Lots to say

I can't wait until he has words!

Overdue Updates!

Holy cow, lots of updates to get through!

San Jacinto Night was last weekend and boy am I glad to have it behind me! It was a wonderful party. Not the biggest we’ve had but the first time our fundraiser has actually been profitable. As the event organizer I take a lot of pride in that. Ultimately the goal of the event is just to HAVE an event but the fact that we actually raised $4,500 for the Austin Fire Museum is fantastic. This year was quite a challenge with JP in our lives and Josh in his final weeks of grad school but we pulled it off! So glad it was a great party and SO glad it’s behind us. I raked our front yard in celebration.

But in more important news, JP has not only learned to crawl but he has also sprout 2 teeth! It’s been a big week!! Josh was in NYC this week so Monday morning I dropped JP off at Luisa’s for a 24-hour stay while I was at the station. She called me in the evening to give me a recap of the day and let me talk to JP (I just LOVE hearing him on the phone) and she said, “You didn’t tell me he had a tooth!” to which I replied, “He didn’t this morning!!” So Luisa gets the prize for spotting his first incisor. Josh and I are green with envy. Even worse is when I picked him up on Friday afternoon I noticed the second one poking through and Luisa said she didn’t want to say anything. ☺



JP and I went to Ingram for a quick visit this week. En route we learned that Gramps was being deployed to Mississippi with the Red Cross to help those effected by the recent tornadoes in the area. We were sorry to miss him but proud of his service. Mom was hoping to be deployed, too, but found that she was still on “unavailable” status for some reason. She was able to update her status but was unfortunately not deployed…so we kept her busy instead. It was a great visit. JP never really crawled but did a lot of practicing and pulling up. We paid a visit to Sue and Carl Mertz and the precious little girl they are foster parenting. Alia is only a month or so old than JP and she thought he was hilarious. They played together for a few hours and had a great time.

This morning, while Josh was getting ready for class, JP finally put it all together and crawled about 5 feet. Woohoo!! So during JP’s morning nap I baby-proofed the downstairs. All those sweet Lego’s from Lego Christmas 2010 were relocated to the garage, the outlets we plugged and foam guards were put on the deadly sharp corners of the coffee table. We have yet to figure out a fireplace solution but that’s next on the list.

We have a photo session scheduled this week with Bridgette Bloomquist, the woman who did JP’s pics when he was 8 days old. We should get some really fantastic shots, I’m excited. I’m also looking forward to seeing her neighborhood. That area was hit by a huge wildfire just a week ago and her entire steer was evacuated. Thankfully her house was spared but 20 homes were burned all around her. That fire made national news and worked the Austin Fire Department pretty hard. No one was injured but it was quite a wake up call for our area. We have been very lucky in recent years but the potential for a huge wild fire is always looming. Give me a burning structure any day but you can keep your wildfires. Hard work and unpredictable fire. No thank you.

Okay, JP is on the floor and making a b-line for a pile of stuff. I gotta go parent.

JP's great laugh

We are long overdue for an update...But I don't have time now. Soon!

To tide you over, here is an awesome video of JP laughing :)

Zilker Kite Festival

Today I took JP to Zilker Park for the Austin Kite Festival. This was his first time to the park and the weather was simply perfect. It was just us and 10-20,000 of our closest friends. It was also his first time to sit in his Bob stroller without his car seat...like a big boy!!
We parked near the Town Lake Animal Shelter and took the bike trail to the park. We found Le and Mary Mae sitting under a shade tree and joined them on their blanket. Mary Mae was sooooo good with JP. She's gentle and loving and simply can't wait until this little boy can run around, play and get into all kinds of trouble with her.
It took her a few times to figure out that if she gets her hair within an arm's length of JP, he'll grab hold and pull. And this kid has a grip!
Here's a great video of MM singing to JP. :)



We played on the blankets for a little while and then JP and I went and found Kristi, Coitt and Izzy Kessler.

After visiting with them, JP and I headed back to the car and back home.

We then had Grammy, Le, MM, Joanna Lowry over to the house for Pizza and socializing. It was grand ☺

Meanwhile, Josh has been missed at all these activities because he is in Hong Kong with his St. Edwards class. We have had the opportunity to Skype several times and let me just tell you, JP absolutely lights up when his daddy is on the screen. Both times JP has started off a little tired and restless but when Josh’s face shows up on the computer he pauses, sees Josh, recognizes him and then gets this HUGE grin on his face. It’s just magical.

I’ve included the following videos and pictures so Josh can see his little boy ☺
Love you, baby, and boy do we miss you!

Monty the Bronty

Christina Marrs, of the Asylum Street Spankers, has a fantastic little side project on Etsy called Little Sidekick (check out the website here) and she made and sent JP a stuffed brontosaurus that I named Monty. That's Monty the Bronty. This is JP's absolute FAVORITE toy of all time. (Followed very closely by Sophie...the two are shaped just about identically.) He's easy for JP to grab and as JP has started teething, he will suck on Monty's poor drenched head until his whole body is completely saturated.

JP was really going to town on poor Monty a few days ago:





As I mentioned, we think JP is starting to teethe. He not only puts everything in his mouth, now he has really started to CHEW on everything. Hard. This great puppy dog toy that Aunt Ali brought last weekend is no exception. Of course, the dog found some temporary relief when JP noticed the camera was rolling. This kid is a ham. All bets are off when we sees (or hears) the camera.



And finally, we are slowly adding foods to JP's list. So far he eats rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, sweet potato, green beans, peas, avocados, apples, and squash. I'm learning how to make all his food from a great website called WholesomeBabyFood.com . I buy all organic veggies, steam them, then puree them with a handy little wand mixer. I'm even attempting to freeze the extra in ice cube trays so they keep a lot longer. One cube is about an ounce and perfect for a serving size.

Here is Josh feeding JP apples for the first time. Josh is waaaay better at getting more food into JP's mouth than on his face. That's where I excel. It's funny, though, because JP was totally focused on eating until he heard me turn on the camera. Then he wouldn't stop staring at me. I had to hide the camera so he would pay attention to Daddy. He is so funny about it!



And here are some absolutely adorable photos, just for good measure:

Snow in Austin!

We awoke to find an inch of snow on the ground this morning! That may not be a lot for many of you out there, but it's quite an event here. It's made even better by the fact that I am not at work and don't have to deal with stupid people who drive recklessly and hit things. Yeah day off!

Here is DJ enjoying the powder :)



JP was in a fantastic mood this afternoon (probably excited about the snow) and was giving me some great giggles and belly laughs. I just had to get it on film



And finally, since JP is 5.5 months old, everything goes straight into his mouth. This does not exclude stationary objects. Josh captured this cute learning moment as JP explores. :)

JPs spoon skills

JP is getting better and better at eating with a spoon. And better and better at hamming it up for the camera. He is his mother's son, after all...I find it quite entertaining how distracted he gets when the camera comes out!