"Bottle" him up

Jones held his bottle on his own today!

He's been playing at it for a couple of weeks; he'd get his grip on it, but his aim was all off, so he'd end up taking a nipple to the nose or dropping milk all over his hairline.

Today, though, the stars - and Jones's strengthening coordination - aligned, and he was able to hold his own bottle!

I am thrilled, if for no other reason than because it means I can Instagram while he's eating! Actually, like every other mother, I love to see him hit these milestones on the road to becoming a big boy.

We've also been working for awhile on the sippy cup. I want him totally off the bottle by a year, if not before. The sippy, however, has been slow going, but it's probably less that he can't handle it and more because I'm inconsistent in giving it to him.

I need to work on that!

Oh, and tooth number two has made its appearance (bottom right)! I guess that explains the fever from earlier this week?

Time for a Photo Book!

As remarkable as it is to believe, Sunday marked Jones's eight month birthday!

To be honest, he wasn't even remotely interested in his monthly photo shoot. He either wanted to chew on the red frame or crawl away from it, both of which I thought were adorable representations of the way he's growing from a lay-and-play baby to an almost-toddling little boy.

Amazingly, the "bring-him-home" outfit (as Jeremy calls it) fits better today than it ever has.  In fact, I'm not sure he'll EVER outgrow it, which is good, because I want to be sure I get my $11 worth out of it!

In addition to getting his first tooth just a few days before turning eight months old (his second came in today - just a few days after ...!), Jones's birthday reminded me of two things:

1) It's time to start making reservations for his First Birthday Celebration at the Happiest Place on Earth, and
2) It's time to create a Shutterfly book of his last four months' of Daily Instagrams.

So that's what I did this afternoon.

I hope you like it!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive photobook layouts so you can make your book just the way you want.

Another first

Jones has his first fever tonite.

We've been incredibly blessed that he's not been sick before now. Well, he had a cough a few months ago but never a fever.

He actually acted totally fine until dinner time. He was really fussy, but he kept on eating, so I thought maybe his second tooth was giving him trouble.

After Jeremy got home, Jones felt warm, so we took his temperature three times, and it was 101.

If I were a betting woman (and, during football season, I kinda am!), I'd wager it's either teething-related, or maybe he's got a little congestion from being in and out of so many hotel rooms. He's not got any other symptoms (well, he had diarrhea this afternoon, which also goes along with teething, I'm told), so I'm not at all worried, but I wanted to note the fever here, as I try to keep track of the milestones in his little life!

Happy Father's Day!

We've been on the road a lot lately. "A lot" is an understatement. We've been on the road WAY more than we've been home in the last couple of months.  As a result, Jeremy's only request for his first Father's Day was that we be at home. MY only request for Jeremy's first Father's Day was that we eat lunch at Sid's on Main. It meant spending 14 hours in the car on Saturday, but BOTH of us got our wishes. Jeremy got to sleep in his own bed for Father's Day, and I got to eat my favorite Buffalo Chicken Salad of all the Buffalo Chicken Salads.

We got in from a work trip to Ft. Myers, Florida, a little after midnite. This morning, Jones woke us up about 7:30 a.m. As we usually do, we brought him into our room for a couple "good morning cuddles" to get the day started right. Then, Jeremy opened his gifts, and Jones ate his breakfast. After that, we put Jones back in HIS bed and climbed back into ours to take a nap before church.

A nap before church?

YOU try driving 14 hours with an 8 month old ...

After our nap, we went to church and then to Sid's (YES!) and then to the Pressleys', where we spent the afternoon before celebrating with a Father's Day steak dinner that nite. 

Hopefully, Jeremy found the day to be befitting a father as fantastic as he is!

Does that compute?

Usually, I'M the one who updates Jones's blog.

But not always.

Teeth time!

We left for Ft. Myers about 8 o'clock Tuesday nite. As he usually does, we figured Jones would fall asleep before we could pull out of Mom & Daddy's parking lot.

But he didn't.

He fussed and fidgeted for longer than I have EVER seen him fuss and fidget, and I sat up front, thinking, "Booooyyyy, if you think I can't outlast that tantrum, you've got another thing comin' to ya!" before rearranging the entire cargo load, so that I could sit beside him, which was as effective a sooth-er as when I was trying to outlast him up front.

Now, though, I'm starting to sheepishly wonder if it wasn't something more than a tantrum. This morning, I felt his first tooth! I'm wondering if that weren't the culprit behind his Tuesday nite tears?

