Trip to NJ

Vin experienced his first plane ride on Wednesday and he was an AWESOME little traveler. We took a quick trip to NJ to visit Autumn, her little girl - Ada, (who were in from LA visiting Autumn's parents) Momma and Papa Gum. The original plan was to fly in Wednesday morning and back out again that evening. However, the weather had different plans and my flight home was delayed so our visit ended up being a sleepover. I'm so glad since it gave us more time to spend together and we had so much fun. Vin didn't sleep very well but still did splendidly on the flight home even with our almost hour wait on the tarmac.

Ada was such a doll baby! I can't believe how much she's changed since we last saw her in December. To top off our wonderful visit I got to witness a few key milestones for her. First she started to pull herself up from her belly to a sitting position, THEN she took her first crawl forward.

Fortunately for Ada's Dad, Autumn was video tapping Ada at the time she decided to conquer this exciting task, so it's all on tape.

Vin and Ada checking each other out

Ada playing with Vin's feet

Autumn and Vin

GETTING READY FOR BATH TIME!

Ada saying hello

Stretching out their arms

Curling up their legs

They were eating up the all the attention

Ada showing off her cute little foot

Momma and Papa Gum,

It was so nice to spend time with you both. Thank you so much for the delicious meals and for all of your hospitality!! We hope to see you again soon. :)

I got a pool float for Vin and wanted to test it out in the tub. Vin LOVED it! He thought it was just great that he could kick his feet and move around.

Here is a new outfit Momom and PopPop Mitchell sent. I think he looks adorable in it and was a big hit with the girls at his Gymboree class today.

Video of Vin Doing Nothing!

http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s72/jdangello1998/?action=view&current=Vin.flv

Will Ferrell's Landlord

Okay, so I had to share this one. This is Will Ferrell's daughter.

http://www.funnyordie.com/v1/view_video.php?viewkey=3efbc24c7d2583be6925

Video: Eating Cereal

Here is a "thrilling" video of Vin eating cereal. We started giving him cereal a few days ago and the process has been interesting. He generally seems to enjoy it, but certainly not when he's tired or truly hungry.

http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s72/jdangello1998/?action=view&current=Eating.flv

Diesel Ferberizing

I asked to put up this posting, as i have a penchant for the controversial. The editor-in-chief kindly allowed it.

So, about 2 weeks ago Vin had a tough night. The kind where you'd have to wake up every hour just to put his paci back in his mouth. This brought about a family meeting where we discussed options. One - we are not going to play paci games. Two - he wasn't sleeping/napping very well. We decided to give the Ferber method a try. This is the method spoofed in the movie Meet the Fockers. Also known as the Cry-It-Out method. For wikipedia fans http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferber_method

One - paci games:
After consulting w/ several books (DaVinci Code, Halequin Romance Novels, The Bleak House, etc. - not very helpful), and our own sensibilities, we determined that the kid no longer needed to be attached to the paci. So, we fought the good fight and had this problem licked in one very LONG week. He now generally refuses to even take a paci, but will accept one if we are in a restaurant or the like. Nice! Most importantly, he no longer needs a paci to fall asleep which means when he wakes in the middle of the night he puts himself back to sleep.

Two - sleeping/napping
While the Diesel was sleeping relatively well at night, we were struggling to get him to take solid naps during the day. Here was the ritual: 1 - paci in; 2 - swaddled; 3 - rugsucker proxy white noise 2 inches from his ears; 4 - constant mach 1 swinging. This worked well and he would sleep for approx 2-3 hrs at a time. As you can see from the above, this was not easily pulled off - especially if we weren't at home for any reason. This began another epic battle wherein our nerves (mostly Dia's as this was a nap time struggle) were shot and our kid cranky. He would sometimes lay in his crib sobbing, wimpering or generally complaining until he went off to restful bliss. However, we can happily say that Diez now naps in his crib sans the paci and swaddle. Shewee! A tip of the hat to Dia for all of her determination in this one.

The result of this was longer nightly sleeps (10-12 hrs at a shot) and, for some reason, a much happier kid.

You stay classy webloggers-
Jello

Jello's B-Day Dinner

We went to Primanti Brothers where Jason enjoyed his new favorite sandwich which he says rivals the cheesesteak. I don't think it comes close but it is good.


Feisty husband that he is, Jason refused to pose for a pic

5/23/07 Jason Turns 30!

Jason turned thirty this past Wednesday!! We plan to celebrate on Saturday since it's no fun celebrating mid-week.

Happy Birthday Baby! You are the love of my life and it says a lot about who you are that after ten years I'm still in awe of you.

Vincent had the following to say. I promptly grounded him for being so disrespectful.

Accidental Rollover and Tummy Time Issues...

So I don't have a pic for this post but was so excited to share that Vin flipped over from his back to his stomach Saturday morning. We heard him crying on the monitor and Jason found him face down in the crib, it was exciting and disturbing at the same time. Disturbing because the child has absolutely no desire to keep his face off the ground while on his stomach.

I think we are still far from him being able to rollover on a regular or purposeful basis but this accidental rollover has got me working feverishly with him on his tummy time skills. He has the neck strength to hold his head up while on his tummy, as we have seen him do it on rare occasions, but he normally gets angry and decides it is better to put his face straight down on the ground and then cry about it.

I try enticing him to look up by lying down in front of him and using a toy to get his attention. No go. He actually looks away from me and the toy. It just seems he has his mind made up that he hates being on his stomach and would rather suffocate himself than give it a try. Any advice??

My goodness this text is huge. It looks hilarious.

5/20 Happy 9th Birthday Lexine!

We had yet another great day in Pittsburgh this past Saturday at our niece's 9th birthday party. It was a blast celebrating with her and Vin got to meet his cousins.

The birthday girl - Lexine!


Our beautiful nieces with Vin


Lexine


Aunt Missi, the nieces, and Vin


Aunt Missi saying hello to Vin


He LOVED his cousin Savannah and showered her with lots of smiles


Savannah

Mother's Day

We had a lovely picnic at the park. Couldn't have asked for better weather.

Pirate's Game 5/11

We took Vin to his first baseball game this past Friday












A rare shot of Vin awake. He kept getting startled awake by all the cheering - stupid Pirates.











Yes, we bought him a Pirate's hat, but Vin told me he still loves the Phillies.

Grandpop Mitchell's Visit

Vin finally got to meet his Pop Pop Mitchell. We had such a great time during his visit! All of our rantings aside, Pittsburgh really is a great city especially when it's NOT winter. :)

Saturday, 5/5 - Waiting for Pop Pop at the airport

The long awaited meeting

Sunday, 5/6 - We went to Station Square and rode the famous Pittsburgh incline.



Riding the incline


View of the city atop of Mt. Washington


Vin snoozing while we stopped for ice cream


Pop Pop walking with Vin


Some old steel making doodad


Shot of the incline


Another shot of incline







Monday, 5/7 - Dad and I went shopping at the South Side works. Jason joined us later for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.






Tuesday, 5/8 - Dad's last day in town. He had a late flight so we hit the Pittsburgh Zoo which was awesome!! Vin slept through most of it but Ja, Dad, and I enjoyed it. I'll spare you all the animal shots I took.

Tuesday morning - Vin's first time in his bouncy jumpy thingy. It's a bit advanced for him but we tried it anyway.

Vin also discovered how to chew/suck on his hands this weekend, which he now does compulsively.