is it bad if...

Is it bad if your child reaches for the dog before he reaches for you?

Even when you tempt him with food...he is not distracted. Connor even makes him stop crying when he is really upset. It's too funny.

decisions...

It has been so fun to watch CJ start to have opinions and make decisions. I first noticed it when he was playing in his jumper. He was trying to grab the yellow ring. If you notice in the picture the yellow ring is between the blue one and the duck picture circle. He would get so frustrated when he would grab the duckie disk or the blue ring. He would throw it back down and fuss, but he would try again to get the yellow ring. It was so cute to see his determination and his ability to make a decision and follow through with it. I love this new stage...

first girlfriend...

CJ has his first girlfriend. :) Sam, the girlfriend, has a little boy, and she missed him so much she offered to babysit for us just so she could get her baby-fix. She didn't count on falling in love. The first two weekends we asked Sam to come over so we could go to the movies. But, the last two weekends Sam has called to see if she could come see CJ. We love it and so does CJ.

drooley droolerson...

It is a good thing CJ has so many clothes. Today alone we went through 5 outfits. One fell victim to spit up, but the other 4 were all drool casualties...

cj's first national park...

This weekend CJ got to visit his first, of what will be many, national parks. The Saguaro National Park is only about 45 minutes from our house, and we took advantage of it this weekend. We had a great time looking at the cactus forest and goofing off together.

The cacti were amazing. When you look at it in this picture, you think...that's not all that impressive. It is just a cactus...

Then, when you look at it in comparison to my handsome men, you realize how truly huge they are.

The creative nature of God always hits me when I am in the desert. Even though it is barren and not that pretty in comparison to other eco-systems, the vast array of desert life is amazing. We saw snake holes (luckily it was cold and they stayed inside them), lizards and too many varieties of cacti to remember. The care that the Creator took is striking.

We had great time together, and I am always thankful for the time we get to spend together.

teething...

It's official...CJ is teething. He is constantly drooling and everything goes straight into his mouth. This morning his favorite teething toy was daddy's fingers.

fun weekend...

We had a great weekend! On Friday night we just hung around the house and did lots of playing. Scott was really busy this week writing a long paper and studying for a test, so CJ got lots of dad-time this weekend. On Friday, I tried this onsie on CJ and it finally fits! It was fun for Scott to come home and see CJ in it. We had a lot of fun remembering when we bought it. Every few months in Japan there was a bazar, and for three years, we wanted to buy this for "our baby." Since it took so long to get pregnant, at the last bazar we bought a pink and blue "Made in Japan" onsie because we still didn't know if we were having a girl or a boy, so we got both just to be safe. :)

On Saturday morning we got up and did lots more playing. Scott was going to do CJ-duty, all Friday night to give me some much needed rest, but that was over by 12:30 am. But, he was wonderful and got up with CJ at 5:30, and let me sleep in until 8:00. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! When I got up I found my boys (and Connor) playing in the exersaucer. CJ loves his new toy. He bounces and bounces and loves exploring all the toys.

After lots of exersaucer playing, Scott made me breakfast while I fed CJ. Then, that afternoon, CJ got a special tummy treat too. We have been going back and forth about when to start solids, and finally decided to start feeding him rice cereal. I wouldn't necessarily call it a "solid," but it is definitely more solid than breast milk. Daddy did the feeding, and mom hovered with the camera. :) He was very interested in what was going on and why we were so excited about this goop going into his mouth.

The first bite. (Note how clean his mouth is at this point.)

Not 100% sure if he likes it or not...

Then he decided he really liked it...

But he wanted to help...

It looks like most of it ended up on his face and bib, but he really did eat a lot of it.

After a great Saturday afternoon, Scott and I were able to go on a date Saturday night. One of the girls in Scott's class really misses her little boy, and loves to spend time with CJ. Sam came over to spoil CJ, and we made chicken fajitas for the three of us. Then Scott and I went to see "The Men Who Stare at Goats." It was really funny...strange ending...but funny. We came home to a happy little boy and a very happy Sam.

Scott let me sleep in again on Sunday morning. We planned on going to church, but decided that me getting enough sleep to make it through this upcoming week was more important. When we I got up, CJ had a case of bed-head and was wearing his dad's hat...SO cute.

CJ also got to check out dad's computer. He is going to be a Mac geek like us when he gets bigger. Anybody know where we can get a baby MacBook?

CJ also got to play with Connor...his favorite toy. :) We are working on gentle touches, but I think if CJ could fit Connor into his mouth, he would. He loves watching her and was so excited when he finally was able to touch her. They are going to be great friends.

And we finally got a shot of CJ doing his favorite thing...looking at himself in the mirror. He just talks to himself and laughs. And if you let him get close enough, he gives himself wet, sloppy kisses.