How bad do I feel?!

Regardless, the bottom left tooth is finally in - just three days shy of Jones's 8th month-iversary. Outside of this related-or-not episode on Tuesday, he really didn't show any fussiness, nor has he had sleep regression. Nope. Outside of having his fist down his throat, since April, and enough drool to float a boat, he really didn't have the classic symptoms of teething. He handled it really well, and I can't wait to see how he looks with a mouthful of teeth!

Swim Rat

Summer's here!

I know that, because my hair won't stay straight and, also, because the pool at my parents' apartment complex is open. After a few weeks of talking about taking Jones for his first dip, we actually did it this afternoon. 

He got the the hang of it really quickly and, except for a few massive gulps of chlorinated water, seemed to enjoy himself! 

Jones goes to Charleston.

Jones's first trip to Charleston is hardly worth mentioning. We were in and out of town in about 18 hours, which didn't leave time for much more than a total meltdown at Ryan and Jessi's wedding. Bless his heart. He actually did great during the ceremony.  It was held at the Island House on John's Island.  But by the time the reception started, the Charleston humidity had combined with Jones's lack of an afternoon nap to create a storm of tropical proportions. I've seriously never seen him that inconsolable, which, of course, made me just about as inconsolable. Needless to say, he didn't make the greatest first impression on the Johnson branch of the family, and I'm not sure they were all that proud of me, either.

Thankfully, though, Jones went to bed easily and woke up his same sweet self on Saturday morning.  

It's a good thing. 

Do the WAVE!

Jones chose to break up the minutia of a drive to Charleston today by showing off a brand new trick.

We were in Mom's car, and since his seat won't fit in the way back of it, I was sitting there. Jones was on the second row beside Jeremy. To entertain Jones, I spent a small part of the drive, waving maniacally at him. To my delighted surprise, he waved right back ... but just for a second.

You know what they say: our little boy is growing up!

Photos by Brookie

Did I mention in the Nashville post that my friend Brooke was good enough to take Jones's pictures while we were in town?

Well, she was.

She's a mind-blowingly talented children's photographer, who did a shoot with Jones just after he was born, and, at 7 months, she did another one, which I appreciate more than she'll ever know, though I hate that I don't have a talent with which I can reciprocate her incredible gifts to me!

At any rate, she sent me the pictures yesterday. I ADORE them.  Actually, "adore" doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about them.  I love them so much that I don't even hate how I look in them. THAT'S the mark of a magician.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Jones goes to Omaha.

The third leg in our triangle of Teach Them Diligently Convention trips was to Omaha, Nebraska.  This, of course, involved a flight from Atlanta, whose airport makes me want to drive a pair of plastic pilot's wings through my eyes, to Omaha, a place where we were exponentially less likely to be cut in front of by a Delta employee.                                                       

Jones's first flight went incredibly well.  We'd gotten to our gate in Atlanta early enough to ask if there were any empty seats available for him. Turns out, the very last row of the plane was available, which ended up being awesome. There was no window to look out (not great), but the engine was right beside us, which was great, because any time Jones made a noise, which wasn't often, it was drowned out by the roar of a jet engine. 

Another great thing about the flight was that Coie Watson was flying out with us. I had no idea how much we'd need her help, but having her there ended up being a TOTAL God-send, especially when I spilled Jones's unzipped diaper bag, as I walked down the jetway. 

Rookie mistake, I guess. 

Anyway, Jones did great. He slept for about the first thirty minutes; the rest of the time, he was awake but completely content to stay in his seat and play with toys.  The flight was smooth, and by the time we landed in Omaha, it was pretty nearly time for Jones to go to bed, which he did. No muss, no fuss.

Though Omaha seems like a super city, our time was almost ENTIRELY consumed with convention work. We did get to visit the Old Market area of town (lunch at the Old Spaghetti Works), but it was raining, so we didn't get to do too much more than eat. 

Thankfully, Mom flew out to keep the kids during the convention, so she did her thing, and we did ours, and then we came home on another great flight, once again with Coie, gratefully, in tow.  On the second flight, I held Jones the entire time. Well, Coie held him some, too - see what I mean about her being helpful?! It was an entirely full flight but a smooth one, nonetheless.

After landing back in the ATL, we got our car, ate at California Dreaming, and drove back to Canton by way of Goats on the Roof, a place I'm sure we'll visit many more times between now and when Jones graduates college. 

Something to look forward to.