Mazzella Family Blog

Video Update 2011

2011-12-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

Email users NOTE: This blogpost has videos. If you cannot see the videos, please visit http://mazzellas.blogspot.com

This kid has no fear. Dan even let go for a few seconds and he didn't even bat an eye.

I let JT have my camera while we strolled (or pushed) our way through the cactus garden at Ethel M's. He apparently had turned the video recording on.

Xmas cookie decorating at a friend's house. The kids had lots of fun. Parents had lots of sugar (cookies).

Off to school

2011-12-08T15:13:00.000-08:00

CW wants to be like his big brother and carry his lunch to class.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-07T16:32:00.001-08:00

JT to Santa: "I want a big, big, big dinosaur that talks."

CW: "Roaaaarrrrr!"

Mr. Chatty

2011-10-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

CW is starting to vocalize words and two word sentences and is learning more words each day. He can accurately use "mamma, dadda, bird, ball, all done, hi papa"

Video included: http://youtu.be/G4bu1futqBI

Happy 3rd Birthday, James!

2011-10-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Recent Artworks

2011-10-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

CW Summer 2011


JT Summer 2011

I'm Bigger

2011-09-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

I was just recounting to a co-worker something that JT did this weekend. I thought I'd see if I could re-tell it here for posterity. It requires some visualization, so bear with me.

While learning to count on his fingers, JT has discovered that his fingers are not all the same size. So he will often point it out. He assigns character values to his digits. He'll say (while holding up two fingers), "Look, mommy! Here's the big Super Mario and here's the Baby Super Mario." or "Here's James and here's Charlie!"

Just the other night: "Here, mommy! I'm the big Super Mario!"

nnnnn

(Here's the visualization; pretend these are fingers.)

Update on Your Baby Can Read (2009)

2011-08-31T10:25:00.000-07:00

So I was reading back through these posts and found this one about Your Baby Can Read. I said I would update you, and now I will.

JT had been watching them semi-religiously for the past 2 1/2 years. While reading his favorite books, he would occasionally point out words that he recognized (from the numerous readings that we did of these books) In the last several months we've been playing a game where, while watching these DVDs, we'll see who can say the word first (JT, Mommy/Daddy, or the TV person). JT has been doing extremely well and often wins. I've tried to rule out whether or not he's just memorized what words come next by fast forwarding or rewinding and starting someplace in the middle of the DVD. We also write them down on the white boards too. He actually is reading those words.

Next thing to work on is how to sound out new words that we've never seen before.

NOTE: CW is also watching these DVDs but does not have the rapt attention for them that JT had. He's more interested in cause and effect right now.

It's official

2011-08-31T09:25:00.001-07:00

We have entered the "why?" phase.

Why? Because you're growing up.
Why? Because you want to know more.
Why?.....

photo: Taken on the way to swim class...he insisted on wearing them in the car. If you look closely, they are starting to fog up.

One down; One to go!

2011-08-26T14:12:00.000-07:00

I think we've finally conquered potty training. We finally found an incentive that really worked. We used Mario Kart games for staying clean and dry all day. JT has been really good about letting us know when he needs to go. He'll even stop in mid-play now to go potty.

The Boys 08/01/2011

Happy 1st Birthday Charlie

2011-08-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

CW's first birthday party was a hit. All the kids came over; we turned our living room into a beach ball pit; hilarity and chaos ensued.

Afterward we had dinner at Metro. I can't believe CW still had energy. JT didn't; he fell asleep right after taking two bites of his pizza.

We did finger foods and I even made cake pops. They turned out pretty good.

CW's one year checkup was good; stood on the scale by himself.

weight: 24+ lbs

height: about 30" (he wouldn't stand still long enough)

He's going to be a big boy.

Getting Bigger....

2011-08-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Charlie is getting bigger every day. Here he is on our little Radio Flyer tricycle. He turns 1 next week and is running, singing, beating up his big brother, and vocalizing lots of different sounds.

Recent Art by James

2011-08-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Sensory Sponge Art by Charles

2011-08-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

Pics of Charlie at Daycare That Just Make Me LOL

2011-07-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Inverness 2011

2011-07-11T14:28:00.000-07:00

We spent our Fourth of July holiday in northern CA. JT was old enough
this year to participate in his first marshmallow race. He won 3rd in
both of the race he ran.

We took the boys down to the children's discovery museum in Saulsalito. They converted the buildings of an old military fort into discovery centers for kids play and learn how different things work.


Golden Gate Bridge SF, CA from one of the buildings at the discovery museum.

Charlie is learning to walk better each day. He is crawling, walking, climbing all over everything. We spent a couple of days at the beach where the boys enjoyed playing in the sand and water.

We're in trouble now...

2011-06-19T19:51:00.001-07:00

CW took his first steps today! Happy Father's Day! (pictures soon)

CW Recent Artworks

2011-05-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'll Let Go Soon...

2011-05-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

(if viewing this in an email, click the blog link to see the video).

I've got this down, mom.

2011-05-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Charlie waving video. (if viewing this in an email, click the blog link to see the video).

Here's the Poop....by JT Mazzella

2011-05-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Mom: "What happens to the poop?"

James: (gesturing to stomach) "The poo poo and pee pee goes round and round and then goes plop into the potty."

Mother's Day Art 2011

2011-05-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

Bellybutton Story by JT Mazzella

2011-04-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Mom: "What's your bellybutton for?"

James: "For when I was in Mommy's tummy."

Mom: "Then what happened?"

James: "I was like whoooaa! and then I came out."

CW: Six Month Stats

2011-02-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

Weight: 18 lbs
Height: 27 in
Head: 17.72 in

Healthy; drooling; no teeth; crawling; sitting; babbling; eating cereal; eating solids; all-around cute.

Can't Help But Love These on V Day

2011-02-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

CW will be 6 months this week. WOW! Time has flown. It's amazing how fast they really do grow. I need to keep up on this blog more so we don't miss anything. (SIDE NOTE: I'm getting a new SD card for my camera that has wifi capability. Maybe I can get the photos off of the camera faster then.)

Snuggling with Mommy and Papa

CW has started to move a LOT more. He's sitting for short periods before he decides that there's something "over there" that he wants. He's getting that army crawl down pat.

We love spending weekends at the park or doing something fun with the boys. We went out to Bonnie Springs a couple of weekends ago and had loads of fun on the train and with the animals.

