We are thankful that Grandma and Grandpa Faiola drove up from Olympia to watch Jamisen so Chris and I could get dressed up in our finest (he wore a suit!) and go out. This was the latest we have stayed up since before the baby was born (yawn).
Jamisen tips his hat to all of your goals, dreams, ambitions and wildest imagination for an amazing 2012. May this year bring you love, laughter and fulfillment beyond your wildest dreams. Me? I'm just hoping to complete my manuscript for publication by the due date of 2013 - that's about all the dreaming I've allowed myself to do! =) Once that's done ... it's all gravy!
We enjoyed a wonderful evening with close friends (Jody Bergsma hosted an amazing party for 18 people - it was quite a feat!) and made it home to kiss our sleeping son and crawl under the covers before the clock struck midnight. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow to an entirely new year with all the excitement a clean slate brings.
We so love our little baby Jamisen. Everything (yes, including walks) is more fun with him around. His little laugh is infectious and we love to hear it.
Play time with Jamisen - always a joy, always full of love and laughter.
Jamisen's first Christmas was a memorable occasion for us all. We started our holiday weekend with Christmas Eve service (which was really a morning service coupled with a delicious brunch) at Grandma and Grandpa Faiola's Seventh-Day Adventist Church. I have never seen potatoes prepared so many ways than at the SDA brunch! Jamisen was happy and had such an easy going attitude the entire time. He was passed around from person to person and he was sure to favor them all with smiles and drool. There were two childrens' stories and he sat patiently through both of them.
It was a very special Christmas for Jamisen. Santa chose our house to make a personal appearance! Just check out the look on his face as he sees the jolly man in the red suit - it's a mixture of terror, wonder and curiosity. That blur at Santa's feet? That's nephew dog Toby, protecting his family against the intruder. We were thankful for his 38 pounds of ferociously adorable protection.
He warmed up plenty quickly to our honored visitor. He especially appreciated the gifts that the red-suited man doled out. He became quite adept at unwrapping and loved to play with the paper of each gift.
Between his two sets of Grandparents, Jamisen is going to be the best dressed little boy in all of Bellingham. Chris and I are thankful for the love and support of our family, both during the holidays and as we continue our new role as parents.
We are spending the holidays with the Faiola family in Olympia (and celebrated Christmas with the Renoud family a few days ago - hopefully those photos are coming soon).
Jamisen was very interested in the idea of canned baby food since he has never eaten anything but freshly prepared meals. Once he tried them, he realized that there really is no place like home. He was not a fan. This smile signifies the end of the meal and his happiness to move on to his bottle.
Jamisen is happily scooting around the entire floor, showcasing his neck and arm skills. He has started rocking back and forth on his haunches. Crawling is coming soon. He is already a master scooter.
Believe it or not, even though our baby boy is a mere 7 1/2 months old, it's already time to apply to schools! We like the Little Sprouts program at the Montessori school system so even though it is not the closest school to our house, we've chosen to apply for the Class of 2012 for Jamisen. I filled out the essay questions this week - everything from how we discipline, to the emotional needs of our child, to the desired scholastic outcomes - and we did the official tour. We're hopeful he makes the cut!
Jamisen is such a happy boy. We have taken him out to dinner numerous times in the last two weeks and each time, he is smiley and delightful. Everyone marvels at his sunny and easy-going disposition. Let's hope it sticks around! According to my parenting books, temper tantrum storms are ahead. Hopefully, Jamisen continues this happy boy path he is on. He is a joy!
Baby Boy Jamisen joined the Bramble Berry team at Fred Meyers this year to shop for 5 different Salvation Army adoptee families. We had 25 individuals to shop for (everything from adults to a 5 month baby boy) and Jamisen did his part to pitch in.
He helped to pick toys (Glow Worm anyone?) and was especially fascinated by the Elmo Drum Sets (dear Lord, please no ....). He was in a cheery happy mood and let everyone hold him. I was particularly proud of my easy-going son when he smiled and coo'ed at almost every Bramble Berry team member.
It's no surprise that Jamisen is a lady killer. That smile? Those dimples? Killer combo!
