Jumping Jonah!

Jonah is absolutely crazy for his new Jumperoo (yet another one of those ridiculous-looking baby contraptions I thought we'd never get but am glad we did).  He just loves it.  Check it out:

Note that this particular video shows Jonah playing relatively tamely in the Jumperoo... until the end at least.

My only issue with this thing now is that it's hard to get (or keep) him out of it.  When he's in it, generally speaking, he's jumping, he's bouncing, he's laughing, he's squealing with delight.  His feet fly up and down over the floor with the grace of Mikhail Baryshnikov.  He throws his arms up as if he's enjoying the thrill of a roller coaster, and he slams them down with grand smacks of approval.  He grabs at the toys attached to the tray that surrounds him, spins them, pulls them, inspects them intently with his eyes.  And he smiles!  Oh, those smiles!

All that, of course, means that not only does he want to be in it often but his dad and I also find it unexpectedly rewarding to see him in it.

My motherly reservations about allowing plastic monstrosities to essentially babysit one's children aside, I'm happy that my darling baby's happy, and I'm gratified that with this single gift from his grandparents, we seem to have satisfied much of his current and urgent desire for more independence and mobility.

Busy Day

Jonah had an activity-intensive day today:

It started with a trip to the natural history museum, where we checked out the massive dinosaur fossils, the sparkly gems, and the creepy insects, among other things.  Such fun!  Mostly for Mom and Dad, of course, but Jonah had a few good moments, too:

"Stegosaurus is soooo Jurassic period, Mom."

Sparkly gems have a little more
appeal than dinos at this stage.

In the Hall of Architecture.  Jonah's checking
out the off-camera Christmas trees.

Family photo time!  This is Jonah's first inclusion
in our traditional self-snapped family portrait.

After the museum, since Jonah seemed to be in a good mood, Bryan and I pushed our luck by making a stop at Banana Republic for some traditional Christmas self-treating.  No pictures from that event (though I thought of snapping a shot of Jonah fascinated by his many counterparts in the dressing room's 3-way mirror).  But once again Jonah showed off his developing patience by being a perfect young gentlemen all through Mom and Dad's searching and trying and buying.  So impressed!

Through the car ride home, Jonah chatted with us amiably.  Then at home he spent the rest of his seeming endless supply of energy playing in his new Jumperoo--an early Xmas gift from distant Grammy and Grandpa.  Jonah loves loves loves this thing.  He jumps like a mad man when he's in it, and laughs like one, too.  I think it appeals to his desire for greater independence.  He so very much wants to be able to move around on  his own!  Jonah loves his Jumperoo so much it may deserve it's own blog entry in the future, but for now we'll just include one inevitably blurry photo:

Thrilled to be jumping in the Jumperoo!

Well, after all this activity, Jonah's more than a little tuckered out now. Time to put our exhausted little man to bed. One big day behind us, but with the holiday coming, there are more than a few other big days ahead, and Baby need his rest!

Jonah's 1st Tree

Christmas tree is up and trimmed!

Happy holidays to all our friends

from Meg, Bryan, and Jonah!

18+ Weeks

At his 4-month pediatric appointment last week, we learned that Jonah's grown to nearly 26 inches and to just about 16 pounds. Every day he looks (and behaves) less like the infant he technically still is--and more like the little child he's bound to become.

Jonah's certainly made a few developmental leaps of late. For one thing (drum roll please), he actually slept through a full night last night! That's a "full night" even from an adult perspective: seven hours. This is a huge deal for me in particular, as I haven't had a chance to sleep even close to that long since Jonah was born. And, frankly, I probably never slept that long in one go while I was pregnant either. So... A. Big. Deal. For. Me.

Beyond that, Jonah's been showing ever more curiosity about the world around him. And he's definitely inherited his mom's (dad's?) determination (stubbornness?). He's reaching for everything these days. And he's vociferous in his frequent attempts to tell us where he'd like to go and what he'd like to do there. The poor child is clearly aching for better mobility. We've been increasing the amount of time he spends independently on the floor, the better to practice those little rolling/crawling/standing/walking muscles. And every gain in muscle strength seems to make him even more determined to get on the move. It's a vicious(ly exciting) cycle.

