Boo-Boo's and Goose eggs...

Brushing his teeth...I bought him a real toothbrush and after I gave it to him last night he walked around the house like this for about 20min. I was afraid I would have to let him sleep with it because every time I tried to take it away, his world would fall apart. I think he is watering the plant....I hope it likes milk.

This is our little rhinoceros....apparently the forehead can only take so much abuse until it swells up like a balloon.

Sleeping in his new recliner....notice the forehead again....every time he fell for about 2 days he managed to hit in the exact same spot....the final straw was when he slammed into the edge of the coffee table on Sun afternoon....the coffee table is now disassembled and under the bed.

Watching as Wes built his new sandbox. We didn't know how he would react to power tools but absolutely fell in love....he is his father's son.

This is a perfect example of his utter amazement...and about the cutest picture I've ever seen

"Helping" daddy...

Having some fun now that the work is over.

Now that I am looking at these pictures...if you look from bottom to top, you can see the progression of the "goose-egg" through the weekend's mishaps...poor thing.

Playing in the sandbox and with his new beach chair.

Playing with a dog his own size.

Ironically, it seems like the better Jay walks, the more injuries gets...no matter how much toddler-proofing I do (which I've decided is just a marketing scheme to trick naive new parents that they have any control over the well-being of their children). The main reason, I think, is because he becomes over-confident in his abilities to do just about anything. He watches older kids run, jump, and climb and immediately tries to do the same thing. It's like now that he knows he can walk, he thinks nothing is impossible. Putting antibiotic ointment on his many scrapes and bruises is a nightly routine now. As well as giving him motrin and tylenol for the headaches that follow the numerous head bumps. It is amazing what his tiny body can endure and that he still doesn't seem to have an ounce of fear in him.

We went shopping this weekend for a chair so Jay could have one of his own. He has been sitting on the dog for the last several weeks and I think Jake is pretty tired of being a personal chair. We found a plastic outdoor chair which we put by the pond to use when he is fishing with Wes. Then I found a precious beach chair that I had to have (this goes back and forth from the sand box to the back porch. And as we were leaving, I saw a child's recliner that I couldn't resist. So, now Jay has more chairs than we do but he has had a good time testing them all out.

We are getting ready for Wes' parents to come and visit this weekend and I am very excited about getting some babysitters so I can catch up on random things I have neglected. Also, I think Wes and I will fit a date night in too! And Jay will love seeing them again, especially now that he is not pitiful with a cold.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure will have some stories after our fun with Mama Ross and Papa Tim! See you guys soon. :)

goodnight kisses

Giving goodnight kisses to Papa Tim, Mama Ross, Papa Rich, and Mimi Wanda. We do this every night after bathtime so even though you all aren't here, Jay still gives you kisses everyday. :) We love you!

New adventures

Coming down the slide....not very happily.

Trying to tear the house apart...literally. He pulled on this as hard as he could and then sat down and cried because he couldn't tear it up. Very happy about finding my car keys.

Wes was in the canoe Monday and was getting ready to come in as Jay and I watched from the yard. A wasp was flying around him and he went into a panic, flailing around trying to get the wasp off of him, which was funny in itself until the canoe flipped over sending him, head first, into the pond. I laughed until my stomach hurt and then ran in to get the camera. :) As you can see, he is soaking wet.

"Can I come in??"

Getting ready for the canoe ride in his big boy life jacket.

Sweeping the floor for me....and surprised about whatever he found I guess.

Still working on the "feeding himself" part.

And still not making too much progress. :)

Trying cotton candy at the Funday Sunday.

I can't tell by his face whether he likes it but, you know him, he went right back for another taste anyway.

Bubbles!

This is his "thinking" face...

Sand!

Right after we got there he jumped out of Harriet's arms and explored on his own terms.

The gang.

I never think to take pictures of him sleeping so here he his....sweet as can be...napping on the couch

The next 3 are from Aunt Charlene from his birthday weekend singing with Papa Rich. I thought they were precious!

Here are several pictures from the weekend. Our church had a "Funday Sunday" with all kinds of activities for the kids (jumpy houses, fair rides, music, toddlertown, and a lot of food) so we spent Sunday afternoon playing. Jay is in the in between stage right now- easily bored with baby toys but not quite big enough for true toddler games- so it was a challenge finding something he could really get into.....that was until we found the sand boxes and bubbles....then he was in hog heaven. We started at Toddler town which had small bouncy houses. Wes put Jay in one as we watched from the side to see what he would do. At first he was very curious, smiled, and tried to stand up but there were kids a little bit bigger jumping around just enough to make him change his mind and head for the exit. I was glad he knew to how to get out....I was scared he would just fall down and start crying and Wes would have to crawl in there and get him....and I really didn't want to be THAT family. :)

Then, Wes wanted to take him on the slide....the one that said you had to be "so" tall to ride which Jay did not qualify for (should have been a sign) but we were curious to see how he would do with Wes. So, they went for it and poor Jay was scared to death and screamed all the way down.....not there yet either.

