Rollin, Rollin, Rollin - Baby J update

(Above title sung to the melody from Rawhide).

Baby J rolled over last night on his own and now that is all he wants to do! He has been trying and trying to roll over for a little while now. Sometimes, when he starts this, I have been known to get down on the floor and show him how to roll over - I really feel that my instruction has been instrumental in helping Baby J reach this developmental milestone at only 16 weeks.

Mommy says she didn't actually see the very first "rolling over" episode. Baby J had almost made it over from back to front several times, but never without a little assistance. She says that last night she put him on the floor on his back and stepped away for a minute. Upon returning he was on his tummy, head held high and grinning from ear to ear. He is certainly a cute little fellow.

I am very pleased that Baby J is making progress in becoming a more mobile little guy. He is very interactive and likes to laugh and smile and watch me at my daily antics. I am a one man entertainment show for him and he loves every minute of me!

See attached pics of me and the little guy hanging out. Also see a picture of Baby J grinning from ear to ear to celebrate his newest accomplishment.

Exploring my career options!

Now that I am officially a "BIG BOY" I have decided to start thinking about what I might like to do when I have to choose a career. In an effort to establish good work ethic, every day I pack up my little tool set and my Curious George backpack and say "See you later!" When asked where I might be going, the usual response it "I going to work!" In reality, I just make a lap around the kitchen and I am back from work in a second!

Based on the pictures above, I have also been trying out some other career options. In the first picture I am pretending to be an olypmic swimmer (I just love mom's swimming goggles and I think it is hilarious to put them on and run around). My second idea was to join a convent and become a nun apparently (See the pic of me with my bib on my head. Isn't this funny?) The third picture shows me thinking of becoming a famous chef (In this particular picture, I was cooking Kool-aid soup, tea with noodles and of course, my specialty these days, cheese and pickles with sauce).

However, after researching all these various careers, my favorite job is to be "Big brother"! I think I will stick with that job for a while.

NEWS FLASH!

Baby J's expression in the picture above says it all! "WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON HERE?"

FYI - Mommy had to enable a feature on my blog which allows her to approve and/or reject comments BEFORE they are posted to the blog. She decided to do this as a few spam comments have been posted lately which contained links to questionable or undesirable web sites (if you know what I mean), the last of which would have made anyone blush!!!

I just wanted to let you know this in advance so that next time you post a comment you will understand why you get a message to that fact. Please just go ahead and comment as before and your comment will show up as soon as mom approves it!!

Stay tuned for an update on my cousin Justin's birthday party. We had lots of fun!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We have had lots of birthday celebrations lately and yesterday was my mom's birthday. She says she can't believe she is now only 29 years old. Hey, wait, isn't that what she said her age was on her birthday last year????? She said birthdays stop at 29 - however she also told me that her favorite cake is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting because it doesn't have any calories. I guess it is true, because I think my mom knows everything! (News flash - Mom enjoy these days because once I get a bit older, it will be ME that knows everything!)

Anyway, daddy treated mom and her friend Kristine (aka Carter's mom) to a "surprise" shopping trip into the city and he even had a private chauffeur drive them. Mom spoiled the surprise with that busy brain of hers and figured it all out ahead of time, but nonetheless, they had a leisurely day of talking, eating and shopping. Mom says that it was truly amazing to have a complete conversation without having to stop in mid sentence to say "no", "stop that", "come back" and answer my all time favorite question to my mom "what that called?" She was also able to sit and enjoy a complete meal without gulping her food down as well.

Friday night, Kristine baked my mom an amazing carrot cake and it was beautifully decorated. We had lots of fun and I helped sing to mom and blow out her candles. I love birthdays, birthday cake and I love my MOM! Happy birthday mom!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Jack!

What a fun week we had! Grandpa Jack and Grandma Anne (or as I collectively referred to them "Grandma Jack") visited over the last few days and I really loved hanging out with them. We had to rent a mini-van to fit all of us into one car and I really thought that was so much fun!

Best of all, it was a momentous occasion as we were able to ring in Grandpa Jack's 80th birthday. One night we went to Hana Japan and had a big dinner. The "man" who was cooking our dinner made fried eyeballs (eggs to go in our fried rice) and he created lots of fiery creations on the big stove. He flipped a shrimp into my dad's mouth (dad wasn't able to catch it) and then I decided to tip my head back to see if the man would also flip a shrimp to me. Although he seemed ready to do it, he decided to just serve my shrimp on a plate as to avoid any resulting heart attack by my mother. After dinner was over, they brought out a big candle and we sang happy birthday and ate some delicious pineapple. Daddy fed chicken dipped in ginger sauce to me on chopsticks and I loved eating that way.