We did have one teensy little hiccup health-wise recently, and that was that after his pediatric appointment (which involved one oral vaccine and three shots in his thighs), Jonah developed a low fever and became nearly inconsolable over (presumably) the pain in his legs. A little acetaminophen seemed to provide him with the comfort he needed to eventually sleep, but until that kicked in, Mom's and Dad's hearts were nearly breaking over their darling's desperation. At this point, we're pretty accustomed to him crying from over-tiredness, for instance, but crying through pain and fever is still a largely new experience for us. I wished I could have explained to him that what he was feeling was only temporary, that suffering through the actual illnesses against which he was vaccinated would have been so much worse and more drawn out. But, alas, I could only imagine how miserable and helpless he must have felt, with almost no experience to help put his pain in perspective. My poor baby.

Oh well. Obviously, he's better now. At the moment, in fact, he's napping contentedly against my chest. I should probably take a nap, too. One truth I don't need to learn even with this new experience: a parent just can't take seven straight hours of sleep for granted!

UPDATE:  Jonah woke up pretty much as soon as I was settled down for my nap.  Naturally.  :-)

Lights!

On these unseasonably warm evenings, Jonah loves sitting out on the porch, checking out the Christmas lights, and watching the cars zip by through the dark.

Christmas Decor!

Bryan, Jonah, and I put up Christmas decorations this weekend.  Our home now feels warm with Christmas cheer:

Too thrifty to spend on garland, I made one myself
using some spare ornaments, ribbon, and a string.

A few pine cones and bows transform the dining room
chandelier.  In the background, a snowman we bought years
ago in an after-Xmas clearance sale smiles at us from
under a string of laundry-pin-hung Xmas cards.

Uh oh, that candy jar in the foreground looks a
lot emptier than it did when I filled it last week...

I made bows using just some wired
ribbon and cheap-o miniature ornaments.

I love this baker Santa nutcracker--one of the
few decorations on hand from holidays past.

In my quest to find inexpensive decoration ideas,
I learned that little adjustments to the decor you
already have can make a big, festive difference.  In
this example, I replaced the contents of picture frames
already hanging in the dining room with cheery holiday cards.

The buffet features yummy in-season oranges alongside
the last few of our decorations on hand from past
years.  As a finishing touch, the chalkboard
exclaims an Xmas greeting in red and green

Still no Christmas tree, but maybe next weekend.  In the meantime, holiday tunes are playing, the hot cocoa is ready, and many peaceful evenings by the fire with the family are in store!

Christmas Prep Preview

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I constructed what I imagined would be a Christmas wreath from the pages of a crappy book that had otherwise been intended for Goodwill.  In the end, perhaps it doesn't look particularly Christmas-y, but I think it will do very well as a year-round decoration.  What do you think?

(I got the idea for this wreath, by the way, from this blog.)

This weekend, I think, the actual Christmas decorations will go up.  Since Bryan and I have few--and we don't want to buy any more until the after-Christmas clearance sales--I'm getting creative to ensure our home is nevertheless filled with ample and evident Christmas cheer!

16 (almost 17) Weeks

It's been a week of firsts for Jonah:

• first Thanksgiving
• first snowfall (the Saturday after Thanksgiving)
• first (non-birth related) bump on the head (he smacked himself with his rattle, but, in truth,he hardly noticed, and the bump barely stuck around long enough to say hello)

Rattles can double
as bludgeons.

I also finally decided that Jonah's big enough to sit in his sling in a position that provides no head support and also requires he straddle my hips. That realization came more or less around the time I discovered Jonah's already outgrown his 3-6 month pajamas (he literally ripped through the seams of one set last night). Do any babies fit the sizes their clothing labels suggest are appropriate for their age???

Slinging on
Mom's hip.

Finally, it's not a first--nor is it strictly something that began this week--but Jonah recently decided that his toes are among the most fascinating objects we keep around the house.  The discovery makes for precious photo ops:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, we had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving:  Jonah's very first, though he wasn't yet able to partake of the food.  (That'll be a first for next year's holiday!)

Nevertheless, the feast was spectacular.  Jonah's Aunt Kate and Uncle Kevin visited, and together we created quite a spread:  Kate's deliciously tart cranberry-apple sauce, Brussels spouts sauteed with slivered almonds, caramelized butternut squash with onions and sage and cranberries, and so on, all around a main course of maple smoked turkey.  Yum!

