Week 32 - Give yourself a hand!!!

Week 32- Give yourself a hand!!!

(3/23/08 - 3/29/08)

We celebrated Jacob's first Easter this week. We had Easter dinner with my family the previous weekend, on Palm Sunday, and had dinner with Paul's family on Easter. Since Jake is only 7 months old we didn't get him a basket (for obvious reasons) but he did get two stuffed animals one from his Grandmother and the other from his Great Grandparents. We have been starting to give Jake some finger foods to start learning how to chew, so his godfather gave him some cake donuts to chew on ( I am boycotting the teething biscuits, they are tooooooooooo messy)! We also got a new family picture taken and are still waiting for a nice sunny warm day to take some more pictures of Jake and his "easter outfit"!

The biggest thing that happened this week (as you saw from the video) is that Jacob started clapping. I have always clapped a lot with Jacob since he was a newborn. For the past 2 months if you held your hands out in front of him flat he would slap them with his hands, and if you clapped in front of him he would put his hands on the outside of yours and "clap along". Even though I have been doing this with him for months is was a HUGE SHOCK when 3 days ago I was clapping along with a song on the TV and he started to clap his own hands!!! I know I am a little biased but he is THE MOST ADORABLE little boy in the world when he claps!! It just shows that even if it doesn't look like he is paying attention or trying new things there is always something going on inside that head of his and he is learning and growing every day!!! I can't wait to see what he does next!

Week 31 - Pimp My Ride!

Week 31 - Pimp My Ride!

(3/16/08 - 3/22/08)

First let me say that I am the proud mother of a teething 7 month old!!

A few months ago Paul and I realized that we had a baby on our hands that wasn't going to stay small for long. When the 6-9 month clothing was getting purchased when Jake was only 3 months old that was the final HINT that clothing and other "size" items weren't going to stay in the Corcoran house for long! In one of my previous posts I mentioned that there were items that I received for my baby shower that at the time seemed to be the perfect gifts, and in all honesty they were very very nice gifts and more than did what they were designed to do. So when Paul and I were at Jake's 6 month checkup and saw that he had outgrown his carseat we had to start frantically researching for a new and safe way to drive Jake around.

I researched for a long time and found that one carseat kept coming to the top of almost every website and "reviews postings" that I read. The name is BRITAX. I had never heard of them, you usually hear of Graco and Evenflo the most. The one thing that of course jumped out about the Britax seats were their price, they are NOT cheap. But the good thing about them is that they go up to 65 pounds! Now I can't say how long that is going to last Jake, but it sure as heck is going to last longer than 7 months which was all we got out of his baby carseat.

I ended up going with the Britax Marathon carseat. It was extremely easy to install and can install using a LATCH system where it bypasses the seatbelt and uses two hooks/latches that hook directly into the cars frame under the seat. You get absolutely NO side to side movement (something we had with his baby carseat) and it is very comfortable feeling. But do you know that I love about it the most? It had a velcro fastener on the straps so when you are getting Jake out or putting him in the straps don't get caught underneath of him. HOW GENIUS IS THAT!!!!

The one downfall is that Jake is sitting but still isn't really ready for shopping carts. He can tolerate them for short grocery runs or store outings but can't sit in them for long. Also the one thing Paul and I could bank on is that Jake would always fall asleep in the carseat, now even if he is asleep we have to wake him up and get him out of the seat, when we used to be able to carry him inside and sometimes prolong his naps. I guess that is a transition all parents have to make sooner or later, we just have to do it sooner.

I have posted two new videos at the top of the blog, please check them out.

To those of you who have posted comments on this blog, I am sorry but I have stopped using Haloscan for my commenting system (too many problems) so unfortunately I have lost your comments. I love hearing what you have to say so please please please continue to leave me your comments! Now you just have to click on the "comments" link right below each post instead of having it right there handy for you to start typing! Sorry!

Week 30 - It's all Greek to me!

Week 30 - It's all Greek to me!

(3/9/08 - 3/15/08)

A lot has happened this week. We had Jacobs 6 month checkup/immunization shots. He weathered the shots fine with only a tiny fever the first night. He weighed in at 20.5 pounds which is in the 95th percentile but measured in at 30 inches long which is the 104th percentile....how you get to be over 100% I don't know but I have one heck of a long child!!! Let's hope he has some coordination when he gets older and can use his height to play some basketball!

We have also started having our own unique conversations with Jake. They go a little like this:
Nananana Bababababa *high pitched squeal* Dadadada Nanananana Bababa *spit bubbles* etc....etc.....

It is a lot of fun to hear him talking. Jacob has always been a very vocal little baby, but was never the textbook cooing, goo goo gaa gaa baby. His first nickname was "The Pterodactyl" because he would screech and screech in the highest pitch you have every heard. It was the funniest thing. He then progressed to grunting which was funny too because he couldn't grunt at you unless he would straighten his arms and legs and grunt with his whole body! So now we are at the next stage of "Talking". The cutest thing he does now is he will "cough" to get your attention. He will even play a game with you and "cough" back and forth. Even though all of his "talking" is completely indiscriminate Paul and I still have a lot of fun having our own conversations with him! Although I am sure we have had more than one stranger think we are a little CrAzY when they see two grownups speaking in Baba's and Nana's!

