Jason goes mobile

Today at school, Jason got up with one of the push walkers and made it half way around the room. According to Miss Alex, he was VERY proud of himself. Tonight he continued to cruise along the couch before passing out.

Yesterday we also had a first. Jason had his first waffle...compliments of Daddy.


We also took the kids to Pullen Park for a day out. Here is a cute pic of the boys on their swings. Ethan is giving JT instructions in between demanding we push him.

Delinquency

Yep, that's me. But I finally have some time to post and have lots of great pics so maybe I will be forgiven. Jason is growing and growing...more out than up and he is not too mobile but he is definitely fun! He says Mama and Dada and can clap, wave hi and bye (as of 2/19) and nods yes with this incredibly devious look. He loves seeing our reaction when he takes finger food and dumps them off his tray. He can roll over both ways like nobody's business and can sit up and stand unassisted for long periods. When he is on his tummy, he can move himself backwards and in a circle. He is like a big weeble. Mostly he loves to stand and Daddy spends many hours each evening walking him around.






Here is the one good pic from Valentine's Day. I bought them both some Valentine Day jammies (or onesie) and it has been hard to get them both in them for any length of time given spit up etc. I love watching the boys play together and E is just so incredible with his little brother.



We took JT for his 9 month checkup today. No teeth but developmentally doing well and off the charts for head size and weight at 25.4 pounds and 97%. Height was at 80% and he was 24 inches long. He is LOVING daycare finally. It was so hard the first week with him hysterical at drop-off and when he saw us at pickup. We had to go feed him the first 3 days because he wouldn't take a bottle. He barely napped and was wiped out each evening but they assured us he had a blast during the day. Now he waves goodbye and is eating nearly everything on their menu. He takes 2 good naps and is having a blast. He is great at reaching for objects, watching the effects of dropping them and using his pincher grip to grab small items. Still no real movement from the weeble though at school either. :-)

Much needed sleep

We have had a horrid week. My poor Mom came down with Shingles and couldn't be around JT so we scrambled for some temporary care. Jeff and I took a few days off and worked at home and then leveraged Mary Molly for this week. Friends come in handy when they are in between assignments. Phew. She has been great with him and we are able to work this week.

However, if that wasn't bad enough....in the midst of all this, we all got colds. Now at least I can take Nyquil. JT and Ethan were miserable and were up multiple time at night with coughing fits, temperatures and overall malaise. We have all been holding it together on a shoe string. JT wasn't able to eat at all and his bottle intake went down to 2 ounces a shot. Yes...I know...he could use the diet....he is wearing at least 12 month clothes right now. But the problem is that if they don't eat more, they wake more. And he is totally off his solids too. He had been doing so great with his finger foods....sweet potato puffs, cheerios, bananas, cheese, etc and he loves his cereal, yogurt and baby food. He does feel he could live without veggies. Then again, so does E and Jeff and that gets them nowhere either.


So then there was last night. Jason got a spot at E's daycare and starts Feb 1st. So we took him to visit yesterday. He had such a blast watching all the other kids scrambling around and they would bring him toys to chew on and then take them away and bring him others. He just wore himself out with everything there was to do. He loved Miss Sandra and Miss Mary and came home and ate a 6 ounce bottle and crashed by 7:30. We only heard from him once between that and 7 am. Amazing. It is like I have my good child back again.

Still no teeth and no crawling. But he can sit for hours, reach everything within a 2 foot radius, and walk assisted. He just coos and babbles all the time and says Da-da for Jeff and Ba-Ba for Ethan. I just get the screaming when he is hungry or dirty. No respect. Last night he was doing some major laughing and splashing in his tub and just giggling at Ethan or when I would play with his toes. He has such an incredible smile and laugh and I love the dimples.

Milestones

The past week has been full of progress...and a flu shot booster.

• We can say Dada and can now wave bye bye if in the mood. Probably only to Dada with my luck. :-)
• Jason is sitting up for ages on his own and scooting if you give him something to push against. Everything still goes in the mouth but he is really interested in all his toys and exploring.
• Can pick up those little puffs and feed himself...and no longer spits them out and gags. You have to give him about 20 as 5 end up on the floor, 10 on the high chair and stuck to him in various locations, and 5 do indeed do make it in the mouth. No teeth yet though.
• Will eat an entire biter biscuit and then SCREAM if you take it away or try and clean him up. Have you seen what they look like after eating one of those? Mess!
• Gets excited when he sees you and even reaches for you. This also translates to: if you don't respond to his satisfaction, he SCREAMS. I can not even tell you how loud he can be.
• Sleeping 6 - 7 hours at a clip again....FINALLY. We regressed big time in the last few weeks on that end. But beware if he is hungry...five alarm when he sees you coming.
• Established our temper and authority. Meals need to be on time, toys cannot be removed unless he throws them, you can not sit down between 7:30 and 9 pm (you must walk him).

Merry Christmas!