Here, Jamisen demonstrates his delightful and fun ability to crash toys together. It took a few tries but he did it. Yay for coordination!
We went to the FSE Holiday Party this weekend. It was a joy to bring Jamisen, who stayed happy and absolutely joyous the entire time.
The second his Grandma Renoud walked in, we immediately pulled her in for a little family fun feeding time.
Anamarie (is she Jamisen's Aunt then?) was also on hand to help and was happy to keep helping the rest of the party. I was thankful for her responsible, kind way with Jamisen. She's a great Auntie.
There was also a brand new baby there - Sage - who was only 3 1/2 weeks old. Jamisen was fascinated by the new baby.
Chris held onto Jamisen during his speech. Jamisen was his lucky charm! And Jamisen smiled the entire time and was happy and patient during the entire speech.
After the party, we went to an after party ('cuz that's how we roll) at Grandma and Grandpa Renoud's. Grandma Kelly held Jamisen and he loved hanging out with her. When he was ready to go home and nap, he let out a couple warning little squeaks and laid his head down on her shoulder. We left soon thereafter and he slept all the way home. It was nice of him to communicate so gently and sweetly and especially nice that Grandma Kelly paid attention! All in all, it was a successful day and we were proud of our little boy for remaining cheery and happy for the entire day. He's our social butterfly =)
We are so proud of Chris for finishing his first Marathon. Jamisen and I (plus Grandpa and Grandma Faiola) were on hand in the rain (blowing sideways) to watch him finish.
Jamisen was THRILLED to participate but does admit that he got bored at the finish line and started vocalizing his frustration rather loudly. He was certainly dressed warmly enough!
We were all so relieved when Chris finished, injury free (!!) and we were back on the bus to the hotel with other race finishers.
Someone got tired and took a little nap:
And when he woke up? It was all about the view! Jamisen had never been so high up and he was fascinated by the view.
It was quite an amazing weekend - all because Chris had a great idea to run and train for a marathon and then, complete it! We're all very proud of Chris, including his littlest fan, Jamisen.
Annnnnnd, not so much into letting the sticker stay on his chest. He peeled it off his chest and proceeded to eat it. It was adorable though did make for quite the difficult to achieve photo shoot.
I bought this off of Etsy and Jamisen doesn't love it but he sure looks adorable on it. If you want one for yourself (they make 'em in adult sizes too!), you can buy them here.
Chris left today for Saudi. It's a quick trip. He'll be back by Monday, just in time for me to take off to DC to lobby Congress on behalf of my industry.
Today, I said to Jamisen, "Daddy is on a plane right now. He's flying and is missing you very much but he'll be back in five days."
The second I said "Daddy", Jamisen's head was like a little swivel stick. He looked for his Daddy for at least a couple minutes as I said things like, "Ooooh right. You don't understand the meaning of the word 'plane' do you? Riiiiiiight. Uuum-kay. Um. Yeah." Pause. Pause. "Um, do you want to eat?" Swivel swivel. "Book?" Swivel swivel. "Um, binky?" Swivel swivel. This went on for at least a couple minutes with Jamisen craning his neck to see his Daddy.
It was soooooooo sweet! He knows the word Daddy and misses him already. That makes two of us.
Jamisen is feeling better - at least his mood is better - but his little injection sites are red and a little swollen. During his baby massage tonight, I made sure to stay far, far away from them. His fever was gone by midnight/1ish this morning (phew) and didn't return.
PS - Shout out to Ryan Renoud. We're all decked out in Harvard gear, his alma matter. Grandma and Grandpa Renoud were so sweet to outfit us in this super stylin' comfy wear. We're hoping just wearing the Harvard gear will set Jamisen on the right Ivy League college track. No pressure, Jamisen, no pressure.... =)
Jamisen got his second set of immunizations and has been a very sad little boy all evening. His fever is 101 and he is not sleeping, just wailing in his crib. We've done Baby Tylenol(Grandpa and Baby Doc approved) and are doing lots of extra hugs. And, he just wheedled a midnight feeding out of us. Poor little guy needs extra TLC.
Only in Fairhaven do we have both a Grinch and Santa on the day after Thanksgiving to take photos. Jamisen was NOT a fan of the Grinch. We had to sing in public (his favorite song right now is "With Jamisen in the family, happy, happy home") to get that one small smile out of him.
