Doctor's Appointment today

Hi there,
Johnathan had his 6 month old doctor's appointment today at Advanced Pediatrics. Still with our WONDERFUL Pediatrician Bradley Kurtz, MD. He is so good. Anyway, the appointment went well. He weighed less than I thought he would. He weighed 16 lbs 9.5 oz. And he was 27 inches tall. All three measurements (including head circumference) went down a little on the growth curve from last time, but is still average and around 40-50th %. Dr. Kurtz said everything looked normal and good. He said his development is great and he is sitting up very well. We talked about Johnathan's dry skin and the doctor said he has Eczema. That's too bad for now...but he said most kiddo's get much better with it by 2 years old. He said the symptoms should lessen by then. But for now, just use good hypoallergenic, fragrance-free lotions. I've been using the Johnson's baby lotion and he said that one is the WORST to use because it actually makes your skin more dry. So now I'm using Cetaphil on him. He also said when Johnathan breaks out in the patches of really dry skin, to put a hydrocortisone cream on it.
The shots went okay today. I did one of them again...and the medical assistant did the other. It worked really well to do them at the same time and only have one bad cry. He got over it VERY quickly! Strong boy! They asked if we wanted to do the flu vaccines now that he's 6 mo. I called Nate (the immunologist...hee hee), and we decided to wait a couple weeks so that he didn't have to have 4 shots all in one day and flood his system with all that stuff. Hopefully it's a good choice. Now (except for the possible shots), he won't be seen again until 9 months old.

Solid Foods

We caught some funny faces when he was trying Avocados for the first time. So, we're doing pretty well with the progression of solid foods. I am lucky because I have the time at home to make all our own baby food. I are making it all from scratch which is a lot cheaper and a lot more nutrient-rich than the jars. It actually doesn't take much time at all because you make one thing in "bulk" and then freeze it in ice cube trays. Then when it's frozen, you pop the food cubes into a quart size freezer bag and label it and it is good in the freezer for up to 2 months. When I'm ready to feed him, I just pull out a food cube, nook it for 20-30 seconds, then it's ready to go. Easy! We started with a week of Rice Cereal (I did buy that), then a week of bananas, we just finished up avocados. And now tomorrow we are starting sweet potato. I think he'll like that better than the avocado. It's pretty fun!

Then...and Now

Look at the growth! 5 days old, then 6 months old!

6 Months Old Today!

Hi there,
So Johnathan is 6 months old today! 1/25/2010. I can't believe that it was 6 months ago that he was born. In reminiscing back, the last 6 months have truly been an amazing journey. They have been filled with many tired nights and mornings, but they have also been filled with SO much joy and pure love for our little baby. I never knew I could love two people so much. It has been so fun watching Nathan grow as a father and to see what a natural he is at it. He is SUCH a good dad! He loves little Johnathan so much. And even with PhD school, he has been a big help to me.
And Johnathan is such a happy little boy that he has made this first baby experience so easy. I've had to learn a lot but he has eased me through it. We have fun together and he rarely cries. Nate & I were remembering back to the first month and how utterly hard that was. Those were truly sleepless nights. He's gone back to getting up to breastfeed one or two times a night. But he is still such a good sleeper in general. And he still goes to bed at 5:30! That first month was hard. There were times when I would think, "I don't know if I can ever do this again". But now that he is older and so much more fun...I LOVE being a Mom! I love him and I love hanging out with him. I love playing with him in the living room and I love going on walks with him. And recently I have loved going to those BYOBaby yoga classes. He's such a cutie in there.
I can't believe how fast the last 6 months has flown by. He is growing up so fast! Every day he does a little more and sometimes I think, "Slow down!". I'm in no rush at all for him to crawl now. I look back and it was fun having my sisters, Mom, and his cousins here during the birth week. And then I had 3 nice months off to just hang out with him and heal my body. Then going back to work at the end of October. Starting the whole babysitter thing. I can't believe I've already been back at work for over 3 months now. Working just 2 days a week is working out very well. I work Fridays and Saturdays (12 hr shifts), and then the 3 of us go to church on Sunday morning. We've already taken him a lot of different places. Hiking, to the Stanley Hotel, the Denver aquarium, to different restaurants, to Christmas parties, to people's houses to visit, to Spokane, to yoga class. And we have lots to look forward to when it starts getting warm. We are going to start hiking with the backpack baby carrier and get in those mountains! We love living in Colorado and Johnathan loves the sunshine.
It has been a great 6 months and we will have a blast in the next 6 as well. Love you all and your support. Thanks again for following our blog. From, Angie Pennock

Rainforest Jumperoo Video!

