My first Christmas!

Jim had a wonderful first Christmas! And we all had a wonderful time with him. We took off for Buffalo on Thursday, and made the 8 hour drive north. The VZ's were picking Chris up at the Buffalo airport so Thursday night we all had dinner together. Friday we Christmas Eve, we spent the day hanging out together. And even got to Skype so we could see Rob & Jenna. Jim was perfect at Church, not a single peep out of him! And we all enjoyed an amazing Christmas Eve dinner! Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without the reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.' Christmas morning was great! Jim just had learned how to clap, so whenever we gave him a present we would clap our hands, and he would clap back and be all excited! After our usual Christmas morning breakfast, we hit the road for Albany. We enjoyed our Christmas afternoon/evening with the Sector's! Sunday we all hung out for awhile, and then made our way to our 3rd Christmas Celebration with the VZ's. It was a wonderful first Christmas for Jim!!! And it was great to be able to be with the family!!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

A Mini-Update

I didn't want to wait until Jim's 9 month update post to give a little update on what he's been doing. Some exciting things have been going on in the past couple weeks:

- He finally has 2 bottom teeth! They have broken the surface and his 2 bottom teeth are adorable. Trying to get a good picture of them is impossible. One of these days he'll flash a toothy smile that I will be able to share with all1

- He's now cruising all over the place. He can pull himself up on the couch, and then he'll walk along that with no problems. He's walking all over the place when we're holding onto his hands.

- He loves bath time. (Although lately he wants to stand the entire bath.) I get him undressed in his room, and we walk into the bathroom. He has the biggest smile when he sees Daddy sitting at the bathtub waiting for him.

- Lately he's been cracking himself up. It's pretty funny to just hear him start laughing.

- He just started to clap his hands! I think next will be waving bye-bye.

Christmas Time

I cannot wait for Jim's first Christmas! We are headed up to Buffalo tomorrow to celebrate with the family! And we are all very excited! What a wonderful time of the year.

We put up our Christmas tree this year, and Jim has been very good with that! He loves to stare at the lights! He really hasn't tried to play with the ornaments or cause to much of a mess there. Except for the other night. Mark & I both had dozed off for a minute, and the next thing we know, Jim was playing with an ornament. I think that was the only time he grabbed for an ornament, that little stinker.

I will have to try to upload some more pictures. I usually update this when I'm at work, and all my picture are on my home computer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

8 Months Old

Just our usual monthly update. Jim is 8 months old now. And what a great 8 months it has been!!!

What Jim is up to:

- He is crawling all over the place. (he's still doing the army crawl - but watch out, he's on the move!)

- His first tooth is just about to pop through his gums. Any time now!

- Loves to stand up, and will even walk if you hold on to him.

- The last couple days, he's been able to stand all by himself (started off just for a second, but now he can do it for 15-20 seconds).

- Still loves to eat, anything and everything! Haven't found a food he doesn't like.

- Started to eat puffs as a little snack, as well as yogurt bites, and biscuits.

- In size 3 diapers.

- Wearing 9 month clothes, and has started to wear some 12 months.

- Weighed 20 pounds when I weighed him on our scale at home.

- Get's very excited when I pick him up at daycare; and gets very excited when Daddy walks in the door from work.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a GREAT Thanksgiving!!! Mark & I took the days off before the Holiday so we could spend a week up in NY.

We left Friday afternoon and made our way north, stopping in Wilkes-Barre. Saturday morning we got up and continued our drive up to Syracuse. We got there and met Mom, Ashley, and Allison at our hotel and loaded up Jim's stuff in their car, and went to Varsity for some lunch. After we were done eating we said our good-bye's to Jim and he drove back to Buffalo and spent the night there. It was our first time leaving Jim overnight, and I think everyone did just fine. Jim had a great time hanging out with Grandma, Papa, and his two wonderful aunts; and despite a Syracuse loss, Mark & I had a great time up in the 'Cuse!

We spent Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning at home in Buffalo. Jim learned to crawl!!! As mom calls it, he's doing the army crawl. He's definitely on the move now! Wednesday afternoon we made our way up to Castile to spend the rest of the week up there. In the evening there was a little party for Jim, so the neighbors could stop by and meet him. Jim did wonderful there!

Thursday was his first Thanksgiving!!! He did great all day! And enjoyed a taste of turkey, as well as squash, mashed potatoes, and applesauce! Jim and Maddie got along great too!

It was sad Sunday morning when our vacation time was coming to an end, and we had to get on the road to make our way back home. We had a great time visiting with everyone! And can't wait to do it all over again during Christmas!

A mini-update.

Took Jim to the Doctor yesterday. He has all these red bumps on his back that have been there since last Friday. Turns out he eczema - and it's nothing to be concerned about. Just need to keep on lathering him up with lotion to make sure his skin isn't dry.

He's 18lbs. 6ozs.

Daycare thinks he may be starting to teeth. The Doctor looked at his gums, and said she didn't see anything. I guess we'll see in a couple of days if anything pops up.

He's eating puffs for a little snack, and loves them. This past weekend we were feeding them to him because he couldn't figure out picking them up and putting them in his mouth. But Wednesday night he figured it out! (Although 1/2 of them ended up in his highchair somewhere) And boy did he get mad when there were no more!

He still loves to eat, pretty much anything and everything. (Although I did give him some carrots the other day which he wasn't a big fan of...) Maybe next time I'll have to try dipping them in some ranch dressing - haha.

He's no longer a fan of sitting -- he has to be standing all the time now!!! And he loves to walk all over the place. (Of course you have to hold on to him and help him out.)

7 Months Old

I think everyone knows how I'm going to start this blog. I can't believe that Jim is 7 months already. Time sure is flying. But I'm enjoying every second of it!! He is wonderful!



What I'm up to:

- Loves to stand!! Would much rather be standing then sitting down.

- Can go from sitting to the crawling position (on his hands and knees) but he's not sure what to do next. It's won't be long!

- Loves to eat! There hasn't been a food we've given him that he doesn't like.

- Is on the same sleep schedule, going down around 8:00ish, and then we wake him up at 5:00.

- Wearing 6-9 month clothes.

- Is in size 3 diapers.

- Still loves it at day care! Ms. Fabi is back, and they are both very happy!

- Last time I weighed him at home he was 18lbs.

- Loves to bounce! Whether it's in his jumperoo, or on our lap.

Stand-up

I haven't been all that good with keeping up to date with this thing. I'm sorry for any of you out there that are still keeping up to date with us. Who is out there? Anyone?

Anyways, when I get home I'll have to do a picture update.

Jim's latest at daycare yesterday - was he pulled himself up and was standing in his crib. Apparently he was trying so hard to stand up that his face was bright red. And then when he was standing there for a bit, his teacher called his name and clapped her hands, and Jim started cracking up. What a little goof ball we have.

He still isn't crawling. But that is perfectly fine by be. Because I know as soon as he does he'll be getting into everything.

6 Month Update

I think just with every other update I do - I ask myself the same exact question. How did my little baby get to be so big? And where does the time go?

We sure have been enjoying every minute with Jim! He is wonderful! Such a happy easy-going baby. We definitely lucked out with him.

What Jim is up to:

- Is still in size 2 diapers. We're down to our last couple and will switch to size 3.

- Has started to wear some 9 month clothes.

- Loves to eat! We've started giving him real food, and has liked everything so far! So far we've tried some cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, avocado, and peas.

- His newest thing in the past couple of days is to pull himself up in the Pack 'N Play. It's time to lower that thing down. I think he's going to be our little monkey!

- He is constantly laughing and smiling at us!

- When I weighed him at home the other day, he was 17.5lbs. We'll get a better weight on Friday when we go to the Doctor for his 6 month check-up.

- He can sit up all by himself!

- Still loves to jump away in his jumparoo!

- Does very well at daycare! We always get very good reports from the teachers.

- He has discovered his tongue, and likes to stick it out!

- Still loves to play with his feet!

- Loves to talk to us.

Happy Birthday Grandma

I used to get really cute pictures with Jim & a message sign to send to people. But that doesn't work so well these days. He's always trying to wiggle around...and would much rather be eating the paper than to be looking at the camera for a picture.

Anyways, here is Jim trying to wish his Grandma a Happy Birthday!!!

Smile

These two pictures of Jim make me smile everytime I look at them. I hope they put a smile on your face today :)

Sitting up!

Jim can sit up all on his own now!!! He's been doing it for the past week or so. Look at how proud he is in the picture! He'd been sitting down playing with us, and I thought he always needed our support. And then one day in the past week I let him go on his own, and he played away without falling. What a big boy he's becoming!

5 Months Old

Happy 5 month Jim!!!

It's hard to believe that 5 months ago we were welcoming you into the world. You're becoming quite the little young man now!

What Jim is up to:

• Wearing size 2 diapers
• In 3-6 month clothes (his pajamas are starting to get a little short on him though...)
• Is laughing all the time!
• Loves playing in his jumperoo! Bouncing all over the place.
• Still sleeping through the night! Goes down between 8-9 and we wake him up at 5.
• Is rolling from his back to his belly all the time now!
• Is trying real hard to start crawling. He gets his butt up in the air, just needs to figure out the next step.
• Still eats at 5:00am; then gets 4 bottles @ daycare (4-5 ounces); and then eats twice again in the evening.
• He's tried avocado (not sure what he thought of that) and has had cereal -- which he loves! He tries to help me feed him, grabbing at his spoon.
• He weighed 17 pounds on our scale at home.
• Loves playing peek-a-boo with us!

Road Trip

We went north this weekend. It was Jim's first stay in a hotel!!!

We left Friday and made our way on up to Park Ridge NJ. Met up with Nanny & Papa who drove in so they could babysit Jim while we went to Odette's wedding.

Jim wasn't a big fan of sleeping in a hotel. It was either that, or not being a big fan of his Pack 'N Play. So he ended up in bed with us both nights.

Odette's wedding was awesome. Think that's the one and only wedding I'll be able to say -- I saw someone get married on Broadway!!! CONGRATULATIONS to Odette & Todd!!!

Sunday we drove up to Albany so Jim could meet his Great Grandfather, as well as many wonderful aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had a GREAT time!!!

The drive home on Monday wasn't bad at all. I think we were prepared for a lot worse - but Jim slept pretty much the entire way home.

Grandma & Papa visit

We've been busy - Aunt Jenna left on Sunday, and then on Thursday Grandma and Papa flew down to spend a couple days with their grandson. Again, Jim got out of daycare early on Thursday, and didn't have to go on Friday - what a lucky boy he is! He was able to stay home and spend some time with his grandparents. Again, he was wonderful, and I think the 3 of them enjoyed their time together.

Went back into Old Town Saturday morning to the Farmer's Market with mom. And then Mark & I went to the gym & for a run together. Mark took care of yard work, and I ran some errands while Grandma & Papa watched Jim. We then went down to Old Town for a yummy dinner; and then walked around the water for a bit before making our way back home.

Sunday morning we went to Church. And then Mark & I went to the gym & for another run. And then the 5 of us went to Southside for brunch. And then we had to say our good-byes to Grandma & Papa as they had to make their way back up to BWI to catch their plane home.

Aunt Jenna's Visit

We were hoping that Aunt Jenna would've been able to spend a week with Jim just before going back to daycare, but that didn't work out. They had been saving a spot for Jim, and we tried to push it back 2 weeks (one week for Mark's parents, and one week for Jenna) but they said they couldn't do that. So instead Jenna came out for a couple days this past week.

Despite Jim being forced to wear Pitt clothes - we had a GREAT time with Aunt Jenna!!! (Okay, Okay, the Pitt clothes weren't all that bad. It was pretty funny..Jenna would dress him in the Pitt stuff they got for him; and then when she was in the shower, I would hurry up and dress him in all ORANGE!

She drove down on Wednesday, and I picked Jim up from daycare, and they spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday together. Jim was a very good boy! Saturday morning Jenna and I went into Old Town to the Farmer's Market and bought some fruits & veggies. Mark & I were able to go to the gym & for a run together. And then the 4 of us went to Overwood for a delicious dinner.

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family! Who love coming to visit and spend time with Jim. He surely is one lucky boy!

Picture Update!

I figure since I haven't been very good at keeping up to date with this lately, I would do a picture post of some of my favorite pictures of Jim in the past week or so. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!!

Happy 4 Months!!!