Tractor riding at Bonnie Springs

Fun day at the park

JT is really getting into hanging out with CW. He'll get down and crawl with CW just to show him how it's done. We've started migrating CW to the boy's room and JT loves having him in there (as long as he's not crying). JT told me that he wanted CW to sleep next to him (in his bed). "Maybe when CW is bigger." Here they are sharing some cereal puffs.

JT is becoming more of a personality every day. He loves to narrate everything he does and tell stories. Most of the stories these days involve "fighting" with friends. They "fight" back and someone goes to time out. Be we always say that we're sorry and we know it's only pretend.

ARRRRGG!

Saxophone Duet

Here's JT fighting with the TV (because that is allowed).

JT loves the PBS Show Super Why. A cute program that teaches kids reading and problem solving. JT told me (when this photo was taken) that he was pretending to be Princess Pea. She has the power to spell.

"Something seems off here, Mommy."

Photo/Video Catch-up (SF Zoo & CW Rolling Over)

2011-01-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hanging with the Lemurs

Those guys in the back are snazzy dressers.

Let's get this train movin'

What an interesting peacock

Holiday Hangover

2011-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

Christmas and the New Year were great. We're still recovering from the festivities (and so is our house). Christmas with the friends and fams were a whirlwind of wrapping paper, presents and lots of food.

JT enjoyed it. CW was not as interested. We got the boys a flip-down art easel (JT mostly for now). JT absolutely loves it. He's constantly wanting to draw. I think he mostly likes the white board markers, but hey, they come off the walls easily.

After Christmas, we took a 10 hour road trip to Marin, CA. That was "fun". We did time it pretty well though. We left around nap time in the afternoon. Stopped for a couple hours for dinner and started up again right before bedtime. That and lots of books and videos, it wasn't too horrible. We made it there at about 2am. We spent the week just relaxing. We did take a trip down to Ikea and the SF Zoo. JT ran around the zoo all day. He was definitely worn out. So were we after chasing him.

CW's four month well-check went well; 16lbs, 24in. On New Year's Eve, CW decided that he was going to roll over for the first time. He was so happy with himself. Now, every time we put him down, he'll flip. He's also starting to get his feet up under himself and tries to push forward (face firmly planted in the floor). Of course, he doesn't get very far, but I don't think it will be too much longer.

We started CW on solids . He's doing rather well. Most of it stays in his mouth. We got JT the toddler rail for his crib this weekend. He really seems to like his bigger boy bed. Thus far, not getting up and wandering in the middle of the night.

Art Gallery

2010-12-18T23:24:00.000-08:00

Boy's Art Gallery

Break in the holiday whirlwind

2010-12-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

Since I have a small break in the craziness of the holiday season, I thought I would update you all on the family goings on. Thanksgiving was great. Our new oil-less turkey fryer is awesome. Friends and family were abundant.

JT is making some progress on the potty training. Right now it's more of a novelty than a necessity. He uses it as an excuse to get out of going to bed ("Mommy I have to go poo-poo potty...").

JT started in the Caterpillar classroom and when I picked him up on his very first day of class, he would NOT shut up all of the way home. And now, several weeks into that class, he's still quite talkative. We think it was a very good move. He's started to "read" (probably mostly from memory) some of his favorite books (videos posted soon). He'll even read to CW on occasion.

CW is growing by leaps and bounds. He's almost 4 months (we'll have his stats next week). Just last week he started blowing raspberries and this week he's vocalizing so much more. CW loves his tummy time and is constantly trying to roll over. When I unbuckle his car seat, he'll lean forward as if to get out.

CW is doing great at day care. He's quite picky in how he's fed (other than nursing) or put down for a nap. There's usually no sitting allowed. You must be uncomfortable for the process. It's always interesting to see what position he's required the day care staff to feed him in.

Well that's all for now...back to the daily grind and holiday prep. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season. I'll post again soon (I hope).

Halloween 2010

2010-11-06T23:41:00.000-07:00

Halloween started with a Harvest Festival at the Preschool on campus. CW was dress up as Frankenstein's Monster. I couldn't convince JT to be Dr. Frankenstein. Maybe one of these years. JT had loads of fun playing and running around in his costume.

We spent Halloween morning at a local pumpkin patch. JT loved the large pumpkins. He had a blast going down the GIANT bouncy slide. I was concerned about how steep the climb up was, but once DA went up once with him, JT was able to do it again, and again, and again, etc by himself. We ran out of tickets before he ran out of enthusiasm. We'll have to go back when they turn it into a Xmas Tree Lot and do it again.

Afterward we took a ride out to Hoover Dam to walk along the new bridge. JT got a kick out of the "BIG DAM". We stopped for root beer floats on the way home (as is always a must when driving through Boulder City).

CW sat on the porch and watched as the trick-or-treaters came to the door. The pumpkin hat was from JT's first Halloween. It was a little snug, since JT was only a week old when he wore it.

That night, we weren't sure if JT would actually go trick-or-treating. My mom and I took him up about half of our block and DA and dad did the other half. JT had a wonderful time. He would say "Trick-or-Treat" (with some coaxing). He only had issues with the guy up the street that was dressed as Frankenstein sitting on his porch. It was really bad when Frankenstein waved at him, but JT was not deterred to stop the fun (as evident by the picture of him passed out in my dad's lap on the porch). He wouldn't let me take him in when he got sleepy. He wanted to stay and watch as the other kids kept coming by.

MILESTONE: JT was convinced to pee in the potty on Halloween. Four days later, he was convinced to poop in it for the first time. Now if we can keep that up, we might be potty trained by Xmas (we'll see). JT is also moving to the next older classroom on Monday at the preschool. He's super excited.

CW will be starting in the infant classroom next week as well. He's been feeling a little more anxious. Hopefully it goes well.

Happy Second Birthday, James!

2010-10-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

JT and some friends celebrated his second birthday at a nearby park. It was just a lot of "let the kids run loose on the playground". There's not a lot of organized birthday festivities that you can do with bunch of 2-4 year olds. It was amazing that we got them to sit still long enough to pose for pics and eat cake.

I had attempted to make a cake that resembled Rocket from Disney's Little Einsteins. Since JT was able to recognize the character, I'm calling it a success (with lots of red dye).

Rah! Rah! Rocket!

Can I stick my finger in it now?

JT had a great time, as evident by the wide grin on his cake-smeared face in his Happy Birthday shades. CW sat and enjoyed watching the streamers blow in the wind. I'm so glad we decided to have the party at a park and not at our house. This kept me from needing to clean my house (before or after), and I think lots more fun for the kids.