On Friday Jake and I tagged along with Paul on one of his work outings. He had to visit with a client in Old Town Alexandria. Since the weather was supposed to be 67 and sunny we took the opportunity to take Jake on his first "vacation". While Paul was working a few blocks away Jake and I walked around into all of the shops and around the boardwalk near the water. Jake enjoyed seeing the seagulls and the boats. Once Paul was out of his meeting we had a nice lunch at "The Wharf" where we got to sit overlooking the water. On the way home we stopped by an observation area at Reagan National Airport and watched the planes take off. Jake seemed to like this a lot and watched the planes fly over the water and over our heads. It was very loud so I had to cover his ears, but it was a lot of fun. The picture above doesn't really do the planes justice, they are very big and fly right over top of you on there way out of the airport!

Week 29 - Milestones

(3/2/08 - 3/8/08)

Week 29 - Milestones

We hit a new milestone this week (actually we hit two milestones). Well one didn't end well, but it was a milestone none-the-less. If you have read all of my previous posts you know that Paul and I have had a problem with Jacob being on his belly for "tummy time". He has hated it from the beginning (which was partially our own fault) with the new "sleep on your back" routine that they push from the second your child is born (we even had to sign a paper at the hospital stating that we understood that back sleeping is the appropriate SIDS prevention position.) Because of this, we didn't start putting Jake on his belly until he was 4 weeks old to play and by then he wanted nothing to do with it. He would scream bloody murder so we would immediately turn him back over. We have since tried to have Jake on his tummy at least once a day and over the past few weeks he has gotten better, he still (at almost 7 months) can't do a "baby push up" but can now prop himself up on his elbows and stay on his tummy for awhile without crying and occasionally (unintentionally though) will roll over to his back.

So what was his new milestone you ask...........well...... the other night Paul and I were on the floor playing with Jake, Jake was sitting in front of me and trying to get a toy that Paul had placed on the floor in front of him. Jake then preceded to get up onto his knees with his arms locked and stayed in a "crawling" position for about 5 seconds before he face planted and screamed for 5+ minutes (I think his pride was hurt more than anything). What's the big deal???? Well for a baby who has been plagued with tummy time troubles, it was a HUGE milestone and one that Paul and I are extremely happy with. It shows us that no matter what, even if later than other babies he will eventually crawl and do everything else as he continues to grow and get stronger and stronger.

As you can see from the picture, the second milestone that we reached this week is SITTING!!! YEAH!!!! I still can't leave him alone, but he can now sit pretty good on his own. He will still occasionally topple over especially if he "isn't in the mood to sit" but he sat for over 20 minutes the other night without falling over and he did it while playing with toys. He has even figured out how to put a hand down to steady himself.

We went back to My Gym this week, Jake still didn't smile but had more fun with the toys and
the other babies. I am still hopeful that he will crack a smile and I am determined to have my camera with me every week so that I can capture the moment!

Week 28 - Staring is not polite!

(2/24/08 - 3/1/08)

Week 28 - Staring is not polite!

Jake and I finally made it to My Gym for our free trial class. When we got there Jake had just gotten up (effects of falling asleep in the car seat) so he wasn't too "with it". We went in and found a spot on the floor with one other mother. Her daughter was 10 months old and could crawl and stand with support so Jacob was watching this "little human" with great concentration. He looked at me once with this "where are we mommy and who are these little people" look on his face. Within a few minutes the class starting filling up with 5 other kids, one other girl, and 4 other boys. The ages of these babies in Jake's class range from 4 months old to 12 months old. We started class with a "Welcome to My Gym" song and then played "Three Little Monkeys"....you know the one......"three little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head......." Jake really liked that because as you are singing it you bounce him on your legs and you open your legs and let him fall through when the monkey falls off the bed. After about 10 minutes of different songs and "exercises" we got to play on the gym equipment. They have a ball pit, swings, see-saws (for babies), and many many mats, balls, blocks, toys, animals, puppets, etc for you and your baby to play with. All throughout this "play time" the two teachers Mr. Eli and Ms. ??? (sorry can't remember her name) would play with the kids and help the parents on the various equipment. Finally we were at the end where there is "free play" you are supposed to put your son/daughter in the middle of the floor where there are toys and let them "free play" without you. I couldn't do that since Jake can't sit yet, but as soon as he does I will be leaving him for 5 minutes to see how he plays with the other kids.

Overall it was a very very fun experience. Jake didn't crack a smile the whole time, but that is because he stared at all of the kids the ENTIRE time. I know he had fun, because toward the end there was some semblance of a grin lurking behind that drooling mouth of his.

We registered as members and will be going back again this Wednesday for our second class. I will try and get some pictures of him next week playing (hopefully smiling and not staring).

Onto other news, Jake has started liking his jumper and is starting to be able to hold himself up better while playing in it, and is also starting to sit without support. I have the boppy behind him just in case he falls over but he is doing great at sitting. Also I should have put the BOPPY on last weeks "The Good, The Bad, and The UGLY!" post. It is an awesome invention and I have used it since day one with Jake. I have used it to help me feed him, to hold him while he is sleeping, as a tummy time pillow, and now as a pillow to help Jake while he is learning to sit. My niece just had a baby and that is the one item that I purchased for her (even though she didn't register for it) because I knew that she would love it after she had her baby.

I am also creating an album which I will have linked under my profile at the top right of this website soon. You will be able to see pictures of Jake when he was first born since I didn't start this blog until he was 4 months old.