Monday, March 19, 2012

Let the Dirt Eating Begin!

We have been spending a lot of time outside in the past few weeks- it has been so nice to get out of the house, even if we just ended up sitting out in the front yard.  CJ seems to love exploring in the grass and getting dirty! 
It's also been fun starting to see him interact with other kids.  Even though most of the time we have to pull the babies apart because they are either crawling over each other or pulling on hair, it's still cool to see them being social. 
The little girls in the neighborhood love CJ!

Party on St. Patrick's Day!
I still have been taking the usual pictures of CJ around the house- but have also started to play around with my camera more outside.  At some point, especially since the trees are all blooming now I would love to drive around rural Loudoun County and take some pictures, but that is going to take some planning since I'll have the little man with me.  Anyone know of some good spots? 

My parents were up for a visit- they are so excited about CJ crawling, and my dad loves playing with the train...

I know this is a crappy picture, but thought it would be neat taking a picture of our cherry tree at night.  I used a really slow shutter speed, but also should have used a tripod.  It was cold out though so I was lazy.

Playing around with my telephoto lens- I need to use it more often!

Flip flop time!  Time for a pedicure!

I visited my friend Sharon who just had a baby- CJ like playing with their dog Milo's toys. 

I love taking pictures of trees against a blue sky.  This tree is probably bloomed now!

Acting goofy
At MacDowell Brew Kitchen for a drink- pit stop on a long walk through town on Sunday
Although we have been enjoying the weather a lot in the past week, we have also had to deal with some major teething.  CJ looks like he is about to pop out several teeth so he hasn't been in the best of moods.  One day he was hysterical for the first half of the day, but then snapped out of it and was perfectly happy the rest of the of the day.  I guess we can blame that on teething, but you never do know.  I took CJ to have a follow up ultrasound last week as well.  Back in the fall CJ had an ultrasound when we had the whole pink spot in the diaper episode and it was found that one of his ureters was a bit enlarged.  The nephrologist said that many babies have this issue but grow out of it, so we should just have another ultrasound in the spring.  Well, what we thought may be closure to this whole annoying situation (he hasn't had the crystals since we started formula and solid foods) turned out to be not.  We found out that CJ's kidneys are functioning and growing just fine, but the enlargement in the ureter has gotten worse.  The technical term is "Mild Pelviectasis."  We now need to take him in for more tests to see what is causing the issue.  The nurse said it could be urine reflux or some sort of obstruction, and to not be alarmed.  Of course I still am, and when I found out that we couldn't get an appointment until the beginning of May, I pushed for something earlier and got the doctor to see us mid-April.  I guess that is better than them wanting us to come in right away- then we really would have been worried.  It seems also from the info that I received from the nurse that whatever it is it just makes him more susceptible to infection, so I guess we'll see!  It's hard to even think about something wrong with CJ; he is eating, sleeping, growing, and aside from the teething, happy!
Flowers Kev brought home to cheer me up after dealing with a teething baby and bad news
 

Monday, March 5, 2012

On the Move

Yes, he looks like a disaster, but it was not one of my near-disasters. 

Well I had 2 near-mommy-disasters last week.  Usually in the morning I feed CJ and then let him play around on the floor while I eat breakfast at the kitchen table.  I was glancing every so often into the family room to make sure he wasn't tugging at the vertical blinds or sticking his fingers in the air vent that is on the floor- but I should not have been so engrossed in my magazine.  The TV clicked off and I immediately glanced into the room- no CJ.  He had crawled behind the TV stand and halfway unplugged the power strip!  Of course then I just started thinking of all that could have happened... yikes.  My second near-disaster was when I locked myself out of the house when CJ was sleeping in his room.  Thank God my friend Evan was home and has our key.  Again, I thought of all that could have happened if he wasn't home and Kev was out of town and CJ started screaming and I'm wasn't there...

So we have moved the TV stand back closer to the wall and I will need to stop getting so distracted.  I know these will not be the last near-disasters, but hopefully there will be no actual disasters.
Welcome!  Come on in!


You find out how dirty your floors really are when you have a crawler

Pulling himself up (sort of)

CJ really wants to get into the kitchen

Finally gave CJ a battery-less remote

So CJ definitely is much more adept at crawling now (before I thought he awkwardly crawled like the girl from The Grudge), and the pictures show he is getting into some plank positions on the fireplace and the small step-up to the kitchen.  Here and there he shows us some more yoga when he busts out some random downward dogs.  I need to have a camera on me the next time that happens. 




CJ will also chase the cat if he gets the chance- but Izzie is too fast for him.  Now she just teases him by playing chicken- running away at the last minute and then coming back into his view.  I'm sure he'll pay her back at some point. 


Even though it has been a mild winter, I am still looking forward to consistent warmer days.  50 degrees is a lot better than 30, but I still am not running out the door eager walking when it is 50 degrees.  However, we have tried to take advantage of all of the actual spring-like days!
First time in a swing!