A Whole New World

The last few days have brought a whole new world to Jace. He has recently been consuming upwards of 40 oz. in bottles a day so Mommy took that as a cue that it was time to start cereal. He did great with it although was not too fond of the new taste! Jace actually had the tongue thrust under control fairly well---most of the leakage was due to the 'ick' factor. He ate several spoonfuls before deciding enough was enough and gagging--Jace can be somewhat dramatic. Jace also got a Johhny Jumper that Mommy and Daddy finally got ready for him to use. Actually it took several tries for Mommy. The first time she completed the instructions exactly as they said and proudly plopped Jace down in the jumper.....And his butt promptly hit the floor. He kind of looked like 'what are you doing to me?'. Now that Mommy has figured out the correct way to hang it Jace really thinks he is hot stuff. He spends most of his time spinning with an occasional hop mixed in. And finally, Jace's newest move is what we like to call 'the tripod'. He is getting pretty strong and can sit as long as he has his arms out to balance himself. Again doing this, he thinks he is top dog...of course we don't tell him any different.

And last but not least--Today is Mommy's first day off work so another new treat is sleeping in!!!...........somebody must have forgotten to get Jace that memo though so we'll work on that for tomorrow. :)

The first bite..............

The aftermath.................

oops.....................

That's more like it..........................

Tripod Jace...................

Road Trip'n It

Jace had the first of many summer road trips this weekend. He and Mommy headed back to see Grandma and Grandpa Fraune. Unfortunately this is a very busy time for Daddy so he was stuck at work all weekend. The usually calm, sleep-loving, relaxed Jace was a thing of the past about halfway into the drive. He is suddenly not a fan of his carseat, doing all he can to rip himself out of it. Mommy's best guess is that as Jace gets older and is able to do more things he has no time for wasting time sitting in the car. Mommy and Jace made it however and had a very nice weekend--minus naps of course. Jace got to do many things including eating out with the girls (who would expect anthing less?), attending his Superstar Soccer-playing Cousin Ryan's graduation party, and grilling out for Memorial Day with his entire family.

Jace found his Uncle Doug very relaxing--and maybe a little boring.......

Taking Uncle Reggie for a walk..........

Getting a bath in Grandma and Grandpa's sink.........

Hanging out with Grandma...............

Stylin.................

Getting ready to pull Reggie's ears!!...............unfortunately for Reggie this is a newly discovered talent!!

Trying out Cousin Abby's Jumparoo..... Jace loves his Cousin Emma (the cutie posing with him) and played with her a lot this weekend.......


And finally.....

Jace's Papa Cook had a birthday this weekend and he would like to give him a big shout out!!!
Happy birthday!!!!

Same ol' same ol'

Not much new has been going on in the world of Jace. He has continued to amaze us with his bedtime--5:00 pm one night! Mommy headed up to bed that night at 7:30 in fear of a 4:00 am wake-up call but Jace pulled through and slept until Mommy's alarm went off!! Of course even with a rather boring week behind us, Mommy did not fail--she kept the camera firmly to her face. A few of the results of her endless photographing are as follows:

Mommy's little preppie boy.........

Having fun--better yet-entertaining himself!!!!!

Watch out ladies.........

Jace heads off to celebrate Memorial Day with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend so until later......


That's all folks!!

The Boy's Got Skills!

This boy has some serious skills! He has learned so many new things in the past 4 1/2 months it is hard to keep up. Here are a few of the most recent.

Sittin' like a big man!!! A much better view than laying in the carseat!

Holding the bottle by himself!!! (He can't do it the entire time yet but is getting really good.)

Getting ready to try out the baby pool for the first time.......

Mommy and Jace enjoying the water.....maybe a bigger pool since Mommy is almost as big as this one!! We are on the waiting list for Mommy and Me swim lessons though!

And last but certainly not least..... helping Mommy workout by being her substitute weights. She loves this nearly 15 lb. weight much more than her old ones! (Pretty cute bum too!!)

What a Pair!!

Jace and Ozzy are definitely becoming the best of friends. Jace could stare at Ozzy for hours and though Oz can't sit long enough, he reciprocates Jace's feelings. Jace has started holding his hand out for Ozzy to lick. He also loves it when Ozzy licks his face. Although this is icky to Mommy, she is glad that Jace loves his big brother.

OOOOZZZZYYYYY, Come here!!!!

There you are you silly puppy!

Ohhh, give me a kiss!!

Ok, Ok, that's enough!!


