Our little Plattler

For those of you who said it couldn't be done.... well, there actually aren't any of those, but anyway.... we are beginning to see that Jamey is understanding us in German as well as English. We ask him to do things like "Drum" or "Point to a tree", and he does it. I can ask him in German "Where is ...." and he points to it, no problem. And lastly, we see that he uses the same hand sign for Please whether we speak to him in German or in English, showing us that he understands that it means both Bitte and Please.

To up his Germanic type influence, he is beginning to do some our group dances. Keep in mind he gets no instruction, but that hardly matters. Just look at Christopher dance and that will tell you. Let me preface this story by saying that in our group, we do a dance called "The Miner's Dance." In it, our men are all carrying small hammer and chisels. The setting for the dance is a salt mine and throughout the dance, the guys make music using their hammer and chisels and tapping them together.

So, the other day, I was sitting on the couch when Jamey came to me and began making the sign for "Please." This usually means he wants me to do something. I looked around to try and figure out what he wanted, but there were no clues to be seen. Then I noticed that he had a toy hammer and screwdriver in his hand. On a whim, I began to sing the Miner's Dance song. His face lit up and he began to tap them together and move in a circle. At times, he would put down the tools and begin to plattl, slapping his hands against his thighs, just like Daddy. It truly is amazing to watch him begin to dance just through observation! Here is his performance.

Jamey's New Desk

In the past two weeks, Jamey has had an endless stream of visitors. First, it was Grandma V, Granddad and Aunt Gini, who had never met him before. Then, the day they left, Aunt Lindsay came to visit, armed with some gifts for Jamey.

As Lindsay's boys have gotten older, they have begun to give away their old things. Ben, her youngest, decided that Jamey might like his old Buzz Lightyear desk for his room. And like it, he certainly did. The moment he saw it, he walked over and climbed up into it. He would drag a book up into the chair with him and sit at it, reading his book. Just like in school. On top of that, when he is done, he pulls his books off his desktop and stores them in the chair of his desk.

Great gift, Ben! Thanks a bunch!!!!!

And the following weekend, after getting through 103 fevers and double ear infections, Jamey visited with Hoopapa and Grammy, along with cousins Susie, Amanda, Melissa, and her Baby Ian. Not to mention all the Boswells and Aunt Joyce. It was a great November birthday celebration and a lot of fun for Jamey, as he begins to play well with his cousin Isaac!

Halloween, Argh!

For Jamey's second Halloween, we wanted to find an awesome costume, and wanted to go around as a family one more time. At Party City, I found a $10 costume and a little plastic sword that fit perfectly. It would allow Glenn and I to find easy accompanying costumes to use. And the final touch would be that we would build a pirate ship out of Jamey's plastic car.

In the earlier part of the day, we ventured to Cox Farms, with the help of a Westfield student who gave us a free pass to get in. There were slides galore, which Jamey loved, and every one kept giving him candy. It was all capped with a hay ride, on which it started to rain, and the driver pretended to get stuck, scaring me to no end!

When it came time to really go Trick-or-Treating, we met up with Jaeda and Caden from down the street, and took off, hoping the rain would hold off some more. It sprinkled off and on, but it was still a good time. Jamey tried to go into a few houses, but still enjoyed going up to the doors. He didn't hold his pumpkin to get candy, but Mom took care of that for him. After all, I will be the one eating the candy. I may as well pick it out!

When we got home, I went to the center of the room, turned over his pumpkin and let the candy cascade out. This elicited from Jamey, a loud "Ooooohhhhh!" And it taughth him a new game. Whenever I tried to put the candy away, he would pick up the pumpkin and dump it right back out!

As Promised....

As promised, I am posting two videos of Jamey that I just love. Both are also on my Facebook. The first shows some of Jamey's talking skills.

And here is one that shows that Jamey knows just what to do when we do "Ein Prosit" at the end of our dance shows. This is what we sing as a toast, and during it, we wave our arms in the air, like we are waving around a mug of beer. Apparently, Jamey has been paying attention.

There-ya-go.....

It has been a good amount of time since I have updated Jamey's blog. Now that he is walking... no, running... I spend most of my time trying to keep up with where he is going and what he is getting into. Today, while Glenn was cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, he disappeared into the kitchen and came back around the corner and immediately dumped the tin of roughly 100 straws that he had found. This was almost as good as the time when he dumped the box of roughly 1000 coffee stirrers when we visited school. Lucky for me, he helped clean up, by handing me the straws to put away.

In any case, I am going to put in a few little snippets of Jamey now-a-days. In one month, he has become quite mobile and quite vocal. From week to week, he changes in that way. About two weeks ago, he had his 15 month appointment, which left him with a positive result and an all-clear from the doctor. He is now 24 lbs (45%) and is in the 80% for height. Determined not to disappoint in the brains department, he is STILL in the 95% for head size.

-As many people have already said to me, you never realize some of the phrases you say ALL THE TIME, until your 15 month old child begins to say them. Luckily for me, one of those things is "Thank you". However, I realize now that every time I give something to Jamey, I say, "There you go." And how do I know this? A good amount of the time, when Jamey hands me something, he follows it with a quick, "There you go", which sounds more like, "There-go". Be careful, though, because it sounds much like his "Thank you".

Other phrases he can do: Up, Tickle Tickle, Gabba Gabba (in reference to his favorite TV show), ball, apple, banana, more, milk, buh-bye, and hi. Of course, there are many Mama's and Dada's mixed in there too.

