Merry Christmas!

To celebrate, new pictures are posted. New stories coming soon, I hope...

Santa pictures

We went to the Severna Park free Santa photos (they also had free sleigh rides, but we skipped that this year.) Jared was doing okay waiting in line for his picture, but we took his toy away from him before his picture, so he already wasn't in a good mood when he sat on Santa's lap. Then he was just pushed over the edge. This was close to his bedtime too, so that didn't help. I think Santa is a good sport for smiling while Jared is screaming, and I think Mrs. Claus is giving Jared candy cane bunny ears. :) While I like that we got a good picture of all of us, I think the Jared and Santa picture is just classic.

New pictures are up from Thanksgiving

Halloween and Thanksgiving

hi there...
I realized that I have a lot to catch up on (I know I always say that), so here it goes...
Jared did really well trick or treating, even though he didn't really understand it. He likes moving items from one container to the other, so he was very good at moving the shiny candy wrappers into his treat bag. He also liked walking around the neighborhood at night - this way, he could see the planes overhead a lot easier, since they were all lighted up! We went around with a big group of kids (about a dozen) and their parents. It's nice that it is pretty accepted in this neighborhood that both parents can go out with the little kids, and just leave a bowl of candy by the front door. Steve was at home for most of the time, and we had about 15 kids. Our street is very dark and not as convenient as other streets, so I'm afraid we will never have very many kids come to our house. It's really a shame - the neighborhood is full of kids!

Fast forward a month...
We had a really nice Thanksgiving in Philly with all 4 Grandparents. They all love to be with Jared, and Steve and I appreciate a break. We got some pictures taken of all 7 of us at Sears, so we'll those will be nice to have.

Jared understands so much! If you give him a task, he usually understands what you are asking him to do. He still isn't really speaking yet (other than "Down!", which can mean down, up, or anything really), but he is very good at communicating.
He is very good at stacking rings on the stick, and he sticks his tongue out when he does this, since he is concentrating very hard. :)
He knows his nose, toes, tongue, hair, and ears.
He has about 6 or so teeth coming in, but most days, he's okay.
He loves Clementines!

He just woke up...bye for now...

16 Months old!

And we'll celebrate by posting some new pictures. ;)

What a joy!

I know I say this all of the time, but Jared is at such a wonderful age right now! He is very mobile and communicates somewhat. He understands a lot more than you would imagine. He makes me laugh every day, and I am so happy that I get to spend all day with him.
Now I have to hurry up and type as much as I can before he wakes up from his nap...

So much has happened that I'm going to summarize:
~Jared gallops around. It cracks me and Steve up every time. I have no idea where he got this from, but it is so cute!
~Understands "upstairs," "downstairs," "food," "done," "Jared's room" and much more
~Thinks it's funny to feed his half-eaten Kix cereal to whoever is feeding him
~Is eating a lot of adult foods. No candy for Halloween, but I did give him a doughnut hole.
~Loves closing the dishwasher, doors, and the gates at the top and bottom of the stairs. Sometimes he closes it before you make it through the gate!
~Knows where his hair, tongue, and nose are (he usually sticks his finger(s) up his nose when you ask him)
~He brushes his own hair and teeth now. Sometimes even with the correct brushes! :)
~Loves imitating: he pretended to remove hair from his brush and throw it away after I did it one time
~Loves dancing to music! He usually gallops around, swings his arm around, or spins around. He also likes it when Steve and I pick him up and make him dance with us.
~Loves watching people. There was a fairly big construction project at the end of our driveway (they had to correct the hump at the end of our driveway to direct the water flow), and Jared and Steve stayed outside for 2 hours just watching. They should be hired to work for PennDot! ;) It was very exciting - there was a dump truck, a steam roller, and a front loader!
~Will stop whatever he is doing to watch traffic or point to a plane in the sky. He even follows the plane sound as they travel over our house.
~Has gotten super crazy about putting toys away. This baffles me and Steve. All of the toys in the dining room are put emphatically into his play pen. If you remove something, it gets tossed right back in. Everything in the living room that isn't nailed down (blankets, pillows on the sofa, shoes, nursing pillows, toys, etc.) ends up on the other side of the fence that we keep around the TV. Steve gets nervous (rightfully so) that Jared will throw something damaging into our new TV. Jared also throws his Lovey on the other side of the fence, then gets mad when he can't retrieve it. He also throws everything in his room into his crib. We'll see how long this cleaning streak lasts...

I'm being beckoned...

New pictures are in the 15-18 month folder

Halloween pictures posted. I will try to get a real posting up soon.

Rake and bag, leaf blow and bag, rake...

October is really flying on by. Jared had his 15 month doctor's visit this morning. He is 21 lbs., 1 oz. (10%) and 31.5" tall (60%). The pediatrician said that since he is eating all of the time and very active, she isn't worried that he is in the 10th percentile for weight. Jared's bottom molars also look like they are going to pop through his gums any day now - the gums are so puffy. Poor kid - he has been chewing on his fingers a lot lately, but I'm not going to stick my fingers in his mouth to check - that's a dangerous thing to do!

Steve's parents came down a few weekends ago. Beth would rake the leaves around Jared, who had a grand time throwing them all around. Steve and I also got to (finally!) go over to see the Skocik's house, and all of the incredible work that they've put into it. It looks great!

Karin organized a lunch for us and the kids to meet up with some of our former NASA coworkers. It was a lot of fun, except that Jared didn't want to sit next to Ella, since she was making a high pitch screech. I find this funny, since Jared makes that sound all of the time himself. It was great to go and see people - most people hadn't seen Jared for a while, and he is a lot more mobile now!

Jared got into a cactus that the previous owners had planted. I had been meaning to dig it out, but never got around to it. The needles were the thickness and color of blond hair, although pretty short and rigid. It made it really difficult to find and remove them. Needless to say, I ended up with them all over me too. It took days to find and remove them all, and I ruined some work gloves while trying to dig it up. The main patch was pretty well established and hard to get all of it out. Steve, my Mom, and I all tried at different times, but I hope that it's finally gone.

More to come later...

New pictures are up

I know I've been deliquent on postings - I'm working on a new one now. Enjoy some new pictures while you wait. They're the last ones in the 12-15 month folder - I can't believe that he's already 15 months old!

Part 2

Jared's room got painted a nice bright blue, and our living room got painted a butter yellow. It was great - the grandparents handled the painting while Steve and I got to do fun things like curtain shopping. I think I would rather poke myself in the eye with a fork than go curtain shopping again!

The movers came to the apartment to move our big furniture, and they were really impressive! Everyone was good and super fast. I didn't hear any complaints about moving the furniture down 2 flights of steps, and everything arrived at the new house in good shape.

Unfortunately for the sellers, the washing machine died 4 days before closing, so they gave us some money to buy ourselves a new one. That way we could buy the one that we wanted. Luckily, we hit the Labor Day sales, and a got neat high-efficiency top loader at a good price. We also got a patio set, a big screen TV (which Steve and I promised ourselves as soon as we moved out of the apartment), a gas grill, and a charcoal grill.

