Some random new pics...

Wow! I love crawling under the kitchen table! (doesn't this look like a danger zone?)

Uh oh, I think my legs are stuck!

Who needs a napkin?

Here's Jalen with his favorite toy -- a cord. Look at that face; pure happiness.


And this is as close as I could get to a picture in the StL hat. He thought wearing a hat felt weird until I put shoes on his feet!

Announcement & More

No, there's no little Jalen.

So it's now official - Jalen and I will make our way home (hopefully) to attend Aunt Vannah's baby shower, and stay all week through Labor Day, with Devan coming in Wed night or Thurs. Woo hoo! And here's a treat -- Jalen's debut video (its a good one! turn up your speakers!) on YouTube. Not sure how this is going to work, you might be able to watch on here, or may have to use the link at the bottom of this post to take you to the YouTube page.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJapAjw6sMo

Well Aren't You Fancy?

Don't look, Mom!

I've got this under control

Ta-da!!!

Is this kid growing like a weed, or what? So, what kind of tricks can he do now? Well, he can feed himself "Puffs", little cereal-like snacks. Some of them get into his mouth. He has one tooth. He can pull up on just about anything, with Mom and Dad watching saying, "Jalen, you're going to hurt yourself!" So far no bruises or stitches, but we only give that a few more weeks max. He can even stand up using Mace, because I am sitting here typing and turned around to see him standing up with nothing around but the dog. He splashes like crazy in the bathtub and tries relentlessly to stand up there, but he hasn't learned the meaning of "no" yet. He still takes two naps a day, although the morning one in the past week has become very short. He is busy, busy, busy, making laps from the living room to the back door, to the kitchen, under the table, to the front door, and back to the living room. He's trying desperately to read Daddy's golf magazines, but Daddy doesn't share. And he is just now reminding me that he likes to play with the springy doorstoppers.

Catch ya later Mom, I got somewhere to be!

Aww, brotherly love. Sharing toys. If Jalen could have Mace's fox, and Mace could have Jalen's squishy Purple Aces baseball, everyone would just be a lot happier! I wonder who would end up feeling left out if there were another boy?

Something New Every Day

Into everything? Um, yeah. Daddy came home to find Jalen helping me do the dishes. Don't mind the snot on his face or food on his shirt! He lets go of our hands or the toy he is leaning against, puts his hands in the air and squeals - I did it!! He really is Mr. Big Shot these days; I love the confidence.

I should add to the list of "No-no" items that Jalen prefers - electronic cords. Phone chargers, baby monitor, vacuum cord, anything with an electric current!

Cheese Boys!
Whoa! No time for a second shot! Don't worry, he didn't start crying until he had rolled over and sat back up.


We have a new discovery. On Thursday I noticed a little hole in his gums on the bottom, and now you can feel the tip of a tooth! Is it one...two?...could it be all of them at once and our teething troubles be over? Let's all cross our fingers!

C'mon knees, let's go!

Busted!

Here he comes...there he goes!

Hey everybody, I can crawl!

Well, technical difficulties on the video, so pictures are gonna have to do for now. Jalen is all over the place now, and the things that really get him going, of course, are the things he can't have. Like shoes (yuck), Mace's fox (yuck), the blinds, etc. Now that he's figured out crawling, his new endeavor is letting go of our hands while standing. He's getting up to about 15 seconds or so, and thinks he's pretty cool!
How big does this kid look? Too big!!

No teeth yet, see?!

We all got to go hang out at the pool recently. Jalen is chillin here, but he was doing a lot of splashing and jumping.

Bottom's up!

Funny Noises, Silly Faces

THIS JUST IN: JALEN IS NOW CRAWLING! As of last night, Jalen figured out how to motor across the living room like an old pro. I'm going to work on putting up a video clip, so more on that to come.

Sometime last week Jalen busted out what Devan called the "Old Man with no teeth" face. He was sucking in his bottom lip and overlapping his top lip over it, and then kinda chewing it. He had Devan rolling in the floor!

Look at those chubby cheeks!

And as for noises, he will suck in a huge breath and then slowly and restrictively let it out...I guess you'd just have to hear it. And he has figured out how to click his tongue on the roof of his mouth, along with his occasional ear-piercing shrieks.

He like to roll off the couch and let Daddy catch him.