life with baby

Orchard Visit

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This year, since Jameson has been so excited about pumpkins, I wanted to take him to a real pumpkin patch to do a “pick your own” experience. We had the opportunity to see Hollie and her three girls again this year because they have a patch near by! There are plenty a lot closer to us, but Jameson loves the girls and we thought it would be a great experience for him. He had a blast!

We went to Burnham Orchards on a crisp but not cold fall day. The ride up there, Jameson shouted “whoa tuck” every time we passed a truck on the highway!

We put Jameson in the cart for pumpkins and wheeled him out to the long rows of pumpkins. When we took him out, he immediately ran around to all the pumpkins without rhyme or reason. It was hard to get a shot of this active toddler!

They had cut back the plants, but that was okay. I enjoyed the space and less crowds in comparison to Patterson’s, which we went to last year.

Jameson did try and pick up quite a few pumpkins, exclaiming “heavy”. He was only able to pick up one pumpkin that Natalie found for him. The rest were too big for him to lift!

We did see lots of starter pumpkins or “baby pumpkins” as we told Jameson.

We came home with two in his jacket pockets. It’s what he was looking at when we tried to get a family photo unsuccessfully.

When we were all done, we tossed him back in the cart with the pumpkins, which he loved.

There were lots of activities for kids, but many were for kids older than Jameson. While the girls got their faces painted, we tossed Jameson in some straw. He wasn’t sure at first, but he quickly asked to get in again after the first round.

We went inside the market for apples and to pay, and they had some small apples for free that we gave to Jameson. I thought for sure he would give it back, not realizing how to eat the whole apple or licking the skin alone, but he knew exactly what to do with it!

He enjoyed the fresh apple a lot. We all piled back in the cars then to head out to Vermillion to the Soda Pop Grill, a cute small-town restaurant in the style of old soda fountain shops. It took us a while to get our food, but even well past he nap time, Jameson was entertaining the girls and vise versa with giggles and noises.

We all enjoyed a home style lunch before heading to the candy and candle stores, before finally heading home. Jameson (and I) crashed on the way home.

We dropped Jameson off at grandma and grandpa’s for the rest of the afternoon and overnight for our date night then! Brian and I went to see a movie, dinner appetizers, and home to enjoy a restful evening.

The following day, we worked hard on his room and consolidating the office and craft spaces. Brian even got to brew beer in between building and painting Jameson’s nightstand before Jameson came home from a very enjoyable, fun-filled weekend!

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life with baby

Natural History

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It was a miserable, cold, rainy weekend, so last Sunday we went to the Museum of Natural History (instead of a pumpkin patch). We went with JP, Lisa & Jonathan, and stopped for lunch at the Winking Lizard first.

Jameson ate really well (even though he ate more of Jonathan’s grilled cheese than his own corn dogs), and we learned our lesson and got him milk instead of fruit punch.

The museum was reasonably crowded due to weather undoubtedly, and the kids had a blast. I daresay it was better than the zoo for them, since the animals (stuffed) were right up by the glass. I heard more than one whoa coming out of their mouths.

I swear, we ran through the entire first floor. The boys jumped from one exhibit to the next. Brian could barely hang on to Jameson’s hand, they were moving so fast. I was hoping the dinosaur bones would be a big hit, but alas I should’ve known that stuffed animals and/or things they could actually touch would be more exciting.

They did seem to enjoy how big everything was!

After circling the first floor, we headed downstairs, trying to herd the boys back into their strollers (we were only successful by about 10 minutes thanks to raisins, one of Jameson’s new favorite snacks).

Downstairs, there is a Discovery Center, full of educational toys and stations just for kids. We were nearing the end of our ropes by then, simply because Jameson was edgy since we skipped his nap!

It was well worth it though to get out of the house that weekend. They both had a blast. Jameson napped on the way home, but woke up unhappy when we arrived, so we put him back down for a second nap. He didn’t fall asleep completely, but he rested and when he was ready to get out, he babbled to himself. Much more pleasant!

Sadly, I have had on occasion had to “yell” him to sleep, particularly if he is over tired. If rocking, patting on the back, and swaying back and forth isn’t working, the last resort is to walk in there with a super-stern, elevated voice and tell him it’s time for naps (no if’s ands or buts!). The first time I did it, I must have been really scary because Jameson quickly flatted himself out and fell asleep in that very position, silent as a mouse.

Now I’m a little gentler and cover him back up with a blanket and pat his back before exiting after he gets his stern talking-to. He’s doing really well though, and that only occurs maybe a couple times a month. It snaps him out of his whining and sure enough, as soon as he is settled down, he falls asleep.

