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.