-Like parents, like baby: Jamey's new favorite snack is croutons. One afternoon, while I was cooking, he went into the pantry and pulled out the bright blue bag of croutons. When I put it back, he went back a few minutes later and selected the same bag. So I gave him a few. After that, it was pretty standard for him to push past all the other bags of food in the way in order get out those croutons. It has gotten to the point where we have to hide the croutons because that is all he wants. One day, he mistook the "Lipton's Ready to Make Tomato Pasta" for his croutons and demanded to snack on it. Instead, we just made the pasta as part of our dinner.

Both Glenn and I, as children, LOVED croutons. We sat at the dinner table the other night, reminiscing about how we used to have our parents smuggle plates of croutons for us from the salad bar. Apparently, even these types of things are genetic.

A video of Jamey talking is soon to follow.... Until then, here is a picture of Jamey and Christopher at one of our shows!

A Birthday Wish for Katie Lamken

Tomorrow is a special day for Jamey and his "girlfriend" Katie Lamken. It is her second birthday, and she is far away from us. We miss her greatly and wish that we could be there to make some of the delicious Elmo cake that Katie's grandma made-- especially since she doesn't like icing. There is a mess that needs to be made of that icing, and Jamey would be perfect to do it. Ah well. Another time.

Because we can't be there in person, Jamey wanted to send a special birthday message to Katie, via my blog. Lately, he has been playing Mr. Cool and allowing us to put his sunglasses on him. Well, the way it works, is Glenn or I put the glasses on our head (quite a tight squeeze). Jamey then sees it, and thinks it is hilarious, and yet also totally cool. Then he grabs them off our face and hands them to us. Tilting his face up, he allows us to put the glasses on him, and then begins to bounce.

Katie loves watching Jamey's videos, we have heard, so we thought this would be a great thing for Katie to get to watch. It would have worked perfectly if Jamey weren't obsessed with anything electronic. He was in perfect dancing position until he saw the camera in my hand. He immediately ran over to me and well, you can see his reaction in the video. Either way, I think it is a totally cute video and I know Katie will enjoy it too!

Happy Birthday, Katie! We will see you soon. Be nice to your little sister when she is born on Friday!!!!

The Evolution of Dance

As many would have guessed, Jamey has inherited some of Glenn's and my dancing skills. Granted, at this point, his moves aren't quite as advanced as ours. He hears oompah music and flails his arms about, rocking his head around. However, we can already see how his dance style is evolving. He even has his own "personal jukebox."

For his first Christmas, Jamey's big gift was his jungle toy which you could learn to cruise and pull up on. There is a ball that plays music when you hit it, and the monkey also plays music when you pull the arm down. Well, Jamey has known about this for awhile, but only lately has he been showing preference in the "classics" played by his jungle. Often, after he hits the ball and the music starts, he will decide he doesn't like that song and will push on the monkey's arm so that the song changes. He will then try to change the song again, by hitting the monkey's arm once more.

Then begins the bounce butt-shake. I have posted a video of this before, but here is the dance in a longer format.

Now that he has learned to walk, though, his moves have changed a little. We still see some of the butt shake, but now, there is the stomping, as I like to think of it. I first saw this at Grammy and Hoopapa's house, while Jamey was playing with the Pooh tree. He pushes a button which ilicits music, and begins to shift his weight back and forth between his feet.

I have seen him pull this move to the tune of the Yo Gabba Gabba theme song, to the radio, and here, in a video, to Glenn's beatboxing. The video also gives you a look into just how well he is walking now.

Baby's First Haircut

For a few weeks now, Jamey's hair has been getting very out of control. Hair was curling out from his head at every posible angle. The back was turning into a mullet. Under no circumstances would his hair look anything close to combed and managable. It took me a while, but I finally convinced Glenn that his hair was in need of its first cut. Some people were even calling Jamey "she".

We were thinking of having Glenn's cousin Susie cut it, as she had cut Glenn's the first time. She even volunteered to meet us in Toledo when we are out there next week, but looking through out Gau schedule, our group leader has us on the run the entire time, leaving no extra time.

And so, yesterday, we set out to Cartoon Cuts and had a cute little woman named Mina cut his hair. She sat him in the tall chair and strapped him on around the waist. At first, it didn't seem to bother him. And then came the buzzing machine.

Jamey has a phobia of any machine that buzzes loudly. He screams LOUD when we use the food processor. Thus, when the machinery to cut his hair was turned on, his expression turned quickly sour. It only got worse from there, as he screamed at the top of his lungs, folded his body in half to try and get away , and batted his arms at Mina. Even singing German dance songs wouldn't calm him. When she used the scissors alone, he was fine, but he would not have the buzzing!

Alas, his hair looks great now, but even more than that, Jamey truly looks like a little boy now. Yikes!

Deep Fried Oreos, a Wedding, and a Carnival.... WOW!

Although we have many adventures during the week, it is still the weekends that hold the most excitement. I keep saying that summer is flying fast, and this past weekend is a prime example of why that is so-- we just keep going and going.

Saturday, we attended the wedding of friends Edie and Johnathan, who both at Centreville with me. They have been dating for a long time and we were happy to see them finally make it official. We were also happy because it gave Jamey a chance to wear the suit we bought for him about 6 months ago.

After returning a gift or two at some point, we had built up some money at one of the department stores found in most malls. While on trips to the mall, we would often walk through both the women's department to look for clothes for Mommy and the kids' department to find "must-have" outfits for Jamey. It was on one of those adventures that we found this little suit with vest and tie. At the time, he was only 6 months old and we had no reason at that point for a suit. We began wracking our brains for an occasion when we would need this suit. And so my mind landed on Edie and Johnathan. I was pretty sure we would be invited to the wedding. So away it went to his closet.