Tuesday evening, mom baked a birthday cake for Grandpa Jack and it was very "yummy". Mom bought 8 candles (one for each decade) and a special "80" candle to go on the cake. We had lots of fun and lots of cake.

Happy Birthday Grandpa, I love you. (And I love you too, Grandma Anne!) I miss you already.

Brotherly Love

I have recently decided that I REALLY, REALLY LOVE my little brother. I like to help Mom to take care of him whenever possible (translation - when there is not something else more interesting to do) and I am apparently really good at it as I get lots of praise for being helpful and sweet. Here are a few examples of how much I have grown to love the little guy:

Just last night, baby J was sitting in his chair and he was starting to cry as he was hungry. Mom was preparing his bottle, so I decided to see if I could console him. Mom says that my actions made her heart melt (that sounds like it hurts - sorry mom). Anyway, I proceeded to go over to Baby J and say "It's okay, little guy. Mommy is getting your milk". While saying this I was gently petting his head and speaking in a high sing song voice. Baby J stopped for a minute and smiled at me. Next, I found his Lullaby Glowworm and brought that over to him and turned it on so he could listen and coo at the Glowworm. I also got my favorite blanket "Choo, choo" and draped that over him to make sure he wasn't cold. Baby J just loves to watch me and I was able to keep him happy until Mom could feed him.

The other example of my undying love for my brother happened this past weekend. We have some friends that have an identical car seat for their baby as ours - a blue GRACO carseat. We were all getting into our cars (by the way, we also have the same car as they do which is really confusing at times). My friend's dad was putting their baby into their car (the blue GRACO carseat) and I proceeded to get very upset and yell in a really pitiful voice "Don't take my little brother!". Mom explained to me that it was their baby and baby J was just outside the car in his car seat and not to be upset. I was so relieved to see baby J get into our car - I thought he was a goner.

Just for laughs, see the really bad picture of mom and her two favorite little guys above. If you look closely at this picture you will notice that my right arm appears to have been amputated. No worries, I was just moving (as per usual). Mom was letting me hold baby J and it was a lot of fun. I have also been allowed to hold his bottle and help Mom feed him. He is a lucky little guy to have "moi" for his big brother. I guess I am a lucky little guy too! Later.

Little Aviator

I love airplanes and visiting the airport! Hmmmm....I wonder where I developed an interest in such things? Well, anyone who knows Daddy knows the answer to that question without hesitation. Daddy keeps saying he is a pilot and has been since he was 18 years old, but I haven't seen a plane in the hangar lately...oh yeah, that's right...it took a swim in the bay and now it can't fly anymore:). Anyway, Dad is on a mission to find a new plane with his plane partners and we should have another one soon. Mom still says that I am not allowed to fly until I can say "Mom, I understand the risks of flying and I absolutely do want to get in the plane and fly with my crazy father"! Lately, she seems to be a little worried as I am nearing the ability to say this (of course, we all know that Dad has been covertly coaching me to say this exact sentence, no doubt!) Now, she has amended her initial requirement to include that I must be able to wear headphones and leave them on. That will buy her at least 1-2 more years, don't you think?

In the meantime, we go to the empty hangar a lot to play and run around. Daddy refers to the hangar as our $/month "indoor playground", which is a nice thing to have these days since it has been cold and rainy lately and this Peanut's energy level seems to keep increasing. I love to watch planes take off and land, look at the airport fuel truck, sweep the hangar and pretend to use the radio and other items. Mom says she GASPS to think of the things that are lying around, but Dad says that he has "babyproofed" the hangar and not to worry. Mom just replies that she is so tired that she is leaving it in his hands to keep me safe which, no doubt, he will. Mom visited with us the other day and noticed a "toddler sized" gap in the hangar walls - one in which I could easily slip into the next door hangar. When she asked Dad what he would do if I slipped next door, he just shook it off. Hopefully, the next door hangar owners are local and can respond quickly if called just in case I did venture through the wall and decide not to come back into our hangar on demand - RIGHT!!!

On a funny note - when Mom was talking about the next door hangar and my ability to slide over there, she said these exact words "What if Matthew slipped next door and got into all that CRAP?" Of course, although I was on the other side of the hangar at the time, I immediately came over and asked, "Mom, where did the CRAP go?" Ooops!! Mom just acted like she didn't hear me and she thinks I have forgotten, but I plan to pull this new word out in a public place sometime in the future as I think it refers to something fun!!!

Take a look at the pics of me at the airport this past month. Note that I am wearing my aviation bomber jacket - really cool, aren't I? All I need now are a set of Ray Bans and my own toddler sized plane and I will be set!