January 12, 2011
January 12, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
One Year!
I know it is cliche, but I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday that we got to meet Jesse for the first time, and yet it feels like he's always been part of our family.
At one year, it seems like Jesse is learning something new everyday. I am amazed at how much babies change and learn in just the first year. It is so fun to watch him explore the world around him and experience new things. Here are some highlights of the past month:
- Jesse still seems pretty content to just crawl and cruise around the furniture, but there have been a number of times when he has looked like he is just about to take off and start walking. He also really loves to 'walk' all over the place on his knees. He will occasionally stand on his own, but he doesn't like it when we try to get him to do it. He has also taken a couple steps from James' arms to the couch (where his rubber ducky was waiting for him).
- Jesse has become a better eater over the past month, but it's not unusual for him to pretty much refuse to eat a meal here and there. He almost always eats a good breakfast and lunch, but dinner can go either way. He is still nursing five times a day, but I'm working on cutting one of those out and replacing it with a snack (the mid to late afternoon feeding). Some new foods this month have been chicken, beef pot roast, beans, watermelon, grapes, fish (but he didn't react too favorably to it), and a donut hole (compliments of Dada for his birthday). He has also shown an increased interest in veggies (yay!). Several times he has eaten green beans, sweet potatoes, sweet peas and broccoli and seemed to enjoy it. He pretty much just feeds himself everything, unless I am giving him yogurt, oatmeal or applesauce.
- I have tried giving him whole milk in the sippy cup several times recently. He really seemed to like it the first time, but sometimes he makes faces and doesn't want it. I am hoping the transition won't be too difficult for him or me. At this point I have to hold the sippy cup while he drinks out of it, because if I just give it to him it is immediately thrown very forcefully to the ground.
- While we were in Fayetteville over the break Jesse really began to say some words. When we got back he probably had 5 or so words in his vocabulary, and now we have counted 16. Of course, some of these words he uses a lot, and others he has only said several times. Here's the running list: Mama, Dada, Pop (my Dad), nana (banana), mil and mim (milk), mum-mum, baa, roar (what the lion says), door, dog, gir-uh (giraffe), brrr (as in, it's cold), bye, ree (read), and baby. He may or may not have tried to say rhinoceros (cerus) and he does make a snuffing sound for the rhinoceros, but I don't count this as a word, even though James does.
- He understands lots of words and simple commands and questions (e.g. find the lion, where is Jesse's ear, etc.).
- Jesse really loves his books, even though it's hard to get him to sit still for an entire book most of the time. Just the other day he started bringing me books to read to him. I didn't know if that's what he wanted at first, but he brought me one book and stood by the couch as I read the entire thing. Then I asked him to go get me another book to read and he did. He kept doing this until we had looked at nearly half his books (of course, as time went on, he wanted to look at fewer and fewer pages of the books before bringing me a new one). He has been doing this with my parents, too, while they have been here.
- His favorite toy is his Noah's Ark, because he loves opening and shutting the door and putting the animals in and taking them out. A week or so ago, he was really fixated with the lion and carried him around everywhere.
- We think Jesse has officially learned to throw a fit when he doesn't get his way. The baby days are over and the toddler years have arrived. The other night he was in such a foul mood because he only wanted watermelon for dinner, and then James wouldn't let him come in the kitchen while I was cleaning up after dinner. Jesse was crawling towards the kitchen, and all James did was sit down in his way so that he couldn't get in, and he just lost it. This guy can have some major attitudes and opinions. I can already tell that this stage will be very exhausting at times.
- He has two more bottom teeth coming in, making a total of 8 teeth.
And here are some more pictures, just for fun.
I think he looks really sassy in this one, taken on New Year's Day:
but really sweet in this one (just seconds after the previous one):
At one year, it seems like Jesse is learning something new everyday. I am amazed at how much babies change and learn in just the first year. It is so fun to watch him explore the world around him and experience new things. Here are some highlights of the past month:
- Jesse still seems pretty content to just crawl and cruise around the furniture, but there have been a number of times when he has looked like he is just about to take off and start walking. He also really loves to 'walk' all over the place on his knees. He will occasionally stand on his own, but he doesn't like it when we try to get him to do it. He has also taken a couple steps from James' arms to the couch (where his rubber ducky was waiting for him).
