Tuesday's thoughts

As I sat in the Doctors office today listening to John tell the doctor Jay's routines and accomplishments for his 6 month checkup I realized that John really is the stay-at-home dad and knows what is going on. I just was there to ask questions and analyze the information. He is 17 lbs (42%), 27 1/2 inches (80%), and head circumference 17 1/2 (75%). He is a "solid" guy with good muscles according to the doctor. After getting 4 shots (and some Tylenol) Jay is surprisingly chipper tonight!

Right before that we got his pictures taken and John did all the hard work trying to make him smile, I just kind of watched and caught him when he fell over (except the one time that I didn't catch him and he fell over:()

John gave me an awesome Christmas present this year. I had no idea he was getting it and secured funding from the parents and made the rest himself to buy it. It was a huge surprise and shock when he handed a (wrapped) new laptop to me in front of my family (who was all in on the secret of course). When I think that he got up at 4am on Black Friday to get it at a good price it makes me even more proud. Now I feel kind of guilty because I wasn't willing to spend the money to get what he really wanted. I got him a gift card that he could combine with another gift card I knew he was getting so he could buy it himself. Yep, I'm that cheap:(

Other things we enjoyed about Iowa last week were my brother's Christmas present, the game "Ticket to Ride". John won both times he played, so now he likes the game:) My nephew got Silly Putty. Who knew it would be so much fun. Here Caleb is modeling what we can do with Silly Putty...12 fingers:)
And we enjoyed the SNOW. We didn't really play in it, but it was fun to look at compared to Colorado's dead grass.
In the early morning before we left on Monday, Jay was super crabby and kept squirming his body around in discomfort. Finally at 5am after I was going nuts not getting much sleep my mom took him for a while and I went back to sleep. Eventually after some more Tylenol and a big poop he seemed much better. This also meant he slept most of the 10 hour drive back to Colorado. Here he is after waking up from one of his naps.

Jay's First Christmas

We have had a lot of fun with Jay this holiday season. He enjoyed a White Christmas in with family in Iowa. He hung out at church with us during the Christmas eve service and fell alseep during the sermon. Then afterwords he was wide awake to open presents.
Jay enjoyed looking out the window while it was snowing.

He was pretty excited about this present that makes noise.

He loved hanging out with Grandma,

Grandpa,
and cousins
Jay was sick the first day (you can see the red cheeks), but now he is doing better.
I love this one!

Christmas Photo

We tried 3 different times to get a good photo of Jay for our Christmas card. Here are some cute ones that we rejected.




I am so thankful for the crease in the couch where we can set Jay and make it look like he is sitting up. I wonder what we do for his 6 month pictures (in a few weeks) if he is not sitting up unsupported yet. Anybody know?
Happy Holidays.

Jay's favorite books are....

Any book that he can eat. These are the books I read to him anyway, but I usually only get a few pages in before he prys them from my hands to chew on them.

I have a few "soft" books, but he prefers the ones that are not meant to be chewed on:)

Just look at the concentration on his face:)

I look foreword to to the day when he will actually enjoy reading books with me.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, we don't have a blizzard like my friends and family in Iowa, but we do have our Christmas tree up, and Jay did some Christmas-y stuff.
First he helped put up the Christmas lights:

Then we dressed him in his Christmas PJ's. After I took a shower one morning I found him in bed like this. I think he was busy pooing.
He LOVES the Christmas tree, and I'm glad he can't crawl yet because every time we get near it he has this whole body reflex that is attracted to the tree:

He has been getting a lot more mobile with his rolling. A few days ago I left him in the middle of the living room floor for a minute while I went to the bathroom. When I returned he had rolled over 4 times and was attempting to eat a DVD. Time to move EVERYTHING off the floor:)
Grandma and Grandpa S. came over this week. We tried tried to share some Christmas cheer:
Today we dressed him up like an elf (or that's what I call it) for Choir practice at church and caroling. Everyone thought he was adorable. When we got home and took a picture he was pretty sick of it all:)

Here is a video of Grandpa S. playing with Jay. Notice the high pitched noise...Jay does it a lot!

laughing with grandpa s from angie shaler on Vimeo.

Hangin out

These pictures are just too adorable not to post. He is wearing overalls and shoes:)



What else is going on over here? We are working on sleeping issues. I have put him in bed sleepy (but not sleeping) for the past 3 nights. I would consider it a success, because he has cried for less than 5 min (and mostly just whimpered himself to sleep). On another note: Jay is rolling over a lot. In the middle of the night. Then he gets stuck because he is in his wrap (so he doesn't fling his arms and wake himself up). Then he cries and needs to be held (not just flipped over). This happened about 5 times last night. So I am torn...do I help him learn to sleep on his stomach or not wrap him for a night to see how he does? All I know is that I am going to bed early tonight:)

Stay-at-home Dad

My husband has been the stay-at-home dad for a little over a month now. He is awesome and I am so glad that He loves kids (especially our adorable one) and that Jay is not at a day-care center.
He has made more than one trip to the library to return books, he is a pro at browning the hamburger for supper, and the windows and floors are now clean!

It becomes apparent that he is a stay-at-home dad when:
-at 10:30 at night I hear the shower start. When I ask him why he is taking a shower at 10:30 at night he responds with: "I haven't taken a shower in 2 days, I thought it would be a good idea". That sounds like my first few weeks with with baby:)
-The first DVD he pops in the DVD player in the morning isn't "The Big Bang Theory" or "How I Met your Mother" it is "God made Me" or "Baby Beethoven"
-While at a family gathering over Thanksgiving, my cousins and aunts and I were talking about breastfeeding, colic, teething, and baby poop when I realized that John was the only guy in the room and was joining right in the conversation. Afterwords I heard that the discussion in the other room was about video games. Ironic.
-He talks to the TV. I think it is something about hanging out with a baby all day that makes an adult want adult interaction.
-While taking care of Jay on Saturday a few weeks ago, Jay and I let John sleep in. When John did get up and smiled at Jay, Jay let out a little giggle because he was happy to see Daddy!

Although I am jealous once in a while, I really am happy to be at work. I love Jay like crazy and can't wait to see him smile at me when I get home...but I know I am where I am supposed to be. Thank you to my AWESOME husband.