On the move

One of the most notable changes in Jonas in the last month was his overwhelming desire to m-o-v-e. By the end of August we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with him in order to keep him discovering and entertained. Sitting in the Bumbo seat was "so childish". No dice there anymore. Sitting on the floor and playing wasn't an option since Jonas couldn't sit independently at that point. The Exer-saucer was a good option, and he could play there for up to a half hour. While I'd seize the opportunity to wash up another round of bottles, he'd be in the living room making a good deal of racket, squealing in delight and jumping so violently that all that little gadgets would shake, as did our bookshelves. What a profound difference from June when he was just introduced to the Exer-saucer and played so quietly. Aside from the stroller rides, Exer-saucer and "tummy time", we were struggling to come up with something that would make Jonas happy. If only we had a little hamster wheel or something.

As luck would have it, our Labor Day trip to central New York ended up providing us with much more than a station wagon full of groceries and yummy treats (courtesy of Joe's mom); we were introduced to a wonderful gadget that would offer up a little sanity: the walker. (Cue the suspenseful music) dun, dun dunnnnn... "Walkers?," you're probably saying, "weren't those banned in the 90's?" Well, that's what we thought. They were supposed to be so dangerous. And to be fair, I have heard that children fell down stairs in them and got into a whole mess of other accidents. I think they have made some modifications to them so that they aren't so tipsy near stairs. But we don't have any stairs to fall down and the only floor with ideal conditions for scooting about in the walker is the kitchen floor. All the rest have rugs.

Our dear friends have a walker for their daughter Clare, Jonas' surrogate cousin.

Here are Joe, Jonas, Clare and Clare's dad, Tim. Clare seems to be saying, "Hey, Jonas. you should check out my 'car'. I can drive it pretty fast. Let's see what you can do."




When Clare's mother suggested that we let Jonas take a spin in the walker, we decided to give it a go. This was a life-changer for Jonas. For the first time ever, he was upright--a major selling point these days--and he could MOVE a significant distance--on his own! He took to the walker like a fish in water. He motored about their dining and living rooms and had an amazing time.








That was enough for us. We *had* to get one of these. We would have bought one on the way home but our car was so jam-packed with a 80+ pound dog, her bed, a carseat, bags for Jonas, bags for Liz/Joe and a dozen bags (no exaggeration) of toys, gifts, groceries and other novelties. So, Jonas had to wait until the next day.

Since then, the kitchen has never been the same. Now Jonas has the ability to slide up to a cabinet door and pull it open, at least until it bumps into the walker. He takes pleasure in knocking everything off the kitchen's two-shelved cart. He relentlessly pursues Ginger. Her food dishes provide him endless fascination. And it's no longer a good idea to enter the kitchen without steel toed boots.

On the flip side I can now wash an entire load of bottles, or prepare most of dinner or clean out the refrigerator. And best of all Jonas is in seventh heaven.

A verbal description just doesn't do justice to the scene created by Jonas in the walker in the kitchen. So stay tuned. I hope to post some video of him soon.

Thanks for reading and have a good one!

Anyone there?

This is what friends and family are probably wondering these days. I was shocked when I went on this blog this morning and saw that my last entry was 5 weeks ago! I aim to do a little better this month.

We are all alive and well. The month of September was just jam packed. We visited family in Syracuse over Labor Day. I signed on to do a yardsale with a mom's group gal, which ended up taking more time than I thought it would, although it was a good time. I've been running around trying to get estimates for some critical house projects that need to be done this fall. And all of this led up to last weekend when I had to spend all weekend at work for alumnae reunion. I came home Sunday exhausted, only to catch Jonas' cold. Well, what can you do?

All in all, though, life is good, sniffles aside. I haven't had much time for writing emails, visiting with friends, or posting new entries here. I hope that'll change this month.

I'm working on a couple of new posts currently about Jonas' great strides. I'll get them up this weekend. Til then, take care and be well.

Here we are Labor Day weekend.

It's your half birthday, Jonas!

Jonas is six months old today. Wow. That's all I can say.

We've gone from this....


















to this...
















