Finger Foods and Getting Old

I absolutely love that Hurlee is FINALLY really getting into finger foods. He loves eating slightly toasted wheat bread, turkey, avocado, pasta and cereal. As long as I cut it up into small pieces he doesn't seem to have any trouble with it. His two favorites are wheat bread (loves his morning toast) and turkey (slow cooked turkey is great because it falls apart so easily!). He is still eating "baby food" three times a day but I try to follow it up with some finger foods and it has been working out pretty well.

Well,

I have always heard that stress ages you. That being said, this morning I pulled out Shawn'

s first grey hair. When he first came out of the bathroom and showed me I was convinced that it was a blonde hair and the lighting was tricking us... but ALAS it was definitely grey. I snuck the picture on the left a few days ago and think it's cute, sleepy boys.

I can't believe it is alllmmmooostt Halloween. I am looking forward to dressing Hurlee up. Any good ideas?

quick post :]

Hurlee's most recent obsession is grabbing my face and biting my nose. What a weird-o.

stats!

I forgot to include Hurlee's measurements from his 9 months check-up, kind of outdated now :/

He weights 22.5 pounds and is 31 inches long :) Quite the arm full! The picture is Hurlee waiting in the exam room. He wanted to leave so bad!

oh! and I forgot to mention in my last post (the picture reminded me) Hurlee doesn't use a pacifier anymore! He has completely lost interest in it, which is fine with me!

Hello old friend

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last blog, I have definitely been slacking. I can already tell that this is going to be a long one (I'll try to title-ish each paragraph so if a certain topic doesn't interest you.. you won't even have to waste your time reading it).

Summer Vacation:

We had a great and busy Summer. We went on two vacations that were tons of fun.

Th

e first was staying at the lake with friends for a few days. Hurlee did so well on the boa

t and in the heat. He was realllly unhappy on the car ride up and back though, lots and

LOTS of crying. Also, the two nights we stayed he was pretty much up all night (ahhh!). BUT overall we were so happy that we went. The second vacation we went on was amazing! We drove up to the bay (Hurlee also hated that drive) and visited my sister and

brother-in-law. They were the best hosts! We toured the tea gardens, went out the dinner and shopped around. And one of the nights, Jenna and Brandon babysat Hurlee so Shawn and I could go on a date in the city, it was AMAZING! I was shocked at how mellow Hurlee was, he loved all the new sites and scenery ( and especially loved his auntie).

School:

Well as my husband put it, this whole school thing is really putting a damper on my summer vacation. School is back in session (going on week 4) and so far so good. I am taking two online classes and two in person. So far the classes aren't super hard, just very time consuming. I am staying pretty much on top of my school work, but house work has definitely taken a hit. With Shawn working and schooling full time and me Hurlee-ing and schooling full time we are definitely keeping ourselves busy. So far it just seems like a big balancing act.

JOJO:

Hurlee will be ten months tomorrow and it's true, IT GOES BY SO FAST! He is a very active baby and is always curious and exploring. He starting crawling at about 7 months so he is an old pro by now and I am wondering when he is going to start walking, YIKES! He is surprisingly social and loves flirting with people (waving for their attention at restaurants!!). I will occasionally show him videos on youtube of babies laughing and he cracks up, I wish I could know what was going through his head. He also is crazy about animals. He loves petting them and even squealed with excitement when he saw a giant bunny on our neighbors lawn. Overall, he is a super calm baby and normally only fusses when he is tired. These last few days have been kind of unusual though. He has been super whiney. At ten months he only has two teeth so it could very easily be teething.

Scheduling:

So starting about a month ago, I put Hurlee on a nap schedule and it was the best decision! It is so nice and convenient to know when and about how long he will nap everyday. I was having such a hard time planning activities because he would nap at different times everyday and could only fall asleep at home (definitely not a fall asleep in the car seat kind of baby). It normally works out that he takes two naps a day. One short one in the morning (around 9:20) and a longer one in the after noon (around 2:20), then bed time around 8:30 (solid food at 7, bath at 7:40, and asleep in crib by 8:30). It's wonderful! During his first short nap I get ready and clean up around the house, and during his second I will work on a little homework. Hurlee sleeps through the night more often then not, but still has his little spells. You seriously do not appreciate uninterrupted sleep until you have a baby.

