THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE NEBRAAAAAASKAAAAA...!
cheerio!
we've just returned from a wonderful trip to my homeland... and ahhh, what a lovely respite it was... not that i needed respiting necessarily... but it's always great to be home with the mama and papa who are now granmama and granpapa... got to see auntieree and some of her fabulous friends... tho i neglected to remember the camera until we were leaving their beautiful "bnb"... actually, auntieree and her friends provided wonderful accomodations complete with cool dogs and 3 very neato cats that kept us all entertained... and with babyj's improving visual range and clarity (as evidenced by his ability to be completely distracted during feed sessions by art on the walls, ceiling fans, etc...), he got to really "see" a cat, the tail, whiskers maybe? as well as susie and sarai puppers... we had very enjoyable conversations/dinner/bed/breakfast/bikepathrun/postrun+preflightshower/etc... THANK YOU LnS--beautiful new home!
so back to the "beginning"... babyj is 3mo old!!! holey schmoley! and as i type this, we're closing in on 14wks tomorrow... my little baby is growing up! hee hee... ok, that might be a little overkill... we're enjoying the changes and the passage of time thus far as things do happen so quickly... his head-holding ability is fairly solid... still catches us off guard in the burping position occasionally... but i don't think that's his head's fault as his "gain" being a little off... physics term that i can't even concisely define... so... i'll just say... he's still not as good at "grading"the effort necessary to turn his head around to see behind him (owl style) so sometimes that means he leans back and turns quite quickly with TOO much force thus interrupting the burping process to invoke the "save the baby" mechanism to avoid a backwards swan dive off your forearm. tummy time is getting to be a little longer and more dynamic... he's almost pushing himself over far enough to allow gravity to initiate a roll-over for him from this position... but for now, we continue to help him occasionally... he's not afraid of it anymore.
he has 2 hands! he's just figured that out in the past couple days... he now folds them together sometimes, has an easier time manipulating his cool cow or new bug with semicircularcanal type "wings" from abcba (great entertainment on the plane, thanks!)... more and more things are going into his mouth... so mama's trying to swipe things off more frequently with water and the occasional wipee... he's starting to discover his feet... in a sitting position with some support below chest level on my tummy when i'm supine... yes, that's a lot of conditions... but this, too, is a new thing! OH the discoveries when everything's brand new!
granpapa and grandmama j thoroughly lavished him with all sorts of love and cuddles and play and smiles and tongue clicks (he gets the occasional one off now and is soooo pleased!) -- they got to hear his squeals and hiccup type "laughs" and maybe giggles? as well as a gassy 20min screamfest and some other GI system (likely) induced wails... ahhhh... it's hard to be 3mo old sometimes. we had a borrowed crib from some dear friends there, a borrowed stroller from the sweet neighbors, 2 very cool toys ("aquarium" and mini ferris wheel) from auntie psj, and lots of other toys and books and fun things to look at... ceiling fans and one particular piece of wall art especially... oh, and the white lights in the ivy... who needs to eat when you can look at those things? babyj sure doesn't... evidently. granmamaj snuck some mozart/brahms/bach/garfunkel (yes, he belongs on that list too) cd's in our bag that we didn't get time to listen to there--all for kiddos... so our brain building experiences continue!
auntiepsj came to visit... then we got to rondy with her again as we headed to my other favorite state to see auntiebb and abcba family! what a treat! abcba put on a snack spread true to her usual "oh, i'm not doing much!"... she makes some mean rice flower blondies... WOW were those good... and good for us, too, i'm quite sure... so i had two! yum!!!!! her boys are growing SOOOOO BIG!!! i can hardly believe it! now i'm the old lady saying "i knew you when you were just a little baby and i rocked you like this!" to an almost 6yr old who would clearly rather explain storm troopers and how good guys always win!
babyj got to meet lots of folks in gpa/gmaj's new town... new friends and many folks that we've known all our lives but i haven't seen in 10-15yrs... so that was really neato too! unfortunately, we didn't get to meet up with my other auntjh from a neighboring state... hopefully next time...
i loved that back "home" (which is about 8 towns mostly along I-80) the more things change, the more they stay the same... which i like, for the most part... i love that the drive along 80 is so familiar... that many houses and sand pits and signs and etc don't really change... the cranes, deer, snow and canada geese... what a treat!
and babyj did SOOOOO good on the plane rides... wow... i feel like we're so very lucky... he charmed people on the airport train and plane alike with his wide eyes and no-blink contests... very alert... he nursed, slept, and sucked on mr. binks on the take-offs and landings as appropriate... he did have some VERY wide eyes on the first "rev the engines" take off ... having never heard the roar of a jet engine... musta been crazy! and he enjoyed some walk/stand around time during the smooth parts of the flights... and some time with cow and bug as well... whew! we had daddy on the way there, but just mommy and babyj on the return... so we were extra glad... and the moby from our friends bdg was perfect for traipsing through the airport... just wish getting him IN the moby wrap wasn't so traumatic! once we're in and moving... he digs it.
well, there's a quick summary... and some pics... i know i've forgotten a lot... but hopefully i'll be forgiven. thanks to all who made our trip sooooo very fun and eventful! and to granmama for driving us all over creation on a modified (by j) schedule!
cheerio!
skjhz
