I'm a Boy

Thought I'd just post a picture of a typical Joey face. He's so cute! He was so good today, too. He had his peas and cereal for "brunch", and then actually ate a whole jar of green beans for lunch! (Breakfast is 6ish, brunch is 10ish, lunch is 2ish and dinner is 6ish. The "ish" is very important.) My plan is that eventually he'll be eating a half jar of vegetable and a half jar of fruit at brunch and lunch (maybe with some cereal), but we hadn't worked up that far yet (and of course haven't introduced fruits yet). I started feeding him half the jar at lunch, and he was just so hungry, we kept going. I didn't think it would end that way. The first spoonful, he made this face, like "Mom, I can't believe you're giving me this horrible food" - and then, on the next spoonful, realized it wasn't so bad. I was hoping he'd go back to green beans after peas, which he did; I'm not nearly as hopeful after applesauce and peaches.

Look but Don't Touch

It's absolutely hilarious. The dog and the baby have this mutual curiosity about each other. Once Joey figures out that he can pet/scratch/hit the dog, Ginny's in trouble. Joey really is intrigued by the dog and will follow her around the room. And Ginny is constantly smelling the baby and wherever he's been. I'm just glad they get along.

As for Daddy, well, we already knew Joey loved him. And yes, that is sunlight streaming into our living room. After the snow yesterday (yes, I said snow), the sunlight was more than welcomed.

Bein' Green

Peas!! Joey loved them today. We'll see if that keeps up. We've almost finished the box of barley cereal, and then I think I'm going to switch back to the rice cereal to see if he'll eat that now. Otherwise, we have plenty of oatmeal. The true test - will he go back to green beans after he's had carrots and sweet potatoes? Stay tuned.

I Got Stripes

I've been trying to take more pictures of Joey with Daddy and Mommy in them. It helps give perspective - I mean, how else do you know how big he is? This was just before we left for the mall. I had to get a new suit. I haven't lost all the baby weight yet. No comment.

And here's Joey and I reading about the singing, swinging (and fast and spunky) Little Monkey. He was more into eating the book (which is conveniently made of fabric), but at least he was interested. We have to start young if he's going to get into Princeton.

Hey Mom

Not the best picture of me (it was windy during our walk), but Joey looks cute. I know you guys in Easton need some cheering up, and this is the best I can do. We love you!!

Pop! Goes the Weasel

This is the promised post from yesterday. Sorry it took a little longer than expected to get online. But I think you'll agree it was worth the wait.

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

I will be posting later with a picture from today, but I thought I'd share this one first ... a look at Joey and Daddy from the first four months. Look at how little he used to be!

Small Man, Big Mouth

Admittedly, this is not the greatest picture ever. But if you look closely (and enlarge it), you can see a little left-over green bean on Joey's chin. Yes, you read correctly - I said green bean! I mixed it in with his cereal, and he ate it all up. It's only his first day, so we'll see how he handles it the rest of the week. And if he ever goes back to it after he's had sweet potatoes and peaches. At least we know he doesn't take after his grandpa - he didn't seem to mind the "green" taste. 

Now these pictures are definitely not in order, but it looks like they are. Joey was playing today with his seahorse, and of course was trying to figure out how to put it in his mouth. If you look closely at the first picture, you can actually see the drool hanging out of his mouth. Totally an accident I even got that in the picture, but it looks cool.

Flowers and Beads

Can you believe it?!?! The crocuses are blooming! And not only the purple ones. We have white ones, too. (Conveniently right next to some of the purple ones, so I only had to take one pictures.) Spring, here we come!

And here are my boys. Watching tv. And eating fingers. Today I actually saw Joey roll from him tummy to his back. He hasn't done it too often, but I know he can do it if he wants to. He's getting so big!

Kitchen Window

Nothing too exciting happened today. And I promise, Joey was only on the counter while I was making his bottle, standing right next to him. It was just too cute a picture, what with the utensils behind him and all. Almost looks as though he's for dinner. Or maybe he's ready to help Mommy. And yes, those are the dog's Milk Bones in our cookie jar. You didn't think they were real cookies, did you?

I'm Not a Model

Joey really likes his high chair. At least so far. This morning, I put him in the chair to play while I was getting his bottle and cereal ready. It's nice because I can watch him and he's distracted. Might have actually been worth the investment. Anyway, I thought maybe I'd submit these to Fisher-Price and see if they wanted a new model for their Precious Planet High Chair. He's at least as cute as the baby they use. OK, I'm not really submitting these pictures. But thought you might enjoy them.

I'm Sorry

First, for all my loyal followers, I want to apologize it's been a few days. Joe's great-aunt passed away earlier this week, so we've been a little pre-occupied. I still have been taking pictures, just haven't had a chance to post them. So without further ado ...

