A First: Chewing on Toys

While we were in Philly, Noni and I headed to Ikea to pick up a highchair for Julian since he will be starting solid food in a few months, and I figured it would be a good thing to start getting him acclimated to. Plus it's been really nice to be able to pull him right up to the table in his own space to have meals with us.

As soon as we got home we put all the pieces together so that we could try it out. After a nice 3 hour nap, Jules got up as we were sitting down to dinner and was in a great mood. We plopped him in the highchair, covered it with some fun toys, and waited to see what he thought. Overall it was a huge success! He sat there all through dinner, and when we would put a toy in his grasp, rather than not realizing it was there, he would bring it to his mouth to chew on. His skills aren't that great just yet, but I think the teething is giving him motivation, and with more practice I'm sure he'll be a pro. Even just this morning he picked some up by himself, only to throw them overboard of course!

Presidents Day Weekend

We decided to take a last minute trip up to Philly since Pete ended up with a long weekend. The car ride was a little rougher than usual, but mostly because Julian seems to be teething up a storm. He didn't show off any of his super rolling skills while we were there, but he was full of smiles and shrieks of happiness all weekend. Especially when Noni made him this most fabulous mobile:



And there wasn't much napping, but the good ones usually looked like this:

On the way back it was a warm and sunny day and Jules was being as cute as ever:

We Have Rolling On Film!

For the last half hour or so Julian has been getting his roll on, and finally I've been able to capture it to share. Today he's being a little wild man, no naps - just lots of hootin and hollarin!

Smiley Morning

We got out and walked yesterday morning for 2 hours with a new mama friend and her 4 month old daughter, voting along the way. It was grey and windy, but felt glorious. Unfortunately, today it is gross and wet, and we're just waiting for papa to get home so we can run errands and get some groceries. Jules has been exceptionally smiley this morning so I've been trying to capture it on film.

Usually I get serious faces like this:


Or sometimes a little smile like this:


But usually it's an all out spazz like this:

Making History

Last night we headed out to the Virginia Beach Convention Center to go to the Barak Obama rally. It's the largest space in the area, capable of holding 10,000 people. Doors were supposed to open at 5:30, and the rally was to start at 7:30. When we got arrived at 6:30 there were thousands and thousands of people waiting in line. The lines wrapped around the building in two places, around the parking lot at least 4 times and made their way all the way over to the hotel next door. I heard on the news today that the first person in line had been waiting since 9AM that morning! We were so far back in line we were sure we weren't going to make it in. I wrapped Jules up in the new Inka and he quickly went to sleep despite the fierce wind whipping around and the cool temperature outside. With his head tucked inside his cozy nest he was warm and snug.

Suddenly a little after 7:30, everyone started breaking out of their lines and making a mad dash run for the front doors. The energy was high and intense, so many people wanted to see him speak. Once we were inside everyone crowded up as close as they could get to the stage, and when he spoke everyone had to stand on tippy toes to see his face. It was an awesome experience, and I am so glad we were able to go, and even more happy to bring Jules and begin his (albeit early) education and exposure to political participation. I don't want him to grow up being apathetic like so many young people today, I want him to get involved and vote, and take part in the discussion. He slept peacefully through the whole rally, just shifting around when people were cheering loudly, and woke as we were walking out to peer out at all the people and noise and light.

So tomorrow Jules and I will head out to our neighborhood polling place, and I will get to cast my vote in this very tight running Democratic race. And for the first time, I feel like my vote might actually count.

Baby Wearing

Yesterday we went to our second babywearing meeting out in Virginia Beach. My Orion (pictured), arrived this week so I took it to try it out, and learn how to use it better. He fell alseep immediately with his thumb stuck in his mouth. I tucked his head right in and he stayed that way for quite awhile. The Orion a light weight gauze wrap that is going to be our mainstay for the summer and at the beach.

My Inka showed up in the mail today. It's a cloth woven wrap that I'll be utilizing now that Jules is too heavy for the stretchy Moby. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of it up soon. It's a beautiful stripped pattern, and very colorful, but will be too hot for the summer time.

Today is was nearly 70 so we got up and took an hour and a half walk in the Orion with Nico. Then we came home, showered up, and trekked out in the Inka to the coffee shop, the movie store, and then the library. He napped cozily for most of the time, and we were able to peruse the books for a long time before he was over it all. I love this weather. It's so nice not to have to use the car and to be out and about as a family.

Some Videos and an Update

Jules is teething! Every few days we have copious, copious amounts of drool, severe hand and finger gnawing, and extreme crankiness. So far we can't see anything pushing up in his gums, so I have a feeling this is just a bit of pre-teething, but I still can't believe it's happening already!

We have some amazing weather going on. Two days of mid 70's and today it's in the 80's. Jules and I have been taking some long walks around the Hague in the afternoons to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air - it's helped to life some of the wintery oppressiveness.

The following videos will demonstrate to you the good nature of our boy. Make sure to watch the first one all the way through, you'll get to see his best skill! The second is just for fun, he's such a smiley little dude as his papa says.

A Few Rough Days

Being true to his parents nature, Jules is a night owl. Throughout the majority of my pregnancy he was up and dancing in my belly into the late hours of the night on a regular basis. He regularly woke up at 11PM to have a little baby disco while we watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. And now that he's out in the world he's Up Up Up until 11:30 on the dot every night. And when I say Up I mean up and happy and smiling and dancing, and well, baby crazy.

Most nights I try to get him down early, say 8 or 8:30. We do bath time, and story time, and baby massage, and nursing. Pete scoffs at me knowing his son better than I, saying "You know he's going to wake up as soon as you put him in his bed". Like clockwork, once nursed, asleep, and laid to rest in his crib, less than five minutes later he's wailing and wide awake ready for more play time.

I've finally given in. Instead of trying to an earlier bed time, we're just going to try and move him back 15 minutes or so at a time. Two nights ago we had him down at 11:15. Miracle of miracles he slept until 4:30AM. And since the books all say 5 hours in a row is sleeping through the night I can say - We had sleeping through the night! But like many other things baby, it wasn't meant to last. His nap schedule was thrown out the window and he didn't sleep more than 15 minutes at a time yesterday, he hated being away from me at all, and nursed constantly (probably making up for the deficit at night). Last night he was a bear to get down, but slept through the night until I fed him in his sleep at 4AM again. And then had his regular up every 2 hour schedule.

But you know what, it's okay. His wide awake smiles are welcomed, especially since Pete doesn't get home until 11 some nights. It means he gets daddy time before he goes to sleep, and it means we all get to spend time together as a family. I could never get to bed before 11 anyway, who am I kidding, and it's nice to have another member of the late night crew.