He was fascinated by the Santa. He seemed mildly confused and baffled, "Why did Mommy just drop me off with this person I've never seen? And what is on his face?!"
Notice the awesome sock gloves? They are our go-to for cold hands in this surprisingly-balmy-but-still-cold winter weather.
Jamisen's fine motor skills continue to develop at a rapid pace. I've learned that if I pile dry (safe) food for him on his high chair tray that I can keep him happy for at least 20 minutes while I prepare his baby food or clean the kitchen after feeding him. The grunting is something he's started to do in the last month. He does it all the time - usually to express his displeasure (I think)? Remember, if you subscribe to this blog via email that you need to click through to the blog to see the videos.
Another great example of his fine motor skills? Putting his hand AND foot in his mouth at the same time! He was cooing the entire time he was doing this. It was adorable.
This is the warm "teddy bear" suit that I referenced yesterday. It literally is like a hollowed out teddy bear that we just stuff him into. He can't really move in the suit so it's not his favorite but it keeps him warm in the freezing weather when we're out on our daily walks.
Jamisen's balance continues to improve. Here, he is standing with just a little (nicely camouflaged) help from Daddy's hand on his back. He still doesn't stand up flat footed; he's almost always rocked forward on his toes. I haven't looked on Dr. Google yet to see if this is normal.
As you can see, Jamisen is mastering the fine art of the 'scoot'. He is scooting around like a little pro - and this is ALL NEW today. We cannot leave him alone anymore because he can go scooting pretty quick. From here, it's a whole new world.
We had the *best* Saturday today. I got up at 5 a.m. with the baby and then Chris let me go back to sleep at 7 a.m. for a couple more hours. After that, it was off to our favorite cafe, Time in Play, where Jamisen learned how to go down a slide (with help). See the two videos below of his amazing foray down the slide:
And then his Daddy taught him how to beat on toys. He caught on pretty quickly! If only he would catch on this quickly to learning how to crawl, read, talk .... you know, the biggies. But he can now bang his toys on the table with the best of them.
Finally, he took a ride in a really cool toy car. He seemed to enjoy his brief ride and his increased tummy strength definitely paid off for this 'big kids' toy'.
Jamisen is at the stage where EVERYTHING he sees goes in his mouth. His Dad had a minor heart attack trying to keep this toy away from his mouth because of how dirty it was. On the walk back to our house (yes, in freezing weather but not to worry, Jamisen was well protected in his teddy bear suit and a thick blanket), I asked Chris where his over-protectiveness came from. He didn't have any insight but of the two of us, he is definitely the careful and cautious parent. That's good - we can be the yin and the yang of parenting together.
I've spent a lot of time at Time In Play, a new children's play time cafe in Bellingham. Jamisen has seen more babies in the last week than he's seen in his entire life (no really, his entire 6 1/2 month life) and I think he's feelin' some competition!
Also, you'd think that I'd be showing you photos of Jamisen sitting up but I don't have any so you'll have to enjoy his incredible cuteness and imagine him sitting, sort-of.
Last week, he was falling over basically all the time when I tried to sit him up. And these weren't graceful falls. These were fast flat face plants with wailing and little red marks (if I wasn't quick enough to catch him - I caught him almost every time but when I didn't, he was very quick to express his indignation).
But, after he saw a 5 1/2 month old (that's right, a full 20% younger than Jamisen) sitting up unassisted at Time In Play, he took it as a personal challenge (because the Faiola Family is nothing if not 100% competitive) and he's been sitting up for very short (10 - 45 second) stints of time. It's gotten to where I can actually let him sit and usually, he slowly topples over, gracefully with no face planting.
Go trunk strength! Our baby is getting stronger! And he's still quite tall for his weight so we are all hoping he takes after Grandpa Winston with his height!
And here's a video of an amazing duet Jamisen and I did together while Daddy was on a business trip. You'll notice I probably shouldn't have fed him as he did a little bit of coughing action there (whoops). I will do anything and everything silly to make my little boy laugh. It is the best sound in the entire world.
