Parent Milestones

As usual, I have much to say and little time to say it. Hopefully I'll get to some of these posts in my mind over the break.

But for now:

Tonight we gave Jo his fifth Chanukah present (we've given him a little one each night -- thus far a package of socks [hey, it's a Jewish tradition], a light-up singing dreidl, a rubber ball, and a set of teething keys). It was two maracas, one red, one purple. He recognized them from his music classes, and his whole face lit up as he grabbed them and started to shake.

I want to see that look on his face, again and again and again.*

Here he is rocking his maracas.



*That's how kids get spoiled, isn't it. Oh, dear...

Jo's First Chanukah

Yes, Jo is over a year old, but since Chanukah falls later on the "secular" calendar than it did last year, this is his first Chanukah. Co was wishing for a little Chanukah present last year, but Jo chose to make his appearance the day after the last night of Chanukah.

I really shouldn't be up this late posting, but there are so many milestones and amazing moments every day, and so little time to record them in any way. (Though we do take tons of pictures and that helps.) I still need to post about Jo's first birthday party, and put up the video of him roaring like a lion. He seems to have his first baby word "Ra-ra" for "lion" (roar roar).

Anyway, his first night of Chanukah was wonderful and I just have to share it. He's been sick and cranky, and he fell asleep suddenly and unexpectedly in my arms at 7, before we lit candles. I was disappointed, but mindful that you do not ever wake a sleeping baby. He woke on his own less than an hour later, however, and we lit the menorah (really a chanukiah). I am not sure whether he likes the candles, the blessings, or both, but he always breaks out in a huge smile when we light candles on Friday nights and tonight was no exception (he loved that there were three blessings!). I can't wait 'til there are more and more candles on the menorah, I think he will love it!!

Here he is with his very own menorah, a gift from his Gaba. [That's my mom: 2-year-old Nephew S. has dubbed her "Gaba." She loves it so much that we are all keeping that as her name to the point of correcting Nephew S. when he correctly pronounces "Grandma." Mom says it's like a combo of Grandma and the Yiddish "Bubba," which is what she, and later my sister and I, called her own grandmother (we were lucky enough to know two of our great-grandmothers).]

One Year

The tickers say it all: our little Jo is one year old.

We've been telling each other, and Jo, his birth story since last night. ("One year ago today Mommy was drinking castor oil!")

I need to do a full post about his birthday party (which was last weekend), but for now, some one year notables:

*In the past few days, Jo has started to say "buda buda buda buda" all the time. We are not sure what it means, though yesterday I heard from the bathroom," Yes, I am washing your buda buda buda."

*In the past couple of weeks, Jo has gone from standing accidentally (taking his hands off of whatever he's holding to clap, but not noticing) to standing very intentionally and grinning at his accomplishment. He has almost taken a step a few times. Stay tuned.

*In food news, we've been wanting to take the step where we just give him whatever we're eating, but been too nervous somehow to actually do it. Last night we gave him a piece of challah, however, and he chowed down. Stay tuned here, too.

*He has become more eager to repeat words he hears; his daycare providers are delighted that he repeats "light" and "night-night" and are convinced that he repeats names, too. He definitely says "bye-bye."

*He flirts with everyone on the train -- the older Asian and Russian women probably love him the most, but the sullen teenagers, the weary middle-aged men, the well-coiffed businesswomen, they all smile at Jo. Yesterday I was sitting next to a man who by all outward appearances was a drag queen. Jo reached out, grabbed his arm, smiled charmingly, and said, "Da-da!" I don't think the man heard him (i.Pod), but he was charmed by the baby.

Here's a picture of Jo with his smash cake. More to come:

Ma-ma

Jo can say "Mama," and I think he means me. It's fine if he calls us both Mama at first (Co is Mommy), because it takes longer for kids to learn to say "Mommy." But for now, he does seem to be looking at me when he says it.

We did a lot of planning and talking about what he would call us. But I was unprepared for the magic of hearing my name in his sweet little voice.