Which brings us to this past weekend. Jamey got all spiffed up. Glenn matched with vest and tie, and we had to wet down Jamey's "Albert Einstein" hairdo. His hair has gotten to the point that it desperately needs to be cut, so we need to look around for a place to do this. In any case, Jamey was good through the ceremony, saying only an errant word here or there, as we paged through "The Hungry Little Catapillar" in the church. As a secondary way of occupying him, we scrolled through the photos on the camera. Anything electronic is sure to keep his attention.

However, it was the reception where he was the true hit. Everyone admired his suit and after a great meal (of chicken strips for him), he went to hang out in the "Kids' Room" for an hour or two. In a stroke of genius, Edie had hired several of her old student divers to take care of the crowd of kids that were at the wedding. (There was also a pinata for them!) I prayed that Jamey was good for them, but let myself have a good time dancing without thinking of him.

The nice thing about the wedding was that because it was two Centreville teachers, half the people there were from Centreville. Thus, there were lots of friends to talk with and hang out with. And some pretty crazy science teachers to dance with. After the cake was served, Glenn and I went and got Jamey, who had apparently cried a little off and on throughout the time. I think, though, that the reason was because he just wanted to get out and dance.

When we brought him out to the dance floor, although it was already about 9:30 or so, Jamey was happy to shake around. Holding him facing out, he kicked and waved his arms around to the music. All the female teachers gathered around to dance with him and asked to hold him. One might guess that he would sleep well that night, but he was up at 7 AM just like normal. That's our Jamey!

Today we headed over to Frying Pan Park for the 4-H Fair. A lot of new firsts for Jamey. So far, he isn't overly fond of any animal that is bigger than him, with enormous dread for the work horses in the barn. Perhaps it was just the smell that turned him away from the pigs, but there was something. We managed to get him to pet one of the goats onhand before he began whimpering. Among other firsts: sitting in a firetruck, eating a Deep Fried Oreo (not NEARLY as good as the ones Drew made last Thanksgiving), drinking some lemonade, and going on some rides.

Along with the various animals, there were also carnival rides there. Although he couldn't ride anything alone, he sat quietly atop a plaster horse on the carousel. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he sat there. To make the ride more personalized for him, I sang one of the most soothing songs for him-- the Gamsprung-- which is one of the dancing songs for our group. As I began to sang that, he loosened up and began his anthem of "Doo doo doo doo".

Thereafter he went on the "Fun Slide" with Glenn. Jamey has taken a liking to slides. He scared another mom at the park the other day as he turned around and went down the big slide on his belly-- without our help. I looked at her and assured her that he could do it fine on his own. And so, he loved this giant slide and especially riding it with Daddy.

Every day these days, Jamey proves his "boy" genes for us. Although he is still figuring out the walking thing (he has taken 5 steps, but then gets tired of going so slow and goes back to crawling), he is a pro at cruising and most especially climbing. If it is possible to climb on something, be assured that Jamey will try. When he gets tired of eating, he tries to climb out of his high chair. When when we put him in his swing outside, he turns around and stands up to climb on it. The activity table that is next to the couch, is just a stepping stool so he can stand up next to the couch. We are beginning to wonder if he realizes that you aren't supposed to stand up on the big ride-on dog that he has. He never sits down on it. To put it short, he has NO fear. As I said to Glenn today, "I see broken bones in our future."

Show me what you got!

People used to think I was crazy when I said that Jamey could keep rhythm. And yet, I would watch him at dance practice kicking his feet to the beat, while he was only a few months old. There was no denying it.

Now, as he has gotten older, he has continued to keep his musical instincts. He seems to like all music from Pink Floyd to The Ting Tings and of course, the German dance music.

Happy Birthday, Buckaroo!

While I have had parties at our house before, I think today was the true "Coming Out Party" for our place. It was the first time that every room was filled with people, and most especially filled with kids. And it was the first time I got to do my "Super-Mommy" impression by making everything from Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches to potato salad and the famous "Nuts and Bolts" from my childhood.

Yes, that's right folks. It was Jamey's first birthday party! Lucky for us, his birthday was on a Saturday. With 30 adults and 15 kids, it was sure to be a full event. Full it was, and yet very successful. From the enjoyment of the food down to the opening of the oodles of presents, it was great. I never realized how many kids there are among my circle of friends or how many friends Jamey already has: Christopher, Jaeda, Ciara, Calen, Anthony, Isaac, not to mention all the big kids like Max, Jack, Ben, and the Boswells.

At first I was worried. Jamey was playing his clingy game where he didn't want anyone but Mommy or Daddy to hold him. He didn't want to eat much, but he didn't want to play too much with the kids either. In spite of that, he still did okay. I am not sure meeting so many new people at once is his idea of fun.

Opening presents, too, was not at first a hit. Jamey ripped a bit of paper here and there, but was more excited to open and close the cards. So I quickly assigned he and I roles. I would quickly open the card, give it to him, and pull open his gift. Lucky for me, he soon got some interesting thing to occupy him. Thus, rather than having him pull to crawl away, he was happy to sit in my lap and play with his new drum or kiddie laptop. (Yes, I know, isn't he too young for this, but if you were unable to use your laptop when he was in the room, you would want him to have one of his own too.) Needless to say, he got lots of goodies. The nice thing is that I love all the gifts he got. I can honestly say he will enjoy every one of them.