Bad mom? I don’t think so. Hopefully not, anyway.

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life with baby

Visit with Rylan

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On Saturday, our friends Laura and Dave came over with their daughter Rylan who is just about 9 months old. Rylan has adorable, almost elfin looks thanks to her wonderful, great big smile that spreads across her whole face. I am certain she will be that type of girls that captures the attention of the whole room just with her enjoyment of life!

For his part, Jameson wasn’t too certain about baby Rylan. He did seem interested in her puffs, as opposed to his own pretzels, but Rylan wouldn’t have any of that.

He did accept a bribe to sit right next to Rylan, which we’ve tried before (mostly when eating dinner — eat your chicken and you can get more peas!), but it hasn’t worked until now. Apparently, sitting next to Rylan for a couple pretzels was acceptable. He sat down a full arms length away from her, so we moved him a little closer.

It was pretty adorable.

Brian made pizza on the grill for dinner, and Laura brought over my craving for dessert, a pumpkin pie, which was crust-less and delicious. Jameson was pretty into the pizza, but not the pumpkin pie. He enjoyed his whip cream though, contrary to the first time he had it.

Looking at these pictures of Jameson next to Rylan makes me realize just how big my baby is now.

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life with baby

Rainy Day at the Zoo

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Last weekend, we went on our annual zoo visit with Hollie, her husband and their three girls. Actually, scratch that, we didn’t make it out last year, so maybe almost-annual is more appropriate.

On Friday, we opted to change our plans from Saturday to Sunday in order to avoid the rain (ha ha ha). It barely rained Saturday, but most of Sunday morning it rained. When we arrived, we saw the elephants and lions and then turned around to do the indoor rainforest.

Jameson always likes the rainforest because we let him walk around. Also, his stroller was pretty wet. After the rainforest, it was still raining, so we went to the Winking Lizard for lunch about 15 minutes away. By the time we were finished eating, it was clearing up a bit.

It was around 2, and Jameson skipped his nap like a champ. It probably helped that Brian gave him full, un-watered-down Fruit Punch. Jameson spent lunch being silly, laughing and tapping my arm over and over. He was adorable on what must have been his very first sugar high.

We went back to the zoo, and Jameson loved walking around with the girls, particularly the oldest who read him stories in the car on the way back to the zoo, and he spent a lot of time out of his stroller rather than in wherever possible, until he seemed to get tired. And even then he was asking for more animals!

Since it was nice and cool out, we saw a lot of active animals. We saw the bears tussling each other for food, and the wolves which are usually sight unseen were all roaming their habitat. The beaver swam right by Jameson!

We usually don’t opt for this splurge activity, but we did pay for nectar to feed the birds. We didn’t let Jameson try this time, maybe next!

One of the birds even hopped right on to Hollie’s hand!

Our last and my favorite stop was by the kangaroos. None of them were out, but we went to the kangaroo hop spot where the length of a kangaroo’s leap is represented on the soft, spongy ground. Perfect for jumping! The girls all jumped and Jameson wanted to join in.

Poor kid can’t really jump yet. He doesn’t get both feet of the ground, but he sure did try.

We ended at the gift shop (of course), where Jameson finally had his meltdown. He didn’t understand that it was a store and not for touching or playing with everything. I did pick up a little beanie tiger for him with big wide eyes. He seemed to like the little wide eyed stuffed animals which we also saw at the rainforest, gathering two or three at a time in his arms like he was going to cart them all off.

However, in his upset, he didn’t appreciate the little tiger until we got home. We left just as it began to rain again, and Jameson yelled all the way home. Not crying, just yelling his head off for fun it seemed. He did great for missing his nap and being out all day! We had a blast, and it was great to see our friends again.

Now he likes to get ready to sleep and read in mom or dad’s lap with his new little tiger, his big blanket (since we discontinued the blanket bag), his little lovey blanket, and his little bear all surrounding him.

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life with baby, preparing for baby

Sprinkler Squeals

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Last weekend, we went to the farmers market. I was fussy (me, not Jameson), so after the farmers market, I’m sure they were both happy enough to be rid of me when I went to my scheduled facial appointment. I had purchased a groupon a long time ago, went, and then had the opportunity to buy another certificate at the same price. Anyway, long story long, it was expired but they told me they would honor it when I went to my haircut last so I wanted to make sure I used it.

The facial was nice, and then I made dinner. (I. made. dinner.) I had two girlfriends over from work, and their kids. Lauren, with her twins girls, and Katie, with her two girls. I made spaghetti and meatballs, everyone was quiet and happy, and Brian was thrilled that he got to start brewing his October pumpkin beer early. I didn’t take any photos.