First Haircut

In my genetic family, we don't generally get much hair 'til, say, kindergarten, so the first haircut is usually something that occurs in grade school. Witness my nephew at his 2nd birthday party (he's never had a haircut, except for my sister snipping off his rat tail every so often).

And here I am at three months, bald as an egg.


Jo, on the other hand, has been a hairy little creature since birth (he's four days old in the picture below). Co has trimmed his hair several times already.

His first birthday is coming up, so we decided to go professional this weekend.

Here are the before shots, from Thanksgiving:


And the back:


Here he is all ready for his haircut, in his Fire Chief seat:


The place had every manner of kiddie distraction: toys, TV screens, balloons, you name it. Here he is being distracted by bubbles (and sporting the adorable smock):


The mid-cut mohawk:


The artist at work:


And here's the "After" shot, at home with his hard-won balloon from the salon:


We got a first-haircut certificate with a lock of his hair. The standard "Certificate of Recognition" template included a quote by John F. Kenn.edy ("One person can make a difference") and while I'm not sure the occasion warrants it, it's certainly emblematic of the era of hope and change Jo gets to grow up in. Short hair and all.

A Word Person

So I signed myself up for hd's online writing group, The Word People. I have always wanted to be a part of a writer's group. My mother is a professional writer (a journalist) and I grew up surrounded by the smart, funny, ambitious, and successful women in her writer's group. I always hoped I'd be part of one someday.

Writing has always been a part of my life, since long before I learned the physical act of writing. I imitated my mother by scrawling on message pads, and typing on the table. The hum and ding! of her electric typewriter were the soundtrack of my childhood. But more importantly, I spun stories in my head, an activity I called "pretend games." I spent hours outside bouncing a pink Spal.deen making up my stories. Eventually I learned to write them down, but even now, my brain moves so much more quickly than my hands. (And my hands move pretty quickly, as anyone who has heard me type can attest.) I still keep spiral notebooks on a shelf in our bedroom, one for each "story idea," some of those ideas with their roots as far back as the sixth grade. At this point in my life, I don't know that I will ever publish the fiction I write. Technically I am a published writer of some minor non-fiction work. But my heart is with my stories, and I will always write them.

I started keeping a diary when I was ten, as a place to offload my anxiety about my increasingly powerful, and increasingly numerous, crushes on girls. The following year my English teacher assigned journal entries, and I've been carrying around a battered composition book ever since. At different times I've also kept a dream journal,a book journal, and briefly in the 8th grade I had a special notebook just to write about all the spirits my friends and I contacted with our all-powerful Oui.ja board.

I started this blog not as writing practice, but as a way to join the TTC blog community. I was excited to engage with so many interesting and intelligent women who were on the same path Co and I were just beginning. But I can't deny that I love, love, loved the medium. I was excited about a blogging community not only because I could participate while sitting on my ass (though I can hardly say that's not a plus), but because writing is my preferred mode of communication. Given the choice, I would probably always prefer to interact with people in writing. I am much more facile at the written word than at human interaction, I think.

I'm not making a strict writing plan, because I really don't have time. I know that's a lame excuse but the working mom thing is kicking my butt and writing isn't the only thing that's taking the back burner. I want to do yoga at least a few times a week, and that isn't happening either. However, I do have these pockets of time -- on Wednesdays, when I have a number of free periods at work -- sometimes on Tuesday afternoons when I have no extracurricular activities -- sometimes over the weekend when the baby is sleeping. So my goal is to fill at least some of those pockets with writing.

More Firsts

Today's jubilation has been tempered for us queers (and fellow travelers) by the bad news from California, Arizona, and Florida. Let's hope change comes for us, too. I can't help but be a bit hopeful, because in our state, the Senate got the Democratic majority They say is necessary for discussion of marriage in the Legislature.

You've heard from both Co and myself about this election, and even seen Jo's hearty support for Obama. Maggie's been silent on that point, however...until now.

Last night President-elect Obama (oh, I just love typing that!!!) announced an important aspect of his administration that I, for one, was not previously aware of: the introduction of the White House Puppy. I learned today that the pup will be a rescue dog.

