Radio Flyer Ride

We received a terrific cookie bouquet from Uncle Keith, Aunt Traci, and Cousins Samantha and Sydney that greeted us when we arrived home from the hospital. Notice the Radio Flyer red wagon the cookie bouquet came in.

When the cookies were eaten I dismantled the "insides" of the wagon, but kept the wagon. Turns out it is one of Jay's favorite toys right now. He loves taking it by the handle and moving it back and forth, turning it over on its side, and tossing toys in it (the blocks really CLANK - he likes that)!

Tonight Dad decided he'd try to take Jay for a little ride in the wagon. I think you can tell from the pictures and video below that he really liked Dad's idea!

The above photo is a new favorite of mine. Look at him smile showing off his six teeth!

I had to get a side-view picture of him sitting in the wagon. He seemed to really like "posing" for me tonight. What a fun little guy he is!

I'll end this blog post with a video of him "riding" in his wagon.

Dedication

Yesterday was a fun and exciting day.

Jay and I ran an errand in Seattle so we took the opportunity to stop by the office where I used to work for a quick visit. Once again it was so good to see all of my former co-workers and friends.

Then last evening our church held a family service where they just did baptisms and baby dedications with some worship music interspersed. Aunt Molly and her boyfriend Scott joined us for the church's Wednesday night dinner served there followed by the service. Thanks to those two for taking these photos.

The blanket has this sewn to it:

James Dunegan (our last name)

Born June 2, 2008

Dedicated to the Lord

February 18, 2009

Crossroads Bible Church

Bellevue, Washington

With love and prayers from

Companionship Quilters

The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Today's Playdates

Today Jay and I enjoyed an outing to see friends - me to see my friends Katie, Emilie, and Priscilla and Jay (born early June 2008) saw his friends Audrey (born mid-May 2008), Elorie (born mid-February 2008), and Kyler (born the same day as Jay - early June 2008). Since we've been cooped up at home so much recently getting well it was a much needed and anticipated activity.

Audrey and Jay

Elorie, Jay, and Audrey watching Baby Einstein's "My First Signs" DVD

Today's conversation for us Moms mostly centered around baby food - what foods to make during various stages, how to make certain baby foods at home, what food combos we've done that the kids have enjoyed, etc. During the playdate we each fed our kiddo at some point in time so the conversation easily lent itself to that subject.

Tonight Aunt Molly joined us for dinner and played with Jay. It was a fun day seeing so many friends!

Stomach Bug Epidemic

Jay woke up around midnight early Tuesday morning. It had been about 5 hours since I last nursed him, so I did that. When he finished with his meal I propped him up and was standing holding him when all of a sudden he tossed his cookies. It was a long evening as I comforted Jay.

All day Tuesday I laid low with Jay, cuddling and playing with him, watching him closely, and trying to make sure he didn't get dehydrated. He slept terrific last night.

Come this morning, though, I woke up, got Jay, then put him down on my bed as I proceeded to toss my cookies. Ugh! Nothing like the flu bug to make you feel miserable. Again we laid low today and Jay napped wonderfully so I was able to sleep well today, too.

Then this afternoon Matt came home from work early and you guessed it, he tossed his cookies too.

A big thanks to my sister Molly who upon learning of our sick household immediately dropped what she was doing and ran to the grocery store. She brought over Saltines, ramen soup, water, and lemon-lime soda to help with our flu bug. The perfect tummy things for a very sick household.

As you can tell, the flu bug is in full force here, but we're doing fine. I've done several loads of laundry more than normal the last couple of days because of the sickness. It is too bad you can't tell/teach an 8 month old to toss his cookies in a bowl vs. all over Mom! Blow-out diapers are not that great either. Ha! I'm beginning to feel better since my system has been thoroughly flushed. Hopefully not much more "flushing" is necessary to get this out of my system.

Please pray that this bug makes its way through us quickly so that we're on the mend sooner rather than later. I can't remember the last time I felt THIS sick. Also pray that we didn't pass on this nasty bug to anyone else.

8 Months Old

Jay is exactly 8 months old today!

• He has six teeth - four on top and two on the bottom
• He can crawl/push himself backwards (does a push-up with his arms and pushes back)
• He eats (pureed) solids three times a day and nurses about six times per day
• He is sleeping through the night (for the most part)
• He normally wakes up at 7:00 a.m.
• He normally goes to bed at 8:30 p.m.
• Kitchen sink baths are still his all-time favorite activity
• You know he is happy if he is swinging/kicking his legs when you are holding him
• He is truly and literally a "bouncing baby boy"
• He is regularly "babbling" to us
• He is good at grabbing objects and enjoys waving them back and forth in the air
• We're trying to teach him "gentle" - he isn't always so when reaching out to touch your face
• He sits and will play at a certain activity for 15 to 20 minutes before he gets bored
• He loves to stand and can do so on his own while hanging on to sturdy objects
• He loves being sung to - favorites include "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Arky Arky" (a.k.a. Rise and Shine - the song about Noah), the alphabet song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Jesus Loves Me"
• He LOVES playing "peek-a-boo"
  

A Walk Today

Jay and I took a walk with my girlfriends today. The cap my Grandma (Jay's Great-Grandma) knit for him fit his head finally. I loved that I didn't have to worry about his head or ears getting too cold. Since I don't have mittens/gloves for Jay, I used a pair of his socks. Had he not gotten them all wet with slobber they would have kept his hands warmer. When I went to take them off in the car his hands were quite cold. Yikes! Lesson learned.

I can just see what Jay is thinking, "Mom, do you have to take so many pictures?? Come on, let's get going!"

Family, Standing, and Backwards Crawling

Matt's sisters and their families (minus Traci's husband Keith) hung out here this past Sunday afternoon.

We're preparing for Traci's family to leave the area since Keith took a terrific job in Texas. It is quite bittersweet for us...we're so happy for them and this new opportunity/journey God has them on, but we sure are going to miss having them so close by! What a blessing their family has been to us! We know families will be blessed by them in Texas, too. Keith is already on the job in Texas having left more than a week ago. The girls are wrapping things up here and will be leaving soon. As you can imagine, we're soaking up every last possible minute with them!

The Cousins

(taken on Sunday, January 18)

Samantha, Joshua, Jay, Sydney, and Alex

Matt's sisters - Shawn and Traci

A Family Photo!

Cousin Samantha and Jay

(taken Tuesday, January 27)

Having a blast on the dining room chair

Look at me - standing on my own!

This standing thing is GREAT!

Today I was able to capture Jay doing his newest latest and greatest trick - backwards crawling! I've been doing tummy time with him and it has been amazing watching this process of him learning to crawl. In days prior he has only done just a little bit of scootching back. But today he really took off! I'm sure it is just a matter of time before he learns to crawl forward.