First Foods!

Joey went for his 4 month check up on Tuesday, February 3rd. His latest stats are: 17 lbs, 13 oz. 25 3/4 inches long. What a big boy! The doctor told us we could now start Joey on first foods. Rice cereal comes first because it is easy to digest and will help him get used to the feel of food. The picture above is of Joey's reaction to his first rice cereal. Once he gets the hang of eating, we will try other new foods. Jenifer and I plan to try only one new thing each week to help us isolate any foods that don't agree with our little man.
Joey has been sleeping very good lately. 11-12 hours of good solid sleeping at night sure makes for a hungry boy in the morning. The doctor also encouraged us to get Joey sleeping in his own room as soon as possible. I think, however, that Jenifer and I aren't quite ready for that. He isn't causing us any problems sleeping in his bassinet next to Jenifer, and we kind of like hearing the little noises he makes in his sleep. Joey is making progress toward rolling over, but he definitely isn't a big fan of tummy time. 5 minutes and he's all done with that. Those are the latest goings on in the Jungle... We'll keep you posted as news develops.
Thanks for stopping in.

New Wheels

Joey got some new wheels on Tuesday. Jenifer and I went for a date at the Mellow Mushroom in Brandon and then some shopping at Babies R Us. The two latest additions to Joey's stuff are the stroller shown above, and a high chair that straps to the top of a regular chair (it reclines too). Now Joey can be more comfortable in the kitchen with Jenifer when she is baking and he can see where we are going when we go on walks. This stroller is collapsible and will be much easier to travel with when we attend Emily's wedding out on the left coast in May (Emily is our niece). Joey is growing like kudzu. Very soon he will need a forward facing car seat. It's hard to believe he's almost 4 months old. Joey's new favorite thing is a toy that hangs in front of him when he is in his bouncy seat. When he pulls on one part it plays the notes from the song "Sailing, Sailing". He loves being able to be in control of something. He has also discovered his thumb and so far prefers it to his pacifier simply because it's easier for him to put it into his own mouth. He does this at 4am instead of waking up... which can be nice. I wonder how long it will take us to break him of this habit. Jenifer and I are looking forward to first foods... I expect the doctor will tell us soon to start him on rice cereal. Watching his reactions to different foods will be lots of fun. Finding out how far he can throw smashed peas might not be fun though.

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Hi there Jungle viewers. Just an update to let you all know that things are going well here in Florida. Jenifer, Joey and I are not used to all this cold weather... it has actually been below freezing for a few hours a day these past two days. The few days a year that I can't wear shorts really bum me out. I have at least 5 Winter coats in the closet and if I wear a different one every cold day that we have... I might get some use out of all of them this year. I have enjoyed all this off time lately. This time of year is always slow for overtime at work. Less OT means more family time. This week we are looking forward to some warmer weather for a picnic and maybe some nice walks around the lake. One of the other advantages of living in Florida is that when everyone's birds fly south for the Winter... a lot of them end up here. Our walks around the lake always yield some fantastic scenery. I look forward to the day when Joey starts to enjoy the scenery and starts asking questions.
For those of you who don't already know. Fightingtown Creek flows through the campsite up in Caches Valley GA. where I grew up camping. That is where I look forward to teaching Joey about camping someday too. I can't wait to share things like that with him. We used to spend hours building a dam to raise the creek level then we would swing on a rope out over the creek and try to drop our behinds right in the center of a big inner tube. Success required both skill and luck. It was also important to make sure the valve was NOT pointed up!!!
Joey is doing very well. He is so well behaved. He only complains when he's hungry. The rest of the time he seems to be investigating the things around him. You can see from some of the recently uploaded pictures that he is really getting good at holding his head up and grasping toys. My favorite thing of all though is his smile. When he looks right at me and I know that his smile is for me and not because he's passing gas... That is an amazing feeling.
Of course he still smiles when he toots... but who doesn't?
Y'all take care and thanks for stopping by.

Guess What Mommy Did!

Today mommy, daddy and I went out for the afternoon. We did a little shopping at Target, had lunch at Louis Pappas, hit the sale at Bath & Body then finished up with coffee and buying books at Books-A-Million!

