I'm ready for the runs

Not the digestive phenomenon (please excuse my mom, she couldn't resist this crude title). The title refers to riding along in the baby jogger on long runs with my mom and dad. This was the first time that I was able to go in the jogger. It's real nice. Very smooth especially when my parents aren't constantly stepping on the wheels like they do in my other stroller.

I just kick back and take it all in. Pretty cool. See you 'round.

- Jonas

Sleep again, at last!

Desperate to get more than 45 minutes of sleep at a time, given Jonas' recent waking up antics, we decided to try starting him on cereal, again. We tried in June, when he was 4 months, but he wasn't really into it. And, our pediatrician told us she'd prefer that he wait until 6 months. We were fine with that. No problem. But then, after this last round of not sleeping, we wondered if he was hungry. After all, he is 19+ pounds now.

We gave the cereal another try last Thursday and he LOVED it! It was hilarious. I couldn't get the spoon to his mouth fast enough. He was so excited. His arms were waving about with great fanfare. Twice he knocked the bowl out of my hand. Ginger was, of course, right there front and center, in case I wanted to share the contents of the bowl with her. She kept inching her way forward toward Jonas nudging me or him, which delighted him to no end. Jonas laughed and carried on so much with Ginger that I began to be concerned about him choking.

Anyway, the cereal did the trick. Jonas seems more satisfied and everyone is sleeping MUCH better.

Zombies

It's not this wee whipper-snapper who's the zombie, but his parents. That's because this adorable little boy has been keeping his parents up all night the past two nights. We don't really know why. He's not sick, not experiencing MAJOR teething issues--just awake. We wonder if he might be hungry, or if his sleep schedule is a little off.

Jonas isn't on a locked tight nap schedule YET... I just know he needs two naps a day. It's something of a balancing act to get him down (because he fights it every step of the way), before he gets over-tired. If/once he gets over-tired it's really hard to get to get him down. I try to keep him on the same schedule as daycare but sometimes it's hard to stick to it. I'm learning though. The hard way!! The consequences of missing those naps are not worth sneaking in that extra appointment or crossing that one extra thing off my list, instead of spending the time to get him down for some z's.

So now as we are a few hours away from tonight's bedtime, I'm wondering, 'will he go down easy tonight? will he stay aside for longer than 45 minutes?! Because I can't take another night of up and down.' "Jonas," I say to him in my stern mom voice, "Jonas, are you going to sleep well tonight like a good boy?" With a sparkle in his eye and an impish grin he laughs and buries his face in my shoulder, feigning shyness.

The devilish grin made it's first showing at age 2 months.

"Ugh," I sigh as I massage my weary, itchy eyes. I sure hope so.

Jonas & Dad Enjoying a Snack

With dad trying to enjoy an after-work snack, Jonas goes to battle with the plastic bag. Every now and again, he finds that squealing helps solve many of life's problems. Dad has recently adopted the same logic at work...

Family fun at the Boilermaker 15k

A Day at the Races

told by Jonas Vinciquerra











We went to my dad's race over the weekend. It was pretty cool. It's called The Boilermaker.

I deserve a prize for my exemplary go-with-the-flow attitude. (My mom could use a tip or two from me on that.) I was snatched from my crib, pj's and all, only to be deposited into the car seat, evil of all evils--at 5 AM no less! We drove for what seemed like an eternity to a place called Utopia, or Utica, or something like that.



Here's me with my dad before the race. Look! I'm still in my pj's. My dad's pretty happy. He's hopeful he can pull off a 60 min. 15k. Good luck, Daddy!















Mama and I hung out with Auntie Adrienne and Uncle Brent while Daddy tried to out-run the Kenyans.

















There they go. 4 minute-something mile times. Wow.










There's my mommy. She's still trying to calculate how fast the Kenyans are running. Clearly, I got my math skills from my dad.

There are so many people who run in this race. Over 11,000! I had to take a snooze after Daddy passed by. There are just too many to watch.