Our boy, despite being a bit tired from all the excitement, managed to maintain a smile through most of the day.  And, today, he's recovering from all his effort!

Jonah wore his "My First Thanksgiving" bib
during dinner, just to be festive.

After dinner we all relaxed around
the fireplace (and ate pie).

Jonah stayed wide awake through more of
Thanksgiving Day than his mom and dad
might have liked.  But the day after
Thanksgiving, almost as soon as his aunt
and uncle hit the road, he began
catching up on lost time.

Moving up in the world...

"Angry, strained attempts to lift myself out of my bouncer while Mom lunched today--I hate being reclined when I could be sitting upright--finally bought me a promotion to a new kind of mealtime chair. Not quite ready, though. Despite the extra padding Mommy tried to provide, if she hadn't kept a close eye on me, I might have slipped out!"

--Jonah, as lovingly translated by his mother

14 Weeks

This week, following several months practice making a variety of vowel sounds, Jonah has finally started to venture into consonants.  Vowel sounds are still far more frequent, but it's nevertheless exciting to see him begin to experiment with incorporating his lips into his speech.

He's also started to grab things with a vengeance.  Like, really reach out and grab.  With vigor.

And his sense of humor continues to develop.  Lately, Jonah's started laughing to the sight of Mom mock falling, for instance.  Or he'll stick his fingers in Mom's mouth and crack up when her speech turns into a jumbled mess.  Admittedly, such physical humor may not be the most sophisticated of the humor varieties, but I'm more than a little surprised that, at only three months, Jonah's already catching on to it.

The only bad news to report at 14 weeks (and counting) is that Jonah's eagerness to explore space with his fingers doesn't end in Mom's mouth.  He's started to explore his own mouth so enthusiastically that he's been making himself gag and spit up.  I've read that this can be a sign of teething (though I'm guessing it's still too early) or of his body getting ready for solid foods (desensitizing his gag reflex--though I'm skeptical of this theory, too).  I'm sure it's a phase in any case, but I can't say I'm happy about this one.

Anyway, a few (somewhat random) cute photos to conclude this entry:

A rare example of the kind of fun
we sometimes have during tummy time.

Bath time, on the other
hand, is almost always fun!

Election Day!

Jonah headed to the polls today for his very first national election!  In the evening, Bryan and he engaged in a sophisticated discussion of the issues:

This, by the way, is our first video evidence that Jonah is mimicking our behaviors.  Always excited to share all the many ways he's developing!

A Warm Winter Treat

The chimney sweeps came today, and now we have a romantic place to curl up with a book and drink hot chocolate over the winter!

Autumn (3 Months)

Autumn is passing all too swiftly, but Jonah and I have been trying to make the best of what agreeable weather we have left. We're taking regular walks, spending warm afternoons together on the porch swing, and occasionally raking leaves (with some help from our Ergo Baby Carrier).

Jonah taking a stroll on a crisp autumn day.
You can see he recently graduated from
his stroller bassinet to his seat!

In the unseasonable warmth last week,
Jonah and I hung out on our porch swing.  He's
kind of fascinated with the porch swing chains.
It doesn't hurt that he's discovered he can use
them to help himself stand upright.

On gloomy days, we might stay inside but take some of that opportunity to work on improving Jonah's upper body strength. I admit, I've been pretty terrible about giving him tummy time. (I figure that "tummy time" is likely an American--or at least First World--invention, and I've never heard of anyone outside our privileged sphere growing up with unusually floppy necks or useless arms for lack of this supposedly critical exercise. Combine my skepticism with the fact that Jonah hates tummy time, and you can see why it's a low-priority activity for us.) However, I recently discovered that J protests significantly less to tummy time if he's placed over a supportive Boppy--a discovery which has led to a marked increase in the amount of time we do spend on our tummies. "It can't hurt" is something I also figure.

Jonah practices tummy time.  We've found he tolerates
tummy time a little better if we use the Boppy and
keep him level with the goings-on around him.