We put posts of the happenings on E's blog for Christmas day and did Christmas eve here on JT's. However, here are a few embarrassing pics of Jason to show him when he is 16 or to his future wife later on. You have to have the obligatory 1st Christmas outfit and many thanks to Aunt Jean for the long johns!

Christmas eve

Uncle Mikey hosted us for Christmas eve and we had an antipasto tray and many different types of fish for dinner. We had a nice time and were going to go to mass at 8 but JT got very ill and we went right home. He is off his food and getting a bit dehydrated so we are giving him pediatric electrolytes and wanted to get him home. Here are some pics from our dinner:





Snuggling by the fire:



Notice my happening reindeer bib.


Wrapped up in 2 pairs of jammies and ready for Santa:

Maw-maw and Paw-paw visit

Jason is getting so big...sitting up so long by himself now, eating cereal and fruit and veggies. Can we please please go back to sleeping through the night though? This teething thing is slaying us. That and being sick and not wanting to suck has kept him to around 3 ounces a feeding and wanting a feeding every 3 hours. Around the clock. UGH! But this weekend we had help and we spent some quality time totally bonding with the grandparents. We had a lovely visit and I managed to get the camera out and take some cute ones.







Sitting up with a "spotter"




Climbing up Aunt Susan in our pjs:




Resting after a long day:



This is one of my favorite shirts for JT. "I ate Santa's cookies". I mean really...he is over 20 pounds at 6.5 months. He ate more than that!!!

My first visit with Santa

We had the most incredibly perfect Saturday. We woke to Ethan's usual clamoring for us to come get him and then his "Good morning Christmas tree" as we brought him down. We then all climbed into our bed for some snuggling and tickling. Then, Jeff made us French toast and Ethan ate 3 pieces. Jason ate an entire bowl of oatmeal cereal and didn't end up wearing much. We then headed out to take the boys to see Santa.

We got out pretty early this morning (or as early as you can with 2 kids) and the line wasn't too bad. Ethan got to also ride the Carousel and was thrilled. We waited in line with Kevin, Kalani and Josh and the kids were all very patient. Ethan never blinked and kept asking if it was his turn. He also kept yelling "hi Santa" across the area as we waited. Jason and him both sat together on his lap and Ethan told Santa he wanted "presents" and especially a black tape measure like Grandpa's. He also asked for cereal for Jason since "that's all he eats".



We also went perusing through the Xmas decorations at Sears and the boys loved the dancing penguins and the Santa train. We had lunch at the mall and then headed home where we played on our new swings (it was 65 today!!), visited with Grandpa and Grandma and watched Daddy hang more Christmas lights. The house looks incredible and the kids just can't get enough of watching the tree, the lights, the skating pond, the train etc. Ethan has to turn everything on at least once a day and I have visions of dancing penguins, dogs singing jingle bells, and bears....lot of snowman and polar bears.

Tonight we all ate pizza and watched the Grinch and when I put the boys to bed, we read Twas the Night before Christmas for the 15th time so far this year. When we get to the reindeer part, Ethan always asks "What that name" and points to each one. Jason is just enthralled with every picture and talks and talks to the pages.

6 months going on a year

We had our 6 month appointment today and yet we are wearing 9 to 12 month sized clothes at a minimum. We are in the 95 percentile for size (oh ya...and head size too) and doing well developmentally. After being sick all week and unable to eat, our weight still was a very healthy 21.0 pounds. We have certainly seen the pediatrician a lot in the past few days...our very first illness. Ethan and Jason both had a viral infection in their throat and JT couldn't suck or swallow easily and was just miserable. He slept a lot and just wanted to be held. His nights were spent coughing or propped up on pillows with Jeff and I taking turns sleeping next to him and watching over. Ethan's turned into a sinus infection but the good part of that was a few days on antibiotics turned him right around. And he got a few extra days of vacation so was thrilled. After missing school for the Thanksgiving week, the transition back to work and school was hard on all of us.

We have had a momentary lack of rolling but have taken to standing and trying to actually take little steps and walk if you hold his hands. And with Jason's sheer size and grip, he can actually pull chairs to him. Not a lot of impetus to waste energy and roll or crawl! :-) We are sitting up more now on our own and using the tri-pod approach as opposed to the weeble impersonation. No teeth yet but they seem to be right beneath the surface. E had his first one just shy of 5 months but there couldn't be two children more different. E is so independent, JT is a big mush and very sensitive. E can play on his own and entertain himself a bit...Jason wants you to entertain him and you had better not leave his sight. E has been in the 10th - 50th percentile so far so even their size is totally different. My largest awakening was when I realized that E is only 8 pounds heavier than JT. Wow.

Thanksgiving in Seattle

After you read this one, you can send the medal of valor to Jeff. He was a trooper and let me plan our holiday. We decided to spend Thanksgiving out in the Seattle area. So we packed up 2 kids, 2 diaper bags, 2 carseats, strollers, suitcases, and our sanity and flew out for a week to go visit Aunt Jean and meet Uncle Russ for the first time. We rented a great corporate apartment in downtown Bellvue and Christopher met us out there as well so we could have a total family vacation. We managed to drag my parents and grandfather with us as well and without them, I am not sure how we would have carried everything. We will be going by tractor trailer next time.