Happy 4 months Jim!!!

Jim had his 4 month check-up today, which went very well. Another clean bill of health! And our Doctor said that Jim was pretty advanced. (She was trying to get him to sit up so she could listen to his chest and he decided to try to stand instead). It was another round of shots for him, and he was a brave boy again! He cried a little bit, but not for very long. He sure is wonderful!!! His stats are:

Head - 16 1/2" - 50th Percentile

Height - 25 1/4" - 75th Percentile

Weight - 14lbs. 8.5oz. - 50th Percentile

He was in the same exact percentiles @ his 2 month check-up, so he's growing right on track. Still going to be our tall, skinny boy :)

What Jim's doing at 4 months:

- He can roll over! He's mastered the back to tummy roll. Now we need to get him to go from tummy to back.

- He's found his feet, and loves to play with them, and has even been able to put him in his mouth!

- He's out of his 0-3 months clothes, and is wearing 3-6 months.

- Still the same eating pattern - 5:00, then 3 bottles @ daycare (about 5 oz), and then 2 more times when we get home.

- Still sleeping through the night like a champ!! Down around 9:00, and we wake him up at 5:00.

- He's smiling all the time, and laughs a lot! Have to say that's one wonderful sound :)

- We put together his Exercauser, and he loves to play in that!

- Still doing great at Daycare. His teachers love him!!

I haven't forgotten

We haven't forgotten about this blog. I have probably 1/2 dozen posts that are all written up, but want to attach the pictures to go along with those. Having a little one defitinley keeps your hands full.

But to hold everyone over until I do get around to posting those - I thought I'd share this adorable picture of Jim after his bath last night. How cute is that?!

Jim's first trip to the beach...

We took Jim to the beach for the 1st time this past weekend. Okay, there really much beach visiting at all.

We had a late start Saturday morning because Jim was not happy. We were hoping to feed him again around 8 or 9 and get on the road after that. But for some reason he did not want to nurse, and did not want to calm down. We finally got him to calm down and everything - and got on the road after 10:00. We made it over the Bay Bridge with no problems, but then hit traffic, and our 2 hour drive turned into 4 hours. Not fun at all!!!

We made it to Kristin's place and hung out for awhile, then made our way to Rehoboth for dinner at Dogfish Head. And then we finally made it to the beach. He loved sticking his feet in the sand! But he wasn't too sure what to think about the water. I think it may had been a little too cold for him.

Jim Rolls Over!!!

Jim rolled over for the first time!!!

He had been pretty good at rolling from his back onto his side. And we knew it wouldn't be long before he'd get all the way to his stomach. And he finally did it!

Family Reunion

It was the 3rd Annual DiLoreto family reunion this past weekend. We drove up to Pittsburgh Friday evening (it was Jim's first road trip, and we weren't sure how he was going to do in the car for a long time, so we figured we would break it up. Which, he actually did pretty well with! There was a bout of crying, which made for a quick stop so I could sit in the back with him. But other than that, not terrible.

Saturday we drove up to Erie and went and visited with Nana & Papa. Nana got to hold Jim for awhile, and we all sang a bunch of Nursery Rhymes together. After that we went to Grandma's - and Jim got to meet a bunch of people there (Great Grandma, Aunt Mary Beth, Aunt Judy, Donna, Ryan, Christopher, Michael. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone - but it was great getting to visit with all of them!

And then we made our way to the Family Reunion, where Jim got to meet lots of wonderful people! I'm very glad we were able to make it up for the reunion. It was a great weekend!!!

Allison was in charge of the camera all weekend, and I don't have any pictures saved on my computer here at home. So if anyone wants to see the wonderful pictures that we have, let me know and I can send you the link to them all!!

Lots of catching up to do...

I've been a slacker with updating Jim's Blog.

Check back for some new posts to include our latest highlights:


- The rest of Aunt Ashley's visit

- Aunt Allison comes to visit

- Grandma comes to visit

- Jim's 1st 4th of July

- Nanny & Papa come to visit

- Jim turns 3 months!

- Jim starts daycare

I'll probably back-date them...so be sure to keep scrolling down. Hopefully the'll be done by this weekend...

Happy 4th of July!!!

