Walking video

Video of the wild man!

video

I know many of you are getting blog updates via email only. When I post video, it does not come across in the email updates or give any indication that the video is missing from the email. I'll try to remember to mention there is a video so you will know to go to the website to view it. You can click on the title of the blog post (from the email) to bring up the webpage. The last post, titled 'nearly 11 month update' had two videos of him walking with assistance.

Easter Egg Hunt pictures coming soon!

Nearly 11 month update

Our little guy is almost a year old! He can now say Mama, Dada, No, Uh-oh, and Baby. He stands by himself for a few seconds at a time especially if he's busy paying attention to something else like a toy. Sometimes he dances without support & that usually makes him fall but is so cute. Just this weekend, he figured out how to use his walking toys. He'll push them all over the room and right into the dogs if they don't move! So far, he hasn't tried to take a step on his own even though we have of course tried to coax him to do so. Inevitably he drops to his knees or just lunges forward without moving his feet. Mealtimes are becoming more interesting as he prefers to feed himself finger foods. He does try to use a spoon but I only let him play at that after the meal is done or we end up with a giant mess. Birthday party invites will go out as soon as I figure out where we are having the party (I think my first choice is not going to work out).

Gargle

I don't know where he learned to gargle. There he was, sitting on the floor holding his purple straw-sippy-cup thing (thanks Bushie), sipping water & then tilting his head back to loudly gargle. Hysterical. Of course I couldn't get my camera fast enough, but he kinda did it again later so here's a little video.

Just like his parents, JP is an electronics junky! He loves cell phones, cordless phones, entertainment centers, cameras, & remotes. And has an uncanny ability to actually use these items! We started him off by letting him play with an old remote with no batteries but now that's no fun (doesn't beep or light up at all). He progressed to the cordless phone but after speed-dialing great-grandma one night, I try to keep him away from it (unsuccessfully most of the time). I gave in on the iPhone & just ended up downloading some actual apps designed for toddlers. This one is cute (and the only one he can operate himself), it has pictures of animals and when he touches them, you hear "This is the sound a dog makes, bark bark". His latest development is finding the button on the computer that will turn it completely off. Not fun for Mama & Daddy.

Patience

Everyone always asks me how the baby & the dogs are doing together. Here's a sample. Such a sweet doggie.

Alabama trip

Since we had the time, I thought it'd be good to visit my brother and my grandparents who I usually only see once or twice a year. We started off by heading to Alabama to see my grandparents in Huntsville. Let me tell you that a 12 hour car ride by yourself with an infant can be trying! He actually did great for most of the ride, we stopped often for diaper changes, food, etc. But the last two hours he screamed non-stop. There was nothing I could do to help him but get us to our destination. Jaxon loved having all the attention to himself! Grandpa rocked & held him for pretty much all of his naps :) and he was able to crawl around just about everywhere in the house. His favorite activities were climbing up in Grandmas magazine basket and thru Grandma's coffee table. We got to see lots of people while there including one of my elementary school teachers, my friends mother, and many of Grandma & Grandpas friends. Jaxon increased his physical skills while in Alabama by learning to climb stairs! We don't have any at our house to practice so he'll have to work on that one when he's at Papi's house.

Big Cats love Christmas Trees?

My cuz Shannon was on TV, check her out & the odd story about Christmas trees. She went with her boyfriend Brad.

Sweet Potatoes Everywhere

Jax started sweet potatoes last week... yummy.. (He also started applesauce & bananas this week, but they didn't really lend to funny photos or video).



The next day, I had a random chance to gather sweet potatoes directly from one of the local farms. They were done with the harvest and were letting folks take what was left. Of course all the 'big ones' were gone but there were plenty to be had. I wandered out in the fields in my Rainbows (ha) with one of my reusable shopping bags to see what I could find. I don't usually eat or buy sweet potatoes, so I wasn't 100% sure on how to determine the best ones. A helpful lady basically told me to get the biggest ones... duh. I filled my bag as full as I could and Jack made fries & chips from them this weekend (soooo good!!).

Fair food heaven

Fried cheese. Fried mac & cheese. Fried pecan pie... well you get the picture. It was all sooo good & I'm already wishing we were there again!