After two failed attempts at making him happy we went down a few notches and let him play with the "new" toddlers under a tent with pull up toys. Here he found a truck and after pushing it half way across the field- running over any poor toddler in his way- we decided he was maybe too active for this area.

Then, Jane found the sand box and as soon as he saw it jumped in and was digging in the sand like a pro. After that he spent some time splashing in the pool full of bubbles and the rest of the day was a piece of cake.

Today Hannah and I are going to take the boys to a toddler bouncy house in town that apparently we can get in and bounce with them until they get the hang of it so we will see how that goes!

Otherwise we are just spending a lot of time outside and trying to not tear the house completely apart.....oh, and on one last note (and in my attempt to get sympathy)...

Yesterday I decided I would make a BBQ Chicken Pizza that I found online and had been looking forward to for several days. I spent an hour carefully slicing all of the toppings, cooking the chicken, sauteing the onions, bacon, and apples and arranging it so that it looked just like you were at a restaurant....making little patterns with the chicken and tomatoes. Wes and Jay were playing in the living room and I was just about to add some final touches from the spice cabinet before putting it in the oven when I heard the pizza sheet sliding off of the counter....I turned around and saw Jay pulling it off and ALL of my precious work falling on him and the kitchen floor! My first reaction was to just scream which sent Wes into a panic thinking something happened to Jay. This also scared poor Jay so bad that he started wailing....lying on the floor with pizza all over him....it really was a terrible sight. So, Wes picked him up and tried to comfort him while I had to fight back tears and the urge to just fall on the floor and wail with him. And so, my pretty pizza was ruined, my baby was terrified, and my kitchen was covered in food.

After a minute or two of talking myself off the bridge I took a few deep breaths and went over to comfort my baby and explain that I wasn't mad at him, it was just the first reaction that came out. Then, we let Jake in and he had a field day cleaning up. Fortunately, Wes was able to salvage part of it and so we still had pizza for dinner but not the way I had planned. And of course, we then said how glad we were that there was not a knife on the pizza or that it wasn't hot out of the oven. So, that is my "woe is me" story for the week...now all of you can feel sorry for me and my ruined supper. ;)

Jay's Favorite Things

Eating a candy cane on the way back home.... Playing in the wagon my uncle jerry built for him....hence the super cool go cart tires. :)

Of course Jay would think pushing it is more fun than riding.

Jay crawled into Jake's cage and daddy followed....

Breaking out

Mom and Dad put Jay in a tree for a quick photo shoot. I love this one

Laughing with my Papa and Granny Curry

Jay loved Papa's walker.....we all had to take turns walking with him all over the front yard

Here are some pics from our trip to GA and a few since we've been back at home. It is Friday and we are finally getting back on schedule. Jay slept with our parents while he stayed with them so it took a few nights of convincing before we was willing to sleep in his crib again and then some serious crying in the middle of the night before he eventually gave up and got himself back to sleep. Maybe by next week I'll be able to lay him down while he's still awake and him peacefully fall asleep on his on (as was the case before we left). It also took a few days before he accepted that I was the only one in the house with him, to his dismay. The first two mornings he walked around to every room, peeking in and saying, "yaayaayaa!" waiting for someone to jump out and play with him. When that never happened he had the meltdown of all meltdowns. After that, Katie dropped by and he desperately climbed into her arms and gave her about 50 kisses as if to say, "Thank you! I was so bored with mama!" Now, however, he is doing better and as decided that he'll settle for boring me. :)

This week, for me at least, it has been so nice to get the house organized again and be on a normal schedule. I have made a few observations about Jay as well. These, I've determined are his favorite things....

1) The lady on the progressive commericals (Dad actually told me about this infatuation when we got back from our trip). Literally every time she comes on he walks to the tv smiling and clapping...and is completely giddy afterwards...I'm pretty sure she is his first love.

2) The wheel on the price is right. When he hears the sound he jumps up and is mesmerized by it.

3) Being chased. He knows that Wes is the best at this so as soon as he gets home, Jay starts "egging him on" and they run around the house screaming and laughing for as long as Wes can keep up.

4) Brushing his teeth...really. As soon as I put the toothpaste on the brush he smiles and opens his mouth. While I'm brushing he "sings" and bites the brush. I think he would let me brush them for hours.

5) Pressing buttons on my cell phone, the gps, the remote....this has been an obsession since he was born and I am still waiting for him to grow out of it.