We received this ExerSaucer (yes, that's it's real name) as a shower gift, but Joey hasn't been able to use it because he couldn't hold his head up. Oh, and it was in Busza and Grandpa's garage, inaccessible to the little tot. Mommy picked it up, put it together, and put the baby in! He seems to enjoy it. Still needs to work on his core strength (he leans forward a lot), but he's only four and half months old, so he has plenty of time to figure it all out.

This was just a really cute action shot. Joey's rolling over all the time now, and last night, while Daddy was watching him (Mommy was doing the dishes), he rolled from his back to his tummy, and then just kept on going back onto his back! My little boy is growing up so fast!!

 
And this ... this is our new high chair!! I couldn't put it off any more. (Our house is officially full of baby stuff. I tried, really I did, but it was inevitable. It's a veritable obstacle course when you walk through the living room.) Joey's moved on to barley cereal, which seems to be going well. That means sometime next week he'll be eating green beans (hopefully they'll stay in his mouth), and then on to peas! (Can't we give "peas" a chance?)

Finally, here's Joey, completely proud of himself in his big-boy chair. OK, so I'm projecting, but if he knew what proud meant, he'd be proud. 

It's a Beautiful Day

It really was a beautiful day today. Not sure if we broke any records or anything, but it was gorgeous. Even nice enough that we could play outside. So the ground was a little damp; we dealt with it. We were even able to go out for a walk as a family after Daddy got home from work. I can't wait for this all the time!

And .... success! Joey was a little fussy eating his oatmeal this morning, so when I fed him this afternoon, I just put him in his bouncy chair. (Yes, I know, we need to get a high chair. Hopefully this weekend.) He ate OK for a bit, then got fussy. This time, though, he was in his chair, not trying to squirm out of my arms, so I just let him fuss. Then I fed him some more. It went pretty well for the most part. Yes, I did hide the bottle. But I think just allowing him to fuss was also helpful. I'll start increasing the amount of oatmeal, and then barley cereal next week. Sweet potatoes here we come!

Green Shirt

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We didn't buy any St. Patrick's day gear, but we did manage to put on green today. (Our sweatshirt is green, too, but I wanted a picture in just this onesie.) And yes, those are Bears socks he has on; don't want to make Daddy mad.

Younger than Springtime

Spring is here! OK, maybe not really yet, but there are blooms in my garden already! And sunshine! And they're saying maybe 70 degrees tomorrow. Really? Oh, right. They're calling for 35 and flurries on Thursday. But the forecast does say it'll warm up again into the 50s and 60s for the weekend, so we just might have made it through the winter.

I couldn't help myself with this picture. The face was just too cute. He didn't take his afternoon nap today (again), so I was just trying to keep him up until 7:00. Loves the theme song to Two and a Half Men. I'll just sing it (men, men, men, men, manly men, men, men) and then go into the falsetto and he goes nuts. Today he started making a big oval with his lips. Cute, cute, cute!

No real progress on solid food today. Maybe even a step backward. But I think I have it figured out. He has a Pavlovian response to seeing the bottle, something very similar to when our dog hears us putting food in her dish - very excited and nothing else matters. I think tomorrow I'll try keeping the bottle in the kitchen, out of sight, until he finishes his cereal. I'll let you know how well my experiment works.

Just Eat It

Today was big. Huge. We've been trying rice cereal for at least the last two weeks now, and Joey was just not eating off the spoon. I'll admit, I did put a little in a couple bottles, if for no other reason than to see if he would have a reaction. Everything seemed OK. So I decided today I'd try oatmeal cereal. See if Joey didn't want to eat off the spoon, or if he just didn't like rice cereal. (I know, I know. You have to give them 10-15 opportunities before they decide they really don't like the food. But I needed some progress. On something.) Well, he did it! (as you can tell from the picture). Really, it was great. He opened his mouth for the spoon and everything. Joey never did that for the rice cereal. We're moving forward. A few more days of oatmeal, then barley. By April we may even be eating vegetables. Exciting stuff!

Walkin' Down the Street

I was really excited to take Joey and the dog for a walk this morning. It was sunny, and looked so nice outside. But when I checked the thermometer, it was only a little over 40 degrees; I knew I needed to find Joey a hat. (The white knit hat he's been wearing since birth is just getting too small. He stretches it out so much when he puts it on that he might as well not be wearing a hat, the size of the wholes between the knits are so big.) Nana had gotten him a hat for next winter, so I figured now was as good a time as any to try it out. It was a little big, but it worked! Made Joey look like he was ready for an expedition in northern Canada, but also kept him nice and warm. Thanks, Nana!

