Thursday, December 23, 2010

Video Update Part Deux

An early Christmas present from JJ! More videos!

First, JJ shows off his valuable new skill: clapping on command



Over Thanksgiving weekend, JJ started doing this trick with his tongue. It's most visible at the 0:29 mark, right before he slugs the camera. You can see his tongue going sideways!



Steph has to travel quite a bit during the week, so JJ and I like to create a lot of videos at the dinner table (as you can probably tell by now). Here's a little game we like to play at mealtime.



Farewell, 2010!
We fly to Florida in two days to join up with the Moore clan for a Christmas Cruise. It was a big year for JJ as he transformed from a fetus into a very successful baby. Here is JJ officially closing the door on 2010.


Sunday, December 19, 2010

Video Update

We have been slacking in the video department lately. Here are some odds and ends from JJ's eighth and ninth months. I will apologize for any videos that are sideways. From here on out, this will be fixed.

1) JJ started climbing the stairs in early November. Here we see one of his first attempts.


2. Steph ran her second marathon in San Antonio on November 14th. Here she is just a few feet from the finish line. (JJ has a cameo.)


3. JJ has this new thing called his "Ugly Face". Usually done while eating, he tilts his head back, squints his eyes tight, pokes his teeth out above his bottom lip and makes a sound that falls somewhere between a hiss and a pant. This video is from a month back and his technique has only gotten better.



4. This one's just a solid minute of JJ standing at his piano table and babbling. Nothing more, nothing less.



That's all for today. More videos later in the week!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Nanny Phone Photos

JJ's nanny Ana often snaps pictures of JJ on her phone and sends them to us during the day.  I love it!  Since we haven't done a blog post in awhile, I thought I'd post some of these phone pictures.

JJ is starting to "cruise" a little more but still doesn't have the balance to stand without holding on to something.  His favorite toy is his orange truck, which he loves to push around the floor.  He's also a big fan of opening and closing doors.  He recently discovered toilet paper and, if left unattended for 30 seconds, will crawl off to the bathroom and start pulling down the tp like a cat.

Hopefully we'll get some new videos up soon!  10 days until Christmas - hope your preparations are going well!





Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving weekend adventures with Grandma & Grandpa

JJ got all kinds of love this weekend with Mom & Dad on vacation from work and Grandma and Grandpa visiting from Michigan.  We had a wonderful time!  Here are some favorite photos from the long weekend.

Grandma kept JJ entertained on our numerous car rides.

 Lunch on Friday at Z Tejas.  Great queso, but the cornbread omission needs to be addressed!  I will write my congressman.

JJ feeds Grandpa a Cheerio at breakfast on Saturday.

 Somebody better refill this or I'm gonna get cranky.

JJ confronts his fear of the block tower.
Lunch at the Gristmill in historic Gruene on Saturday.

 Playtime with Grandma and Grandpa

 Sunday brunch at Eastside Cafe

 Visit to the Capitol on Sunday afternoon:

 JJ gets in a little more Grandma time on Monday

 He was scared of the tree at first (weird!) but quickly came around and donned his Santa hat.

 Enjoying one of his favorite pastimes: climbing the stairs
Bye bye, Grandma and Grandpa!  Come back to Austin soon!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Gobble Gobble

We had fun celebrating JJ's first Thanksgiving yesterday!  Grandma and Grandpa flew in from Michigan to join us :)

Here's JJ hanging out while the food was being prepared. His cute big boy shirt didn't make it until dinner time due to a spit-up incident.

Da bird.

Ready to eat!

JJ tries some turkey (and mashed potatoes).  He didn't eat much of either, but you can see he was happy to sample them.

Trying to break the wishbone...
 ... but it proved too strong to break.

Posing with Grandma & Grandpa:
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  We sure did.  Look for another post in a few days with more pictures of JJ and his grandparents.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

9-month check-up

JJ saw the pediatrician today for his 9-month well check.  Here are his stats:

Height - 28.25 inches (50th percentile)
Weight - 19 lbs 6.5 oz (25th percentile)
Head circumference - 45.8 cm (75th percentile)

Our little bobblehead doll is healthy and on track with his milestones.  We need to keep working on the whole sleeping through the night thing and continue to introduce new foods.