We took advantage of our current at-home status to go to the fair during the day. Since we usually go at night, this was a nice change, but it was still crowded. Jaxon was very alert and interested in all the people walking by. We tried to show him the animals & the rides and he really just wasn't impressed. Except the piglets! I guess the squealing got his attention. They really were funny squealing & fighting with each other! The rest of the time he just looked around from his stroller and never really made a peep except when he was hungry. The rest of us indulged ourselves in all the lovely fair food. The new thing this year was fried pecan pie which is one of Jack's favorite pies. He said it was really good. The only thing new I tried was the fried mac&cheese but it was not all that - tasted like Kraft blue-box mac.

Some other cute pics to share from this week:

Catching up

I am still here. I have not abandoned the blog. Not intentionally anyway. For the last few weeks I've had items to post but each time I sat down to the computer I got distracted. Can bloggers have writers block? Hmm..

So this post is my attempt at catching up. I'll attempt to make it a quick summary of the last fifteen days but I am prone to lengthy descriptions.

Jaxon went to his first football game at the beginning of the month! We usually go to NCSU's Homecoming with the alumni association so he came along with us and did amazing! We carried him (didn't want to deal with a stroller at the game) either in my sling or Jack's arms, which was a bit rough from our parking spot in practically the next county. The alumni assoc. tailgate left a lot to be desired, so we met up with KK briefly before going into the game. We found a great family bathroom (with a nice changing table) in the newer part of the stadium so I was able to get Jax taken care of before we went down to our seats. Our seats turned out to be really good, about 10 rows up from the end zone. That's a lot better than where our seats have been for previous homecomings. I think Jax was mesmerized by all the newness. He was quiet but very alert and surprisingly sat rather still through most of the game. Everyone around us was impressed at how well he behaved though he did once grab the hair of the man in front of us, ha! He downed a 10oz bottle at halftime which was really the only point he had fussed at all. And he even somehow slept through an entire quarter in my arms. We thought we'd have to leave early but he did fine & we really only left a few minutes early because of the long walk back. After the game we went by to see Gigi and ended up having her babysit while we ran to PeiWei for dinner (soooo good!). Papi was at the UNC game so we missed him. We also stopped by Grandpop & Grandmas house while on that side of town. Uncle Chris, Uncle Brinn & Aunt Gabi were all there too so it turned out to be a big family day. Jaxon was beat by the time we finally got home.

Another reason I've not been posting regularly is Jaxon's new sleep patterns have been wearing on us. I got to a point this week when I told Jack that I wished we were back to the days of feeding every 3 hours all night. At least then I knew what to expect, usually he was sleeping soundly between feedings, and I was actually less sleep-deprived than I've been the last few weeks. So here's our routine lately: bedtime ritual sometimes starting with a bath (such a cute soap covered thing) and always ending with nursing, then sleep 30-45 mins, wake up screaming, soothe by mama or daddy, sleep 30-45mins, scream, soothe, repeat. Usually he gets in bed around 7pm and the fits usually stop around 10pm. Then he sleeps until normally 4-5am when he wakes for his morning nursing & finally gets up around 7am. Some nights are much worse, very few are any better. Our best guess is that this is all related to teething. When it first started (see catch a cold) we thought it was teething or an ear infection, but then he had that little cold. He's well over that now, but the night wakings continue. I watched a video tonight on a baby in a similar situation (though worse) and it gave me some hope. See the video here (4mins). I've already started reading the book mentioned, and will review it when I am through.

Jaxon is still not 100% sure about his Bumbo seat, but we try it every few days. It seems to be more fun if there is a doggie nearby as there was in this video. I love his little 'huff' at the end. He's getting very close to mobile which is my theory on why he's not crazy about this seat (holds him too still). He lunges for things he wants when he's in your lap or arms, can do some goofy scooting moves using mostly his face & legs, loves to stand while you hold him up, and recently started this tent move where he pushes up on his hands & feet into a A-shape briefly. I think he'll be crawling very soon.

This week we started Jax on rice cereal. His first foray into the solid food world seemed to be enjoyable. I'm not sure how much of it he actually swallowed, but that's to be expected the first time. I mixed it very thin using expressed milk based on what we'd read, but what a mess! I knew this was a messy experience, but I wasn't expecting him to actually blow bubbles in the food on the spoon. I think that it was mixed too thin for his age (maybe that advice is better for the parents who start cereal on younger babies). I had better luck when mixing it a bit thicker the following couple days. Our local grocery did triple coupons last week and I had a ton of baby coupons so I stocked up on all sorts of organic cereals & baby foods for him. We still plan to make our own but I'll still stock up whenever deals come by for convenience. I'm sure we'll have more fun pics with lovely carrots & other pretty colored food all over the place soon!

