Merry Christmas

Christmas has come and gone this year, and it was one of the funnest ever. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Mama Green and Aunt Erica, and then off to Nana & Paw-Paw's for the rest of Christmas day with the Plyler clan. Jacob was in a great mood and smiled all day. He was more interested in the bags, bows, and tissue than he was in his gifts, but he really racked up on some toys and clothes. By the end of the day, we were all pretty worn out.

Gettin' ready for Christmas

Not much has been going on lately at the Plyler household, just getting ready for the holidays. Kristine took some nice pictures of Jacob in his Christmas outfit. He got to meet Santa, and didn't even cry. In fact, she says he liked Santa's beard and started pulling it.

We've started trying some new foods the past couple of weeks. Kristine whipped up a variety of pureed vegetables and fruits, and he seems to like the apples and carrots best. That would be butternut squash all over his face in the picture below.

We also got us a nice new camcorder to start making some of those always-entertaining home movies. I'll post some short clips up, once I get my computer beefed-up so I can edit.

Thanksgiving 2008

We went to Jacksonville, AL this year for Thanksgiving to celebrate with Kristine's family. We all had a good time at Aunt Betty's house and had lots of great food.

I was off work all week, so Jacob and I got to spend a few days together for a little father-son bonding. He also got to see his first Iron Bowl, but it was certainly one to forget.

Here's Kristine with her co-workers and their babies. There must be something in the water at Children's Hospital, because they were all pregnant at the same time.

6 Months Old

Jacob turned 6 months old last weekend (Nov 9th). He went to the doctor for another checkup and round of shots. He now weighs a whopping 14 lbs 6 oz. and is 25" tall. That puts him at about the 25th percentile for his age. The doctor said he won't necessarily always be a midget and that he should catch up by the time he's two.
The doctor gave us the go-ahead to start giving him some cereal. The first attempt didn't go so well, as you can see:

We been giving him cereal everyday since last Friday, and he's getting a little more used to it. But it is an extremely messy process.
It's getting so that everything Jacob can get his hands on goes straight to his mouth, and that includes the camera:

We had Jacob's dedication ceremony at the church this past Sunday, too. It was nice having the same pastor who married us also lead in Jacob's dedication. Here he is all dressed up for the occasion:
More pictures from the past week:

Gatlinburg wedding

We loaded up the car and headed to Gatlinburg this past weekend for Andrew's wedding. The whole family stayed in a nice cabin in Sevierville along with one of Andrew's friends, Steven, and his family. It was nice to finally get to meet Samantha, since they were getting married this weekend. She's a really sweet girl, and we're happy to have her in the family. There were some really nice views from the balconies:

Unfortunately, to have a place with views this nice you will not be near the hustle and bustle of Gatlinburg. To get there, we had to drive through Pigeon Forge and almost the entire length of the Gatlinburg strip to get to the wedding chapel. We were a few minutes late, but we were able to witness most of the nuptials. Here's the happy new couple:

Of course, Jacob got all dressed up for the occassion too. Hopefully, Kristine will eventually learn how to put his shoes on the right feet. Words don't begin to explain how happy he was to wear a tie and vest. Actually, my little buddy was pretty grumpy all weekend. I hope he didn't scare poor Samantha too much. We did manage to get him to smile for a least one picture:

And in other news, Jacob said "Don't blame me, I voted for the other guy!"

Halloween

Jacob and all of his classmates dressed up on Friday for Halloween. All things considered, he looks like he might be the least miserable of the bunch. I'm still trying to figure out what kind of hybrid reptile/dinosaur/dragon with ears he is supposed to be.Fun times at the Halloween festival at Carrington Lakes:
Sometimes the funnest toys are the ones that are free. Like feet!

More pictures from the past week:

This is what happens....

...when I dress Jacob. Kristine had to work this past Saturday, so she left me to get him dressed for the day. Apparently, we have different tastes in clothes because she wasn't as impressed as I thought she should be. At least the socks match! We call this his "Wild Man" outfit.

 

I couldn't help but think that this is probably how Ted Nugent would dress one his kids.

 

We had the opportunity to watch a lot of football with Mommy away, but Jacob had a bit of trouble staying awake for a whole game. He and his monkey buddy took a couple of naps during the day, which I took full advantage of by also catching a few z's myself.

Sunday we traveled to Jacksonville, AL for the Green family reunion. Here's Jacob visiting with Kristine's aunt Betty:

I also learned a valuable piece of information that day. The only thing worse than changing a dirty diaper at home is trying to change a dirty (of the "blow-out" variety) diaper on a Honda's front seat parked in a gas station parking lot.