A Small Victory

This was the first time Joey completely rolled over from his back to his tummy. I was only trying to capture him getting about 75% of the way there (which is what he'd been doing for days), and I just got lucky. Maybe it was the Eagles onesie he was wearing. (Thanks, Aunt Shelley!)

Roll Over Beethoven

I swear this is Joey's new favorite position. I don't remember exactly when he started to do this (a few days ago?), but he absolutely loves to lie on his side. I think he still has a little trouble getting his head in the right position to be completely rolled over on to his stomach, but he enjoys the view from halfway. He'll even do it when he's trying to go to sleep. He still has some trouble figuring out what to do with his arms when he's on his stomach, but I'm sure that in no time he'll be rolling all over the place!

And doesn't he look like he has a big secret? I wish I knew what it is!

Tip of My Tongue

Today was a good day. And after yesterday, we needed it. Daddy and I both woke up with the runs, and then we started throwing up on top of it. My fever spiked at 104.7. Fortunately, Busza was able to come over for a bit to help out. She was a real life-saver. So far Joey doesn't seem to have been affected, thank goodness. He has been a bit more fussy than usual, and not eating quite as well, but he's definitely getting enough formula, and he's not running a temperature, so all seems OK.

Special note to the older sister: at least two cousins and the younger sister have made it to my house. When are you and your brood coming already?

I'm Not Sleeping

This is what I am usually greeted with when I go to get Joey out of his crib. Occasionally he's crying, but usually he's just so happy to see me (or Daddy). And his Nana afghan is always like this; he pulls it up and snuggles his face in it. Thanks, Nana!

Note: Not sure what's going on with the colors when I upload the images to Blogger. The original is definitely more vibrant.

Snootie Little Cutie

The title says it all. OK, maybe not "snootie", but definitely "little cutie". We're off to visit another of the babies born in the last 6 months. Seriously, I don't know what's in the water out here. More likely that my friends are all about the same age and we're all at that point in our lives, but it really is amazing. I mean, look at the baby counter. Seems like I add another at least every week. (And there will be two more names posted after today - Betsy's having her twins!!)

Extra, Extra

My husband chastised me for not "sharing" this picture. Called me selfish, actually. And he was right. This picture should be enjoyed by all. Here's lookin' at you, kid.

Radio Ga Ga

Joey and I were hanging out today and just chatting. He's starting to blow bubbles a lot, and if you look closely, it even looks like he's trying to vibrate his lips together (like when you make the brrrrrrrr sound). He's getting so big!

(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman

So there's a lot to catch up on. Friday we had our 4-month check-up. Everything is great! He's weighing in at 15 lbs 11 oz and measures 25 1/4 inches long. So big! And we visited with our new best friend, Sam, who was born on Valentine's Day. No pictures of the two of us yet, but there will be soon!

Then Mommy and Daddy decided they needed a night off, so I had my first sleepover at Busza's and Grandpa's! Ginny came along, too. Here I am practicing sitting up in my Bumbo chair. I'm doing so well!

This next one is just of me being absolutely adorable. And sticking out my tongue. Aren't I cute?

When we got back to our house, Daddy decided we were going to play Superman. All was going well, until he held me up one too many times. Then I paid him back by spitting up all over him. But he still loves me (thank goodness).

Laughing Gas

Joey recently rediscovered he had a tongue. At two months, he would mimic us and stick his tongue out all the time. He sort of stopped for the past few weeks, but started up again yesterday. It's priceless. Enjoy!

The Sporting Life

We're getting the little guy started early. He's already got his Adidas workout gear (thanks Aunt Katy and Ashtyn!). All he needs now is a soccer ball. Or football or baseball or hockey stick. OK, and a swim suit. Not that bath time is his favorite time of the day, but he doesn't hate it. And I'm sure once he's able to be in the whole tub and not just the baby tub, he'll love it!

He's clearly getting better with his upper body strength and head control, and has even, on occasion, rolled from belly to back and vice versa. (Never more than once at a time, and never both ways on the same day. But we're still proud of him.)

Here he is practicing dealing with the paparazzi. Not really happy, but not mad or sad or angry, either. Just aloof. He's good at that when Mommy has her camera. He's ready for the big time now.

Eat It

The first image is from this weekend. Joey has started putting everything in his mouth. Maybe he's teething a bit early. Or maybe it's just his fascination with everything. (I know that's how babies learn about the world around them; they put things in their mouths.) But it's so cute. The drool, not so much.

I also bought him a little book to put pictures in, since so many of his family live far away. (Don't worry - we practice "Nana" every day.) He's also using this as a teether, although not as often because it's so big and harder for him to hold.