I'm still recovering from the chaos that the opening of presents created at home afterward. Cleaning my disaster of a house was made impossible by the musings and constant attention demanded by adorable youngest. Oh well, such is life. CW is becoming more and more aware of people. He loves it when you laugh or smile at him. He's also somewhat ticklish on his feet and chest.

Too cute to be left alone for long.

Today, the boys had their respective well check visits. JT came in at 27 lbs and 34". Studies show that based on those stats, JT will likely only be 5'8" as an adult. I'm still hoping that he'll at least make 5'10" (DA's height). CW came in at a whopping 13 lbs and 23" (at two months old). He's at about the 50th percentile, but seems to me to be growing at a phenomenal rate. I think I'm still in shock that my maternity leave is almost over and I feel like it has whizzed by. I'm not looking forward to going back to work, but in this economy, I'm lucky to still have a job.

CW hanging with Papa.

JT is becoming more accepting of CW every day. I hope that it will continue and they can be really close. CW was shaking the rattle himself before we started recording.

Almost 2 (months & years)

2010-10-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

CW will be two months old tomorrow and is growing by leaps and bounds. At his one month well check, he was already 11.4 lbs and 21". CW is giggling and responding to faces. He loves to sit up and take in the world around him. Sometimes he'll go for several minutes cracking himself up in his sleep. We celebrated this growth with "rubber ducky" cupcakes. Some of their heads came out a little big due to the non-uniform size of the homemade doughnut holes. JT really enjoyed the cupcakes.


See how thrilled he is about the cupcakes?

We also had our first foray into family road trips with both of the boys. We drove down to southern CA for SevenStock (rotary engined cars event). The trip was good. We learned some valuable lessons for future trips with the boys (road or otherwise).

Calling for room service

A portable DVD player IS a good thing to have for longer trips. Load it up with educational DVDs and you won't feel as guilty.
ALWAYS bring lots of finger snacks for little tummys when you are out and about (this includes bottles of milk if you're uncomfortable nursing in public and your not close to your car).
Plan on adding at least one hour for every child in the car to every three hours of Google's estimated arrival time.
And to avoid PANIC, bring a towel. This is extremely helpful when you have to pull over on the freeway to strip down your oldest son after he has hurled his breakfast all over himself and the car seat (Lysol helps with the smell for the rest of the 3 hr drive home).

It's Mommy's turn playing "Pass the Birthmonth Baby"

Dan and I have realized (very quickly) that we can no longer use masculine pronouns in our house any longer.
Mass confusion arises when I want HIM to change HIS diaper.

The Boys

JT turns two next week. His vocabulary is expanding at a rapid pace. Sometimes too quickly. It takes us anywhere from one minute to several days to figure out what new word he has decided to share with us. He loves books. We've received several comments from school about his voracity for reading. He also loves anything with buttons that make noise (thank goodness for volume control on toys).

JT loves to sing too (well, have mommy sing). Our favorite song is the "Wheels on the Bus". To keep the song from getting too boring, we've been adding new things to the bus. See our list below, try them, they're fun.

Standard

Wheels go "'round"
Windows go "up and down"
Doors go "open; shut"
Horn goes "beep"
Driver says "Move on back!"
Wipers go "swish"
Babies go "waaa"

Additions

Engine goes "zoom"
People get "on & off"
Monkeys go "ooh, ooh, ah"
Teachers sing "A,B,C" or count "1,2,3"
Signal goes "click"
Lights go "blink"

I'm in charge!
(This is a 6 month sleep & play. OY!)

JT is adjusting well to having a new brother. There are moments of jealousy when JT doesn't feel like he's getting enough attention, but he's getting better at managing it. Sometimes when I drop JT off at preschool, he gets so protective of CW when the other kids want to see the "baby". It's cute, until JT knocks one of them over.

J giving C a ride on his quad.

Today was a red letter day for JT. It was the first time that he sat on the potty (bare) with the intention of actually using it. There was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow today, but he did sit there for several minutes (with his noisy books) trying.

Let's see if JT will want to drive CW around when he's 16.

Fast Forward 1 Month

2010-09-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

A LOT has happened in the last month. Dan and I celebratated our birthdays. Mine was especially surprising. At about 4:30 am on August 16th, 2010, I awoke to my water breaking. We went to the hospital, and after 12 fabulous hours in labor, I delivered
Charles Wang Mazzella
Stats: Born at 5:11pm; 8.3 lbs; 19 in; full head of hair; beautiful; healthy.

(Click for larger view)

Charles is now one month old today (I'll post birthday pics later). He's focusing on things; tracking; holding his head up quite well, and eating like crazy.

James has been adjusting well and wants to hold his baby brother and give him kisses (awwww). Dan and I are still adjusting to juggling two kids, but we're getting there. Sleep and a clean house are still very elusive.

What's in a Name?

2010-07-26T11:27:00.000-07:00

So after some discussion regarding the name of the new baby, Dan and I have made some changes. Since both of our great-grandfathers were named Charles, we figure that we hit two birds with one stone.

We like the idea of our kids having unique middle names, so since we've paid tribute to every side of the family except my Asian side we've changed Charlie's middle name to Wang. Henceforth, he will be Charles Wang Mazzella.

Politics & Saxophones (no it's not Bill Clinton)

2010-06-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

James participated in his first election during the primaries. While he's not old enough to vote, he had some definite opinions about who daddy should vote for. He wanted to make all of the choices for him. That, or he just really wanted to press the buttons on the screen and see the check marks come up.

Daddy, you're not wearing your sticker.

James has shown some interest in Dan's saxophone and wanting to play it, so I got him his own. This one, from BonTempi, has 8 keys and can actually play songs. I works a little backwards, in that you have to open holes to get specific notes, rather than close them; and the scale is from the bottom, not the top. Otherwise, he's getting the hang of it. Hey, for a 20 month old and a toy designed for 3 year olds, I think the fact that he has figured out how to play at least one note is pretty impressive (but I am biased).

Every time he gets a hold of it, he gets a death grip on it and won't put it down. The first night, he fell asleep with it (no, it's not posed). When he woke up in the middle of the night (wet or hungry) it was the first thing he asked for (in his sleep). Not mommy, not daddy, not milk, not even puppy.

Who's on the bus?

2010-05-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

Recently James has shown more interest in land vehicles, especially buses and trucks. Whenever we pass a large vehicle he'll point and say "bus". So we have been trying to teach him the difference between a truck and a bus. So I told him that the bus carries people and trucks carry stuff. He took that under advisement for the next 24 hours and when he next pointed out a bus I asked him "who's on the bus?" His reply was appropriately "people". Awwww..