"Little Monster"

We got Jacob a Halloween costume, which looks something like a lizard. Kristine put it on him Saturday to try it on, and he tolerated it just long enough to snap a few quick pictures.

Here he is at his daycare in the pumpkin patch:

This is pretty ridiculous. A lizard/scarecrow? I've never heard of such.
It's getting pretty obvious how much bigger he's getting when you put him next to the cat. When he goes mobile, she's gonna be in trouble.

More Strange Noises

Jacob is starting to get pretty vocal, especially when he's playing with his favorite toy monkey. He'll lay on the floor and suck on the monkey's ears, presumably trying to get milk from his green and furry friend. You can really see the excitement in his face as I lower the monkey down towards him and he snatches him away as if to say, "Mine!" I found the dancing portion of his performance quite entertaining as well.

Funny Faces

As most of you know, getting one good picture means you've got to take about fifty. However, amongst those "outtakes" are some pretty funny pictures. Most happen right before, or after, a sneeze, yawn, or fit of varying degrees. Here's a few that always make me laugh:

Newer pics:

This is how Jacob rolls........

Yes, that thud at the end is his head hitting the table. Guess he's got a hard head like his daddy.

Baby Talk

I'm not sure what he's trying to say, but he's serious about it. He's probably trying to say, "Put down that stupid camera and get me something to eat!"

Sorry for the low quality. In my rush to grab the camera, I didn't check the settings before pressing record.

Jacob has also managed to roll himself over from his stomach to his back a couple of times. Hopefully he'll get better at it and we can record it.

Portrait Innovations

We finally got some "professional" pictures made. Here's a sampling:

I've also found a fun use for junk mail, besides sending back pre-paid return envelopes with nothing in them to credit card companies. One particularly annoying insurance company sends us junk about once a month. This time it included a bumper sticker:

Jacob's getting pretty good at standing up, when he has something to hold on. If I'm quick enough with the camera, it looks like he's standing on his own:

Resting up before kickoff (should have slept during that 3-2 snooze-fest of a game):

Somebody looks sleepy, and it ain't Jacob:

Fun on the beach

We finally got to make our trip to the beach this weekend. Kristine and I had planned on going before Jacob was born, but I guess he didn't want to miss out, so he interupted our plans. We stayed in a condo on Blue Mountain Beach, which was really nice. I just wish the unit we were in wasn't on the 3rd floor. Just having a baby seems to quadruple the amount of stuff you take down to the beach. Jacob took a while to get used to the heat and bright sun, but he eventually got used to it and seemed to enjoy standing on the edge of the water as the waves washed over his feet.

 

We were very careful to keep him lathered up with plenty of sunblock, but you would never guess that by looking at our pictures. Thankfully, we all made it home with no sunburn, which is a first for me.

 

 

 

 

Toying with Kitty

Our cat really likes spaghetti noodles. Actually, to say she likes them is a bit of an understatement. She seems to have a sixth sense to know when we are cooking anything that involves pasta, and will stand at the stove begging for a noodle until we give her one. And by give her one, I mean wait until a noodle is nice and sticky and throw it at her so it sticks to her back. Good times! Well, since she is scared of Jacob, we wondered if she would take a piece of spaghetti from him. She was cautious, but her curiosity got the best of her. Now we just have to teach Jacob how to throw.

Playing dress-up with Kristine and Nana:

Trying out the "Bumbo" seat:

Toy overload:

New Pictures

Starting Daycare

After all the panic and worry, the infection on Jacob's head ended up not being an infection at all. It seems that he (and all the other babys at Children's daycare) had an adverse reaction to some of the cleaning agents used in their room. He's completely healed and is doing great. He started at the church daycare last Monday, and he seems to really enjoy it there. There are two really nice ladies that care for Jacob and five others in his class. Right now it's only him and two others, so he's getting a lot of attention. They take him for a stroll every day, and they say he sleeps most of the day in his swing. Here he is all pimped out for his first day at "school":

 

Jacob's favorite part of the day at home seems to be when he is getting a bath. He just lies back and plays with the rubber duck.

 

"GQ" pose:

 

More random pics:

 

Dressed up for another day at daycare. (Anybody else noticing a theme with the color of his outfits?)

 

Waiting for us to get ready for work in the morning: (The mits are because he's starting gnawing on his knuckles and making them raw.)

Here's an outfit Kristine picked out for him. It reminds me of Ralphy in "A Christmas Story" when he's wearing the pink bunny costume.