One year later.... 14 months

So...we haven't blogged in over a year. I guess that stuff starts to get away from you when you have a child. But I have been thinking lately that I need to be recording more about John's milestones. I had a nice old school calendar for the first year, but now that we are at 14 months I figured I get back to blogging. Sorry readers (all four of you) there's not going to be a recap.

So... this weekend we tortured John with some Christmas card photos:

He's such the little man now. He's been walking since right after is birthday. And running soon after that. He struts everywhere with a huge grin. One less positive mobility note is that he now wants to try to climb out of the bathtub. So that's a struggle at bath time.

In just the past two weeks he's been really into reading books. Especially the same books over. Current favorites are the Flaptastic Shapes, Flaptastic First Words, and farm and animal books.

He is also really enjoying picking things up from all over the room and bringing them to me. Tonight he emptied out the entire tupperware drawer and brought them to me. So helpful!

He also loves music class. When I sing him songs he claps his hands. He also has started showing signs of intelligence like following along to the song motions when we play patty-cake or a drum song.

Here's another nice end-of-fall photo.

Two months…

Seems like time is flying by already. I don’t know where the first two months have gone, but John turned two months old yesterday.

He’s starting to be a lot more aware, and he’s been smiling. He’s also been sleeping a little better (sometimes).

We were sitting around last night chilling with the little man, when it hit us that we hadn’t yet taken his two month photo, so I grabbed the umbrella and flash real quick, and we set up the shot. However, Grace decided that this would be the perfect time for her to attack anything that moved on the blanket.

Luckily, we managed to get the shot without any casualties.

Last weekend, we took John on a hike at the local park also…. Virginia was a champ, and wore the boy like a momma kangaroo as we walked around the woods.

It was a lovely afternoon to go walking around, and it was nice to get out of the house for a little bit…

The week before, we were at the same park, but just to grab a quick photo for John’s calendar.

We also grabbed a quick family photo by hanging the camera from a tree branch…

So, things have been going well. This afternoon is John’s two month check-up at the pediatrician… so we’ll see how that goes. He’s going to be getting a couple of shots, and I hope they they agree with him… but.. he’s a pretty cool guy, so I’m thinking we’ll be fine….

Happy Halloween!!

Well… we made it through the first month. Virginia has been an absolute champ, handling the non stop 12 hour feedings, the screaming at 2AM, and the magical diaper fills that explode from the leg holes and shoot out the back of the diaper up to the shoulder blades.

But… he’s an ok kid we guess….

He puts up with being jammed into a plastic pumpkin without complaining too much…

 

Also, we loaded up in the car with him and drove 2 hours to Richmond to watch the Zombie Walk in downtown Carytown….

For more zombie coverage, I took a hundred or so shots, and put them here: http://goo.gl/Xgv2Z 

But, the gist is… John was well behaved and awesome for the trip. Hours in the car, and running around chasing zombies… he was a champ.

As we head into Month 2, we’re looking forward to changes… maybe a little more sleep time… more interaction… etc….

Meet John!

We’d like to welcome the newest member to our blog..

John MacKarsie Trovato – Born Sept 18th, 5:45 PM; weighing in at 7lbs 5.9oz, 19.5 inches long at UVA Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.

He gets his name John from both my father, and Virginia’s father. MacKarsie comes from Virginia’s Grandmother Page; it was her maiden name.

Wednesday, we had our first visitors, while still at the hospital:

First, Grandmom and Grandpop Trovato came to visit…

Then, Aunt Martha with Grandmom and Grandpop Page,

 

For the family folks… look at the room and furniture in the background. When the Trovato side came to visit, we were in the recovery room. When the Page side came to visit, we were in the Mother and Baby section. The first recovery room was much better… take a look at the folding bed in the background… it actually had a real mattress on it… it wasn’t a torture device like the “cot” given to me in the other room…. and man… I missed that recliner from the recovery room..

Saturday, Auntie Rachel and Uncle Victor came to visit…. so we had to put John in one of the many articles of clothing that Rachel got him….

We’re enjoying being back home from the hospital with our little man… I’ve taken to calling him Bubba… which drives Virginia a little crazy… but he looks like a Bubba right now… chubby cheeks… no teeth…

Picture Time!

So… some folks may be more surprised than others with the following pictures… but… Virginia and I finally went around and took some pictures today, so I thought we’d share.

 

 

and just for fun…..

 

 

Lake Trip!

So, normally after a little “pause” like this in blog-writing, one apologizes and promises to write more often, and typically sets goals that were unable to reach in recent times. This is not the case. Things have been busy, therefore, the blog(s) have not been taken care of lately. But, instead of focusing on that, let’s rejoice in the wonderfulness of the Lake Trip.

Gather ‘round children, and I shall regale you with stories from Smith Mountain Lake. Or…. something.

We recently went for our yearly vacation with the Oliver family at Smith Mountain Lake… now, I’m not a huge fan of the outdoors… I really don’t like swimming pools or the ocean… but I loves me some lake.

Especially since we got to hang out with Nat and Erin’s little baby Gus. Nat is father of the year by the way… as evidenced by his shirt.

and by giving Gus some beer… (kidding)

Sunday evening, we decided to pull out some sparklers that Virginia had saved and take some pictures….

Nat draws a puppy dog..

Then flowers…

And did some bouncing around the yard….

Martha drew a rainbow….

and Pac-Man being chased by ghosts…

Will made a shiny new camera….

Virginia did some neo-expressionist artwork…

It was a gorgeous night to be out playing around with sparklers….

and the days weren’t too shabby either….

Once again, we had a wonderful time at the lake house.. I just wish we could have spent more time there… however, this whole “working” thing keeps getting in the way of me having fun….

More to follow soon hopefully… I haven’t been using my camera nearly as much as I’d like to… so.. maybe I’ll just throw together a post here and there with nothing but pictures…

Durham!

This past weekend, we went to Durham to hang out with Brian and Leah. It was an awesome time as always, with wonderful food and plenty of good laughs.

While there, we decided to help Brian attack his pregnant wife by setting up an impromptu photo studio in his garage.

 

A few flashes and umbrellas… a white sheet for a backdrop, and a reflector and a sheet to cover light coming in through the garage door windows… not a bad little setup for something quick.

After we took a few shots in here, we decided to head out to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Website Here. Not to brag on myself or anything.. but look at their website.. then at my pictures.. I think we know who the winner is here.

It was rather lovely to walk around there for a while… and Leah being pregnant took the pressure off… Normally Leah and Brian love to hike and hike and hike… this trip was more of a leisurely stroll through the gardens….

Brian, Leah and Strider….

Virginia enjoying the sun…

Leah and Strider….

Leah and Brian….

Virginia and Strider….

Me and Virginia

Brian – Getting the shot.

We had a good time walking around… took lots of pictures… and it was really nice weather. There was some sort of prom going on… so there were tons of high-school aged kids walking around in fancy dresses and tuxes… there were Limousines pulling up… it was chaos. but.. in a good way.

The flowers were also blooming over at Leah and Brian’s house…

Once again, it was a wonderful trip… always good to see friends… just a dang shame that they live 4 hours away.