From there, the next big event was the cake, which turned out to be the highlight of the whole party. Jamey had a trial run of this at my parents' place last weekend and really just liked poking at the icing. I wasn't sure how well he would do. Surprisingly, he let us leave his crown on his head, and stared intently as a crowd gathered around his high chair on the back porch. Thankfully cousin Drew came over to blow out the candle, as it was his birthday too. And then, we laid it down, laid the gauntlet down before Jamey and asked, "Do you dare take on this chocolate cake?"

At first, there was a gentle poke at the icing. Oooh, gooey. Then, I decided to lead by example. I dug my fingers into the cake and stuck some in my mouth. For a few minutes, he got more adventurous. And soon, he was raking the icing up in his hands-- not having put any in his mouth. It was a few handfuls later, and a few minutes, when he dipped one finger into his mouth. His eyes perked and he eyed the cake differently. And soon, the raking was just for fun, it was for food. After that, there was no stopping him. Using his diaper as a napkin, he rubbed some all over himself. And when I leaned down to pose for a picture, he realized maybe he should share this bounty. He stuck his hand in my face and I gladly licked a little from his hand. But it was after he posed with Glenn's parents, that he realized he was tired and wiped his eyes... And that completed the chocolate makeup face.

After that cake, many people left and the crowd tapered down to mainly people that Jamey sees on a regular basis. He was happy to share his new toys with them! In the end, I had to leave a crying child in his crib because he was so overtired. He didn't want to be held of fed. He wanted to sleep, but he wouldn't let himself. At least not for 3 minutes.

Charlie, my photographer buddy, was present to take pictures and I am so glad he was there. I will post up the pictures from the party on Snapfish tomorrow and put a link here. If you have Facebook, you can catch them there too. Otherwise, you will have to stick with the few I post here. Enjoy!

One Year Ago....

All day today, I have been looking at the clock and asking Glenn, what were we doing one year ago today. When it was 9 AM, I thought, I was still hanging out at home. When it was 10 AM, I thought, I was calling the doctor to see if the leakage I was having was something to be excited about, and hoping that it was. When it was 11:30, I thought, I was on my way to have a goodbye lunch with Norm before Glenn called to tell me the doctor had returned my call and that we should go in. By noon, we were there and by 1 PM they had told me that, yes, I was having the baby. Most of the day went on with labor after that. Drugs to induce contractions, terrible back pain (but in a really nice room), slowly losing my ability to calmly do crossword puzzles between contractions. On and on it went. Around 5 I gave in and asked for the "drugs." And it was around this time right now, last year, (8:40 as I am writing this), that it was decided that Jamey's head was just too big and we were going to have to do a C-Section. At 9:16, as the old classic "Shake It" played on what I can only assume was 99.5 in the operating room, I felt a push and heard the cry of a little man. A "Little Man" who truly has grown into that nickname by today.

And of course, I don't remember the pain of that labor. And of course, the most important thing to me is the memory of my little boy. But when I look back... when I think back... what are the things that I remember most?

-I remember going to the ER upon arrival and having them ask when my due date was, and the look of shock at my answer. I remember getting on the elevator with a bunch of pregant people and being asked, "Are you going on the hospital tour?" I remember walking to kingdom-come to fill out the registration forms so they could admit me. And I remember the snicker when I asked the nurse, "This is probably a stupid question, but am I having contractions?" Both Glenn and I remember the fantastic service of my labor room nurse, who I only know as Kate. I remember staring and concentrating on the letter "R" on my ID band, as they pushed in the epidural. I remember hearing my doctor come in and talk with the anaesthesiologist as they put it in. And I remember thinking, "HEY, REMEMBER ME? The one you are putting the needle into? Let's focus on me and not chitchat." I remember being unable to find a position that would stop the back pain. I remember laying on a table in the operating room, listening to the nurses get completely pissed that my doctor wasn't there yet. And then I remember my doctor coming in, berating them for paging the wrong doctor. I also remember being paranoid that they had waited so long that I would feel them cut into me. Of course, that was all the drama. It was like everything moved in fast forward until suddenly there appeared a small miracle.

From there, it was a different sort of memory. I do remember that as soon as the baby was out, I became extremely sleepy and dropped off to sleep. (I still think they increased my meds at that point on purpose.) And I remember the moment when I first awoke from that drug-induced stupor. I was laying on my recovery bed. I turned my head to the side and noticed I was alone. Except for one person-- one baby. There, laying in his plastic "wagon" was Jamey with his eyes closed in sleep with his head turned to face me. Looking back, I am glad that there was no one else there. That was our moment. And as much as I would like to explain how it felt, I can't. It isn't something you put into words. It isn't possible to do so. It was pure emotion, and I am sure every mom out there has felt that feeling too.

Looking back on the pictures now, and spending time with friends and family on Jamey's 1st birthday, I again realize how blessed we have been. You just have to look at one picture from the waiting room to see how loved both he and I are. There, sitting and waiting, were not just two sets of grandparents. There, too, was an aunt who is always giving. There are two girls who may as well be my younger sisters, who I thank God every day for having in my life. (Love you, Monica and Marla.) There is a best friend who was there from the very first hour of my being in the hospital. Who came over and sat with me as I went through contractions and made sure I got everything I needed and that Glenn didn't go crazy there with me in the hospital. (Thanks, Jess! Couldn't ask for a better best friend.) And on top of those who were there in that moment, were those that came to visit within days of his birth. We were so loved and visited that my recovery nurse put on my goal list one day, "Don't have so many visitors. Tell them you need to sleep."