Last night after dinner, I asked James what time it was and he gave his usual reply "bath" time. So I asked who he would like to give him his bath (thinking mom or dad)? His reply was "people?" (as a question). ROTFL ensued. When prompted more specifically if he wanted mommy or daddy to give him a bath, he replied "daddy".

So...morale of the story, be careful how you phrase the question.

Annual 4th of July Trip to Inverness, 3 months early...

2010-05-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Since I will be very pregnant around the 4th of July, we decided to take our annual trip a little early. James had some teacher in-service days so Dan and I took some time off and made a long weekend out of it. We hit Train Town in Sonoma, Drake's Beach and the California Academy of Sciences. We had loads of fun. Good thing the flight was only about an hour. Here's some cute beach vids of James from our trip.

One of these things is not like the other...

2010-05-10T08:15:00.000-07:00

The preschool recently did school photos for each class. This is James' class (12-18 months). Can you tell who suddenly developed an irrational fear of the photographer and was not originally included in this photograph? Gotta love photo editing software. Today starts his first day in the next classroom. Maybe he'll get in that pic come photo time.

His vocabulary is expanding at an enormous rate. He's started babbling in full sentences (getting cadence down). We've stopped keeping track of all of his words since he repeat just about anything (watch out).

Dan and I just got back from our friend Matt's wedding. We had left James overnight for the first time, with my parents. He was fine, we missed him a lot. Everywhere we went were kids around his age which made us miss him even more. We got home on Mother's Day and spent a wonderful dinner with our mothers.

Pregnancy update: Charlie is doing well. Lots of kicking and using my bladder for a mexican hat dance.

James 18 Month Well Check

2010-04-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Stats:
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 32 in
Head: 46 cm

Everything looks good. The doc asked us how many words James was able to say now and we guesstimated about 30-40. I figured I'd make a list to see just how many. I'm at about 60+. We've added a link to the ever-growing word list to the list of links at the right. Check back often to see how he's progressing.

One day soon, I'll get those pics from our recent vacation posted.

Mamma Mia! James is going to be a big brother.

2010-04-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is a re-posting from our Facebook page.

Here HE is. Let us introduce Charles Edgar Mazzella. We've known since Xmas but didn't want to announce it till we knew the gender. The name stems from Charles (Dan's maternal GGF) Edgar (my paternal GF).

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

2010-04-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

James had a great time hunting for Easter eggs (he only had to find 5 of them and they weren't really hidden). He had lots of fun just running around the house "finding" oranges that we would hide for him. Once he got the hang of it, he didn't want to stop.

Off to School

2010-04-12T09:38:00.003-07:00

Are you poopy?

2010-04-10T15:07:00.004-07:00

James is starting to recognize body functions. Sometimes, he'll let you know that he's soiled his diaper. At school they said that when they were "checking" on another child's diaper, James "checked" the diaper of a doll that he was playing with. He proclaimed that the doll was "poopy". When told that the doll would need to be changed, he proceeded to take the doll over to the door of the changing room to do so.

Ouch! Don't bite me.

2010-03-31T13:33:00.004-07:00

James is sprouting about five new teeth. At least that's about how many we can feel when we can get our fingers into his mouth (OUCH!). Unfortunately, with all those teeth breaking through, he's not having any fun with the symptoms that go along with it. Fever, crabbiness, aches, pains, and drooling. He doesn't feel like eating or drinking much. We're hearing a lot of "No, no, no!".

He seems cognizant of the drooling. He purses his lips closed and when he opens up to speak, drool runs freely. He'll then lift his hand, sleeve, or what have you to wipe it off his chin. Poor little guy. We're not getting a lot of sleep either.

Up-side: we'll have to go through this less often if he gets them all in at once.

Getting What He Wants & Spatial Processing

2010-03-23T20:21:00.004-07:00

JT really likes it when you sing to him. Lately, he will sign the 'more' sign and say more indicating he would like to hear the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song again. Tonight I prodded him further, to actually tell me what "more" he wants. He signed and said "more", then sang a few notes. After we were done singing the first song, he wanted "more" song, but this time, he started the gesture for the "Itsy-Bitsy Spider."

Another thing he started doing in the last week was climbing up on the chair in his room, which enabled him to get to the top of the Chester Drawers... That's where we keep his Nebulizer, consisting of a mask, vaporizer, pump, and air tube. He got everything down to the chair, and assembled the mask to the vaporizer, attached the air tube, and turned on the pump. He realized there was no medicine in the vaporizer, so he found an empty vile, took off the mask, and attempted to fill the vaporizer up. We just stood back and watched our little 17 month old do all this...

Sentences aren't far now

2010-03-02T11:27:00.004-08:00

We've been doing the single word game for a while now. He's added "juice", "puppy", "eat", "ears", "ow" (when pulling someone else's hair), "no no no" (while shaking his head) and some others on and off. Today, he put two words together "mommy eyes" and "mommy nose".

He's also starting to get more of his teeth in.

Two weeks later...back in the hospital on O2 with RSV & pneumonia

2010-02-24T13:14:00.004-08:00

Not even two weeks after the hives we ended up back at urgent care with an RSV induced cold that turned into pneumonia. (Is it bad when the urgent care staff and the hospital emergency room staff remember you from the last time you were in?) It required an $800 ambulance ride from the urgent care to the hospital (across the street). Steroids, antibiotics, overnight observation and oxygen in the hospital later, Dan ended up with a cold, I ended up with a more serious cold and sinus infection (and now a nagging cough).

We're all feeling much better now. James is talking up a storm. He's repeating lots of things (uh oh). We're working on "please" and "thank you". He knows when he's gone potty and let's us know that he needs to be changed (most of the time). He's sleeping through the nights on and off still. He's now 23lbs and about 30" tall.

I need to post more pics and videos and I've got lots of art work to scan and get posted too. Stay tuned.

One Crappy Week Finally Over

2010-01-31T22:02:00.004-08:00

Last week SUCKED!

So Monday started off crappy. JT did not get much sleep. He woke us up at 4:30am and couldn't go back to sleep (trust me, we tried for an hour). So we decided to just get up and go to work early so we could get home early. (Best laid plans...).

