http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT_40Gn9wjk

This is Jay dancing on the way home from church. He was so tired and fell asleep about 10sec after I stopped filming but it is cute to see him swaying back and forth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IytFp6ZDag This was random....trying to get to the snacks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQfwPqUqjHw Jay has learned how to give kisses and was gladly kissing the bear but has to be in just the right mood to kiss me or Wes. Maybe he will give his grandparents kisses next week. What's really fun is when he kisses and licks all at the same time....we will take what we can get though---no matter how wet and sticky we are afterwards. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT_40Gn9wjk

Things are lookin' up

Jay had soooo much fun exploring the yard from his point of view for the first time the other day while Wes and I worked.

Wes' idea of he and Jay cleaning up the yard...Jay didn't mind.

He loves to put on our shoes but can't quite figure out how to walk in them yet.

I gave Jay his bowl and spoon so he could practice feeding himself. He thought about it, and then threw the spoon down and got the applesauce out of the bowl his own way. Not quite ready for that I guess. :)

Well, we have had a wonderful week now that Jay is better and can walk basically wherever his little heart desires. It had been a rough month with our colds and just that Jay was bored so often. He was tired of the crawling thing and needed constant attention which was not so fun for me, especially considering that Wes was very busy studying for his big test. I was getting very frustrated trying to figure out exactly what Jay wanted and what I was doing wrong. I realize now that he went through the same thing just before he started crawling...he was tired of just sitting and rolling and wanted something more. Then he started crawling and life was fun again. So, this week has been very fun and he is walking everywhere. Just seeing the house from a different view is amazing to him and, of course, being able to walk away from us is very liberating....for him at least. Then, when he looses interest in the house, we go outside and walk all over the back yard, front yard, and culdesac until he is ready to go in and eat. And we have been playing with Hannah and Truman a lot since we are not on our death beds anymore. :) So, all in all, we are finally happy again.

Today and tomorrow I will be packing for an overdue visit to south Georgia for two weeks. Wes didn't get to take a vacation last fall so he decided to take his two weeks back to back for a longer vacation. And, Wes and I are going to Costa Rica for our first getaway since Jay was born. I am really trying to stay excited about it but the closer I get to leaving my baby for a whole week I just can't deny the knots that form in my stomach. I know this will be good for us to just be with each other again and our parents are ecstatic to have their precious grand baby all to themselves but since I never went back to work Jay and I are rarely apart which makes this very difficult to imagine. I have planned for us to be very busy while we are there so we stay distracted and maybe since we will be in a completely different country it will be easier to be away. Wes is just ready to get some time off, no matter where he is. I keep asking him if he is still excited about going or if he thinks we should just cancel the whole thing and he reminds me that we are too close to get any money back and that we need some time together. He is sad about leaving Jay too, though, and we have been back and forth about it a lot. Luckily though, one of us is usually the strong one and reminds the other of how much fun we will have.

Ok, I have gone on long enough about my issues so here are some pics and videos (if not with this post coming later today).

2 more

Here is more of our lunch discussion that i didn't have time to post yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhlJSHJtSSU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6kS_qBDOdY

Here they are!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYBftlm9ZnM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMpNJuwSK64 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jU0RcLaE1Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPM3iWrke3s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvZTPXxtDB4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWg2WAKmfsA

Walking Machine

Playing in the tub

Talking to Wes during supper

How he spends his time every afternoon, as if I need something else to pick up.

Here are some pictures and videos from the last few days of Jay getting into more trouble and of him realizing that he can WALK to other places other than just me or Wes. Every day he walks more and challenges himself. It is so fun to watch him. This morning I was getting ready and he stopped playing with his toy, stood up, and walked out of my room, through the kitchen, then into the living room, picked up his elmo, and continued back to me. I got the last part on camera.

He also is obsessed with push toys, and now has to have something on them while pushing (his shoes, sippy cup, pacifier, and any toy that happens to be on the floor). When they fall off, he stops, picks it up, and returns in to the push toy. I wonder if he does this because he watches me push the grocery cart around and put stuff in it. Like he is grocery shopping in the house. It really it amazing how much he picks up that I don't even realize.

