Baby Signs, Cloth Diapers & Christmas Fun

Finally recovered from my vaccines! Last Sunday I was feeling much better & about 90% back to feeling like myself. We went over to Grandma & Grandpa Snyder's house to pick up some Christmas decorations for our house. The two Westies were so curious about me. Lily was trying to lick me while I sat in my Super Seat & Duncan definitely thought my toys were pretty cool. We came home with an SUV full of Christmas gear & a bird feeder for the backyard. We spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out where to put everything. Mom was in charge of hanging & placing everything, while I directed her what should go where from my Ergo carrier. On Monday we went to our Stroller Strides exercise class. Finley got her mom Alicia to come to class today too & it was a beautiful day to exercise (60 degrees & sunny). I was really excited to have a friend in class, even though we both snuzzed for most of the class while our moms chatted away. Thank goodness I didn't need a diaper change while we were exercising because Mommy thought my diapers were in the diaper bag, but oops they were left on the kitchen table by accident - catastrophe avoided because I held it until we got home. Mom & Alicia chatted briefly about cloth diapers. Here I am on my way to class:

Once we got home, Mom decided it was time that we segue from our disposable diapers to our cloth diapers. Right now we only have 6 cloth diapers, since we're just trying to make sure we both like how they feel & work (plus Dad's a bit skeptical about the cloth diapers & putting poop diapers in the washing machine). I really like the cloth diapers - they're nice and soft - lined with a soft fleece. Unfortunately for Mommy, I decided Monday afternoon would be a great time to test my poopy pipes & we blew through our 6 cloth diapers really fast (& left Mom with a big load of poopy diapers to deal with - gross!). Tuesday we had a substitute teacher at Mommy & Me Yoga. Libby was a great teacher. There was only one other Mom in class & her daughter, Macy and I got so much love & attention. It was my first yoga class where I really got into watching all the poses and was flirting with Macy (she's super cute & smiles and giggles the whole class). I didn't need Mommy to stop her yoga practice all hour - go Me!! Mom said she's so impressed with how mature I've gotten since our first yoga class when she only could get a few minutes of yoga in. Tuesday night we went to Dad's Christmas party at work. Mommy got all dressed up & put me in a very festive outfit. I love Mom's peep toe Louboutin's, but I'm not sure they were the best shoe option for walking through Philly with the stroller (especially since the elevator was out in the parking garage so we had to push the stroller up from two flights underground. What a great time we had at the party! Dad showed me off to all his work buddies (I was definitely the cutest baby around). I loved getting to see Daddy's office on the 46th floor of the Comcast building. He has a great big corner office that overlooks Philadelphia - very cool. There were tons of people at the party & pushing the stroller through crowds of people was a bit difficult. Can't wait for my next visit to Dad's office. Maybe he'll let me sit at his desk & play on his computer (he has 3 screens active, so I'm sure he can spare 1 for me to amuse myself). Wednesday morning we tried to get to Stroller Strides, but didn't make it to River Trail in time. We were packed up and ready to go at 8:50AM, when a strange woman walked up our front driveway. She told Mommy that she thought a package for her son was delivered to our house. Mom thought it was a neighbor she hadn't met yet & said no packages arrived and asked where she lived in case it arrived. It was at this point that the woman introduced herself as Joan (the owner of our house before the real estate flippers owned it last year). Strange - this woman hadn't lived in our house for well over a year, so why was her son having packages sent to our house. Our neighbors warned us that Joan sometimes wandered the neighborhood and that she was crazy. She was lurking in her car and staking our house out before she came up the driveway. She babbled away about the neighbors, things she had done to the house twenty years ago & asked a million questions that Mom wasn't comfortable answering. Mommy was a bit freaked out & Dad said to make sure we always set the alarm when we leave. Hopefully Joan doesn't pop over any more - I don't like to see Mommy worry. Needless to say - after Joan's babbling we got to our class ten minutes late & the class was already on the trail. Mom thought about catching up but it was pretty windy & chilly. When we got home, Mom decided to test our her new Fluidity bar & did her Seat and Thigh DVD on the third floor. She brought my Super Seat upstairs so I could get my ab & neck workout in while I watched her work out. Maybe I'll be a very athletic little boy - I just love to watch Mommy work out. I giggle & smile every time. We spent the afternoon looking into Baby Sign Language course in the Philadelphia area. No luck! Mom decided to look into the next best thing - getting herself certified to teach Baby Signs classes. We went back & forth via email with the representative from California & chatted with Dad that night about starting our own business. Perfect plan for Mommy - she gets to start her own business where she can bring me to play with other babies & work as much or little as she wants, while doing what she loves - teaching. Perfect first step to starting her larger business where she will be helping special education students with outside services after school. Mom was so excited about starting baby sign language with me that she started signing away. She said we'll start with the signs for milk, more & eat first & then build upon those once I begin signing back (at about 6 or 7 months old). On Thursday, we had a conference call with Michelle from Baby Signs to discuss the logistics of the certification process & how to start your own independent contractor business. In the afternoon we met up with Will & his mom Liz at the King of Prussia mall for our walk. Will & I napped away while our moms walked & chatted away - next thing you know it was two hours later. Mom & I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick all the ingredients we needed for our Christmas party on Saturday. I love grocery shopping!! I get to hang out in the Ergo carrier, check out all the people & help Mom pick out healthy treats. Friday it was too cold for Stroller Strides to be outside & the teacher was unable to move the class to her inside location, so she cancelled class. We were bummed that we couldn't hit the trail, so Mom hit the third floor work out room & tried out a new barre DVD. Here I am doing my own exercises during tummy time:

That evening Mom, Dad & I prepped all the recipes for Saturday's party. They're such good cooks & I love getting to help them. Saturday morning Dad quickly finished the prep work & by noon guests started arriving for our holiday luncheon. I had so much fun getting to see all our family together.

Mom was glad I got my naps in before guests arrived because I really didn't want to sleep with guests in the house - she says I'm just like her - afraid to miss something if I nap. I had a blast with Uncle Mario & every time I he held me I just laughed. He's a pretty funny guy & I'm glad he feels comfortable holding me now:

Grandma Smeriglio brought me a jumperoo - highlight of the party. I love this new apparatus!! I can touch the floor & reach for the hanging toys. What fun!! Here I am hanging in my new Baby Einstein jumperoo:

Check out my new Christmas stocking - it arrived in time for the Christmas party:

Sunday morning we hit a breakthrough - I decided it was time to let Mommy know that I can nurse without the shield. After my breakfast, Mommy had me sitting up tall and I leaned forward all the way letting her know that I wanted more. She let me lay on her belly and chest & I baby wiggled my way to more food & latched on like a champ. When I was finished, I wiggled my way to the other side for some more. Mom cracked up and thought my new skills were very cute. After going back and forth for a while, I napped on Mommy's belly. We had a lazy Sunday morning snuggling in bed together - I napped for 3 hours while snuggling with Mom. What a life!! Dad got a kick out of our lazy Sunday routine. Mom's been teaching me the "I Love You" sign & I definitely know what she's telling me. Every time she says the sign, she makes a kissy noise & as soon as she finished the routine I look into her eyes & smile. I love my Mommy too!! Hate to break it to Mom but I won't be ready to sign back to her until I'm about 6 or 7 months, but for now I'm thoroughly enjoying Mom making silly faces at me & showing me various signs.