We didn't get out of the house until almost 8am, which is closer to our normal time of leaving, but it was still a little earlier than usual. We got on the 215 and WHAM! There was an accident at Eastern, we couldn't get off the freeway and we were stuck on it for almost an hour before we got to a clearing. After dropping Dan off at work and James off at school, I was 30 minutes LATE for work.

The day progressed slowly. Then, it's 5pm, I'm getting ready to pack up and pick up James from preschool. My phone rings, it's the director of the preschool. James is in the school infirmary with what look like hives. He's breathing fine and in good spirits, but his face and groin are covered in large red splotches that have progressively gotten worse since lunch.

I pick him up, it's hives. We get Dan and head to urgent care. Spend about 30-40 minutes there and JT gets a steroid and some Benadryl. He's still really active, happy, and doesn't seem to be itchy, thank goodness for that. You try to keep a 15 month old from scratching. We go home, have a late dinner and James is clearing up nicely. Finally, Monday is over, it's bedtime.

Tuesday morning.

JT's face, arms, hands, legs, and feet are all covered in hives and swollen. This picture was 30 minutes AFTER we gave him a dose of Benadryl. He was still in good spirits though.

Second trip to the doctor; still hives; take Zyrtec too and start breathing treatments again for a few days; home from school; can't go back till Friday. Over the next couple of days, Dan and I work out a schedule. The swelling goes down but the spots come and go. He progressively gets better over the next couple of days and finally goes back to school on Friday, spot free.

Saturday and most of Sunday are uneventful (at least bad stuff). Sunday night after dinner, JT decides to wiggle free and stand up in his high chair (set for a 3' counter height table) and he falls off. Surprised and scared, but unhurt.

We're so glad this week is over. I hope this next week is better.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-31T14:23:00.004-08:00

Christmas with JT was a little more eventful this year than last (he slept through most of last year). This year, his interest was focused on lights, ornaments, and paper. We went to see the Gift of Lights at Sunset park and the lights in the cactus garden at Ethel M's.

JT got several toys for Christmas from the relatives and friends. Dan and I got him a large playground climber with slide. We set it up in our living room for Christmas morning so he could play with it. He had a great time. We left it up for all of our friend's children could play on it at our Christmas party. It was a real hit. However, the plastic was off gassing some awful smells and we had to remove it from our living room soon afterward.

JT finished up his swim lessons for a few weeks. He's really enjoying them and is really getting the hang of kicking and blowing bubbles.

Kicking to the toy

James is also communicating with sign language. He knows "milk", "eat", "more", and sometimes "potty" & "finished". Every so often, when I ask if he needs his diaper changed, he'll say diaper (at least something that resembles that sound). Other words include: "buh" (book), "baaba" (bottle), "nanna" (banana), "bubble".

New videos, in case you missed them.

2009-12-18T15:36:00.004-08:00

One for you, one for me

Helping Daddy put up Xmas Lights

JT's Laugh-in

Here's some video updates if you missed them in the video blogroll. We have lots more art that came home from school for the break. I'll get those scanned in here soon. I have some more pics from his swim class on my phone. I'll get those up next week too.

JT's shown interest in the Christmas tree and the lights, and he's been really good around it. We did put all of the soft, non-breakable ornaments at his reach and the lights are LED, so we help keep him good. We don't yet have presents under the tree (I'll be working on that next week when I'm off). We'll see how that goes.

We've gone back to NOT sleeping through the night (I think he's having a growth spurt again). He has started stringing different babbling sounds together. Momma and Dadda are getting associated with the right person (most of the time). He's pointing to different body parts when prompted. Pointing to his nose and sticking out his tongue are the two that he does the quickest. He knows that belly buttons are under shirts and he can squint his eyes (on purpose). He loves sitting at his little table and chairs to eat snacks and do art.

Mommy won't let me have her iPhone for Xmas

2009-12-08T20:44:00.004-08:00

Maybe molars for Christmas instead. We're working on them.

Future Hobbies: Mountain Climbing & Cooking

2009-11-30T14:23:00.004-08:00

JT has learned to climb things; he climbs almost too well. Here's a pic of him climbing the two foot high raised entertainment wall. The opening under the TV is covered with a clear plexiglass. So there's only like an inch or two of space to put his feet, but that does not deter him.

He climbs up there to reach behind the plastic cover we have over the brightly lit power button for the TV. He likes to press buttons, any button; especially buttons that are lit.

The blur on the right is Dan trying to get to him to take him off the wall, for the fifth time that night.

We're doing pretty well on sleeping through the night. On occasion, he'll still wake up either wet or hungry. This is usually due to a change in his normal daily schedule. With the holidays, everything was crazy.

James is babbling up a storm. We've gotten him to say Momma and Dadda, we're just not sure he's quite associated the words with the person (or correct person). He has mimicked some other sounds of words too. The preschool thought he said car at one point, but could not get him to say it again.

Speaking of mimicking; the other day, I gave him a spatula and a plastic container to play with while I cooked dinner. He took the spatula and started stirring his imaginary batter in the container. Every so often he would take the spatula out of the container and put it in his mouth like he was taste testing.

Over Thanksgiving, we were puppy sitting for our friends and JT got along famously with the dogs. At one point, he was petting one of them and was so tired that he laid down and used the puppy as a pillow. That was so cute, right up until the dog decided to leave.

ooh ooh ooh... could it be?

2009-11-18T11:15:00.004-08:00

JT slept through the whole night last night. No diaper change, no bottle, no snot issues from 9pm till 5:45am. Cross your fingers that we can do two nights in a row.

Still drooling; drawing blood

2009-11-13T22:07:00.004-08:00

We're still working on those teeth. They keep popping up like weeds. James is learning to eat with utensils. It's a slow process. Most of the food ends up in his lap, but he has fun doing it. I think, in this pic, he actually did get a piece of food on the fork and into his mouth.

Today was the first time he had to have blood drawn. It was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. I wanted to cry with him...poor little guy.

Art Gallery Catch Up

2009-11-13T21:53:00.004-08:00

Now that I finally got a new flatbed scanner, I'm able to scan JT's art from the last several months. Here's the gallery.

Graduation

2009-11-13T21:39:00.004-08:00

Here's JT's diploma from the Tadpole classroom. He got it on his birthday. They really miss him there.

There's something on my face

2009-11-02T10:40:00.004-08:00

So I went into James' room the other morning (actually, I was summoned, since it was about 6:00 am and he wanted to get up and be changed). James was holding his zoo animal blanket, pointing to the tiger, and inquiring what it was. I informed him that it was in fact a tiger. He pointed to the tiger's little pink nose and inquired again. I confirmed that it was the tiger's nose. JT then proceed to point to his own nose to let me know that he had one too.

