A Date At The Park!

On Saturday, while Daddy, Grandpa, Uncle Adam and Auntie Leah went to the Yankee vs. Orioles game in Tampa after stopping by to see Jonah give his grand send-off wearing the Yankee outfit Grandpa got him...we had a play date with Liz and baby Abby at the park!

It had been a while since we saw them and although Abby and Jonah's schedules were a bit off we managed to get some time together. We spread out a blanket on ground where we thought wouldn't be too wet from the torrential rain just the day before and put some toys around to play with. I think Jonah was definitely more interested in Abby then his toys! It was so cute how curious he was about her!!! Jonah went after her hands and her toes and even "made nice" to her head full of hair, though I had to stop him from grabbing her beautiful flower bow. Abby was so calm and laid back about him touching her, it was sweet! They also seemed to like each others toys since they were new to one another and despite Liz and my efforts to stop them, they managed to get everything in their mouths! :) It was a short but fun visit! Hopefully we'll do it again before they leave for Baltimore.

Once Liz left to get Abby down for her nap, Jonah and I played some more on the blanket. I was surprised that he didn't venture off the blanket onto the grass, but I think it's because there was too much to look at and distract him. The noise from the wind in the trees and all the people walking by were enough to keep his curious mind busy. Then we ventured to the play ground and had fun on the swings. Jonah was always checking out the other children around him. I can't wait to get him into a play group this summer....I realized this weekend how curious and how much he wants to know about other babies, it's so cute!

Jonah is listening to Abby sing to him. Ahhh, ahhh, ahhh! :)

Now Jonah wants a hug!

...and to touch Abby's flowing locks.

...and her toes.So cute together!This one cracks me up, the sun was in their eyes! What faces! :)
I love this profile shot....

Auntie Leah Visits!

This past week Auntie Leah came home from medical school for a long weekend visit. We haven't seen her since December when Jonah was just over 4 months and just starting to roll over. Well, you can imagine how surprised she was to see how much Jonah has grown and all that he can do now! Leah couldn't believe how much Jonah is moving around, crawling and standing up. He was very curious and cute with her. He seemed to feel very comfortable going to her. He even pulled on her hair, of course. It was so nice to see Leah and spend some time together! We even had a late night out with everyone including Jonah who was so great at the restaurant sitting on a high chair playing with mushed peas and bread while we ate. It was an adventurous night for us since we didn't know how Jonah would do being out late, but he had fun, blabbing away, loving all the attention that he gets from everyone, and then falling asleep in the stroller as we walked around St. Armands (he even stayed asleep for the night)....my little baby is growing up!

A visit with Auntie Leah!I love this one! :) Jonah is so curious about everyone!
Laughing together.

Happy 7 Months, Jonah!

Jonah is 7 months old today! I know I always say this, but I can't believe how fast time is going by! Jonah is (knock on wood, or whatever you want to knock on) finally sleeping through the night. At least he has been over the last 4 or 5 nights, from about 7:30/8:00pm until 6:30/7:00am. It took a few cry out sections (luckily not many or for too long) and who knows if this will all change again, but so far it's way better then it's been for the last 6 months.

Besides Mommy finally having the chance to get some much needed sleep at night, Jonah is on the move! He is sitting up on his own from a crawling position in a second. He is also crawling pretty well and will get from one end of a room to another in no time at all especially when we stack those plastic stacking cups that he loves knocking down. And...believe it or not, he is standing up when holding on to something! He pulls himself up to stand on his own in his crib at home and at Grandma's, up against the sofa, laundry baskets, his infant seat, anywhere he can find and figure out how to pull himself up. He has been doing this for about 2-3 weeks now and has even started to slowly take a few steps around the crib. None of us can believe that he's doing this already! I'll have to get a picture of him. All I know is that it seems like I'll be chasing him around sooner than I thought! It will be a very active summer for Mommy and Jonah!!! ;)

Jonah is also doing better with solids. Now that I'm feeding him fruit, he seems to have built up a pretty good appetite and is eating at least 2-3 tablespoons of both oatmeal cereal and fruit each in the late afternoon. I'm sure soon enough we'll start in the mornings as well. Maybe now that he's eating better in the afternoon, I can try some veggies again...

Anyway, we are having such a great time with Jonah, playing, talking (babbling), reading, singing, taking walks, going to the playground, and just admiring him and the little person he has become in only 7 months. He amazes us everyday! :)

Mommy's little cutie....
Getting ready to go out. "Come on Mommy, let's go!"
Hanging out on a Sunday morning at Panera...Roar!!!...like a dinosaur...

Fun At The Fire Station!

Sunday was such a beautiful day, so we ventured out for a ride to a nearby fire station. "Fireman Rob" as Mommy's students call him, had invited us to come for a visit to take pictures of Jonah with the BIG fire trucks! What great fun it was! Jonah absolutely loved it and was completely mesmerized by all the big trucks and gadgets! Here are some great pictures from that afternoon.... :)

Jonah and Daddy in the big fire truck. Look how excited my boys are!!! :)

Yay, Jonah!