Breastfeeding:

I am so proud to say that after ten months Hurlee is still breastfeeding. Once I started breastfeeding, and saw how hard it was, I really didn't think I would be able to keep it up. I exclusively pump (long story), and it has progressively gotten more and more difficult. My goal was 6 months, then when I there I wasn't ready to wean so I decided 8 months and then wasn't ready to wean so I finally said 10 months. But now that I am at ten months I really am not sure what I want to do next!! I can see with school starting it will be hard to keep my supply up (not lots of time to pump), but hopefully with his increase in solid food it won't matter too much that my milk supply is decreasing. The kitchen will definitely be closed at the 1 year mark though! Although I hate pumping (very mechanical and lacks connection), I love giving Hurlee breast milk.

Blanket:

Hurlee is a full blown blankie-holic. He has a light blue blanket that he sleeps with at night that he loves. It is chenille on one side and a satin look fabric on the other side. He eats it, cuddles it and plays on it. Man, if I would have known he was going to be a blankie baby I would have gotten him a nice one!

Will add more pictures soon, just too late now.

6 month photos.

www.remedyphotography.wordpress.com/2010/06/02/hurlee-carter-jones/

Check it out! Our friend Luke was nice enough to come over and take pictures of Hurlee. He was a bit of a grumpster at first and wasn't too placed about being waken up for his modeling debut, but eventually came around.

HQ ~ MINIVAN RAP ~ SWAGGER WAGON ~

I hope shawn and i can become this cool.

I just want to start off by saying that Hurlee is as cute as a button.

So many things are going on with the Jones family! The last week or so has been filled with birthday celebrations, moving preparation, free refrigerator hunting, car troubles and the semester ending stress.

I just turned in all my assignments for my online class. YAY! I feel so relieved. I just need to take the final online by Friday then I'm

done. I have really been neglecting blogging lately because of my homework, every time I thought about blogging I would remind myself... if you have time to blog, you should be doing your homework.

Hurlee had his 6 m

onth check up today

with Dr. Rostermundt. Like we thought, all his well with our growing

boy. He is 19.5 lb. and 28 inches

long. We finally started solid foods which has been fun. I really like spoon feeding him. So far we have tried bananas, apples, pears (his favorite), carrots, gr

een beans, prunes and an apple-blueberry blend (which he also loved). In hindsight we really should of started with vegetables because they don't taste as good as fruit

, because after nights of pears he kinda laughed in my face when I tried green beans (they smelled so gross, I definitely wouldn't of wanted to eat them).

Well next week is moving week. Shawn and I are moving yet AGAIN. I can already

tell that moving with a baby is going to be very difficult. I am not super excited about moving, but our new apartment is a lot cheaper which will be nice. At least it's a good excuse

to redecorate.

PROS: Garage, Washer Dryer Hookups, 1.5 bathrooms (that's .5 of a bathroom we don't have now), only share one wall (and it is a staircase and upstairs bathroom), cute little patio, close to work and the most important one... cheaper.

CONS: really really old, no dish washer, ugly cabinets, doesn't come with a refrigerator and our bedroom is smaller.

I had the best birthday this year. I really unintentionally milked it. On my actual birthday Hurlee was freaking out all evening SOOOO didn't really do anything. On Thursday I went to Applebee's with my family and on Friday my husband threw me the best surprise party. I had such a great time! The best part was, I was honestly surprised. I had no idea what was going on and was very confused when I walked in. I feel older now that I'm 21. I know that b

eing married for two years with a son should make me feel grown up, but no

w that I'm 21 I feel like a grown up lol. I have also come to the conclusion that I do not like the taste of alcohol. The only drinks I like that I tried heavily mask the alcohol taste, so I don't get what's really the point. Call me unclassy, but I'm happy with my delicious Coca Cola. and speaking of my love of Coca Cola, my husband suprised me once again with a mexican coke from home depot today. I can only say I'm spoiled.