There's my DAD!!!
















Daddy's pretty pleased with himself. 63 minutes. Good work, Daddy. Next time you should up the antie-- push me in the baby jogger and pull off that time.


We had a great time. And I was on my stellar behavior. I can't wait for my daddy's next race, a marathon. It's not for a long time, though. Mommy says I'll be eating solid foods by then. I might have a take a lot of naps in that race.

The End.

Just shy of 4 months (a few weeks ago), Jonas "discovered" Ginger. While Ginger has come around to check out Jonas every now and again in the past few months, she has gone largely unnoticed by Jonas, except on the occasion that she got in his face to sniff him. Then, he blinked a lot. But that's pretty much been his only reaction--until one day everything changed.

Ginger walked in front of Jonas and he let out a big squeal of delight. He puts his hands up to his face, raises his shoulders, squeezes his eyes closed and giggles with glee. I could watch this show for hours. Such sweet joy to hear Jonas laugh and to see Ginger so thoroughly enjoying the attention from him.

As the weeks have gone on, he has been increasingly entertained by Ginger. Today was a new first. Jonas "chased" Ginger around the basement. I was wearing Jonas in the baby bjorn (yay! first time since my surgery). The dog was begging to play, with tennis ball permanently affixed in the mouth. "We" started chasing Ginger around the basement. Gingie was in seventh heaven, and Jonas loved it. He was screaming and giggling and laughing non-stop for 10 minutes. He faces outward now in the Bjorn so he got to see everything as we did figure eights around the basement. I think he especially liked Ginger's reaction. Well, this is a cool game, I thought. It's free; it's easy; and it provides endless entertainment for all.

Just WAIT until Jonas starts eating from the high chair and food starts landing on the floor. Ginger and Jonas' relationship is going to jump to a whole new level. Ginger and Jonas are going to be the best of friends.

Exer-what??

I think that we have crossed the threshold into a new territory of Baby World. Welcome to the Province of Pimped-out Toys. For those of you in my mother's generation I don't literally mean "pimp". The toys I'm talking about have nothing to do with sleezy men who use and abuse women. I'm using the word in the hip-hop sense, meaning "having excessive embellishments or adornments," all the bells and whistles.

This is Jonas' Exer-saucer. It's really a stationary walker--yes, I realize that is an oxymoron--with a 360 degree swiveling seat and toys and gadget that go all the way around the tray. We have several names for it: 'Ground control'. 'The Command Center'. 'Frustration Station' is our favorite. Whatever one may call this device, it is a fabulous arrow in our quiver of things to keep our son moving, exploring, and happy.

When we introduced Jonas to it, he was mesmerized. All those colors, sounds, textures.

Now I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit skeptical when we put the exer-saucer on our baby registry. I am not a fan of having lot of toys, and, I certainly don't want our house over-run by them. In general I tend to favor the simple, time-tested toy over the tricked out toy monstrosity ablaze with blinking lights and chirping noises. But I have to say, it's a terrific toy.










Joe putting together the exer-saucer. Liz's famous last words, "Joe, why don't you assemble the saucer? It'll only take you 10 minutes." Ok, someone here is naive, and it's not Joe. He dumps out the contents of an enormous cardboard box and among the 45 large pieces of plastic is a clear bag with 100 tiny metal nuts, bolts, sheaths, you name it.



Hurray! An hour later we have an assembled toy.

As soon as we put him down in the seat, Jonas gets right down to business. It's hilarious because the minute he gets his little chubby digits on all the "controls" a very serious expression always takes over his face.

Jonas' favorite toy on it is a barrel-like thing that has fish and beads in it. He spins it around like there's no tomorrow, his little chubby hand crashing down on it. He gets frustrated that he can't lift it off the platform and put it in his mouth. Then, he starts screaming.

Every now and again Jonas relaxes a bit and takes a break from pounding the buttons.

It's so fun now that Jonas is becoming much more interactive.