Lots of "firsts"

Well we did it.  We actually cut Rudy's hair.  I really thought we would hold out for at least a year...let it do it's thing.  But then we got talking about it and the next morning thought, "what the heck?  let's go for it!"  So we did.  John lined the bathroom sink with a trash bag, set up Rudy's bumbo seat, and got his clippers out.

                   Before:

                   During:

                     After:

The hardest part was trying to keep him distracted from eating the chord of the clippers.  He didn't mind the buzzing or the feeling on his head, he just wanted to get his hands on the chord!  He did great, though.  And so did Dad!  Rudy is such a handsome little guy with his new haircut, thanks to his personal barber.  My little baby doesn't look quite like a baby anymore -- he is looking more and more like a little boy, now.  Makes me happy and sad at the same time. 

We are back to having poop issues.  For whatever reason, Rudy got constipated again.  Who knows why?  He only eats one thing, so why now?  But regardless, I called the doctor about it on Monday because he hadn't gone for about 4-5 days and we had been giving him the Karo Syrup and water with no relief.  They suggested a suppository and a slightly new eating regime.  My dad ran and got the suppositories for me yesterday afternoon-ish and they worked like a charm (John was so upset he had to miss this experience).  And as of today he is getting 2 ounces of prune juice mixed in with his morning bottle (he wouldn't take it by itself) and a thing of baby food prunes each day.  I thought we would start with rice cereal for foods, but we got to dive right in!  I was so upset that the day we were to start food, I had to work.  I work part-time for a reason.  I want to be there for all the milestones, like his first time eating food!  (We wanted to start the juice and food during the first half of the day in hopes that any action,whether good or bad, didn't happen in the middle of the night -- especially since this is his first time having any kind of food, let alone prunes!)  Luckily it worked out that he was ready to eat during my lunch break so I was able to run home and help out.  

Besides the extra mess (not pictured because it took 2 sets of hands to try and keep his hands away from everything with prunes all over them!), you would have thought he'd been eating forever!  He did great.  He didn't spit it out, didn't push away the spoon -- he actually did the opposite!  He tried to feed himself, get that spoon in as fast as he could.  Anything that dripped off or bad aim on my part, he tried to eat, too.  Like the spills on the bib...he was trying to eat it off the bib.  He loved it!  And he made a huge mess which John was not thrilled about.  He kept saying, "I knew I should have waited to give him a bath" and "This has got to get cleaner, right?"  Hmmm...we'll see!  Makes me excited to try different stuff coming up.  But only one new thing each week.  If he were to have any kind of reaction, whether allergy, constipation, etc, we want to know what causes it.  I'm all thrown off my game, though.  I had a plan of attack for starting foods and it didn't start with prunes!  That's ok, though, I can adjust easily :)

He just keeps getting more and more fun!  And cute! (...I'm a tad biased, though)

On a side note, the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!!!  Woo-hoo!!!  Go Patriots!!!  We are anxiously waiting for the big game :) 

Happy birthday, Mr. Ru!

Rufus turned 3!  So now that he is out of the "terrible 2's," we are expecting a much better behaved dog.  No jumping, no barking crazily, no peeing on the rugs...but then again we are talking about Rufus and I don't think much is going to change!  But I wouldn't want them to.  I love Rufus' spunk and I wouldn't want him to change (even though I have to remind myself that when he starts barking at nothing right when Rudy's eyes close and then open wide immediately to the sound of Rufus). 

Rufus is an incredibly puppy.  We have so much love for that crazy animal!  He is always up for playing, always up for cuddling, always up for anything, really!  He loves walks, rides, treats, anything from my dad, and his family.  And he is very much a part of our family.  He makes us feel loved every day!  And when John is at work, he steps up as the man of the house and protects me and Rudy.  I had never had a pet before, but I can't imagine any other dog like Rufus...He is a one-of-a-kind!  He really is our best friend...

So happy birthday, Rufus!!

Rufus' Birthday Cake

 Enjoying his birthday present

This little guy is infatuated with Rufus.  They have so much fun in store for each other :)

   

My Baby Dinosaur

Rudy has been a lot more vocal lately.  He squeeks and squaks and it reminds me of a baby dinosaur.  He is also working on blowing some rasberries, but hasn't quite gotten it down yet.  It's pretty funny to see him try, though. 

Rudy is now 5 months old!!!  Unbelievable.  It seems like everything changes at 6 months or there are all kinds of things we can do or will start to do at 6 months so I am going to try and enjoy this last month with a "baby." 

One night after we got all the Christmas stuff unpacked and put away as best we could, I said to John, "I think I'm going to use my Christmas money to buy a big wicker basket for Rudy to keep all his toys in in the living room."  Well, as the conversation continued, it turned into this...

John and I sat down and designed a bench/shelves with all the exact specifications we wanted.  Then we found the bins we liked and, well, back to the drawing board to make them work.  And if we were going to be putting in this new bench, a fresh coat of lighter paint would really go a long way in that room.  We loved the color it was and when it was just John and I, the room was nice and cozy for our evenings of watching TV and hanging out.  But when we now spend sometimes an entire day, day after day, in there -- it just needed to be brighter!  John and I stayed up after Rudy went to bed one night and painted the entire living room -- 2 coats!  While we were painting, this was a good time to take down the collage of photos as they would likely get in the way of the "bench" part if we were sitting on it.  And as we were putting things back the next day, we deep cleaned the entire room which it desperately needed!  Ray and John built the bench, my mom made the cushion, John painted it, and I decorated :)   John likes to tease me, "Jen has an idea and poof -- she has her carpenters and her seamstress get to work."  In the end, my $50 basket turned in to...

