Random pics...

We had a great weekend! We took walks to the river near-by to feed the ducks, we played in the rain, we went shopping for a couple of new toys, we took a trip to Bratislava, Slovakia to visit a church and our friends there, and we played a lot together as a family. Jakub did so well for the trip (3 hour car ride) and the time we spent with friends. He's still very friendly and will go to any stranger who smiles at him:)

Random notes:

He's loved rice cereal, carrots, avocado, zucchini and potatoes. He'll be trying some broccoli and green peas very soon! He's a good eater and he wants to eat quite a lot already. I try not to overfeed, but if I do he doesn't seem to mind and he just spits up a little later when playing:) I think he's just storing up as much as he can now so he can grow really tall... :)

We put up black curtains behind his others in his room to keep out the sunlight (which shines now up until 830-9 and will until 10pm before summer is over- it also comes up around 430 now and will by 3-330 before summer is over). So, it was wonderfully dark in his room all night and he woke around 5 to eat and then slept again until 830. I couldn't believe it! It was only one night so, I don't know yet if the curtains were the key, but I can dream, right? His morning was much more pleasant than when he wakes at 6 or 630. I think 830 would suit us all better! :)

He cries almost every time we leave a room now, and though it was touching at first, it's old now! It's a heart-breaking cry unlike his tired cry and it goes on for forever- until we return. I'm trying to just ignore it some and do what I need to do, and then comfort him when I return, but he's not catching on yet that we will return:) Hopefully he will soon! Anyone else having this trouble? He doesn't need us to play with him, but he needs to know we're in the room if he looks up for us. I hope it's just a phase...

Here are some random pics:





Playing with his hat on- so cute:)




Yes, we do have a very happy baby. No, he is not ALWAYS so happy. Here's your proof:)



Back to happy:)
Somehow I have the bad luck of only taking his picture when he has on a Christmas bib. I really only have 2 of those type and he really doesn't wear them that often... I don't know how this happens:)

In case you haven't heard- congratulations to my sister Hope on her engagement to Neil. We're so happy for them and we're looking forward to two wonderful weddings while we are home. Josh's brother Jedediah is also getting married while we're there, to sweet Nellie:) We can't wait! September will be here soon!

Happy 6 Months on Thursday!

Well, where do I begin? So much has happened in the last month, and even in the last week, that it seems every day Jakub is doing something new. This past month has been wonderful beyond words and also more difficult than I expected. Along with the changes and new adventures have come more tears and discontentment than we are used to (still not much compared to some so, I can't complain). Jakub continues to be one of the happiest and most pleasant babies I've ever been around, but the "golden" months are fading as he moves, talks, and grows more than ever before (read: he won't just lay around in one spot on his back smiling and playing anymore:). I'm so excited about all that is new and every day is such a joy to be with him and to witness the world through his eyes. Sometimes I just sit and watch him in awe of the gift God gave us and in awe of how God created him and how he is growing so quickly.

We went to the doctor today and I am happy to report that he is doing well. He had one immunization today and didn't have any problems with it. He also had to have his finger pricked to draw blood (it took forever to get enough blood!) for a regular check-up of how his body is doing. We should have the results in the next week.

His weight: 8.44 Kilo or 18 lbs 9 oz
His length: (according to me) about 28 inches

Here are some pictures of Jakub from the last week:


On Saturday we went to the pool for the first time with our teammates to enjoy a "fun day" together. We don't often get together outside of work or worship time anymore because we see each other about 4 times a week for those reasons alone. When we let ourselves, though, we have so much fun just being together and visiting, playing games, etc. So, we went to an indoor water park on the edge of Olomouc and it was beautiful inside. It's not a place you would expect to find here, but we had a great time. Jakub did so well in the water. Above, you can see me with him in the changing room. We weren't sure we could take our camera to the pool area, so we didn't, and then we found out it would have been ok. I hated that, but we'll definitely go again and take more photos. He wasn't afraid at all, but loved splashing around, floating on his back, floating on his tummy, and we even dunked him one time and he blew some bubbles and came up wide-eyed and then smiled:) I love this kid! A lot of the time he just watched in amazement everything and everyone around him. There were 3 indoor slides and then several pool and hot-tub areas. It felt like some kind of vacation to be in this place and we found ourselves leaving surprisingly very relaxed. Kubi was most relaxed of all as he took an almost 3 hour nap afterward. I told Josh that we have to install a pool in our apartment somewhere:)

Here Josh is feeding Jakub some of his carrots for lunch. He's still doing very well at eating! He likes to help feed himself- as you can see:)



Here we are at our Mom's class last week. In the first one Kuba is telling about "his" artwork he drew to practice the letter B. He drew a lovely banana, yes? :) That's the homework we give each kid each week- to draw pictures that start with the letters they are practicing. We had a great Mom's group- praise God! You can't see all of the parents in the photo because there were too many (yeah!), but there were 10 Moms total and 14 kids. It was crazy and super fun:) Jakub loves watching the others and hearing the songs. Josh is gracious enough to work in the back office and when it's time for Jakub's nap he will take him for me and put him to sleep in the office- that way I continue to be a co-teacher with Sarah Keen. This week Josh even joined us for some of the class so he could see what we do and do some of it with Jakub. It was nice to have him there! This is just one of the ways we have to help each other- so that I can continue to be a part of the ministry here. I'm thankful Josh is willing to help me because staying involved where I can is important to me.

