life with baby

12 Months + 1

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A note… after looking at these images on a couple different monitors, I decided I had rushed through the editing and went back to perfect it. These new images are less warm, more real. I didn’t replace all of them on this post, just most, so you can see the difference.

This month seemed to go by faster than the previous, probably because of the holidays and Brian and I got to spend a week with Jameson without work, which was great.

Skills:

  • Beginners Stacking (of blocks and rings)
  • Tongue Clicking, Fake Coughing, Spitting
  • Waving (with whole arm), Pointing (turning off light switches)
  • Placing Objects in Cups (particularly in the bathtub)
  • Throwing Balls (a recent development)
  • Beginners Walking (taking accidental steps)
  • Beginners Standing (alone without support)
  • Expert Crawler
  • Intermediate Climber (seems to be afraid of steps since he fell off one time)
  • Getting Down (off stairs, couches, bed)
  • Driving Cars (on the floor)
  • Beginners Direction Taking (will show – not share – when objects are requested)
  • Beginners Talking (mostly babbling without any strong words; seems to say “og” for “dog” and “what is that?” mama and dada without any particular significance)

Jameson didn’t want to sit for his photo shoot, he decided to sit on his knees instead. Recently he’s also been sitting like he’s about to propose, or blast off like a rocket ship, sitting on one knee with the other one up, ready to stand. I’m waiting for him to really get it.

This month was a month of first steps. On Sunday he did 3 steps from the couch to me, but he didn’t want to do it again. It still seems like he’s doing it on accident, because as soon as he realizes he standing by himself he’ll collapse. I have been saying I think it’ll be another couple months, but reflecting on the changes this past month makes me think the changes are coming quicker than I might think. It’ll probably be in a month.

(Sunday we also took him back out in the snow, he definitely has gained some memory and didn’t want to go in the sled since last time he fell. I went in with him, but I still think he was terrified. Brian dragged us down our little back hill and Sasha almost ran us over! It was too funny, and Jameson wailed when I squealed, haha)

This month was also his first time crying when we left him at daycare. He’s done it twice now, and I think it’s because he doesn’t know the morning teacher in his new classroom yet. He’s been very clingy with his old teachers they’ve been telling us, one of whom comes in to his new room in the afternoons. Hopefully he’ll get used to it soon and stop crying. I’m just glad that I’m not doing the drop off right now, poor Brian.

He has definitely gained more precision this past month. He’ll focus really hard on getting the light switch with his pointer finger, rather than his whole hand. Each new thing Jameson does is thrilling to me, and I wish I could remember every single detail. I’m sure I’ve missed some!

I’ve been telling Brian that I think I love him more now than I did when he was a little sluggy baby. Brian doesn’t believe me, or thinks that I’m exaggerating, but I’m pretty sure it’s true. Jameson is our entertainment, our enjoyment of everything.

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life with baby

Happy Birthday

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Happy 1st Birthday to my little handsome man, Jameson.

Today, we’re opening some gifts, taking naps, taking pictures, eating pears, eating pizza, and playing with lots of toys.

Plenty of time for reflection next week. For now, it’s all about joy.

The grand finale (just like fireworks, we piled all the blocks on Jameson). He loved it.

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Delicious Morning

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It was a great morning today with everyone feeling better. It was delicious, not in the tasty food way, but in the have-time-to-cuddle and get-to-see-Jameson way. Jameson was up early this morning so I got to feed and dress him this morning, which is always fun. I came into work a little later but it was worth it.

I have just over a week to prepare for his 1st birthday party! I can hardly believe the time that’s gone by. Recently, he has started waving at us with his whole arm, he is so excited. It’s the best feeling to come into a room and have him wave at you like he just saw you for the first time in a while. (It’s not unlike Sasha’s excitement whenever we leave and come back; dogs are so similar to babies)

Whenever he falls, I says “boom!” to make it funny and distract him from what otherwise might be an unhappy moment. I’ll also say boom when toys drop to the ground loud. The other night, I was almost certain he was trying to say Boom too with a “buh buh”. He has also finally discovered his “d’s” so we’re waiting for a “da da da” to come out.