Steve did a great job cleaning out the apartment, and I did tear up a bit during my final walkthrough. The apartment had served us well for over 9 years, although now that I am in the new house, I don't miss it at all.

Jared had some great quality time with the grandparents when they were here. He was always going for walks and meeting the neighbors. Steve and I were stuck inside unpacking, so we were a little late meeting people. Although a family down the street has a 4 year old girl and a 2 year old boy. We've met up with them a bit, and they are so nice. I came home one day to a trash bag full of little boy clothes on my front porch from the mom down the street. She said her son had grown out of them, so we could use the clothes for Jared - how sweet! :)

Our neighborhood is near the Severn River, and we have 2 community beaches and a pier. The first time that Steve, Jared, and I walked down to the beach, we did fine. One the way home, we got some streets confused, and it took us 30 minutes to find our way home, when it only took us 10 minutes to get there! :) After we moved in, the neighborhood also had a big picnic at one of the beaches, so it was nice to meet some more neighbors.

Chris and Kristy came over to check out the new place, and to watch Penn State get beat by Alabama. At least we had some good company to watch the beating. :P
Karin and Ella also stopped by for a visit. We love showing off our new place, and we'll have to have a housewarming party soon!

Steve has been Super-Dad! He installed magnetic locks on the inside of our kitchen cabinets, which was a pain, but they work well in preventing our pots and pans from getting taken all over the house. (We did leave one cabinet unlocked for Jared to play in.) He also installed baby gates at the top and bottom of the main stairs. This proved problematic due to our banisters, but we came up with a good solution.

After more than 14 straight months of being with Jared every night, Steve had to go on travel for work. He left on Sunday evening, and came back on Wednesday evening. I decided that there was no reason to stay home with Jared myself, so I packed us up and we went to my parents' cabin in the woods. Jared had a great time playing with all of the acorns that Pappy collected for him. He also liked swinging in the hammock swing. Afterwards, he took off and ran across the in-ground pool, which luckily had a tight cover on it. Jared got a little wet, but no damage was done to Jared or the pool. Jared also liked that the cabin had a swinging screen door, so he could go inside or outside as he pleased. Jared also got wheel-barrow rides. The drives to and from the cabin were not exactly what I would call fun, but they were tolerable. Most of our CDs are still packed, and Steve had the iPod, so I had to listen to the same Kiddie CD over and over and over again.

Jared has been developing during all of this time too. A month is a long time in baby-time. He now babbles constantly. He is also pretty good at waving, although it takes him a while to get started, so the person has usually left by the time he starts waving. He makes an "o" with his mouth, which is so cute. He is quite the imitator: when I was done making the bed, I was pushing the mattress back even with the box spring. When I was done, Jared came over a gave the mattress a shove to help me. :)

Jared LOVES to be outside, which is great at the new house, except for the large number of mosquitoes. I guess that what happens when you are so close to water. He loves to sit in the gravel part of our driveway and make piles of rocks and move the piles around. I really think he could do this for hours! He also loves playing on the deck. He cleans off the deck by picking up each leaf and dropping it over the side of the deck. This is actually pretty helpful.
We have so many trees in our yard that we don't really have to mow any grass, but the previous owner said that he usually gets about 100 bags of leaves when they drop. The front yard already needs raking. Steve and I are looking into buying a leaf blower.

That's all that I can think of right now.

Part 1

I know that so much has happened in the past month, so I'm labeling this Part 1, and I'll add to it as I remember things.

It was great to have the help from all of our parents with the move. It was a really stressful time, but it made things easier to know that Jared was happy playing with a grandparent, while Steve and I worried about the moving stuff.
Everyone was anxious to move over to the new house, even though the movers weren't coming for a few days, so we brought over our air mattresses, card table, and camp chairs over to the new house. Jared was lucky, since his crib and dresser were easy to transport, so he got set up in the new house quickly.

Jared just woke up. More to come...

New pictures are up!

I'll try to get some words up soon too.

Walking maniac!

Jared loves to go on walks. We usually go in the morning and in the afternoon. We see the maintenance guys arrive and zip around the apartment complex in their golf carts setting up the sprinklers. We see people walking their dogs. We watch the cars drive by. This morning, we watched the parents walking their kids to the first day of school. I teared up a little, realizing that Jared will be going to his first day of school before I know it.

Jared sometime has "aerodynamic arms" when he walks, which means that he walks with his arms straight out behind him. I worry that he will fall when he is like this. He has taken a few good tumbles during the walks, but he never seems upset for more than about 5 seconds.

Jared has started marching and stomping. The marching started in the tub, and he seems to do it when he isn't sure where he wants to go. The stomping is just random and funny. He also makes what we affectionately call his monster noise a lot, so that seems to go along with the stomping.

Jared has also tried to circle around you on the sidewalk if he wants to get behind you. This is usually when I am trying to prod him along in a certain direction. He gets mad when I just sidestep in front of him again.

Jared does not like his shoes velcroed closed when he walks. Jared also takes it upon himself to un-velcro Steve's sandals. :)

Jared swam in the big pool at our apartment complex. I figured that we should try it out while we still live here. Grandma and Grandpa B. got him a swimsuit that has styrofoam in the chest to help him float. Jared seemed to think the pool was fine - just like a big bathtub where he could splash around. I think he had just as much fun exploring the lounge chairs and grills in the pool area.

Jared also loves closing doors now. He is pretty good at closing them with a flat hand, so his fingers don't get pinched. He closes the door to his bedroom, and then closes himself in the bathroom. He doesn't seem to mind that it is pitch black inside the bathroom with no lights on.

Jared can now locate his hair. This is cute, but we're surprised that hair was the first body part. We are always pointing to his nose and belly button, but for some reason, he knows where his hair is.

Settlement for our new house is coming up on August 31st! Things are getting even crazier around here, so I'll try to post again when I can.

New pictures are up!

Lots of things going on - I'll try to post soon.

Walking with Jared

I figured out that I don't have to run Jared up to the playground anymore. When he is there, all he does is play in and try to eat the mulch. What he really wants to do is just walk around, and that is easy enough to do right outside our apartment. So we've started going on morning and late afternoon walks when it isn't too hot or sunny. He walks pretty fast and goes surprisingly far when he isn't too distracted. (mostly by cars) He doesn't fall very often, so that's good. He has started running though, so I really have to watch him for that.

Jared spun around so much the other day that he fell down. That was pretty funny, but then he got back up and started to spin the other way. :)

Jared likes to stick out his tongue in the mirror and has also started clucking his tongue.

The house stuff has gone extremely well. The radon levels came back at an acceptable level, and the house passed a termite inspection. The chimney inspection showed that the crown will need to be resurfaced and the wood stove flue needs to be cleaned, but we think that the sellers will probably take care of that. We have also applied for a loan, and got a very low interest rate, so that's great! We just need to talk to some movers about quotes and get boxes to start packing! My Mom will be here for a couple days soon to distract Jared so I can start packing.

