Remembering Grandma NeeNee

We haven't felt much like posting lately. Our most avid blog reader and frequent commenter, JJ's Grandma NeeNee, got sick in January and we lost her on April 4.  It's heartbreaking to think that JJ will grow up without knowing her.  She was a wonderful grandma to him in the time she had.  She had a knack for choosing really special gifts for him, like his beautiful rocking horse, his endlessly entertaining Winnie-the-Pooh airplane, and his personalized growth chart and piggy bank.  She loved JJ to pieces and got such satisfaction out of making him laugh.  We miss her terribly.  Here are some of our favorite pictures of JJ and his grandma.

A couple videos

It's been a while since I've cleared the old video camera. Here are a couple quick videos from February.

First, we have JJ mowing down on his Cookie Monster birthday cake. It's a bit lengthy.

And here we have JJ being playful and attacking the cameraman. He's grown a lot more nimble than this in just the last week. More on that soon!

When the cat's away, the mice will play

With mom gone on a business trip this weekend, us two guys have the place to ourselves. Here a couple videos showing what we've been up to.

First off, we have JJ's first foray into stage 4 baby food with some delicious chunky stew. We have slipped JJ plenty of different kinds of "people food" already, so to speak, but this is his first dining experience designed with the toddler in mind.

Next up, we've got JJ feeding himself with a spoon. For about a month now, we've been able to hand him a spoon with yogurt on it and allow him to take things the rest of the way. This is the first time he's been able to take on the whole task by himself, albeit with limited success.

After all this eating, we needed to burn some calories. Here is JJ on his new backyard swingset courtesy of Grandpa Moore. I shot this "Blair Witch Project"-style, so expect a migraine after watching.

Finally, here's JJ showing off his dance moves to Sean Kingston's "Fire Burnin".

More Birthday Fun!

Mommy is slowly coming to terms with JJ turning 1 and is finally ready to accept it and post some birthday photos!  We had our family party in Austin on 2/6/11 during the Super Bowl.  On his actual birthday, JJ got to eat a tasty cupcake courtesy of Ana's mom.  JJ also had his 1-year doctor's appointment.  He got FIVE shots and took them like a real champ!  Here's how JJ measures up:

Height: 29.5 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 20 lbs 8 oz (10-25th percentile)

Head circumference: 46.5 (50-75th percentile)

The pediatrician said he is doing great and is not worried that he's skinny (it's due to all the exercise he gets) or not walking. Now for some party pics!

Birthday dinner

Presents!!

Eyeing his big present from Uncle Jeff

 

Not feeling the party hat

More interested in trying to grab the flame than blow it out. He'll have it figured out by next year :)

 JJ was a little unsure about the cake. 
But he definitely loved the vanilla ice cream we served with it.
 

Happy Birthday, JJ!

JJ turned 1 today. We did most of our celebrating yesterday at a combo Birthday/Super Bowl party with JJ's aunt, uncle, and grandparents. Just in the last couple days, JJ has gotten really good at saying mama and dada on command and there's a 50/50 chance he actually understands what he's talking about. JJ opened lots of wonderful presents and experienced the joy of cake and ice cream for the first time. We are heading up to Michigan this weekend for a joint birthday celebration with JJ's cousin, Fiona.

Now let's catch up with a few videos!

JJ was about 11 months old when this one was shot. He loves a good poke in the belly.

We baby-proofed all the cabinets in the kitchen... except for one. JJ hosts a tupperware party at least once a day and everyone is invited.

One of JJ's favorite birthday gifts so far was a tunnel, courtesy of Uncle Jeff.

That's all for now. More coming soon!

Holiday Cruise, Part 1

JJ went on his first cruise over the holidays!  We flew from Austin to Florida on Christmas Day with Aunt Jess and Uncle Eric.  On Dec. 26 we celebrated Christmas in Grandma and Grandpa's hotel room before heading to the Port of Miami to board the Norwegian Pearl and embark on our 7-day adventure!
It's been almost a MONTH since we got back home, so I guess it's about time to post some pictures.  Here we go with Part 1.

Christmas Day Observed (in our Miami hotel):

 

Embarkation (station)

 Having fun in Grandma's stateroom

One of JJ's favorite spots on the ship, the baby playroom!

Towel animal! (bunny?)

Tender ride to Samana, DR

 JJ does some re-organizing in our stateroom

Relaxing with Grandma in Tortola, BVI

Making an ugly face (one of many on this trip) on the ferry in BVI

Sweet face

Working our way through some tight spaces at Virgin Gorda, BVI

Ugly Face returns

Cruising is exhausting

 

Phew.  More pictures soon!

JJ's First Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

JJ was pretty spoiled for his first Christmas and received lots of great gifts!  He opened a few on Christmas Eve, several more on Christmas, and the rest on the 26th.  Here are some photos of 12/24 and 12/25.

Fun ball popper from Aunt Jen, Uncle Dave and Fiona:

Beautiful rocking horse from Grandma Nee Nee and Grandpa Chubby:

Gift from Santa 

Excited to find out what's inside.

JJ's new pal Scout! (J's not sure how he feels about Scout at this point.)

JJ and Daddy check out JJ's new camera.

That's all for now.  We have lots of pictures from our holiday cruise to sort through, so look for some more posts in the coming weeks!

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.

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!

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!