As Jamey grows, it is good to know that he has so many different people from so many different places who are going to love him and teach him about life. And it is nice to know that a good number of them will be able to say, I was there when you were born.

Happy Birthday, my Baby Boy.

"Baby, come back."

"Baby, come back. Come back, Baby." So said Katie to Jamey at her goodbye party two weekends ago. Now that Jamey is more mobile and vocal, he is a much better playmate. It was indeed fun to watch the two of them take toys from one another and babble back and forth. In fact, it was hard to tell which one was in control of the other. Who was playing hard to get.

At the party, Katie continuously tried to entice Jamey with her fancy pink straws. He, though, just wanted to use them as drumsticks. As well, Katie was already cleaning up some for Jamey. Each time his sippy cup would fall over, she would quickly walk over and set it upright-- regardless of the fact that it is unspillable.

Perhaps the cutest scene, though, was when Katie was on the first landing of the stairs and Jamey had crawled up to the edge of the top of the staircase. Looking down at her, as she backed into the corner of the wall, Jamey began smacking his lips together, throwing Katie kisses. As Jess and Andy's friend Sean referred to him, Jamey was being a little "player."

And yet, the phrase "Come back" is more appropriate coming from Jamey to Katie, as Jess, Andy, and Katie get ready to move to Wilmington, North Carolina. The three of them came over for a goodbye dinner on Sunday night and once again, it was so fun to watch the two of them interact. Katie sounded like Christopher often does, as she declared all the toys "mine", while Jamey played his usual game of simply taking the toy that he wanted, not understanding "yours" and "mine."

But just before it was time for them to leave, we snapped one shot of the two of them together. It seems to me that it is one of those shots that Jess and I will pull out in 18 years when they are finishing high school, and say "Look how cute you guys were."

And to the Lamken's-- We will certainly miss you, but we will be sure to get the two lovebirds together every now and again. For now, they will each have their first long distance relationship.

When it rains....

....it pours. And by that, I mean that once a baby starts learning tricks, they just start coming faster and faster. In the moment that he masters crawling, he crawls over to the table and pulls up. After learning to use his pincers to pick up food, he now often demands a sippy cup. And now, after learning to explore quite well, he has figured out that those things called stairs can be climbed. On top of that, he is blowing kisses and learning all kinds of new noises from Christopher. In fact, I know he is a boy because he has learned to make a fart noise, that I have attempted to recreate, but cannot!


Video One: Here is a video to show just how much Jamey can get around and even blow a kiss.

And for his next trick, the Great Jamezilla will climb the towering stairs of doom.

All In a Weekend's Work

When I last left you, Jamey was working on mastering his army crawl. I am happy to say, he has it down. He can creep and crawl with the best of them, as Christopher can attest while he attempts to keep his truck away from him. Now if he would just manage to lift his body off the floor as he crawls.

However, in the same hour that he mastered his crawl, he was on to another skill-- pulling himself up. Just after he crawled across the living room to get his drum, he took notice of this big wooden object in the middle of the room, which we refer to as the "coffee table." Our coffee table has a shelf about halfway down. Jamey crept over to the table, lifted himself onto his feet at the first shelf and then reached up to stand all the way up next to the table. My jaw stayed permanently dropped.

Lucky for us, we were able to get this skill on camera today, as he now plays the role of daredevil... attempting to pull up on everything possible, including Mommy and Daddy.

(Since I originally wrote this post, Jamey has also learned to "speak" through a megaphone made of his stacking cups and has also finally figured out how to crawl on all fours, but still prefers army crawl.)

This week, Jamey had a few special visitors from out of town. His cousins Jack and Ben, along with Aunt Lindsay, made the trip up from Raleigh to spend a few days with us.

It is an understatement to say that Jamey loved playing with his cousins and equally an understatement to say they loved hanging out with him. They even took the chance to take care of Jamey for a day, providing Monica with two days off. Taking him on a field trip to the mall, they fought over who would get to push him in the stroller. Seven-year-old Ben even scolded his brother for saying the word "poop" around Jamey's delicate ears, and learned how to use Jamey's diaper pail properly.

But really, it was very cool to see the three of them play together. Jamey wanted nothing more than to sit in the same room with them, and watch them. I can't wait until he can follow them around like a little puppy.

Wednesday, Glenn and I took a day off and we all headed into DC to check out the National Building Museum. It wasn't actually as cool as we had hoped it would be, but we made the best of it. While Glenn took the boys on a scavenger hunt of sorts, Jamey, Lindsay, and I hung out on the steps. After having fun banging a mini can of hair gel on the tiled ground, Jamey then figured out that crawling stairs wasn't all that hard when you have a little help. Wouldn't it be funny if he started to crawl up stairs before he could crawl in general?

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As I finish my blog, I realize that I never relayed the events of Jamey's 9 month appointment. On the 11th of the month, he turned 9 months, and I am happy to say he is finally measuring in at a relatively average weight: 20 lb. 9 oz, which is the 55%. His height is 29 inches, still in the 75%. In true "van Welzen" fashion, his head is still in the 96%. Guess that means he has a big brain.

He is also getting four teeth in and has become quite active with his toys. To demonstrate, I will share a video of him going crazy playing in his Exersaucer.

Easter Weekend

After an eventful Spring Break, Jamey also had a busy Easter weekend. Saturday, we headed up to Hard Bargain farm for the Dance Group's Pasta Party, which was fun as always. Jamey fell asleep on the hay ride, but ate a nice meal complete with spaghetti and apples. He also held onto the trophies that Mommy and Daddy won for their archery skills. He likes to think he had something to do with them both winning prizes.