So Saturday started out cranky, but ended on a nice note. The weekend got better from there: Sunday, we even went to church. Not our church, but another, by the pastor who married us. Jameson enjoyed played with his friend Abigail again, which was better than our last traumatic church visits where he cried himself to sleep in the nursery. We went out for Mexican food after, where Jameson refused to try a quesadilla, so that we will certainly have to try again!

In the afternoon, in a good and motivated mood, I broke out the camera again finally, and I captured this face:

I look at it, and I can hear him squealing. Brian is spraying water at his feet from the hose.

We broke out a sprinkler again, which Jameson is still not as fond of, but he got closer to it!

Lily joined us, but she didn’t want to get too close to the sprinkler either. She kept asking us to put the balls in it for her so she could watch them fly out.

We filled up the neighbor’s pool then for them to splash in. Jameson loves to hold the hose. He can mostly be trusted to hold it over the pool when he doesn’t get distracted.

Yes, those are lawn chairs in the pool. The kids had a blast, and I enjoyed watching, and taking some photos. That face reminded me why I do it.

Here’s hoping we’re turning the first trimester corner into less exhaustion, less sickness, more fun. Last night I went to bed at 7:30, and while it was wonderful to get that much sleep, I’m ready to have my evenings back.

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life with baby

Happy Happenstance

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Sunday appeared like it was going to be very nice: so nice, that Brian and I talked about going to the zoo almost as soon as we were up in the morning.

In a moment that will probably not occur again for a long time, the neighbors happened to be thinking the same thing, texted us, and about an hour later, we were all on our way to the zoo!

First stops were in the ‘down under’ Australia exhibits and the petting zoo. Jameson didn’t pet the sheep, because it was a little gross, and also, the fair is WAY more fun for animal petting.

(Fair time is so close, I can almost taste it!)

Then we walked up the big hill (the boys pushed the strollers, and I lagged behind with a very pregnant neighbor – as in, three days later she had-a-baby-pregnant).

As usual, we let Jameson out of the stroller to walk around the aquarium and enclosed exhibits. He loves this part!

And then we did the big loop around to the bears and giraffes.

At the end were wild ponies, and I tried to get Jameson to make his new “nnnnnnnayyy” sound, but no such luck. Since then, he has also learned “cluck cluck” for chickens, so all that’s left to prepare for the fair is “oink oink” for piggies!

That’s my champion animal noise maker.

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life with baby

Party Weekend

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Last weekend was a party weekend! On Saturday the 30th, we went to an old co-worker-friend’s surprise birthday party! Frank was turning 50, and was totally in shock. It was also fun to see other old friends from those days when I was the intern dating the full time employee… those were the good old days 😉

Jameson mostly ate pineapple and pretzels with the salt scraped off of them, and played with another empty bubble container. (That was fun, walking into the house with all those people and emptying a brand new bubble container)

He was great for the most part, until the end. Then we commandeered a stroller from one of our friends for him to settle down a bit, and he was entertained by their daughter. They played the “dropsy” game over and over again. At least, Jameson did, and Abigail obliged!

Sunday we were excited to fry another turkey for a party at JP and Lisa’s house. Friends Rob and Christina came up from Florida for another visit, so we were very excited to get all the boys together again + the new lady miss Vivienne!

When we arrived, everyone was already there. At first, Jameson was extremely shy. I was surprised, since I assumed that since he was in daycare, he would naturally be more outgoing. But he has a definite stranger awareness now, and he didn’t remember our recent visit, or the activity scared him at first.

Within about 15 minutes, he was collecting toys to stack, and within the hour, he was playing with the other boys.

(Kitchens are full of good toys. I liked that JP and Lisa let Jonathan get into the cupboards like Brian and I do for Jameson at home. This totally occupied them for 15 minutes)

I will say that for a few small exceptions, Jameson is a very good toy sharer. And even though he was afraid of the baby, he gave her her toy back after she lost it and cried out, pointing at it.

A note: One of the most valuable lessons we took out of sign language class were learning that babies and toddlers don’t understand sharing. What they can understand is taking turns, and that is what we’ve emphasized (not using the work share) in dealing with Jameson sharing. And since he frequently changes his mind and moves onto something else, its very easy for him to give up his turn for a little while.

Here is Vivienne, showing off her two bottom teeth. She’s just couple couple months shy of one year old, can you believe it?! She loved the ball, and she also enjoyed hanging onto a little car. She’s a pro crawler now.

Well, there was a turkey being fried somewhere during this time but I only got the finished product:

Jameson sat nicely on the table for about ten seconds before he wanted to walk around and eat, so we brought him on our laps. He enjoyed the fried squash (yellow; if it was green, he didn’t want it).