- Jesse has become a better eater over the past month, but it's not unusual for him to pretty much refuse to eat a meal here and there. He almost always eats a good breakfast and lunch, but dinner can go either way. He is still nursing five times a day, but I'm working on cutting one of those out and replacing it with a snack (the mid to late afternoon feeding). Some new foods this month have been chicken, beef pot roast, beans, watermelon, grapes, fish (but he didn't react too favorably to it), and a donut hole (compliments of Dada for his birthday). He has also shown an increased interest in veggies (yay!). Several times he has eaten green beans, sweet potatoes, sweet peas and broccoli and seemed to enjoy it. He pretty much just feeds himself everything, unless I am giving him yogurt, oatmeal or applesauce.
- I have tried giving him whole milk in the sippy cup several times recently. He really seemed to like it the first time, but sometimes he makes faces and doesn't want it. I am hoping the transition won't be too difficult for him or me. At this point I have to hold the sippy cup while he drinks out of it, because if I just give it to him it is immediately thrown very forcefully to the ground.
- While we were in Fayetteville over the break Jesse really began to say some words. When we got back he probably had 5 or so words in his vocabulary, and now we have counted 16. Of course, some of these words he uses a lot, and others he has only said several times. Here's the running list: Mama, Dada, Pop (my Dad), nana (banana), mil and mim (milk), mum-mum, baa, roar (what the lion says), door, dog, gir-uh (giraffe), brrr (as in, it's cold), bye, ree (read), and baby. He may or may not have tried to say rhinoceros (cerus) and he does make a snuffing sound for the rhinoceros, but I don't count this as a word, even though James does.
- He understands lots of words and simple commands and questions (e.g. find the lion, where is Jesse's ear, etc.).
- Jesse really loves his books, even though it's hard to get him to sit still for an entire book most of the time. Just the other day he started bringing me books to read to him. I didn't know if that's what he wanted at first, but he brought me one book and stood by the couch as I read the entire thing. Then I asked him to go get me another book to read and he did. He kept doing this until we had looked at nearly half his books (of course, as time went on, he wanted to look at fewer and fewer pages of the books before bringing me a new one). He has been doing this with my parents, too, while they have been here.
- His favorite toy is his Noah's Ark, because he loves opening and shutting the door and putting the animals in and taking them out. A week or so ago, he was really fixated with the lion and carried him around everywhere.
- We think Jesse has officially learned to throw a fit when he doesn't get his way. The baby days are over and the toddler years have arrived. The other night he was in such a foul mood because he only wanted watermelon for dinner, and then James wouldn't let him come in the kitchen while I was cleaning up after dinner. Jesse was crawling towards the kitchen, and all James did was sit down in his way so that he couldn't get in, and he just lost it. This guy can have some major attitudes and opinions. I can already tell that this stage will be very exhausting at times.
- He has two more bottom teeth coming in, making a total of 8 teeth.
And here are some more pictures, just for fun.
I think he looks really sassy in this one, taken on New Year's Day:
but really sweet in this one (just seconds after the previous one):
Rhinoceroses Snort and Snuff
Jesse has decided he really loves the book "Moo Baa La La La" again. It used to be one of the only things that could predictably pacify him, then he grew bored with it for a while, and now he thinks it's hilarious. My parents are here for Jesse's birthday (today!) and I got a quick video of his reaction to it as we read it to him. He loves to "snuff" with the rhinos. (Oh, and please excuse the snoring in the background. That's not one of the animals. It's my Dad.)
I hope to have some birthday updates soon. We're doing a little party for him on Saturday, so stay tuned!
I hope to have some birthday updates soon. We're doing a little party for him on Saturday, so stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
What Does the Sheep Say?