Maggie says it's high time we had a First Dachshund in this country. (You can click here to weigh in on the topic yourself.) Doxies are loyal, persistent, "Yes, we can!" sorts of doggies. And they love children. What other pet would put up with this:

Hope

I have this urgent desire to just pause the world right now. Right where we are. Where the guys singing in the train beg us to vote, and everyone is reading newspapers, even the free ones, even the trashy ones, with big pictures of Obama on the cover. And everyone seems so breathless with hope.

I've been getting literally tearful at the thought of Obama winning, when I think of him being Jo's president. My students' president. And I figured it was because I was sloppy and let my meds run out again. I always get a little overwrought and emotional after a few doses. But I've been back on the happy pills for several days and I'm still getting tearful. It turns out, I actually feel that emotional about this election.

Please, God, let this country do the right thing.

Baby's First Halloween

For his first Halloween, we decided to dress Jo as a lion, because he sometimes roars for us. (Of course, he refused to roar when dressed in his lion costume, but no surprise there.)

Here he is dressed up for our neighborhood parade:


He very quickly became overstimulated by all the people, lights, and noise, however, and checked out. We call this picture The Lion Sleeps Tonight.


That afternoon, Co and I decided we wanted to dress up with him, so we threw together a tiger costume for her, a Dorothy costume for me, and brought along a stuffed bear. Get it?? The concept wasn't half bad, especially given the 15 minutes of planning.

Finally, I am excited to introduce Jo's first fridge art!! The 2 1/2 year old twins at daycare did some Halloween projects, and he likes to imitate the big kids do, so his teacher held his hand while he played with a crayon and feathers, and now we have this:


Hopefully he'll be a more active participant next Halloween, or perhaps even by Purim.

Aging

So, Monday was my birthday. I'm 34. (Thanks to the working mom status, I've been working on this post since Monday.)

It's my first birthday as a mama, and that has been magical. I got to take my little guy to music class, and he gave me a present! He chose a pair of turtle socks just for me on his trip to the aquarium last week! (I spent a night away on a camping trip with my students, and Co was home with him for two days, so they went on an adventure. He also chose a stuffed shark for himself. He is truly Mommy's son.)

I'm thinking about my age, however, in terms of TTC. My deadline for motherhood, in my head, was 32, because that's how old my mom was when I was born. I was 33 when Jo was born.

I am hoping to be 34 when I begin trying to conceive a biological child. Our plan is for me to go through testing with an RE this spring, so that I can begin inseminations over the summer (when I'll be off work and it will be easier to deal with the multiple monitoring appointments). In the fall, I'll just have to deal.

I am anxious -- not to say terrified -- about my fertility. My periods have always been regular and I have no reason to worry, but I have no reason not to, either. I'm also afraid that an RE might refuse to treat me "unless I lose weight," which is unlikely to happen. Will I truly be denied biological parenthood for such a silly reason? Plenty of large women get pregnant the old-fashioned way.

I don't necessarily expect my age to be a huge problem, but I'm not 22, either.

I don't mind sharing this plan here, in this space, because I don't mind being held accountable, or explaining if our plans change. This is where we write about TTC, after all, despite our current break to revel in parenthood.

Once An Infertile...

Technically speaking, I don't know that I can even take on the label I've assumed in the title. First of all, my own body is an untested quantity. Second of all, Co's fertility was never in question. Yes, we had obstacles to conceiving, but in the end we did so within six tries.

But certainly I have the mindset of an infertile, of someone who has struggled to figure out how to even go about conceiving, and had to study charts and OPKs and make decisions about medications.

We've both blogged before about the fertility tensions in our mah-jongg/friendship group. Co and her two closest friends all started trying to conceive around the same time...Co and her college roommate ended up with the same due date...and Friend #3 is still trying, and coming up against bigger and bigger obstacles. There are six of us who play MJ; the original threesome, myself, and two other friends. One of the two others started trying to conceive sometime last spring, and she announced last month that she is pregnant, due in May.