On Sunday, although Jamey can't eat any candy yet, the Easter Bunny still dropped off a special toy and littered the living room with plastic eggs. Jamey had fun rolling around the room finding them.

And as an Easter treat for all, I just had to share a video of Jamey laughing. Monica always says that Christopher makes him crack up and now, Glenn and I have made a habit of finding things that make him laugh too.

Jamey's Crazy "Beach week"

For the first time in three years, Glenn and I were able to actually both enjoy a Spring Break without accompanying students to a foreign country or hosting students from Europe. And not only was it relaxing for us; it was Jamey's first Spring Break. It had been a while since he had had beach time with Grandma V and Granddad, so we headed down to Emerald Isle for a few days.

Spring Break Adventure, Part 1: A six hour car ride with a baby who doesn't just fall asleep the car is in motion. It used to be so easy. The car moves, the baby sleeps. Now, he looks around, he wants to move around. Luckily, though, he is also great at playing on his own and loves just kicking his musical farm. Getting on the road at 6 AM, the trip actually went faster than I had expected. By around noon, we were there and the weather was beautiful.

And then it wasn't. The second, third, and fourth day we were at the beach, we weren't actually ON the beach. It rained, it was overcast, it was cold and my mom was compelled to continually apologize for Mother Nature. But Glenn, Jamey, and I didn't mind. Being away from home is being away from home. We found other ways to entertain ourselves. Whether it was just rolling around with Granddad or going for a walk with an extra sweater on, we enjoyed the compulsion to not do anything too responsible.

In fact, Jamey even went to the circus for the first time. I'm not talking Cirque de Sole acrobatics. I mean true circus, elephants, camels, and all. No flying trapeze, but I will let that go. Sure, Jamey probably wasn't totally sure exactly what was going on, but he LOVED it. When the acrobats spun from the ropes in the air, he stared with his mouth agape. When the elephants strutted around, he clapped his hands. At one point, there was an acrobat on a pedestal in the middle of the circle. Thinking the spotlight was in his eyes, I put my hand down over his face to shadow his eyes. Apparently, there was no light in his eyes becaused the only reaction I got from him was that he was pulling my hand away, as though to say, "Mom, you're blocking my view."

The highlight of the week was of course the last day. Bright sun, warm weather, and finally the chance to head down to the sand. So we suited Jamey up in his swimsuit and water shirt to see how he likes the feel of the sand in his hands, and not just under his feet. He liked it, for sure. Sure, the water was a little too cold to do much more than drop his feet into for just a second, but the sand was a hit.

Sitting on the edge of the blanket, he first moved his feet back and forth, digging in. Then he realized, I was going to let him put his hands in it. He began to move the piles back and forth. Soon, his wrists were going to work, moving all over the sand. And then it happened. Jamey remembered that he likes to chew on his hands. The rest of the afternoon was spent, attempting to keep handfuls of sand out of Jamey's mouth.

All in all it was a fantastic week. Always nice to show off Jamey to other people. On this beach adventures, a few more subtle firsts: first solid chunks of fruit, first spaghetti, first time seeing an elephant pee (and man, was that loud and violent), and first time playing by himself with books.

And Jamey even got an Easter outfit!

8 Month Update

Congratulations to Jamey! He is now 2/3 of a year old! How fast the time has gone. Just like with every month, so much changes. He is able to stand next to his Jungle Toy without help, he desperately wants to crawl, but for now is just "swimming" along the floor, he babbles all the time, and of course, he has developed his own dance moves.

Because we didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, we can only guesstimate that he is roughly 22 pounds. (Glenn steps on the scale alone and then with Jamey and we take the difference.) We will have to wait for official numbers until next month. Thinking about it now, I suppose we could just sit him on the scale now. He doesn't move that fast... yet.

Perhaps the coolest thing happening right now, is that Jamey has moved onto a "bigger pool". Literally. Yesterday, Jamey started his "Aquatots" class and really loved it. Lucky for us, our neighbors up the street had brought their daughter and are in the same class with us, although their daughter Jada is a year old already. As he always does, Jamey took it all in stride, looking around, floating on his belly and back. In the class, we mainly move around in the pool holding the babies, making motions to songs like "Hokey Pokey" and "The Wheels on the Bus." Plus, we pull them along on their bellies, encouraging them to kick. Although Jamey didn't do any "regulation" kicks, he did dance in the water, meaning his butt moved around. Someday it will turn into a fine

butterfly kick.

(For those of you who aren't aware, for the first time in my life, I am not a blonde. At the moment, I have my hair colored a light brown, so that I can let my hair grow out to its natural color-- a dark blond-- without looking strange.)

And now, a video of the "swimming". We didn't know that we could both get in the water with Jamey so Glenn didn't have his suit on. That just means we got photos to show and the next time, we can enjoy the class together.

Jamey's Moves

After all that Bavarian dancing, Jamey is practicing his dance moves. After countless attempts to capture it on camera, I have finally done it. Enjoy! (Please excuse the crazy chef you hear periodically in the background.)

Ready to Dance

When Jamey "took part" in our Oktoberfests show, he was still in what our doctor calls "the Blob Phase". He was held by whoever and passed around and fell asleep most of the time. He really wasn't that aware of what was happening.

So imagine our excitement when the Fasching (German Mardi Gras) show came along and gave us an opportunity to dress Jamey in his full Lederhosen outfit and take him out with the group. Nowadays, he is much more conscious of the sounds and motion around him. He looks for the sources of noise, and he loves to check out everything going on.

