6 months; his nanny

On 17 Apr, Jake hit six months.  October actually seems like a long time ago in most respects.  But many things don't seem as old hat (or rut-like) as I expected at this point.  For instance, changing diapers isn't nearly as bad as I expected, on average.  Maybe that's an emotional defense mechanism, since there's 2-3 more years of it?  Of course, I change a relatively small portion of them.  And giving him the one last bottle most nights hasn't worn thin - he's so darn cozy.  It helps that he goes right back to sleep, too.

He's mostly sleeping through the nights now, with the exception of the 10 pm bottle.  He's usually up between 5:30 and 6, but we can deal with that.  His worst sleeping is during the daytime naps, which he doesn't care for at all.  He'd much rather be playing and socializing.


He's still very happy with his Nanny, Malisha.  Here's finally a picture of the two of them.  He actually smiles more when she shows up than when I do, but I'm okay with that - it builds a lot of trust.

The previous video I posted may have pre- maturely indicated that he's crawling.  I may have even said as much in other forums.  What can I say - I got excited!  He is good at getting up on all four now, and moving all over - but it's more like he's swimming the fly. Which thankfully slows him down a bit.  He's also pretty adept at sitting and playing with toys, though he's a long way from getting up there on his own.  Really, it's amazing how much more interactive he's gotten with toys in the last couple weeks - from chasing them to man-handling them.  I still think it's true that he's past peak cuteness, but he's rounding out by being very funny and interesting (and round)!

I love this shot.  Jake's Papa Lolo takes good care of the local squirrels (especially since raising a brood who's Mom died at the shop).  Here's Papa Lolo intent on Jake; Jake intent on some TV; and one of Papa Lolo's 'other grandchildren' intent on a nut on the porch.

And below, Jake's 6 month lobster shot.  Thanks to his Aunt Jen and Uncle Scott for the get-up!

 
Finally, don't forget the good times with Nana Mimi on the Cape!  I've realized there are way more pictures I'd like to share this time than I should post in a blog.  So I've posted more photos on Picasa - check them out at https://picasaweb.google.com/gtibboel/TheBoy?authkey=Gv1sRgCICX5seo8qDFlAE#!

And so the trouble begins . . .

The video says it all . . .

You might think a changing table is not the best place to try this, but after a couple days of him working pretty diligently, that's where it finally all came together for him (Friday, April 15)!  Clean dipes give you wings!

Getting cuter!

It's Spring in Boston!
(Never mind that snow)

Sorry this is so late!  Since Laurie went back to work, we've both been quite a bit busier.  More so her than me, but apparently enough to keep me off the blog.  So I've got a month and a half to catch up with!  The time lapse version:  rolling over; grabbing (and drooling on) everything; digs the jumper; has crazy jumping legs where ever he is; really digs his nanny; thinks whistling is funny; and just started eating from a spoon.  And he definitely looks like Jake now - he's well past the generic baby look.  Does he look more like Laurie or me, you ask?  No idea, really.  His eyes match mine.  Everything else is all him.

Rolling over:  even though his first ever rolls were front to back, he seems to have little interest in being on his back now - even when being on his belly is frustrating him (though that's getting less often, too).  So he's almost always trying to get onto his stomach if he's not already there.  Once there, he wriggles around a lot.  Sometimes it looks like trying to crawl - just coincidence, or does he know?  Sometimes he has his tiny baby butt in the air.  More often he has his giant baby head lofted up in a novice bhujanga (aww - what a cute little cobra!).  Never together yet.  If I try to coach his legs under him to a crawl position, he spring boards forward mightily - is Striking Cobra a dynamic yoga move???

We've been taking somewhat fewer pictures,
but they're all so darn cute!

 Grabbing/drooling:  frankly, I don't know how he doesn't get dehydrated.  He's a regular fountain.  My favorite is that he tries to kiss (or eat?) himself in the mirror now - leaving a snail trail behind, of course.  And if an object can't be brought to the mouth, he'll gladly bring the mouth to the object.  Nothing placed within reach is safe.  Including Laurie's hair.





The jumper:  he's preferred standing to laying down or sitting for at least a couple months now.  And he's been jumping as long as he's been standing.  So as soon as he was big enough to get in the jumper, we let him have at it.  Even when his toes barely touched the ground, ol' crazy legs managed to bounce it.  Only downside:  when he makes himself spit up.  The hand-me down bouncer (from cuz's Nadia and Alexa) plays sounds when it gets bounced hard enough - Jake uses that as a warm up.

Whistling and clapping and snapping:  He loves 'em!  Which leaves me acting the circus clown just to get a chuckle, and sometimes settling for a smirk.  He's a little bit over the animal noises, and nuzzling his neck most of the time.  Belly zerberts are still a crack-up, though!  And flying high is always worth a smile.

The spoon:  Last Sunday was our first go at the spoon; a little rice cereal with milk.  He took pretty well to it:  opened his mouth for it;  kept his hands out of the way;  and drooled almost all of it back out.  Stayed in a good mood about the whole thing, to include cleaning his face.  Overall, a grand success.  A week later, and he's practically a pro:  it's about the only thing he does calmly.  And today "we" finally got around to trying banana instead.  I wasn't home yet, but word from Mom is that he's all about bananas.  Can you have a sweet tooth if you don't have teeth?

In other news, he's clearly found his feet and toes.  Rolling over often starts with grabbing his toes, then tossing the whole mess of arms and legs off to the side.  It's cute, but makes changing diapers a bit of a challenge -- he still thinks being naked is always an invitation to play.  It also makes swaddling that much harder, but we've more or less cut that out.  Can't keep him in anyway, and the fight to get him in it no longer outweighs any eventual calming benefits.









A late add (as of April 10):  I forgot to add the 4th and 5th month lobster shots!  His 6-month birthday is in one week.  Are you ready?

February 17, 2011

March 17, 2011

** update ** photos and video added.  And we've concluded that he's as cute as he can possibly get.  He may get funn(i)er, but cute can only be downhill from here.