End of year update (2011)

Sheesh-- I can't believe it's been since September since I've updated this blog. We've clearly been super busy with fall fun, Thanksgiving, my birthday and now -- CHRISTMAS IN ONE WEEK! Since I don't have enough time or energy to write out a detailed blog of our every move-- I am going to list a bunch of words that JJ says that are just so darn adorable. I wish he would talk like this forever, but I know that just can't and should NOT happen :)

Dadia = Daddy
Mamia = Mommy
Ohwhattaboy = Grandmom (Rita)
Mimi = Grammy (Jan)
Mock = Uncle Mark
GoooooooooooogE = Gobi
Ba = Bella
Juice - JewCK

I think pretty much all of the other words he says are pretty clear for his age -- but the ones I just listed are just so darn cute.

JJ is truly his own person, with his own personality and his own likes and dislikes. He LOVES trains. Obsessed. He loves going to the library, swimming with Mommy at the Y, grocery shopping, going to the mall (paradise of fun, anyone?), playing with his friends, cousins and family. His current phase is the: I want Mommy every second of the day phase. He is starting to pay attention to TV now and loves Caillou and Barney. I only put on Sprout for him and will keep it that way for a long time. His current crushes are: Abbey from Sesame Street and Dawn's daughter, Julia. He is still taking a super long nap in the afternoon (anywhere from 3-4 hours, sometimes longer where we need to wake him up). His current dislikes: getting his teeth brushed and diaper changes. New trends: Likes to drink hot tea (chamomile) and dark chocolate. He is super smart and bright-- already recognizing colors, numbers, shapes and letters. I'm thinking he may skip grade school and high school all together and just enter college. There is so much about this kid and I REALLY could write about him for days, but sadly, "ni night" time is approaching, so Mommy needs to go.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to update before the end of 2011, but I WILL post pics of JJ's second Christmas. AND his last Christmas of it just being him before his little sister comes in March.

HAPPY HOLIDAY'S!

Jonathan, Lauren and JJ Fitch

Updates

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost 3 months since I've updated our blog. I guess that means we must have had a really fun summer :)

Within the past few weeks, JJ has had a major word explosion, saying 1-3 new words a day. Todays new words were pizza and tortilla! Awesome, right? Jonathan Jr. is adorable as ever. He is becoming much more independent, testing Mommy and Daddy's patience. Saying "no", shaking his head no and pretty much doing whatever he wants to do. It is taking a lot for me to stay calm and just deal, but that is mostly because we are expecting another little one and the exhaustion and all day nausea has me out of it a bit.

Anyways, back to JJ. We've had so much fun this summer. Play dates, two weeks at Wildwood with Grandmom, Pop Pop and GG. Trips to the mall, playgrounds, creamery, petting zoo, lake and so much more. JJ's new BFF's are Marco and Nico. They are super, super adorable together and pretty much have a brother-type relationship.

We are currently trying to figure out what this random lump on JJ's right shin is. I took him a few days ago for an x-ray, which came back completley "clean" and "negative". They then did an ultrasound which didn't really give us any answers. They were able to confirm that it isn't a cyst, but because of the size (super small) and location of the lump, not much was showing on the ultrasound. The tech said that the doctor may say we need to get an MRI or just let it be for a bit and see what happens. Since his x-ray came back fine, we can relax and not worry so much and just see what happens.

Ok, so back to JJ becoming a big brother. My due date is March 23, 2012 and I'll likely have my c-section scheduled for March 16th, which puts me at 39 weeks. The downside to this is I will be in the hospital for JJ's 2nd birthday :( The plan now is to have a party a few weeks before his birthday and since he is so little, he won't know I am actually not there for his actual birthday. The plus side is he will gain a brother or sister for his second birthday. How cool is THAT?

We have an exciting week coming up. Tomorrow we are going to hit the fair with Jenny, Marco and Nico. Saturday we are going back to the fair with Daddy. Sunday we leave for the Outerbanks (Corolla, NC) and staying for the week. Maggie is getting married so we will have a week to spend with friends and hang out on the beach-- we are REALLY looking forward to a vacation :)

I promise I will try and update much more often, about specific fun events and new updates.

Updates!

I can't believe it's been since JJ turned 1 that I have updated. Ooops! Well, the little guy is becoming more and more of his own person. Each day he changes, does something different, etc. He is such a sweet boy. One thing consistent with my baby boy is that he has this very calm, relaxing, sweet and chilled way about him. Both Mommy and JJ have made an awesome group of friends here in Brunswick which keeps are day full of fun. JJ is the youngest of the crew ever since the Riedel's moved away, but he has been holding his own. So far our summer has been lots of fun with play dates, pools, playgrounds, library and the zoo.