Another successful Craigslist purchase! We got a rainforest Jumperoo for Johnathan and he LOVES it! It was like new and it only cost $40 when it is normally $80 brand new. We saved a lot of money, and of course Nate cleaned the heck out of it right when we got home. Johnathan loves using his legs and jumping around in it. So cute!

Mostly naked baby pics...

Like Anne Geddes, I just love naked baby pictures. I had to get some more of Johnathan before he became a toddler. : ) I did end up leaving his diaper on because I was afraid he might pee all over the teddy bears. So, it is still on, but I covered the diaper in most of them. : ) I LOVE these pictures! He's so photogenic. What a cutie little baby boy.

Ann Lowe

Ann Lowe came by to visit Johnathan & I for one hour while she was here in town. It was so much fun to see her! She looks great and it was fun catching up on their lives (her & Matt). She was cute holding Johnathan and he definitely liked smiling at her. : )

Bring your own Baby - Yoga

At Belly Bliss, I went and tried the class called "BYOBaby Yoga". It was WORLDS better than the first class I went to. The other class, he was the only baby there and we never used the babies in the class. This one was all about doing yoga together as Mom & baby and about bonding. It was SO much fun! There were 6 babies in the class! It was funny...there was an 11 week old (the youngest), then there was a 4 mo., 5 mo, 6 mo (johnathan), 7 mo, and an 8 mo. So there was a perfect sample of the range of months and their different stages. The 8 mo baby was crawling and going everywhere! So funny. What a neat class to incorporate babies! We did poses with them and stretched them out. Got a great workout for ourselves. Then sang songs and played with the babies in the end. Johnathan LOVED it! I liked the teacher of this class so much more too. Thank you so much for my Christmas present guys! (the gift certificates).

Belly Bliss classes

Today was the first time I went and did one of the "Belly Bliss" workout classes. You can bring your baby to them and in some of the classes you even USE your baby as part of the workout! Today was fun and it is a nice place in the Cherry Creek shopping area. But of course, true to Johnathan's style, (I would not kid about things like this), he had yet another huge blow-out diaper up his shirt and clothes right before the class. It was a mess. No, he is not sick or anything. He just has a lot of volume. He only goes like every 2-3 days now (pediatrician said that is normal). And when he goes, he goes big and with force. So I missed part of the class cleaning him all up and then giving him a little comfort nursing before starting the class. Fun times though! : ) I love my boy!

Temper Tantrums and also Laughing...

I haven't been very good the last two days in catching Johnathan's window of becoming tired before it reaches being "overtired". And with exploring his voice, he has now started to have tantrums of screaming really really loud and angrily. Wo, does it get bad! He actually has "acted out"...but I know it is not his fault at all. It is mine for not catching that window when I should have laid him down for a nap. But it is hard because when he is that happy before, he doesn't like me to leave him alone in his crib to go to sleep. So I guess I gotta just bare through the protest crying for a couple minutes and he's pretty good about going down to sleep when he knows he needs it. Wow, tantrums are not fun though. : ) hee hee. Nate hasn't seen one yet.

Also, last night was the best bath time ever! We bought the big blow-up yellow ducky bathtub that we borrowed from Dena Corwin while in Spokane and Johnathan LOVES it. It is much comfy'er and safer for him. So we have play time in there now before soaping up. And I was using the little rubber ducky to fill with water and squirt him with. Whenever I squirted him with it, he had an actual BOISTEROUS laugh. It was SO adorable! He would giggle and giggle every time I squirted his chest. Ohhh...boisterous baby laughs are the cutest sound in the world!!! No doubt!

