Six Month Update!

Jesse turned 6 months old on Monday, June 14! Six months of the sweetest gift I've experienced on this earth. I love my Jesse SO much! I'm so blessed.

Since the last time I wrote, we've had a lot going on.

"Auntie L"

Laura came to visit. I'm so hoping Jesse calls her Lala. :) She's so sweet to come visit. I LOVE family visitors. I love visitors of any kind. If you read this, consider it an invitation. :) But Laura is so good to come down. She's been here twice since Jesse has been born. On the list of visitors: she's our number 1. Everyone else should take notes from her. (Any family members feeling the pressure I'm putting out there? I'm ok with that.)

We had a great time! She watched Jesse, and Scott and I went to community group without Jesse for the first time since he's been born. We went to IKEA, which is always fun! We ate a Clay's, where you can pet horses and donkeys. I loved it! We went swimming, and of course ate at Lupe's. Yum!!

At the Beachclub, ready for a swim

Jesse loving his Auntie L

Jesse and Daddy hanging out in IKEA

We decided to let Jesse practice driving in the parking lot

Some of Jesse's New Tricks

Jesse is learning some new things! :) We love every little thing.

Jesse can put his feet in his mouth. :) I love that! I was waiting to get to see this. :)

Yummy feet - and good stretching

He now raises his arms and arches his back when we're taking him out of the carseat. What a good helper!!!

When Jesse gets excited about seeing something he wants, he'll kicks his legs (surprised?) and grunt. Things he may do this for: my hairbrush, his jumparoo, food, Barry, Daddy...

Jesse doesn't need to be swaddled. I know that lots of babies aren't swaddled for long, but my little man liked it and slept wonderfully when swaddled. Now, if we try to swaddle him, he'll work to get his hands out quickly. We're still working on how he goes to bed best. It's just a transition time. :) With his arms out, Jesse's free to play! We took his bumper out, because he'd get all wrapped up in it. He loved it, but it was a sleep distraction. So it's gone. He also loves to try to play with his Pistol Pete mobile. I'm gonna be sad when that has to go... I guess the days are gone when I could swaddle my Jesse and just lay him down awake. That's just a challenge to get unswaddled then PLAY! :) Silly, sweet boy!

FOOD!

This new thing deserves it's own bold title. :) I've been excited to introduce solids, but I had decided to wait until 6 months.

If I haven't mentioned this before, I don't pretend that I know what's best for every baby, family, and mother. I'm certainly no expert on baby-raising, but I'm the best expert there is for Jesse. :) I know lots of babies get food before 6 months, and maybe I'll do things differently if we get to have another baby.

Anyhow, we made it until about 10 days until his 6th month birthday before we introduced food. (I had GREAT reasons for starting sooner. If you care to know, feel free to ask.) :) We started with rice cereal. I was prepared for anything. I know that it takes some babies a while to figure out how to use their tongues to swallow and to know what to do with food. I also know that some babies don't like rice cereal, so that was another thing I was prepared for. On the first feeding (Friday evening), Jesse did pretty good. He probably didn't ingest much, but he didn't get upset. He did some gentle blowing out once it got in his mouth. By his third effort, Jesse was eating like a pro!

First try at food

Jesse's had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, apples, peaches, and carrots. He's a good boy about eating, and he loves his food. :) If he's tired, he's not real interested, but that's ok. He's getting to be quite the mess, though. He gets food all over his hands by touching the spoon and his mouth, then he'll rub his eyes or his hair.

Up close look

In the hair!

In the eyes!

Sitting...almost

We're bound and determined to learn to sit! I know not to worry too much about milestones, because I am convinced that ONE DAY Jesse will sit. I'm not at all worried that I'll have a 5 year old who can't sit up by himself. I also know that a lot of 6 month old babies are sitting. So we're working on it. Just a medical disclaimer: Jesse's fabulous pediatrician said it may take Jesse a little longer to learn to sit because he's so tall and thin. (He's 90-95% for height and 10% for weight.) That makes sense to me. :) We're still gonna work on it. Here's a couple shots I've gotten with my phone. :)

Look at me sitting!

AND down we go...

Swimming and Sophie Georgie

A Little Swimmer

It's been swimming weather for a quite a while down here in Katy, but we hadn't gone to the pool until this past weekend. I wanted to go as a family for Jesse's first trip. Scott worked like crazy trimming trees on Saturday, so he was definitely ready to go to the pool. (I'm convinced he loves climbing up high and pruning. He's found aother passion.)