My beloved Chevy Tracker is falling apart. We went to get it smogged the other day and they said it would need almost $500 worth of work to pass smog, but there was bunch of other stuff it needed done too. LAAMMMMME. Shawn bought the parts and got the shop manual from the library so he is going to do the work himself and it should cost a little over $100. SHEESH. May has been a really expensive month!

Man sorry people (all 3 of you who read this) for how long this post is. I'll try to cut it short next time.

Mother's Day

May is my new favorite month. With both Mother's Day and my Birthday, what could be better?? Today I am going out to a late lunch with my family at our traditional Klondikes Pizza. I got my mom a Stella and Dot (plug for Amy Curti!!) silver charm that says "mom" on it (so cute I almost kept it for myself!), and Shawn's mom a Stella and Dot silver charm that says "grandma". I swear, you never fully appreciate your mother until you have a child. I am amazed at how much my mom had to do with five little ones! and that after having three children she still wanted to have a fourth (me). I'm positive my mom doesn't read my blog but just wanted to put my mama appreciation out there.

On that note, although it's mother's day, so far it has just been routine Sunday. Hurlee wasn't magically potty trained, feeding himself, or greeting me with french toast this morning :) and Shawn has been at the church all morning and goes back at 4:15.

Oddly enough, my parents got me great mother's day gifts!! It caught me really off guard to be receiving a mother's day gift from my mom. She paid for me to get a much needed haircut and bought me some fancypants hair product. and my dad bought me two tickets to see West Side Story at PCPA. It was such a wonderful surprise! Little Hurlee bought me big sunhat to wear while walking because I keep getting sunburnt on the top of my head lol (which i love!! and needed), some homemade candies, and told his dad to clean my car for me ;] What can I say, I'm spoiled :)

5 months old

Hello happy monday! and Happy 5 month birthday little/big Hurlee. I just put the little guy to bed and Shawn is out with the guys, so it's me time! lol

All in all the Joneses are doing very well. We're happy and healthy.

Most people hate Mondays, but I on the other hand LOVE THEM. Monday is my favorite day of the entire week. Shawn doesn't work on Mondays and onl

y has class from 4:30 to 6:50. Even if we just go to Costco (like we did today) or lounge around, it is always such a fun day.

I can't believe it's already been 5 months since Hurlee was born! He has already changed so much, in size and personality. Him and I are becoming best buds more and more everyday. It's so fun seeing his personality develop! He is becoming such a happy laughy baby. It makes my heart skip a beat when I walk in the room and he grins with excitement. AH, I LOVE HIM!

No new tricks this week for Hurlee. He has picked up a bad habit... boycotting naps. BOYCOTTING NAPS?!?! Why would someone do that? I love naps (though scarce). He used to nap four wonderful times a day. Now he takes like two really short cat naps and one 1-2 hour nap. What does this mean for his mama... a more exhausting day and a crankier baby (oof). Normally during his naps I clean, eat, pump, do homework etc. But I guess I shouldn't really complain, he is still sleeping really well at night, which after a couple sleepless months I really appreciate. He normally gets his last feeding between 8-8:30 and goes down between 8:30-9. We then "dreamfeed" him at 11 or so and he sleeps until 8 or 8:30. It's wonderful!

Hurlee's most recent obsession: grabbing faces. Sorry if your face has already been grabbed by his cute slimy hands, he just wants to get to know you better :)

So many people have been asking me about starting solid foods. My family, friends and even the sandwich artist at Subway is grilling me about solids. Hurlee still has no interest in eating with a spoon, sorry folks, solids are going to have to wait a bit longer! I've been trying rice milk but it just ends up all over him. I think once he's six months I'll more aggressively try solids, but until then all he eats is breastmilk. As you can see we're practicing though!

I love zesting lemons.

MmmMmm, nothing like Buttery Lemon cookies to end the day. So easy and delicious.

