These pictures sums up why I decided to become a parent

It can not possibly get any better than this.

Team Jost On-The-GO

Just uploaded my iPhone pictures, which I haven't done since June. So here are three months worth of cute little Jacob and cat pictures as-yet-unseen by many of you. Enjoy!

Sleep Deprivation

While Jacob is, on the whole, a fantastic sleeper, he sometimes has trouble staying asleep in the afternoon. This frequently results in a baby who has had just enough sleep to be awake and alert and active, but is still tired enough that he is easily upset. In the evenings he'll go from smiling to crying in a matter of seconds, and is suddenly startled by loud sounds. I captured this sweet little moment that starts with almost-smiles and ends with a very alarmed little boy.

4 Months Old!

At four months old, Jacob is twice as big as he was when he was born! He is rolling over, chewing on EVERYTHING IN REACH and giving us days full of giggles and nights full of sleep. It is amazing. It is official - we no longer have a newborn. We have a happy bouncing baby, learning new things every day and filling our lives with absolute joy. Some highlights from the last couple weeks:

• Grandma came and visited and babysat while Mommy had back-to-work fall training. Days full of cuddles, walks, baking, and books!
• Uncle Steven and Aunt Ashley also visited from Seattle and took Jacob shopping in Soho!
• A big family reunion at Aunt Monika's (and a slightly disastrous car ride)
• Some tummy troubles that disturbed our sleep for a few days but seem (knock on wood) to have resolved themselves. Seems like the Bean's dairy/soy issues persist, even though Mommy can't figure out what it was, exactly, that set off the troubles.
• A big BBQ at home for the Kellys and Nortons.
• A trip with Grandma and Mommy to the Guggenheim to see the Kandinsky exhibit.
• Several days with Margot, our new babysitter, who will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Mommy goes out to teach.

Look at the cheeks on this boy! He finally has some chunk! We've figured that he's in the 25-50th percentiles for length and head circumference, which is great, but still below the 5th for weight. This means A) our baby is shaped like a lollipop, and B) even though he's still on the small side, his development is right on target, so Mommy can stop obsessing that he's not getting enough to eat. We are just enjoying every minute.

The Last Couple Weeks

Here are some pictures floating around from the last couple weeks - Jacob's first train ride, a trip out to the Hamptons, and fun smiles from around the house.

My new favorite picture

Observe the toungue, the desperate need to shove something in his mouth...is someone teething?

Giggles

The Tiniest Walker

Friends of Jacob, Zach and I have, for several years, been a part of AIDS Walk NYC and helped raise thousands of dollars for AIDS research and patient support. Since Jacob was born ON the day of the walk this year, we are going to AIDS Walk DC instead! We each have our own fund-raising campaign, but I thought it would be fun to let Jacob in on the action and start his philanthropic work as soon as possible. Since Jacob has only been around for 4 months, his social network is pretty limited, so I thought I'd hit y'all up in addition to his family members :)

He has set the goal of raising $100 for AIDS Walk DC by October 3rd. These funds go to direct services for AIDS/HIV patients through the Whitman Walker Clinic in DC. Washington DC has an AIDS epidemic rate comparable with most of sub-saharan Africa - one in twenty adults in DC are HIV positive.

Please consider sponsoring Jacob's walk (okay, more like a stroller-ride) against AIDS by donating $5, $10, $25...whatever you are able! Help him reach his goal of $100! You can click HERE to get to his fund-raising page. Thanks so much!

The Beach

This weekend we went out to Aunt Pat's and Uncle Jim's beach house in Cutchogue, on the North Fork of Long Island. It was perfect - warm, breezy, and relaxing. Jacob loved it!

15 weeks

Last night Daddy said "This baby is cuter than any two cute babies put together." Couldn't agree more.

Here are some beguiling pictures from Jacob's fifteenth week on this big blue marble. We walked the Brooklyn Bridge, took some excellent naps (with a great deal of coaxing) and Jacob finally outgrew his newborn clothes! I have packed them away and brought out all the 0-3's!



This week he also rolled over, became a champion Tummy-Timer, has worked on perfecting his ability to put toys in his mouth and drool all over them, and gone the longest amount of time yet between poos. He went to a wedding and was complimented by everyone present on his cuteness and mild-manners. He's started watching me eat with great interest, and licks his lips when I put things in my mouth. I can't believe how soon he'll be starting to eat real food - November seems suddenly right around the corner!

It's astounding how much we love this little man.

Rolling Over!

WHAT A BIG BOY!!!

Holding his head up during tummy time!!!!

ROLLING OVER from front to back! This is a Team Jost exclusive, folks! Video shot just 2 minutes after the first rolling over!



Of course, now there will be no keeping him down for tummy time...

Growing Up

Mr. Jacob T. Bean slept in his nursery last night, all by himself! It was very sad for me to not have him next to my bed all night, but we both survived and had a very good night's sleep. He slept from 7:30 to 7:30, getting up only once at 5am to feed. Amazing! He usually gets up at 6 or 6:30, so that was a nice treat for his exhausted parents. Hopefully it holds. He didn't sleep in his crib - we just moved his bassinet into the other room for now. I'll move him to the crib soon, but the bassinet is still better for napping because it rocks and I can sooth him without picking him up, and I want him to sleep and nap in the same place for a few days.

His naps have been a disaster lately. He went from regularly sleeping 2-3 hours at a time to waking up EXACTLY 30 minutes after he went down. Not restful. I could tell that he was still tired and cranky, but nothing other than wearing him in the sling could persuade him to go back to sleep. Since that is not really a sustainable option, we are having to do a little "sleep training" for naps to help him get more than one sleep-cycle at a time during the day. I sneak in after he's been asleep for 25 minutes so that I'm there to gently rock the bassinet when he starts to stir. Yesterday I successfully got him to drop off again without fussing or really fully waking up. The theory is that once I can get his body used to a nap that consists of more than one sleep cycle, we can gradually stop needing to sooth him. Wish us luck. I try not to be a mom that is stuck on ideas of "Oh, my baby should be doing this and this and this because the book says so" but he was obviously not getting the rest he needed during the day, even when he was sleeping so great at night.

It's hard to really commit to the naps, not just for Jacob, but for me as well. I'm struggling with figuring out if we can still go to yoga, and lunch with friends, and to his Aunt Terri's (when mommy has a meeting) if he is taking three naps a day and still eating eight times a day. He's been very mobile up until now, but the result of that mobility seems to be a decrease in good rest. But I don't like to stay home every day! I know that there is a balance, and we're working on figuring it out. Soon I'll be working a lot more and NOT having to take him into the city with me, so he'll be able to have some consistency even when I am needing to run around.

My little boy isn't a newborn anymore! He's a whole, big baby who can't just be carted around! And he's sleeping in his own room. Wow. This is going fast.

Lion Shirt

We had a little photo shoot to get some pictures of Jacob in Grandma's favorite lion shirt. He has pretty much grown out of it, so there is a lot of midriff in this sequence!



After viewing these pictures, Marli said "It is kind of freakish how cute that kid is." I couldn't agree more.

Talkin

Jacob loves waking up EARLY to play. Usually, Mommy feeds him and goes back to sleep, so Daddy is in charge of morning play time. On Sunday I told Zach I would give him a dollar if he could use this time to shoot elusive footage of Jacob showing off his new "talking" skills.

Still working on some really quality smile footage. He's like a dancing frog. He'll be smiling up a storm, but as soon as I bring out the camera he is completely transfixed and only wants to stare.