At the end of July we are going to stay with Grandmom and Pop in Wildwood, NJ for 2 weeks at the 1900. The 1900 sits right on top of the beach and boardwalk where JJ will enjoy the pool, beach, rides, games, tram car, ice cream, food and much more. We're so excited to have 2 weeks at the beach with my family. The huge bummer is that Daddy can't stay the whole time and will come on weekends :(

Oh, and for records sake, in case I need to go back, he started to walk a little over 13 months old and from 13 months-15 months he cut 6 teeth! It was like they all came at once :) Just this week he is pushing himself from 2 naps to 1 nap a day which has been a bit challenging for both of us. It looks like putting him down between 12-1 seems like a really good time.

JJ's Philly Party!

My Mom, Brother and Chris went all out and through an awesome party for JJ. We had over 60 people at Mark's house and the moon bounce even followed from Maryland. The theme for this party was JayJay the Jet plane.

ONE YEAR OLD!

Happy FIRST birthday, Jonathan Jr. My baby is now 1 and he is just simply the best. We had two birthday parties for him, one here at our house in Brunswick, MD and one in Philadelphia, PA at his Uncle Mark and Aunt Chris' house. My mom bought him an awesome moon bounce so we were able to use it at BOTH parties which the kids LOVED. We did a farm theme for his party at home and a JayJay the jet plane theme in Philly. He had amazing cakes, amazing food and lots of fun. Although he didn't seem to like the moon bounce when in MD, he LOVED it when he was in it by himself in Philly. Crawling and cruising around and playing the balls. Maybe he just wanted it all to himself?!?! Anyways, here are some pictures to highlight the parties. Thank you so much to all of our great friends and awesome family for celebrating with us. Between both parties we had over 100 people celebrate JJ. We love you all!

No longer a little baby, not a toddler, but somewhere in between

I don't even know how to describe him anymore. My beautiful 6 pound 15 ounce baby boy is a fast crawler, busy body cruiser who loves music, dances, he touches his head when I ask him where his head is. He points, he waves. He knows exactly what he wants and doesn't want. I can ask him who every family member is and he will look directly at that person, except for ME! That's right, he is still not saying Mama and won't even look my way when asked where Mama is. He laughs. He "sings". He is simply amazing in every way possible. He can give high-fives and smack his bottle/sippy cup away when he's done with it. He knows which books are his favorites and will make it very clear when he is finished looking at them. He loves to play his piano and dance along his laugh and learn table. His favorite fruit to eat is fresh bananas and he loves green beans, zucchini and broccoli. I ask him "where is grandmom and pop-pop" and he will look at my computer (we skype with them A LOT). In the past month or so, it seems like every day he does something new. He is very animated with his facial expressions (just like me) and you can tell what he is thinking just by looking at his face. I decided today, a little over 11 months old that I should start transitioning him from a bottle to a sippy cup. Well, being the laid-back baby that he has been for 11 months now, he gladly accepted the sippy cup and has had all of his milk from it today. Seems like I don't need to worry about weaning him off of the bottle. My one concern at this point is the B I N K Y! That's right, the binky. This boy LOVES his bink. He has even been nicknamed the binky bandit. If your baby is around JJ and they have a binky, you better hide it because he WILL take it from your child.

I'm typing this blog from Germantown, MD, where JJ"s grandfather, Bob Fitch is currently living. Bob is at in-home hospice and JJ has had the opportunity to spend over a week now with his grandfather. Although he won't remember, Jonathan and I will make sure that JJ knows as much about Bob as possible.

Dad/Bob-- I dedicate this blog to you. Because although you don't really know how much this little guy is doing, he is doing it all over the house and even around your hospital bed. And shortly, you will be in heaven looking down on him, guiding him and protecting him through his on journeys. We love you so much and we will always remember the great times that we've had together. I'm so lucky to have a father-in-law that is so caring and loving, and SUPER intelligent. There is so much of you in JJ and that alone will always keep the memory of you alive. I love you, Dad.

Ending 2010

What a roller coaster of a year! Pregnancy, birthing a child, quitting my awesome job to stay-at-home, play dates, Holidays, and Florida! Let me first start off by saying that JJ had the best first Christmas EVER! We spent Christmas Eve with our Fitch Family at Aunt Jen and Uncle Andy's house, and then spent Christmas Eve night and all day Christmas and Christmas night in Philadelphia with my side of the family. JJ was completely spoiled with toys, love, hugs, kisses and probably some body chewing as well. We finished off 2010 with a trip for a week to Orlando, FL to visit Aunt Jennie and Uncle Phil. The most important part of our trip was that we were smart enough as first time parents to know to fly business class! I couldn't imagine not having the extra leg room and seat room as we passed JJ back and forth between the both of us. During our trip to Orlando we went out and did something every day. Seaworld, Universal Islands of Adventure where we went to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and sipped Delicious BUTTERBEER!! We went to a petting farm which was AMAZING. Leu Gardens, downtown Disney, Silver Springs Adventure Park. Pretty much, you name it, we did it. What we did stay away from was all things Disney (except for Downtown Disney) because we really want to wait until the little guy is old enough to truly enjoy it and remember it. They say a picture speaks a thousand words so below is a highlight of how our family closed out 2010 and entered into 2011.