Of course I am happy for Newly Pregnant Friend. (I am going to have to use creative monikers, because everyone in mah-jongg except Co has a name that starts with J. or L.) But my first reaction was a pang for Struggling Friend (who, thank goodness, wasn't present when Newly Pregnant Friend made her announcement). NPF hasn't had an easy time of it; she's pushing 40, and was so nervous that after just a few months of trying she actually went to see an RE. She ended up finding out she was pregnant through a blood test at the RE's office! (It was our own Dr. Quick who told her.) But her journey was short compared to Struggling Friend's, who is still in the thick of it, still discovering more obstacles to success.

I feel badly that I feel so anxious about this pregnancy. Even with my beautiful son in my life, am I still so bitter that I can't be happy for others?? But I don't think that's the case. I have a cousin and two colleagues who are expecting, and I couldn't be happier for them; not to mention my many blog friends (and more on the IVP). I am just worried about Struggling Friend, because I remember being surrounded by babies and pregnancies in the midst of my own pain.

I spoke to Co's college roommate/Leo's Mom last week, and she is really worried about Struggling Friend. She told me we should be sure to check in on her regularly, because she is so depressed, and according to Leo's Mom, "lots of people have fertility issues but they don't walk around morose all the time." I have to say, I don't agree. Struggling Friend is definitely having a hard time of it, and I wish she would seek help. But I see her reaction as kind of, well, normal. Facing obstacles in creating your family is one of the worst kinds of pain there is. My impulse (Co's, too) is to try to share with her own experience, and the stories of so many brave and wise folks we know who have made their families in whatever creative ways they could. But Struggling Friend doesn't want to talk.

When Newly Pregnant Friend shared her story of TTC, and her funny pregnancy test at the RE's, she mentioned that she had difficulty with the OPK's; Leo's Mom said, "Oh, I never could get those to work, I told you, just have lots of sex!" And I felt a pang, not for us -- we never imagined that sex would lead us to a child -- but for the absent Struggling Friend, who had to give up that dream. And for us a little, sure, for anyone who has to buy more sensitive and expensive OPK's to make sure they work; not to mention needles and drugs and retrievals. I'll never see pregnancy as simple or easy (in fact, I shudder at NPF's blase assumption that she will have a babe in arms in May). But compassion is never a bad thing.

Holidays

I've been composing posts in my head all along, but precious few of them have made it out onto the computer. So here's a sum-up of the past few weeks of life with Jo, and in the Family O in general.

Autumn is the Jewish holiday season, so we've been pretty busy. (And those of us with a foot in the Jewish and the American worlds find it crazy-making that the Christian/American holiday season comes right on its heels.) We spent Rosh Hashanah with family friends, and my mom and stepdad came down for Yom Kippur. (In past years, Co has made rules about my mom and I spending too much time together while we're not eating, but it actually went well.)

To be accurate, we spend the 2nd night of Rosh Hashanah with family friends. We had no plans for the 1st night, and ended up ordering Chinese food. Chinese food is never far from the spirit of Judaism, I suppose, but I was really sad. It was my own fault -- I stubbornly insisted on not rescheduling music class, since we didn't have plans anyway, and we realized as we reached home just before 7 that there was no way we had time to roast a chicken. The lack of traditional food triggered my sense of abandonment. I hate the way the term "triggered" is bandied about these days, but I do think that's exactly what happened...I have a wonderful family of my own, but I was raised with large extended family events. I've posted about this before, but to be concise: my mother has re-centered our family around my sister's in-laws, a fact made especially easy since both my mother and my sister's mother-in-law moved within ten minutes of my sister's house. Most of our friends have family in the area, so they get to go to their family for holidays. But we're building our own family now, me and Co and Jo, and we'll have our own events.