JJ was a good boy during the exam.  He kept reaching for the stethoscope around the doctor's neck - obviously exhibiting early interest in a career in the medical field.  There are no vaccines recommended at the 9-month visit, BUT it is flu season so JJ was not off the hook because he needed his second flu shot.  He took it like a champ.  He was also brave when they pricked his finger to draw blood.  He was fascinated by the bandaids and gauze the nurse applied to his finger afterward.  She recommended we leave the bandage on for at least 20 minutes.  Challenge accepted, said JJ!  He messed with it continuously until it fell off - it might have lasted 25 minutes.

We don't have any great new pictures since the last post, but here's JJ at the doctor's office today.  Pants schmants.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Happy 9-month birthday!

JJ turned 9-months old today. His 8th month saw a bunch of milestones. He has two teeth (one on top, one on bottom) and luckily they line up! He has been eating scraps of bread and had his first Cheerios yesterday. He is crawling up every person and object he can find that will allow him to stand. He has progressed from saying "dah-dah-dah-dah" to "mah-mah-mah-mah". He can climb stairs (under close observation). And he learned the multiplication table. OK, that last one is not true, but it was a big month nonetheless. Let's go to the videotape!

1) JJ does this new thing during mealtimes when he's in a really good mood.



2) JJ likes to tell us about his dining experience after each meal. You can see he keeps his face pretty tidy during dinner.



3) JJ likes to chase the cats around from time to time, particularly Kater. You can see his crawlspeed has really improved.



4) JJ likes to dance his various musical toys. He usually just hits the first couple notes and then chills out. His dancing usually consists of head-bopping, hand-waving, stomach-convulsing, or a combination thereof. Here we see demonstrations of all three techniques.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

JJ's First Halloween!

 Here are a few shots of JJ's first Halloween weekend. He got a head start on wearing orange because it was down in the 40's overnight Thursday, making for a very chilly Friday morning and a perfect opportunity to wear his snuggly Longhorn gear from Eric & Jess and his fuzzy frog slippers from Grandma.
 Saturday we released the tiger into the wilds of Springwood Park in north Austin!  We attended a Halloween party for our moms & babies group, and out of the dozen or so babies there were 2 tigers (and 2 Supermans, or, Supermen?).  Can you tell which one is JJ?
 An attempt at a group picture, but about half the babies had crawled off the blanket to locate their mommies.
 A close-up of the ferocious tiger:
 We had to stop by the swingset on our way out of the park.  This tiger cub loves to swing.
 JJ suited up again today to help pass out candy to trick-or-treaters.  We had about 65 kiddies ring our bell, so I guess the moldy jack-o-lantern didn't scare anyone away.  We noticed that several of the kids and parents referred to JJ as a "she" tonight.  It's the first time anyone's made that mistake; even when he was a newborn, he was never mistaken for a girl.  I guess this tiger costume is emasculating.  Sorry buddy!
 Hmmm, what kind of candy should I try???
Twix it is.  Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 25, 2010

A pumpkin for our pumpkin

This weekend we visited a pumpkin patch for some photo opportunities and to procure JJ's first pumpkin. I wanted to go to a real farm with a petting zoo, hay rides, corn maze, etc, but it's a 50-minute drive and JJ's probably too young for that stuff anyway. Instead we stopped at a garden center that carried pumpkins.  Stellar choice.  We got some cute pictures, but the batty owner talked our ears off.  She also insisted we put JJ on the counter for a picture with her.  This picture was taken shortly before she started telling us that her grandson was born with his intestines outside his body.  Thanks for the gory Halloween tale!

 



Andy did the dirty work of scooping out pumpkin guts.  We stuck JJ's hand in the stringy mess - we thought he would enjoy the slimy feeling - but he was rather unimpressed.  I toasted up the pumpkin seeds - mmm.
 
The carving was a joint effort (JJ slept through that part)

And here is a sneak peek of JJ's Halloween costume: a ferocious tiger. Rarrr!