Photo Catch Up

2009-10-30T10:41:00.004-07:00

So I promised you guys some pictures. Here they are. A collage from our D.C. trip and one from JT's birthday. (Click on each image to see a larger view)

Over achiever...

2009-10-25T18:27:00.004-07:00

So JT starts drooling and teething at 3 months; no teeth. He's cranky and chewing on everything in site from 6-9 months; no teeth. His lower right incisor breaks through; takes forever to break. His lower left incisor follows about three months later. Now, Friday his upper right incisor breaks. Today (Sunday) his upper left canine breaks. If the trend continues, he'll have a full compliment by Thanksgiving.

Sigh...no rest for the weary.

Some privacy please.

2009-10-19T10:45:00.004-07:00

As of late James has been going off into a corner or someplace by himself, squat down and would just hang out and play there for several minutes. Every so often, he'd peek around the corner or behind him to see if anyone was watching.

Once, while he thought I wasn't looking, I saw it. He was making the poopy face. (Moms, you know what I'm talking about.) We finally correlated this behavior with him having a bowel movement. From what I've read, this is supposed to be a good sign towards potty training.

On another note, we are getting ready to move James to the next toddler day care class next week

A toddler mind at work

2009-10-16T09:34:00.004-07:00

So JT decided that since crying when I dropped him off at school did not work to keep me there, he sneaked over (pretending to see me off) to stand in front of the door so I couldn't leave, or I would at least have to take him with me.

I know I haven't had many new updates on the tooth front. Finally the one tooth broke through. We're working on the second bottom tooth. It feels like he's got a canine coming through up top (kind weird, I thought the incisors came first). He won't open his mouth long enough for a photo, but we'll get him one of these days. With more teeth, comes more food. He's eating pureed and some shredded meats. We tried fish this week and he likes it. Even without more teeth, he seems to be doing well gumming things.

He's graduated to napping on a cot and using a sippy for milk at school. We will probably be transitioning him to the next classroom soon. He's so much more mobile and curious than the kids in his current classroom, that he is getting bored more quickly.

JT's curiosity has definitely increased. He likes to open and close things and have us turn things on and off. Last night we went through the spice cabinet smelling all of the spices. When we would sniff something and pretend to sneeze James thought it was really funny.

Sneek Peek (no pun intended)...

2009-10-12T10:53:00.004-07:00

Our trip to CA was fun. The 4 hour car ride was a little trying, but James did well. He had a blast. He loved wandering around looking at the cars. He's a definite rotor head. He even managed to sleep through the startup of several multi-rotor race cars. (If you ever heard a 4 rotor start up, you'd know that it's NOT quiet).

We were home for a week and then, off to DC. It was James' first plane ride. Because he's so mobile, sitting in Mommy's lap for the duration was not fun (we can only nap for so long, too many new things to check out). He wanted run around and play. It wasn't too bad with both Dan and I and an empty seat between us. The trip back was a different story (full flights back to Vegas SUCK). I also had to fly back with the baby by myself (Dan stayed an extra day for work). I don't know how single mothers do it. My hats off to you.

We had so much fun at the National Zoo, Air & Space Museum, Natural History Museum, on an open-top double decker bus tour of the area. James was so exhausted at the end of each day, he pretty much passed out (so did we).

Here's an iPhone photo of James playing peek-a-boo at a restaurant on our DC trip.

He's got two teeth now. The second one is just breaking through. If he'd open up for a pic, I'd show them to you. I think he's getting ready to start running soon too.

I'll load more photos soon.

I'll sort them out soon...

2009-10-07T23:18:00.004-07:00

We just returned from being out of town for two weekends in a row. I promise to get all of the pictures from our trip sorted and posted soon.

Color Wheel Art

2009-09-23T21:57:00.004-07:00

Happy 11 month Birthday!

Here's some more artwork by James T Mazzella. He's starting to form some words. Nothing definitive yet. I think he's getting another tooth in (very cranky baby). In the last week or so, JT's been leaning over in the bathtub to blow bubbles in the water. We need to get him back to a swim class soon.

We're heading down to southern California for SevenStock this weekend (Mazda Rotary car event, Dan's thing). Four hours in the back of an RX-8. We're going to see if we can get a bag, baby's stuff and a stroller in the trunk. Wish us luck.

Glitter Fingerpaint Art

2009-09-11T14:12:00.004-07:00

It's Tivo Time

2009-09-02T11:58:00.004-07:00

Last night JT and I were watching You Are What You Eat (well, I was watching and being throughly disgusted). Then for some reason Tivo decided to reboot itself. While watching the "please wait while Tivo reboots" screen, JT decided he was going to help fix it (or make it boot faster, not sure which). He promptly grabbed HIS Tivo remote (1 of 3 that we don't use; without batteries; yes, I said 3). He pointed it at the TV and started pressing buttons (then put it in his mouth). Realizing that he had the remote upside down (because the remote is so well designed, you can just tell without looking), he turns it over and presses the Tivo button. Now, I know this did not actually do anything to Tivo, but, at that moment, Tivo decided to respond by finishing it's boot process.

JT was very proud of himself.

August Update

2009-08-27T10:12:00.004-07:00

James is continuing to get better at the whole walking thing. Sometimes he tries to walk/run too fast and will fall. It doesn't seem to phase him too much. He can now stand up without holding onto anything. It's kinda funny to watch. Since the upper half of his body is just about equivalent to the lower half of his body he's pretty much folded in half.

His first tooth is finally starting to cut through. It's not that visible yet, but it sure is sharp. Once it's grown out we'll get him to smile for a picture.

Best Birthday Ever!

2009-08-16T22:33:00.004-07:00

Shellie's birthday present.

Summer Time Fun

2009-08-08T16:38:00.004-07:00

Here's some photos from summer at preschool. The pic in the upper left came out a little dark. That's him sleeping.

Photogenic

2009-08-04T10:48:00.004-07:00

We tried out a local photographer this weekend. Meghan Poort. She was pretty cool. She posts some sneek peeks of her photo shoots on her blog. Here's the sneek peek from our shoot. James was just a big ham. He loved the camera. We did a couple of model photos for another client of hers (that's how we got a free session). When I get the link for those pics, I'll post them here.