Outside of our daily routine, fall is a lovely time to have visitors, and we were fortunate enough to receive a quick visit from some old friends last week. Stacia and Dominic--two pals from my old DC days--stayed with us on their way through the Burgh over the weekend. We were excited to get a chance to swap "war stories" with this lovely couple, who are expecting their own familial addition in the not too distant future. We also used the opportunity of their visit to check out a never-before-visited (by us) Pittsburgh hotspot: the Coca Cafe in hip Lawrenceville. We've been meaning to try their lauded brunch for ages, but we had simply never gotten round to it. Well, consider that bucket list item checked, though now we're determined to go back again. Brunch was scrumptious!

Jonah with Stacia, Dominic, and a
"hidden" Baby K, outside Coca Cafe.

By the way, today is Jonah's 3-month birthday!  We've had an excellent first quarter, I must say.  Happy birthday (of sorts), Jonah!  We love you.

Happy Halloween!

(Okay, so it's not Halloween anymore.  But I wrote this on Halloween.  I just didn't get a chance to post it then...)

Regrettably, our Halloween-themed outfit was reassigned to the hamper before we had a chance to snap a picture this morning. (Maybe we'll try again on Saturday, when the trick-or-treaters come.)

However, in the spirit of the upcoming holiday season, we are already enjoying the new toy that came in the mail the morning, and we do have a picture of that:

Maybe we can call this "costume" Giant-Baby-Supping-On-Safari??

Jonah explores his new Sophie the Giraffe.

Jonah Laughs

Things that make Jonah laugh:

• Silly noises
• Other people laughing
• "Flying" above Mom's head and then "falling" (like an autumn leaf)
• Irony
• Tickles
• Belly kisses

Okay, well, I'm not 100% sure about that fourth one yet, but I can prove the fifth and sixth...

Jonah "Talks"

Jonah's an undeniably loquacious little boy, and yesterday in particular he was talking up a storm (though today he already seems to be going for a new record!).   Anyway, here's a sampling:

12 Weeks

I can't believe Jonah is already twelve weeks old.  He's almost a teen-week-ager.  Crazy.

You know what else is crazy?  For his age, Jonah seems to be crazy-strong.  Just watch him as he practices standing.

Standing is probably Jonah's favorite way to be these days (though he still requires some support, obviously).  I wonder if he'll be an early walker.  Remember that time I first realized we might have a troublemaker on our hands?

Sleep! (Part 2)

Since I wrote the first "Sleep!" post ten days ago, I'm happy to report that Jonah continues to sleep through the night. The hours have changed a bit, but they still include that fabulous overnight stretch--something we could only dream of less than two weeks ago (and then only in the rare instance that we slept long enough to dream!).

Last night, for instance, J took regular naps through the day then slept from about midnight until 8 a.m., waking only twice to nurse. Didn't even need a diaper change until morning. Oh, sweet, sweet rest!

But don't worry. We realize that our good luck could literally change overnight. In the meantime, for what it's worth, I'm attributing at least some of our fortune to this article by Dr. Sears. I read it shortly after Jonah's first full night, and, if it didn't give me a whole heck of a lot of new ideas, I think it did at least help boost my confidence regarding a few things we're already doing.

The Verdict on Cloth

Since Jonah was born, more than a few people have asked us how things are going with our plan to cloth diaper, so I thought I'd dedicate this latest blog entry to that subject.  (And fair is fair.  As often as the conversation at home turns to all-things-infant-poop-related, we might as well spend some time on the blog talking about it!)

The short of it is that it's going really well.  We've been following our plan pretty much exactly as we described it before Jonah's birth, and so far so good.  The infant-size Kissaluvs (though they won't fit much longer!) have been really convenient to use, not to mention excellent insofar as protecting against blowouts is concerned.  I'll be sorry when they finally become genuinely too small because they've been our faithful workhorses so far.  The prefolds, which we currently use if we run short on Kissaluvs but which will become our primary diapers once the Kissaluvs are outgrown, actually might be superior in terms of keeping our babe's clothes clean and dry throughout the day.  They did involve a slightly longer learning curve (it took me a little under a week to figure out how to fold them snugly enough to avoid leaks), but, after we worked out a few kinks, I've found myself really happy--and comfortable--with them.  Finally, the Bum Genius diapers we included in our stash--our only daycare-approved variety of diaper--have also been perfectly easy to use (though a bit bulkier than the other varieties, which took some getting used to).  Lately, we've started using them as our primary overnight diapers since we've been given the impression that they wick moisture away from Baby's bum (whereas the Kissaluvs and prefolds do not), ostensibly leading to longer breaks between changes.  I'll admit, though, that I rather suspect our success with that tactic is at least in part due to the decreasing frequency of overnight wettings as Jonah gets a bit older.

