Ghetto mall santa

Dave, Lisa, and I waited in line today to get Jake's picture with Santa.
1. Don't malls usually do more for the Santa set? I was surprised to
see the green sheet and nothing else.
2. Santa smelled so much like cigarette smoke. And his arms were
shaking when I handed Jake to him. I would've left but Jake reached
for him, cooed, and snuggled into his beard. (gag).
3. You can tell from this blog that Jake isn't one to smile at the
camera. Well he turned to the camera, tilted his head, and smiled from
ear to ear. You could see his teeth! That's when the picture lady said
'the camera just broke.'

So Jake's first Santa picture wasn't a success. I think we'll take him
to Palo Alto and see if we have better luck with the rich people's
Santa.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thirty-one turkey days under my belt and I can't remember feeling so utterly and completely thankful.

Jake loves Nana

I just came across this sweet picture of Nana and Jake from our visit
to Massachusetts in October. Jake just took to her... I'm not sure why
she looks so scared of me!

Milestones

Holding his own bottle AND drinking formula...all in one day! It's soy
formula - he's already showing signs that he's a true Californian.

Mmmm...prunes

We haven't been that successful when it comes to Jake and food. He
just didn't take to solids like we expected, and he'd meltdown soon
after he was put in his highchair (removing the tray helped-the tray
definitely freaked him out). We were at a loss until Dave remembered
a funny story where Katie gobbled up two containers of prunes. We
found some stage 1 prunes, gave it a try and sure enough he ate up the
prunes like they were candy. Its been two successful nights of
prunes. Now I'm just waiting to see what kind of payback arrives in
his diaper.

Jake the giraffe

We had great weather this weekend so that meant lots of time spent
outside. We went for walks, to the playground to go on the swings, and
to the farmers' market in Mountain View with Aunt Erica and Uncle Nick
(or at least Dave and I are hoping he'll end up 'uncle' Nick). :) Notice that I didn't make the kid swing with a million blankets stuffed around him. I'm starting to realize he wont' fall out.

And (drum roll) Jake slept through the night!!! I can't tell you how refreshed Dave and I felt at 7 this morning, and we didn't even make it to bed until after 12. We'll see what tonight
brings!

Creepy baby

I was getting ready to throw out the box that Jake's exersaucer came in when I wondered: How does the exersaucer baby keep his khakis and button-down so wrinkle-free when he's bouncing around?

Caught dad!

I think we spend 90% of our time untangling his little fists from our
hair.

Hump day

Tonight Dave and I sang selections from 'The Sound of Music' for 10
minutes while trying to comfort Jake as he cried/moaned in agony
trying so hard to poop. I ended up holding his little legs up and sure
enough he got out so much we used half a package of wipes and wondered
if he still weighed 18 pounds (his weight on Monday). We'd been
waiting for this day for a week and Dave and I just cheered him on.
Then his little red face relaxed and a hint of a smile appeared.
Victory! Wednesdays used to mean splitting a bottle of wine and
watching a movie -- this was so much better than that.

What I wish he would do

He's been up fussing since 12 and I just got him to fall back asleep
in my lap 3 hrs. later. I really may just sit here until morning - I'm
too afraid to move!

Sitting up & spitting up

Here he is sitting up on his own! He started sitting about a week ago. I think he did it for the first time about three weeks ago, but I got excited and let go of him to clap, and he fell over and smacked his head, so I hadn't tried it again until this past week.

In addition to sitting up, Jake has flat-out refused to drink formula. He had two bottles of it this weekend without a problem, but today he refused it. Which makes me being at work a little bit of a problem. I came home today to try to help Dave out and we tested him by putting breastmilk in a bottle. He drank that just fine. Then we mixed a bit of formula with breastmilk and he just wouldn't take it. When Dave finally got him to get a bit in his mouth, he pulled his head away from the bottle, looked at Dave and SPIT it right in Dave's face!

We're hoping maybe it's all due to his teeth, but Dave bought about every type of formula there is tonight to try again tomorrow, and I'm rearranging meetings so I can come home and feed him if need be.

Why do these things always happen the day after our pediatrician appointments?

Day at the beach 2

Here he is again at the beach in Santa Cruz... a little happier to be on his blanket. We were trying to get a picture for our Christmas card. I had a nice big Christmas sweater and hat to put him in, but even at the coast it was 80 degrees. I'll torture him by putting him on cold, wet sand, but I won't put him in a sweater when it's too warm.

Day at the beach

Dave and I took Jake to Santa Cruz today to celebrate his 6-month birthday and escape the heat of San Jose. Jake loved watching the waves, but whenever I tried to put him down on the wet sand, he would cry. Being the horrible parents that we are, Dave and I did it a few times so we could get a picture of his cute crying face and sneak in a few laughs as he desperately tried to keep his little feet off of the sand.

Brunch with the big people

This morning we went to Stacks in Menlo Park with our friends Chris and Gary. Jake just sat there for an hour, looking cute, chewing on the strap of his little seat, and listening intently to the adult conversation (notice how I'm not)... I was really impressed considering we were up ALL night with him. He had his first taste of formula yesterday and I think it didn't settle well. He woke up at 2:00 and there was nothing we could do to make him feel better. Grandpa came to visit/babysit this afternoon and he had another bottle of formula so we'll see how tonight goes. Hopefully well, because we have an unexpected open day tomorrow and I'm so excited to spend the entire thing with Jake before I face another week of work.

