Three Months Old

John Geoffrey turned three months old on Sunday. I can't believe another month has flown by! First a few cute pics of our beautiful boy:

Growing so fast - we love his chubby cheeks!

Cuddles with Daddy

"You are getting very sleepy"

Grumpy face - not impressed that we are trying to take pictures of him halfway through feeding.

Already addicted to TV

Scared of the camera flash - but boy does it make one hilarious photo!

And then here's what has happened over the last month to get you up to speed:

John has really discovered his hands now. Sometimes I catch him just staring at them. He puts them up in front of his face, turns them over, touches them together, turns them over again, as if they were the most interesting and curious things in the world. I think he is starting to learn that they are his and that he can do things with them, although his hand eye co-ordination still has a little way to go!

His desire to suck on things has also increased. Last month it was mostly just his index finger, or his little balled fist. Now at times he tries all fingers at once (which often makes him choke for just a second), and last night John caught him sucking on both hands at the same time!

He’s a wiggly little worm too. He can now spin himself around about 90 degrees on his playmat while he’s on his back. It’s amazing to me how they can do that.

He’s still a very happy baby, and smiles a ton, but now he is also starting to giggle which is just completely adorable. Last week I had him giggling for about 10 minutes whilst I danced in front of him. I’m not sure if I should take that as a compliment or be worried that he finds my dancing so funny!

Propped up using the pillows on the lounge - such a happy baby!

He talks now. A lot. I have no idea what he is saying, but it is fun to talk back to him and mimick his sounds.

He’s enjoying tummy time a lot more, and will stay there for a good 5 minutes before getting upset over it. The other day he even turned himself onto his back 3 times in a row. It was only after those three times that I thought to get the camera out to capture it, but of course, he was a little worn out by then and so I didn't manage to get it on camera. Here's his last effort anyway. I’m sure it’s just a fluke that he has managed to roll himself onto his back so many times already, but he does seem to have quite strong neck and back muscles for his age.

John managed to get into a good sleeping routine in the last few weeks, sleeping an average of 7 hours a night, but even though I’m typing this now, I’m sad to report that the last 2 nights that has not been the case L he must be due for another growth spurt!

We’ve been outside a lot the last month as the weather has been beautiful, and also because I finally got my baby carrier (which is a lot quicker and easier than the hassle of getting the pram in and out of the car). We go for walks in the streets around our house (mostly to the shops for that odd grocery or run a small errand), around the mall with Daddy and even been down to Glenelg in it. 

At the mall with Mum and Dad. Couldn't believe the stores were already ready for Christmas in September!

Our first trip in the baby carrier, getting ready to go to the shops for some eggs so we could make brownies.

Close up of our cutey.

We took John down to Brighton beach one afternoon. It had been beautiful weather all day and so we had intended to go for a walk, but was quite a bit cooler by the water so we ended up getting a quick bite to eat instead. We still went down by the water for a few minutes though, realising that it was our baby's first trip to the beach. He looked at the ocean for a few seconds, but then became fascinated by the sky. He does the same when we are changing him, just stares up at the ceiling. I wonder sometimes what he is seeing.

Staring at the sky

John's passport arrived early in the month, and then Mummy's new one (making her an official Keaton on her travel documents) arrived a few weeks later. So, apart from actually buying our tickets, we are all set to come to the USA for Christmas to visit Grandpa and Grandma Keaton as well as Uncles, Aunts and cousins on Daddy's side. 

John also had his immunisations in the last month. Grandma was on hand to give Mummy some emotional support but all in all it went pretty well. John cried pretty hard with the first needle, and so the second one was pretty awful. He was a good boy though and settled down fairly quickly and went to sleep. Thank goodness we don’t have to go through that again until the beginning of October.