6) Feeding Jake. He has always liked to feed Jake but this week he has started something else. He sits down beside Jake's dog food bowl and takes each piece out and feeds him. I was nervous about Jay eating them until he put one his is mouth and just about vomited it out...he has not tried again. This morning, Jake was in my bathroom while I was getting ready and Jay walked into the kitchen, got a piece of dog food from the bowl, and brought it to Jake...it was so cute.

7) Riding in the red wagon....especially when he and Wes ride in it together down the hill in our neighborhood. Last night we spent a while walking up the hill, getting in the wagon, and zooming down the hill faster than I could run.

8) Dogs, of any size. He makes a bee-line for them, no matter where we are....I really have to watch him when we are at the park or any outdoor area because he will be half way to a dog before I notice and of course doesn't realize that all dogs aren't as easy going as our sweetheart.

9) Motorcycles. This favorite thing was discovered as we were eating ice cream at the outdoor shopping center this week. Jay saw it park and practically sprinted across the yard. Wes had to stand there with him (his mouth dropped to the ground) until the motorcycle was no longer moving or making sounds. And it was a repeat of this when the man got back on it and drove away.

I think I posted a similiar blog several months ago. I'll have to look back and see how many things are different now that he is a "big boy." Well, Jay is determined to type on the computer so I am going to finish up. I had pictures to post from this week but I can't find them on the camera so I'll post those with the next one.

Costa Rica

Our jimny that managed to get us in and out of the rain forest without injury....a bigger feat than it sounds. Sitting on our beach chairs at the resort, relaxing after all of the adventures.

UGA at Costa Rica!

Here are the monkeys that reached into my bag and stole my banana!!! I now have a phobia of monkeys.

The beautiful beach at Manuel Antonio National Park

Watching Arenal Volcano....we could hear the rumbling in the volcano from where we were

Good thing we have life insurance...

Wes zipping through the rain forest...by far the highlight of the trip!

That little spot on the line curving down is me holding on for dear life.

Getting ready to zip 66 miles per hour!

On the tram up to the zip lines

Poas Volcano, we were all coughing because of the steam from the crater, it was amazing to be that close.

Feeding hummingbirds at the waterfall park.

View from our balcony on the first night.

Hiking around the falls at our hotel.

I posted some of the many pictures we took on our trip. We had so much fun but are glad to be back home, well at least I am. Wes was not happy about going back to work. The worst part about the trip was that Jay decided to get his first real respiratory infection right before we left. The couple of nights before we left he was up with a 105 degree fever and screaming. We saw a doctor in Tifton who decided to draw some labs and get a chest x-ray to rule out anything too serious and after a few days of antibiotics, he was back to normal. Wes' parents were wonderful and kept reassuring us that he will be fine and to go enjoy our trip so we flew out as scheduled and spent who knows how much money calling to check in. I was heartbroken that I wasn't there to hold Jay the first time he ever got stuck and comfort him after the chest x-ray but I knew Wes' mom (aka Mama Ross) would take care of him as well as I could have. Thank you Mama Ross and Papa Tim for taking care of my baby. I'm sorry you didn't get to play as much as we planned but there is something special bond that comes with those who hold and cuddle you when you are sick and Jay definitely got a lot of cuddling from you that week. We will have to see you soon though to really play!

We stayed very busy all week exploring the rain forest, fighting with monkeys over my banana....a story too dramatic to just type out, eating at roadside "taco stands" as we call them, trying to speak what little spanish we know, riding up and down the roughest mountain side either one of us had ever seen, and just enjoying feeling like kids again. The last half was spent at an all-inclusive resort with a few day trips and by that time, we welcomed some down time by the pool. I did get sad some of the nights and Wes would try his hardest to get me to "shake it off" as he put it but in the end I usually just went to bed and was better the next morning. We realized the last night that pretty much everything we did the whole trip included a conversation about "if Jay were here he'd probably be..." and us laughing for about 10min imagining all of the messes he would get himself into. So, even though we were in another country we couldn't not imagine him with us.

The night we got to my parents house (they had him the last half--Thank you mom and dad for keeping him so well entertained) we woke him up even though it was 11:30pm and played for about an hour before putting him in between us and going to sleep. The next day I couldn't stop kissing and holding him, thankfully, he tolerated all of the attention very well. It was so nice getting a vacation from being a mom but I decided a week is all I need before I am desperately wanting to change a diaper, rock to sleep, read Goodnight Moon, and even watch some awful temper tantrums.

Well that is all I can think of right now about the trip. In a few days I'll post pics of Jay and give an update on all of his accomplishments.

Here is a video our guide took with our camera as he zipped through the forest...we went down eight zip lines and by the end of it were brave enough to look out and see just how stinkin' high we were!