I am finally back in the blogging world after an unintended hiatus. The holidays ended up being busier than I expected, and then when we got back it seemed that I stayed swamped with trying to get things back in order around here. I had good intentions to do some blogging last night, but my plans were thwarted when Jesse unexpectedly emptied the entire contents of his stomach at bedtime. He seems fine today, and really didn't act like he felt bad yesterday, except for refusing to take even so much as a bite of dinner (which isn't entirely out of character for him anyway). So since James was working last night, I spent my evening in the aftermath of Jesse's episode, which meant running two big loads of laundry, cleaning the floors, Jesse's furniture, Jesse, and myself. Thankfully Jesse appeared to feel just fine and he played in his crib as if nothing had happened while I restored some order to his room.
So on a totally different note, I'd like to share some videos of Jesse's new words. Over the past month Jesse has really begun to understand so much of what we say and has added a number of words to his vocabulary. It's so fun to watch him begin to make all these connections! He is now saying mama, dada, baa (everytime he sees a sheep or is asked what the sheep says), rah (when asked what the lion says), nana (for banana), and doh (for both door and dog). Whenever he adds a new word to his vocabulary, we hear it all the time. For instance, 'door' is one of his newer words and whenever we leave the building he says this everytime we pass through a door, which is four times. Here he is telling me what the sheep and lion say and saying 'dog'.
So on a totally different note, I'd like to share some videos of Jesse's new words. Over the past month Jesse has really begun to understand so much of what we say and has added a number of words to his vocabulary. It's so fun to watch him begin to make all these connections! He is now saying mama, dada, baa (everytime he sees a sheep or is asked what the sheep says), rah (when asked what the lion says), nana (for banana), and doh (for both door and dog). Whenever he adds a new word to his vocabulary, we hear it all the time. For instance, 'door' is one of his newer words and whenever we leave the building he says this everytime we pass through a door, which is four times. Here he is telling me what the sheep and lion say and saying 'dog'.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Christmas Time
We've had lots of fun being in Fayetteville over the break. In fact, we've stayed so busy that I've hardly had time to get on the computer. It has been so fun spending time with family and friends, seeing James' little sister get married, watching Jesse experience the Christmas season for the first time, and getting to go out on a date for the first time in a couple months. Here is a little update on the festivities so far.
On Monday Jesse and his cousin Ben got to hang out for the first time since July. They had a blast...that is, until Jesse started playing bully (he doesn't understand that his "pats" on the head are a little too rough).
Here they are playing in Ben's tunnel:
Riding Grandma's rocking horse:
and playing with Ben's latch box:
James and Jesse had fun crushing peppermints for candy cane cookies:
Tonight we had fun eating dinner at Hugo's with my parents and seeing the lights on the square. Jesse had the time of his life at Hugo's. He became good friends with an older couple at a table close to ours. He kept looking at them and smiling and giggling and offering them pieces of his food (and of course, they were smiling and laughing, too). He was much more sedated on our walk around the square, but seemed to like seeing the lights and ponies.
He was so wound-up after our outing that we let him stay up a little later to burn off some energy.
On Monday Jesse and his cousin Ben got to hang out for the first time since July. They had a blast...that is, until Jesse started playing bully (he doesn't understand that his "pats" on the head are a little too rough).
Here they are playing in Ben's tunnel:
Riding Grandma's rocking horse:
and playing with Ben's latch box:
James and Jesse had fun crushing peppermints for candy cane cookies:
Tonight we had fun eating dinner at Hugo's with my parents and seeing the lights on the square. Jesse had the time of his life at Hugo's. He became good friends with an older couple at a table close to ours. He kept looking at them and smiling and giggling and offering them pieces of his food (and of course, they were smiling and laughing, too). He was much more sedated on our walk around the square, but seemed to like seeing the lights and ponies.
He was so wound-up after our outing that we let him stay up a little later to burn off some energy.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Eleven Months
I can't believe that in less than a month we'll have a one-year-old on our hands. This year has seriously flown by, and I can't even believe that Jesse is the same baby we brought home from the hospital. He has changed so much and so quickly.
