Jesse's Day!

Dear Jesse,

Happy First Birthday! Your dad and I decided that in our family, your actual birthday is going to be ALL ABOUT YOU - doing what you like to do, eating what you like to eat. We will schedule birthday parties when they are convenient, but Birthday Days Are Special!  So here are all of the things that we did on your birthday. Because you are so young and we have to guess what you like, this is pretty close to how our days typically go right now!

You woke up around 5am, as usual, and I brought you into our bed and we both got a few more hours of sleep. Dad kissed us both before he went to work at 7. Our morning really started at about 8 with you playing with my phone while I attempted to wake up. You need some time to wake up, too - you climb all over me, but you often flop down on me to get a little rest in between all the exploration. I have to be careful that you don't bonk your head on my knees!

You love to get into the bathroom cupboards while I get ready for the day. Now they have rubber bands around the handles so you can't. You don't appreciate being foiled.

Next we had breakfast - waffles, fruit...

and some of my "green juice" with spinach, yogurt, bananas, strawberries, and oranges. Your dad thinks it looks nasty, but you and I know how delicious it is. You've gotten so good at drinking through a straw!

You very closely supervised the baking of the birthday cake. It's an important job! You helped me measure and dump flour (we only got a little on the counter- shh, don't tell dad!) and turned on the mixer and then made sure it didn't burn. 

Finally, naptime! What a sweet little boy. And what a lucky mama to have such a snuggly kid!

After some rest it was time for lunch. Turkey, apples and roasted broccoli were on the menu for the birthday boy! Despite this face, you actually really like broccoli. I'm so proud of you! (The lemon and Parmesan probably help.)

While you were sleeping one of your presents came - a big-boy car seat! You were fascinated by the plastic covering, and even climbed right into the cart seat.

I supervised you carefully (babies + plastic = no good) while I frosted your little one-year-old cake. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting and a strawberry jam filling - yum!

Surprise! Dad came home early from work, just for his little boy's birthday (Actually he had a dentist appointment, but that's okay). He read you stories - Monkeys Jumping On the Bed, Baby's First Colors, and Belly Button Book - while I finished the cakes.

Yay more presents! You helped open the box, and anxiously waited while Dad used the tools (I love that impatient little face!). You are very close to walking on your own, but these alligators help a TON. You love the clacky noise that they make, and it's so much fun to spin the beads! You aren't very good about controlling your speed, so Dad and I have to help keep you from smashing into walls. And then we have to help you back up. You'll figure it out soon! (Too fast - you are growing up so quickly!)

Another surprise! Grandma Meacham stopped by on her way home from Salt Lake. She's telling you in your ear how much she loves you - it's bunches and bunches!

After another nap, it was time to go in the car. For all of your earlier enthusiasm, you were NOT impressed with your new car seat at first. You warmed up to it quickly once you realized how much you could see!

Our first stop was the pet store. Sorry, buddy, no pets this time! (Although it'll be soon, if your dad gets his way.) We looked at all of the fish swimming around, and you tried to catch them through the tank. We had to be careful with the tanks on the lower shelves - you wanted to stick your hand right in!

We also looked at the ssssssnakes...

And the little puppies and kittens. You love dogs - it probably helps that Grandma and Grandpa Meacham have one. Watson is very wary of you (Jack pulled out some of his eyebrow once!) but Grandma thinks it's funny to put your toes just barely on the floor and chase him around the kitchen. She's right, it's pretty awesome. 

Next up was the hardware store to go through the FAN AISLE! You've been a fan (haa) of fans for a long time. They were one of the first things you pointed to! We make it a priority to go through the fan aisle every time we go to the hardware store, but on Jesse's Day, we went to the hardware store FOR the fan aisle. And your reaction was just as awesome as ever! Pointing, back arched, giggling - it was great. 

By now it was getting close to bedtime, so we got some delicious Hibachi food (zucchini, mushrooms and chicken with a tasty ginger sauce for you, sushi for Mom and Dad) and headed home to eat. You love your sippy cup from Grandpa Meacham, too! It's very interesting to try and put things into the spout.

 After clean up and jammies, it was time to get ready for bed. 

 We played some games - Pattycake and Squish Mom's Cheeks...

and read some books. Gramalita got you this book and the Very Hungry Caterpillar that goes with it before you were even born! You love to look at all of the yummy food and poke your finger through the holes.

This time, the strawberries looked EXTRA delicious!

 I sang you some songs - I Love You So Much and I Am a Child of God - and then snuggled you to sleep.

 Goodnight, little boy! I hope you had a fabulous first birthday, filled with all the things you love the most.

We love YOU the most, little duck. Happy happy birthday - we can't wait for the next year!

Love, Mom and Dad

Jesse at Five Months

November 21, 2011

Dear Jesse,

You are just growing, growing, growing! This sure has been a month of adventures!

