today i am…

8 Months Old!!

Last night after dinner I said to Jamie “I can’t believe that Jay is going to be 8 months old tomorrow!” to which he replied “Can you remember what it was like before we had him?”  I said “No” and he agreed.  It is so funny how much he has changed us and how we have grown together as a family in such a short amount of time.  I don’t remember what life was like without my sweet little Jay Bird in it and that’s okay because it just keeps getting better with him here.

Stats:

Length: 27 inches (no change from last month)

Weight: 17lbs 6 oz

Teeth: 6- four on top that all came at once and two on the bottom, maybe we’ll get a little break now

Hair: Still red, growing like crazy and starting to curl!  It flips out over his ears just like his Daddy’s

Things of Note:

*Jay is now completely mobile and fast!  I can put him down on the ground and less than a minute later he is off and moving, sometimes he’s already in the next room.  He isn’t always a fast crawler.  Sometimes he stops frequently to look at and take in the newest surroundings.

*He has just started pulling up on things.  Mostly he only goes to his knees before backing off cautiously (he gets his cautiousness from Daddy).  I know it won’t be long before he is pulling up on everything around him.  I have cleared all low things off of the tables in preparation of this.

*He is quite the little chatter box lately.  He talks and talks to his toys, to the animals or anything around that will listen.  Honestly, he talks the most when he is eating- we’ll have to work on those manners soon.

*He is also getting to be pretty shy.  Jay has always been pretty quiet around people that he doesn’t know but now he can be talking away and if someone he doesn’t know comes up or near he clams up.  He also hangs on pretty tight to me when we’re around people he doesn’t know or if someone else is holding him he looks for me or Daddy.  He rarely smiles at strangers either; most people say how serious he looks when they see him (when they aren’t telling me how precious he is).  Mostly I think that he is just taking everything in and that’s when he uses his serious face; he comes by this honestly- have you seen his Dad sometimes?

*Even though he is shy is so very, very curious.  Jay is constantly watching and taking in EVERYTHING around him and taking it all in.  Multiple times throughout the day he is pulling himself up over my shoulder or looking around me to get a better look at something.  We love that he is curious, remind me off this when he is going through the 100 questions phase.

*He has a little giggle box in him.  Out of the blue he will find something terribly funny and double over in laughter and then he goes and goes for quite a bit.  Both Daddy and I love this new “trick” and continue to do whatever it is that makes him laugh if possible.

*He is very ticklish- neck, legs, knees, sides- you name it, it will get him squirming.  I think he gets the last two things from me.

*As for eating and sleeping, both of those are right on track.  He has been sleeping from about 7:30- 8am every night and he is eating like a champ!  He still prefers all orange foods and fruits but he will eat most of what we give him.  He also really likes puffs and being able to feed himself; something that he hasn’t exactly perfected but we are improving by leaps and bounds daily.

Likes:

*Animals- he loves animals right now, his especially, but he also loves wild ones that we see when we are outside.  I took him to Park Ave last week and we sat on a blanket under the shade of a tree.  While we were there he LOVED watching the squirrels run around the grass and climb the trees.  He talked to them whenever they got close and climbed over me to get a better view when they scurried away from us.

*Leashes and Collars- he really loves Piper’s collar and leash.  He likes the noise that her tags make and he will follow you around the whole house if you drag the leash behind you.

*Toys that he can make noise with-  Jay likes toys that he can make noise with right now (the collar makes sense now, right?).  Don’t misunderstand, not toys that MAKE noise (those actually kind of freak him out), but toys that he can bang on or hit to together to make noise.  Stacking cups, pots and pans etc all are very fun and fall into this category.  Things with wheels and balls, things that roll away from him when he is crawling, are also very intriguing.

*Bath Time- Bath time is still a huge hit.  Actually if he is in another room when you start the water he will squeal and flap his arms around excitedly and start crawling towards the bathroom.  This is a really cute trick in my opinion.

*The Park- he really still likes being outside (just like Daddy) and watching people (just like Mommy) so the park has been a huge hit.

Dislikes:

*??? There is not much that Jay dislikes right now; overall he is happy as happy can be and I love that!  Although, if I had to pick something he didn’t like I’d have to say teething- but who would?