Many of the concerns we've bandied over cloth diapering focus on the inconvenience of having to wash all those diapers with such frequency, but so far for us this just hasn't been a major issue.  For the time being we're washing diapers on a daily basis (though as Jonah gets bigger we might be able to cut back to every other day).  That's one wash a day, every day, but it's no big deal--the machines and a laundry line do most of the work.  And the diapers clean up really well.  (A tip for interested parties:  to help ensure that our cloth stays stain-free, we're using an Aquaus diaper sprayer on an as-needed basis after each changing.  It makes changes just a trifle more time-consuming, but it seems to be doing its job well.  And it will really come in handy once Baby starts solids and his waste is no longer water soluble.)  We even used cloth successfully over our recent car trip up into Central and Western New York and were able to maintain our daily wash schedule with the help of a few sets of friends and family.

All in all, we're very happy with cloth, and we'd like to encourage any readers out there considering cloth:  don't let the negative rumors discourage you.  In our experience, cloth has been easy and more than convenient enough to be worthwhile.  We send our appreciation to our friends and family who encouraged us and helped us to feel confident that this was a choice in which we wanted to invest!

Oh, and, by the way, if you are interested, in addition to relying on the word of friends and family, we also obtained a lot of information and advice from once of our favorite cloth diaper vendors:  Jillian's Drawers in Ithaca, NY.  You can check out their "New to Cloth Diapers?" guide here.

Sleep!

Jonah's schedule is nothing if not unpredictable, but last night he gave us a particularly big surprise: after (cheerfully) refusing to nap all morning (I was able to get him to take only a cumulative 45 minutes in naps between 7am and 3pm), he slept pretty much straight from 3pm until 5am this morning, waking only 1/2 hour to greet Daddy and occasionally (at reasonable intervals) to nurse.

Apparently, Jonah did not read the manual that says (1) infants should not be awake more than one or two hours at a time and (2) infants should not sleep more than four or five hours in a row.

I'm not complaining, though. In fact, I'm kind of celebrating. And we're already on track for a similar schedule today. Although, in a world where predictability is mere myth, using a term like "on track" might be a bit self-delusory!

Happy Baby, Fussy Baby

Yesterday Jonah was just super-cute and charming all day long, and I can't help but post some evidence:

Look at that smile!

Alas, today is a little different.  He's been fussing all morning--ready for a nap, I think, but extremely resistant to falling asleep.  Fortunately, that swing we bought a few weeks ago comes in handy for moments like this.  Though Jonah doesn't always love it, occasionally it works magic:

Now Mommy can take at least a few minutes to regroup in case the afternoon is no less fussy.  Better go splash some water on my face before my time runs out! :-)

2 Month Checkup

The doc confirmed today that Jonah's growing like a weed!  Our boy weighs in at just over 13 pounds and measures up to just shy of 24 inches!

Jonah also received his first set of vaccinations today (excluding the one he received when we were still at the hospital).  Three shots!  That was a traumatic experience.  What a look of devastated betrayal we received!  (I'm an absolute sucker for a pouty lip from my little boy.)  What abundant tears!  Fortunately, Jonah's quick to forgive:  he's back to sleeping soundly against my shoulder this morning.

Nine Weeks

Today's challenge: write a long overdue blog post with Jonah sleeping on my shoulder, inhibiting the use of my right arm.  Tomorrow's challenge:  get Jonah to fall asleep (and stay asleep) on his own.

Tomorrow's challenge is actually a work in progress, and it's very, very, very slow-going.  Our little boy just loves to cuddle, and, since an independent nap time means an extremely short nap time (and ultimately a very fussy day), cuddle is what we do, more often than not.  It's a rewarding sort of sacrifice, but we realize it's not sustainable--and so we're always on the lookout for signals that Jonah's ready to catch those Zzz's on his own.