In our show, the first dance that is done is a plattl by just the men. The women stand in a line towards the back of the floor and wait to be picked up for the next dance. There I stood, with Jamey in my arms. His eyes were locked on the men of the group forming a circle. As the music started, their arms started flying and they starting moving around and dancing. Before I knew it, Jamey was hopping up and down in my arms, as if begging to run out and join the men. Throughout the night, as he was held by a number of people while Glenn and I danced, many of them reported the same thing happening while they were holding him. It seems that Jamey is ready to go out and join the group. Of course, it doesn't hurt that he gets to watch Christopher dancing every day. Give them a few years and it will be very fun to watch them plattl.

Jamey has actually been doing this dancing for a while, proving that he has a great rhythm.

On another note, we have been trying out some more foods with Jamey. Today we bought him some Puffs at the grocery store. In the past weeks, he has proven to us that he has veyr good fine motor skills-- holding things between his finger and thumb. He loves to rub the tags on his stuffed animals between his fingers. He proved very good at picking the Puffs up, but has a little trouble placing them in his mouth. But we keep working on it-- practice makes perfect.

Cookies taste better than paper!

Although it has only been a few weeks since I have posted, I am lost in a million thoughts of the things that I want to write about. It seems as though every day, Jamey is more fun to watch. Every motion he makes with his hands evokes a look on his face that is new. Perhaps my favorite thing is when an object is slightly in his way when he is looking around. He then leans his head forward, raises his eyebrows and has a grin on his face as his eyes search for what he is trying to see. This face was the inspiration for my favorite game, in which I hide a little and yell, "Jamey, where am I? Come find me." He searches around and when he finds me, he has a huge grin on his face.

In the past weeks, Jamey has begun to give his digestive system a little more of a challenge. About two weeks ago, Glenn and I decided to demonstrate the statement I had made to my sister that when it snows, no one wants to cook and goes out to eat. While it began to snow, we drove over to Red Lobster. We kept Jamey busy by handing him things he could crumple and make noise with. One of the last, while we hurried to finish our dinners, was Glenn's coaster. It was thick, and of course, Jamey decided to see what it would taste like. This was fine until a bit later when we pulled the coaster away from him and saw a little bite mark. Oops!

A few days later, it happened again. Jamey sat on my lap while I played a computer game. He grabbed at a small pad of paper on the desk, that was shaped like an apple. He liked it, cause he could get at one of the pieces of paper and listen to it crinkle. He managed to rip one apple off the stack. Three minutes passed as my game ended. I looked down and wondered, Where did that piece of paper go that Jamey had in his hand? I panicked, reached into his mouth and felt nothing. I looked all around us on the floor and saw nothing. I thought to myself that maybe it had fallen somewhere that I couldn't see. And then... as he unfurled his fist, a tiny piece of wadded up yellow fell out of his hand. Panic set in again. I got Jamey to open his mouth, and there, wadded up on the roof of his mouth was half of the paper. The other half must have safely found its way down into his belly. Needless to say, we are much more careful now of what he has in his hand.

As a reaction to Jamey's relentless efforts to eat things he shouldn't, we bought him his first box of biter biscuits today. These are made by Gerber, especially for babies who don't really have any teeth. It has no sugar or anything that could be bad for the baby. In putting away the groceries, Jamey got ahold of my book of coupons and I was only too happy to trade the book with him for one of his biscuits. He grasped it with curiosity and within minutes, the biscuit was already started to dissolve in his mouth. After half an hour, that dissolving cookie wasn't just in his mouth.... it was on his hands, down his outfit, on his face, and even a little in his hair. Needless to say, it was a hit.
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With as many baby versions of things that Jamey has, from a PDA to a CD Player to a piano to 2 cell phones, it seems that the most fun is to be had from the real thing. One day, he managed to call an 800 number on my cell phone somehow. Thank goodness it was Saturday and the business was closed. But perhaps the cooler toy is the remote for the TV. It lights up, it makes the numbers on "that box" above the tv blink. Believe it or not, Jamey does seem to understand that when he pushes a button, a little pin of light blinks on the box. I know this because he raises the remote in his hand and turns his head to look at the box. He then stares at it and continues to push buttons. All this, with the television off. And what, might you ask, does Jamey prefer to watch on TV?

Well, last night he directed us to a documentary program about 70's singers Peter, Paul and Mary. But more than that, he has twice attempted to access the Latin American Playboy channel, which we, of course, do not have.

As well as learning how to use his hands, Jamey has developed a keen sense of hearing. Whenever he hears a sound, he peers around to find its source. Sometimes that source is the heater, sometimes it is a person. Perhaps the funniest experience is when Jamey came into contact with the radio. In the morning, I put Jamey on our bed while I change for work. Because the alarm is still on from waking us, NPR is usually blaring through the room from the radio next to our bed. For most of his life, Jamey took no notice. Then, one day, he was sitting there playing with his toys and I noticed him lean forward from the pillow behind him and peer around it to look at the night table. His eyes searched for "the woman who was talking". After a second, he went back to his toys. But every few seconds, I noticed his head shift back toward the radio. Luckily, I caught it on camera at least once. (The blue light you see is the alarm clock)

Jamey's first real snow

Although Jamey and I saw snow back in November when we emerged from CVS Drugstore, yesterday, we experienced our first actual "snow storm." True, it only lasted a few hours. True, the sun came out right afterwards and melted most of it away. True, there was absolutely no snow as close as 7 miles away. But for us, and for James, it was snow nonetheless. Glenn went into the backyard and brought Jamey a little snowball as he played in his exersaucer. It was not a hit, let's just say. Later we went out for a short trip around the neighborhood. Jamey bundled up in the snowsuit that Monica loaned us. Through the entire walk, it seemed that Jamey wasn't really sure what he should be doing or how to react to that white stuff that was all over. In the end, I think he would rather sit in the living room and watch it from inside.