Puppy Love

2009-08-03T21:26:00.004-07:00

Mazzie is starting to take a real interest in James. Mazzie had grabbed her rings and started shaking them around in an attempt to get us to play with her. Since neither Dan nor myself was up for a game of chase or tug o' war, she decided that the baby should play.

James would crawl towards her in an attempt to get the rings and the puppy would prance around avoiding his grasp. When he would turn and try again, Mazzie would recipricate, tail wagging. This continued for a good five mintues. We'll try to get vid of this the next time.

9 month well visit stats

2009-07-28T14:49:00.004-07:00

Happy baby...
19.6 lbs
27(ish) in

Determined to Walk

2009-07-27T10:36:00.004-07:00

He's there. Taking lots of steps and walking.

Our First Swim Class

2009-07-27T10:33:00.004-07:00

Absolutely loved it! Can't wait to go back next week. We were learning to blow bubbles, but JT wouldn't do it. As a delayed reaction, he started blowing bubbles in the air at home the next day. He's so cute doing it, hopefully we can get him to do it in the water next week.

Happy 9 month birthday!

2009-07-23T09:17:00.004-07:00

James is trying to get the standing thing. Every so often, he'll pull himself up on something and then just barely lean against it to stand there. The staff at the preschool said that yesterday that they saw JT walk from the cabinet area to the padded area (about 3-5 feet) by himself (probably going after some toy). At home he took 3-4 steps towards Dan. Once he stopped on step 3, turned 90 degrees and went for a toy with another 3-4 steps.

Maybe, this weekend, we'll get some video of him walking and post it.

Soon?

2009-07-21T09:39:00.004-07:00

Yesterday, when I picked James up from pre-school/day care he took a couple of deliberate, sort of well-balanced steps. If he could calm down enough to learn to balance standing still (ha!), he'd be walking already. We anticipate that he'll probably be walking very soon, but we thought that with the teeth too (still none by the way).

Previous Art

2009-07-14T22:43:00.004-07:00

April 2009 Mixing Colors

May 2009 Dot Art

Paintbrush Art

2009-07-14T18:13:00.004-07:00

Independence Day in Inverness, CA

2009-07-12T17:41:00.004-07:00

We made our annual trek to Inverness, CA for the Independence Day Holiday. A 10 hour road trip with a baby and a dog. Woo Hoo! It wasn't so bad, it only took 12 hours.

We did a lot of driving this trip. We drove down to San Jose to visit Dan's Great Uncle and we drove over to Sacramento to visit the Botwiniks. Abigail adored James.

James had lots of fun. We had a picnic at the Cheese Factory; JT learned to climb stairs (see video); played with Abby and the twins (David & Emily); communed with nature; played the piano (see video); saw fire trucks at the 4th of July races. An all around good time.

Needless to say, after almost 2 weeks with mommy & daddy all day, the first day back at preschool was not a happy one. Overall, he had a good week. We're still transitioning to the new environment (I have him on campus now), but he's doing well.

Happy Daddy's Day 2009

2009-06-22T13:15:00.004-07:00

Our first Father's Day with JT. He had a grand ol' time just playing with the bows and wrapping paper. (doesn't he make a cute present?)

We took the dad's the buffet at the M Resort. It was very yummy. James had some sweet potatoes and cantelope, until he took too big of a bite of the catelope and proceeded to vomit up everything he had eaten. Don't worry, it missed the table and he was just fine afterwards. (We were pretty much done eating by then anyway ;) ).

Over the weekend James took a couple of rushed, wobbly steps. He's getting better at balancing. He's just cruising along and letting go every now and then.

I'm even too tired to eat

2009-06-16T22:29:00.004-07:00

Growing takes a LOT of energy. It's draining.

Just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'...

2009-06-16T16:01:00.004-07:00

A couple weekends ago James had his first experience in a pool. You can see that he loves taking baths and was equally excited about getting in the pool. We have him enrolled in swim lessons at the end of July.

And the struggle begins...

2009-06-10T09:20:00.004-07:00

Who will win?

Month 7

2009-05-29T15:21:00.004-07:00

I came across some photos that a co-worker had taken of James when he was just a few weeks old. Awwww! Look how tiny he was. Not any more.

We dog-sat for Brian & Michelle over the holiday weekend. It was a caotic puppyfest (see puppy palooza vid).

James has started to actually crawl using his arms and legs (see crawling vid). He's also started having separation anxiety when I leave the room. If I can get him distracted it's usually fine.

Dan is going out of town on business next week so I'll be a single mom for a week. We'll see if I'm ready to cry when he gets back.

Still no teeth.

A Room of My Own

2009-05-17T21:39:00.004-07:00

James has been sleeping in his room for about a week now. Still not sleeping through the night. I still have to get up an feed him at lease once around 2am and then he'll get fussy/hungry again around 4:30am. Eventually, I'll get to sleep through the night. At least till we decide on another one.

Now he's getting more mobile. Soon we'll be chasing him around the house. He's starting to test his balance by letting go with one hand after standing. Sometimes he forgets that he can't balance yet and he lets go with both hands.

I thought someone told me that it gets easier after 6 months. HA!

Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-10T23:28:00.004-07:00

YEAH! My first Mother's Day! It was great. We went to see the new Star Trek movie (pretty cool), we ordered in from Memphis Grill (mmmmm), and we enjoyed watching the baby climb on everything.

There are some videos of him climbing and standing. Just last week he was doing the breast-stroke on land and getting really fast. Now he's getting pretty good at standing. Soon he'll be walking.

Still no tooth yet. Just lots of drool and screaming . Soon, we hope.

For some reason, every time Dan uses my camera, most of the pictures end up blurry. Not sure why.

6 month birthday cake

2009-05-10T23:20:00.004-07:00

Here are some more pictures from JT's six month birthday. We had cake. He liked it.

(Product Review) Kidco Adhesive Mount Magnetic Drawer-Door Locks

2009-05-05T10:06:00.004-07:00

Toys R Us

Keep your little ones safe with this Adhesive Mount Magnet Lock 4 Lock Set from KidCo which contains 4 locks only. These locks use a high-powered magnet that penetrates up to 1 inch of solid wood, so there's no need to ruin your cabinets/doors with tools, holes, or drilling. Instead, these lock...

BE AWARE!!!!

geekbaby henderson, nv 5/5/2009

Pros: Easy To Install

Cons: Faulty Design, Poor Construction

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

Magnetic. Cool. Adhesive. Awesome. Or so we thought. We bought these locks to avoid having to drill our cabinets. We mounted them and they seemed to work just fine. I must have lifted a couple of my cabinets doors while installing them, because after a couple of hours, the door sagged back down to its original location (mind you, only probably a few mm) and the lock no longer locked. So we would have to remove it an re-install.