Though he's not really willing to sleep by himself yet, there is lots of evidence of Jonah's growing independence more generally.  These days, for instance, our little guy is perfectly happy to babble away in his bouncer while Mom takes a shower or to amuse himself in his crib long enough for Mom to change out the laundry.  That's a significant change from a few weeks ago, when I couldn't even go to the bathroom without hearing him cry--before I'd even reached the door.

Physically, Jonah's continuing to make strides every day.  His legs are so strong, it often seems like he is just so close to standing up on his own.  Hold his little hands with your fingertips, and he'll use the little bit of balance you provide to pump his legs and stand tall in front of you (albeit with a bit of a drunkardly wobble).  He's also recently entered a grabbing phase, in which everything within grabbing distance quickly finds itself trapped in his miniature death grip.  (My glasses have fallen victim multiple times.)  We're working now on increasingly his upper arm strength, hoping to help the process along with a little tummy time each day.  Tummy time is a great photo opportunity, by the way:

Another big development:  laughter.  I'm talking real, hearty little laughs from deep in his chest (not those other sounds that sometimes pass as baby laughs but are more akin to coughs or hisses).  Jonah started producing genuine honest-to-goodness laughs about two weeks ago, but the big news this week is that his mommy has finally figured out how to elicit them purposefully.  A few funny noises and some bangs tickling his forehead, and Jonah cracks right up into big smiles and belly laughs.  It never fails, and it's awesome.  (I just wish I could catch it on camera, but Jonah is remarkably camera shy.  A few fun tummy time shots aside, almost inevitably, as soon as I take the camera out, Jonah's face adopts a dour and skeptical expression which he stubbornly refuses to remove until the camera is well out of sight.)

At nine weeks old (today!) our baby boy is making fast progress toward toddlerhood.  Can't wait to find out (tomorrow--at our next pediatric appointment) how much he has really grown.  I'm guessing he's close to 15 pounds now, which would mean that in two short months he has doubled his birth weight!  Oh my.

Yay for Yard Sales!

This morning our little family headed to Pittsburgh's Point Breeze neighborhood over for its annual neighborhood yard sale.  Having hit the baby-supply-jackpot last spring at a similar event in our own corner of the 'Burgh, we figured it might be worthwhile to check out this one as well.  And, boy, we weren't wrong!  Among this morning's catches:

A small stash of baby boy's clothes.  We found fewer of these types of items than we had hoped to fin, but we still managed to come home with a decent selection pieces to use through Jonah's next 6 to 9 months.  Best part:  most of these we picked up for just 25 cents a pop!

Books: several Doctor Seuss, a few Sandra Boyton, and others.  Can always use more books.

A fancy cradle swing.  We'd been avoiding buying one of these, mostly because it seemed counterproductive in terms of our maintaining an attachment style of parenting.  However, after spending an entire month of weekdays alone at home with Jonah, I finally decided that I could use at least a little time each day without a baby in my arms--a desire the merits of which, unfortunately, I have had absolutely no success convincing Jonah.  That said, we have several friends and neighbors who have sworn by the swing as a baby-approved means of transitioning from the security of Mom's arms to generally more independent locales.  And for $10 (!) at a yard sale, we're willing to give it a try.  Hopefully, Jonah will enjoy a little swing time each day--just enough so that Mom can, say, start dinner in the evening, before Daddy gets home and without having to suffer through Baby's heart-breakingly ceaseless cries.

And then, finally, the yard sale pièce de résistance:

We found this porch swing, in pretty much perfect condition, at our first stop for $5!  Honestly, I can hardly believe it.  We'd been looking at porch swings at places like Home Depot and Lowes, where they seem to start at about $120 and quickly run up to over $500!  So we're pretty thrilled about this find.  Looking forward to getting some use out of it this fall.

1st Road Trip!

Big news from over the weekend!  Jonah just enjoyed his first road trip!

We geared up for this trip (a work-related trip back to our old stomping grounds in central New York) with no small amount of trepidation.  How would Jonah handle so many hours in the car?  Where would we stop, and how should we schedule our time in each place?  Should we continue to use cloth diapers on the road, or would it be worthwhile to switch to disposables for a short duration?  How much should we pack in the way of baby clothes?  Entertainment?  The big stroller or the small?  So many uncertainties.  Maybe Mom and Baby should just stay home, we wondered.