One of our craziest weeks yet!

We just survived a super crazy week!

Sunday, July 25th: happy with our nice gifts from the Christmas in July party the night before, we headed back to Maryland after spending the weekend with Steve's parents. No one checked the weather, and we were on the edge of a terrible thunderstorm all of the way home. It was really windy, and the clouds looked so menacing, I kept checking the sky for tornadoes. We were in some severe quick downpours, which Jared really didn't enjoy. We weren't even on our way home - we were on the way to look at 3 more houses in Severna Park. Luckily, the first house had a (tiny) garage, so we were able to get out of the downpour, but we weren't sure that we could open our car doors! The house looked nice, but the upstairs was very dark, since it was a vacant house, and they didn't leave any lamps in the bedrooms.
The second house was a throwaway.
The third house we had been to back in April, but it was out of our price range. It had since dropped into our price range, so we thought that we should look at it again. It was as nice, if not nicer than we remembered. (hint: this is going to be our house)
We finally got home only to find out that the power was off in our apartment. Luckily, it had only gotten up into the 80s that day, so the temperature in the apartment wasn't too terrible.

Monday: Went grocery shopping to buy Jared some food, since I couldn't make him any food without electricity. I bought him some jarred baby food, only to find out that he doesn't like jarred baby food. We hung out with Karin and Ella for a couple hours in the afternoon to play and cool down. Jared finally ate a little bit at dinner since he was getting pretty hungry at that point. After a very long day, we all went over to the Perry's for dinner and to enjoy their A/C (they had just gotten power back on at 4:30 PM Monday.) After dinner and playtime, we were about to put Jared to bed when Steve said that he would call the house one more time (if the answering machine picks up, we have power.) And lo and behold, we got our power back at 8:00, so we were able to go home, where Jared slept much better in his crib than he ever would in the pack and play.

Tuesday: We went to go see the first house that we had seen on Sunday again, this time in the daylight and in dry conditions. I still really liked the house, but the backyard was awful.

Wednesday: We put in a contract for the third house (627 Park Rd.). They countered, which was not a big surprise.

Thursday: We countered their counter offer, and we all agreed (yeah!)

Friday: Cleaned the apartment, since disaster zone does not even begin to describe the mess.

Saturday: Steve's parents woke up super early and drove down from Philly to spend the morning with Jared while we went to the home inspection. The inspection went well, with only a few minor fixes. (the house looks in good shape, so we weren't surprised.) Steve's parents went home, and we went over to my former boss's house for the annual NASA group picnic. It was so great to see everyone and tell them about the house. Against our better judgment, we even took Jared out on the boat ride. He liked walking around the boat and the breeze in his hair, but he HATED the life preserver. It was a little too tall for him, and it kept cutting into his neck and chin, and looked uncomfortable.

Sunday: a day of rest, and we started arranging house buying stuff. (financing, inspections, etc.)

There are new pictures up in Jared's 12-15 month folder, as well as a link to pictures that I took of the new house. There are actually 4 bedrooms upstairs, but I forgot to take a picture of one of them.

Now that the home inspection is over, I am starting to get really excited. However, I also woke up at 5:15 this morning in a cold sweat thinking about all the work that it's going to take to move all of our stuff to the new house. We are closing on August 31st, and will probably vacate the apartment in the middle of September. Since it's a local move, ideally we would like to move the small stuff ourselves and just hire movers for the big stuff.

In other Jared news, he zerburted (sp?) my leg repeatedly last night, which was just too funny. He would stop and laugh at himself, which made me laugh even more.
He also took his first bubble bath the other day. He liked when his hand was covered in bubbles, but then he tried to eat them. As I was rinsing out the tub, he tried to pull the bubbles back towards him so he could keep playing with them - too cute.

12 month Dr. visit

Jared went to the Doctor today, and he weighs 20 pounds (25th percentile) and is 30 inches tall (50th percentile.) He's still "lean and toned." :)
He got 3 shots today, and took it pretty well.

Last night, Steve and I cut Jared's bangs. Needless to say, it was pretty difficult with a squirmy kid that is trying to see what you're doing. The haircut isn't terrible, but not great either - okay for a first effort. We shortened his hair and didn't injure him in the process, so our two primary goals were met. ;)

Enjoy the new pictures posted under the 9-12 month link. Jared's 52 week picture is above - pretty good, considering it was taken with the camera timer.

Happy Birthday - Jared is ONE!

One year ago, Jared was just born. He could barely see, was learning how to nurse, and had no control of his limbs. Today, Jared gets into everything, eats like a horse, and is starting to walk pretty fast. This year was amazing!

Jared is getting very good at walking, and is getting better at walking in shoes. He likes walking around the playgrounds, but is easily distracted by trying to get the mulch and leaves into his mouth!

Last week, he decided that he would only take one nap during the day. He is running on fumes by the end of the day, but he now sleeps in until sometime between 6:00-7:30 AM. Before he was getting up between 5:00-6:00 AM, so this new later wake-up time makes Mom a lot happier.

Last Wednesday, Jared scraped his chin when he fell down onto a plastic water pitcher that we use to rinse him off during baths. He loved carrying it around and pretending to drink out of it, but now we only use it for bath time.

Last week, Jared also took a couple bites out of a foam soccer ball. I got some of it out of his mouth, but some made it through his system. I think I saw it in his dirty diaper the next day.

This past Friday, Steve and I were awakened to a 3.6 magnitude earthquake - how weird! Jared slept right through it. He also slept through the very bad thunderstorm that we had last night. I was happy I didn't have to try to calm him down in the middle of the storm last night.

We had Jared's Philly birthday party at Steve's parents' house this past weekend. Thanks to Stan and Beth for having the party at their house. Thanks to Uncle Mark and Aunt Cathy, the Deeney family, Paul and Karen, and Walt and Debbie for stopping by. (We missed you Freney family and Ortiz family!)
Jared had a little incident at the party, and got a small scrape below his eye. He didn't seem to mind through. I see a lot more scrapes in his future.

I'll try to post the new pics soon.

WALKING!!

The biggest news is that Jared is now walking! He doesn't crawl anymore, except to play with his favorite toy car, and even that is getting less frequent. Instead of crawling and putting something in his mouth, he now realizes that he can carry a toy in each hand AND one in his mouth while he is walking!

But let me back up, and catch you all up...
Jared started taking some tiny steps on June 16th. It was usually just between the coffee table and the couch. Then on June 23rd, he walked about 4 steps to me (I was holding Cheerios as motivation. ;) He would "walk" around the apartment if you were holding his hands, but he didn't really seem that interested in walking on his own. When we were up in Kersey for the 4th of July weekend, we walked him around a lot. He hated the feel of grass so much, that he picked one foot up off the ground, as if to say "I want to touch this stuff as little as possible!" (My Mom was holding onto his hands.) By the end of the holiday weekend, he would walk through the grass to people, which was a huge improvement. He always stops walking a few steps short, and lunges/falls into you laughing at the end. This was fine until we got home, and he misjudged the distance to the ottoman. He missed the cushion on top, and did a header into the wooden side. He had a scrape that bruised a little above his eyebrow, but 2 days later you can barely see it. Steve and I are just happy that we switched out our wooden coffee table for the ottoman. He likes to hold your hand if we are walking around the apartment - it is so cute!