Anyhow, I was a little nervous about Jesse's super-duper pale skin, so we lathered him up with sunscreen. We also didn't have any baby floaties or little swimmer diapers. We decided to just go for a little bit.



Scott and I were way more excited than Jesse. He was a cool customer. He just acted like business as usual. :) The little guy kicked like crazy - as usual. He's an expert kicker! :) I just love doing 'firsts' with Jesse!





After swimming, Jesse got to dry off a little with Mom and Dad.





Sophie-Georgie

I first learned about Sophie from Amanda and Caroline. Our precious Caroline loved her Sophie! When I googled her, I learned that she is quite the popular teething toy. I have been on the hunt for a good teething toy, because Jesse is not only an expert kicker, he's also an expert biter. His object of choice: fingers!!! My fingers aren't always clean, so I'd love for him to have a toy he loves. I tried some typical teething toys. Jesse was ok with them, but he would quickly lose interest. So I ordered a Sophie! (The cheapest place I found her was Amazon.) I couldn't wait for her to come in the mail!

Leading up to Sophie's arrival, we spent some time in the sun. Jesse tried to sooth his biting urge on Barry:




His book: He devours literature.



The toy on his excercaucer:



Then, the day Sohpie arrived, I decided to try letting Jesse chew on his toothbrush. When I hold him while brushing my teeth, he grabs my toothbrush and puts it in his mouth. He actually enjoyed his toothbrush.





Then Sophie Came!!! He actually loved her!!! We were so excited to find a toy that's easy for him to manipulate - he can hold onto her very easily. He likes chewing on her ears, head, neck, and feet. She's great!



We're just considering renaming Sophie to Georgie...it's more manly. :) We'll see if it can stick. Maybe Sophie-Georgie will be a good compromise.

The Unruhs Visit and Mother's Day

The last several days have been great around the Blakemore household. The Unruh Family of Singapore came to spend the weekend with us. I love being with my cousin Gillian, her husband Jamey, their precious 2 1/2 year old Violet, and sweet, laid-back, 8 month old Marek. This was my first time to get to be around Marek. Violet is a ton of fun, and it was a special treat for Scott and me to see all the amazing things Jesse will be doing in the coming months. :) How fun to leave Marek SITTING up by himself in one room then to have him come follow you into the next with a big smile on his face! :)

For now, Jesse's pretty much staying where you leave him. He does this break dance move where he kinda spins in a very slow circle - his head staying put, but his legs working him around. What a sharp little guy! :)

Barry loved playing with Violet. How fun to have a two year old prancing around - wearing Scott's shoes, an empty hanging pot on her head, singing, and 'cuddling'. She allowed us to enjoy the neighborhood park. Jesse's been able to walk there with us, but we usually just went to let Barry run around. When we saw Marek swing, we decided to let Jesse have a try. He was great!

Mother's Day was so much fun! Scott was very sweet to spoil me and make me feel very special. I loved spending the day with Gilly and the kids too. Scott was very patient to be my photographer. :) I love the pictures he took of my PRECIOUS Jesse. Thank you Scott! You're the best!

The Unruh Fam

Marek and Jesse playing in and around the excersaucer



Barry had fun with all of the Unruhs



Gilly lovin' on the boys



Look at those sweet kiddos enjoying one another



Look at V!



Violet and Barry checkin' it all out



Those shoes work great outside



And these are perfect inside



Can I come play with you?



Three precious little ones


Mother's Day

Jesse's swinging!



Yay!



Fun boy



I love when he opens his mouth up wide!



Good job taking pics, Dad!



I love this little boy!



My first Mother's Day with my Jesse
(I just love when our Magnolia tree has flowers!)

Frills and Feathers

Well, the last two days have been fun and eventful. Today will be even better. My cousin Gillian and her family are coming to visit us from Singapore. They're coming for lots of reasons, but we get to keep them at our house for the weekend. I'm so excited! I haven't even met her precious Marek yet. :)

You'd think I'd spent the last two days preparing my home for their arrival. I did a little cleaning, but I'll have to work more on that today. Here's what I did instead:

Monday I decided to 'frill' up Jesse's burp cloths. 'Church it up,' as Adam or Joshua would say. I think it's a practical idea, so when we're around our other baby friends, they don't accidentally use Jesse's super slobbery burp cloths. Here's how I made them a little more 'Jesse'.