Jesse's life at 11 months:
- He has been an especially great sleeper over the past month, still sleeping around 12 hours at night and taking two good naps a day. His naps have gotten a little longer recently, lasting anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours rather than just an hour or slightly more. He is also sleeping a little later (closer to 7)and putting himself to sleep extremely easily (little to no crying), and I'm hoping that continues.
- Something clicked several weeks ago, and Jesse quite suddenly went from barely eating any solids to eating decent amounts two times a day. He is eating about 4 oz. of yogurt and fruit for breakfast and usually eats pieces of bread, turkey and some type of cheese for lunch along with some fruit. We give him a little bit of whatever we're having for dinner, but some nights he is just not interested. He really doesn't seem to care for green vegetables at all, and is not overly enthusiastic about orange veggies but will usually eat some if offered them. Any time we offer him a new food or a food that he hasn't had very much of, he is very skeptical and has to examine it with his eyes (and sometimes his fingers) before he will put it (or let us put it) in his mouth. I have to hold the food out, let him stare it down and then let him choose himself to take a bite...otherwise he just swats my hand away and gets upset. His favorite foods are yogurt, any type of fruit, bread, turkey, cheese and mashed potatoes.
- Just today he stood for about 5-10 seconds by himself twice.
- He says "mama" and "dada" all the time now. When he was sick he just constantly moaned "mama" (sometimes babbling and other times wanting me) and now that James has a break from school and has been around a lot more, he has really been into saying "dada". We think he might also be trying to say milk when he's hungry, but it's hard to tell (it comes out sounding like "mim" and "mil").
- Until recently, he didn't seem to be phased by another kid taking a toy out of his hands in the tot lot; he would just grab another toy and play with it. Now he is beginning to fight back and gets quite upset when something is taken from him.
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of things, but you probably really just want the pictures, so here are a few of those:
Jesse's life at 11 months:
- He has been an especially great sleeper over the past month, still sleeping around 12 hours at night and taking two good naps a day. His naps have gotten a little longer recently, lasting anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours rather than just an hour or slightly more. He is also sleeping a little later (closer to 7)and putting himself to sleep extremely easily (little to no crying), and I'm hoping that continues.
- Something clicked several weeks ago, and Jesse quite suddenly went from barely eating any solids to eating decent amounts two times a day. He is eating about 4 oz. of yogurt and fruit for breakfast and usually eats pieces of bread, turkey and some type of cheese for lunch along with some fruit. We give him a little bit of whatever we're having for dinner, but some nights he is just not interested. He really doesn't seem to care for green vegetables at all, and is not overly enthusiastic about orange veggies but will usually eat some if offered them. Any time we offer him a new food or a food that he hasn't had very much of, he is very skeptical and has to examine it with his eyes (and sometimes his fingers) before he will put it (or let us put it) in his mouth. I have to hold the food out, let him stare it down and then let him choose himself to take a bite...otherwise he just swats my hand away and gets upset. His favorite foods are yogurt, any type of fruit, bread, turkey, cheese and mashed potatoes.
- Just today he stood for about 5-10 seconds by himself twice.
- He says "mama" and "dada" all the time now. When he was sick he just constantly moaned "mama" (sometimes babbling and other times wanting me) and now that James has a break from school and has been around a lot more, he has really been into saying "dada". We think he might also be trying to say milk when he's hungry, but it's hard to tell (it comes out sounding like "mim" and "mil").
- Until recently, he didn't seem to be phased by another kid taking a toy out of his hands in the tot lot; he would just grab another toy and play with it. Now he is beginning to fight back and gets quite upset when something is taken from him.
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of things, but you probably really just want the pictures, so here are a few of those:
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Head Banging
Jesse is such a boy. Today out of the blue he started throwing his head back into the back of his high chair. Then later this afternoon we were down in the tot lot and he started doing this into the hard concrete wall (that time it didn't last very long).
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