Videos of CJ

This last weekend has been quite life altering for CJ...for one, he took his first dip in a swimming pool! At first he was a bit scared and held me tight, but it didn't take long for him to get comfortable with the water. He enjoyed himself so much he kept patting the water with his hand to make mini splashes! He has also started to sleep in his crib and has stayed there every nite since. After a week, it still hasn't been easy to put him down to sleep, but Jeff and I are trying to be persistent.

Over the past few weeks, I've been using the video feature in my point and shoot camera to take some videos of CJ. Unfortunately, because of the limited amount of memory available on my memory card, I could only take short clips. I figured a short clip was better than not having any moving memories of CJ as a baby!

And just today, Jeff recorded CJ on the camcorder! Jeff made a nice edited video of CJ today crawling around our living room and attempting to climb 2 stairs. He is really getting quite mobile.

So please do check them out...the links are to the left of this page! Enjoy!

Many more milestones (and scares)

Okay so it's been a long time since my last post...I gotta tell ya, moving into a new home and taking care of a baby gives you NO time to really do anything else. At the same time Jeff and I were busy participating in my friend's wedding so lately sometimes I feel like I didn't even have time to breathe.

CJ is now 7 months old, and just in the last 3-4 weeks, he's got two baby teeth (bottom front), he now can sit up on his own, and he is almost on the verge of crawling (he can sorta move around like an inchworm). We've also discovered that his favorite solid foods are carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash and peas (veggies!) and seems to really dislike fruits (bananas and apples particularly). I'm hoping that sticks, so then I don't have to persuade him later to eat his vegetables! He'll also probably love spending time and eating Aunt Audrey's food (she's a vegetarian) when I need her to help me babysit!

The bad news is that Jeff and I failed to recognize that CJ is getting more mobile this quick as CJ had an accident and fell off our bed last week. Jeff's snoring was causing me to have trouble falling back asleep so I decided to sleep in the guest room assuming CJ would be okay since Daddy was sleeping next to him. Next thing I know, in the early morning, I hear a thump followed by crying. My heart raced as I ran into our bedroom and sure enough, CJ fell off the bed...Jeff picked him up off the floor faced up. Luckily he didn't cry too hard and was comforted once he was in my arms. Since then, Jeff and I have been trying to teach CJ to sleep in the bassinet/playpen next to our bed. We've successfully gotten him to sleep in it for hours at a time, but he still isn't able to fall asleep on his own in it, nor does he really want to be in it at all. Hopefully soon he will be more comfortable in it and be able to sleep in it on his own as the next transition would be his crib. A family bed was a nice idea in the beginning, but now that he's mobile, it's a dangerous one.

Life without Daddy

Jeff had to leave for a business trip or shall I say training class this past Sunday, so it was time for me to act like a single parent for a while, meaning I had to dropoff and pickup CJ from daycare while working, prepare his bottles in the morning, prepare dinner for him and also tend to Sammy. I was a little worried at first but the first few hours away were okay. Then of course I had some setbacks which made me stress out...for instance our kitchen faucet broke and I couldn't use it at all the first evening, but luckily Jeff's dad came to the rescue and fixed it for me. Luckily I had my parents come over to help out by Wednesday (3 days later) which I am so relieved for. I have to give major props to those single moms out there...I don't know how they can make it work because in that short time, I had moments where I thought I would pull my hair out.

Anyways, after all this...I appreciate having a partner like Jeff to help with the parenting. I love you hon for all you do!

This week CJ has been teething and getting fussy cuz of it. I think he is also starting to recognize his name! I'm gonna start teaching him sign language soon...hope he catches on quickly!

A busy month

So it's been over a month since I've last posted on this blog. So much has happened that I haven't had time to do so, from getting more comfortable yet busy at work, packing and unpacking, cleaning the condo to be ready to list, buying new appliances, to traveling for my friend's bridal shower. Normally doing all this at one time wouldn't be horribly bad, but try doing that while having to care for a baby who needs his attention! Needless to say there's still more work to do but I deserve a break and people need to know what's been going on in CJ's life.