Lastly, John has been a little sickly the last week. It started with Mummy getting a sore throat and cold last weekend, which luckily only lasted a few days for her, but it seemed to pass onto John Geoffrey and give him a very stuffy nose, and then onto Daddy who managed to get full blown bronchitis :( We've had to administer the saline drops to John Geoffrey (which most of the time he HATES us giving to him) and then try the aspirator to remove the mucus from his nose. He HATES that too, and it is awful to try and do. I can't wait for him to be over this cold! I'm guessing it's one of the firsts in a long line of doing something you know will be good for your child in the long run, even if it is causing them discomfort now. Welcome to parenting :)

Future NBA All Star

On Saturday, Uncle Neal and Aunty Elissa came to visit before we all headed over to Jaiden's house (John's cousin) for his 6th birthday party. Uncle Neal thought it would be the best time to start John's training for the NBA:

All I can say is that the kid has skills.

Home Movies

I have been trying to take a few little home movies on my phone so that I can share them with Mom & Dad Keaton, who I know would love to be around and play with John Geoffrey. Here are a couple I've taken so far:

Play time on the mat (trying to catch him talking):

Sucking his fingers (soooo noisy, soooo cute):

Early smiles (he smiles a lot more and a lot bigger now):

Father's Day

Today in Australia it was Father's Day (yes, we have it on a different day than the USA).

It was a special day for us for two reasons:

1. It was the first Father's Day for both of my boys.
2. John Geoffrey received a name and a blessing in church today, given by his Daddy (read about this here).

We had a family lunch at Grandma and Grandpa's as part of the Father's Day / Baby Blessing celebrations.

John and Daddy on their 1st Father's Day together

John Geoffrey also decided to show us his muscles:

And his unhappy face:

John gave his Daddy an M&M dispenser (with plenty of M&Ms to fill it with) as well as some Hershey's miniatures, as he knows Daddy misses those from home. He also got him the cutest card ever, and told mummy what to write in it (seeing as he can't hold a pen yet). He thanked Daddy for talking to him, holding him, singing to him and burping him - oh and for teaching him that Mummy is a knucklehead.

Mummy gave Daddy an Atlanta Braves sweatshirt to thank him for being such an awesome husband and Dad. I was so proud of myself for getting a gift that I knew was awesome AND for not ruining the surprise before giving it to him (as I am notorious for not being able to keep presents a secret). I will post a picture when I have one of John wearing it :)

This picture has nothing to do with Father's Day, it was just on my camera from a few weeks ago, and I realised that I hadn't posted it yet. My baby boy fast asleep on his playmat - he is just to cute for words sometimes!

A Name and a Blessing

“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). 

Today was a special day for us, John Geoffrey was blessed at our local church during the sacrament meeting by his Daddy. It was a beautiful experience for us, and made me so happy to see and hear my husband blessing our beautiful boy.

For those of you who haven't been to a baby blessing before, men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood* gather in a circle and hold the baby in their hands. One person then addresses Heavenly Father and gives the child a name and a blessing as the spirit directs. As well as his Daddy, Grandpa Fitton and Uncles Craig, Boyd and Neal participated in the blessing.

Daddy gave the blessing and blessed John Geoffrey that he would be healthy and strong, as happy and contented as possible and that he may grow and learn the things he should know as quickly as possible. He also blessed him to know that he was loved (which of course he is, VERY much).

John Geoffrey was so good during the blessing. I heard him make a few gurgling happy sounds just before Daddy started giving the blessing, but he was quiet while Daddy was talking. Grandpa Fitton was naughty and had his eyes open during the blessing and told me afterwards that John Geoffrey smiled up at his Daddy the whole way through.  That just melts my heart right there. To me it was if he was trying to let Daddy know how much he loved him, and give him some encouragement, as well as him being happy that he was receiving the blessing.

I bought John a special outfit to wear for the day. He looks so grown up in his big boy clothes (he otherwise lives in growsuits at the moment):

Grandma also took this photo of our little family after church today:

John Geoffrey was lucky to have lots of his Australian family there to witness his blessing:

Grandma and Grandpa Fitton, Aunty Carla and Uncle Craig Davison and cousins Shelton, Ashton, Sarah and Jaiden, Uncle Boyd and Aunty Sarah and cousins William, Noah and Kai, Uncle Joe and Aunty Rachel, Aunty Laura and cousins Jasmine and Annabelle, and Uncle Neal and Aunty Elissa and cousin to be (due Oct).