It was great to be together with all the kids and Jean, Mom, and I cooked a traditional Becker feast with all the trimmings. Jean really went all out and we had such an awesome meal. We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans almondine, sauteed spinach, stuffed mushrooms, a cheese, fruit and nut tray, little piggies in blankets and 10 kinds of pie. Okay, maybe not 10 but it sure felt like it.

After cooking for 2 days and cleaning for one, we did a bit of shopping, caught a parade and basically just spent LOTS of time enjoying the kids and each other. Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week. Check out E's blog for all the happenings from his view point.

Morning at the apartment in Bellvue:





Kisses from Aunt Jean:



Bowling with the boyz in the hood:




Prepping the day before:




Napping on Aunt Jean's bed:


The boys "hanging" after nap time.


The big day - Thanksgiving at the Phillips residence:




Some of the sharp dressed men in my life:






What? This isn't turkey? I get plastic toys and bananas?



I just have the BEST time:



Here is our Thanksgiving bib and Aunt Jean. The day is done and JT is clean and jammiefied.

Halloween

I updated E's blog with tonight's happenings but wanted to also add some recent Jason photos here. Below is one with Jason in his costume and one with Aunt Marie kissing on him after he put on his jammies.

Maw Maw and Paw Paw come visit

Jason and Ethan adore Maw Maw and Paw Paw and we had been looking forward to visiting with them for some time. Aunt Susan came as well to complete our weekend and we all enjoyed a relaxing day outdoors with some holiday festivities mixed in. Ethan has been begging for cupcakes so I made some and we all indulged and we had a nice cookout. Jason spent the majority of time cuddling with either grandparent and eating it all up. He can't have icing and cupcakes but I think he loved that even more.









I am sure I have mentioned a time or two how totally and completely inept I am at anything to do with art, creativity etc. When they passed out that talent gene, I was busy getting double in the "horse crazy girl" line. So Halloween is rough from the perspective of carving anything that goes beyond a few triangles. Luckily, I have a talented husband and incredibly artistic in-laws. We had the best time with the boys picking the pictures for the pumpkins, cleaning them out, baking pumpkin seeds and watching the progression for these incredible creations (compliments of the Antley men with support by the incredibly organized Antley women). In case you missed it, that would be me and Susan. Here are the pics of our group activity. The group sorta wanes there at the end of the process but Daddy and Pawa Paw were troopers:







And the finished products showing how it truly was worth the wait:

Alphabet jammies, giggles and shots

Jason has two modes...laughing and playful or hungry. Some days all he does is eat and the whole introducing solids thing didn't go so well. My happy baby turned into a nightmare for a few days and then we stopped the cereal and he is back to himself. I am not sure if he is not ready or if the rice cereal didn't agree with him. Next week we may try some oatmeal or other single grain cereal. For now, I want some laughter again. Know what makes him laugh the most? Scaring him and saying boo. Ethan loves that too.



Here is a pic of the boys in their matching jammies. Ethan picked them out when we went shopping one day and insisted on getting Jason a pair too. He amazes me some days. No matter how much of a terrible two he is being, he insists on holding Jason's hand when driving in the car and reporting every time Jason burps, spits up etc. Ethan also feels he is personally responsible for handing Jason all his toys and promptly inserting the pacifier at every juncture (many times upside down). And through it all, Jason just stares at E with adoring eyes. I couldn't imagine either lives without each other and I hope they are as close as Jean and I are today....even across the miles I know we always have each other.



Jason also had his 4 month appt last week. 90% for head size and weight and 60% for height. Yep...a little porker. But developmentally, everything was good and we had the fastest nurse in the west for shots. It was all a blur but the band aids were on before JT even started crying. Tears lasted only a short second and we were off with Grandma for lunch. A little Tylenol at night and the worst was behind us. The doc was very happy with his progress.

And one and two

....and exersaucer time. Yep, 4 months old and we are moving on to new things. Sitting up some with help, grabbing toys and objects, standing up more and more when on our laps, and now some independent play. This kid has got to be almost 20 pounds so I would bet a new car seat is coming very soon. I can barely lift the infant carrier with him in it. He has baby rolls on top of rolls which came in handy this week with the family being sick.

Seems everyone had the flu or some variation and it was a really tough week for all of us. Ethan had it the worst but when he can't sleep, neither can the rest of us. And poor Jason was fussy and really off his food although didn't really catch some of the other symptoms thanks to whatever immune system he managed to get from me. I was sick for 2 days but mostly just totally overwhelmed and tired beyond belief. It is so heart wrenching when they are sick and you are so helpless to do anything. But this past weekend they were feeling better and we took the kids to Pullen Park in Raleigh. See Ethan's blog for some pics of the day.