I thought I'd just get iron-on embroidered letters to begin with. So I got some at Hobby Lobby to try. I also thought it'd be fun to try dying them - since they're all just plain white. I got ribbon to put on some. Then I got out all the scraps I had left over from the quilt I made for Jesse - with some major help from my aunt Ginger. :) I'm gonna have lots of fun with this! I loved using my sewing machine (Thanks Mom!), and I was so proud of myself. I switched thred colors, thredded the needle a few times, had to re-fill a bobbin. What a fun feeling of accomplishment! :) They'll get better...I'LL get better. And now, no Mama will have to worry that her little drooler will pit up my big drooler's soggy burp cloths. :)

Tuesday was a fun day. I was just sitting down to work on something, when I noticed how much racket some birds were making in the front yard. It was an extra loud morning. It sounded to me as if there were some birds fighting or something. So, I thought I'd enlist the help of my trusty dog, Barry, to scare them off. I didn't want to encourage fighting, and I could imagine some little bird getting picked on. So, I go to the door, open it up... Instantly, Barry goes out, and a bird come scurring IN! I'm definitely a 'flight' girl when it somes to 'fight or flight', so I slammed the door and ran screaming away. I quickly decided I should let my dog back in and take him to his crate so he would chase this bird all over the house. I shut doors to rooms so he wouldn't go into Jesse's room where he was napping or any other bedrooms. When I dared to go near the dining room, where I thought he'd be, this is what I saw.

I am aware that this is a very bad picture. But I was terrified to get any closer! He was under our china cabinet - probably in about as much shock as me. I called and called Scott - I needed someone to know the terror I was experiencing. I texted back that he was in a training, and I proceeded to send him many texts letting him know what was going on and just how worked up I was. I got a broom, clothes hamper, and a couple shoe boxes. But I was just pretty unnerved at the idea of getting close to this thing. Scott called and suggested I do what I could to trap the bird under the china cabinet.

Here's how that went: a shelf from the garage, part of a cardboard box, shoe boxes, and a chair were put into place.

I tried sticking the broom under the china cabinet to encourage the bird into a shoebox, but this just really made me nervous. I got up enough nerve to go see if a neighbor would come help. It took a lot for me to leave the house, because while I was hysterical inside the house, there was a Mama bird going hysterical ouside my house. She was flying back and forth, back and forth in front of the door, squawking. I think the bird in my house was a baby bird that couldn't fly yet. So, I braved getting dive-bombed to ask a neighbor for help. No one answered the door, however the brave squirrels on her front porch upset me by not scurrying off as quickly as they could. Nature was being a bit too brave for me this Tuesday.

I tried to get up the nerve to take care of business myself. I decided to call our Youth Pastor, Damon. I explained the situation, and he said he'd come right over. What a selfless guy! He was very understanding, since his wife Amber is also terrified of birds. Alfred Hitchcock reallly ruined it for a lot of folks. Damon showed up with gloves in hand, reached under the cabinet, and came up with the little fella.

THANK YOU DAMON!!!!! :) You saved the day!!! :)

I'm looking forward to days with more frills and fewer feathers. Maybe the next time an unwelcome creature comes in the house, I'll be able to tap into my Blakemore in-law courage and take care of business - protect the household. My sister-in-law has taken care of a tarantula in her house, 3 snakes in and around her house, and my mother-in-law protected her family once by bagging a snake in her house, too.

Lord, please don't let a snake come in my house to test my bravery. Amen!

Trial 2: Video and Picture Posting

Ok, so I included a YouTube link in the last blog, but I think you'll have to have a YouTube account in order to be able to view it. Let's see if I can't figure this out so anyone can see what a Giggly Baby I have some of the time. Be warned that this Mama is a little loud on the video...I'll figure it out with more practice. :)

Scott and I also got Jesse's jumparoo put together this past week. I wasn't sure how great Jesse would be at jumping. He's a great kicker, which could make for a good jumper. But he's not quite a sitter-upper, and the excersaucer is still a little too tough for him. Jesse has proven to be a master jumparoo-er. :)

Here he is showing Daddy how it's done. We have a couple up close and personal shots of the exciting jumparoo. There's so much going on, I'm sure Jesse will get tired of jumping long before he gets bored.

Starting Something New

Well, I enjoy taking pictures and videos of Jesse as well as telling stories about him. My mom also likes passing these things along to others. Unfortunately, that means folks have to try to follow Facebooks, YouTube, Picassa, and emails. Let's see if I can just try to consolidate some of these things into one location: a blog! :) I'm excited to try. That way, anyone who wants to keep up is welcome to check it out, and anyone who doesn't care to be bothered, doesn't have to. :) And Jesse's napping for now, so I'll get started. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch_private?v=zNx5BerEu5U&sharing_token=2ZDOCN2dEyYi0X-fF6ng-g