I miss my little guy!

Jake turned 4 months old yesterday. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, and I am really excited and curious to see how big he has gotten. Soon he will outgrow his carseat! He can only be in his current carseat until 22 pounds and/or 29 inches tall. He is speeding toward both at an alarming rate. I thought this carseat would last the whole first year.

Speaking of his carseat, I saw this picture on People.com of Matt Damon, his wife, step-daughter and their 7 week old baby girl. I thought it was so neat to see that a movie star has the same carseat we do! (For the record, this is the Graco Snugride Infant Carrier, the top-rated infant car seat for safety, and not some shee-shee frou-frou movie star type carseat, ok?) Here is the carseat snapped into a stroller-like infant carrier base unit.



So Jake has been in New York all weekend while I stayed home to clean up the house, get some laundry done, catch up on freelance, and well... just to get some extra sleep and relaxation! :) But I miss my little man! (And my big man, too for that matter). Ralph and Jake are currently on their way home from New York - I can't wait to see them (ok, and the corner slice of Sicilian pizza they brought me from Sal's - yummmmm).

Pancreatic Cancer Walk

As many of you may know, Jake came into this world too late to meet some very important people. Two of those people are Kelly's grandmother Jeanne Valentine, and Ralph's grandfather Paul Mancsuo. Both Jeanne and Paul fell victim to Pancreatic Cancer, in the spring of 2000 and 2005, respectively. There were both two of the nicest and most energetic people you will ever meet. They had a spirit and a humor and a zest for life and were taken way, way too soon. Not a day goes by that we don't think about them both. We love you Gram, we love you Papa. We miss you so much.

Please support Pancreatic Cancer Reasearch and the Pancreatic Cancer Walk.

Jake went out in support of his dad, his aunt Laura, his uncles Greg and Chris, his great aunts Barbara and Joanne, his grandma Mary and grandpa Ralph. Here is a picture of him at the walk this morning:

Cute overload

I have found the cutest site on the web. Behold - www.cuteoverload.com!!!

The whole site is amazingly saccharin sweet, but the dawggies are my favorite! Any website that prominently posts pictures of Boston Terrier Puppies, and adorable puppies, dogs and other cute animals, is cool with me. (This is NOT Ruthie pictured below!)


Cute Pup Overload

Yes, I know this is another non-baby post, but you'll get over it. Maybe by looking at the rules of cuteness.

I like to melt stuff, and I dislike stuff that doesn't melt.

(Ok, anyone who got that obscure Friends reference above watches waaaaaay too much TV)

I am recalling a picture my parents had taken in their kitchen when I was a baby. They had placed my bottle tops and latex nipples into a saucepan with boiling water to sterilize them. Apparently there was some sort of distraction and the pan went on boiling until all the water had evaporated, and the latex nipples melted all over the bottom of the saucepan. My parents took a picture of the harvest gold saucepan with several nipples melted into one big gooey mess.

Well, times have changed and there are all sorts of technological advances. My dear friends Kelly and Sarah both got me an Avent Steam Sterilizer (darn Babies R Us registry duplication error!) as a baby gift, and it has reeeeeeally come in handy! Ralph and I wash all the bottles and then load them into this amazingly well-designed steam sterilizer that can accommodate all of the bottles, rings, nipples, and caps. We just load it, pour in the water, plug it in, press the button, and VOILA! It sterilizes everything in six minutes! It was a wonderful gift and we use it all the time.

Even with the technological advances, history seems doomed to reapeat itself.... We use these great little containers to pre-measure Jake's formula. I scoop it into the compartments so that when he is hungry, I can flip the top over a single compartment and pour it right into a bottle filled with the proper amount of water, shake it up and feed him instantly. No warming, no thawing, just room temperature water and powdered formula. My friend Jen was the one who recommended this system, she is a genius. I decided the containers were due for a good cleaning and I wanted to go ahead and pop them in the sterilizer as well. I stick bottles and pacifiers in there all the time and didn't think twice about popping the containers in there. Oops. I opened the sterilizer when it was done and found the green containers had warped and melted like crazy in the sterilizer. D'OH! The green container(s) pictured are the ones that melted, the blue container is what they looked like before (only they were always green).


