Our First Christmas Together!

Let's see, it's been a while since I last posted. Lots of stuff going on and a few milestones along the way. I hope I don't miss too much. I must do better next year... It might be a little disjointed, but that seems how it always is with the long posts.

The first milestone was minor: JHP climbed stairs on Friday the 19th at SNBNA's house. He'd never really been interested before and just started right up with Stephen right behind him. He climbed the whole way up with some breaks along the way. Here he is with Stephen and Andrew joining him on the landing.

And with his new found skill, John decided that the best way to help load the dishwasher was to climb right up on the door the next day. I'm sure it won't be the last of his climbing...On Sunday, J_Cubed (i.e., Jimmy, Jane and June) came over to exchange gifts. June was really excited to have Baby Peanut open his gifts, a cute Leap Frog guitar and some MegaBlocks. Daddy got a helicopter and Mommy got a much needed gift card for some massages! There was a cute moment when John H. seemed like he wanted to hug June. Unfortunately, June just can't hold the chunk of boy. Afterwards, they played together looking in the mirror.We drove to Corpus on Tuesday to see Nana and Papa Jim. That night JHP decided he'd take a few steps while holding my hands. He hadn't done this before, really. Most of the time, he just sinks to the ground, content to crawl. But he took several steps across the kitchen that night. On Wednesday, he wowed us with his ability to shake his head yes and no when asking a question. Sometimes, it seems that he's actually telling you what he wants and then sometimes, I think it's just something to do. And he also did this cute little head sway from the chin. It's kinda hard to describe... He does seem to be trying to communicate more using hand signals. We think when he hits his mouth with his fist that he's trying to ask for either water or food. He will make the sign for milk on occasion, but not very consistently. We need to work some more on these things. More frequently now, he is opening and closing his hand as if to wave goodbye.

JHP slept well on the trip and travelled well, too. I'm very thankful that the trip did not create large sleep interruptions. I've read horror stories... While on the trip, John got to meet a couple of my cousins on my mother's side and all of Papa Jim's kids and their families. We took another 3 Johns picture (John Otto, John Nolan, and John Harrison). JHP got along fine with the dog and cat at my Mom's house, although JHP kept putting his hand in the dog's face and the dog did NOT appreciate it. We went to Candlelight service at the church on Christmas Eve. John went to the nursery for most of it, but I got him out for the end with the candlelight. He really liked it!

Christmas morning was kind of subdued. It was not lost on me that this might be the last one like this for a long time. JHP was not really into it because there were so many other things to see and places to go. But he did seem pretty interested in this cute little wooden train that Nana and Papa Jim got him.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxed and we kept John on his schedule for the most part. On Friday I took this picture where he was hamming it up. There are others in this series.We left for home on Saturday and brought Nana with us. John N went back to work on Monday and the rest of us have just been relaxing and enjoying the time together. Mom's helped me out a lot by staying home with JHP during his naps so I can run errands. And we've gotten out and done some shopping, too. We started feeding JHP bits off our plates when we were out at lunch and to our surprise, he really didn't turn anything down. It seems that even though he may make a face, you can't use that as the judge as to whether or not he liked it. He grimaces every time you put something firm in his mouth, but he'll work on it and hold his mouth open for more if you offer it. Last night we tried baked chicken, rice and zucchini. And he's getting pretty good at getting things into his mouth on his own, if it's big enough to grasp and not too slippery. Yesterday I introduced some freeze-dried cubes of banana and strawberry. He ate them right up along with the yogurt melts, star puffs, and cheerios.

I'd been thinking it was time to get the long hair trimmed up over his ears. His hair is growing in nicely (lots of little baby growth on the scalp), but the long ones over the ears just looked bad. So, this morning John H got his first trim. Nana did the honors. John wasn't so sure about it!

Bath time is still high on the list of enjoyable activities for John, along with strolling in the neighborhood and playing peekaboo with Dad. I'd been wanting some pictures of him wet enough to clump those eyelashes together and finally, this week I got some. Check the WebAlbums for more.

It's been a while since I posted, so you can imagine the photo backlog I had. I've uploaded them to WebAlbums today. I couldn't include all the good pictures here. So go grab a glass of tea, sit back, and enjoy the slide shows.

-EBP-