Jonathan however ate at the table, and he very much enjoyed the turkey…

After dinner, Bobby and Jonathan soaked themselves in the sprinkler, but Jameson wanted nothing to do with it. I was disappointed, though it was kind of ironic since Jameson was the only one in a swimsuit.

Jameson was more interested in rocks, and the slide.

Jameson’s gotten very good at the slide. He can get his legs out from beneath him now without help, and goes down without hold anyone’s hand (most of the time). A recent daycare report said he went down the big spiral slide they have in the gym all by himself!

After everyone was dry and inside, we decided to take some group photos. Last time, the boys were happy enough to lay on the ground for our photo.

This time, we were simply impressed they were all sitting still, let alone smiling! Lisa was a brilliant attention- and smile-getting clown; she was fabulous.

I cranked my ISO way up for that shot so I could capture it in natural light; but I’m not too happy with the grain. Next time I’ll bring my flash for sure, but it still turned out great. Please note that last time, Jameson was the only one missing pants, but this time he was the only one with pants! One of these days, we’ll all the get the right pants memo.

And next time, we’ll be sure to get these shots with Vivienne in them too; unfortunately, they had to leave before we thought to get a group shot!

We followed the shots of the three together with the adults, but that was much less successful.

The ladies were better at it 😉

Also, I totally cheated for that smile. I tickled Jameson’s armpits. He’s ticklish there, and it works for a smile without fail most every time.

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general life

Brew at the Zoo

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Another throw back from a couple weeks ago (shows you how behind I really am), we went to the zoo, without kids. Specifically because there was a beer tasting event going on!

We left Jameson with Aunt Melissa and went off to the zoo immediately after work. We usually don’t go out during the week (except for playing raquetball, which we haven’t done in ages… slackers), so this was a real treat for us. We were meeting JP and Lisa there.

After a long highway delay, we finally arrived nearly a half hour late. Oops! Luckily, there was plenty of drinks still to go around.

Basically, you got drink tickets for each place to taste in those very reasonably sized glasses, and then you could purchase a full cup if you wanted. After a few samples, we were having a good time.

Well heck, we were having a good time prior to that. We were without kids! On a week night!

(Lisa demonstrating her air guitar.)

There was one particular beer that Lisa and I both loved. This is surprising, since I’m not a big beer drinker. I can appreciate all the work that goes into it (I’ve seen it), and I can even appreciate the complexities of scents and flavors that are in them, but many times, I find beer tolerable rather than lovable.

Exception: Blonde Bombshell, by Indigo Imp Brewery.

Brian and JP also discovered a brewery they had never heard of, so it was a win for everyone! Breweries that attended included: Indigo Imp Brewery, Thirsty Dog Brewing Co., Ohio Brewing Co., Chardon BrewWorks & Eatery and Rocky River Brewing Co.

It wasn’t all drinking though. There was some snack food available, and we did walk around the zoo and see the animal exhibits. This zoo isn’t usually open that late, and typically we go during the day, so I was surprised to see that there were actually a good number of animals out, and active!

The red panda was my favorite; I’ve never seen one up that close before!

Because this is a smaller zoo, that is actually one of their draws — all their exhibits allow you to get much closer to the animals than you would at a larger zoo.

They also had workers out showing some of the smaller animals like snakes, and my other favorite, the sugar glider:

Once upon a time, prior to my chinchilla passing away and Jameson being born, I was set on getting a sugar glider as my next pet. I still think I’d consider it, when Jameson is old enough to help take care of it.

This zoo is also known for their aquarium exhibits. They have jellyfish and an octopus along with a lot of fish!

Then there was the giant caterpillar!

Obviously, not a real animal exhibit.

There’s the animal exhibit part! ^

I even got Brian and JP to pose together. This is one of the less awkward photos. I will spare the embarrassing one here.

I still can’t even believe they actually posed for the photo.

After the tremendous fun at the zoo which we all promised to return to soon, we went out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Luigi’s. Really, I go for the salad. I think there is no other restaurant for which I’d say that. But here it’s true. Salad, smothered in cheese.

To friends, and good food and drink!

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life with baby

June 15: Bruises, Bubbles and Buddies

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On an everyday summer evening, such as June 15, I pick up Jameson from school (aka daycare) and bring him home to enjoy the last hours of sunlight before and after dinner.

(On a slightly atypical day, I pick up Jameson and find that he has an incident report. Obviously, we had one when he lost his tooth, but occasionally we get reports that he fell or otherwise injured himself.)

Conveniently right before his 18 month photos, he developed an egg-shaped bruise smack in the middle of his forehead.