I wish we had been able to get a photo of everyone who came, but the Davison's had to leave part way through sacrament to go back to their ward (Craig is the Bishop and Carla also had to go back for her calling in Primary), and Aunty Laura also left soon after the blessing.

I also wish that our American family could have been there too. It is hard to be so far apart when milestones like this come up. Just know that we were thinking of all of you at the time.

It was a good, good day :)

* The Melchizedek Priesthood is authority given to worth male members of our Church so that they can act in God's name for the salvation of all people (men, women and children). They do this through  righteous leadership and by performing saving ordinances.

2 months old

Ok, so this post is a few days old (John was 2 months old on Thursday and it's now Saturday), but, well, we've been busy.

Here is a picture of our beautiful boy taken today - the sun decided to make an appearance in a spectacular way for the first day of spring - makes a nice change from the rainy, windy, overcast weather we have been having lately. I took John down to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens which are not far from our house (within walking distance) so that he could enjoy the outdoors, watch the trees and hear the birds. I've been wanting to do it for ages but the weather has been against us, so I was glad that we were able to go today - I'm sure it was good for both of us.

I've noticed that John has learned to do quite a few new things over the last month.

1. He has learned how to stretch. When he wakes up from a sleep he loves to stretch his arms way over his head and arch his back like he has had the best sleep ever (even if it has only been a 5 minute dose). It is way cute.

2. He has learned how to grab things - he's still learning total co-ordination but it is fun trying to watch him hold his pacifier and put it back in his mouth when it slips out - he doesn't have much luck though as somehow he manages to get his hands under the rim and then catapults it away from himself. He also likes to grab my clothes when he is feeding as if he's trying to pull himself closer. He's much better and opening and closing his hands this month than he was last month. The only problem with this new skill he is developing, is that he is still developing it, which means lots of scratches on his face. This morning I noticed this new scratch near his eye :(

3. He has learned how to smile, and even though I've talked about it before, it makes me so happy to see his sweet smiling face.

4. He has started gurgling and grunting and making lots more noises. He doesn't really cry when he wakes up anymore (although he does cry at other times), he just makes small noises to get my attention.

5. He has started sucking his fingers - not his fist, his actual fingers. He likes his index finger the most.

John still doesn't have a regular sleeping pattern. He did go about 2 weeks having a long 5 hour sleep at night on a regular basis, but this last week, he's back to 2-3 hours max. Such short sleep sessions makes mum a bit grumpy :( hopefully it's just a growth spurt and we'll have long sleeps again soon.

The last few weeks

Well, I haven't been keeping up with my posts as often as I would like, but here is a summary of what John Geoffrey has been up to this month:

Learned to smile

Yes, John has started smiling actively, and not just because he has gas :) I love it when he wakes up in the morning and I go to his crib and say hello and he gives me a big gummy smile back. He also loves having a clean bottom, and will give us plenty of smiles after we have changed his nappy. Actually he also loves to smile at us before we change his diaper, I think because he knows that we are playing russian roulette with every nappy change (although I am much more adept at placing a washer over him to stop any rogue sprays) and he likes to keep us on his toes!

This cute little one also smiles when he sees his reflection, when he's playing on his playmat and when we sing the Proclaimers 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)' to him (see the 'Olympics' heading below for the significance of the song).

Started Drooling

I wish I could get a good picture of this, but it is so hard. John has started frothing at the mouth when he's hungry and because he hasn't learned to keep his saliva in his mouth yet, it just dribbles all over his clothes. I find it pretty hilarious to be honest. Pretty much anything this kid does is cute.

Discovered his Bouncer, Playmat and Reflection

John and I went shopping to buy some new things for John Geoffrey. While it wasn't the best experience (picture a seriously screaming baby, who would not settle and two frazzled parents) we got some great things for him.