Nephew Sam's second birthday was yesterday, and my mom's birthday was Friday so after Yom Kippur we headed up north to celebrate. We've been video-chatting with Sam and my sister, and he calls myself, Co, Jo, and Maggie by name. In person he was most excited to see Maggie, of course. My cousin D. got some amazing pictures at Sam's party. Here are the cousins sitting together at a kiddie picnic bench:

Jo got his cute on practicing standing with a ride-on toy:


In case you were wondering, Maggie had a good time at the party too.

My dad and my sister's mother-in-law were both at the party, of course, which was anxiety-making but ultimately fine. My dad showered the birthday boy and his cousin with gifts, which is the role of the absent (grand)father, I suppose. Sam got an enormous stuffed Pooh -- he loooves Pooh -- and Jo got a Piglet, with a particularly tasty ear.


In other Jo news, he's continuing to practice standing on his own, and will take a few steps while we hold his hands (his interest in that is new). The pediatrician okayed finger foods at his 9 month appointment, so even without teeth, he's eating Ger.ber puffs (meltier in the mouth than Cheer.ios) and American cheese. He loooooves yogurt, and is even starting to eat some veggies willingly (albeit the sweet ones: squash, sweet potato, and carrots thus far). We can't believe he's ten months old!!

Illustration

Here's Jo at the festival Co wrote about. He is playing with the most excellent type of toy: grown-up's trash!


And here he is at last night's holiday dinner. Yes, I think he poses.


Finally, that second ticker up there is an awesome alternaticker designed specially to look like Jo! The creative and indefatigable Tracy, one of our very own IVP, designed and recently launched this website. Check it out!

Our Exciting Lives

So, Cali asked people what they did with their weekends. Yeah, she asked a few posts ago...

On Friday night, we did our Friday night Shabbat ritual (he loves the candle-lighting and blessings; non-traditional pic here), ate dinner, and then noticed Jo rubbing his eyes and being cranky. In our attempts to establish a set bedtime (these days he sacks out reliably around 8) we jump on his sleepy signals. So at 7:15, we took him to the bed for books, lullabies, and nursings. However, since his real bedtime seems to be around 8, he nursed for a loooong time while we lay with him between us. I wanted to go down to the basement for some 12 month clothes (our giant boychik is growing again; he wears 18 month pajamas!!) but was waiting for him to be more solidly asleep before I left Co with him.

And then I woke up at 11. We had both fallen asleep in our clothes. Ah, the life of working moms.

On Saturday we did something that really was exciting: thanks to our excellent friend in the theater industry, we had free tickets to see the new musical 13. It's the first show on Broadway with an all-teen cast, including the band, and it's wonderful! I teach 7th grade, and tutor Bar/Bat Mitzvah candidates...13 is my bread and butter...so I really enjoyed the energy and humor in this show. Go see it if you get the chance!

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Illustration

Co writes great posts, but she neglects the photos. Here's Jo standing with his stroller (this was minutes after the toddler attack, so you can see he was ultimately unscathed):


And here he is reaching up to try to touch a tree:

Bonus Cruising Pic

Just to show you what we mean....

Foodie

Guess who ate TWO servings of peaches yesterday?
Jo seems to be warming up to food! After yesterday's success we decided to mix peach with banana, the other food he hates least, to make a "Fuzzy Nana." (Oneofhismoms turned us on to the idea of making and naming baby food; when Jo warms up to avocado, we'll try the banana-avocado mixture OOHM dubbed "Tropical Fantasy.")

Jo seemed to enjoy his Fuzzy Nana; he ate the entire serving, four baby-spoons-full, which is more than he usually eats. Co wants to try Peachy Keeny (peach and zucchini) but from the look on his face when we tried zucchini, I think we might need to wait on that.

Here he is eating plain banana, which he doesn't even hate that much. Co calls this photo, "I'd like to speak to the chef."


Next up is green beans, which we're getting from the CSA tomorrow.

Other cute new skills include crawling with objects in both hands (no picture of that yet), and kissing the baby he sees in the mirror. Here he is doing it to his fish mirror, but he also does it with the full-length mirror in the bedroom, the wall-length mirrors at the Y, and on the last page of his favorite book, Peek-A-Who.