Very psychadelic!

Jake, the graphic designer

Jake came to work with me after daycare closed for the day so I could catch up on some work I had missed while I ran to Target on my lunch hour to buy Jake a Bumbo Baby Seat . (More on that in another post). Here is Jake doing his best to imitate mommy at work.

Jake trys his hand at Photoshop.


He decides to try out the mouse next.


Decides eating his hand is more entertaining than working. I am now horrified thinking of the germs he just got off of my mouse. Lordy.


He was seriously interested in playing with my camera phone. Here is his self portrait. Behind him is a bumper sticker that my friend Elizabeth gave me - it reads: "My Boston Terrier is smarter than your honor student."

Hot men. Just because.

I am assuming most of my blog readers are women. And to thank you all for reading, I'm posting pictures of these two guys. Women are objectified all the time, so I figure it's about time we objectify a hot man now and then. Apparently these guys play soccer or something. And they are all International and stuff. (tee hee) Mmmm...hot men with accents.... Happy (almost) Friday!

Okay, these sunglasses are a little funny, but really, is that what you are looking at? This is David Beckham, who is married to "Posh Spice" (who is too darn skinny). Apparently when David talks in his cute little british accent he sounds like the Geico lizard. tee hee


My sister-in-law Laura (HI SIS!!!!) is in Italy right now, and apparently this guy is all the rage - gee I wonder why???


If you hadn't noticed, this post has nothing whatsoever to do with Jake, or babies, or poop stories. It's just hot, shirtless international yumminess for the sake of .... well, do I need a reason???

Six Steps for Successful Pacifier Play

Step 1: Once pacifier is in mouth and functioning properly, grasp with hand(s) and pull firmly until dislodged from mouth. Mouth may try to override hand. Keep pulling until hand wins.



Step 2: Grasp pacifier in hand and try to remember why you took it out in the first place.



Step 3: Remember that the pacifier is more fun in your mouth than in your hands. Decide to put pacifier back in. Struggle with step 3 for the next 2-5 minutes.



Step 4: Realize that pacifier doesn't seem to fit back in mouth the way it did when mom put it in. Try to look for alternate spots to insert pacifier.



Step 5: Remember that the round part goes in your mouth when mom puts it in. Can't... seem... to... fit... in... mouth... Decide to just lick it instead.



Step 6: This is just too hard! Forget it, I give up. Besides, once mom puts down that stupid camera thing, she'll put it back in for me.

Daycare Artwork

Jake's first masterpiece...

Talking with his mouth full

Jake is fascinated with his newest discovery.... his tongue. He loves to stick as many fingers in his mouth as possible, and grab his tongue while trying to talk, coo, and sing. It is the funniest thing. He will have one or both hands in at a time, and his tongue will dance around and get everything slobbery, and then he will try to chat you up with these funny gurgles and changes in pitch and volume. He is becoming quite the talker.... he must get that from his Dad. :)



He is SUCH a happy baby! He really only cries over one thing - having to burp. He is a very hungry growing boy, and absolutely HATES having the bottle taken away every 3 or 4 ounces for a burp. It is practically the only time he fusses. (Okay, sometimes he gets fussy, but it is always justified - a wet or dirty diaper, time to eat, ready to sleep for the night.) We are fully aware and completely thankful for our (so far) well behaved baby boy.



This one cracks me up. He's so serious here! Like he has all these baby issues to worry about. He has been making this face since he was born. Laura Novak got a picture of him where he is wearing the exact same expression (at 8 days old).



I love this picture too. He just happened to move his hand as I was snapping the picture, but he looks like he is trying to do the Howie Mandel Deal Or No Deal fist-pound. And I just love this big toothless grin.

More insect pictures

Okay, I promise I will go back to baby pictures and poop stories very soon....