Mommy has been enjoying my new book case next to her glider, so she decided to add more books to it. Today she got me three Seuss books; Fox in Socks, The Lorax and The Sneetches: & Other Stories plus three non-Seuss books; Time For Bed by Mem Fox Illus. by Jane Dyer, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Bauer Illus. by Caroline Jayne Church. I love my books so far and I'm sure I'll enjoy these new ones.

I love to look at the pictures while I'm being read to. When mommy reads to me she will sit in her glider, put the Boppy at her waist then sit me on it with my back to her. It is comfortable and sitting like this I can see the pictures while she reads to me.


My Aunt Christie is a fan of books and she hoped mommy or daddy would find a way to keep a list of my books so she would know what I have already. Well on our way home from Georgia on our last trip mommy was reading Redbook magazine. She saw a story about a new web site called listography.com so she checked it out and began keeping all sorts of lists there. There are three lists about books one list of all my books, one of mommy's books from childhood & beyond and one of daddy's books from childhood & beyond. There is also a list of movies that mommy and daddy have collected while they were married that eventually I will get to watch (when it's appropriate.) Mommy also started a list about places she wants me to see during my life, her list for me reflects places she's grown up around or visited during her life and maybe a few places she hasn't been to but wants to see eventually. Daddy will make a list of places he wants me to see also, I know he has a whole bunch of places he wants me to see. Anyway Aunt Christie thought this new web site was "very cool." She is happy now she can keep up with "my library." If you want to you can read the lists too. Just look for the link on the right side of the page a little ways down its under the title "My Links" just click on the words "My Library" that will take you to the site.


Well thanks for visiting my blog,
Joey

Elaborating on Christmas 2008

Well Jamie wrote the short version of Christmas 2008 in his last entry but I thought I would elaborate on the events a little.

Our second trip to Georgia was the week prior to Christmas we drove up on Thursday Dec. 18th. Joey did well on the drive once again. The next day Friday the 19th we (me, Jamie and Joey) went to Walton county and Gwinnett county to visit as many of our friends as we could fit into a day. It was a busy but fun day. We visited with Jim and Cat and met their new son Charlie. We also stopped by my old place of employment to visit with friends there. We were able to see Adriana and Denise, which was fun because it was a complete surprise they didn't know we were coming. Then we met with John, Tara and Abbie for dinner followed by a stop at Tara's parent to say hello to Helen and Maurice. After this stop we went to visit Rhona, James, Matthew and Kathleen who had company visiting them from Scotland! Rhona's Aunt Betty, Uncle Hugh and Cousin Amanda were in the states for a good long visit. We were fortunate to meet this part of Rhona's family in 2005 so we were excited to see them this year as well, not to mention that we were excited to introduce them to Joey. This last visit wasn't nearly long enough though we wished we could have stayed and visited longer but our day was getting rather long by this point so we headed back to Nanalaine and Papa's house where Joey's Aunt Christie was waiting to see us.

Christie had driven from Tennessee that day to come celebrate Christmas in Georgia. When we got to the house we spent some time visiting with Christie before we all headed to bed to get a good nights rest.

The next day Saturday, some of the family went out to do some Christmas shopping but Joey and I opted to stay in and relax. It was a very nice day and we just enjoyed being around family.

Sunday Dec. 21st we went to church at Peachtree City Church of Christ, Joey's second time there. With Christmas being so close there were many out of town visitors attending church there that day. Between the out of town visitors and many friends that still live in the area there were so many people to catch up with, it was so much fun. I think most knew by that time we'd had a son and some had met him during our first visit but there were a few that had not so they were excited to meet Joey. A few of these friends had new babies we also enjoyed meeting as well like Hunter and Macie. After morning service we enjoyed lunch with a big group at a local Chinese restaurant. We met some of the family there like Wade and Brandon. Wade was participating in a party that day so he was sporting a new look, he was acting as special assistant to Santa. Wade dressed up and played the part of Santa for the children's party at church that day, after the party while he was still dressed up he stopped by the house to let us take pictures with him. Most of the family had their picture taken with him, so did Courtney and Hunter since they had come over for a visit after lunch. After Wade's visit we had time for a short rest and then we all went back to PTC Church of Christ for evening service. Following evening church we went with a large group to have dinner at Partner's Pizza. I think it was possibly the largest group I've seen gather there after church, I think I counted friends gathered at 6 or more of the tables in one of the large rooms. After dinner when it was time to say goodbye as usual we only wished there was more time to spend with friends, but we still had a few days to spend with family.