Jonah with his very own fireman's hat!
What fun! Jonah was so happy, talking and laughing!!!All together on Engine #8!!!
In Fireman Rob's boots! Hey, they fit pretty good! :)
Mesmerized by the fireman.
Fireman Rob made Jonah laugh the whole time we were there. :) With Mommy in front of Squad #8.

Melanie, Mike, and Sydney's Visit

This past weekend a great friend of Mommy's from college came into town with her husband and little daughter Sydney (20 months). The last time we saw them was at our wedding when Melanie was pregnant with Syd! Well, that was almost 2 years ago. It was so nice to see them and meet Sydney for the first time. She is absolutely adorable, sweet and shy. She says lots of words and uses sign language as well! I really want to get Jonah into signing now too! It seems like a great way to ease the frustration of communicating. Anyway, we got to catch up a bit while Mel had the chance to play with Jonah and watch him on the move as he is crawling, sitting and even starting to stand up holding on to things. She, just like us, could not believe how strong he is and how much he is moving around already at not even 7 months. It was so wonderful to spend time with old friends. Every time we do get to see each other it seems like it was yesterday that we were together, but time goes by so fast now and our families are growing and I realize more and more how much I miss having them all nearby...

Melanie, Mike and Sydney...such a cute family!

Together again, with our little ones :)

Yummy, Yummy Banana!

Poor little Jonah got a stomach bug last week and ended up not keeping anything down all day Monday. It was really scary for me to see his tiny body throw up so violently. :( By the evening we were giving him Pedialite every 5 minutes for an hour to see if he would at least hold that down, per doctors orders. By Wednesday he seemed much better and had actually eaten on both Tuesday and Wednesday just fine. Then on Thursday he refused to eat. Grandma and I got pretty nervous and ended up taking Jonah to see Dr. Meyers. Turned out Jonah had a little red throat but that was about it. He hadn't lost weight at least from his 6 month visit and was acting okay. So I took him home and he ate fine for the rest of the evening. I still don't really know why he protested eating, but Dr. Meyer said and I quote "We haven't lost any to starvation yet." Since the vomiting last Monday, I stopped our afternoon meals of veggies and oatmeal cereal for a few days and decided to try fruit after resuming this past weekend. Wow, forget the peas and carrots! Jonah loves his yummy bananas! By the fourth day he had eaten more bananas and oatmeal cereal then ever before. We even tried apples yesterday! So there you have it, we are on the road to eating better at least with fruit and I'll eventually sneak in those peas and carrots too! After the week he had, I just wanted to give him something yummy.... ;)

"Mmmmm, this is good! Give me, give me...Aahhhh!"

Jonah is satisfied after a yummy meal of banana and oatmeal cereal. "Now that's the good stuff, Mommy!"

Weekend Fun

Jonah is doing lots of cute things these days. He is just starting to sit up on his own by pushing himself up. I have seen him do it twice so far, which means that Mommy and Daddy will have to lower the mattress on the crib very soon! He's babbling more and more, "eating" his toes, scooting across the room, and even trying to pull up on things. It's getting a little hazardous with him moving so much, our eyes have to be on him every second! Jonah also loves playing with his toys. Lately, he is very entertained with his stacking cups. Every time I build them up, he will make his way over from anywhere in the room to knock them down. Of course, we shout out "YAY" when he does and he smiles proudly :) Jonah also started something really funny this weekend...Since he hasn't quite figured out how to point to what he wants with his fingers yet and since everything is in and out of his mouth, he's been showing what he wants by curling up his lips and stretching forward with his head, using his mouth to show us. It's very cute and hysterical to see!
As far as Jonah sleeping at night, it is definitely much better than it use to be. Jonah has made it several nights sleeping straight through from about 7:30/8:00pm until 5am. He even slept all the way until 7:00am one morning. Though there are still nights in between where he wakes up around 2 or 3am and cries on and off for 25-30 minutes, with us checking in on him of course. It's still torture for me to hear, but just when I'm about to give in and get him, he's back asleep. So basically it's going day by day, or night by night and I am no longer feeding him until sometime in the morning, not the middle of the night anymore. I know it's what we have to do...Jonah needs his sleep and so do we!
With the weather finally getting a little warmer, we took advantage of being outside last weekend. On Sunday morning Daddy, Mommy and Jonah went for a long walk on the legacy trail by our house and then took Jonah to his favorite spot so far....the swings. In the evening we also celebrated Uncle Adam's birthday! It's been a fun filled week, playing and watching Jonah explore the world around him. :)

Jonah loves putting his toes in his mouth...they are yummy after all :)
Outside on the swings! Jonah is always happy here!
He is so curious about everything around him, it's so endearing. :)

I know you can't see his face here, but I love how he's looking down. You can see his long eyelashes...."Push me higher, Daddy!"Weeeeeee.....For Uncle Adam's birthday, Jonah wore Gator colors and baseball....
Can you believe Grandma has had that He-Man blanket since Adam was a little guy... it was his 28th birthday!
Happy Birthday, Uncle Adam!!!Here are the stacking cups, I mentioned. Jonah loves knocking them down. Get em Jonah!And...boom!And again...going, going...
gone.....