Jared started clapping around June 18th. It is the cutest thing to see a baby clap! Jared knows that we like to see him clap, so he does it often. He's also figured out that it's a good way to tell us that he likes something (usually food.) He also claps his toys together, usually balls. And he is getting good at rolling a ball back and forth with someone.

Jared also sticks out his tongue now. It makes me laugh every time he does it. He thinks that it's pretty funny too.

Jared still loves flipping through books. Although he has also been known to eat board books if left alone with them long enough.

Jared's hair is getting long, so we'll probably have to trim it soon. We'll wait until after his birthday though - we don't want him to get his picture taken with a bad haircut if we mess up!

Grammy and Pappy got Jared a new Lovey for his birthday, since his is so well-loved. ;) We ordered it off of ebay, and we even matched the part number and everything. We opened the package, and we got the exact same lovey, except it was twice as big. The blanket part is so big that he trips over it when he's holding it! I call it Super Lovey! :) We'll have to put it away until he gets bigger, or he can only have it in the crib.

Jared loves to help with the laundry. The other day, I was emptying out the dryer, and Jared was helping as usual. Then he removed the lint trap (it's inside of our dryer), and held it like he didn't know what to do with it. So he put it back into the main part of the dryer with the clothes! :)

We went up to my parents' house in Kersey for the long holiday weekend. We had a great time - Steve's parents and Aunt Bernie, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Mark, Chris, Aunt Rain, Uncle Paul, and doggie Sage made it up too! (we missed you Aunt Peg and Bloomfield Kambics!) It was definitely cooler up in Northern PA than it was in MD - whew! Jared loved watching the traffic that goes by my parents' house. They live on a fairly busy street, so Jared watched the big semi trucks, logging trucks, tractors pulling trailers full of hay, big dump trucks, etc.
He also like splashing around in his little baby pool. The first day, he just crawled right in and started playing. No one had their cameras ready, since we couldn't believe that he would just crawl right in!
Thankfully, Jared slept through the fireworks that we were setting off in the yard and driveway, about 20 feet from his bedroom window. Maybe next year he can stay up to enjoy the fireworks.
My Mom made Jared two birthday cakes (yum!), and Jared loved getting Happy Birthday sung to him multiple times! He's such a ham! Later, we were watching videos, and Jared was standing in front of the TV, watching himself. :) Jared took some icing off of the cake, but didn't seem to know what to do with it. He eventually put some into his mouth, but he didn't seem to like it too much. I guess that's good - I'm sure he'll love sugary things later in life.
We also went to the super Kersey playground, where Jared got to swing. The adults had a lot of fun too, as Steve documented with the videocamera. :)
On the way home, we stopped buy State College, and saw Lily, Max, Mike, Amy, and Meghan. It was a short trip, but it was great to see everyone and meet Lily. I couldn't believe how small Lily was at 3 weeks! I can't remember Jared being that small, and it was less than a year ago! I guess the sleep deprivation erases memories like that.
Luckily for us, Jared was very good travelling in the car, only getting fussy at the end. That's quite an accomplishment, since the trip took about 6 1/2 hours! I think he will enjoy car trips even more when we can turn his carseat frontways (1 year and 20 pounds), so he can see us. We'll get him a new carseat soon that can face front.

After we got home, we took an adventurous walk with Karin and Ella. We went around the pond near our apartment, then took a rough trail off of that. It got so bad, we eventually had to turn around. That was after we had gone around the downed tree. Good thing Steve was also there to help with the strollers.

Enjoy all of the new pictures that are up. We've had a crazy month, and I'm sure this next one will be the same. I will try to post more often, so you won't get a book next time. And I'm sure that I've forgotten things to mention, so I'll have to add some updates. We hope everyone is having a happy and fun summer! :)

New pictures are up!!

I can't believe that it's been so long since I've posted. It's not for lack of activities, actually we've been too busy to blog! I figured that people want to see pictures more than read the blog, so I posted the pictures now, and (hopefully) a super-sized blog entry will be coming shortly.

Jared has personality

Boy, does Jared have personality! He is getting quite expressive, and lets you know if he doesn't like something. This is usually in the form of a temper tantrum! :( I thought this acting out would start when he was older.

Jared is still a wonderful eater. He really liked the turkey meatballs that Steve made last week. Steve made them for us, so they were spiced well, and Jared seemed to love them! I guess we'll have to start introducing more adult food to his palette. He wasn't quite sure what to make of watermelon at first - it's juicy, but also fibrous. It took him about a day to get to like watermelon. He has also started sharing his food with whoever is feeding him - he thinks this is hilarious!

He is very good at walking all around the apartment now when you are holding his hands as support.

Jared now officially says "Mama" and "Mom." Although, I think he still uses Dada as a catch-all for either me or Steve.

Yesterday was very exciting, since the newest Zuckett made her grand entrance into the world - welcome Lily! :) Lily decided to hang out inside Amy for an extra 5 days, since it was so comfy. She looks like a beautiful and healthy baby girl, and it looks like her parents and big brother Max couldn't be prouder!

Happy Birthday to my Mom and Steve's Aunt Joyce! I guess this is a popular day for a birthday.
New pictures are posted.

Jared Adventures

We had a couple of fun weekends lately...
Last weekend we went up to central PA to visit with family and friends. We also had important cargo to deliver (banana cheesecake to a very preggo Amy who had a bad craving!) Friday night was fun catching up with Meghan and the Zucketts.
Saturday, we took Jared to the cabin for the first time. Grammy and Pappy, Nana Jean and Rolla, Liz and Gretchen, Great Uncle Rick, Great Uncle Alex, Jim Mikk, and Lucas (Jared's furry dog friend) were all there. Great times were had, especially all of the hippo pushing. And Jared loved all of the attention.
Sunday we visited with Mike, Amy, and Max, and wished them well for their upcoming arrival. Max was patient with Jared, and was good about sharing his toys. He will make a wonderful big brother!
I also heard a lot this weekend of people reading the blog - it was good to hear from you! Sometimes, I don't know if anyone else reads this other than the grandparents. :)

Memorial Day weekend was great, mainly because Steve was home for 4 whole days - what a treat! On Friday, we looked at two houses in Severna Park. They were both nice, but expensive. Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa B. came down for the day, and we went to Centennial Park for a picnic and walk around the lake. It looked very gloomy and rained in the morning, but the afternoon had beautiful weather. We brought out Jared's Bumbo chair (he still fit into it), so that he could sit on the picnic table while we ate. After lunch, we put him onto a blanket on the grass. Like before, Jared didn't mind picking at the grass or trying to eat it, but if he accidentally placed his whole hand on the grass, he would recoil like it was scalding hot! :) It was really funny to watch. Then we took a nice walk around the lake.