Ozzy had enough fun with Jace and decided to rest with Mommy

Jace's Big Day

Jace had a big day today!! He had his Baptism and then had a party at his house. He had many friends and family members over to celebrate with him. Of course preparations started several days ago with deciding on his ensemble. First Mommy had nothing for him to wear and then suddenly she had things from several people. It worked out wonderfully because he was able to wear a little from everybody. He wore part of a suit that his cousin Grant wore on his Baptism--Grant is now graduated from high school and off to college so this was pretty cool. Jace also wore a cross onsie that his Great Aunt Rita got for him. And over it all, he wore a crochet gown made by his Great Grandma Mary that Daddy also wore to his Baptism. Of course Mommy had a great time making Jace model each outfit.

Jace's crochet gown......

Cousin Grant's suit.......Without the hat.....

Or with the hat..........


Yes, Mommy is aware that Jace is not a doll but she's going to keep it up until he protests--personally she thinks he enjoys dressing up because he gets extra ooo's and ahhh's from her.

Jace and the Fraune's--including his Godmother, Aunt Erin, and his Godfather, Grandpa Fraune.



Jace and the Austin's and Cook's.


Notice how thrilled Jace is with the entire process--he was a great boy through all of church and then fell asleep just in time for the actual Baptism!

Finally, one of the highlights to Mommy's day was Jace's gift to her for Mother's Day. He gave her earrings with his birthstone in them. She thought this was pretty thoughtful of him--and of Daddy for delivering them!

Big Man Jace

Jace's 4-months stats are in!!! The results indicate that just as expected, he is growing like a weed!! Jace is now 25 3/4 inches long (75th percentile)--Mommy is so proud of this stat as she has NEVER been near the 75th percentile for height! Jace weighs 14.3 lbs which is the 40th percentile. Head circumference just isn't as fun so Mommy already forgot the exact number but it is the 40th percentile as well. Jace also had more shots at his appointment. He is such a trooper and only cried for a short time. He even got some super cool crayon bandaids which made it all ok!!

Jace loves his Tylenol.........yeah right!

But he's happy again soon!!


When Mommy picked Jace up from daycare this morning she got a big surprise! He had made Mommy her very first Mother's Day gift! It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and was definitely the best present ever!

Isn't it the most beautiful thing....



He had also made her a scotcheroo for her birthday. Jace must have let it slip at daycare that the way to Mommy's heart is through her stomach (as most of you know)!

The Cubs' 2nd Biggest Fan

Jace has now become the Cubs' 2nd biggest fan----after Mommy of course. Mommy has had her eye on this Cubs t-shirt for a while now and Aunt Rita bought it for Jace last weekend! He appeared to love wearing it and even seemed to be mouthing 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' at times. However it was a little concerning to Mommy that about 5 minutes after putting it on, Jace threw up on it. Is this a bad sign for the Cubs? We thought this was their year?

Congratulations Aunt Erin!

Aunt Erin is officially a UNI alumni! She graduated on Saturday with a degree in Biology. She will continue to work in Cedar Falls for the summer (and be Jace's new roomie) and then start Chiropractic school in Kansas City in the fall. Daddy is especially happy to hear about Aunt Erin's future career as he loves chiropractors!
Graduation weekend started out with Jace getting to meet his Great Aunt Rita for the very first time! She lives in South Dakota and made the special trip back for Aunt Erin's graduation this weekend and Jace's baptism next weekend among other things. Great Aunt Rita likes to stay busy! The graduation ceremony was a little bit on the boring side for Jace.

He perked up somewhat after the ceremony to greet Aunt Erin.......

But was bored again soon and decided to take another snooze!

The time that Jace was awake involved laughing at Grandma and drooling uncontrollably on her shoulder (see figure A).
Figure A.

In between graduation and eating out Jace worked on his new skills.
Going..............

OVER!!!!

Petting Oz.......however Ozzy doesn't look so pleased!

And experiencing wrapping paper for the first time.....Great Aunt Rita brought presents but the paper was a present in itself!





*Mommy also found out this weekend that she got the transfer she put in for at work! That means she gets to work in town next year instead of driving 40 minutes each way!! Jace will appreciate this as it means sleeping later in the morning!! Yay for less driving and more sleeping!!

Happy 4 Months Baby J!

Jace is a whopping 4 months old today!! Some of his newfound talents include--scooting on his back (he is especially talented because he can now go forwards AND backwards), rolling over (yes, Aunt Erin he really can do this--it isn't like his bridge or his vocabulary of 20 words), grabbing Mommy's hair and pulling (and then frequently laughing), putting objects in his mouth, drooling out of control, talking and screaming out of control, and laying on his tummy for 10-15 seconds (believe it or not this is an increase of about 10-15 seconds from month 3). We are so proud of the little man. He seems to do something new every day. Jace also has increased his sleeping time again. He now retires to the good old crib around 7:15 or 7:30. Mommy was a little concerned at first because he was waking up earlier instead but he now sleeps through until about 6:15. Way to go Jace! Summer vacation is just around the corner (only 17 working days left!) and plans are underway for months 5, 6, and 7 to be spectacular!