Swings between Snowstorms

Mandy and I took advantage of this pretty decent day in the middle of the snowiest winter. We snatched up Steven, Lucy, and Callie and plopped them in the stroller as quick as we could and took off for Sligo Creek Park. I felt like a hardcore stroller mom crossing the busy intersection at Colesville Road! Not sure I want to do that too often.

Lucy wanted to get out to play so I took Steven for his first ride in a real swing. We had a great few minutes of swinging fun and then it was quickly off to beat the rain and the approaching hunger of a newborn. These are the exciting moments that make up our lives.

Christening

January 23, 2010 was Steven Joseph's Christening day. The Christening had to be in New York. Why? Because that's where Msgr. Funaro's parish is. Msgr. Funaro is a good friend of the family and has performed the ceremony for every wedding and baptism in our family going all the way back to my parents wedding. Jose and I were so excited to get to New York to see friends and family and introduce them to Steven Joseph. Also, I have been so lucky to have such wonderful God parents, Jim and Aunt Kathleen, in my life, so it was important to us to make sure that Steven will have that same presence in his life to offer guidance, friendship, support, and love. We are so lucky to have Ellen (a super sister and aunt) and Doug (a super dad and cousin-in-law) to fill that role for Steven.

The ceremony was so nice. Steven was in the same outfit all the grandkids have worn so far. James, Emily, Julia, Kaelin and Emily Hobbs all helped with the procession. Steven was very well behaved almost the whole time. It helped that he had a bottle to keep him busy :) And when he did fuss it all ended whenever he got applause (clearly my child).

The party afterwards was at Portofinos Restaurant. There were like 10 courses, all sooooo yummy. All of which I was able to sit and enjoy. s It's amazing how much you can eat without a baby in your arms! Most of the time we didn't even know where Steven was. He was pretty much passed around the tables the entire party. All we cared about was that he was in the car when we left ;) We were overwhelmed by everyone that came. It was a very special day.

Afterwards the party continued at the Gibb's of course. All the adults retreated to the back room and beer, and the kids were hanging from the rafters and jumping on the couches. You know. The usual. It was so good to be home.

The Bumbo: My New Best Friend

So Kristen and Wes told us we HAD to get the Bumbo. I didn't even know what it was. But it has changed my life! Suddenly I find myself getting a moment or two with two hands - I can drink my coffee AND eat breakfast at the same time?? Steven feels like such a big boy :) Jose keeps calling it a Bimbo but whatever you call it - It is my new best friend!

Great Outdoors

Since he was a winter baby a bad case of cabin fever has been growing for a while. Sure we've made trips to the doctor, to target, starbucks...but haven't been able to breath fresh air together for more than a few minutes. This week it was over 50 a few days! So I got that baby in the stroller and took off for the park. It's so nice that we live right on Sligo Creek Park. The trails are right outside our building.

We walked for about an hour 3 days in a row. Even though I felt like he was going on such a big adventure finally - he pretty much slept the whole time. But I sure felt good! And its nice for mommy when he sleeps a little longer after the walk too ;)

SMILE

Well he'd been working the muscles to make a smile for a while. We'd like to say he had smiled a lot already - but the truth is before today it was probably just gas or twitches. But today, January 13 (grandpa's birthday) Steven smiled with a purpose!!! Some of the silly things I'd been doing all along finally got the reactions I was waiting for. I tried to capture it but of course its really hard. It's amazing what it does to you to know you can make your baby smile - and he seems to be so satisfied with himself. It's a little crooked right now. No dimples yet, but you never know. Those chubby cheeks might be hiding them. He smiles at sound effects and at all the silly songs I sing to him. But the best is when he smiles just when you smile. The best feeling so far.

Bath time

Belly Button means Steven can take a real bath! This was one of the most fun moments yet! His face when he entered the water - like a little mini baby hot tub. His eyes were all lit up and you could tell he was a happy baby. He splashed with his hands and feet, and didn't cry at all when we scrubbed him up and down or shampooed his hair. One thing I have to add though is DEAR GOD babies are slippery when wet! I get so nervous turning him around to get his back, I don't know how some people take babies in the shower with them!

I think I like bath time so much because you get to wrap them up in the cute little animal towels when they're all done. This time we went duck. It seemed appropriate for our little squeaker, now squeaky clean :) But sometimes we go for a little monkey too. It doesn't matter what animal it is. Babies dressed as animals - always adorable. Animals dressed as babies - not a fan, but that's a topic for another blog.

Welcome Belly Button :)

I know the cord is a great source of nutrition and life while the baby is in the womb but I really wish all remnants of it would disappear with labor. Maybe it is vain but Jose and I could not WAIT for our baby to have a friendly belly button. It is just gross and we were always afraid we were going to accidentally rip it off so we pretty much just kept it covered all the time. Finally on his one month birthday the last bit of the cord fell off!! Now he has a cute little normal belly button and we kept his belly hanging out for the rest of the day.

New Year's in the Poconos 2009

Since we were in New York for Christmas and the grandparents were off to Florida on the 26th, we decided to head to the Poconos (our New Year's tradition, except this time we brought a baby and not 20 extra people and cases of beer).

The weather was so nice the first couple days we got to take Steven outside to enjoy the sun and snow. He loved his little brown pooh fleece suit, can't you tell! It snowed almost every day we were there.

It was also so nice to have a washer and dryer that didn't require change! (Thanks mom and dad!) Baby's certainly make you appreciate that more then ever! Steven even got to ride in the laundry basket.

We learned that Steven LOVED to be in front of the fireplace! He got nice and toasty and fell asleep every time. We actually got to eat dinner together once or twice thanks to that fake fire! That was the only place he would let us lay him on his back without throwing a fit, so it was convenient that it was an electric one with an on and off switch :)

Some of our friends have been so spoiled by the pocono palace in the past that they ended up renting a house in Lake Naomi only 15 minutes away. We went for an outing over to see them, and for some to meet Steven for the first time.

Jose and I were making fun of ourselves because we didn't even know if we'd be able to stay awake for the New Year (God we felt old) but we did! And I'll never forget what we were doing, with only 22 seconds left before the ball dropped Steven made a NASTY diaper. I would not let Steven ring in the New Year with a dirty bum, so with only 22 seconds I changed that diaper with 2 to spare just in time for our first Cunha Family New Year's cheer, everyone poop free, if only for that brief moment ;)