Jared is getting very good at standing now. He used to stand unsupported accidentally. For example, he would be holding onto a toy with one hand, then let go of his supporting hand, so he could hold the toy with both hands. Now, he uses his hands to pull himself up to standing, then lets go with no problem, and can stand for quite a while (maybe a minute), before using a hand to steady himself. He has made no moves to walk yet, but is still crawling and cruising like crazy!

Jared is still teething on the bottom, so he's sometimes cranky, but I think the worst of this bout of teething is complete now that the top ones are in. He is starting to really look like a little boy now, and less like a baby. It might be the teeth, or the longer hair, or the leaner body, but he's not my little baby anymore! Everyday I marvel at his rapid developments, and it hasn't even been a whole year yet!
I'm glad that I'm able to share my wonderful son with all of you caring people. :) Check out the new photos of Jared under the 9-12 month link.

Jared the Destructor

I realize I just posted a few hours ago, but within an hour of the first post, I noticed that Jared has 2 more teeth coming in the bottom. No wonder he has been so cranky lately - poor kid!

Also, I keep forgetting to post how much Jared likes chaos and destruction. If anything is stacked, he takes it as a personal insult, and quickly topples the stack. He doesn't even let you stack two things before it gets knocked over. He also likes a mess, specifically clothes. If anything is together, like clothes in a laundry basket, or folded on the couch, these quickly get tossed all around. So he is good at helping me unload the dryer, but is not helpful when I am putting wet clothes into the dryer, and he keeps pulling them out. :) He really likes banging on the front of our top-loading washing machine, since it makes a very satisfying hollow banging sound.

He also realizes that beep-beep-beep means that the door is closing. Since Jared likes to poke his head (and whole body) into places now (like the fridge and the dryer), we beep to signal to him that we are closing the door, and he actually seems to respond to this.

We're going to State College and the cabin this weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to post next week about our PA adventures.

10 months!

10 months old - wow! When I see newborns now, I am amazed at how much Jared has transformed in such a short amount of time. He is crawling like mad, eats solid foods, smiles and laughs, and has a personality. It boggles my brain!

Jared has discovered that he can run his toys up and down the walls. Steve keeps telling him that his car is a floor toy, but he doesn't listen. ;) Jared also likes to run his car over my lap while I'm eating dinner.

Jared has also picked up the "I'll toss this toy down from where I'm sitting (usually the highchair), then look down at it." This is annoying and cute at the same time, since eventually he gets mad that he can't reach his toy anymore.

Jared is also trying out his new teeth. He will hold a Cheerio vertically, then bite down on it so it breaks. Since he doesn't have any back teeth yet, I guess this is the easiest way to use his front teeth. He is also getting two more teeth up top, so he has had a few miserable spells in the past few days. Hopefully, they will come through soon, and we can all get a break until the next teeth come in. He now has 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom.

A few new pictures are posted - enjoy!

mmmmmmMA!

Jared finally started saying Ma the day after Mother's Day. It starts out mmmm and ends with an emphatic MA! On Monday, he would only say it when he was crying or upset, and now he says it all the time. Today he said Dada clear as a bell as Steve was leaving the room, so Steve of course ran back to Jared to see what he wanted. :) Jared has no idea what he's saying, but it is incredibly cute nonetheless.

Last weekend, Jared stood unassisted for about 4 seconds in his grandparents' yard. He has been getting better at balancing by himself, sometimes letting go of his support to hold onto a toy with both hands. And I can get him balanced and standing about once a day, usually for about 5 seconds. Jared has no idea why I start clapping for him after he plops down to the floor, but I usually get a smile for the clapping.

Jared LOVES the breeze in his face. He likes it when we're out for a walk, or even if you just blow in his face. He loves car rides now with the windows down. On a recent car trip, he had a huge smile on his face, was babbling and playing with his feet, just enjoying the wind! Adorable does not even cover his high degree of cuteness in these situations! :)

We went to the Library storytime/playgroup again. Our friends Karin and Ella met us there, and another one of my coworkers coincidentally showed up with her son, so we had a great time! Jared didn't want to participate in the songs as much as he loved to crawl around and check out all of the other kids. He is quite the social butterfly - we were the first ones in the room, and Jared had to crawl around and see everyone else as they were coming in. He loves checking out the small babies, and watching the big kids run around. When he was near me, he preferred to crawl all over and around me instead of sitting on my lap - I guess those days are over. :(

Jared is very friendly to everyone, and has started flirting with women already. :) When we go out, he usually has a smile for everyone, but is still hesitant for someone new to hold him. He had a great time playing with Kristy and Chris when they came over this weekend.

We went to the Piney Orchard street fair on Saturday, and were very impressed that they had arranged a jet flyover. Then we realized that there was an airshow going on nearby at Andrews Air Force Base this weekend. ;)

I will try to get some new pictures posted soon. I finished up our first 2 Gig memory card today, just shy of his 10 month birthday. I guess I'm surprised that it lasted even that long. Good thing we have a brand new one, ready to be filled.

Happy Mother's Day!

It was quite a busy weekend of firsts for Jared.
When we got to Grandma and Grandpa Briczinski's house, it was nice outside, so we decided to (finally) put Jared down in the grass to explore. He hadn't been in grass before, but I thought he would love it. He did not. He pulled at it some, and tried to put it in his mouth, but he showed no interest in crawling through it. Grandma says that kids don't like grass and sand at first, due to the different textures - go figure.
We also took him to a park near their house where he had his first swing and slide rides. Jared missed his nap (he fights them so much, especially when we are away), so he was really tired. Most of the time in the swing and on the slide he acted like a zombie-baby, meaning that he really didn't do anything at all. He really just sat there with no expression on his face. That was disappointing for me, since I thought that he would really like it, but I guess that will come later.

Last weekend, I went to a community yard sale in our neighborhood and got a bunch of toys for Jared. The best one was the hungry hippo walker. When he pushes the walker, the mouth moves up and down and gobbles up blocks that it comes across. Jared thinks this is the best thing ever, and probably would use it all day if I had the patience to steer it for him. He loved using it at Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend - he had quite the circuit course going through their house.

Last weekend, Jared attended a birthday party for our friend Mimi. The first time he attended a birthday party! Of course he was super cute, and well behaved, which is very normal behavior for him. Steve and I are so lucky to have such an easy-going little guy. Of course this got me thinking that I need to start planning Jared's 1st birthday parties. ugh. I had really hoped to be in a house by then (combining housewarming with birthday parties) - I have no idea what to do if we're still in the apartment. Stay tuned for party news.