As you can see, when I am not feeding the baby or changing diapers, I am out in our tiny front yard shooting pictures of flying creatures. I took Ruthie out to go potty and play in the yard, but eventually sent her back in the house because she was scaring off my models. (click any picture to enlarge)

This dragonfly was perched atop my neighbor's plant. He let me get close, but I am still at least three feet away from him here. (Have I mentioned that I L O V E my camera???)


I love how this bee looks like he is wearing a fur coat. I wouldn't say I'm afraid of bees, but I'm glad my lens allows me to still be a comfortable distance from this potentially dangerous little guy.


It's just so cool to see all the detail on something you don't get to examine on any sortof regular basis.

Sweet Sixteen

Look at me! I'm 16 weeks old and 16 pounds big! : )

Thanks Mom!

I just wanted to publicly thank my mom for coming to stay with us over the weekend. She babysat Jake while I finally got around to some desperately-needed housework: countless loads of laundry, dishes, bathroom scrubbing, de-cluttering, sanitizing, sweeping, dusting, etc. (Ralph has been working non-stop in the home office.) Mom even pitched in and helped vacuum, did dishes, sterilized bottles and even cleaned the guest bathroom! She even babysat while Ralph and I got to go out late on Friday and Saturday night - woo-hoo! I have the best mom ever! Love you Mommy! :)

Podcast Shout-out from Baby Time!

Yeah! We're famous! (okay, sorta)...

Since mid-pregnancy, Kelly had been listening to the Baby Time podcast*, in which Boston natives Dan and Kerry broadcast their pregnancy- and now parenting-related news, stories, and all-around funny adventures. Dan and Kerry are now parents to baby Jack, who is six months old. They put out a new show each week and it is a lot of fun to listen to.

Anyway, Dan and Kerry mentioned Jake's baby blog in this week's show! For anyone interested in listening to the Baby Time podcast, it is available free from iTunes, and it is a great show to listen to if you are pregnant, planning to get pregnant, or a new parent. It is an entertaining show for just about anyone who spends time with kids. Their website is available at babytimeshow.com. We are mentioned at the end of the episode titled "6 Months Old: Almost 20 Pounds."

*For those of you that are not familiar with the term "podcast" - it basically means to record your own "radio broadcast", then putting it out on the internet, for anyone to listen to at any time. And no, you don't have to have an iPod to listen to a podcast. It's free and easy to find almost any topic you want to hear about - from sports, to pets, to cars, to politics, etc.

My worst nightmare.

Of course, the birth of each and every child is a beautiful and miraculous thing. But will miracles never cease? This woman is living my worst nightmare. Good lord.

Mom has quadruplets, 3 years after triplets

Just three years after delivering triplets, Angela Magdaleno had quadruplets. The new arrivals also will share the family's one-bedroom apartment with two older sisters.

Warning Label

Our pharmacy alerted us that our 3 month old son should be not be operating heavy machinery, driving a car, or drinking alcohol while taking his baby cough and congestion medication. We've taken away his plastic keys as a precaution.

Growing and growing and growing...

I forgot to mention that the other day when we went to the doctor's office we were able to see how much Jake has grown. He is now 15 pounds, 9 ounces and 27 inches long! (Ralph prefers to say "He's two-foot-three!") He has now outgrown just about half of his pajamas and many of his onesies. I am convinced that he will outgrow all of his clothes by the time he hits 7 months.

(Another) trip to the doctor's office

So Jake had another week of daycare, and of course, he is sick again. (I mentioned his horrible cough the other day.) I took him to see the doctor today, and she was great as always (this is not sarcasm, I really do like her!). The only problem was that Ralph was out of town and the only appoinmnent I could get (on such short notice) was in the middle of the day.

The town in which I work and Jake goes to day care is a full 30 minutes south. If I drove us to work and daycare, back up to the doctor's office, then back to work, and then home again at the end of the day, I would have spent a full two hours commuting (and paying $7.86 cents a gallon in gas, or whatever it's up to now). So instead, I had to take an unpaid day off (all of my vacation and sick time had to be surrendered during maternity leave) and pay for a day of daycare, of which he didn't even attend. Not to mention the copays for the doctor's office and for his prescription. I don't wanna sound like a cheapskate here, or act like money is all I think about, but it really does just seem like the average working stiff gets screwed whenever possible.

