Six months old!

This will be quick, because Jason is in bed and that means I have some time to read before I pass out for the night!

Jason is working hard to develop an impressive vocabulary.  When he wants to get our attention (or the attention of his stuffed owl), he'll let out a loud "HUUUUHHH!" He also shrieks like Tarzan to shake things up a bit.  But my favorite is when he says "uh buh buh buh buh."  I think he's either trying to say "bottle" or "I'm sorry I like to grab your hair in my little fist and rip it out of your scalp, Mommy."

Chatterbox.

For an infant, Jason has impeccable comedic timing.  Tonight, Dave was pickling eggs while I was feeding Jason some delicious purred acorn squash.  I commented on how atrocious the egg pickling process smelled, and that led to a debate on the various cuisines of Jason's ancestors (Polish vs German vs Italian vs Other Assorted Western European Nations).  I believe that a steaming bowl of spicy puttanesca beats whatever boiled dumpling or porcine byproduct German/Polish people eat, and Dave disagreed.  Finally I said "We'll have to let him do a taste test when he's older to see what he likes best", and Jason swallowed his mouthful of squash, looked Dave in the eye, smiled, and said "Mmmmmmm."

My little epicurean.

Now I'm craving puttanesca.  Funny how no one ever craves sauerkraut! #Fact

Baby's first road trip

For the Fourth of July weekend, the three of us drove down to Pennsylvania for Dave's uncle's retirement party. Jason was a superstar traveler and didn't fuss at all on the way down.

On our way!

Lots of grass.

Once we got there, Jason was introduced to his Klepeis relatives and spent several hours collecting compliments on his cuteness and behavior.  There was also a white elephant gift exchange, and Dave and I ended up with some fantastic gifts.

Dave got a new book. 

I got a new wine glass. 

The next morning, Jason accompanied us to breakfast. 

Just hanging out with his bugs.

Jason has spent a lot of time developing his screaming skills. He's almost reached glass-shattering frequencies.  I would try to post a video, but I don't want to fracture anyone's eardrums.

Back up your files

This update will be light on the pictures, because my phone recently had a grand mal seizure and has gone to a better place. Because Dave is the best husband ever, he ran right out the door and got me a spanking new one, but sadly allllllll my pictures and videos were lost (sad face).

Jason has been maintaining a high-fiber diet chock full of grains and veggies. So far his favorite veggies are sweet potatoes and peas, but I'm planning to whip him up some green beans this weekend. 

Last night we took him out to dinner with us for the very first time. He fussed briefly but spent most of the time singing to himself. 

Jason has yet to roll over from back to tummy, but we think that's because he just doesn't want to. He loves sleeping on his side, however. 

He has also discovered how cute his own feet are!

 

Other recently acquired skills include singing himself to sleep, blowing raspberries, sitting through his nightly bedtime story, and stabbing us in the fingers with his sharp little fangs.

This weekend will be our first overnight trip with the monkey!

Five months old!

Jason turned five months old today! Since he is an oatmeal pro at this point, we moved on to veggies.

Grains are SO one month ago.

Jason's first experience with veggies was a big helping of carrots.

Organic, boiled in filtered water, and puréed with love by his neurotic mother.

Jason was put off by the texture at first, but ended up gobbling almost the whole bowl.

Jason also has some new toys to show off! 

This birdie isn't really new. I found it packed away in Jason's closet, so I gave it to him and told him it was a present from Daddy. We call it the Daddy Bird. Jason loves it.

In this picture, Jason is chewing a nifty hand-shaped teething ring from his Babci.

This is Jason's activity table! He's still a little small for it, but we prop him up by putting his stuffed elephant behind his back so he can reach all his little toys.

Rice Baby

We gave Jason some homemade brown rice cereal last night!! He gave it mixed reviews.

To quote from one of Jason's future favorite movies (Anchorman), he was in a "glass case of emotion" during our rice cereal experiment. I think he finally made his peace with it towards the end.

Quick update

This is the first time I'm updating this using the iPhone app, so I hope it doesn't look weird.

Jason has his four month checkup today, which means it's vaccine time again. He's the last appointment of the day, so hopefully the office will be empty enough that he doesn't disturb people with his howls.

We took him to the Stormville flea market this weekend. Remember the part in Happy Gilmore when the golf commentator referred to the crowd as "economically diverse?" Yeah.

Baby's First Inappropriate Photo

Now that Jason has chunked up a bit, he's enjoying his little swing more and more. Yesterday he got so excited to be in it that he pooped through his diaper and onesie, and onto the swing itself.

Scene of the crime.

We hope to get the A-OK from the doc today to start giving Jason some rice cereal. It would be nice if those poops solidified a bit! 

Quick Update

Not much has changed for Jason over the last couple of weeks.  He's definitely teething, and will chew on a washcloth, his rattles, my shoulder, or whatever else happens to be near his mouth.

Jason and his Yankee duck. I think we have him sufficiently brainwashed.

The last time we took Jason for a walk, it was sunny enough that we had to goop him up with some baby sunscreen.  We went to Stringham Park for the first time, because there are some really pretty ponds and paved walkways.  Dave and I used to fish there a lot, but I think Jason is still too young to hold a pole.

We always make sure he wears a hat.  Safety first.

Selfie with Mommy.  We're practically twins (sarcasm).

Finally, I have to give a shout-out to the most amazing baby product I've come across yet.  It's called the NoseFrida.  

*Sound of angels singing*

If you can't read the smaller print under the part that says NoseFrida, it says "The Snotsucker."  Until now, we've been using the bulb-shaped hospital booger sucker to clear Jason's nose when it becomes overly boogery.  This squicks me out for a few reasons.  First of all, there's no way to clean out the inside of the bulb, and I imagine colonies of pathogens are having a damn block party in there.  Secondly, I don't like sticking the nose of the bulb-shaped booger sucker into Jason's nostril, because it seems like an injury waiting to happen.  Third, Jason HATES the bulb. 

So as you have probably determined from the helpful illustration on NoseFrida's container, this genius invention works by covering the nostril with a soft, rounded plastic tube, and then using the mouthpiece on the other end to siphon boogers and mucous out of your baby.  The boogers and mucous do not make their way up into your mouth, because of a helpful, disposable NoseFrida filter.  I realize some people might find this a tad distasteful, but it's amazingly effective.  Not ten minutes ago, I sucked a huge booger out of each of Jason's nostrils, and he didn't make a peep!