We spent the rest of Sunday doing regular stuff. Scott took a good nap on the couch, I went to the grocery store, CJ ate some more rice cereal and we all had dinner together. We ended the weekend with a long walk and now we are off to bed...

five months...

Every month I think, "I can't believe I have a (fill in the blank with a number) month old!" This month is no different. CJ is getting bigger every day, and I love it and hate it all at the same time.

Looking back, the beginning of the month was pretty crummy for the little man. He had to ride in a car seat 1500 miles from Tennessee to Arizona with me, my mom and Connor. The first two days he did better than I could ever expect. (I think that is because he was in Texas those days). The third day was a little rough. (I think because we left Texas). The fourth day was pretty bad. And the fifth day, he screamed the entire time he wasn't sleeping. :( He was telling us how displeased he was with his unchanging surroundings. Originally, we planned for my mom to come back in December to drive back with us, but we quickly realized once he is almost seven months old, he would be miserable on that drive. We already bought me a plane ticket back, and Scott's awesome brother Bud is going to drive my car back with Scott. We are so blessed to have a family that is willing to do anything for us.

Anyway, back to CJ. Once we got to Arizona, he had another first. This boy doesn't do anything half way. He didn't get a cold or a runny nose. No, no. He got the swine flu. It was so sad to see him hurt and not be able to do anything about it. And to make it worse, Scott and I had it also, so our ability to take care of him was less than 100%. We had our first trip to the ER with a fever of 101.5. He was such a sweet sick baby. The nurse in the ER said he was her favorite baby of the week, and she bragged about how good he was when she took his temperature and did the nose swab on him. Again our family came through for us, and my dad came and nursed us all back to health. Thanks daddy!!!

Once we got over all the beginning of the month trauma, CJ ended the note on a high note. When he gets up in the morning, he talks so sweet to his mommy. I love laying there with him...until he gets hungry. :) But for some reason, after his initial morning cooing, the rest of the day he shreaks. It is like he figured out that noise comes out of him, and he likes it. He is so proud of himself. He also started standing up with help. At his four month check up, this was the only milestone he didn't meet. I was convinced he knew if he put his feet down, we would eventually stop carrying him around everywhere. Finally, he did it, and he loves standing. And, yes, he still gets carried a lot. He also started belly laughing for the first time. I love his little giggle.

My favorite thing this month is how much CJ pays attention to Connor. The feeling isn't mutual yet, but I am sure it will be some day. One morning CJ was in his bouncy chair while I was eating breakfast. Connor was between us, hoping for a stray crumb. He was looking at her, talking sweet and trying to get her to pay attention to him. When she wouldn't, he started kicking his foot (another way he gets our attention), and when she still didn't turn around and pay attention to him, he got M-A-D. Turn red, screaming mad. It was so funny. He just looks at her, and you can tell he is so interested in everything she does. We have already started "nice touches" with the dog, and Connor likes that. Can't you tell he just thinks she is great?

trunk or treat...

Halloween night, we went to trunk-or-treat at the church we are going to in Arizona. CJ didn't need lots of candy, and we wanted to do something special for his first Halloween, so this was the perfect thing for us. The weather was wonderful; there was just a little nip in the air, so it felt like fall, but it was still nice for the little man to be out in. We wandered around, and lots of people oohed and ahhed over how cute CJ was. And can you blame them? We didn't get any candy, but we had lots of fun...

"Mommy, is all this candy for me?"

"Mommy wouldn't let me have candy, so I had to settle for dad's thumb." :(

"This is the best ride here!"

"I think this is the best decorated car. I like the lights on the ghosts."

"I wonder what a scarecrow tastes like..."

the cutes punkin at the punkin patch...

This week Scott, CJ and I were finally able to head to the punkin patch. We have called CJ punkin since he was born (even though Scott has recently started calling him booger), so he couldn't have a better Halloween costume. We took lots of pictures and picked out a pumpkin to take home. CJ has loved sitting and looking at the big orange pumpkin this week.

even better than candy or expensive toys...

The other day CJ was on the couch and he got a little fussy. I let him stand up and he instantly got quite. He is still working on his depth perception, and I saw him trying to grab at something. It look me a minute, but I realized he was looking at the remote at the other end of the sofa, trying to grab at it. I gave it to him and he smiled SO BIG. He was entertained for a long time by it. He turned it around in his hands and had lots of fun mashing buttons. More like daddy every day!

halloween clothes...lots of them...

CJ is never at a loss for clothes, and he had soooo many cute Halloween clothes this year. I loved dressing him the past two weeks, because I think he looked so cute.

The cutest little punkin that ever was...

Candy corn sockies make me want to eat my feet even more than usual.

Peek-a-boo...I see you...

I'm so scary...check out daddy's face!

I want CANDY!!!

BOO!!! Did I scare you?