Here are some of the things I want to remember about Jakub at 6 months:

- About 3 weeks ago you started turning over even when in your bed and for a while you wouldn't stop doing it and crying until you had exhausted yourself from both and would finally give up and go to sleep if we swaddled you and gave you your pacifier. Sometimes this went on for one hour before bed and it wore us all out.

- As of the last week you have figured out you like to turn onto your belly to sleep and you will even put your own pacifier in and go to sleep. Most of the time now you only turn, play, and fuss a little before putting yourself to sleep on your belly. Sometimes you even curl up in the corner of the bed and it's so sweet to see.

- Now that you like to move around the bed and sleep on your belly you hate to be swaddled. Sometimes after you are asleep I sneak in and put a small blanket on you to keep you warm:) It usually ends up in a ball at the edge of the crib after you've changed positions in your sleep.

- When I crinkle paper objects and laugh you crack up and it's so funny to hear. You also really like it when Daddy throws a ball against the wall.

- You not only turn all over the place now, but you are starting to lift yourself up by your arms and then move your legs in a funny way that looks like you are getting ready to crawl somewhere.

- When you aren't ready to sleep and you are playing in your crib you like to lift your head up to peek over the edge of the crib. It's so funny to watch and it makes it hard to sneak up on you now:)

- You're sitting so well on your own. You're very strong and do not often lose your balance and fall- but when you do you smile about it.

- You love to put both feet in your mouth (not at the same time) and chew on them. You chew on everything- including my face if I'm not careful. The other day you grabbed me on either side of my face by my hair and then put your open mouth over my mouth/nose area and I couldn't get away from you or breath very well. It startled me so I called out for Josh to help and that made you back off:) I think I startled you back.

- You love to give big, open-mouthed, sloppy kisses. It's so sweet and so gross at the same time. Yes, Dad, I do wipe off his spit when he's done:) It's not that sweet...

- You are ticklish now under your chin, ribs, and behind your neck.

- Today we switched you to your big-kid stroller. You're still facing us for the moment, but you can sit up in it and see much better. You mostly slept in it today, but I think you're going to love this new perspective when you're awake for it:)

- You love your carrots now and eat about 3 cubes of it with a little rice cereal mixed in sometimes. Tomorrow- avocado! :) You still mostly chew on your sippy cup, but every-once-in-a-while you take a big sip of water and seem very surprised by it. You swallow it well, though. You also hold it on your own like a big boy!

- You still make "b" sounds and you blow your lips a lot. You especially blow them when I'm trying to put medicine on your face, so I know you're trying to tell me to back off- that you don't like it:) Today I think I heard you make the "d" sound before taking a nap. You also still like to scream for fun...

That's it! :)

Mother's Day Follow-up...

I just had to share this lovely meal with you. Josh made if for our dinner on Mother's Day. It was very sweet- especially since the end of the day with Jakub was a little difficult and we didn't eat until after 730. It was wonderful! We really celebrated Mother's Day together today (Monday), because it's a calmer day for us than Sundays usually are with worship and programs for/with our friends here. Today, after Josh finished at school, we took a walk to the square and had ice-cream. Then we took Jakub on a walk by the river and to see the ducks that live there. There were some baby ducks, which were so sweet to see. It was a very peaceful afternoon.



Here's the happy carrot eater. We started them for his lunch on Sunday. He did not like it at first and made some faces as he took bites of it, but he still swallowed almost all of it without any complaining. He just kept looking at us like: "Are you sure I'm supposed to eat this stuff?" It was sweet. :) He's trusting of us because he kept eating what I gave him. I ended up adding a little rice cereal at the end to make the taste a little more bland since he's only used to the cereal. He did well and I was so proud. It was also enjoyable to make the food for him- and it was easy! I steamed 3 chopped carrots and then froze the left-overs in ice cube trays and now we have enough for about 4 days worth of food for him. Today when he ate them again he didn't make any faces and he ate everything I made for him. I think I'm getting better at learning when to stop, because he still doesn't give me any good signs of being full- he just eats what I give him! Anyone else have this problem??



