Our Furry Friends

The furry members of our family haven’t been gracing my blog posts lately and I feel bad about that. I thought I’d take some time to recognize these guys because they are a huge part of our family.

Jangles has a new collar because he learned how to take his old one off. The clever boy figured out that he has a safety release on his collar that, if tugged on correctly, can be broken. He’d slip his lower jaw under the collar to release the safety clasp.

The boys are our shadows…always near us and always looking out for us.

Merv standing guard from the upper windows. He growls at animals and people that walk by our house. He especially dislikes dogs. He’ll growl at them and then run from one window to the next through the house growling and chasing off the interlopers that pass by his territory.

The boys keep each other company and share warmth. I think that once Jia Li is old enough, she’s going to be joining them for naps.

4 Month Leaps and Bounds

Jia Li is so cute when she sleeps. She doesn’t sleep much during the day, so at night, she is completely out once she finally dozes off.

Bed time in the Rock and Play sleeper

We recently had another visit to Albuquerque for work. Kasen absolutely loves Jia Li. When I arrived at his house and got out of the car, he came running out telling me he was worried we weren’t coming. Every morning he’s in our bedroom ready to greet Jia Li and play with her.

Kasen loves Jia Li. He’s in my room by about 7 AM to see if he can play with her.

Jia Li is still working on sitting up on her own. Her little throne gives her more independence. She’s got lots of toys to keep her occupied. She’s started vocalizing difference sounds as she continues to develop her verbal skills. She even giggles now, which is too cute.

Playing with new toys from Grandma and Grandpa

While she’s always hated tummy time, some of her toys now make it a little less offensive to have to be on the belly.

Jia Li doesn’t care for being on her tummy, but toys seem to occupy her for a little bit before she starts to complain and roll over.

This little girl loves to move. Once she starts crawling and walking, her Mom and Dad are going to be busy. I have the most difficult time getting non-blurry photos of her because of her quick movements. Oh, she’s discovered her feet this month as well. She loves putting those toes in her mouth. She’s super limber baby and loves doing the Happy Baby Pose with such perfection that even expert yogis would be jealous.

Jia Li is slowly getting more core strength. Before we know it she’ll be sitting on her own!

Jia Li can now easily roll from her tummy to her back and recently mastered rolling from back to tummy. This means she can roll from the living room to the kitchen or anywhere else she wants to go. Yikes! Now we’ve really got to keep an eye out for her.

IMG_2911 a video by JTPics on Flickr.

Happy 5 Months!

Jia Li hit a bunch of developmental milestones this past month. We can’t wait to see what she’s got in store for us during month 5!

Jangles loves Jia Li’s toys! They’re going to be great friends when she gets older.

 

Rolling and Relaxing

Somebody has learned to roll!

Jia Li is becoming an expert at the tummy to back roll, rolling on both the left and right sides. She showed us a back to tummy roll once, but hasn’t done that one again yet. It’s so fun to watch her reach these developmental milestones!

Getting in some tummy time.

As usual, we continue to get out for lots of hikes. Skyline is still our goto trail. On this last hike, we had to stop for a snack and a quick diaper change for Jia Li.

Taking a break on Skyline Trail.

We still get out for lots of Chariot runs too. It’s warm enough now that I don’t zip up the bivvy, but it’s nice and comfy for afternoon naps.

Ready to roll in another Chariot ride.

Every once in a while, Jia Li hangs out in the office. She’s enjoying her new Mamas and Papas Baby Snug. She can’t sit up on her own, but this little chair helps!

Keeping busy while Mom works.

What’s nice is that the chair is portable, so we can use it throughout the house.

Hanging out in the living room with the new barcalounger.

Hanging out while Mom lifts weights.

On our last visit to Albuquerque, Jia Li got to spend the day with Lyn and Kasen. They all had a great time. Jia Li was so pooped that by the end of the day when she went in for a bedtime story with Rita and Kasen, she passed out before the story was over.

Falling asleep after bedtime reading with Kasen and Rita.

…and as usual, we all still go to our favorite hangout.

Hanging out with Mom and Dad at Steamworks.

Happy 4 Months!

We love you so much! You’ve given us nothing but love and joy.

First Time in the High Chair

Jia Li is practicing her sitting up skills. She’s still a little wobbly, but we thought we’d try the high chair anyway…

Pretty soon she’ll be starting solid food. Where does the time go?!?

Changes

Jia Li is almost 4 months old, and she’s hitting developmental milestones faster than I can keep up! Her baby vocabulary has grown to different sounds that are more than just cooing. She loves looking at herself in the mirror. In the following video, she’s watching herself on the iPhone.

Watching the camera a video by JTPicson Flickr.

I’ve been putting Jia Li in the Exersaucer and propping her up with blankets since she’s really too small for the contraption. She loves to stand, so I figured she’d get a kick out of this. Today she discovered one of the many toys and started spinning it.

Exersaucer fun a video by JTPicson Flickr.

Then she started looking around and really started noticing the other toys around her for the first time. Before, she’d just look at things directly in front of her.

Exersaucer distractions a video by JTPics on Flickr.

Finally, a look at what Jia Li exercising her little legs. She’s quite the kicker. We think she’s going to choose to bypass crawling and just go to walking. She loves using the legs.

Kicking it in the bouncer a video by JTPics on Flickr.