Strong Legs

Jordan has gotten so much stronger over the past week or so.  Ever since he got over his cold, he has been ravenous and very energetic.  Mommy and Daddy have been helping him practice standing up.  He seems to enjoy standing and looking all around, and we can even let go of him for a short amount of time if he is holding onto a piece of furniture!

Happy Palm Sunday to everyone!

Happy 7 Month Birthday to Jordan!

We can't believe our little guy is already 7 months old!  And to see his personality develop along the way has been amazing:  Jordan is a pretty happy, funny, energetic, very observant, and at times, snuggly guy.  I thought I would steal a great idea from my friend Ashley (mom to cutie Brady) and document a typical day-in-the-life of Jordan.  Enjoy! (thanks Ash!)

6:30-7:00  Jordan wakes up happy, with lots of laughing, squealing, and raspberry-blowing.  We enjoy watching him on the baby monitor for a bit.  Daddy likes to go in first and get him out of the crib, singing our "good morning" song to him.  If Mommy isn't working, she goes in to see the two boys.  If Mommy is working, she left for work at 5:45am!
7:30  Mommy feeds Jordan (or Daddy gives a bottle if Mommy's at work).  Afterwards, we all go downstairs for playtime on the floor.  If Mommy is at work, Jordan's nanny arrives and Daddy gets ready  for work.
8:15  Breakfast time!  Jordan sits in his highchair and enjoys oatmeal mixed with some fruit, his favorites lately are banana and peach.  Daddy leaves for work.
9:00  Jordan goes down for his first nap.  This nap can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
10:00  Mommy feeds Jordan (or the nanny gives a bottle if Mommy's at work).  Afterwards, we usually pack up and head to the gym.  Jordan has a blast playing and watching all the other kids at the gym, while Mommy gets some time to exercise.
12:00  Home from the gym, Jordan's afternoon is different everyday.  Sometimes he will go right down for a nap, sometimes he wants to play first for a while.  When he does nap, it is anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.
1:30  Mommy feeds Jordan (or nanny and bottle).
2:00  Lunch time!  Jordan sits in his highchair and enjoys rice or barley cereal, along with 1 or 2 fruits or veggies.  After eating, Jordan plays on the floor, practicing rolling and crawling, or in his Exersaucer.
2:30  Mommy gets home from work.  Jordan is so smiley and happy, it just melts Mommy's heart!
4:00  Mommy feeds Jordan.  Then, Mommy and Jordan go on a walk.  Jordan gets a mesh-popsicle of fruit to soothe his gums.
5:30  Daddy gets home from work.  The boys love to sit outside in the backyard and watch the cars drive by.  Mommy gets things ready for Jordan's bedtime routine.
6:15  Mommy feeds Jordan.  Afterwards, Jordan takes his bath.  Mommy and Daddy take turns bathing him each night.
6:45  Jordan's out of the bath--we give him a massage, put baby lotion on his clean skin, and put him in his pajamas and sleep sack.  Daddy reads him two or three books, sings him some songs, and lays him down for bed.  Jordan is usually asleep by 7:30, after playing quietly for a while in his crib.  We don't hear a peep from him until 6:30 or so the next morning!

On another note, Jordan had his first sick baby visit to the doctor last week but, of course, once we got there he proceeded to giggle and squeal for the entire visit.  What a crazy man!  He was diagnosed with his first cold and we were pretty impressed that he hadn't been sick until 7 months old.  Nothing exciting, he's feeling great now and we did get some pretty funny pictures of him in the doctor's office.

At the pediatrician

Silly squealer

Messy with my peas!

Silly side of the Jord

Strikin' a pose

Now we're rolling!

Jordan is finally rolling over on his own...thank goodness!  We've been encouraging him for weeks and weeks, and after a lot of protesting, he decided to just get it over with.  Of course, he decided to roll over on his own for the first time for his nanny Bev (while Mommy and Daddy were at work, boo!).  Since then, we've been having fun watching him roll back and forth (check out the video below of one of his first times); he gets so excited rolling that he has a hard time getting to sleep now.

About to roll over

Yay! All by myself!

Speaking of sleep, things have been a little off lately due to all this darn teething!  Does teething seem to last forever, or what?!  Poor little guy has been chowing on frozen washcloths and teething rings for months now!  We will probably have to buy stock in Orajel once this is all over, too.  But, still no sign of any budding teeth (and believe me, I check daily).  I've been so sure that a tooth will just pop of nowhere for weeks now.  Mommy and Daddy are hoping for one or two soon, we hate to see the little guy suffer!
Jordan also had his first illness, if you can call it that, this past Thursday and Friday.  He had a low grade fever all night and most of the next day, so Mommy had to alternate giving him Tylenol and Ibuprofen.  He woke up every 3 to 4 hours that night and after getting some medicine, just wanted someone to hold him.  It was tough to see him feeling bad, but thankfully the fever never got high enough for a visit to the doctor.

Jordan is still enjoying playing at the gym three days (usually) a week with Mommy.  He has some friends there now, too.  His caregiver at the gym, Nuri, just commented today on how observant Jordan is of everything around him.  Mommy felt so proud of her guy!  And don't think we haven't noticed how observant Jordan can be: for one, it's pretty cool that we can say "Look, Jordan, there's a car" and he will automatically look out toward our street.  (That's his favorite thing to do right now--sit on the back patio and watch cars drive by.  He gets so pumped up!)  And also, we will say "here comes Queenie" and he will search all around looking for her.  It's amazing to see his brain working!

