MoJo top ten.

It's hard to believe that Maureen (pictured here with cousin Claire) will be six months old this Wednesday. She has developed so much in those months you can really start to see personality shine through - its been so exciting to us to see the transformation. With a nod to my counter-blogger Dolberry, Kristin and I have come up with the following list of the top ten endearing MoJo qualities, in no particular order:
10. Her Smile. From early on, I believe in the hospital at birth, Maureen has been an excellent smiler. You can tell just by looking at my past entries that she already figured out how to work the camera, not to mention working her grandmother and grandfathers. At my most grumpiest times (usually about 6pm), one of her smiles changes my outlook. Enough about the smiles?

9. One of Maureen's latest developments is patting my shoulder when I pick her up. It only started this week and I think it's her mimicking me.

8. Her kisses for Mama are some of the more hilarious moments we've witnessed. This has been something she's been doing for a couple of months, where she grabs both sides of Kristin's head and brings her in for a big sloppy, wet one. Its more of an open mouth cheek suck than a kiss and it only happens with Mama because Daddy's cheek is a bit too rough.

7. Maureen goes nuts when she sees herself in the mirror, especially the one in the dining room that we have since dubbed "The Magic Mirror." It helps to calm her down when she's in the crabbiest of moods.
6. MoJo is a morning person. When she first wakes up in the morning, she just lays in bed waiting for someone to come get her, and she beams at the first sight of either of us.

5. Maureen is at the top of her class when it comes to friendliness and following the rules. Ok, this may be a stretch, but we do know that the teachers love Maureen and have the fewest problems with her when the room is full of kiddos - trust us, they've said so. Even the director of the program makes a point to see her every day (of course this is our good friend Amy and she's a bit biased.)

4. Maureen has great facial expressions. One of my favorites is the lifting of the eyebrows at something interesting or surprising. She also has the furrowing brow down pat; not to mention the doe-eyes. She's a charmer.

3. Yesterday when I came home from work Maureen was in a particularly good mood, squealing and laughing. She was playing peek-a-boo on our bed with the sheets and also played bounce-on-the-bed with Mama. The laugh was adorable. I guess her laughter constitutes #3.

2. She has Michelin Man arms and legs - maybe they're more like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

1. Just look at her! That's reason enough!

Must eat camera.

Happy Spring (or is that summer?)

We went from Winter to Summer, with a few flowers thrown in for effect. Saturday was family fun day at the zoo, for us and for every other family in the city. Every parking space was full, and strollers were in abundance. Funny thing is, many of the strollers (including ours) obstruct the view of the babies inside them. Maureen was asleep for the first leg of our journey, and her cousin Claire fell asleep for a good three quarters of the trip. I think zoos are really made to wear kids out with all the walking, while giving parents something interesting to look at along the way. Take all the animals away and fill the pens with accountants and the kids will have a blast just the same. And they would still want to go to the gift shop at the end of the line to buy pocket protectors or stuffed CPAs. We got some great photos - this was the first time Mojo ever sat down in grass. She is loving the great outdoors.
Anyway, a good time was had by all. On a personal note, I am leading the Dolberry Invitational NCAA pool, with all four teams left in the final four - of course they are all Top one and two seeded teams. Go Gators!

Aunt Ang's quilt.

New photo taken today on the quilt (Great) Aunt Angela made for Maureen. She reportedly loves grabbing at "All the cool things" on the squares.

Mojo can't wait until her first sleep-over guest, cousin Claire! We're going to the zoo and have all our toys ready for some serious play time.

Have a great weekend.

Pura Vida!

In Costa Rica, the locals use the greeting Pura Vida, literally meaning "Pure Life." The context in which they use it is more of a "This is Living" or "Life is Good." I love this expression, and think of it more and more at special times with Kristin and Maureen. Even at the most stressful times (and they seem to be coming more frequently) I need to realize that I really have a great situation - a great family, wonderful friends, and a comfortable life.

On the baby front, are getting good reports from the parent’s day out teachers. One is so in love with Maureen and has offered her babysitting services during the summer when PDO is out. Maureen is not a whiner (except when Granny is trying to put her to sleep), is really laid back, and loves to sit back and observe the other kids.

We’re on rice cereal twice a day, and she is getting better control of her body. She is great at sitting up; she’s rolling over more often; and is much better at being on her stomach – pushing up with her upper body and even raising her tail up. She seems poised to go mobile any day. It seems like she matures a little more each afternoon when I come home from work. Life is good.

As Promised.

Here are our St. Patrick's Day Parade pictures as promised. I marched in the parade (March 10, 2007) with the Bonnycastle club, and then met up with Kristin and Mojo to catch all the paraders behind us.

I still owe you St. Pat photos.

I really want to keep this blog going, but have had problems keeping at it. I promise to send those St. Patrick's Day Parade photos this week - they're a hoot. We are really excited about the NCAA Tournament this week. We are also looking forward to the second annual Fonduepalooza, held at Katie and Drew's castle. It will be on St. Pat's Day this year, so I'm expecting to see some really gross green fondues. Drew has a special home brew for the occasion, and there is talk of many guests growing mustaches and beards for the event. It's funny what gets you excited these days. Here's a photo that was taken on Monday, in honor of Aunt Chrissy's birthday. Have a great day, go cards, and beware the Ides of March!!

Zoo

This is a brand new picture, emailed just minutes ago from the Zoo.
Looks like a monkey's on the loose!

Update 3/7/07

I don't have much time here, but I wanted to let everyone know our household is on a healthier trend as of late. We all shared bad colds, coughs and sore throats; then Kristin had bad abdominal pains that transferred to a 24-hour flu for me. It also transferred to GM Karen and GP Paul (right before their trip to Florida for Spring Break - they leave today), and cousin Gus (poor little monkey.) I guess winter time is going out like a lion for us. Mojo is back to her healthy self, though she still has some coughing fits throughout the night that sound horrendous.