So far, no words have been added to his vocabulary, however, he uses different tones in his voice all the time. It's like we can have an entire conversation with different tones and variations of the sounds, "uh, oh, da, ma, na, and ahhh" and when we finish, I honestly feel like I could tell you everything we just talked about.

He also has decided that Wes is now just "da" or at least I think so because the other day I was changing his diaper and Wes was getting ready to leave so was downstairs and we could hear him shuffling around. Jay kept turning back and yelling, "Daaaaa! Daaaaa! Daaaa!" It was soooo funny.

Eating is a new challenge now too. For the last few weeks I have been mixing veggies in with mac and cheese, rice, mashed potatoes, or other stuff like that and he'll eat it right up. It's been a while since he would eat veggies by themselves. Well this week he figured my trick out and will weed through and spit the peas/beans out of his mouth. He has no shame in doing this, no matter where we are so I've stopped trying to feed him that way in public. I'm not sure what I am going to do to get him to eat veggies now. Fruit, he loves, so at least he's getting something healthy. He is also over his oatmeal in the mornings which was how I knew he was getting enough iron but I learned yesterday that he loves rice krispies and they do have some iron so we are settling for that right now. It doesn't help that he is just not interested in food in general, except as things to throw and feed to me. Oh well.

Well, it looks like I am going to have to download via youtube again so I will go ahead and post this with the pics. I'll post all of the videos today after they are finished. Boo to blogger video!

All I have of last week

This is why Jay was so good while I cooked supper the other night....and also explains the sudden disappearance of 3 of his pacifiers.

I'm not sure what the weight limit is on the dishwasher door but I don't think I want to find out, he knows he's not supposed to climb on it, hence the surprise face he uses to get out of trouble.

These are the only pictures I took all week mainly because Jay and I have been sick and pouting the whole time. We are still sick but I think we are getting to the end of it...I hope so at least, a week is my limit for sickness with a one year old if I am going to keep my sanity. And of course, of all weeks, Wes took his last boards exam Fri and Sat so when he was at home, he was studying... meaning Jay and I have spent way to much alone time together (especially since Jay has not slept for the past 4 nights, even with me holding him the majority of the night).

I tried to post this yesterday but blogger is no longer uploading videos...which means we are back to youtube. Here are a few....again, I am hoping he will feel like showing off for the camera this week to make up for the pitiful attempt at blogging last week. here are the links to the videos... one is him dancing to his sesame street video, the other two are him walking...now more than just a few steps.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y94PWxurxuw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z8MykvCWY-k

http://youtube.com/watch?v=jmbErcgFMnQ

Late Birthday Video

Ok dad, I saw your comment and this video is longer. It is Jay eating his cake at his party. I couldn't get it to upload until now and it didn't take very long so longer videos may be in our future...

Pushing Strollers

Playing today... My little climber...

What???

Taking a break from pushing at the park.

Covered in grass from head to toe!

Climbing on some drums at the playground

Loves slides!

Last week....watching tv.

Cheezin under that passy.

These next few are for my friend Brian. He sent Jay a book last week and this was him checking it out after lunch. Thanks Brian!

Wes and I were busy this weekend at a baby shower for our good friends Michael and Cristen who are having their first little boy in May and we are so excited about little Jack's arrival! We stayed with them Friday night and Jay had a ball, mainly pushing their bar stools around the entire house and climbing up and down their stairs. Then we went to the shower on Saturday and he played with everyone, showing off every trick in the book and then, finally, falling asleep on my shoulder at the end of the day. It was so fun to see everyone and Jay was thrilled to have all of that attention.

We decided to drive back late yesterday evening after eating supper with Sarah so Jay would sleep the whole trip, which he did, and we got home about 1230am. So, after church today we all crashed on the couch for a while. We went to the park on Friday afternoon and Jay discovered his new obsession....pushing the stroller, which he did up and down the entire field for about 30 minutes. It is one of my videos...too cute. Today we went on a walk and we had to have a quick WWF match to strap him into the stroller because he DEMANDED that he push it. I was not willing to take all night to walk to the end of the street though. After the walk, however, he got his way and spent a while pushing it up and down the driveway. Now, he is passed out for the night. :)