Last post of the year

The last few pictures of John at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Here my Mom and I are giving John a free performance of "Across the Alley from the Alamo." How many babies get to hear that song? John, you're SO lucky.

John also tried on some of Uncle Ross' baby clothes. Back at home, John is almost ready to eat solids. He seems to like his high chair, so that's a good start. Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of tiny baby teeth that just came in? Here they are up close. New here at John's blog is the click-for-larger-image feature. Now if you want to print the pictures, there are huge versions for most of the new images giving you less pixelation in the prints. We here at John's blog aim to please.

Christmas modeling

John kindly agreed to model some of his Christmas presents.

More family!

John met more of my cousins. Here he is with Ariel. And with Rachel. This proves that EVERYTHING is a teething toy in John's mind.

Christmas!

John's first Christmas (and the week leading up to it) was quite eventful! John met his great-grandparents. Everyone loves to chew on John's fists. Christian got him a lobster which we named Mr. Pinchy. We got flowers from Grandma and Grandpa! John got the bear. John got to see the wonder that is Christmas dinner for eighteen people and one baby. John and Daddy on Christmas Eve. John and Mommy on Christmas Eve. John fell asleep during the festivities. He woke back up for presents though. If I wasn't in front of my brother's face, this would be the best family picture! Christmas morning John played with some of his new toys. And he got a stylin' new bib. After all the excitement, John settled down to watch some basketball with Uncle Ross. Movies will be coming soon after we do some editing. Christian got a TON of footage of John's first Christmas!

Fun and excitement!

John is so excited that his Daddy is finally here! See, he's trying to push up so he'll be able to crawl. Here's our Christmas present to John, which we gave him early. He'll have so many presents to open on Christmas that this one didn't need to be wrapped.

Fuzzy Red Boots

John has exciting new slippers -- these red boots. Although chosen for their warmth and cuteness, John loves to grab the fuzzy fabric and the suede soles.

Fleecy Goodness

Here's John in a sleep bag with his brand new matching fleece bear!

Fun new things at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Here's John learning how to hold onto a longneck bottle. Here's John showing off how he likes to wear hats in Illinois, but hates them in Colorado. Although I'm not the plunk him in front of the TV type mom (yet), I'm not above plunking him in front of the visualizer on iTunes. He's listening to the Ramones!

Pictures from Chicago

Who says your life stops after a baby?

Here's Christian and John, with Christian all suited up for his first long training run for some insane trail ultra run he's planning to do in April.

Reading

John can hold a book for a few seconds now!

Skills, skills and more skills

John has this whole sitting and playing at the same time thing down pat. He can also lean against things to stand up and try to help me with Christmas knitting even more than before!

Fun fun fun!

We're having so much fun here that John just couldn't manage to keep his clothes on. And here's Christian with John -- don't worry, everyone's clothed.

Bonjour!

John is showing off his French sailor look.

Happy birthday!

John is five months old today. He's relaxing in his baby papasan while I make birthday cookies.