That’s one heck of a mugshot! His teachers kindly iced it on and off throughout the day to reduce the swelling, and it wasn’t nearly as bad the next day as it first appeared.

 

Back to our now slightly atypical evening, Jameson usually plays before and after dinner outside if the weather is nice.

Recently, he has a new obsession with the empty bubble container. Neighbor Kelly was emptying bubbles into their bubble leaf blower for Lily, and Jameson insisted on playing with the empty container for the rest of the evening (and on into the following days).

…By the end of this weekend, he was able to screw and unscrew the lid perfectly.

Oh yes, on a typical evening, after dinner he may also have a different outfit on than before. Messy kid. Like last night, we had couscous. It was EVERYWHERE.

I call this his “lounge wear,” and we decided on this particular day to go on a walk with it on as well. (Here he is, showing us where his belly is at — and holding my work badge)

As luck would have it, Jameson’s friend Nathan from daycare was out as well. They live a couple streets over, and often play outside in the summer. However, Nathan was recently pulled out of daycare (just for the summer), so Jameson hasn’t gotten to see his partner in crime quite as much.

Jameson isn’t real shy about playing with other kid’s toys. Maybe a little shy about other kids, but the toys are a free-for-all in his mind.

Nathan has a big sister who was out too. She was wearing a helmet, so Nathan wanted to wear his as well. Too cute!

Nathan’s family just put in a new sprinkler system (just in time for this hot spell we are in!). Jameson, since his trip to the splash pad, is showing a lot less fear on that end and loves to put his hand in the hose, and the sprinkler system as well.

We were out a little late on this perfect summer evening, but that’s okay because it was filled with play time with friends!

And, I got Nathan’s mom’s phone number, a real milestone for this working mom! Now, one of these days, I have to actually pick up that phone to call…

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general life

Family Photos (But Not Mine)

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Have you missed me? I can’t believe the backlog of posts and photos I have to share with you — but I’m afraid you’ll have to be consoled for now by taking a peek at this beautiful family:

This is Katie, Kevin, and their daughters. I work with Katie, and have formerly worked with both Katie and Kevin at a previous job. We decided it was high time to get together again, since Jameson was still a sluggy newborn when he met them before (and obviously, wee little baby wasn’t around yet either!)

I offered to take some photos for Katie of her family as practice. I think maybe I could have adjusted the apeture somewhat more, but I didn’t want to be at risk of losing some focus. Practice makes perfect, right?

I spend so much time photographing Jameson and Lily, I really wanted to try my hand at a hard target: a toddler who doesn’t know me, and a baby who doesn’t care.

What I learned? I need to develop confidence in posing. Katie and Kevin were so natural that it didn’t matter, but I was uncomfortable telling them how to pose. Anyone less photogenic than this beautiful family and the photos wouldn’t have turned out nearly so well.

Katie’s favorite: The one that included their pup, Lucia. She told me they didn’t have a single family photo that included their dog. Let me tell you, we almost gave up before we got this shot. I didn’t realize I had a blow out spot until later, that was a little disappointing.

Tip 2: Dog treats from the start with the family, and a good loud voice to get the dog to look at you.

Meanwhile, Brian was chasing around Jameson who was running through the yard like a whirlwind. When I crouched down, he wanted to climb on my back, which was cute, and brings me to tip 3:

Toddlers like other kids. She wanted to smile at Jameson! He was conveniently located behind me for the last couple shots. However, the most natural smiles from her were when they were unposed or she didn’t think I was looking:

Yeah, I got a couple of my own kid, too. After the “official” shoot, we blew up the bounce house and let the kids go wild. Katie and Kevin own an RV, so they played in there for a bit too before we had a cookout lunch on their deck.

It was funny to watch Jameson watching her — she was jumping up and down all over the place, and he seemed to be wondering how to imitate her. He doesn’t know how to jump yet!

It was so fun to do these photos, to try my hand at observing the lighting to select the best locations for shooting in her yard, and to see what it’s like to take photos of kids you don’t know (that don’t know you!)

My personal favorite was this one, of Katie unposed smiling down at her new 7 week old baby girl.

Oh, just keeping it real, this great color coordinated family did all change after the photos were finished into much more casual outfits. (The baby’s changing might have been necessitated by a very successful poop. Thankfully she had good timing!)

P.S. Speaking of babies, our friend Lauren finally got to take her twin girls home at just under 4 weeks old. They are about 4-1/2 pounds and are super cute! (And I’m not just saying that; they really don’t have that “premature” look about them at all. They’re adorable!) I got to meet them briefly last week, and I’m so very excited that they finally got to come home.

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