All in all, every new stage we get to has been so much fun and both Jamie and I have loved watching him explore and learn.  It’s also so much fun to see his personality emerge more and more each day; and freaky at the same time when you realize he’s just like one of us in one way or another…

playing keep away with the blocks became a very fun game during this photo shoot- it had both of us squealing and in fits of laughter
another round of keep away
yet another round- it really was so much fun!
a guaranteed way to freak Mommy out- crawl towards the edge of the bed as fast as you can- giggle when you get there and see Mommy running
proof of teething but also cute toes
8 Months!! You can clearly see his two bottom teeth in this one.
action shot

recharge needed

This is what my dinning room table currently looks like-

I am so excited that it’s finally fall (technically, not weather wise but I’ll take what I can get) and I have a few projects that I have been wanting to try out.  So, I plan on ignoring anything that I am supposed to be doing right now (Jay is napping- I wouldn’t ignore him too) and taking some time to recharge my batteries.  Will be back later and maybe I’ll have a few pictures of the finished projects.  Happy Fall ya’ll!

sick puppy update

Here’s the update on Piper (since I am sure you are all dying to know)…

I waited and waited to hear from the vet until I couldn’t wait any longer and decided to call and check on Piper.  When I talked to the vet they said that she had a very good day, that she hadn’t gotten sick and that she could come home whenever I wanted to pick her up.  They still aren’t really sure what caused her to get so sick but thought she was well enough to come home.  That was all I needed to hear; Jay and I headed over to pick her up as soon as he woke up from his nap.  After completing all the paperwork and putting her meds and special food in the car (she is eating something different for a few days until she is back at 100%) they brought her out from the back to us.  As soon as Jay saw her coming around the corner he started squealing and flapping his arms in delight (yup we are talking about my normally pretty serious in public child), apparently I wasn’t the only one that missed her.  It was so precious and of course caused me to tear up again…

We are all very happy to have her home, even Dolce gave her a few licks upon her return yesterday.  She has been a little more sleepy and snuggly than her usual excitable-self but that just means that I got to have a warm pillow yesterday while playing with Jay on the floor and I am not complaining one bit.  I am sure that she will be back to 100% in no time for which I am very, very thankful!

And because all posts are better with pictures here are a few that I took last week while Piper and Jay were playing on the floor. She really is so sweet to let him crawl all over her.

sharing toys
mid play kisses

which way should we go?
now is that a great puppy or what- I love how her forehead wrinkles a little because of Jay

swinging!

Lately I have been taking Jay over to the Cady Way Park, a fairly good park for kids within walking distance from the house. It has been really nice to get out during the day, especially since it has been a little cooler lately (to my Canadian family- this is all relative, it’s still in the 90’s here). Jay has really enjoyed going to the park as well.  This comes as no surprise to me since he can people watch outside there and what could be better?

Here are a few pictures of Jay swinging from our first trip.

a new favorite of mine- it looks like he is waving although he can't do that yet

lately…

Lately, I have been pretty bad at updating you all on our happenings; however, I have been pretty good at soaking up every ounce of cuteness that my little Jay bird is oozing right now.  I have been enjoying my time with him, our time as a family and the laughter that fills our house these days…

he's on the move (not full crawl yet) but still getting into "trouble"
although he has been making his fair share of messes he is happy to help clean up too
new favorite treat- an ice pop! those top teeth are really giving him trouble so the ice pop feels really great these days
peaking out to see the animals- little stinker
a not so sleepy little boy with a lopsided paci
what happens when Daddy feeds you...
playing with Piper and Daddy- Dolce looks on...
what Mommy and Daddy do at Home Depot for fun
more fun at home depot

SMTTT!!

Who’s ready for some football??

Cool Fresh Breeze in the air- check

Collegiate Apparel in size tiny- check

One adorable baby who will wear whatever his Mama puts him in and smile for the camera- check

you can't see his shirt but you can see how close he is to crawling in this one!
sweet boy

SMTTT!
one more showing a little crawling action- he can lift his hand now but doesn't know what to do with it beyond that

I am pretty sure we are set- yahoo for football season!!!  Southern Miss to the TOP!!!! And go NOLES too!

my guys

Got this shot Monday when Jamie got home from work.  Jay is always so excited to see Daddy walk through the door after being at work all day.  When he hears him come in he stops what he’s doing looks around to find him and breaks out in a huge smile as soon as he sees him.  I am not sure who is more excited to see who, it’s so precious…

today i am…

Time is flying folks- my precious little baby is 7 months old today!!  Jamie and I are really enjoying every minute with Jay right now; his personality has really developed lately, he loves to discover new things around him and is pretty happy most of the time.  Honestly, he is just an absolute joy to be around!

the stats:

*Weight: 17lbs

*Length: 27 inches long

*Teeth: two!!