In the last month, CJ has been more interactive. He now bats at the toy bar I attached to his carseat handle a couple months ago, and now that we have our house, we set up his big high chair that comes with a toy base and he gets almost violent with it. He likes to grab the attached teether toy and hit the toy base repeatedly. It gets really loud with the banging and the music/noise from the toy! He also got an exersaucer from our neighbor (Thanks Jon, Sara and Paul!) that can entertain him for quite some time so that Mommy can have some time to do other things! It's really cute...the exersaucer basically keeps him standing and he can swivel a whole 360 degrees and explore all the toys around him. It didn't take long at all for him to catch on...now he's so good at it and loves it so much he doesn't know which toy he wants to play next! The next thing I want to get him is a walker!

CJ has also started on eating other foods other than rice cereal. He's had his taste of apples, bananas and pears. I think he's done pretty well eating out of a spoon! Next is veggies!

A busy week

This past week was my first week back at work, as well as CJ's first week in daycare. I thought I was well prepared, but little did I know how sad I would react on his first day! As I took him out of his car seat and handed him to Natalie, the babysitter, I started crying! It finally hit me that I would now have to leave him for hours for someone else to care for him. Need less to say, I pretty much thought of him all day at work, and made a couple calls to check on him.

CJ also experienced a few milestones this week at the babysitter's. First, he was rolling over during tummy time from tummy to back, and secondly he was batting at toys dangling above him, which he wasn't really doing when he was with me. Thirdly, when Jeff was making faces and noises at him, he laughed, meaning he did a little chuckle! It was sooo cute. And lastly, since CJ is now four months old, we were given the okay to start on solids so I decided to start yesterday with rice cereal. He didn't seem to enjoy it much...he made a sour face each time I put it in his mouth. Oh well, we're gonna keep trying. What a busy week!

More milestones

Jeff and I went to LA this past weekend so that my parents could see CJ for the last time before I went back to work. After changing CJ's diaper on their guest bed, CJ must have decided it was time to go because he rolled over. And not just once...he rolled again, from his back to his front! I think Jeff might have helped "encourage" this though, because Jeff's weight created a hole in the bed, so gravity helped CJ with the rolls. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any of this on video or pictures. But we did take these pics of CJ starting to sit on his own and holding his head up 90 degrees from his body when placed on his tummy. As you can see, sitting doesn't last long and CJ falls flat on his face! I don't think it will be much longer!

First A's Game - Opening Day

Jeff was soo ecstatic to take CJ to the Oakland Athletic's first home game, known as opening day. He wanted to go meet up with his left field bleacher friends and coworkers at their tailgate parties and stay for the entire game. That would be a 6 hour day for CJ, which I thought was way too long for a baby to be out not to mention it would cut right into CJ's bedtime, but Jeff was reluctant to change his itinerary as he really wanted to go have fun at his old stomping grounds and also introduce his new little rookie. He eventually decided we can cut the trip short by going early and leaving early, so we dressed CJ up in his little blue A's beenie and baseball outfit and headed out there around 5, two hours before the game started.

At the tailgate parties, CJ was doing very well. I had him in the front carrier looking out, and he seemed interested everywhere we went. There were lots of tailgate parties going on, particularly because there was a mix of A's and Red Sox fans. It seemed like the trip would go smooth.

However, once we got to our seats in the left field bleachers, the noise and amount of people and activity going on must have overwhelmed him because he started crying hysterically, and nothing we did calmed him down. If you've ever sat in the bleachers, you'd know that the rowdiest fans are seated there, so there is a lot of yelling, drums, cowbells, etc. It was so nerve wracking for me, I didn't pay attention to the game the entire time, even when I wasn't holding him. After almost two hours of crying, Jeff decided it was time to go. Luckily we got a family pic before we left to (unfortunately) remember the traumatic day for CJ! I think we'll have to wait a couple more months for CJ's next game...hopefully next time it won't be so traumatic for him!