I took Jared to a local playgroup last week. I was really looking forward to meeting some local Moms. But there were only about 4 other Moms there, and they didn't know each other at all. That was a big bummer for me, I was really hoping for some camaraderie. Jared had a good time though. He loved playing with the toys that the other kids brought. He also loved watching the older kids run around the room. He wore himself out crawling all over the large room - he had never had that much open space to move around before. He also loved scaling the mirrored wall - he thought it was so cool.

This kid way smarter and quicker than I am. Boy, and I in trouble! He saw me steering his hippo toy by pulling on the ears, and now when it gets stuck, Jared pulls on the ears too! He also has figured out how to pull the nightlights out of the wall, play with the venetian blinds (I'm surprised that he hasn't broken any yet), and take all of the pots and pans out of the cabinet. He pushes himself around on the pots and lids, which looks really funny.

His hair is getting longer and a little shaggy, but I don't want to cut it just yet. It's getting so long in the back that it's curling under.
He hasn't said Mama yet, but it was still a fantastic Mother's Day. I am so blessed that I get to be the Mother to such a terrific little boy!
New pictures from this weekend are posted.

New pictures

Check out the new pictures under the 9 to 12 month link. I'll try to get a new post up this weekend with all of the latest and greatest.

If I don't get around to it before Sunday...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of you Mom's out there. I never realized how much we have to do to be a Mom, or how rewarding it would be. Thanks to all Moms! :)

good news and bad news

Jared had his 9 month pediatrician visit the other day. He is now 17 lbs., 14 oz. (10th percentile) and 28" long (50th percentile.) The pediatrician said that he was "lean and mean." I said that he was "lean and toned" like our friend Sexy Mike! ;) The doctor was not worried about his lower weight percentile since he is so active.

When I turned around yesterday, Jared was not only standing up against the fridge, but he was on his tip-toes to reach a piece of paper! He is showing progress every day! He certainly keeps me on my toes! :) (groan!)

He has also stopped his laps around the coffee table. He starts at the coffee table, then does a couple of squats for some reason. Sometimes, he uses the squat to pick up a toy on the floor, and bring it back up to the coffee table.

Jared's top middle 3 or 4 teeth are all coming in right now. Poor kid. His top gums are so puffy and swollen. We've been giving him some Infant Motrin as needed to take the edge off. Hopefully they will be in soon.

Now for the bad news...
We lost the house that we had a contract on. The sellers are getting a divorce, and the husband took out a large home equity loan on the house without telling his wife. Since he has not been making payments on the home equity loan, both of their credits are ruined. So the lady, who has been living in the house, doesn't have the credit to go out and buy her own place. And the home equity loan might have been large enough that they might be in trouble with the bank with the house - the selling price might not cover their loan amounts. :( It just turned into this humongous mess that we got pulled into. We technically still have a contract with them, but that will probably go away soon. I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that we're losing the house. I also feel terrible for the lady seller who is now essentially stuck in the house, and can't move on with her life.
So the house search starts all over again. :( Steve and I are so disheartened. We have until the end of April to get a ratified contract, or else lose out on the tax credit. So we'll do a big push this final week, and if we don't find anything, we'll probably take a break and reevaluate our situation.

New pics are up!

Check out the newest Jared pictures in the 6-9 month link.

9 months old!

Jared is now 9 months old - he's been out exploring the world as long as he was growing inside of me!

Jared loves pulling himself up to standing on everything and anything. He does laps around our coffee table (sometimes more than 20 laps a day!), our microwave kitchen cart (the chips had to be moved or would be crushed to tiny pieces), everything! He even scales the walls now to get from one place to another. He greatly prefers moving to his right (Steve says that he is getting ready for NASCAR), but will move to the left if tempted by something really good (like a remote.) I am very happy that most of the time he gets himself back down to the floor carefully and gently.

He also loves gliding around the apartment. He started out with both hands on a flat object, like the mirror or a book, and would push himself around the apartment. But now he glides around with silly things like Craisin bags and stuffed animals. Although he has now started pushing his truck around the apartment with one hand, so it looks like he is playing with the truck.

Jared also likes the music and sounds from his toys. He loves his Elmo phone, Elmo, Cookie Monster piano, musical key, monkey, and the activity board with songs on his baby fence.

My mom came down to watch Jared this weekend. Steve and I have signed the contract on the house, but this weekend, we met with a financial guy and had our home inspection. It was really nice to be able to concentrate on the meetings and not worry about what Jared was getting into! The home inspection went pretty well in the fact that there were no big surprises. The house was built in 1978, and has not seen any major updates, so everything is kinda old and worn. Except the windows, which were pretty nice. We are planning to go ahead with the process to get the house. I took some pictures while we were there, and will post them when I can.

I also have new pics of Jared - these will be the last pics that I will add into the 6-9 month link. I'll have to start a new link soon! :)

So much to tell!

Jared loves looking under all of our small rugs (like in the bathroom and kitchen). It looks so funny! Jared is very good at using smaller boxes to reach higher boxes to stand up. Yesterday, he even pulled himself up to standing using our coffee table. After knocking over our water glasses, all of our stuff on the coffee table got moved.

Jared sleeps about 10 hours a night, and I can usually get two decent naps out of him (about an hour and 20 minutes or so). That's quite an improvement on what he used to do, but I think he naps and sleeps better because he is so exhausted from moving around all of the time! I know that I find it exhausting chasing after him!

Easter weekend was nice. My birthday was on Friday, and my parents came down. On Saturday, Steve's parents and Maggie joined us. It was nice to finally get a picture of all of us together. Of course I forgot until Steve's parents were about to leave, and Jared was already in bed, but not asleep. So I got him back up for the pictures.

Jared loves to go on "adventures" now. He actually gets excited when I put him in his car seat or stroller. He loves walks too! He just doesn't like the sun hat or sunglasses that we try to get him to wear when he's outside.

Through the course of all of this, Steve and I have been looking for houses, changing agents, putting a bid on a house, etc. It's not final yet (hopefully today or tomorrow), and then I'll post more info about the house. But we're really excited about it.

Check out the new pictures that are posted - there are some great ones in there! :)

Every square inch of apartment explored - check!

Jared has been very busy since he's started to crawl. Every day there is something new to tell - a new part of the apartment that he's ventured into, a full laundry basket to upend, the kitchen cabinets and drawers to open, etc. I have already started "uh oh - I can't hear him, so what is he getting into?" He is very strong - he pushes around our 5 pound dumbells, pulls over cases of soda, and generally gets into everything that he's not supposed to!

He is already such a pro at crawling that he is now way more excited about using items as steps to pull himself up to higher items. Steve emptied out one of our shelving units, because our little man had figured out how to pull himself up to standing using the highest shelf. Those shelves now contain Jared's toys. He will also push himself to standing on just about anything. Last night he was using a case of soda - I called his name, and he let go of one arm, so he could turn his upper body to face me! He was still super steady on his feet with just one arm supporting him.

It cracks up me and Steve when Jared tries to use a single CD or DVD case to push himself to standing. He usually just pushes the case all around the apartment.

