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!

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!