To update, Jamey had his 6 month appointment one week ago today. He did just what he thought he would. He grew up and not out. His height has gone up to 28 inches long, holding at the 90%, but his weight is now in the 75% at 19 lb. .5 oz. And through it all, his head refuses to stop growing. It is still in the 95%. He got a thumbs up on all his developmental steps and even impressed Dr. Eng Tao with the steadiness with which he sits up.

This past week, we also discovered Jamey's first fear. As he sat in his bouncer and Glenn began to run the vacuum, his face wrinkled into the sad face and he let out a scream. Indeed, no matter what room I took him into, he could still hear it and would continue to cry. I laid him on the couch and walked away for five seconds to grab something and when I came back, he looked petrified. That night, he refused to sit alone in his high chair to eat dinner. Instead, he was happy to sit in my lap and eat. We are guessing it was just from being scared, because he has never done that again. No worries, though, he didn't wake up in the middle of the night screaming about vacuums.

Happy Half Birthday!!

Has it really been 6 months already? Well, yes, as of today, it has. People always say that it goes fast, and I wasn't sure I believed, but now I do. It is crazy to believe one person can go from a blob to this tiny person so quickly. I am sure I have said that 1,000 times, but it never seems like enough to me.

I cannot yet report on his weight and height, as his doctor's appointment isn't until Tuesday, but it seems like his tricks come faster and faster.

Now that Jamey can sit up, it is nice to be able to surround him with small grabbable toys, and sit a bit away and watch him. He loves anything that rattles, and indeed, checks every one of his toys to see which ones make noise. He will reach out, grasp something in his little palm, and then start to "work the wrist." When I say work the wrist, I mean that he shakes his toys without using his elbow. Try, if you will, to shake something in your hand, using only your wrist. This is what Jamey does. Today, he had one thing in each hand, shook them individually, and then scraped them against each other to see what sound that would make.

Bath time has also improved greatly for Jamey now that he can sit up. Thanks to Aunt Sue, who sent him a little chair that attaches to the bath tub, for him to sit in. Rather than laying down on a towel, he can sit and splash. On Thursday, he used it a bit as a recliner and just lounged back in his little chair, but today, he could have stayed in there all night. The irony of which toys interest babies is not lost on Jamey. With all the floatie toys he has received to play with in the tub, he finds the most interest in playing with.... the cup that I use to wash his hair. Figures!




(I just had to share this last picture because it really illustrates the point of how babies can eat away your money."

Yes, that is my credit card. I gave it to Jamey today to play with as his newest toy. Don't worry, I had to cut it up anyway, thanks to something called mass compromise. Did you know that if a merchant's credit card information is stolen, they let Visa know and Visa freezes your account and you have to get a whole new credit card? Well, I know that now!)

Check out my skillz

Due to a whirlwind Christmas season, I have been unable to post many of the videos I have taken of Jamey, so now I am playing catchup.  I will post a few here and will then put the link for my youtube site, so you can look at the others at your leisure.  Enjoy!

First off:  Here is a video of Jamey doing what we refer to as "giving five."  He seems to understand that he should be doing something with my hand, but hasn't quite got the grasp of exactly what to do with it.  

Next up: Jamey sure did like hanging out with his cousins, as I mentioned.  He tried to chime in as much as possible by babbling.  He is really getting the hang of this.  He was especially angry one day for his Aunt Lindsay, as she watched her all time favorite football team-- The Dallas Cowboys-- lose terribly.  (PS: No commentary necessary from my Philly friends out there!  :)  ) 

For some reason, this video won't load on my blog, so I have put it on Youtube as well!  It is really cute, so check it out!!!!!

Lastly, Jamey has recently developed the ability to sit on his own.  He is still a little wobbly from side to side, but he is really getting the hang of it.  Check it out!

On Youtube, you can check out the following other videos:

-Ben making funny faces and motions for Jamey while we chilled at the beach

-If you let Jamey ride your knee like a horsey and then suddenly stop, he will keep on bouncing as if to say, "Let's go!"

-Jamey watches Glenn plattl from in his swing and flails around

www.youtube.com/user/DaFrauW

(. h          f                               bhy   rrrrrrr. ns fg        RR)-- this is a message from Jamey for all his readers.  Let me translate.  It says, "Thanks for reading and come see me any time, all of you!")

All he wanted for Christmas...

In August, when my 7 year old nephew Ben first met Jamey, he made the proclamation that Jamey couldn't talk yet because he didn't have any teeth. At the time, we grown-ups, laughed heartily at the comment. Then, on December 26th, while redeeming a gift card at Old Navy, Glenn informed me that he could feel the first of Jamey's teeth popping through. Lo and behold, a few days later, another tooth popped through. Thus, Jamey is now nursing two teeth.

Before the teeth appeared, Jamey was gooing every now and again. And yet, as posted in my previous entry, when we spent time in Emerald Isle, Jamey opened his mouth a little more to talk and show off his teeth. He babbles now quite a bit and lets you know how he is feeling.

On top of that, he is on the verge of sitting up. He can, in fact, balance on his own, but as soon as he reaches for a toy or his foot, he topples over. All in time.....