Just Keep Swimming

This past Saturday was Jman's first swim class. And he loved it! I was a swimmer in middle and high school and loved it...the swimming. The coaching was another story but I digress. I have been so excited to get Jman into swim classes. I've been talking about getting him into swim lessons since he was incubating away in my belly. And F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. the day arrived. There are 5 other babies and 1 toddler in his group. And funny enough one of my coaches from my TMAC/high school years is our group's instructor.

I so enjoyed being in the water with him and I think he liked it to. He had so much fun splashing and blowing bubbles. He wasn't too sure about being on his back but went with it. We didn't get very many pictures as all 3 (yes 3) camera batteries died/were dead and we weren't technically allowed to take pictures anyway. Which I don't know if I understand...Um, hello this is my baby's FIRST swim class EVER and you aren't going to allow me to take pictures?!?! I'm sorry but this was not in my contract when I signed up. We're supposed to wait until the 4th and 8th classes to take pictures and invite everyone in the world to come and watch. But the hubs and I are rebels and got a few in anyway.

Shhhhh...don't tell the pool paparazzi police.

Cutest little swimmer ever!

Waiting with daddy for our class to start.

With mommy before we headed into the big pool.

In the warming pool.

Oh.My.Heck. It's been F.O.R.E.V.E.R

Hello blogging world. My name is Jayme and I have been MIA for a looooong time. I was over blogging for awhile but the mood struck me tonight. Baby J (who is not so much baby anymore) is down for the night. The hubs is at school and I'm alone in a quiet house in my cozy pj's with my hair up in a pony and my glasses on. Yes, the mood struck me.

I feel like a lifetime has happened since I last posted which was WAY back in the middle of October. Since that post we've celebrated Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and 9 months of babydom. I think, for the sake of my patience, we'll have to skip over the major events (sorry...but honestly I can't go over those moments although we have a thousand pictures of each major event and it'll be in Jman's 1st year book). I think it's best to just pick up from this moment.

We'll recap our 9th month thus far. We'll start with the 9 month check-up. Hooray for NO shots. The last time we did the shot thing was at Jman's 6 month check-up and he got 4...yes 4 shots within minutes of each other. So thank the Lord no shots this time around. He weighed in at 18.08 pounds and 28.5 inches long. I think he's destined to be long and skinny. Lucky him!

Here he is on his 9 month birthday.

I can't believe this handsome, smushy, boy is 9 months old. I'm not entirely sure how we got here. The months I spent incubating him seemed to go.on.forever. But these past 9 months have flown by. I can't believe that in less than 3 months (as of today) I will be the mommy of a 1 year old. How does that happen?!?!

The week he turned 9 months he FINALLY got his first two teeth. Yes, that's right two teeth within a day of each other. We had been waiting on those teeth for a very long time and they finally came in. The day we went to his check-up which was 4 days after his 9 month birthday his pediatrician said his top two are also coming in...he could see the white on his top gum and could also feel them. And today I spotted the left top front (if you're facing him) making an appearance.



Here he is in all his first two teeth glory. Please excuse the crusty nose.

He's been standing on his own since before Christmas so a little over a month and a half now. And he's fearless...even then. For awhile every time he stood he would get the biggest smile on his face. You could tell he was proud of himself. Now he loves to throw his hands above his head and shriek. He thinks it's hilarious. He is very brave and has taken a few(read a lot) of tumbles trying to walk. Any day now it's going to happen. He crawls everywhere and will follow us to the ends of our house. He hates being on one side of his baby jail (read baby gates) if you're on the other. And if we're all in the kitchen his first stop is the dog water bowls. He loves to splash in them. It's the best game. 

His first major booboo. It's hard to see in the picture...he hates sitting still. But he fell trying to climb up his sitter's TV stand and had a nice long scratch/bruise/cut. It's finally healing.

We've finally started giving him some of the foods we eat. So far he's had mashed potatoes (he's not a fan), noodles, pickles, french fries, cucumbers, green beans, bananas and he had his first Oreo tonight (which he thoroughly enjoyed). We're still giving him baby food but we've moved on to the 3rd foods. He's not too sure about the chunks and gags about half way through but he has a great appetite and eats everything given to him. He loves yogurt and oatmeal mixed with baby food fruit too.

Eating his first green bean.

Banana in a masher. He has few teeth so this is easier for him right now.

Oreo!!!