We Love YOU, Jonas!

Jonas' first *BIKE* ride

We went for our first family bike ride/run last Sunday. Joe's colleague had an old Burley bike trailer gathering dust and cobwebs in her garage. She told Joe if he wanted to clean it up, he could have it. Score!

So we hooked it up Sunday morning and took Jonas for his first ride. I think you'll agree he enjoyed it. The photos speak for themselves.

Joe's training for his fall marathon. To help him counteract the monotony, Jonas and I will be riding along with him as he runs the last 7-10 miles over the next few weeks. Gear up Jonas!

Six month (nearly!) update

While Jonas isn't technically six months old yet, he's pretty darned close. I figured if I wait to post this until he is officially six months old, I won't end up having another opportunity to update you until he's seven months old. That's just the way it goes, I've learned. So, here we are.

Jonas is an absolute delight. He's the apple of my eye. This weekend I ran into a colleague who has a one month old. Instantly, I was thrown back to those early days of tiny, tiny fingers; shrill, lengthy cries that resist all comfort and soothing; and long, teary and sleepless nights.














These were the days that other parents had warned us about. Hang in there, they said. It will get better, we promise. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved our son from the moment he was born. I loved him more than anything, but this early time with baby wasn't exactly what I had expected. What about all those warm and fuzzy photos of mothers and babies looking dreamily into one another's eyes? And what about this ridiculous notion that babies and mothers enjoy a special ability to communicate thanks to their unique bond?? Oh, this does exist, just not for several weeks (read: months). It seemed like an eternity.

Fast forward a few months. It's a whole new world. Such sweet unparalleled joy. My heart melts when I look into Jonas' deep sea blue eyes and he gazes back at me in wonder. Now, I "get it": the love and pride and admiration that a mother experiences toward her child, there's nothing like it. It's wonderful.

Anyway, here's the update you've been waiting for.

• If you put Jonas down on the floor he rolls around all over--left and right, back to front, and vice versa. Probably not going to be long before he figures out the leg movement with the hands. I hope we have a few more months. :-)
  


• He's a pretty good eater but sometimes half way through starts getting a little cranky. Solution: start pushing Jonas around the kitchen in the high chair while making funny sounds. After a spin around the kitchen his good spirits return again.


• So far Jonas has sampled pears, sweet potatoes, apples and peas. Yum!


• He goes *crazy* in the exer-saucer, bouncing, grabbing, pulling, eating. Whereas he used to sit and play with all the toys with interest last month, now it is with **explosive** energy. I was in the basement today and heard him jumping up and down. I thought he was going to come through the floor.
  


• He has learned to reach for, grasp and hold these little dangly toys on the exer-saucer. When he pulls them, they sing a song. It is not uncommon to hear that same song repeat 8-10 times. It's laughable. You wouldn't think you'd enjoy hearing the same baby jingle over and over again. Although I concede it's not so funny when you can't get the song out of your head 3 hours later.


• Jonas is very vocal. His squeals often sound like loud chirps, akin to smoke detector that needs a new battery.
  


• Jonas tries to grab everything! He loves to grab Ginger in whatever way he can. Tail, ears, handfuls of skin and fur. It's all so tempting. And, Ginger's such a pal. She's so patient and tolerates him until she can't take it anymore then she gets up and leaves.


• He laughs hard at peek-a-boo. I wasn't sure when he'd catch on to this little game. I thought babies start playing this at an earlier age. He just started recently, but seems to be making up for lost time with unstoppable giggling.


• When he sees other babies or children, he stares. He doesn't seem quite as interested in adults.

• And last but not least, he is teething! Like everything else Jonas does, it does it with drama. One tooth at a time isn't enough. He's got to get TWO teeth at the same time. That's right. Both of his bottom teeth are coming in. They broke through the skin two or three days ago.

All in all Jonas is growing like a weed. He's probably up to 21 pounds now. Lord knows how long. He's making the move into 9 month clothes. But most important he starting to look like a little boy, still a baby, but on the way to boyhood. And we're loving every minute of it.

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.