We had a lovely playdate with my coworker Karin and her daughter Ella. Ella is about 3 1/2 months old now. Jared loved playing with all of Ella's toys. It was really cute when he was playing with her feet while she was sitting in her chair. But then he crawled by her and shoved her in the shoulder, so I had to put a stop to that. Then we took a walk around Karin's neighborhood - it was such a beautiful day! :)

We had a terrific visit with the Deeney family and the Briczinski grandparents last weekend. Jared was a big fan of Liam's old toys. Liam had a way of tickling Jared's head to make him smile, which none of us adults could duplicate! Dianna and Vince's new house was so great that we offered to buy it from them! :) Stan and Beth were amazed to see Jared crawl - they had seen him just two weeks before, when he couldn't do anything. Now, he was crawling all over their house!

Jared has a little bit of a runny nose this week, but after two days, he already seems better. Hopefully, it is just a very minor cold.

He's tried spinach and pears since I last posted. He likes the pears, but doesn't go crazy for them - he just likes them like everything else. He still just has two teeth, but there are some hard spots under his gums, so I expect more to come through in the coming weeks. Teeth move pretty slowly, so it might be a while.

A few new pictures are up, but I'll have to stop chasing Jared around long enough to take some more of him crawling and pushing himself up!

More remembered skills and new pics

New pics are posted - enjoy!

Two things that I forgot to mention in the last post:

Jared has discovered that pulling the knob on his dresser causes the drawers to open. He thinks that this is fascinating. He loves to open the drawer and then try to look inside.

When Steve is laying on the floor and Jared is sitting on the floor next to him, Jared likes to push off from Steve's chest up to a supported standing position. This kid will be walking in no time...

Doooiiinnnggg! and crawling

Jared has discovered the spring doorstops, and they are his new favorite toys! He was playing with them so much that he actually broke one! It was a quick fix for Dad, since the spring part just came unscrewed from the metal part attached to the door. And we got it all on video, which is the best part. One of these days, we'll have to download our videos off our camera, so we can post some. I wonder when that day will ever come...

In other news, Jared learned how to crawl forwards! I was gone on Saturday, appraising a Destination Imagination tournament (very similar to Odyssey of the Mind, if that helps), and Steve showed me the video when I got home. At 2:15 pm, Steve shot the video of some shaky forwards moves, and by 4:15 pm Jared crawled in a straight line across the living room to me. He is so amazing, and is developing so quickly! That night he also said "Yeah!" and "hi" which was super cute.

He is still eating everything and anything that we give him. I was feeding him the other night, and he sneezed most of it out, which was funny. (It was actually super funny, since my mom had just sent me an old cartoon of a mom getting food sneezed on her, so it was very appropriate timing.) So I am cleaning up the oatmeal and spinach, and I look up to see that he has his mouth open as wide as it will go, waiting for me to shovel more food in. It was like he was saying "hey Mom! What's the hold-up?" So Steve and I burst out laughing, and Jared joined in.

Jared is now so quick and mobile (and has already tried pulling himself up on things). This means that Steve and I spend a lot of time running after him to secure what we need to. We are babyproofing by necessity now. We'll see how much longer we keep our coffee table, he is already hitting his head on the corners and lower scalloped border.

I'm sure there is so much more to tell, but I am drawing a blank. The days seem so exciting and full that I don't seem to be able to find the time to do much else than watch and play with Jared. Jared is still waking up multiple times a night (usually 2-3) and waking up for the day around 5:15 am, so our days are long, and Steve and I collapse at the end of the day. We're hoping that the time change helps us out with this problem. And this is just one kid kicking our butts! We are hoping that once his eating/speech/mobility development slows down a little bit, that he might go back to sleeping better. I don't mean to complain - other than his sleeping, I couldn't ask for a better kid. I guess he couldn't be perfect, right? ;)

New pictures are posted!

Da-da wins! :)

On Monday, Jared said Dada for the first time! There was even some Da-dee mixed in with his babbling too. :) It was so cute, I don't care that he didn't say Mama first. He actually has been saying ba-ba for a while, so getting to Da-da wasn't a far stretch. He was so happy and talkative, we had to Skype with both sets of grandparents that night to show off his new skill - he seemed very proud of himself!

In case you were wondering, Jared is getting pretty heavy, probably at least 18 pounds.
He still has huge gray eyes, eyelashes to die for, and straight hair the color of Steve's. I guess I lost out on the hair characteristics (for now.)
He is pudgy everywhere except his torso and face (except for his very squeezable cheeks!)
He doesn't seem to mind baths so much.
He LOVES books!
He loves bending forward over his feet while sitting to get onto his belly, which makes me really nervous!
He talks, laughs, and smiles all of the time at home, but is getting to be pretty quiet when we go out - we need to join a play group soon to get him interacting with other babies.
He loves looking at himself in the mirror and guppy-kissing (wide open mouth with lots of slobber) his reflection.
He is a joy, and the apple of our eye! :)

Lots to share! :)

Wow, have we been busy! We survived 3 snow storms! In the big snowpocolypse, we ended up getting upwards of 30 inches, which was a record in Maryland. Later that week, we ended up with another 8 inches - it's incredible! We took Jared out for some pictures, and the snow was even taller than he was. :)

Jared is babbling a lot. His favorite sound right now is ba-ba-ba. I keep trying to get him to change that to ma-ma or da-da, but he just laughs at me when I say that.

Jared's bottom middle 2 teeth are coming in. They don't seem to be giving him too much trouble, except sometimes he gets crabby, and now I can blame that on teething. :) He doesn't "kiss" my chin anymore, since it really hurts my chin. And he's damaged some of his books by chewing on them. He's also started chewing on the crib - I try to give him a teething ring when I see that happening.

Talking about the crib, it is so hard to get him to nap now. He loves rolling all around his crib, and rolling over onto his tummy to push himself up. I usually have to give him about 30 minutes play time in the crib before I actually try to get him to sleep. He acts tired until he gets to the crib, then he gets all kinds of energy! He just loves moving - he has started bring his knees up beneath him, but hasn't figured out what to do with the crawling pose yet.

Jared is such a good eater! It is funny though - he will eat the food with no problems, but he never seems overly expressive about the food, whether good or bad. Although, I think his favorite food so far is oatmeal. So far, he's eaten barley, rice, oatmeal, acorn squash, yellow bell pepper, pumpkin, sweet potato, avocado, peas, green beans, cinnamon, and all spice. We'll be trying carrots next, I've heard they're usually a favorite.

I will try to keep up better with the blog, but as you can see, I've got my hand full! :)
Call us sometime on Skype if you want to see the Jared Show of him rolling all over the bed and babbling! He usually is good for a performance. :)

pictures up in the 6-9 month folder

hopefully, I'll get a new post up soon - enjoy the pics!

LOVES to eat!

Jared has now eaten rice, oatmeal, and barley (separately). We cook up the grain, put it into the food processor, mix it with some breastmilk, and he gobbles it up! It took him a couple of days to figure out the mechanics of the whole eating thing, but he's got it now. Next we move on to vegetables, so we'll see how that goes.