Monday Jamie and I left Joey for the very first time, we left him with his Nanalaine and Papa while we went out to finish the last of our Christmas shopping. After we completed our shopping we made arrangements to meet Jamie's cousin Barbara and her boys for lunch then we went back to Nanalaine and Papa's to introduce Barbara and her sons to Joey.

Monday evening though was a special night with family. Nanalaine made a special meal and we celebrated an early Christmas Eve with Nanalaine, Papa, Aunt Christie and Great Grandmother. It was a very good meal and we had a good time together that evening. The night ended as most Christmas Eve's do with Jamie asking if we could go ahead and open presents, he was out voted though, we opted to wait till the next morning.

Tuesday Dec. 23rd we celebrated an early Christmas exchanging gifts and having a wonderful brunch. We enjoyed watching the gifts we gave being opened and enjoyed the surprises we had opening the ones given to us. The most fun for all I think was seeing what Joey received for his first Christmas though. I doubt we will ever see him behave the same way in regards to Christmas again. This first one we went around the room each opening a present and repeating the circle. Joey was asleep not long after we started this process though. I think he stayed awake to see one or two of his presents opened. Once he was asleep we decided to save his things and open them when we woke back up, which is exactly what we did.

Joey enjoyed all the fuss and obviously enjoyed some of his presents that day, anything that made noise like his new rainfall rattle caught his attention and kept him amused.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying being with family. We did have a few visitors as the day went on which was nice, Joey met more cousins. Carl, Thelma and Lauren stopped by, this was the first time they saw Joey.

The next morning Wednesday Dec. 24th we all enjoyed a nice breakfast together but then Jamie and I had to pack up our things and Joey's so we could go home. It's always sad to say goodbye but we still had Christmas day to look forward to at home. So we made our way home, it was a good day, the drive went well and Joey traveled well that day. Despite traveling during the day Joey wasn't too fussy and he enjoyed our second stop that day very much. Our first stop was in Valdosta GA where we all got a break from the car and took care of the necessities. The next stop was in or near Ocala FL but it was more fun for Joey because Jamie took Joey's travel play mat out and set it up on the truck bed cover so Joey could stretch out and play a little before having to finish the trip home. It was so cute to come back out from the store we stopped at to see Joey laying on his mat and batting at his toys. He was so happy and it was the perfect day for it, it was a nice temperature out and it was a clear day.

Once we were home we got ourselves unpacked and settled back into home, we relaxed the rest of the evening.

Christmas day December 25th 2008, Jamie worked day shift, it was a good day for him at work but I'm sure he was looking forward to coming home. While Jamie was at work I spent my day playing with and taking care of Joey, in between meeting his needs I also prepared a nice dinner for our Christmas dinner. Once Jamie was home we enjoyed dinner together, then we finished out the day opening the gifts that were sent to us from family living across the country.

Joey's first Christmas was a wonderful one but I'm sure that Jamie and I will remember it best, it was even more special for us as first time parents. I'm certain it is an experience we will always treasure.

Catching Up!

I am sure if we still have anyone checking this blog, they are wondering where the updates are. I hope everyone can understand how busy the month of December is (that's my lame excuse
anyway). The short version is Christmas with my family in PTC was wonderful. Joey's second road trip was even better than the first. We got to see many of our friends and family that we miss so much living here in Florida. Gifts were exchanged, pictures taken, much delicious food was eaten. My mama always sets an amazing table for Christmas. Joey is growing so very fast... He is happy and healthy and he is starting to absorb the world around him more each day. You can see him react to things now... with smiles and giggles or surprise or anger and frustration. Giggles are the best! I hope to be the cause of many giggles in the near future. Joey is 3 months old now as of New Years Day. I created the slideshow above to show off some of his December pictures. If you want to see more they are in the Photobucket.
I hope everyone's Christmas was as wonderful as ours, and I wish you all the best for 2009.