Playtime at the gym (Jordan on the right)

We went back to the beach this past weekend.  This time, Daddy dipped Jordan in the water.  He really liked this and laughed at  Daddy.  We sat with him at the water's edge and Mommy buried his feet in the wet sand.  He wiggled his toes and looked at us as if to say "where did they go?"  It was a fun, hot, and beautiful day together.

More beach time!

Mommy has been busy making Jordan's homemade (organic) baby food and has been having lots of fun doing it!  Jordan has added many foods to his lists of likes: pears, plums, butternut squash, bananas, and apples.  He doesn't like green beans (he gagged himself after eating them, actually!) and hasn't like avocado the last few times it's been served.  Otherwise, his previously big appetite has slowed down, we think mainly due to the teething discomfort.

So casual!

Aggravating Queenie

Silly Jordan!

Here's a funny video of Jordan blowing raspberries...he is such a character!

Spring Break

This past week was really great as John was on Spring Break from school.  He really wanted to be at home and spend some time together as a family since, in the past, we have always been "on-the-go" during his spring breaks.  Jill worked Monday, Tuesday, and a few hours on Wednesday, so Daddy got to spend a ton of quality time with his Jordan.  I think that they both enjoyed it, although John did mention that being the stay-at-home parent was tough!

Jordan has now been to the pool three times, each time getting more into it.  During his last visit, tonight, he even kicked his legs some!  He definitely smiled and talked while "swimming" so that made both Mommy and Daddy very happy!

Ready for some sun!

We also took Jordan to the beach for the first "official" time this past Saturday morning.  He was totally checking out the ocean, the waves, and the seagulls.  Daddy put his feet in the water and he just stared and stared.  We sat him on the beach, near the ocean, to watch the waves come in.  After all that excitement, we went to relax in the shade under Jordan's beach cabana.  Daddy and Jordan both took it easy in the shade, while Mommy tried to get some sun.  We plan on visiting the beach often--might as well take advantage of the beautiful beaches while we are still in Florida!

Checking out those waves!

Chillin' in the shade

Grandpa Stan and Nana babysat for Jordan this past Thursday night so that Jill and John could head out to a country concert.  Jordan was excited to have fresh faces to entertain and he was a perfect angel for the grandparents.  He also helped Grandpa Stan cheer for Kentucky basketball...we figure since Clemson is out of the tournament, he can at least root for the boys in blue!

Go Big Blue!

So happy in my SC tshirt!

Waving bye-bye

Here's a cute video of Jordan waving bye-bye.  He's been studying us and practicing for about a week now and just finally started waving.  He does more of a wrist-pop right now, but we are so proud of him!  Enjoy!

Happy 6 Month Birthday to Jordan!

Jordan technically turned 6 months old on March 10, 2011 but we have been on the road since then so this post is a little late!  We visited Dr. Luchtan, Jordan's pediatrician, tonight for his 6 month checkup and once again, all is going well.  Jordan weighs 16 lbs. 8 1/2 oz and measures 27 1/2 inches long.  The doctor was happy with everything regarding the little guy so that makes Mommy and Daddy happy too!  Unfortunately, Jordan had a rough time at the doctor's office...he got out of sync with his naps today so by the time we got in to see the doctor, Jordan was wiped out.  He cried most of the visit and then just before his shots, fell asleep on Mommy's shoulder.  This was unusual for the Jord, as he has been very pleasant and happy during our previous doctor office visits.  It was rough and we were so glad to get him home, although I anticipate a tough night ahead!

In the backyard

First cruise in the Baby Jogger with Mommy

One cool dude

This past weekend was a busy one, as the whole family traveled to Charleston, SC for Jill's cousin Sarah's wedding.  Jordan did great on the car ride up, except for the fact that he had been given a teeny tiny itsy bitsy amount of prune juice the night before because of 4 days worth of constipation.  He had been uncomfortable and we didn't want him to be in pain during the trip. But because of that small amount of prune juice, Mommy and Daddy's 8 hour drive became 9 hours, with lots of stops at not-so-ideal locations!  While Mommy and Daddy were sweating it, changing poopy diapers in the car and trying not to make a mess, Jordan just smiled and laughed.  At least we know his tummy was feeling better after all that!

Once we arrived in Charleston, or actually on the Isle of Palms, we were bombarded by family all waiting to see Jordan.  And don't think he didn't get loads of Peebles family time this weekend, because we were literally surrounded by them all....we stayed in a huge house with the entire family for 3 nights!  Jordan was basically, a pretty big deal, other then of course the bride.  He was passed from aunt to aunt to cousin all weekend, but he had a blast showing off.  There was lots of squealing, shrieking, sitting up, and playing (check out the video below for some silliness!).  He got some new (hand-me-down) toys from his cousins Jackson and Riley.  He hung with his Uncle Jeff.  He got to go for a stroller ride on the beach with Mommy and Daddy.  He even got to play with a new babysitter named Ashton while the entire family was at the wedding, which was beautiful, by the way. 

We returned home from SC on Sunday afternoon.  The drive home was a lot easier (boo to prune juice!).  Mommy worked today and Daddy had his first full day as the "manny."  Everyone survived and Jordan loved having his Daddy all to himself.  Spring break has started and we are looking forward to lots of family time this week. 

With KK in Charleston, SC

The fam in Charleston, SC

On another note, Jordan is still enjoying his solid foods and has so far tried rice cereal (like), avocado (like), sweet potato (really, really like!), peaches (like), and oatmeal (like).  We are having so much fun feeding him and he is much more aggressive with the food now.  He will grab for the spoon and try to put his hands in the food bowl.  He will also sit there with his mouth open, waiting for the next bite....so funny!

I looooove sweet potatoes!