I'm having trouble controlling the VOLUME OF MY VOICE!

Our blog has faltered these last few weeks thanks mostly to a seriously slow computer. Now that I've got that problem all fixed up we should be back bloggin pretty regularly! So what have we been up to while on a blog hiatus?


Jaxon's update:

He's learned how to make increasingly louder sounds with his mouth. The books call it a happy squeal but I call it hilarious. I've been trying hard to catch it on video, but here's the best I was able to do (this does not give the full effect). If he sees I'm taping him, he stops & 'poses' which is great for taking photos, not so much for video.




He's not into tummy-time really so we haven't made him stay on his tummy much. He's got a great new mat that has toys in just the right spot for tummy-time, but even that only keeps his attention for a few minutes. He'll only tolerate the tummy for less than 5 mins right now before getting fussy. He'll get there eventually.


I'd posted about his fondness for his fingers before, but it's taken on a new level lately. Now he pretty much has at least one finger in his mouth at all times. Usually though it's several, maybe even a few from each hand (pretty goofy looking).


Watching the animals is his newest pastime. Raven was the first dog he smiled at (she the only one that doesn't lick his face when he gets near). But Max is the most fun to watch. Probably because he's got so many spots and moves so fast. Jaxon will watch any of them, even the cat, if they don't run by too fast.

Last week I had a lacatation consultant come to the house again to help out. I am continuing to fight soreness and JP has been increasingly uncomfortable while nursing. Unless he's really starving or sleepy, then he is arching his back, kicking his legs, and pushing me away (all while still latched!). Towards the end of a feeding, he started letting go & talking to me. It was cute at first, but then he started 'diving' back on. He would do this several times if I didn't stop him. I feel like I'm trying to wrangle an octopus. Needless to say this is no fun for either of us. Within minutes of seeing what was going on, the consultant said two important things.

1. My soreness is not thrush! Thank goodness! After going thru every treatment out there, I don't know what I'd do if I still had it. The soreness is from all the thrashing around he's doing.


2. All the problems are a classic sign of reflux. I explained that Jaxon has been treated for reflux for a little over 2 months and gave all the details. She believes his current medicine is not controlling the reflux. She recommended having the peditrician change the dose or switch to a different Rx. Our doc opted for increasing the dose which we've been doing for nearly a week now. We go tomorrow for his 4mo checkup so we can discuss it further then. I think we'll end up on a different Rx because I've not seen much of an improvement this week.

Mama & Daddy update:

Not a lot going on with us really. We've gotten into a pretty good routine with both of us home. Unfortunately, I do have to go back to work soon (exact date not yet decided) so our routine will change again. My job is somewhat flexible, so I should still have time to see my boys during the day. We also got to view the portraits that we had done awhile back. They were SO good that I had a really hard time deciding. I'm actually picking them up today & cannot wait!

Jumpin' Jack

Jaxon just recently got big enough to use his Jumperoo and he loves it! (Thanks B!) I had tried putting him in it a couple weeks ago & he still sank down too far in the seat & couldn't get his hands out to play. Now his feet just touch the ground enough to jump a little & he can reach some of the toys. I'm always amazed when I notice he's managed to turn himself around (the seat swivels 360)! He still gets a little stuck sometimes & just ends up sucking on the seat (thank goodness we can toss that part in the washer). Jack added an elephant toy to the hanging part so it would be within his reach. Like most toys, he has limited tolerance for it right now, but he still loves it.

We ended up with several pieces of this Rainforest set just by coincidence & they seem to be really great. We registered for (& got from a friend in VA) a small folding swing that we use in the kitchen. Then B offered up this Jumperoo that P no longer needed (I had to move it down to the smallest setting, P is a lot bigger than Jax!). Then SB picked up an activity mat for us at the last consignment sale that looked brand new & just happened to be the same set.

My favorite commercial

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...

Jaxon liked the mirror at the doctors office so much that I got him one for home. He likes to stare & bat at himself. He kept himself entertained while we did the laundry & other chores.