Jameson likes to spin around in circles on his butt, just moving his legs to get around in a circle. It’s adorable, and I’d love to get it on camera (I did get one haphazard one at the end of this video), but recently he has been less easy to photograph. The other night I was trying to get him to “drink” from the bucket (there wasn’t any water in it) like he does at play and bath time, but he didn’t want to do it for the camera again. He either gets distracted when I get the camera out, or he comes running crawling really fast toward me to get at it. Or to be held, he really likes to be held a lot recently.

I’m thinking that this is just a phase (and really, no adults are trying to jump in their parents arms like that), so I am not too worried about this. In fact, I kind of enjoy it, especially when he’ll lay his head against me for a moment (just a moment). The only other time he is still like that is when he is sitting looking at books with us. He loves the baby touch and feel books, but all books must seem like magic to him when he flips the page and a new picture appears.

I think he just wants to see things from a new vantage point when he wants to be held, but I don’t think he’ll be walking by next week. He is really good with his walk behind toy, much better than when we try to walk with him with our hands. He really does like to do things himself. But as yet, he’s not standing on his own beyond a moment or two when he lets go of whatever furniture he’s holding onto.

Speaking of furniture, he is really loving cabinets, so we finally purchased some locks that Brian will be putting on this weekend on a few cabinets. I don’t really mind him getting into the pots and pans, or the towels, so those will probably stay unlocked. In some ways, since I don’t see him as often because I work, it’s actually made life really easy and less stressful. If he wants to bang on some pans while I’m home, that’s fine. Hopefully I’ll be able to turn around the relaxed attitude a little and give it some boundaries as he gets older.

For now, I am really enjoying him as a baby, and while I love that he is getting bigger and I’m happy he’s moving into the new room at daycare with other 12-18 month olds (particularly because he gets to move up with his friend), I am also wishing I could just pause him right here for a little bit.

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life with baby, pets

Troublemaker

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Jameson has had a really hard time teething this past week and weekend. He has four teeth, two on bottom and two on top which are broken through but not all the way grown in. Now he is in process of breaking through two more teeth up top, and he’s taking this set pretty hard.

Contrary to this photo, he’s actually been really grumpy. So this is when we were checking for teeth and discovered that yes, there are two more making their way down.

My mother stayed with us overnight on Thursday night after going to a funeral. Sad times, but it was nice to get in a quick visit. We also visited with my uncle and aunt Carol, who just had knee replacement surgery a week ago and has been fairly housebound. I’m sure she enjoyed the visit, albeit brief.

He’s been up a lot at night, needing rocked to sleep which is very very unusual for him. Brian and I have been disagreeing about feeding him at night, but I think we’ve left it that Brian will feed him if he thinks he needs it and I will rock even if I think we should be holding firm on him getting to sleep by himself.

Jameson’s clearly in pain, and we’ll each do what we think will help him get back to sleep fastest. Which, in the end, is medicine. Advil and Tylenol, alternating, for the most effective pain relief according to our pharmacist neighbors. And it works.

Aside from causing us trouble sleeping, he is also becoming a bit of a troublemaker during the waking hours.

Yep, this child who is not really pulling himself up yet in the crib is climbing stairs. One stair. He’s not very coordinated yet.

He is also crawling everywhere, being told “no” quite often by the fireplace, and otherwise making mischief.

Consequently, we did some baby proofing this weekend. The outlets have covers on them now. They’re actually quite fancy, borrowed from a friend. They are tilted and go back in place with springs when removing an item from being plugged in. They’re kind of like this, but not as new or fancy. Also, we’ve finished the gate upstairs. We purchased a retract-a-gate and so far we really like it. We will have to make a decision about the downstairs gate though.

For now, we’ve been watching him on the stairs closely, finding it good practice for him to pull up. He’s only really reaching for things at his level like the stairs or ourselves when we’re on the floor with him. He isn’t quite getting the hang of pulling up from things with height like the end tables or couches.

We also have another troublemaker trying to wedge herself in corners to escape Jameson’s new mobility. Sasha turned 9 years old on October 1st. Happy birthday Sasha! We have fancy dinner planned for her this week in addition to the peanut butter bone and new toys that Brian’s parents got for her.


