Daycare Party

Joey's daycare had a party for him on Monday. Usually when I pick him up he gets all excited to see me and waves his hands for me to come pick him up. But not today, he was in the midst of holding court at his party (and eating yummy snacks) and couldn't be disturbed. He gave me a big smile when he saw me then carried on with the party. It was too cute. 

His teacher made this great photo collage of his first year.

Happy Birthday Joey!

Yesterday was Joey's first birthday! We are still in shock that it has been an entire year since we brought him home from the hospital. Watching him grow and change throughout the past year has been such an amazing experience. He was such a good, sweet baby that we often wondered how we got so lucky! We can't wait to see what each year holds with our precious little man! Happy birthday baby Joey! (Pictures from his party on Sunday are coming soon).

A Day of Firsts

Joey had two "firsts" today... I woke up to him standing in his crib for the first time. I snapped this pic during nap time. 

Next, he started holding his bottle on his own. He looks like such a big boy when he does it. 

After I took this picture I told him that was enough "firsts" for one day. Our baby is growing up too fast!

Future Gymnast

11 Months!

Can you believe it? We sure can't! We have an 11 month old! Lately he is standing and "cruising" - taking baby steps while he is standing and holding on to something. He loves to climb and crawl all over everything (including the dog!). He's eating more solid foods and loves pasta and veggies, but cheerios are still his favorite.

Christmas!!!

We had the best Christmas - our very first with Joey! He loved spending time with his family and playing with wrapping paper and boxes! We started the week off by visiting Santa. He did great - Santa said he was the best kid his age he'd seen all season. Although, he didn't really smile on Santa's lap, he was very relaxed and took it all in stride. On Christmas Eve we headed up to Wisconsin and celebrated Christmas with the Janssen family. Joey had a blast with his cousins and especially loved playing hot wheels. On Christmas Day the Russell family celebrated Christmas at our house. He enjoyed playing with Luke's new obsession - hex bugs! Overall, it was a wonderful week of family and fun! We are already looking forward to next Christmas!

 

 

Look whose standing!

In a matter if two days Joey is now pulling himself up on everything. He appears to have no fear. He also loves to climb on and over anything. 

Laundry's Done!

Graduation!

Three days before thanksgiving we had our own celebration at the Janssen house... Joey graduated from his doc band! We weren't sure how the transition would go, but he did great! Aside from bumping his head a few times, the adjustment to no helmet was smooth as can be. His head looks great, the improvement is phenomenal and the process could not have been easier for all of us! You did it, baby!

10 Months

Joey turned 10 months old on December 3. He is into EVERYTHING right now... he's still army crawling everywhere, but does spend a lot of time on his hand and knees "rocking". He also has been working on 4 top teeth for the past month. He's handled it like a pro! We're pretty sure he'll be getting his two front teeth for Christmas. :)

Randall creeped into the first photo...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Joey's first Thanksgiving in Hutch. Joey did great on both flights to and from Wichita. Then, when we arrived, he had so much fun playing with his cousins all week long. He scooted all over Nana and Poppa's house, exploring everything. Needless to say he took GREAT naps all week because he was so worn out! Here are some pictures from our trip.

Football Sunday with the Janssens

We had a blast watching the Bears vs Rams game on Sunday. Everyone wore their favorite team gear. 

Cousins

Picking squares

Comparing helmets with Dad

Cuddling with Grandpa

Resting on Randall

Germans Babysit

The Germans watched Joey on Sunday while Mommy went to dinner with her high school friends and Daddy took Dave to the Blackhawks game. Looks like it was a fun time for everyone!

9 Months

Joey turned 9 months old last Sunday! He is now army crawling all over the place and getting into everything (time to baby proof!). He is eating more finger foods but still prefers that we feed him puree's. At his 9 month appointment he weighed in the 25th % and length was 54%... still long and lean. We also got the good news that we only have 3 more weeks in the helmet!!! Although he doesn't notice it one bit, we will be happy to have his sweet, little head back.

Halloween!

Joey had the CUTEST Halloween costume. Unfortunately, he was not feeling it. I was only able to get a few photos before the meltdown. He did, however, have a great time helping hand out candy to the neighborhood kids and checking out all of the great costumes. He even stayed up late to attend the neighborhood Halloween party.