New paint and supplies:  $200
Wood and other building materials:  $150
Cushion materials:  $100
Bins:  $140
Lion rug that's on it's way:  $120
New pictures:  $25
Having a place for all of Rudy's things that he will play on and love forever:  Priceless

We are so happy with the end product!  It is 6 ft long, 2 ft wide, and 2 ft tall.  And soooo heavy and sturdy!  It's great for storing lots of Rudy's books, toys, movies, using as extra seating, and even a changing table!  Thanks for everyone's help!!!

Funny story about the lion rug...we got everything put together and John pointed out this rug to me in a catalog we had at home. 

The area in front of the bench is just the hardwood floors and it would be nice to have something there to play on, but another square rug would seem odd next to our other big, square rug.  And with the animal motif going on, it was perfect! ....but John suggested we wait.  I agreed and said, "Maybe Rudy can get it for his birthday."  John said, "That's longer than I was thinking...you have a birthday coming up, maybe that's what you should ask for."  My parents were over for this conversation.  My dad pops in and says, "Doesn't Rufus have a birthday coming up??"  And that he does!  This weekend Rufus will be 3 and we are having a little birthday par-tay for him on Sunday.  Aaaand he will be getting a lion rug.  John said, "Oh great idea, Gary, Rufus loves peeing on rugs.  He will love it."

A lot of work from one idea but so worth it -- Rudy is one lucky little boy! 

Check out those little teeth!

Rudy has really taken an interested in Rufus lately.  Rufus is getting more play time, too so he's happy.  Playing "fetch" with Rufus keeps Rudy entertained watching him run all over the place.  He tries to "pet" him but ends up pulling on his fur.  Poor Ruf.  He better get used to it.  

Rudy also pays a lot more attention to books and movies/cartoons.  Here is a picture of him reading the book Uncle Tony recorded for him (one of his favorites, for sure!)

 

He is getting really close to being able to sit up on his own.  We keep practicing!  He does great until his attention shifts and then his whole body falls in whatever direction he looks.  While we are trying to have dinner or in the mornings when I am trying to pack up my lunch, we've been "practicing" sitting in his high chair.  Hopefully this gets him used to it and he will be ready to go in a few weeks when we start giving him food (and not just toys).  For that reason and he is also more cognizant when we leave the room and he doesn't like it.  So to leave him in the living room playing while I'm in the kitchen, really isn't an option right now.  He likes having allllll the attention!   

We went back to the doctor at the beginning of this week to get his ears re-checked and they were all good!  He also weighed in at 19 lbs, 8 oz.  He is just getting so big!!  His poor teeth are really bothering him.  It's so hard to watch him bight angrily at things and whine and cry.  We try to distract him as much as possible and give him every kind of teething toy made, but we have been falling back on Tylenol and Orajel quite a bit!  They seem to be the only things that give him some relief.  I swear the rest of his teeth are all going to pop up at once the way he is acting! 

That's all for now!  Hope everyone enjoys their weekend and stays warm inside!  I was not ready for this snow...I was hoping we might skip winter this year :( 

Here is one last photo John had from Christmas Eve...

We look a little anxious to open presents!

Happy New Year

We have had some amazing, big milestones happen in the last few years...

2009:  Bought, redid, and moved into our house
2010:  Got married
2011:  Had our precious Rudy
2012:  ??  Maybe we are in need of a simple, not life-changing event filled year!  But then again, who knows what it will bring?!

We had a fun New Year's Eve.  John and I took Rudy to his first "kid" birthday party.  Jorja turned 1!  Jorja is the cutest little girl ever and she was having a blast at her party.  Rudy had a great time, too!

In the evening, Gran and Grandpa Ballweg came over to our house to watch Rudy for us.  Gran brought party hats and they had their own little NYE par-tay!

John and I went out for a few hours for drinks and dinner with the Allotey's and Leonard's.  We had a really good time and it was nice to come home early to a sleeping baby.

I had to set my alarm to wake up and tell John "Happy New Year" --  some may think it was a lame NYE, but I wouldn't have changed a minute of it.

I have to rant for a quick second -- one thing I am definitely NOT looking forward to in 2012 is hearing about it being the "end of the world" on December 22.  Some of your may remember, but I had a difficult time with the apocalypse theory.  I have never been more happy and I absolutely love the life John and I have built together and the path we are on...how dare someone try and tell me it is going to be so quickly taken away before we get to have and raise all our children and are old and grey, sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch talking to each other about nothing because we can't even hear what one another is saying.  Now if God happens to have some other plan for us, fine, I could accept that, but not some stupid theory that threatens to take it all away -- and I wouldn't even think about it except it will be talked about everywhere, nonstop.  I am going to do my best to avoid it!  And if it is God's plan, then we will just have to make 2012 one heck of a year!!  There.  I'm done.

Some things to look forward to this year are lots of babies!! -- Jannette and Josh Allotey will be welcoming a new baby in August, along with Tom and Nicole St. Jules in July, and Sara and Eric VanDerWal in June...Rudy's friends are multiplying!!  So happy for all of them and their families!!

Happy New Year everyone!!!  Prayers for a happy and healthy year!! :)