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life with baby

Weekend Get-Away (from Dad)

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This past weekend, Brian went on his yearly man trip with his two friends in Florida, while I went to my parents’ house with Jameson. It was great timing even though we had just seen them a couple weeks ago, because we also got to see my brother, Jameson’s Uncle Tyler (Uncle Ty has such a nice ring to it).

Tyler was only home for about two days before heading back to college for his final two quarters. He has interned at Disney twice and is going to be an engineer. (Yes, we are all kind of hoping he gets a job at Disney, that would be awesome, but no guarantees)

Jameson hadn’t really seen Uncle Ty in quite some time, so we had a mini photo shoot. Of course.

I love Jameson’s expression in the one above. That is one quirky look!

Oh, and… we just had to do the Lion King pose.

The weekend went by really fast, and we stayed busy even though we didn’t go anywhere else this time. We went on a couple family walks: Jameson and myself, plus my parents and both the dogs, and Tyler. I think we were quite a sight. Jameson was teething again, so he I really enjoyed these walks. I think they may have broken through, two top teeth. We’ll be able to tell soon, I know.

In the mornings it was a little brisk. Luckily, I remembered a jacket.

Jameson was partial to the kitchen floor. It is easier to crawl glide on. Plus, a lot of great new furniture to explore this time.

He is also really getting up on his knees a lot now. In particular, he was really motivated to get to the dogs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh4M45M6vhI]

There are a few more videos up, of him crawling and Tyler attempting to feed him, here.

All of these things were truly wonderful, and home cooked meals every night were lovely. Thanks Mom!

I can’t believe how much he’s grown in just the past couple weeks. He’s now crawling to me when I pick him up from daycare, he’s happier now that he can move around, he’s actually exploring the world around him. He’s definitely a little boy (if I can be stereotypical for a moment). He loves getting “tossed” in the air, going upside down, watching the lawn mower, being outside. He’s going to be a (fun) handful, I can tell.

Wish I knew what color his eyes are going to be though!

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life with baby

Testing Boundaries

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In addition to the wonderful crawling milestone, Jameson is also testing other boundaries… this week it has been sleeping and napping (oh, and fussing when I took the remote control from him… that’s a new one too).

Perhaps it was because Brian and I slipped up a bit (long weekend you know). He was getting up at 5:30 asking to have his breakfast bottle, and we’d give it to him then send him back to sleep. Then it slowly crept earlier, and we’d give him the bottle at 5 am. That was probably the wrong message.

Yes, most definitely the wrong message.

So this morning, we had to let him cry it out from almost 4 to 5 am. I went in to rock him for a bit, and he was happy for 5 minutes until he realized that no sir, that bottle was not coming. Back in the crib and then he crashed out, butt in the air, until 7.

I had to be the bad guy though. Poor Brian just wanted to give him the bottle and be done with it, but I certain this was the right thing to do. Having him get up in the middle of the night again is not smart. Not unless Brian wants to be the one to get up every night, heh. 😉

He woke up happy, not screaming for food, so I’m validated in my decision not to give him the bottle. Still, it was a little bit of a rough morning for us…

So! On a happier, more fun note: here’s his crawling video, as promised. It’s sort of a series, starting out just before he turned 8 months on 8/15. Most of the video is from this past weekend of him scooting backwards, and  it ends on 9/6, yesterday, when I finally got one video of him going forward.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyvOvy3B7SU]

Oh, if you are impatient and want to skip to the triumphant end, the last scene with him crawling starts at 1:56.

Mostly yesterday I got video of him playing with his socks. Like 10 minutes of sock playing. If you really want to see 10 minutes of baby + baby socks, that’ll be up tomorrow.

P.S. This child is sitting up in his crib now. I suppose that means we should probably lower the mattress…

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life with baby

a few of his favorite things…

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Dear readers, so many exciting things happened yesterday! Jameson made his first “crawls” forward instead of just backward (before falling on his face), and he made his first baby joke!

I am not sure if baby jokes are considered a milestone, and I am pretty sure Brian might have been making fun of me a little but seriously: Jameson laughed for the first time because of something he did, rather than because of something outside him (ex., tickling or chasing the puppy or puppy licks)

He laughed when he was trying to roll away from me while changing, and I know he did it on purpose, because he did it again later. So cute!