Jared is sleeping better, but no matter how well he sleeps at night, he is always waking up around 5:00 am. Steve and I are trying to figure out how to address this, since we don't want to start our days quite so early.

We are now on Skype - mainly so the grandparents can see Jared on a regular basis. If anyone Skypes, look us up!

Jared is always doing cute things. He now puts his arms up just before you pick him up. And every now and then he makes a purring noise, it always makes me laugh. He loves his lion toy that Grandma and Grandpa B. got him for Christmas - every time he sees it, he gives the toy a big grin.

Jared also supported himself standing the other day. He was leaning both hands against our full length mirror and standing up, and I was only around as a safety net. This kid is going to be running around before I know it! ~groan~

I posted some pictures the other day in the 6-9 month folder. I'll have to put our latest pictures up soon. Today, we put Jared into the Astronaut Commander outfit that I bought for him before he was even born. He looked so good in it! And he is definitely the Commander of this house! :)

Visiting Caitlin in Baltimore (finally!) and eating rice

Today we visited my cousin Caitlin at MICA in Baltimore, which is the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she is studying Ceramics. We got to look through some buildings, galleries, and studios. It all seemed really nice, and in a cool part of Baltimore that neither Steve or I had been before. I am now a fan of the artist Warren Seelig - click here to see some of the exhibits that we saw today.
We ate lunch at a cute little cafe, where Jared was treated to chewing on the crinkly paper that came under our sandwiches - it was really cute.

Steve and I also started Jared on mashed up brown rice mixed with breastmilk. He is good at slurping the liquid out of the spoon, but the rice usually gets left on the spoon or stuck to his face. He's new at this whole swallowing solid foods idea, but I'm sure he'll be gobbling it all up soon.

We also started Jared on sleep training. This means feeding him only once (or not at all) at night. He was in the habit of getting up to eat a few times during the night. All three of us need more continuous sleep than 3 hour increments. These first nights are rough, but hopefully, we'll be sleeping longer very soon.

Check out the new pictures under the new 6 to 9 month link...

Way to be average!

Jared had his 6 month Dr.'s appointment today. He is 26 inches long, 16 pounds 7 ounces in weight, and has a head circumference of 17.5 inches. These are all on the 50th percentile, so Jared is very average! :) He's been about the 50th percentile his whole life, so this isn't surprising.

Jared was very pleasant to the Dr. today, which was a first. She finally got to see all of the smiles and giggles that we do. He loved, loved, LOVED the butcher paper on the exam table! He kept pulling it and crinkling it - I think we used about half of a roll! And he was moving a lot on the scale, so it took a bit to measure his weight. He even took his shots like a champ, and is currently taking a big nap from all of the excitement of this morning.

Our Dr. gave us a very detailed outline of what order to introduce foods. I'm really looking forward to that - we'll probably try to start solids this weekend. Hopefully, eating solid foods will also give him more daytime calories, and he will wake up less during the night to eat. Not likely, since I think he likes eating at night, but here's hoping. Steve and I will just have to suck it up, and start sleep training with him soon if he doesn't start sleeping longer on his own. All three of us need to get more sleep than we have been.

Still no teeth, which is fine by me.
The Dr. is impressed by his gross motor skills (she has always said that he was advanced in this area for his age.) He was sitting on the exam table by himself, playing with the butcher paper, and she kept waiting for him to fall over. Since he wouldn't fall over, she tried to push him over, but he resisted! :) It took a second push to finally get him to lay down.
I'm not sure how his verbal skills are for this age - he makes a lot of sounds, and I swear he said "Da!" twice when Steve came home yesterday.

What a little guy! I love to show him off, since he is such a happy baby to be around (most of the time.) It definitely makes my job easier.

Happy 6 months with Jared! :)

6 months - wow!

Jared is still not happy about the loss of his pacifier. He loves to suck on something all of the time. This could include his own hand, his bib, someone else's hand or chin, etc.
He usually falls asleep completely exhausted or crying, so we'll have to keep working at that. With his increased mobility, he gets into his crib for a nap (so I believe), and he moves all over the crib, which he thinks is way more fun than going to sleep. He used to sleep about every 1.5 - 2 hours; now it is not uncommon that he goes 3-4 hours between naps. I guess this pacifier loss has really affected his sleeping.

He also likes making somewhat realistic farting/pooping sounds often. Most of the time, it's when you are changing his diaper, which freaked me out the first time. Of course, he thinks this is hilarious!

He also loves covering his own face with a bib or cloth diaper (we use them as pee shields) during diaper changes - weird.

After many years of talking about it, we made it to the Cryptological Museum on Saturday with my parents. It was nice to get Jared outside for some fresh air. It has been so cold lately that he's been inside all of the time. Then on Sunday, we visited with the Whittakers - I'm still not sure if Jared ever warmed up to Steve W.

He has his 6 month Pediatrician visit on Wednesday, so I'll post his new stats then. He has been eating a lot and getting heavy! He is definitely ready to start solids, so we'll talk to the Dr. about that. He tries to grab at your cup or fork if you put it within his reach, and he watches you like a hawk while you eat.

New pictures are up!

These are the last pictures in the 3-6 month folder, since Jared turns 6 months on Monday.
Wow- time flies! He is growing and changing so fast, and what a handful! Steve and I love being Jared's parents - our lives are full of special and happy moments with him.

Jared rolled over!

Last night, Jared rolled over from his belly onto his back multiple times! So far, he's only rolled to his right side though. He has been moving around a lot on his back before this, mostly aching his back, picking his legs up, and moving his legs where he wants to go. This means the mobility is definitely starting, and I have to keep a very close eye on him all of the time!

Oh! I found my parts!

Jared is enjoying grabbing his package now. Sometimes it's through the diaper, but mostly it is when he is exposed during diaper changes and baths. Sometimes, it's a death grip, and sometimes just repeated squeezes. I think it's hilarious, because I try to block him with my arm when I'm changing his diaper, but he acts all sly, looks the other way nonchalantly, and sneaks his hand under my arm very stealthily. :)

After Jared's weekly Elmo picture, he turned Elmo over on top of him, and started spanking Elmo! Of course, I couldn't get a good picture of this before he stopped - Steve and I were laughing so hard!

He has also started an odd arm movement. He clasps both hands together and swings his arms in a big O from his face to belly and back repeatedly. He seems to really like doing that.

On Thursday, we stopped letting him have his pacifier when he sleeps. It's been tough on all of us. Jared still doesn't go to sleep easily like he used to, and he always seems tired between naps, but hopefully things will improve this week.

I was able to get dressed up and even put on makeup to go out to my company's holiday party on Friday night. It was nice to let my hair down (literally) and go out for some adult conversation. Steve stayed home to watch Jared, since my parents couldn't make it down due to the storm. It was okay though, since Steve had a nice uninterrupted evening of video game playing - I'm not sure of the last time that he's had that! :)