The good news is, my baby boy got his prescription and he's feeling better. I had a day off work and I got to spend it with my favorite boy in the whole world (Ralph, of course, being my favorite man). We went and walked around and around and around Christiana Mall and he was sooo happy. He was in a great mood and we had a *great* day together, doctor's office and all. I always did like a good old sick day.

Butterflies!

Okay, this has nothing to do with Jake, but here are some pictures I took outside of our house today, on our aptly-named butterfly bush. God I love my new camera and my macro lens!!! :) My mom had helped us trim back the butterfly bush shortly after Jake was born, but it has grown back with a vengence, and is now in full bloom. We had two beautiful butterflies visiting today, and after they got used to my shutter sounds, they ignored me and went about their business.

Day Care Part 2

Okay, so I feel *a little* bad about bashing my day care today. To be fair to all involved, I don't name names on here. I went to pick him up this afternoon, and except for the nasty hacking cough (I HAVE to take him to see the doctor tomorrow), he was happy as a clam. I went in to get him, and he must have been the last kid there (I work a later schedule than most). All of the girls that were still there (I think they were having a staff meeting) were just fussing all over him! They seemed so happy to hold him and said he had been flirting and laughing and smiling at all of them. It made me feel a little better about the whole thing, that YES, he does get some personal attention, and YES, he is having a semi-good time, but I am still not *thrilled* about the whole day care thing...

New Pictures!

Here are some that I took last night of my precious boy...


OMG! I found the coolest thing in the middle of my face!


I've got some seriously kissable cheeks here.


I'MMMMMM GONNNNNNNNA SNEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZE


If you look carefully, I think I might be flipping the bird here.


What a happy baby!


I think....I just....went to the bathroom. Yup!


Oh god, I really hope she changes this diaper soon...


Seriously mom, I made quite a mess...


Giant. Baby. Hands.


How can you ever say no to these big blue eyes???

Day Care Sucks

Have I mentioned at all how much I hate having to put Jake in daycare? I used to watch the nanny-cam, but it makes me even more depressed. I hate dropping him off in the morning, I hate picturing him there, I hate visiting. It all makes me so sad. Yesterday my friend Lisa and I broke him out at lunch time and took him back to our office where everyone cooed all over him. It felt so nice to be able to spend some time with him mid-day.

Two nights ago the coughing started. There are all these sick coughing little kids at the daycare and in my head they spend all day rubbing their germs on my precious boy. I scrub his hands with baby wipes as soon as I pick him up from there every day. Not that it makes an ounce of difference. He will just keep getting sick, and it will just keep breaking my heart, and I will just have to suck it up and put up with it until our situation changes. (Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Who knows...) I hate that we are spending a fortune on daycare and still getting the short end of the stick.

So my poor baby spends his days across the street from my office park, less than a mile away, close enough to visit, but it still breaks my heart. Half the time when I visit, he looks so sad and depressed sitting in this crappy little swing or a grimy-looking bouncy seat, half the time the batteries are dead in the toy and he isn't even swinging, just sitting hunched looking sad. Our toys at home are clean and germ-free and new,and full of fresh batteries (most of the time). At least he isn't crying when I visit. Am I making the situation worse in my head than it really is? Who knows....

More picnic pictures

Here is one from my parents camera (where Jake is actually looking at the camera).

(CLICK ON ANY PICTURE IN THE BLOG TO ENLARGE)

Baptism Pictures

Ralph told me the blog was boring and needed new pictures. I think he was right... Enjoy!

Ralph and Jake in his full baptism outfit - love that hat:


The beautiful church, with Father Irwin presiding over the baptism:


Jake laying on the marble alter, eating his fingers as usual:


The godmother (Ralph's sister Laura) and godfather (Kelly's brother Danny):


Grandpa & Grandma Valentine, Jake, Mema Mary & Papa Ralph:


Jake, his parents, his grandparents, and his aunt and uncles: