Sweet Potato and Cutie Pie! - November 20th

After a week of bananas, JJ was ready to move on to something else, and got his first taste of sweet potatoes! And he LOVED them! He gobbled them up like it was nobody's business, and looked adorable while he did it! I know it looks like he got more on his face and bib that in his tummy, but really he ate a lot. In fact, he finished the whole jar, which he never did with bananas. Every time I brought the spoon up from the bowl, he would lunge forward with his face and arms, ready for more, so I'm guessing he liked it.

Today was a little challenging since JJ didn't want to take any naps. He took one short nap for about 40 minutes this morning, and then refused to go down in the afternoon. I finally got him to fall asleep around 3:30pm which is kind of the last chance for a nap for him, or else we run the risk of him being down for the entire night. But he was up less than an hour later. So I spent some time today taking pictures of him. Oh, by the way, in case anyone is wondering, we're borrowing a camera right now, and it's the same model I'm thinking about buying, so that's why there are pictures to be seen at all right now.

So, here's an update on what JJ's been doing lately. A few weeks ago he rolled over for the first time. He started doing it non-stop, rolling from his front to his back and his back to his front, scooting all over the place. But for some reason he hasn't rolled over for almost two weeks now. I saw him do it once yesterday, but otherwise I've noticed that he hasn't been doing it. I'm not sure why. I don't think he realizes that if he's on his back and wants to be on his front, he can do that himself. I think the novelty of being able to roll over has gotten old and now he'll just whine if he's in a position he doesn't like. I've left him whining many times, thinking that he will eventually realize that he can fix his own problem, but it doesn't seem to be getting through. I even pushed him a little bit so that he would almost roll over, trying to remind him of his new skill, but he just doesn't seem interested in rolling over anymore. Oh well.

Aside from that, he is a master-pivoter, changing directions with ease while he's on his belly. He loves to hold and study things, and of course, he loves to chew. I really think he's going to cut a tooth soon, but there's still no visible sign of any teeth coming, aside from his constant teething. He loves to laugh and it's a lot of fun when Jeremy and I really get him going. He's sleeping 12 hours straight through the night, which is a very welcome development, and overall he's just the cutest thing (if I do say so myself).

November? Really?? - November 3rd

JJ and I awoke on Monday, November 3rd to find a beautiful, 70 degree day tempting us to take advantage of it. We started with JJ playing on the floor in the living room as he often does, but because it was so nice and warm out, I was able to keep the front door open, bringing in more of the sunshine JJ loves. After a while, I thought to my self, "wait a second -- this is NOVEMBER. In Wisconsin. There aren't going to be many more, if any, days like this in the near future." And with that thought I got JJ and me ready to go out for a nice walk.

There is a scenic trail not far from our house on which I used to take Tommy out for walks. I decided to take JJ there on this beautiful day, sans Tommy mainly because I had just cleaned out my car and wasn't ready to get dog hair all over it again! So JJ and got in the car and rode, windows wide open, to the trail, about a mile from our house.

Once there I immediately decided that this walk would be a good subject for a blog entry, since it was so pretty outside, with the sun shining and the leaves falling off the trees. I had brought the camera along to take pictures and so I decided to start shooting as we walked.

JJ was really enjoying it, as you can see. I took a few shots of him and we journeyed on, taking in the fresh air and gorgeous weather, knowing that it will be many months before we get to enjoy another day outside without having to bundle up. The trees and tall grass were just begging to be photographed, and I was determined to go for a long walk and write a nice, long blog entry about it, complete with pictures.


I really liked the way the sun was shining through the dry, brown grass and thought it would be nice to share here, so I snapped a shot. After that, JJ and I continued to walk, and there was a nice bend in the trail up ahead. Another great opportunity for a good picture, I thought, and pulled out the camera. I'm not sure what happened, but I turned the camera on and then, without any reason at all, I dropped the camera, right on the lens. I don't know how or why -- it just slipped out of my hands. In any case, the camera is busted to the point where I'm no longer able to take pictures with it. So this is probably going to be the last entry for a while, at least the last entry with photos to accompany it. That's not to say I can't post if something interesting should happen, but I really just write this stuff so there's something to read along with the pictures. I never really thought anyone REALLY read all this anyway. So you can continue to check back, but until we get a new camera, it's going to be a little boring. anyway, hope you enjoyed the last "illustrated" post for a while!

Anyway, we finished our walk, which took about an hour, and all the people walking and riding their bicycles on the trail smiled at JJ as they passed by. It was a great day, and a great way to spend it.