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.