Mo's big news is that she can sit for long periods of time unassisted. We have to go back and practice the rolling over thing though because she hasn't done that in a long time. I think she achieves her goal and moves on to the next project. She's very task oriented, though not interested in mastering any one thing! She is definitely a good mix of mom and dad. I'll let you decide which trait applies to which parent.

For now, have a great day. More photos to come - I promise!

Poor little girl.

We have a house full of sickies this week. The major event of the week started early Monday morning with Maureen wheezing and struggling for breath. We took her in the bathroom with the shower going full steam, but it did not help. We wound up calling into the doctor's office around 6am and they told us to go straight to the children's hospital downtown, where they told us that she had a bad case of croup (the croup?) She had three breathing treatments - their policy is to keep kids overnight after a second treatment is administered. We spent all day and all night at the hospital while Mojo was under observation. They got her breathing regulated, but she also developed a seal-like cough.

She was discharged the following day (Tuesday) and seemed to be better, though a bit weepy. She did not have a fever on Wednesday, so she went back to PDO (parents day out), but had a rough night last night with the sniffle-snorts and cough. Kristin also started feeling bad last night as well. They are both home looking very miserable.

She's a big girl.

Maureen is gaining more and more of a personality as she nears five months. She smiles all the time, and the smiles are infectious. There's nothing like coming home from a stressful workday to see a little baby who lights up at first glance of Daddy. An added bonus is that she likes Daddy's ukulele playing. That's my girl.

The last couple of weekends we've tried feeding Mo some rice cereal. All of us need a little more practice but it's fun to watch. Here are some more photos, including one of Maureen and her underwear cousins.

Family Tree.

Mojo's Uncle John just sent this photo: This picture depicts Maureen's Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather on my mother's side of the family, Nazarie (seated), his son-- her GGG Grandfather Columbus Rucker (on the left), and Maureen's GGG Uncle, Dr. Raymond (on the right.) The picture was taken in Montreal during their visit in the 1890's.

Happy Hallmark Day!!

Mojo sends kisses out on this Valentines Day!

The baby genius.

We’ve encountered huge developmental changes since hitting the four month mark. I just got a call at work today telling me she rolled over to her stomach twice – her second and third time. The first time may have been an accident, but I think she gets it now. We were given the green light the other day to start her on rice cereal, which may not sound too much to you, but it’s monumental to us. We also got our doctor’s ok to take her off the $25 formula to try the Lactose Free ($16) type. I think we’ve gone through every version of Similac (every label color) they make. She seems to be taking to the new stuff without a problem.

Finally, I have witnesses who can attest to the fact that Mojo actually said “Hi Daddy” this week. Yes, hard to believe, but she said it as plain as day. She is the smartest baby in the whole world.

Events at 4-months old.

Saturday night marked the first time Maureen rolled from her back to her tummy. Unfortunately Kristin was in the next room and was unable to witness the very exciting event. I don't think she's interested in doing it again or even remembers what she's done. No matter what we do to entice her to do it again, she only smiles and coos.

Yesterday was her 4-month birthday and we celebrated by watching the Superbowl on our 37" flat screen, hi-def television. All in all, a great weekend.

Star Fish.

It's cold here. There's a little bit of snow on the ground from last night. Since it's been so mild here this winter, they decided to throw the school kids a bone and put out a two-hour delay. I think it was unnecessary, but who am I to judge. Anyhow, we've been using a new snow suit on Mojo that she thoroughly hates. Here movement is very limited, much like Randy on the movie A Christmas Story.

I've included a few more photos as well, just in case you forgot what she looks like.

Phone Photo.

This was taken this morning on Kristin's cell phone, palm pilot, digital camera, internet thingie. Kristin wanted a momento for work today, to keep her going. We are getting too high tech - and speaking of high tech, we are getting HD set up on Wednesday for our new 37" LCD flat screen TV.

Hello Doll!

This photo was taken last night - Maureen's first outing in her Society Suit that her aunt Chrissy bought her for Christmas. For some reason this reminds me of the fun girl from Raleigh on the Andy Griffith Show - not the one who had a thing for Barney (or Bernie) but the one who sounded like she smoked since she was three years old (Mrs. Stafford from Owl Creek, for those in the know!) Anyway, we had dinner last night with my family; Grandpa Joe, Uncle Joe, Uncle John, Cousin Claire and Aunt Erin. Aunt Mickey was sick and couldn't join us (get well soon!)

We've been experiencing bedtime problems this week. Apparently Mo is not satisfied with Daddy getting her to sleep. This becomes a problem when Mommy is at a late meeting at work. I guess this too shall pass.

It's the weekend and we are looking forward to some quality family time. I hope you have a great weekend too. Maybe the next entry will be a bit more exciting.

This past weekend.

Here are some recent photos from last weekend. More to come.

To the right, Mojo's party dress. Below, fun in the Baby Bjorn.

Sunday Evening.

One of Maureen's favorite soothing spots is in front of the Magic Mirror in the dining room. She seems to settle down and smile when she sees her reflection, and our reflection holding her. I guess it's a pretty wild concept to comprehend.

I'm currently getting aggravated with the San Diego Chargers right now. It's the fourth quarter with four minutes left in the game and the Patriots just tied the ball game with a two point conversion after a lame touchdown. I just made it to 2nd place in my Any Given Sunday football poll, and a win by the Chargers would give me two teams left in the AFC. We need a big play.

Kristin is working quite a bit now with real estate and the scouts- can you tell?