(Sorry Mom keeps dressing you up, kiddo)

Your mom may or may not have called your dad crying about that mark on your forehead.

You continue to surprise us with your calm cheerful personality. You've been practicing sitting up - you are just about there! The problem is that big heavy head. You prop yourself up with your arms then reach for a toy. Usually you end up folded in half over your legs, but instead of getting upset, you wait patiently until one of us can untangle you.

 We have been on a lot of walks lately - to the grocery store or the library. It's good for both of us to get out of our basement apartment and get some sun. You always get excited when we get out of our quiet cul-de-sac and you can hear the noise of the cars. Vroom! You sit in your stroller like a sultan, serenely watching the world go by until the movement lulls you to sleep. When you wake up, I'm there to sing songs or make silly faces. I'll be sad when you get too big for the stroller that faces me!

Laughter has become kind of a theme this month - your dad and I act like fools to make you smile. You are becoming more ticklish - you always grin and wiggle when I zip things up your tummy. You've discovered your toes - they are SO INTERESTING! It's funny how they wiggle. They also taste delicious. Sometimes, you even giggle in your sleep, and it always makes ME giggle! We are so glad you are happy, little one.

This is also the month when you stopped sleeping through the night. Apparently this is a normal thing around four or five months, but I hope it resolves soon! I'd gotten used to more than 3 hours of sleep at a time.

Dad has new nicknames for you: Fezzik and Fishstick. I don't know why, or where they came from, but it amuses him to say "Hey, Fishstick!" as he's coming to pick you up.

Maybe it has something to do with you sitting on his face...

You are such a clever boy! Grandma M taught you to look for the dog - when she asks "Where's Watson?" you look on the floor. Poor Watson is still nervous around you. It probably doesn't help that Grandma uses you to chase him around the kitchen, although you think it is very funny. You are staring to make your wishes known. You hum and sing vowels - sweet and soft when you're happy, loud and insistent when you are frustrated. But you have already learned that the best way to get what you want is to be charming. You will smile at ANYONE who even looks at you! The grocery store has become a lot of fun with you flirting away.

Those toes are so tasty!

We WERE going to bless you on the 6th, but you had other plans. Poor kid, you threw up all night the night before (starting at 3am, naturally). You were fine - it was just a little 12 hour bug - but I sure was glad to have your dad home that day! We took turns giving you pedialyte and cleaning you up. You were still so nice! Throwing up made you pretty uncomfortable, but as soon as you were done, you would go right back to sleep or coo quietly at us. Of course, 2 days later, Dad and I came down with the same bug! It was much easier to deal with - I would much rather be sick than have you be all sad and lethargic!

My favorite moment of motherhood (so far!) happened this month. You had just finished eating and were drifting off. I was humming to you, and looking at your lovely face as I rocked you in my lovely chair. You were mostly asleep when your eyes opened and you looked up. When you saw me, you smiled and sighed a little, then closed your eyes and fell asleep. If I hadn't been wrapped around your finger before, that would have done it right there. It still melts my heart to think that you recognize me, even half asleep.

We love you, darling boy. Thank you for bringing so much joy!

Love,
Mom and Dad

We did the Monster Mash!

Everyone loves the food & family holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for me, Halloween beats them both for sheer childlike glee. I'll use any excuse to dress up, and no one looks at you funny if you wear a hoop skirt or a sword on Halloween. I start scheming about my costume in July. It's even more fun now with Jesse, because I have someone who will dress up with me! Jon tends to be a bit of a Scrooge when it comes to Halloween (Except for the candy part--this year he bought 24 pounds. On October 5th. It was not a positive contribution to my weight loss endeavors!)

Part of the fun of Halloween is showing off your clever costume (at least, for the little diva in my head). I wasn't really sure I would get to show mine off this year: I'm too old and Jesse's too young to go trick-or-treating, and none of our friends were throwing parties. I decided to just go trunk-or-treating with my parents and siblings, so at least the people in our ward could admire our costumes.

I usually go over to help my sisters get ready for school on Halloween morning. The excitement and creativity of finding the perfect way to put a costume together is one of my favorite parts. This year we had a pirate, a Cirque de Soleil dancer, a bottle of ketchup, a knight, and a cowgirl. Mom invited me to go to the various costume parades at my siblings' schools, and also asked for my help with Dad's costume. I ended up spending the whole day with her, at two different schools, Costco, a party supply store and a craft store. LOTS of people saw my costume, and I got lots of comments! I loved the attention, although that's not a surprise to most of you.

I really wanted to do paired costumes for Jesse and I, but I wanted him to be comfortable as well, so no itchy polyester suits. After tossing around a ton of ideas, I saw this hat at the farmer's market. Frankenbaby was born!

Of course, when Dr. Frankenstein realized that his creature was actually a baby, he needed someone to care for him (at least until he was old enough to pillage on his own). Enter the Nanny of Frankenstein!

