Conflicted?

Every morning when I walk through the parking deck at work I pass by the same car.  It has an Auburn Mom bumper sticker on one side, a Georgia Mom bumper sticker on the other, and a University of Florida license plate holder.  I have to wonder how football season plays out at their house?

I mention the license plate because it's that time.  Starting today - our lives will be booked around Auburn's football schedule.  I have learned to appreciate, and on some days really enjoy (dare I say love), college football.  I'm still learning the game.  However, the anticipation, the crazy comebacks, and the smile on Jay's face when his team wins makes it a fun time.  Even to someone who doesn't completely understand the game.  But after last year I worry that what is up, must come down.  I only hope that we make it through - with as little damage as possible.

Wish us luck!

Responsible Parenting

Every once and a while I have to do something that I know is in John Henry's best interest, but will momentarily make him upset. One example is sucking his nose with the obnoxious blue bulb that we received at the hospital.  I realize this isn't a big deal but it upsets him (for a few brief moments) and although I hate to do it, I know it's best for him.  I also realize that these instances of having to do the right thing will only get harder as he gets older. 

The other day I had to something that I knew would make him angry.  I wasn't really sure how angry he would be but knew that I had to be a responsible parent.  I had to cut the tag off of his favorite toy.  Yes, I realize this sounds simple.  Yes, I realize it sounds like it shouldn't be a big deal.  And yes, I realize that I should have done this in the beginning before it ever became an issue.  But I didn't.  I didn't even think that the tag would be noticed.  I was sorely mistaken. 

We received a wonderful jumpy toy from the Calverts and Weeks as a baby shower gift.  John Henry loves the heck out of it.  He jumps, plays the piano, and grabs at all of the toys that hang from the sides.  However, what he really loves to do is play with the tag.  He jumps with it, pulls on it, and does his best to eat it.  When I saw the bite marks around the tag and the place where he was obviously trying to tear with his teeth, I decided it was time for the tag to go.  Now that he's getting a mouth full of teeth it wouldn't be long until he finally got a chunk of the laminated tag in his mouth and potentially down this throat.  

This is a before shot.  He was happily jumping and holding onto the tag, pictured on the left.

Trying to jump and chew on the tag.

The last shot I got before all heck broke loose.  Can you see the concerned look on his face?  I was holding the scissors at this point and not that he knows what scissors do, but he knew that something was about to happen.

Needless to say, it didn't go well.  I cut the tag and he wanted nothing to do with the jumpy after that.  Thankfully, he has a short term memory so he was back in the jumpy having a great time later that day.  Lesson learned from this experience: cut the tags off new toys the second we get them. That, and start practicing the line "Trust me, this is for your own good."

8 Months

Oh my gosh.  My child is eight months and soon I'll be planning his first birthday party.  So scary.

We don't have a check up until next month so it's anyone's guess as to how much our little man weighs.  I would guess at least 20 pounds but I don't really know.  I do know that we have a happy little baby.  I really think he is a great baby.  Not that I have anything to compare him to but he sleeps through the night, doesn't have any issues with eating, and is rarely fussy.  That in my mind, is a great baby!

John Henry taking his 8 month picture.  I think he's beyond cute but obviously I have a biased opinion.

Rockin the fedora.  It added a little extra height for his picture!

I like to call this his MJ pose.  Who doesn't love Micheal Jackson?  I think John Henry really pulls it off!

As usual, this month brought about a month of new developments.  One of our new developments was the high chair.  (Special thanks to Ms. Calvert who gave us her high chair).  John Henry looks so small in it but he seems to like it!

Another new development, different food.  We put a variety of meats in front of John Henry to see what he likes.  In the picture below is a hot dog.  It's a staple in our house so we wanted to introduce him to it as early as possible.  He liked it, but wasn't too keen on feeding himself.  To be honest, he refuses to feed himself.  He's perfectly content to let us feed him.  I guess we're the suckers because we continue to do it...

We've also tried to introduce John Henry to TV.  Not that we are trying to raise a couch potato but we were curious to see what caught his attention.  In the picture below he was watching Sesame Street.  He didn't last for more than 10 minutes.  Most of the show was about Big Bird.  Jay and I both agree he's a whiny character, so maybe he'll like the show when Big Bird doesn't play such a big role.

This month John Henry has discovered phones.  Not toy phones.  But real phones that call real people.  Don't try to trick him with the fake ones.  He'll know the second he puts it in his mouth!  They must be delicious and he loves to make it light up or make sounds...

He's also more affectionate this month.  He loves to sit on his Daddy and then he buries his head into his body.  He really just wants to cuddle.  We love it.  I can't think of anything that makes me happier.

We've also tried to spend as much time as possible outside. John Henry is no different that any other baby. He loves being outside so we try to walk and play outside when it's cool enough. We have this great backpack carrier for him. It's perfect for hiking through the Sope Creek trails.

This picture is a little misleading.  Yes, we are Sope Creek but calling it hiking is what's misleading.  We're walking, and we only walked about a mile and a half.  We weren't on a difficult trail but I was winded at the end.  You try carrying a John Henry on your back in the heat and see how far you go!

John Henry continues to love the pool.  I'm going to miss it once September/October comes.  JH thinks it's great to splash and loves watching the big kids play in the water.

In all his pool glory.  He's so fair skinned, with such little hair on his head that he has to have a hat on in the pool.  I know he looks a little silly but I can't have that perfectly round head getting sunburned!

John Henry is still our little rolly polly baby. He's not crawling yet so he's still got all of his baby rolls. I love them!