Anyway, I need to get this forward crawl on video, and when I do I’ll share his adorable progression of crawling. Since I don’t have that just yet, I thought I’d share some of his favorite things, now that he is actually playing with toys (instead of just chewing… though he still does chew… haha)

We have a lot of toys. In fact, Brian and I are going to break out the *gasp* toy box very soon. He probably doesn’t need this many toys, but I’m not too worried about spoiling him yet. He plays with all of them right now, in different ways.

His all time favorite toy for the past few months and now is his piano. The piano has it all: a rattle, music, lights, moving parts and convenient-to-chew handle.

This just goes to show: the reviews on Amazon don’t mean baby won’t like the toy. This thing only has 3 stars… but there is another piano for $14 that is almost 5 stars. Which would you rather pay? $5 or $14?

We’ve really enjoyed watching his development in playing with toys. It started out as staring, evolving into batting at the toys above his head on the activity mat. Then we had reaching and grasping, and later turning in place in the exersaucer to chew on all sorts of toys.

Finally, he learned how to work some of the toys, first with the spinning rattles like in the piano above. The last one on the exersaucer that he figured out was the penguin that you have to push down to get the balls to move inside.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93EJaESzcMY]

Now that he can sit, he is playing with all the toys, shaking, chewing, rattling. We decided he needed a few toys that stretched his skills. We bought this great toy which took him a day or two to figure out some of it’s parts. He hasn’t gotten the hang of getting it to move and play music, but he is playing with the alligator and spinning bird… soon he’ll be working the rest!

And it won’t be long before he’s figuring out toys like this one, with it’s knobs and levers. He already pushes down on the boppers. (Hey, no batteries in this toy!)

His second favorite toy right now I think is the xylophone piano. It’s a little advanced for him, but he loves to pound on the keys, and to eat the (thankfully one piece) sticks. This is an old toy though, I am not sure if they sell it like this anymore! It is however similar to this one.

Singing? or Eating? ha!

Like most babies, he enjoys the stacking cups. We bought these cute rubbery blocks for him to chew on, but he hasn’t shown much interest– until it also becomes a stacking (or rather, a knocking down) game!

Likewise, the classic ring stacker is fun right now to knock all the rings off, put rings on baby’s head, and to chew on. Later maybe he’ll start to stack the rings back on himself.

Of course, Jameson also loves to play with the parts that aren’t really toys. All his toys are in a low bin right now so he can pull all of them out. He also loves to play with the lid to one of his toys, and yesterday he enjoyed playing with an empty water bottle. Can’t forget the dixie cup in the morning when we’re trying to get ready, too!

A newly semi-mobile baby also enjoys finding new places, like the vent. This will be an accident waiting to happen this winter, but for now, it’s just cute.

Oh, the puppy is a pretty fun toy too. And the puppy’s own toys. Sasha knows which toys are hers, but Jameson hasn’t figured out yet which ones are his. Hmmm…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO-GdUEUiQQ]

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Fajita Party

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Brian and I have decided our go-to party theme is all about the fajitas. It was easy, fun, and everyone likes it because you can put whatever you want on them.

One of Brian’s old friends came up to visit from Florida, a perfect excuse for a party. Bonus, we finally got to meet their son Bobby, just turned 6 months old.

He was really mellow (lucky parents!). He loved just laying in the grass.

How could you not love that adorable face and big blue eyes?!

Okay, I should probably back up a bit to tell a better story. I was impatient! Rewind…

Friday night, we cleaned and I washed all of Jameson’s toys in preparation for the party. Brian uncovered some old toys he had collected in the basement so those needed cleaned too (back when we both used to work for a toy company, Brian decided to collect some for the future… he’s such a cutie great dad)

Saturday, Jameson decided to be a sleep monster. What do they say about best laid plans… he slept for a total of 45 minutes all day long. Luckily though he was a champ for the party. He had to go to bed earlier than the other boys but I couldn’t believe how good he was for having little to no sleep.

It was so fun to watch Jameson interact with the other babies like he must at daycare though I never get to see!

I think maybe he’s going to crawl soon? Maybe that’s why his sleep patterns are all funny. Look at this fabulous move, below.