The first thing we got was a bouncer, which is something I had really been wanting to get. It means I don't have to put our baby down on his back when my arms are tired after feeding, and I can move him in his chair from room to room to keep him (and me) company.  He really enjoys his special chair and is rarely ever unhappy in it, he even doses off in it from time to time.

At the same time we got the bouncer, we also got a playmat which has arches over the top so that he has some interesting things to look at when he has playtime. The one we picked has a cute little monkey hanging off the middle of the arches, which plays some music when tugged on. I have to admit that was the main draw card for me, because John likes to call our son our little monkey (cute). The other cool thing about the playmat is that it has a mirror on it, and John Geoffrey loves to look at himself in the mirror.

Submitted his Passport Application

It's no secret that we would like to visit the Keaton side of the family for either Thanksgiving or Christmas this year, and so we decided to get John Geoffrey's passport application in asap so we can go whenever we like. We went and got his passport photo done about two weeks ago, but I only finished the application and sent it in last week. He was such a good boy for the photographer, no crying and very alert - made it so easy.

I also applied to get my name changed to Keaton on my passport. Because I managed to squeeze it in within the first year of our marriage (just) I didn't have to pay anything to change it - yipee!

Watched the Olympics

I remember watching the Olympics as a little kid and loving it. I distinctly remember during one Olympics being particularly inspired, so much so that my brother Boyd and I decided to have our own Olympics at home. A broom threaded through cardboard boxes loaded with books became weights so that we could do the clean and jerk. We'd time ourselves running around the perimeter of our house. We stood cushions from the lounge on their ends so we could do hurdles, and pillows and quilts and that trusty broom became the highjump and mats. I think we even did the triple jump in the backyard.

John and I watched our first Olympics (winter) together when he was living in NC and when I was in Australia. We somehow had the same broadcast on our TVs when we were talking one night on Skype and were laughing together at the dancers in the opening ceremony. To this day my impression of the dancers still makes John laugh.

John Geoffrey seemed to love watching this Olympics with us. He got to see weightlifting, fencing, track and field, swimming, diving, gymnastics, syncronised swimming and the list goes on and on. We were lucky enough to have Foxtel which was broadcasting 8 live channels, so we got to pretty much any and every event we wanted.

One day all three of us were watching the end of the race walking event, and of course laughing at how ridiculous guys look when they do the walk properly (I also reminisced how good I was at race walking when I used to do 'Little Athletics'). Anyway after the event finished the channel we were watching decided to do a montage of footage of the event to, you guessed it, the Proclaimers 'I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'. I thought it was so funny and so I started singing along and then John sang it too (he did the echo in the chorus) and guess what - John Geoffrey loved it. So much so that we have sung it a couple of times since when he has been a bit sooky and he has cheered right back up. I'd like to say it is his favourite song, but it may just be a coincidence.

Got his first pimple

I know babies skin is prone to this sort of stuff while they are still getting used to life outside the womb, but I'm sincerely hoping and praying that John doesn't inherit my skin - I had seriously bad acne in my teenage years and I don't want him to have to deal with that.

Went on lots of lovely walks with mummy

The weather here has been a bit hit and miss lately while winter does it's final wind up. I'm looking forward to spring and summer and warmer days so that I can take John Geoffrey out a bit more. However, on the days when it has been not raining and not too cold, we have tried to get out and about a little so that I can get some exercise and fresh air and John can get to see a bit more than the inside of our flat. He really likes the walks. Sometimes he looks around and takes it all in, and other times he has a little snooze. Either way it's good for both of us.

Not enjoying the fact that I stopped to take a photo

Perfected His Houdini Skills

It never ceases to amaze me that whilst this kid can't talk, walk, crawl or pick something up of is own volition, he can manage to get out of the best swaddling possible (ok, so it might not be the best swaddling possible, but I'm seriously not that bad at it). Case in point:

I took this picture after I had just put John Geoffrey down for a nap:

And seriously, not more than 5 minutes later (enough time for me to go to the bathroom and get a drink and return to the bedroom):

What a cheeky little monkey!!!

Continued to get cuter every day