I also gave him his first sippy-cup after lunch with some water to wash the carrots down:) He did really well with the handles and took to them immediately. He did drink a little, but mostly he rubbed it against his gums. I still don't see any signs of teeth on the inside, but he acts like they are coming soon. We'll keep giving this cup a try, but I can tell he would rather drink straight from a regular glass. He's always watching us drink from ours and grabbing at them. My Mom said I preferred this from the beginning as well. We'll see how he does over the coming weeks.

Well, that's it! Off to do bath time:) I hope you all had a good weekend and a good Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mothers and soon-to-be-mothers out there:) I hope you all have a blessed day today. Jakub gave me the gift of sleeping until 8am this morning. It was the perfect gift! :) It's going to be a really good day today! Here's another short video, just for fun! Love to you all.




(Yes, he's wearing a Santa bib... it was clean and available) :)

Milestones...

Here are two videos I've been wanting to share with you. They are the most recent we've taken (older ones will come soon, too). The first is over a week old and it's of Jakub turning from back to belly. After the first few frustrating attempts at it he became a pro. He turns so much now and prefers to play pretty much only on his belly or sitting up for a small bit. He even does this when trying to fall asleep, which is not always fun for him when he's so tired, but I'm sure he'll settle soon once the novelty has worn off.

The other video is long (4-5 min) and unedited, but it's of his first time to eat last Saturday so, we just left it as it was recorded:) Every day he gets better and better and seems to really enjoy it. I'm so thankful! Thanks for everyone's comments as well- I'm getting more confident about feeding/his eating with each passing day. Enjoy! (and don't forget to look further down for the Easter video- mainly you grandparents:)

Easter Video...

So, we know this video is really late in being posted (as will be some of the others:), but we just downloaded several from our camera and now I can finally post them!
Grandma Babi, Papa, Nana, and Pop, thank you so much for the wonderful Easter gifts you sent Jakub. I hope you enjoy the video- it's especially for you! :) We love you!

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

We've had one of the most enjoyable weeks with Jakub! He's been moving and rolling so much, playing with bubbles for the first time, laughing even more, sitting up better, and EATING! It's all been so incredible to watch and a little sad at the same time:) He truly seems to have left the "baby" behind and begun his journey towards being a little boy. It's not all been easy, either. With his new-found mobility he has not learned how to turn it off around bedtime. Before sleeping, either at nap-time or bedtime, he has to do several rotations around the bed and get stuck in a corner a couple of times before he can go to sleep. We're leaving him to it so he'll learn it's not the best time to try out all of those fancy tricks, but it will be a while before he settles down I think:) He's just too excited! A couple of days ago we were trying to put him down for a nap and it took over an hour of crying and turning and playing before he would sleep. He was laughing and crying at the same time! Poor kid can't quit playing even when he really wants to.



Here he was playing on my bed while I was cleaning up our room. I wish you could really see just how blue those beautiful eyes are in the sunlight.




He loved the bubbles:)




Sitting and playing with his toys.




We have ourselves a GOOD EATER! He's been watching us intently while we eat or drink for a few weeks now so, I guess he was prepared and ready for his own shot at eating:) He blew on the spoon for the first few bites and sent rice cereal flying everywhere, but then he just started opening his mouth like a little bird and swallowing the food really well. We began on Saturday for lunch and he ate the entire bowl we prepared for him. Sunday lunch was even better in that he didn't sputter at all, but ate it all again with little trouble. I still don't feel like I know exactly what I'm doing, but one day at a time we're having fun and figuring it out. I'm not so sure I made the cereal as thick as he could have handled, but I was nervous about the swallowing so it was a little watery:) We'll get there, though. I've already bought the carrots for making his food for next weekend. I can't wait to see how he reacts to each new taste. I think he's going to love it!


And here was the post-lunch result. He was kicked back in his chair with his feet crossed and a very fully little belly! I wish I could say it magically made his naps longer, but so far that is not the case. He is sleeping well at night, but he was already doing that on most nights. It has seemed for the last 2 nights that he's waking less even for his pacifier. Both nights he only woke one time for a feeding and slept all the other hours. I hope it's going to stay that way! These days he's sleeping from around 7 until 6 or 7 with a feeding around 1.

I have some questions for anyone who might have some suggestions/answers: How quickly did you increase the thickness of the rice cereal? So far, I've followed the directions on the box, which leave it very runny (as it should be for a beginner). Also, how quickly do you try adding more to the amount he tries to eat? The directions said to give a beginner 1 tbsp of rice mixed with 4-5 tbsp of liquid, and both days he ate all of that (except for a few sputters here and there). How quickly did you move on to new foods like carrots (which I was thinking of adding next weekend)? Any other helpful tips about eating or trying new foods? Any of you make your own baby foods?