It's a mix between Mary Poppins and the Bride of Frankenstein. Any day I get to wear a wig and a poofy skirt is a good day in my book! Excepting the wig, I actually already owned all the pieces for this outfit, including the slip from my wedding dress. You'd be surprised how much use I've gotten out of that...

My mom and I spent most of the day gathering things for my dad's costume. He's the bishop of our church congregation, so we've often talked about making him a bishop chess piece costume. Neither my mom or I sew--our lack of skill is actually a running joke in my family. That said, who needs a sewing machine when you've got duct tape, staples and safety pins?

The finished product:

Not bad for six hours and duct tape. Pretty much, we rock.

One of my life achievements happened while we were working on Dad's costume. Mom will often say "YOU can be replaced" when we are giving her a hard time about something. I teased her about her sewing skills as we were finishing, and she said, "You can...well, actually, I don't think I could replace you!" She said that the costume would never have gotten finished without my help and encouragement. Basically, I win at being a CHODAT! (I understand that few to none of you will get that reference, please pardon my self-indulgence.)

After trunk-or-treat, various friends stopped by to show off THEIR costumes - Betty, Barney and Bam-Bam Rubble, the Tenth Doctor and a Plasma-vore. All in all, a fantastic Halloween! I'm already planning what we can do next year when Jesse can walk...

Jesse at Four Months

October 21, 2011

Dear Jesse,

You are four months old! We can't believe it! Four months is not a very long time, but it seems like you have been a part of our family for much longer.

As I type this, you are sleeping on my shoulder, recovering from your shots. They always give you a little fever, and make you fussy for the day. Poor kiddo! You were SO TIRED this morning that you only cried for about a minute, then you fell asleep before we got down the elevator.

At the beginning of this month, you started gurgling instead of cooing. You thought it was so funny when we gurgled back! Now you make ALL SORTS of sounds, especially in the morning. You usually wake up to eat at six am, then wake up cooing and talking at seven. I bring you into bed with me so we can play and doze for another hour, then we are up for the day! You are a very sweaty little boy - I have spots on my fitted sheet where your head sweated THROUGH your blanket.

Good morning, Mom!

You look so much like your dad it's ridiculous. He is just about your favorite person in the world. You get SO EXCITED when he is home! You DO, however, have my squinty eyes and wrinkled nose when you smile. You eyes are beginning to change colors - you now have a golden ring right around your pupil. I'd love it if they stay blue like your dad's, but as long as you keep smiling at me I don't care what color they are.

The wrinkle nose looks less like "I'm going to eat you!" in person.

You are much more interested in people than in toys. When someone holds a toy in front of you, you will typically bring your hands together at your chest and just stare at it - you don't swing for it like most babies I know. But if someone talks to you or make faces at you, you are just so delighted. Your hands are still your favorite toy - you'll intertwine them and wave them around, then eat them. Sometimes you choke a little on your hand, then you look at me kind of accusingly. "Gee, Mom, why'd you do that?" If you can see someone else's hands close to your mouth, you throw yourself forward so you can eat them. You dive-bomb for Dad's arm, too. Little cannibal baby.

Patty-cake is HILARIOUS. It feels so funny to have your hands move around without you controlling them! And Mom makes such funny faces. You still love any singing, but the ABC's have been pretty consistently able to calm you down if you are upset. Dad laughs at me, but if you like it, I'm going to keep singing it!

All things are better with a bear hat.

Probably my favorite new thing this month is your laughter. You laughed for the first time on September 25th, and you have been laughing more and more since then. It used to require all sorts of silly noises and faces to make you laugh, but now, if you are in the right mood, just hearing Dad or me laugh can set you off. We LOVE it. Making you laugh is the most fun thing ever.

When I babysat Caden, you were totally chill, even if he did love you a little too much sometimes.

Mmm...sharing!

You were interested that he was little like you, but much more active. When he would roll around, you'd turn to watch him. And when he got a little aggressive with his curiosity, you just shrugged it off. That's my boy! We really hope you guys grow up to be good friends.

You still have major tummy-to-back rolling skills. You just pop right over like it's nothing. You have even rolled from back to front two or three times, espeically when your dad is above you and you are craning your neck to see him. Your little kicking legs are also getting so strong. Dad will put you on his knees to play with you and you kick him in the stomach. Ha, now he knows what it feels like! Between the kicking and the back-arching, we have to be sure to buckle you into your bouncer, otherwise you end up all squished in the seat! Of course, then you can see your feet...

In general, you are my lovely, smiley baby. You still love to cuddle with me, even if you are determined to sit up. You love to sit in the Bumbo on the table and watch me dance around and do the dishes or make dinner. Such a funny mom! The other day Dad said, "I always though it was such a cliche, parents loving their kids so much they can barely stand it. Now I understand what they were talking about."

Thanks for being our cliche, little boy.

Love,
Mom and Dad