Mother of the year

Here he is all ready for bed! With a patch of bananas dried in his
eyebrow and under his nose (I'm not sure how I missed that when I gave
him his bath), in his Christmas sleep sack because I'm behind on
laundry, and covered in lint because he managed to roll around on the
hardwood floors in his room and I haven't swiffered in forever. But he
is going to bed on a just-washed crib sheet... one point for me,

Then and now

How is it possible that little baby below is now this big? Here he is
eating oatmeal (with his favorite bib from Aunt Ashley). He also sat
up on his own tonight. What next? Am I going to come home tomorrow and
find him playing the Wii?

Happy six-month birthday, Jake

Is it really possible that this was taken six months ago???

His new tooth works

I was feeding Jake today when he bit me. Who knew one tiny little
tooth could hurt so much? I gasped in surprise and pain and squeezed my eyes shut while the pain passed. When I opened them he was looking at me with wide eyes, then his face just crumpled and he wailed! Poor little thing. He's becoming so much more aware every day...growing so (too) fast.

Every time I try to get a picture of his tooth he makes this face. He's such a little tease!

Holding hands with dragon

Dragon

Soon after I found out I was pregnant I bought this purple Gund stuffed dragon. I thought it was adorable, soft, and just sweet. I put
it on a shelf when I was decorating the 'baby's' room. I couldn't wait to play
with it with my new baby. The further along I got in my pregnancy I
was really lucky to get so many things from friends, family, and even
work. But the toys were hard plastic rings, or primary-colored blocks,
or things that crinkled when you felt them. I felt stupid and put the
dragon in a sterolite container. Obviously I didn't know what a baby
should play with. I was going to give the dragon to GoodWill but Jake
recently spotted it. He squealed and reached for it.

Now every night before bed we play on his floor and all he wants is
his dragon. He'll scoot over rings and teethers and things that make
sounds just to get to it. And every night it just about melts my heart.

Warning

The picture you are about to see may cause you to have an overwhelming
urge to jump through your monitor and cuddle the subject.

Take the picture already

So I can keep bouncing in my new toy you got me for my six-month
birthday!! And next time don't hide my feet on me so I can bounce
without slipping all around! You and dad may have gotten a good laugh
but it's cruel!

Monday mornings aren't so bad...

when you get to wake up to this.

He's full of smiles, squeals, and rolls all around in his crib (hence the blurry picture - caught him just after a roll). All this before he's even had his first cup of coffee.

Best $20 ever spent

Toys come and go, but man he loves his mobile. It's the cure-all for any breakdown. It mesmerizes him!

We just put up the ugly, mesh 'safe bumper' because he was getting his legs stuck in between the slats of his crib. He has a perfectly nice bumper that came with his bedding but all this SIDS research has me so paranoid he'll be lucky if he ever gets to sleep with a blanket or
stuffed animal.

Whheee!!

This afternoon I took Jake for a walk downtown to Starbucks with a
stop at the park on the way back. It was our little routine back
before Dave was on leave and I was home alone with him. A month
changes everything... He used to give a big grin when I first put him
in the swing but today it was a loud, hearty belly laugh followed by
endless giggles. Completely made my day!!!

Tiny toes

Last night we met up with our friends Julie and Justin and their baby,
Lucas. Lucas and Jake are just two weeks apart in age but SO
different. Lucas is long and thin. Jake really just looked like a
little linebacker. He's half the length of Lucas but has 5 pounds on
him! I wish I had taken a picture. The biggest difference was their
feet. Lucas' were seriously twice the size of Jake's. I gave his size
1 Nikes a shot today (1 = 0 - 3 months) and took this picture. When I
lifted him up from the chair they both fell off. Looks like it's just
Robeez for the near future!

Yum yum dim sum

We went out for dim sum today. It's the perfect place to bring jake --
it's usually loud enough to keep him asleep when he nods off in the
car on the way there. If he does wake up he can make as much noise as
he likes and it blends in. Plus there's all that action - he loved
watching the carts go by. With how fast he's growing it won't be long
before he's eating dumplings with us!

Trying so hard!

I think we'll have a crawler in no time! He tries so hard and gets so
frustrated. He can scoot himself to a toy, but uses mainly his legs.
He just pushes his little face along the floor (awful to watch!).

Jake sends a big thanks to Aunt Amy who taught me about mobile
blogging. More typos but way more posts!

Lunch time

this was the face that greeted me when I came home for lunch yesterday.

Going on six months

Jake is almost six months! And now that I'm back at work, I can actually update his blog. Here's a quick rundown:

Likes: His toes, his exersaucer, and his beloved French teething toy, Sophie the giraffe. Have you heard of this thing? It's all the rage and it costs a whopping $20. I refused to give into it until he started eyeing any other little baby who had one. So his "Sassy" whoozit has been replaced. Although all the other babies that have a Sophie are usually scooting around in a Bugaboo, not a Bob.

Dislikes: being held for too long (he used to be so cuddly!), his carseat, sleeping through the night. I seriously wonder if in ten years I'm still going to be sitting in the rocking chair at 3 am rocking him back to sleep.

Milestones: He rolls all around now and is starting to scoot! I'll feel much better when he catches on to lifting up his face. And he got his first tooth on November 1st! That was a big week - new president, new tooth.

Jake loves being home with Dave. And Dave honestly has being a stay-at-home parent down. He is so much better at it than I am. I go home at lunch every day and Jake is dressed and happy and there is lunch on the table for me. When Dave used to get home he'd usually find me teary-eyed in the rocking chair holding a half-eaten bag of fig newmans. I don't know how he does it - I'm thoroughly impressed... and very grateful.