He loves to play. He loves books and anything that makes noise. He also love the remote and any phone whether it be play or real. He loves to pick up two things and bang them together and he loves playing hide and seek. It's so much fun to throw a blanket or towel over him and go "Where's Jameson" and then watch him pull it off and get the biggest smile. He thinks diaper changing is play time and it takes 10 people to hold him down and change him. He loves being naked but I hear this is true of all babies. He gets so excited when you tell him "It's naked baby time" because he knows that means bath time. Which is by far his most favorite thing. He loves to splash about and he insists on standing for most of it. His new game is to try and climb out of the tub. I see a daredevil in my future. I'm so excited for his swim lessons to start in 2 weeks. I think (hope) he loves it as much as bath time. We're still blessed with excellent nights of sleep. He's always been a good sleeper though.  He's usually in bed by 7:30 (at the latest) and if he's not already asleep, he falls asleep on his own and will usually sleep till 6:30-7:00 in the morning. Naps are usually more challenging but at least he's out for the count when it counts...mommy's bedtime. =)

Whew, this was a long post. See?! Had I done all of the major highlights you'd have a ton more reading to catch up on. I'll have to better in the future but it's in the most important place...his first year book which I can't wait to share!!! This boy brings so much joy and happiness to our lives. I can't imagine how we've gotten through without him till now. We love you Booboo! Yes, I will call him that until the end of time...he'll love me when he's 16. =)

half a year...already?!?!

As each month passes I find it harder and harder to believe that my baby is growing into a not so new baby. Jman is already 6 months old...well 6.5 months now (don't judge me on the lateness of this post). I look at him now and find it hard to believe that he was ever as small as he was. He's able to sit up on his own, he rolls freely from back to tummy to back. He grabs at things and will use both hands to grasp and hold things as well as one handing things. We were finally able to start feeding him. He's not a fan of cereal but loves peas (that's all we've given him as we JUST started feeding him). He can almost hold his own bottle but gets a little lazy. And in the best news...crawling is literally moments away. He can get up on all fours and rock back and forth and pick up his knees but then he face plants. He's fantastic at moving backwards now if only he could pull it out of reverse and hit drive. He "talks" all the time and laughs easy. He's still an observer and thinker (he's destined to be nerdy like his momma) but I think that's a good thing. He weighed in at 16.06 pounds and was 25 inches long on the 14th. Oh my...6 more months and I'll have a year old baby...can you even call them baby's when they're a year old?

Look mom I'm Superman!!!

back

No, I did not fall of the face of the earth...although it might seem that way. I could blame my absence on lesson planning, organizing, and filing, teaching 25 kiddos, playing mommy and wife but the truth is I just haven't been in a blogging mood. I'm still not but I figure it might just be a case of "I really don't want to go the gym but must forge ahead until I'm craving it" so that's what we're going to go with...for now.

Nonetheless, in my absence over the past month we've taken our first trip to Tucson, our first family road trip to Flagstaff and my 5 month old has now turned into a 6 month old and this weekend we're venturing to Apple Annie's in Willcox to visit the pumpkin patch. We'll start with our first trip/mini vacation to Flagstaff.

To prepare Jman for a 5 hour car ride strapped into his own personal jail we decided we'd break him in with a trip to Tucson at the beginning of September. It was overall, a success so we figured "Hey, we got through that Flag will be a breeze". Oh dear. We made it. But, oh dear. We went at the end of the September to visit my brother who goes to NAU for Family Weekend. We left on a Friday and returned on Sunday. I'm letting you know that minor detail because for a 2 night and one full day stay you'd have thought we were moving there with all that we packed...for Jman. We took his Pack-N-Play, the bumbo, an entire suitcase full of clothing for both warm and cold weather, towels, sheets, blankets, an entire pack of diapers, an entire gallon of mixing water, an entire tub of formula, 6 bottles, his bouncy activity chair, a huge bag of countless toys and books, his floor mat, his carseat and his stroller. It took almost 30 minutes and a few configurations and repacking just to pack everything in to the truck with the stroller strapped to the lids on the bed.  I shutter with the thought of what we'll need when we go on our own Family Griswold-esque trip to Florida and New York this upcoming summer.

Anyway, I think we finally hit the road around 9ish and with several stops we finally pulled into Flag around 4:30-5:00. Jman started off really strong...napping along the way only having fussy bouts every now and then but by the time we hit the huge mountain we had an all out meltdown due to the change in elevation. Poor baby. The only thing that managed to calm him was sucking on my finger and having me sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider on repeat. Seriously, as soon as I'd stop singing he'd start up again. But we finally pulled into our camping ground and unloaded the truck into our cabin and then headed off for dinner at the restaurant where my brother cooks at.

The first night went well. I was worried as Jman has never really slept in his Pack-N-Play but he did well. Saturday we hung around the cabin, went shopping hit down town and celebrated the brother's birthday. That night was a different story. Jman was down around 7:30 but back up at 10 and would not go back to sleep for anything till around midnight. He and I finally fell asleep on the red vinyl couch downstairs. So uncomfortable and not at all a good idea when the next day you're going to be spending it in a truck for who knows how long on the journey home. Sunday we had breakfast at my brother's restaurant and then headed back home. The journey home took about the same time but we made it. Thank goodness the hubs and I decided to take Monday off to recuperate, only for me to go into work on Tuesday and then have to go home with a stomach bug (no I'm not pregnant although the thought did gross mine and several of my coworkers minds).

Enjoying the Flagstaff trees.