Jim enjoyed his first Fourth of July - and Mom & Dad both enjoyed an extra long weekend with him.

On Saturday we made our way back up to BWI to drop Grandma off at the airport. It was sad to see her go :( And it was sad that we weren't picking someone else up at the airport.

We ended up stopping by our new neighbors for a beer...then went to down to Eric's for a bit. He had people over and were playing beer pong. Mark & I won the one game we played - made it even a better win because I was wearing Jim. Then we made our way down to the Marina to watch the fireworks that the Country Club left off.

Sunday was the 4th. We wished Uncle Robbie a Happy Birthday!! And spent the day hanging out together. We decided to make our way down to the marina again for the fireworks. Jim was pretty much asleep when we left. We parked, got him out and put him in his stroller, and we had to walk up the parkway. Got to see the Mall fireworks, and then fireworks from the National Harbor...which Jim proceeded to sleep through it all. We made our way back home and sat out on the front porch watching people in the neighborhood shoot off fireworks.

And then Monday we had off, and just enjoyed our day together!

Jim's 3 Months!!!!!

Happy 3 Month Birthday to Jim!!!!! No check-up this month for him. He goes back for his 4 month visit, so I'll be sure to update his stats then. I'm guessing though he's around 13 pounds or so.

What Jim's doing at 3 Months:

- He's eating 4-5 oz every 3 hours during the day (3 times) and I feed him first thing in the morning, and 2 or 3 times in the afternoon.

- He sleeps like a champ! Going down around 9:00ish, and sleeps right through until we wake him up at 5:00ish

- Still fits into 0-3 month clothes, but they are starting to get snugger on him. And his 3-6 month clothes are fitting him better.

- He smiles all the time; and has even started to giggle for us.

- His head has gotten stronger and stronger. He enjoys his tummy time for a couple of minutes. But still hasn't gotten to the point of rolling over yet

- Absolutley LOVES his play mat. He could lay on that thing and stare at his musical/light up globe for hours. And has very dear friend - Mr. Panada!

- Loves his Otto Mobile, and loves staring at the fans in our bedroom.

- He can take little steps like he's walking. This of course as you're holding him and supporting him.

First day at DayCare

Jim's first day of daycare was today.

Mark & I both dropped him off. We put everything (diapers, extra clothes, etc.) into his little cubby hole. Put his toys & blankets into his crib. Chatted with Ms. Fabilio for a couple minutes. And then had to say good-bye. That was no fun.

I think he had a pretty good day! When I picked him up in the afternoon, Ms. Patrice said he did very well. He was very happy, and barely cried. So I'm glad my little one had a good first day :)

Aunt Allison comes to visit!!!

How lucky is Jim? We drop one Aunt off at the airport, only to pick up another one - to spend the week together!!! This time it was Aunt Allison's turn!!!! Of course we had to wear our Syracuse clothes -- and pose for lots and lots of pictures!!! Yes, Jim is the #1 Syracuse fan!!!

See what I mean about the Syracuse clothes - go Orange & Blue! Note Allison's huge smile on her face while watching the NBA draft...

Look how cute they are, both wearing red :)

Since Jim was such a good boy for Aunt Allison we decided another trip to the park was in order for him...

Okay, that's only a very, very small sample of the fun Jim had with his Aunt Allison. It was very hard to choose what ones to upload here - and I'm constantly looking back through the hundreds of pictures that we have.

The rest of Aunt Ashley's visit

We had a faboulous 2 weeks with Aunt Ashley. I'll leave you with some pictures from the rest of her stay here!! And as you can see, Jim was very sad to see Ashley pack her bags and leave. I think he tried to convince her to move down to VA - but it hasn't worked...yet at least. We're still working on her!The Future Buffalo Bills Star Quarterback--We took some modeling pictures together---
Aunt Ashley taught Jim to play soccer...and football...and how to dance...and much much more....Some Aunt/Nephew bonding time....

My 1st trip tp the park

We took Jim to the park for his 1st time!!!! I can't wait to take him when he gets a little older and is running around on his own!!! Excuse our red faces -- we had just finished up with a run!!

Crawling through the tunnel.

Riding the horse!
Getting ready to go down the slide with Aunt Ashley!

Going down the slide!