Jo's First Beach Vacation

Mommy and Mama loooove the beach, so we were hoping Jo would feel similarly. Score!! He's our little beach bum.

We stayed at our beloved B & B for the third year in a row, which was really wonderful. It's inexpensive (cheaper to stay there for a week than to rent an apartment), dog-friendly (hello, Maggie needs her beach vacation), and low stress. Plus, yummy breakfast. The 80+ year old woman who runs the place called herself Maggie's Grandmom last year, and would take Maggie out of our room to hang out with her during the day. This year, she fell madly in love with Jo and went out to get a disposable camera before we left so she could take his picture. He loved her back, giggling and asking to be held. So sweet.

I love going back to places -- I am a true creature of routine -- so I was in my glory knowing which restaurants we liked, which beaches to go to, other spots to hit (the local winery and the arcades for skee ball, though sadly we missed out on that this year).

Vacation with Jo was not as completely different as I had thought it would be. We spent long hours at the beach; we have a little beach tent for shade, and Jo was happy to play with his toys and nap in there.

He also loved playing with the sand -- to our relief, he mostly didn't try to eat it! - and playing with his various beach accessories. Of course, all the beach toys were very tasty.

He loves water -- in lakes, pools, and the bathtub -- and while he found the giant waves intimidating when not properly controlled by the mommies, he looooved sitting on the shore and being lifted up high when a big one approached. Here he is contemplating the mysteries of the sea.

And crawling on the beach -- he's cross-crawling for real now, no more tummy -- was just too cute. Here he is in action:


A neighbor suggested we bring a computer to watch DVDs, and we got some great media in while he was napping "at home." (We finished up season 4 of the Sop.ranos and watched a quirky Net.flix pick, The Last Supper.)

One of our favorite beach vacation activities is the dolphin watch. Last year, we threw superstition to the winds and bought a dolphin magnet with Jo's name on it in their gift shop (though I hid it until he was born), which makes the dolphin boat even dearer to our hearts. Because we only saw a few dolphins, and had to turn back early due to rough waters, the captain gave everyone a free pass that never expires. We love the dolphin boat! But despite the choppy waters Jo had a blast!

....and then he fell asleep.

We took him to a few restaurants, where he flirted with everyone in sight and repeatedly tested to see whether gravity works at the shore (yes, Jo, the toys fall to the ground here, too...).

Back at the B & B, Jo delighted in his new ability to pull up in the P n' P...

and helped us plan our vacation.


Of course, Maggie got her beach time, too. She did her usual: digging, wading, long walks on the beach.

Finally, here's some old school pix of Mommy and Mama as little beach bums, just for fun.

Back from the Beach

We're home! A full photo-essay on Jo's first beach trip to come. Here's a preview....

We're Off To The Beach!

So you won't hear from us for about a week (unless I can steal someone's wireless, that is....).

Local Food & Local Babies

This summer we've gotten almost all of our produce from our CSA or the farmer's market. It's been absolutely amazing! First of all, it's delicious. Second of all, because of the CSA we always have lots of produce in the house, which has encouraged me to snack on more fruit, and to experiment with recipes and vegetables that I don't ordinarily eat. Finally, it's been an education to learn about which foods are actually in season in my neck of the woods at particular times. I'm such an urban girl, I'm usually completely out of touch with the natural world. I mean, did you know that everyone makes strawberry-rhubarb pie because those fruits are in season at the same time?? (I am sure you did...)

For his part, Jo seemed to enjoy the peaches, but turned down the zucchini outright. He's still not particularly into solids, though (which is not surprising given that he has no teeth, despite the constant teething).

This week the predicted CSA haul is corn, mesclun greens, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, lilac peppers (I've never heard of lilac peppers!), new potatoes, onions, zucchini, sage, plums, apricots, peaches. YUM!