Hello, Uncle Jake.

Looking out with Opa. ( No babies were harmed sitting in their Bumbo's on elevated surfaces.)

Playing with my plethora of toys.

Tired daddy feeding me in the morning.

Getting ready for my walk with Opa. Yes, those are socks on his hands...don't judge, we live in Southern AZ.

Nana.

Uncle Jake ruined a good picture with his hand gesture.

Family picture.

Happy to be heading home.

Overall, the trip was really fun and made me miss Flag something bad. Oh, what I would give to live there. But it was fun to spend time with my family and bring Jman somewhere new. We're hoping to start to a family tradition of going there for Christmases and renting a big cabin.

5 months old

Oh, how is it possible that we already have a 5 month old?! I mean seriously!!! I can't believe this baby is 5 months old. He gets bigger every day and has really started to become like a real person lately. J man has finally realized who the dogs are and will smile and put his hand out like he's trying to pet them when they come near. He turns his head in the direction of someone talking and when the hubs or I walk into his line of vision he'll follow us as we move he also does this to Father Greg at church when we're listening to a homily. We're finally over the dreaded rolling-to-tummy stage and now he'll do it and hang out there for awhile before screaming. In fact it's his preferred sleep position. He's also a lot more vocal now when he doesn't like something and recently if he's trying to grab something or you take something away from him he gets very angry. He's also much more aware of permanent people in his life and occasional people. He also LOVES books especially when they're read to him while he's in his nightly bath. He looks at the those pictures and sometimes he furrows his brow like he's trying to figure out what's going on. He also loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider and the ABC's. We've also survived his first cold which lasted for 2 weeks.

I really cannot comprehend that in a month I'll have a half-year old baby. Time is really flying by and from what I hear it only goes faster. And I want desperately for it to slow down but at the same time I'm so excited and anxious to see what kind of person this beautiful meatloaf will turn into. Happy 5 months my Booboo! We love you oh so much and we, literally, cannot remember life before you.

Up All Night

No, we're not up all night however you know you're a new parent suffering from exhaustion when you start buying a coffee almost every day after having gone almost 27 years (to include 5 years of college) without touching the stuff. You also know you're tired when you only shave one armpit in the shower and realize this when you go to put deodorant on and one side has more stubble than it should seeing how you just shaved. Sorry if that was TMI...don't judge me.

J man has his first cold which he's had since last Thursday. He was cranky the whole week leading up to this blessed event and was waking up at least 3 hours before normal and having the hardest time going back to sleep. His cold is in full force right now which means coughing and a runny nose which we (read I) get to fix by practically sucking his brain out with that bulb device. No good my friends. No good. We're managing and I'm hoping he's on the mend now but we'll see.


In other baby news we put together his activity chair. It's one where he can push/walk himself around the table to do all 15 activities. Poor kids legs aren't long enough to touch the ground yet so we get to push him around as he gets antsy after sitting in front of one activity for too long. But he LOVES it. His whole face lights up when he sits in it and you can tell his brain shouting "This is so freakin' cool!! Where should I start?" or it could possibly be shouting "Why do these people keep giving me all this stuff?! I have no idea how to use it or what to do, especially since these things on the ends of these long things attached to the top of me are so tasty and good at grabbing things like mommy's hair. I'm really laughing at them because they look so dumb with excitement for me". But nonetheless we continue to put him in it and coo and laugh with excitement when he's excited. Side note: I totally love when he gets excited because his whole body gets into it.

He loves this red butterfly creature.

(I love instagram on my phone!)

Pure unadulterated excitement on this boy's face!

4 months

So, this is totally a week late but better late than never right? J man had his 4 month check-up last Friday on his 4 month birthday and it was the first appointment since he's been born that I wasn't able to attend. It was the first Friday of the first week of school and I didn't think it was fair to make a sub handle that. So the hubs took J man and they both did just fine. J man weighed in at 14.5 pounds and was 25 inches long. He also got his second round of shots.

I can't believe how big he's getting. He looks like a real person now...he's lost all of newness. He "talks" so much and I think is starting to learn the cause and effect of talking. If he talks we answer back and if we're talking he tries to interject. He's rolling to his tummy which isn't always the most pleasant experience for both him or us. He rolls to his tummy in his sleep and stays asleep. He sleeps on average of 9 hours a night...sometimes we squeak by with 10 hours. He's always been a good eater but now he gets angry when you take his bottle away when he's not done. He'll pull your finger or hand back. He's also trying to get his hands around his bottle. He's starting to become aware of people who are permanent fixtures in his life and people who come and go. He also will look towards noise and follow you as you walk across the room. He's also getting better at sitting up in his bumbo. The hubs can also get him to laugh hysterically by blowing on his feet and letting his beard tickle his toes. It's quite comical to watch.

I'm in awe of how fast time is going. I feel like he just came home from the hospital. I can't believe in 2 months he'll be half a year old.

He was grumpy from his shots.