Easter

Well it was a long day (but great) for the Jones Fam. Hurlee had his very first Easter and was especially well behaved all day. Shawn left for Church bright and early while Hurlee and I ate breakfast and got ready. He has been spending service in the nursery these last few weeks and doesn't seem to mind too much, and Easter Sunday was no different. I like to take him out during the music though, he seems to really enjoy it. After church we made the rounds to our families. First to my parents house then to Shawn's grandparent's house. It was so sweet, his grandma had a cute little Easter bib for Hurlee along with an Easter egg filled with quarters (and we will get good use of those quarters thanks to all the laundry our little love muffin produces). While we were over at Dorothy and Carter's house, Shawn introduced Hurlee to the piano which he had a fun time with. All that practicing pinching us has given him great finger strength. All in all a great day.

Laughing and Drooling

Oh how I love hearing Hurlee giggle :] He is becoming super alert and so fun to play with.

ALSO the eagle has landed!

TaaaaahhhDAAAAHHHH!!! Hurlee rolled over from his back to his belly today. Doesn't he look proud?? *sigh* They grow up so fast

Four Month Checkup

Well as you can see from the first picture, Hurlee is in full blown teething, chewing on everything. And as for the second.... he was just too cute in his parka not to share. Our apartment was smelling pretty funky on a chilly day so we bundled him up and opened all the windows. He's even waving (well kinda).

Today was Hurlee's four month checkup and he is

27 1/2 inches long (in the 95th percentile) and 17 pounds even (the 90th percentile) and Dr.

Nunez said his head was perfectly proportionate (50th percentile). All looked well and he was impressed with how active our little man was is. He prescribed something for his ecsema and recommended a prescription for his reflux. I passed on the reflux prescription because the drug

doesn't help with the reflux just eases the pain. I went with another route he recommended, introducing rice cereal into his diet so hopefully that helps. So on the way home I picked some Happy Bellies organic brown rice cereal

up and mixed it with some breast milk. Hmm... judging by the pictures he still needs to work on eating by spoon. He kept pushing out most of it, so hopefully tomorrow it goes better :]

exersaucer

Well Hurlee and I have had a fun morning and afternoon. During his nap I took the plunge and assembled his Baby Einstein exersaucer. He is still a little too small for it, but he looks adorable in it. He can reach the bottom with his tippy toes and loves trying to eat the orange sun/flower thing. He hasn't quite figured out how to play with anything on it yet, but I can tell he likes the change of scenery. After his "morning workout" we went to lunch with his Grandpa and had a great time. Although teething, he's been a sweetheart. Can't wait for Shawn to come home and admire my handywork on the exersaucer.

My little man is also so incredibly close to rolling over!! He can comfortably roll over onto his

side. It's just a matter of time til he is a fully executing rolling machine. Aside from that, no real new tricks. He is giggling like a mad man lately which is ADDDDOOORRABBLLEE. I like to tickle his little chest and he thinks it's hilarious.

The Jones apartment is also looking a little different these days, aside from the abundance of baby things, we have a couple new additions - a coffee table, entertainment center and two end tables (all matching!). Since Shawn and I first got married he's been wanting a coffee table but either our apartment or bank account was too small but we finally did it. HURRAY! Pictures to come :)

silly boys

Shawn and Hurlee made up a dance :)

rolling over

Hurlee rolling over is still a definite work in progress. I try putting him on his back, side, tummy and he is just content hanging out in that position. Maybe it's good he's not mobile yet?? He sure looked cute while we were practicing though.

bjorn/ewok

So during Hurlee's "witching hour" (a "lovely" little evening ritual where Hurlee is angry at everyone and everything), I tried walking him around in his baby backpack. Although dorky looking, he seemed to really like it. Man, being a first time parent is all trial and error. Sorry Hurlee, your little brother or sister will have it a tad better off.

ALSO, Hurlee's grandma Carolyn watches him while I work a short lunch shift at Trattoria Uliveto. He had one of his notorious blowouts and she changed him out of the clothes I dropped him off in, and put on this little outfit. Very adorable and silly looking! When you hold

him, he feels like a little teddy bear. Shawn and I can't decide if he looks more like a lamb or an ewok.

Blogging??

Well, I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but after reading everyone else's I figured it would be a good way to keep track off all of Hurlee's new tricks. My whole day revolves around keeping a two foot person fed, burped, dry and happy (.. or at least I try). Life at the Jones house!