all in stride. Another one we don't have time to say, but that I still like, is "Titus the Tiny But Titanic Titan of Titanium." I'd also like to add a "Maximus" and "Aurelius" in there somewhere.

--Graham

My Favorite Photo of Titus

Man, how adorable is this kid. (Rhetorical question - which is why I didn't put a question mark. Although, feel free to answer it. :)

This one's definitely going in the wedding rehearsal dinner slideshow. I know, I know, thinking too far ahead here. :)

--Graham (Daddy)

"Are you a smiley little boy?"

Titus hears this question about 52 times a day because we often get a very cute reaction...  he has been smiling a lot more in the last couple of weeks.  I love seeing these smiles.  Here are a couple of pictures of him just before bed about a few days ago... you can see a few of his big smiles.

And here are a couple of pictures when Titus got to meet his new, adorable little niece, Audrey Jane (Addie) born September 9.  She is absolutely wonderful.  It was fun for us to see her for a lot of reasons, but one unique one was to see a flashback to six weeks prior when Titus was born on the same floor, in the same hospital, in the same way (c-section) weighing the same and being the exact same height.  Pretty bizarre!  These two already have a lot in common!

My Wonderful Husband

Over the last week, I've been reminded over and over how wonderful my husband is so I thought I ought to chronicle some of these things about him so I can remember in years to come (realizing my brain is less than functional these days and my memory is even worse :)).  We had a great weekend together last week starting with the receipt of a sweet (and long!) love letter from Graham that I received about an hour before he came home.  We had a great evening just talking (several full conversations!), walking, eating and playing with Titus.  The next morning we had our very first outing post-baby while my brother-in-law, James, bravely took on the task of being the first babysitter for Titus.  Graham has been so faithful to have a date with me every single week since sometime during our engagement... we still haven't missed a single week!  About a year ago, we started having a relationship inventory one week out of every month and that week in September happened to fall last Saturday.  As we went through our various questions (things we appreciate that the other person has done in the last month, something for the other person to think about moving forward, self-evaluation, relationship evaluation and favorite memory from the last month), I was struck by how pleasant, yet incredibly helpful, these conversations have been for us.  It has allowed us to preempt a lot of fighting and be purposeful in relating to each other and preparing for parenthood.  I'm so thankful for a husband who would do that with me.  After breakfast at Denny's and the inventory, we had a chance to go play tennis, which was so fun.  It was great to have a little freedom and fun together for a couple of hours - but we were very excited to get home and see Titus again just the same.

Here are a couple of things I appreciate about my wonderful husband:
1.  His dedication to the Lord - he is faithful to spend time with Him and to lead me and Titus in the same (even if Titus doesn't understand yet... it's a cool pattern to set with him).
2.  His faithfulness, kindness and gentleness towards me - he is so thoughtful and careful to find out what I'm feeling, what I need, how he can love and serve me more, etc.  I'm so thankful for his continuous communication and dedication to fulfill the vow he made almost two years ago.
3.  His integrity - even when he's really frustrated or exhausted, he is faithful to maintain the commitments he has made and to stand by his word.
4.  His enthusiasm - anyone who knows Graham knows how incredibly excited he gets about EVERYTHING.  I think this amuses a lot of people (and it amuses me, too), but it is such a great quality to have in a husband.  I never have to wonder how he's feeling about me and Titus - he's very clear about that ;)
5.  His love for Titus...  I've never known anyone to be as excited about having a son as Graham was and is.  He loves spending time with him and even treasures the opportunity to change his diaper over and over.  Now that is dedication :)

Alright before I make everyone reading this a little nauseous (if I haven't already), I better stop :)  Suffice it to say, I couldn't  be happier to be married to Graham Patterson Clark and I don't think there could be a better life partner for me anywhere in the world.  The Lord has blessed me richly.    

Our Thai Neighbors

Graham and I have been making an effort to get to know our neighbors more now that Titus has been born.  We met several of them ahead of time, but just didn't have a lot of time to get together with them...  So recently we've had some great opportunities to hang out with them more.  Nye and Lek live next store to us and invited us over for Thai food (because they are from Thailand).  Apparently we are the first neighbors to come for Thai food in 10 years of them living here...  so they pulled out all the stops for us.  You can see the spread below...  from the far end of the table the dishes are:  Jasmine Rice, Chicken Pad Thai, Thai Salad, Tilapia in a sweet, sour and salty sauce, and pork in a pineapple curry.  We also each had a bowl of soup to eat throughout the meal on the side.  Fortunately, they toned down the spiciness for us - it was absolutely amazing!!  We really enjoyed every bite!  And we loved our culture lesson on Thailand as we ate.  It was really fun to get to know Nye and Lek better... now we just have to figure out what to cook for them when they come over here - it will be a very hard act to follow.

Sorry the picture is so fuzzy - Graham had to take it with his phone.

Some More Firsts...

I'm trying to write down the various milestones that Titus hits so I'll have a record of them later.  A few days ago, he had two big firsts in a row...  He slept in his nursery overnight for the first time (it took me a while to be comfortable with this... I really was afraid he'd think we were abandoning him or something... but he had no trouble at all) and the next morning he ate from his first bottle.  He sure took it like a champ!  I think he was done in about 15 minutes with no crying or frustration!  Here's a picture of Graham feeding Titus for his very first time, Titus in his pajamas and just a cute picture of him in his Baby Papasan that I just think is cute :)

Right On Time

Titus has been ahead on some things and maybe behind on some things, too, but he was right on time with his first 6 hour segment of sleep... last night was his first time and he is six weeks today.  My sister, Amy, told me that the old wives' tale is that they should sleep six hours at six weeks and in this case, I guess it is right :)

He's also starting to smile all the time now, which I guess is about right as well (maybe a bit late).  What a joy!  I love seeing him smile up at me.  I read online earlier today that at about six weeks your baby can recognize the parents and will often smile when they see you to socialize.  I love it!!