He's really into certain toys. He likes trucks or toys that make noise. If it doesn't make noise, he'll bang it on something to make a noise. We pile a bunch of toys around him and let him choose. Since he's not crawling, we just have to make sure we put them within arms reach. It's kind of nice being able to plop him down in the middle of the room and know that he's not going to move.

John Henry also likes the zany zoo that Aunt Gail got him.  He plays with it every day and loves to move the pieces around.  He looks so serious when he's concentrating.

John Henry continues to love bath time.  Thank you to the Benich family for letting us borrow his bath seat.  It allows him to sit up during his baths and play and splash without falling over and hitting his head.  Bath time has become father/son time in our house.  Jay gives him his bath every night and then I'm the one that puts the lotion and pj's on.  John Henry loves bath time.  He does NOT like lotion/pj time. 

Our little man has 5 teeth.  Three up top and two on the bottom.  You can't ever see his top teeth in pictures but they're there!  Try putting a piece of food in his mouth and not getting your fingers out of the way in time.  You'll know they're there then!

Like I said before, John Henry really is a happy baby.  Unless he's hungry or overly tired, he's in a good mood.  We couldn't wish for a better baby. 

Beep Beep!

We were able to spend some time at the Calvert's pool the other night and it was wonderful!  In addition to swimming, John Henry was able to take his first drive.  Hunter was very sweet and allowed John Henry to take his car for a short spin around the pool. 

Mrs. C making sure JH had his seat belt securely fastened.

Hunter making sure the hood was down so JH could see where was going.

"Seriously, Dude.  DON'T wreck my car!"

Beep, beep!  "Get out of the way people!"

Wheeler Club August 2011

The Lemmings hosted our Wheeler friends for the August get together.  They chose a kid free night at the Braves game and we had a wonderful time!   I can honestly say I didn't see one pitch but that's what I get for spending the entire time talking, eating, and drinking.  All I know is we played a Florida team, we won, and I enjoyed a lovely air conditioned seat in the 755 club.  Thanks Lemmings!

Our group tailgating before the game.

Jeff and Kriya

Frank and Carrie

Steph and Mandy

Erin with the Throwers.  This is the only picture where the spouses were together!

Jay, Chris, and Cort

Judd and Beau

Jay, Frank, and Carrie

Ragan, Sarah, Jenny

Sarah, Me, and Ragan

Not Professional Pictures

I wanted to do professional pictures while we were at the beach.  It didn't work out for several reasons.  John Henry's schedule was very different at the beach and I never knew when he would be in his best mood to take pictures.  We were also with a group of 26 so it was hard to plan anything.  However, the main reason we didn't get professional shots was because I never booked a photographer.  In the end, we did our best to get some cute pictures.  They don't come close to the professional shots I wanted - but at least we got something.

Fripp Island 2011

Every year Jay's family gets together at Fripp Island (in South Carolina) for one week during the summer.  Jay and I have never braved the entire week but this year we were there from Wednesday to Saturday night.  It's so much fun to catch up with family you don't see often.  It was even more fun to do it at the beach.  This year the group was smaller.  And by smaller I mean that we only had 25 people instead of 34.  Two houses with 25 people equals craziness but also a lot of fun.  This year was extra special since it was John Henry's first beach trip.  He loved it.  He absorbed as much as his little body could possibly take in.  It was so much fun to watch.  I took 500 pictures and although it appears that I posted them all, I did not.  Look at them if you want or don't.  Just know that I feel that I didn't take enough, and for that statement, Jay will read this and roll his eyes!

John Henry and Daddy looking out at the beach from our screened in porch.  This was taken right before we headed out for the first time. 

First trip out to the ocean...

Mommy and John Henry.  He was too busy looking at the water to be bothered with smiling at the camera.

I was trying to show him how to dig his fingers in and play in the sand.

He loved the waves!

Look at that sweet baby.  I think he was watching the birds.

Daddy showing him how to build a sand castle.

My beach boys

The great thing about Fripp is that once you're on the island, you use golf carts to get around.  John Henry really loved riding up front with Bebe and Daddy.

Look at all those kids!  The golf cart rides are always a big hit - especially when they get to see alligators (which happens on a daily basis).

John Henry and Jay being silly at the restaurant.

Holland, Sumner, and Henry showing us how it's done!

Sumner and Jay

One of the few family shots we got at dinner one night.

Wendy, Zach, and Sumner

Zach and Max

Wendy and Sumner

Another day at the beach. John Henry put the sand in his mouth once and decided it wasn't for him.  He did like to play in it - as long as he was in the shade.

Sherridan, Stephanie, and Daniel

Matthew.  Can't you tell he's from Colorado?  He's one of the few pale kids in the group.  I was relieved that John Henry wasn't the only pale kid!

We spent a lot of time hanging out on the screened in porch at our house.  It faces the ocean so it always has a great breeze that keeps you cool.  John Henry spent a lot of time out there and loved every second of it.

Jay knows exactly what to do to make JH smile and laugh.  I could watch the two of them all day.

Sherridan and Holland. 

John Henry rockin the fedora.  What you don't see is that he's trying to crawl to Sumner's iPad.

Sumner, Jay and JH. 

John Henry with his cousin Matthew.  Matthew loved John Henry and wanted to "hold" him. 

Aunt Wendy (the kids call her Ninny) spending some quality time with JH.  Everyone is always amazed at how soft baby skin is.  I guess you forget until you feel it!

Our last day at the beach.  We played in the wading pools after our failed attempt at nice beach pictures.

Cece and John Henry

Bebe and John Henry

We had the best time at the beach.  Craziness and all.  We are counting down the days until next year!  Thank you Sherridan, Bebe, and Uncle Joe.  Without your planning, connections, and money, this trip would never happen.  We love you!