He started doing that this past week, where he spins around in a circle while sitting, getting a leg under himself. AND, he went from the belly position to sitting on Sunday! Perhaps because I had him in the grass, he felt like he couldn’t plop his face down so he did the only other thing he knew.

And finally, a good teeth shot!

Do you like these shots? Dear readers, we finally broke out the new flash we bought for my camera before Jameson was born. I can now get crisp shots indoors without them looking flashed! Just point it at the ceiling and WA-LA! indirect light brightens the room. I love it, I can’t believe I never used it before.

Okay, I am not a pro at it though. This shot straight down flashed at the glass on the fireplace and made it look funny. Some editing made it salvageable, but I was disappointed.

Would you believe that Jameson is the oldest of the bunch? I was going to break out the plaid on him too, to match, but his is dirty. Jameson, Bobby and Jonathan.

Jonathan is becoming so smiley and happy, he’s a cutie too.

Can you believe he started out smaller than Jameson, like this? And now he’s bigger than Jameson!

Bobby was small too: Jonathan was 4 weeks early; Bobby was 3 weeks early; Jameson 1 week early. The boys are getting so big.

But finally, a girl has joined the band! Our friends Jason and Lisa had their baby girl Vivienne Saturday before last (not early). It was a surprise, but Jason said statistically speaking he knew it was going to be a girl, ha. Brian and I can’t wait to go meet her (leaving Jameson behind, you know he’s a daycare-germ-filled-snotty-baby now).

It was a great time with friends. Brian couldn’t remember the last time they had all been able to get together like that. Treasuring these last summer days!

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life with baby

The Evidence

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This weekend Jameson and I went to visit his grandma and Aunt Holly. Pardon me while I gather my thoughts for the week, and while I start work again after a few days off. Meanwhile, I finally have evidence. Hundreds of photos and this is the best shot of them, ha.

It was pretty clear to me today that he definitely has teeth as he was fussy at his one and only breastfeeding this morning, such that he dragged my nipple through them, biting me for the first time. Is that too much information? Is this a milestone I should mark in the baby book? It’s Monday.

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general life, life with baby

Reunion Fiesta

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It’s only been two months since I left my old job but I already feel worlds apart. This weekend we had an opportunity to get together like we never really did while I was working there, and we got together and had a family cookout. Plus, Jameson and his new friends Carson and Cole finally got to meet. Carson and Jameson were both born on December 16, but are developing in completely different ways; I was fascinated with observing them and their differences.

For one, Carson is several pounds heavier than Jameson. Though not as big as I thought! Jameson, as I’ve said before, has been pretty ambivalent about food and eating, though he’s finally got the hang of solid foods. Carson loves to eat, and is already adept at chewing off little pieces of fruit. (We tried a sliver of cantaloupe while we were there on Jameson and after being in his mouth for a good 5 minutes he hacked it out)

Carson seemed to have a lot more hand-eye coordination than Jameson did, twisting a spoon in his hand and doing a lot more grasping instead of batting. Instead, Jameson was a lot more active with sitting and jumping on us (parents are apparently free Jumparoos) than Carson seemed to be.

I wonder if this is how parents of twins are, seeing dramatic differences between babies born the same day? And how much of that is personality and how much developmental?

Carson was fascinated with looking at himself in the table reflection, even bending over while standing to get a closer look. He and Jameson did not really interact too much, actually. Though they did have a staring contest or two.

Instead, Jameson was loving and playing with Cole, our lovely hostess friend’s son. Cole is about 1-1/2 years old, so serious whenever he saw my camera (which was pretty much constantly, of course)

Jameson and Cole rode around in Cole’s wagon for a bit and Jameson did really well. Last time he was in a wagon it wasn’t moving and he fussed — clearly a moving wagon is more fun than a non-moving wagon. And it probably helped that Cole was entertaining too.

We had dinner fajita style with 3 different meats and a wide variety of toppings. Megan outdid herself on the food, and even made homemade guacamole. (We’ll have to come by more often) Cole approved of the dessert, chocolate raspberry cupcakes made by Carson’s mom.

Evidence of a good party, baby style.

Hopefully we’ll all be able to get together again to watch them grow. And Jameson is just a year away from being a fun, active little boy like Cole. I can’t wait!

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