Happy 2/3rd's Birthday!

JJ hit a big milestone today, making it 2/3 of the way through his first year. In his 8th month, he learned to crawl and saw the Pacific Ocean. We have the footage to prove it!

Let's start with a good laugh from a couple weeks ago. Throwing a ball at the wall is hysterical!

For my 30th birthday, Stephanie took us to San Diego. You may have already seen the pictures, but here is the video of JJ hitting the beach for the very first time.

After we got home, Grandma and Grandpa Moore came out to visit. As soon as they left, JJ decided he was ready to crawl. I posted one video already, but his skills are slowly improving. Here he is playing fetch with the remote.

And this past Sunday, he perfected the long-distance army crawl.

His skills have continued to develop. He is working on improving his speed, getting his belly off the ground, and adding hurdles.

JJ is crawling ...sort of

JJ finally decided to do a little crawling. His technique is all his own. And he needs to be coerced by his favorite toy: the remote control.

Weekend in San Diego!

We just got home from a fun weekend getaway.  We were in San Diego less than 48 hours but we think we hit the high points, and we had a great time.  The weather was fabulous, with low 70s during the day and 60s at night.  JJ got to wear some cool-weather clothes that have been hanging in his closet at the ready.

Other than being on a sleep strike the first day, JJ was a very good boy.  He didn't cry on the plane rides and received many compliments from fellow passengers (both on his behavior and his cuteness!). 

This little monkey is ready to board the flight to San Diego!

Strolling through the Gaslamp Quarter on Friday night.

Here are a series of pictures of JJ & Mommy at the San Diego Zoo.

(This might look like a goat statue, but it's a real goat!!)

And now JJ & Daddy at the zoo:

Zebra!

Koala!

Panda!

We did A LOT of walking during our 5 hours at the zoo and really worked up an appetite for delicious IN 'N' OUT BURGERS!

Next up was a trip to Mission Beach.  This was JJ's first time feeling sand in his toes.  He seemed to like how it felt, and we succeeded in preventing him from eating any sand.

Next JJ sticks his feet into the Pacific Ocean.  It was cold!  He was a little shocked by the temperature but was a good sport.

 

After breakfast on Sunday, we walked through a Farmer's Market and were given free pluots (plum/apricot hybrids).  I let JJ taste mine and he LOVED it!  He slurped on it aggressively until I made him stop.

We enjoyed walking aroud Old Town on Sunday, seeing the historic buildings and hitting the shops.  We got JJ a really cool frog puppet.  Here are JJ and Dad with the artillery in Old Town Park:

Good times.  Now back to the grind for a few days, and then a visit from Grandma and

Grandpa!

Happy 7-month birthday, JJ!

Wow, it's already been seven months! JJ continues to experience a lot of new 'firsts', many of which involve foods. Our first video today lets us peek in on one such event with a magnum opus we like to call "JJ Eats Yogurt for the First Time". Spoiler alert: The food he tries is yogurt!

Next up, we have a short clip of JJ beat-boxing. (A little warning on the YouTube videos: You may wish to click on the video itself to get redirected to YouTube.com and then hit the maximize button.)

In his free-time, JJ has been mastering the Jumperoo. Is it a musical instrument? You be the judge.

Finally, JJ loses his marbles. If you had heard the goofy voices Steph was making, you would have been laughing, too!

Baby's first Labor Day weekend

First, here are a couple photos from last weekend's visit to the Austin Children's Museum. Our assessment of the excursion was that JJ is too young for most of the "exhibits," but he did find a few things that captured his interest in the baby & toddler room.

Here's JJ last week modeling his blue & gold ensemble, pictured with Ana's daughter Cady.

Our big activity this Saturday was hosting a playgroup for my online mommies & babies group. Seven moms and their babies (all between 3-8 months old) gathered in JJ's play area. It was fun for the moms to compare notes on all things baby, and the little ones did great playing on the floor together. They're all too young to fight over toys yet! Of the 8 babies, just 2 were girls; here's JJ with the little ladies:

All summer JJ has been sleeping in a onesie or his Spiderman t-shirt and shorts, all wrapped up in a swaddle. Recently he has been rolling over onto his belly during the night and trying to sleep face down, so we decided to do away with the swaddle. That means he needs some warmer pj's and we're glad we can finally get some use out of all his cute footie jammies!

A video update

Here are a couple videos of JJ being JJ. In the first, he shows off his ability to sit upright. He was about 5.5 months when this was shot and his skills have improved tremendously since then. The video is a couple minutes long, but worth sticking around for the "twist" ending.

Our second video shows JJ showing off in his bouncer. He loves playing around in his sea-creature-themed habitat for about 10 minutes at a clip, but then very quickly turns when he's had enough fun. Here we are teasing him with toy in much the same way you would a dog.

Saturday in the park

JJ has been to the park several times with Ana (his nanny), so it was about time we took him.  We had fun pushing him in the swing.  He kicked his chubby little legs like crazy and enjoyed the ride.  We didn't stay long because it was way too HOT!  We'll have to visit the park a lot this fall when it cools off.

Summertiiiiime, and the living's easy

Here are just a few pictures from the last week or so of JJ enjoying his summer. 

We really don't spend much time outside these days because we've had highs in the 100's lately, but we did some frolicking in the grass one evening last week.

 And here he is trying out the new floor tiles.  Bring on the crawling, JJ, we're ready for you!

Chicago: Baby City!

The weekend of July 30 - August 1, the ole Durham crew got together in Chicago. 

JJ got to meet 9 of our bestest friends and the 4 little boys our friends have spawned.  People traveled from Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Durham and Madison (hence the cheesehead).

 11 adults, 5 kids and several dozen beers in 1 house (+ 1 hotel room) made for a crazy fun weekend!

Turns out getting 5 kids to smile or even look in one direction at the same time is beyond our abilities!

(From left: Kierlin, JJ, Ben, Adam and Zach)

6-Month Check-Up

JJ had his 6-month visit with the pediatrician today.  He's still a healthy boy.  His current stats are below:

Weight - 17 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile)
Height - 26.5 inches (50th percentile)
Head Circumference - 44.5 cm (75th percentile)

Pretty average except for that big noggin!  And I was adamant that his head only looked big because of the lack of hair.  I stand corrected.

The doctor's advice was to keep adding more foods to JJ's diet, increase the amounts we're giving him, and get him sleeping through the night on a regular basis.  Do you hear that, son?!

He was a tough little guy when he received his immunizations (3 shots and 1 oral vaccine).  He cried for less than 30 seconds this time, and I was proud :)  Here he is back home after the appointment, showcasing his sitting ability.