Much to tell and many pictures to share

Edited Sept 6/05 @ 2:36 p.m. If you are not viewing this post for the first time, please see the new picture of J swinging.

Let's see...

Yesterday, we were awaiting my friend, HD's, arrival at our place for a brief visit. She was just in town for a few days. I miss her! But I did get to spend some time with her over the past few days, and I guess it will have to tide me over for awhile. It is very hard to see friends that live so far away. At least we can keep in fairly close contact via phone and email. I am thankful that we live in an electronic age.

While we were waiting for HD to come by, H decided to play with J. They quite enjoy playing "Flying Baby" together. Here are a couple of pics of the two of them and their fun game.




So HD came by yesterday evening, along with J's Memaw and her hubby. We had a very nice visit with them. Memaw brought J a big stuffed lion! J is far too small to have a full appreciation of it just now, but he will sure love it when he gets bigger. Last night, Jiver-cat decided that "this place wasn't big enough for the both of them", so he attacked the lion in an effort to show it who was boss. He knocked it over, and stood over his prey, victorious. We put the lion away for safekeeping after that. We are determined that it is not to be a cat toy!

We made it to theatre mommy's birthday party later in the evening. Didn't stay very long, as we were quite tired and had just a dreadfully long day. But we were pleased that we had managed to make it at all, really. It was good.

Once we got home and ready for bed, we actually managed to get a very good sleep. We are pleased to report that J has really taken to his crib. It is still in our room with us, but he quite enjoys hanging out in it now. He plays with his toys and then falls asleep on his own. And when he wakes up in the morning, he amuses himself with his toys for awhile before demanding that we tend to his needs. Here is a picture of J sleeping in his crib (on his side, of course; he was trying to roll over at the time). Isn't he sweet?


Today, I met up with theatre mommy, va1kyrie and M (who needs a web presence) for a "Mom's Day Out". It was H's first time alone, looking after J. I can't believe our little man is nearly 5 months old and I have only been apart from him one time before today! H and I both did very well in our respective roles, and I had a lot of fun out with the girls. I was very glad that we were able to go, and that H was so capable with J. He refused to nap, but he wasn't particularly fussy for H. This is good, as it means H may be willing to look after him again in the future so that I can have further baby-free outings with friends. I miss the baby when I am away from him, but it is important for my sanity that I be periodically reminded that I am a person separate and apart from J.

Before I left the house this morning, an old friend stopped by with some hand-me-down items for J. He got quite the haul! Among the items we received is a "Little Tikes" toybox, shaped like a football. It is just about the cutest thing ever (even though ours is missing the laces; I'm sure that piece was quite easily broken). H and I were both really taken with it. J also received his first pair of ice skates (the ones that attach to the bottom of a young child's shoes). Maybe he'll be able to wear them next winter; he'll certainly be far too young this winter, and won't even be walking yet.

After my friend left, H and I decided to try putting J in his swing for awhile. He has now taken to his swing, and has quite a bit of fun in it, though he still doesn't use it for sleeping. Here is J just swingin' away!


Thanks again, Paul, for the cool .gif file.

Anyhow, after I got back from my day away, H and I headed out to pick up an exersaucer for J that we managed to score off of Freecycle. What a great resource that group is! So here is a picture of J's new exersaucer.


Yes, the cat has claimed it. But not for long!

(I'm not going to post a link in "Photos" to the cat-in-the-exersaucer picture, as I think people are mostly interested in seeing shots of the baby. If anyone disagrees, leave me a comment and I'll link the photo.)

Once we got back home, we sat down with J to feed, snuggle, play with, etc. J was quite snuggly tonight. He got quite upset when he threw-up (out his nose), which we were all less than impressed with. And he became quite pleased when he rolled over again, which we were all most impressed with. H and I both saw it this time. It took him several attempts, and finally he pretty much flung himself over (he kind of takes a running start, as it were, moving most of the way to the left and then throwing himself sharply to the right to flip over onto his tummy) but the technique worked for him and he got flipped over eventually. I was so happy that I saw it this time!

Now, I do have a few more pictures to post at some point, but it is totally bed time now. Besides, this post is really quite long already! I'll try to get the other pics up tomorrow some time.

Cheers.