Some things of note:

*Jay is about to be mobile, well I should say crawling.  He has been moving quite frequently for a while now, rolling to reach things that he wants (primarily one of his animals), scooting on the floor on his tummy, doing complete 360’s on his belly so he can see everything around him and most recently getting up on all fours and face planting to close in on items of interest.  However, I know that my days of him staying in relatively the same location as he is placed are limited since he has been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth.  He also can occasionally get one hand moved and out but that’s as far as he gets.  It won’t be long now and I am going to be in trouble when he’s on the move!

*He is quite the talker, stringing consonants and vowels together and jabbering on and on.  My current favorite is “Mama”… even though I know that it’s not intentional I still LOVE the sound of it :-)  He also says Dada, baba, yaya and something that resembles “Hey”.

*Along with talking, screaming is also a frequent thing around here lately.  He squeals and makes all kinds of high pitched noises while playing and when he is really excited.

*He can be pretty shy.  He will scream and talk like a mad man while we are the house or around people that he knows but if we are in public and someone talks to him that he isn’t familiar with he clams up.  I guess we won’t have to teach the “don’t talk to strangers” lesson to this kiddo…

*His sleeping is leaps and bounds above where it was last month!  He is sleeping through the night consistently, from 7pm to about 8am now (this took a painful week and a half of letting him cry it out it the middle of the night, but it was worth it) and naps for about 1.5 to 2hrs in the morning and about 45 minutes in the afternoon.

Likes:

*Peaches!  Honestly, he has gotten a whole lot better about eating lately and will eat just about anything we give him.  If you can force at least one bite into his mouth, the kid will gobble the rest of (fill in the blank here) down.  We have given him everything from sweet potatoes, pears and blueberries to fresh avocado.  He really is an advocate for all orange foods (maybe he thinks it will keep his hair red) so he loves sweet potatos, carrots and peaches!  I think he has a fruit compartment in is stomach like his Mama; seriously he can be full and refuse to eat another bite of anything until he realizes it’s fruit and then the mouth couldn’t open up any wider.

*The Bath.  He is still a huge fan of bath time and squeals and flails his arms around when we start to run the water regardless of how tired he is.

*His animals!  He loves, loves, loves all three of them and frequently looks for them around the house.  I don’t think that he could smile any bigger than he does when we get Piper up (out of her crate) in the morning.  He also squeals at the animals, when he is really excited. I’m not sure that they really like it but I think he’s just telling them that he loves them.

*Books are also still a huge hit. I have been really surprised by the length of his attention span.  He can stick with us (on most days) through half of a Bill Peet book and he loves most other books that are read to him.  I would still say that his favorite is Hand Hand Fingers Thumb but he really likes a lot of the ones we read.

*Peek-a-Boo is a super fun game since he has been able to rip whatever cloth we throw over his head.  He also really likes when I bounce him up and down on my legs and sing Yankee Doodle, not sure why but it does, so I continue to do it.

*Playing!!  This kid can sit for seriously long periods of time and just play.  He loves most toys although his caterpillar stacking cups are among the favorites along with Mama’s measuring spoons and measuring cups.

Dislikes:

* When I leave the room :-(  Lately (and thankfully not consistently) he will be happily playing without a care in the world until he sees me leave the room at which point he promptly bursts in to huge crocodile tears!  I can only hope that this will not get any worse…

And with that, I’ll leave you with 7 pictures for 7 months (I couldn’t pick just one) and outtakes of course.  By the way, the block pictures are getting really challenging to take, especially since I am taking them on our really high bed, but I like the challenge!

although it's hard to tell because of his shirt he is up on his hands and knees in this one! heaven help me...
"hey Mom, what's up?"

look at those lashes... sigh