Johnathan meets Chloe!

Babies Johnathan Pennock and Chloe Reamer (future friends), finally met each other on January 2nd. This was also the first time John & Andi Reamer saw Johnathan. It was really fun! Right away, Chloe kept trying to reach out for Johnathan because she loves other babies. They were cute together. Here, Chloe is 8 months old and Johnathan is 5 months old.

I know it's kinda wierd that we switched babies for pictures...but we did take the right ones home. : )

Chloe & Johnathan exchanged Christmas presents. : ) Chloe got Johnathan that Moose that John is holding. And Johnathan got Chloe an Alligator Dentist game (funny since John is a Dentist).

Barb & Jack

The first picture is when we stopped by on New Years Day to see Angie's Auntie Barb who lives at Diamond Lake in Washington. Her & Vern live in a nice rustic cabin right on the lake. That was her first time meeting Johnathan. Then the last picture is when we got back home to the Pennocks and stupid Jack, the dog, would not stop barking and trying to get at the baby. So he got put "downstairs" and he sticks his head through the cat hole to try to be a part of the action. (Nate put the pillows there to try to block the hole, but Jack just pushed them over).

Fun in the Snow on New Years Day

1st Picture: Left to Right =

Johnathan, Laura, Angie, Gary (Angie's dad), Leia, and Jen (Angie's sister).

New Years Eve

1. Look at how funny Leia was posing for everybody. We were all taking pictures of it. : )
2. Fun New Years Eve night at Dad's River Home. Great dinner cooked by Teresa!
3. I was having fun playing with my neices Laura & Leia and they were laying on these two bean bags. It's just cute because it looks like a heart.
4. Here's all 3 cousins watching cartoons in the morning of 01/01/10. (Crazy date!)
5. Johnathan's new Tennis Shoes for later!

We have a SITTER!

No, not a baby sitter.....it's Johnathan! He is officially a sitter today! He was very close yesterday. And when I picked him up from the babysitters tonight, she showed me what he could do. He can sit now! I'm so proud of him! Man is he growing fast! He's no longer a flat on his back, helpless little baby anymore. This is the mark of the beginning of mobility. : ) Watch out!

(It's so wierd to be able to just plop him down now and he can just sit there.) : )

We're all sick...

Yeah. Johnathan got it first in Washington. He's already getting much better. But now I am very sick and had to go home from work early today. I kept Johnathan at the babysitters and slept from 12:30 to 4 pm. I apparently needed it! And Nate is also feeling under the weather and thinks he has an ear infection.

Christmas at Dad's River Home

We did Christmas with Dad on New Years Eve. A little late but we had fun! Johnathan looks hilariously drunk in the second picture. : ) The girls had fun with all the New Years toys. And yes Eiko...Johnathan got the same ball that Christopher did. hee hee.

Cute Xmas Portraits

In this second picture is me & Johnathan with my sister Jennifer and her daughter Leia. (She told me during this trip that Eric wants to name there next one Luke if it's a boy). : )

Christmas w/ Angie's Mom

Here he is with GREAT Grandma Bell! And then Grandma Bell and his cousin Laura (4 and 1/2 yrs old).

Christmas with the Pennocks

Uncle Keith was taking the picture. : ) In the last picture, Johnathan got these adorable soft cowboy boots and of course they immediately went in his mouth.

Wanting solid foods

This is so sad. Look how badly he wants to start solid foods. He really started reaching out for whatever I was eating. Well we have started solids now. This picture was on December 29th, and we started his first solids on January 2nd. We did it at John & Andi's house and it went okay (of course he spat most of it out trying to figure out how to swallow).

Christmas Trip, new crib

Thank you Jan SO MUCH for buying Johnathan a crib for home in Spokane. It is very nice! He slept well in it too. And thank you so much for buying diapers and wipes for him while we were there. He has wonderful grandparents!

Christmas Trip, w/ Gpa

We had a GREAT trip home to Spokane! Johnathan got to finally meet his Grandpa Pennock. They loved meeting each other. They also got to meet on John's 58th birthday! Happy Birthday John! The family got him a big screen TV. Very cool!