Holidays!

This past weekend we celebrated 3 holidays! First up, my birthday! Brian got me an amazing new camera which I'm really excited about, now I just have to learn how to use it! All the pictures taken above are from the new camera and I think they're more clear. I will definitely be getting more close-up and clear shots of JJ's cute expressions now. Michael, Krista, and Tristan came down in the evening for my birthday. JJ still loves to follow Tristan around and wants every toy Tristan is playing with, which is typically JJ's toy in the first place. When they were getting ready to leave on Sunday, Tristan was sitting in JJ's chair putting his shoes on and JJ started whining about it. At first it looked like JJ wanted to sit with Tristan, but then it was evident that JJ just didn't want him sitting in his chair! It is becoming a long lesson for both of them in sharing : )

Second holiday of the weekend, Christmas!!! I ordered us all matching pajamas online and got some small Christmas presents for us all, and my mom and dad sent us each one also. It was a surprise for Brian and made him very happy since he won't be hear for "real" Christmas : ( It was a nice morning, but wearing footy fleece pajamas in 65 degree weather is very hot and we all had to change into "normal" clothes right after presents were opened!

Third holiday of the weekend, Halloween! We went to the pumpkin patch and I think JJ really had a good time. He was walking all around and since there weren't very many people there, he was free to roam wherever he wanted. There were some goats, a sheep, and a chicken there also. JJ first seemed to be a little weary of them, but then warmed up to them and was trying to pet the goat through the fence. At the end of it, he ended up choosing 2 nice looking gourds to bring home.

The last few days JJ has been VERY fussy and unhappy, and doing LOTS of drooling. We weren't too sure what the problem was, but then Brian did some "investigating" in JJ's mouth and found that he had 2 new molars break through and the other bottom tooth next to the front one is about to break through. I guess this is a good reason to be fussy and drooling! He had been waking up in the middle of the night screaming for about 3 days, but luckily last night he slept better, all the way until 2:30 am with no crying! When will this teething be OVER?!?!?!?!?

Dancing. . .

Here's just a cute little video of JJ "dancing" in his high chair. . .

Catching up. . .

Daddy's home!

Stealing the birthday presents, but at least he's sharing them with another guest!

First girlfriend of the day, the birthday girl!

Second girlfriend of the day, he sat and watched her play in the sand for a VERY long time!

Third girlfriend of the day, she insisted on pushing him in the swing even though she wasn't even at the same party!

Pre-zoo outfit with new slippers : )

My favorite, meerkats!

We've had a pretty busy few days. Brian got home Saturday morning and we went to a friend's daughter's first birthday party that afternoon. JJ had a very good time running around the park and playing with the other kids. He would mostly just watch them and follow them around, but I guess that's his current version of playing with them. He tried stealing a few of the birthday presents, but luckily didn't get any into our car : )

Brian was on duty on Sunday so we brought him dinner on the ship. JJ seemed to think it was pretty fun sitting in his camping chair again for dinner. This was the first time we've brought him on the ship since he started walking. It took about 10 minutes of him walking around for Brian to determine that the ship is not a safe place for children wanting to walk and not listen! He tried turning off a few very important pieces of military equipment which I thought was pretty funny. We didn't end up staying very long, but it was still really fun to be there and see JJ try and mess with national security.

Yesterday, Brian and I both took the day off from work to spend some time together as a family. We went to the zoo and had a very nice day. The weather has been very nice lately so it was good to spend the whole day outside : ) We hadn't been to the zoo in awhile, so it was fun watching JJ actually notice all the animals now. I think he will enjoy it as much as we do.

JJ's been doing what I assume to be a very typical baby/child behavior lately. . . when he's done eating, he starts to throw all the rest of the food from his high chair onto the ground. It really bugs me and I always tell him to stop, but he seems to think it's funny. I end up taking everything away and make him sit while we finish dinner. Tonight, we were all enjoying a nice dinner when he started to do this. We took his tray away like usual and he sat and played while we finished. After we all finished, we let him down and about 1 minute later, I noticed he was eating the food off the floor! It turns out that maybe he's not throwing it on the ground just to bug me, but maybe he's just saving it for later!

Dad da. . .

Using the "phone" appropriately!

"Helping" me cook dinner!

Brian's gone this week and JJ has not been happy about it. All I hear all night after I pick him up is his sad little hopefully voice going "Dad da"? When I knock on the door to pick him up after work, I hear him through the door, "Dad da"? Then when I bring him home, he'll point at the door, "Dad da"? Then when I look at pictures of Brian with him, "Dad da"!!! He's been breaking my heart every day with his little hopeful voice, and then today he made me laugh. We had a music station playing on TV and Janet Jackson came on and JJ looked at the TV all excited, "DAD DA" he proclaimed!!! Not sure about the similarities, but JJ seemed pretty sure that it was him! Brian comes home on Saturday and JJ has been counting down the days. He can't wait : )

13 Months, yesterday. . .

Notice the hair!

As you can see from the above photos, JJ's current favorite activity is standing on my/his chair! He thinks it's sooo funny to climb up and down. It's really cute and he hasn't fallen yet, but I'm sure that's in our near future.

So JJ is now 13 months old, amazing! In the past month he has "sprouted" two new teeth, not learned how to sleep better (last night he was awake from 12 am until 3 am), started walking faster, become more opinionated, become more vocal, and had his first hunger strike. He refused to have pretty much anything but milk for two days this week, but luckily he's over that now and proved it with tonight's dinner which was - a peach, an avocado, a quesadilla, a cup of peas, and a yogurt! He came back strong!