In the end, though, car packed with what seemed like half of Jonah's belongings (plus one small bag for Mom and Dad), we hit the road.  And here's the good news:  Jonah was fabulous.  He slept through most of the car ride, only fussing occasionally for diaper changes and feedings.  We did our best to stop when and where we could, sometimes in places of Jonah's choosing, sometimes our own.  No major disasters.  No major emotional crises or backlash, thank goodness.

Jonah, snug in his car seat, ready to go!

First time behind the wheel
(taking a break at a rest stop).

Along the way, we took advantage of a few particularly convenient resting points, where Jonah finally made the acquaintance of several more veteran members of his family: aunts, uncles, cousins, and, perhaps most notably, his great grandma:

Great Grandma gave us a place to
stay overnight (and also made a cake
to help us celebrate Dad's birthday).

At our destination, Dad had to spend most of his time working, but Jonah and I got to enjoy the company of a few old friends.  We spent a wonderful, sunny afternoon lazing about our the yard of our dear friends, Nate, Jen, and their adorable little spitfire, Cora.  Jonah spent much of that time napping, while Mom enjoyed the view of the farms and hills behind the house.

Nate, Jen, and Cora let us laze about
their charming home and yard
with beautiful scenic views.

The last leg of our trip was, of course, the return home.  It was a pleasure to make a few stops again.  We enjoyed breakfast with Papa and Uncle Steve, a mid-morning break with our favorite Auntie Katie Dear and Uncle Kevin (at whose home Jonah practiced his ever more frequent smile), and stopped for a quick brunch/lunch with an old friend at yummy Betty's (where a quiet, pleasant Jonah seemed to receive a lot of admiring attention from our servers and neighboring diners).

At the cafe with Papa and Uncle Steve.

Jonah practice's smiling at his aunt and uncle's home.

Daddy sporting Jonah in the sling
while we wait for our table at Betty's.

All in all it was a great trip.  In fact, our only regret might be that we didn't take more photos!

Much thanks goes to our friends, John and Annie, who hosted us at our destination (and who didn't complain an iota when Jonah had a rough night!).  To Nate and Jen, in particular among many other things for letting us use their laundry facilities to wash our cloth diapers.  And, of course, to the long list of other friends, aunts, uncles, and cousins who met us and fed us along the way.  Love you guys!

Five Weeks

It's a beautiful, blue-sky day today--warmer outside than in--so Jonah and I are writing this post from our front porch this afternoon.  Jonah's head is resting on my shoulder (he's asleep), and the sound of his breath laps into my nearby ear like waves onto a beach.  It's a sound just as relaxing as that metaphor suggests.

These precious moments aside, Jonah's been putting us through a couple of rough nights lately.  Though once his cries were a sure sign of a wet diaper, in just the past few days they seem to have adopted a whole new (and often confusing) gamut of meanings.  In the evening--and, unfortunately for Bryan and me, long through recent nights--they seem to have come to mean, "I'm exhausted but I refuse to fall asleep."  It feels to us like nothing short of interminable patience--the will, for instance, to pace the floor with him in our arms for two hours per go--can pacify him at such times.  (And patience sometimes threatens to run thin when one is drawing on only a few hours of restless sleep oneself.)  But we're plodding through.  I read somewhere that weeks 6-8 are the fussiest for most babies, so I'm crossing my fingers that this is just a phase that will ease up in about two weeks time.  Experienced moms and dads out there, we welcome any encouragement or advice!

In other news, we had a surprise visit this week from Jonah's Uncle Brad! Yay!  Here's a picture capturing the event (where you can see Jonah's entering his aforementioned cranky period for that particular night):

We were so glad to see you, Uncle Brad!  Very much looking forward to visiting you and Aunt Lori in the not-so-distant future.

Daddy Time!

Since Bryan went back to work a few weeks ago, "Daddy Time" has become a pretty critical part of our evening. Here's a sample of what Daddy and Baby do during their shared evening:

Have heart-to-hearts.

Play together.  (This rattle by Haba
has been a big hit, by the way.)

Nap.

Bath time!

Splish splash, Jonah's taking a bath!

Bath time is one of Jonah most favorite times of day.  As soon as he gets his toes in that warm water, he's kicking and smiling and cooing up a storm.  We love it.