************************
Last week Jo and Leo had a playdate. Jo just wants to crawl and Leo just wants to walk. Chaos ensued, but also much cuteness. Here they are plotting their escape:


Yesterday, Jo and I got to go hang out with oneofhismoms & wife, Cakie, and the newly hatched Trucker!! OOHM is amazing, doing more errands around our neighborhood than I do now with her 4 week old. And blogging about the meeting before I did, too. I can only echo her commentary about the concentrated cuteness. Trucker is just precious, an old soul with an expressive face and a beautiful shock of hair. Cakie is an excellent big brother. He gave Jo hugs and kisses, and even performed on his guitar (yes, the one in the header), to Jo's delight.

And Jo seems to be learning how to hug! He returned Cakie's hugs, and this morning in yoga class he hugged an 8 month old girl who was admiring his mad crawling skills. (At a few days shy of 8 months, Jo is about to graduate into the toddler class. Oy.) True, a few times his hugs involved grabbing her eyeballs, but he really does seem to have the idea. Too, too sweet.

Summer Slow-Down

The title refers to the neglect of the blog. It's been a while and now I feel the need to write something momentous, but it's not going to happen, so here's an update.

First of all, Casey got a BFP! That's pretty momentous!

In other news....as I believe I mentioned, I am a summer SAHM. It has been quite an adventure. I am not sure I'd be too good at this full-time. I'm disappointed in myself for not being more imaginative about how to spend time with Jo, and for getting bored and cranky sometimes. However, it's just as well, because I am the member of the family least likely to ever be a SAHM....I have the job with the non-flexible hours and I carry the family health insurance.

But we'll always have summers, and we have been having fun. Jo's taking music and swimming classes, and I've been taking him to the Y for Mommy/Baby Yoga & Pilates as often as I can. (Mama Baby, in our case.) We've met up with myriad baby groups in the area. This past weekend a friend and I had a stoop sale -- Jo joined us in his exersaucer and had a blast -- and I made $68 for vacation money. (We're off to the beach next week.) Not bad!

Jo keeps growing in leaps and bounds. He is pulling up constantly and his army crawl gives way to the real thing more and more often. Here he is booking down our hallway:

Be Afraid

Be very afraid.

'Cause here comes Jo.







He's crawling on his tummy (commando-crawling) and, as of yesterday, pulling himself up. Yikes.

Sleeping Like A Baby

Tonight we took Jo to Times Square for the first time.
He slept through the entire trip.

Updates

Here's what's going on in our neck of the woods:

• *This movie has been filming around the corner from us since before July 4th. Yesterday we actually saw Nia Vardalos and John Corbett filming a scene. There's an entire fake restaurant. Crazy.
• *Maggie hurt her leg chasing an 8 month old puppy on the 4th of July. We have instructions from the vet to keep her off for a week to ten days. We've been calling her Gimpy, 'cause we're P.C. like that. She doesn't mind getting carried from futon to bed and back again.
• *We went up north to see my mom and my sister over the 4th of July weekend. This trip also allowed for the historic Meeting of Gus & Jo.
  

Here is some cute from our trip:

Jo in the highchair used for myself and my sister, playing with our toy apple (if my mother ever gets a scanner or lets me transport some pix, I will put up comparisons). He is making his Old Man With Dentures face.

An early episode of cousin rivalry (the toy they're fighting over is a wooden Fisher-Price circus set from my mother's childhood, as well as mine and my sister's):

At my sister's 4th of July picnic, Jo got to roll around with Xander, my sister's nephew on the other side (her husband's brother's son). Xander is about six weeks younger. In this picture, Jo appears to be giving advice, or perhaps telling a joke.

Cousin Sam prefers pushing his toy to riding in it.

Here's poor tired Maggie after chasing aforementioned puppy.

Jo loved meeting Gus!

My mom took us to a lake near her place so Jo could check out the water. So far he has enjoyed the bathtub, a kiddie pool, and the pool at the Y for his swimming lessons so I thought he'd like it. He was in heaven! We can't wait to take him to the ocean beach in August. (We were a little anxious about the sand-eating, though.) Here he is with his Grandmom....

and getting dried off.

Our little fishie!!