Before then, I decided to do some checking. I got down on the floor and pretended to by my 6 month old boy who is pulling on things to get into a standing position. I lightly pulled down on the cabinet handles and the door came open. It bypassed the lock completely.

Poor design. Go with TotLock. We installed them, very easy. No way my son is getting in there without the key or Hulk strength.

(Terms of Use)

Oh No! We're in trouble now.

2009-05-05T09:50:00.004-07:00

So we were trying to sleep in over the weekend (which is not an easy task with a six month old).

We put James in his pack 'n play and snuggled up for a little extra sleep. James happily played with his toys. I was laying on the Boppy that was hanging over the edge of the bed. I felt a tug on the Bobby and assumed James was reaching for it and trying to get it to his mouth so he could chew on it (BTW still no teeth appearing, but lots of screaming about it). Then I heard some giggling and cracked open my eyes.

There, staring at me, was my beautiful baby boy. He was smiling and STANDING. Oh SHIT!. Dan mumbled, "what's wrong"?

"Look at your son."

"Crap!"

"We're screwed now..."

Needless to say, we spent the weekend making sure outlets were plugged, cabinets were locked, still working on a good gating system.

six months already?

2009-04-26T22:57:00.004-07:00

Visits from the Tooth Fairy Soon

2009-04-22T09:25:00.004-07:00

So after months (& months, & months) of drooling, we think that JT is finally teething. There is a small bump of a tooth working its way out. We'll post pics once it erupts.

Wow! That was fast.

2009-04-19T21:53:00.004-07:00

Now JT is moving along pretty fast with this sort of baby seal like motion.

Rite of Passage

2009-04-14T09:23:00.004-07:00

It was inevitable; bound to happen. JT has become so mobile that he fell off of our bed this morning. He's fine, but I'm a wreck. He only cried for a minute or two and then was all smiles again. He fell off just as I was walking back into the room. It was like it was happening in slow motion, but I couldn't do anything about it. I feel awful.

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

2009-04-13T15:31:00.004-07:00

Easter weekend 2009. We had a great time, sort of. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep (due to pollen allergies getting to JT and restless sleeping). We had our parents over for Easter dinner. We ate, talked, laughed, played with the baby. Good time had by all.

I was playing with James on the floor one evening. He loves sound of kisses, so I was kissing his face and making him laugh. When I turned my cheek, he would put his mouth to my cheek and attempt to make the same sound <*cute*>. What I ended up with is him blowing raspberries and a lot of drool onto my cheek. Ahh, the life of a mommy!

James is making more progress on the crawling front. He can get on all fours and move his limbs, but hasn't quite coordinated them for maximum distance. Instead, he sort of inch-worms his way around the room. He is also getting his butt up in the air now and doing some squats.

He tried bananas this weekend. Wow! He loves them so much that while feeding him he kept trying to fall asleep, but wanted to keep eating. His eyes would droop and his mouth would open.

Crawling, Walking, Laughing

2009-04-01T19:40:00.004-07:00

James is getting bigger every day. I can't believe he's almost six months. It goes by very quickly.

He's laughing and playing. As soon as you put him down, he immediately rolls over onto his tummy. He's getting the hang of pushing himself up on his arms and getting his feet under him. Unfortunately, not at the same time. He loves his walker (see video). We'll see what he gets to first, walking or crawling.

He's eating some solids. Thus far, he's tried carrots, peas and sweet potatoes. This week we're trying apples. He gets a funny look on his face because they are more tart than what he's tried so far. I'll try to get that on camera one of these days.

We've got him some new language DVDs. One set is in Chinese and the other Italian. We'll see if Dan and I can pick up anything too.

Baby laughs are the best.

March Madness

2009-03-22T23:05:00.004-07:00

My cousin Bill was in town for a conference, so he came by to visit. My mom came home from Taiwan last week. We're working on our yard again. Boy, we're exhausted. The outfit is one that my mom brought back with her from Taiwan. It's a little big, but he'll grow into it. Hopefully he won't grow out of it before next winter.

I'll get some more videos up soon of JT rolling over really well and sitting up longer than 4 seconds. There is a video of him trying to feed himself. We're starting him on some solids. Thus far, we've done carrots and peas.

I finally weigh more than the dog

2009-03-11T13:56:00.004-07:00

I took JT in for a follow up visit this morning. He weighed 14.6 lbs. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health.

He's starting to blow raspberries and has recently realized that he can make loud noises.

YEAH! Happy, healthy, babies are much more fun.

Much Better Now

2009-03-04T22:44:00.004-08:00

JT is doing much better now. He's picked right up where he left off before he got sick, and doing some major catch-up.

He's getting the hang of rolling. Not quite rolling around the room yet. (See Rollin' with my hommies vid). He's trying to sit (See Funniest 4 seconds vid). We're trying to spoon feed him some rice cereal. He's sort of getting the hang of that. He's also babbling like crazy.

A co-worker of mine got us this Bottle Genie and here's a fantastic picture of it in use.

Weekend in the ER (this does end well)

2009-02-24T10:22:00.004-08:00

While just starting to recover from his bout with RSV (our January ER trip), James caught another respiratory virus ('tis the season) that aggravated his healing lungs. He came down with a low grade fever all day on Thursday.

About midnight, his fever started to spike and he began coughing and wheezing. I gave him a breathing treatment which calmed the coughing, but his temperature continued to rise. We took him to the ER and his temp was 101.3 (coming down).

They put him on oxygen to give his lungs a break from working so hard. He stayed on oxygen for 2 1/2 days. We were in the hospital for almost 3 days. In a nutshell, the new virus he caught gave him an asthma attack.

He's doing MUCH better now. We have him home for a week or two to continue recovering. We're supposed to keep his activity to a minimum, which is difficult with a four month old that's learning to roll over and loves to stand. We have him on breathing treatments (one of which will hopefully stave off developing asthma later).

Thanks for your well wishes.

Babies do NOT like jalepenos...

2009-02-09T13:52:00.004-08:00

While prepping items for our week's dinners I made up a bottle for JT. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that I had been handling jalapeno peppers. When my dad put the bottle in JT's mouth, you should have seen him spit it back out. Crying and screaming ensued. It took us a good 5 minutes to convince him to take a clean bottle.

On a good note, it did clear up his nasal congestion for a while.