baby signing?

I went to the library today to get a book to aid me in studying and as I turned around I saw a book called "Sign, sing and play!". I'd heard people talking about baby sign language and had thought about doing it, but then decided against it because I thought it was odd to teach my baby sign language and that it would be too much work. Since I'm not sure I totally believe in coincidences, I figure that the fact that I turned around and I was right in front of a baby sign language book is a sign that Jarrett should learn to sign. The book states that signing enhances bonding; decreases crying and tantrums; accelerates verbal language acquisition; stimulates interest in books; raises self-esteem; increases IQ; and gives one a window into your child's thoughts. With all those promises, it seems I would be insane not to at least try it. The book states 6-7 months is the optimal time to start teaching signing and that the baby should start signing back at 9-10 months. This seems a good time as any as lately he's been doing this weird moaning, grunting thing when he wants more, milk, sleep, it means everything. I remember when Jarrett was a really little baby and I learned Dunstan's baby language. That helped me so much to know that when Jarrett said neh it meant I'm hungry, or when he said owh it meant he was tired, or when he said eh he needed to burp, or eair he had lower gas, those were so helpful and I felt that it made all the difference in the world because I could understand his needs. I am hoping that this baby language does the same thing. Wish me luck!

peek a boo, i see you II (daddy edition)

Well, I didn't lie. Here's the 2nd edition of peek a boo, starring daddy and Jarrett. Actually the funniest part of this video are about the last 5 seconds so you have to watch till the end.

peek a boo

Jarrett and I playing peek a boo just a few minutes ago. I'm sure I'll have more editions of this as usually he cracks up really loud, this time he didn't but it's still fun to watch, at least for me :)

life, jarrett style

Hmmm, what's going on with Jarrett? He's been a busy little boy. His current nickname is 'Bam Bam'. He is so strong, I can't believe the things he can pick up and move - very scary. Right now Jarrett is reaching for everything, picking up everything and throwing it everywhere. It's a lot of fun to watch him grow. He's eating lots of different baby foods and is babbling non-stop. He has the most interesting laugh. I have to try and upload one to the site. He had his 6 month appointment a week ago, he was actually 2 days shy of 7 months at that point. He weighed 22lbs and was 29'' long. Very big boy. He's in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. I'm not sure how he got so tall but he's gonna be a big boy. Jarrett also has his 2 front teeth, I can't believe I don't have a picture of that. Anyway, we are getting ready for Jarrett's first christmas. I'm so excited to get to share in this holiday with him.

jump jarrett jump!

Having fun on his jumperoo on Thanksgiving.

and then there were two

Now Jarrett has 2 teeth. The other one popped up late Sunday evening. I'm surprised at how fast they grew in from the point we saw blood and the point the little blade of a tooth first came out. Now when you look at him he looks so grown because he now has teeth. Very cute!

lots going on

a tooth is emerging Well, months after constantly saying he's teething, we can finally feel a tooth. We felt it for the first time this morning, he was even bleeding a little. I can't believe how quickly my baby is growing up. Just 6 1/2 months ago, my baby was 7lbs and now he's 20lbs. Time flies, I never understood when people said the time will fly so quickly and now I understand. My baby's growing up.


happy thanksgiving Jarrett spent his first Thanksgiving at home with his mom, dad, aunty Orania, aunty Nella, Grandma and Grandpa. Jarrett enjoyed through his milk some fried turkey, prime rib, ginger carrot soup, creamed spinach, cobb salad, sweet potato wedges, mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, and mojito (virgin). We were all very thankful to celebrate Jarrett being in our lives.


he got his first ailment The weekend of November 17th was horrible for us. Jarrett got sick Friday night, we got absolutely no sleep that night. We took him to the doctor's on Saturday where we got scared into thinking he might have an enlarged heart. After an hour of waiting for a cardiologist to come, they told us his heart was fine and there was nothing to worry about there. He did have an ear infection and a cold. The next day Jarrett had a horrible wheezing breathing sound. We called the advice nurse who scared us yet again and told us he was having a medical emergency and must be taken to the hospital immediately via ambulance. We chose to take our car to Urgent Care. There he was given a shot and a nebulizer to help his breathing. Jarrett was on quite a few meds for a week or so, but thank the Lord he is doing well now. It was a tough weekend but the Lord pulled us through. Very scary when your child gets sick for the first time.


what's up with Jarrett? Hmmm, what's Jarrett been up to? Well, I must say Jarrett is quite the man. He gets a lot of attention when he goes out and he just loves it. He is quite the chatterbox when we are out. Jarrett can sit up by himself, he ate his first foods last week. His first food was Gerber sweet potato and then we gave him banana and then green beans, so far he likes them all. Jarrett says dada a lot, I haven't clearly heard him say mama but he's getting there. Jarrett loves to just give the biggest smile when I come home from work, it is the sweetest thing in the world, Jarrett still loves to play with newspapers, he can make quite the mess, he also likes to drop things on the floor not quite sure if it's because he wants to watch me pick it up or because he can't quite grasp and hold on to it for a while but he does that quite a bit. Well that's all I can think of for now.

Ta ta!

he has a new love

Jarrett has found someone else that he has a crush on. I don't know what's up with my baby but the newest victim is the Indian lady who does the Pechanga commercials. I can't remember enough detail about the commercial but the lady has black shoulder length hair and she spends a lot of time in the commercial talking. I couldn't find a picture of her online but I'll keep trying. Marvin first noticed his love for her and then I had the pleasure (if that's what you call it) of seeing it for myself. When she comes on tv, Jarrett gets this big smile on his face and starts laughing and smiling and just gets really happy. I'm not sure what this Indian lady, Halle and Bethlehem all have in common but I know they all make my baby boy happy.

happy halloween

This past weekend, Jarrett and I went shopping for a Halloween costume at the Disney store (thanks for the tip Agnes!). I ended up liking 2 costumes, a Donald Duck costume and a Winnie the Pooh costume. After speaking to Marvin and Orania, I decided that my favorite was the Winnie the Pooh costume, but I figured Jarrett should get a vote too. When I put both costumes up to him, he smiled and laughed at the Donald Duck and didn't really react to the Winnie the Pooh costume. I tried about 5x to see if he would change his mind, but each time he smiled and laughed at the Donald Duck costume. I figured I coulnd't force my ideals upon him, so I bought the Donald Duck costume and here he is. He actually liked wearing it until he got too hot in it. I put him in front of the mirror and he smiled and laughed when he saw himself. I tried to take pics of t whhaten he was smiling and laughing at himself, of course the camera decides to act up in that moment, those came out a little blurry, but you get the idea.

my baby is 5 months old

Jarrett turned 5 months old yesterday and to memorialize the event, Marvin fed him rice cereal for the first time. 1 tsp rice cereal to 4.5 tsp of breastmilk. Jarrett did NOT like it. He spit it all out with his tongue. Marvin was really hoping this would be his savior but he wasn't so lucky.

I can't believe Jarrett is 5 months old already. I remember the baby shower where Orania created the voice of the baby inside me. All of that seems like it was just yesterday. I can't believe how time flies.

Jarrett's baptism went extremely well. It couldn't have been better. We were shown so much love. I can't even believe it. We feel blessed to know that so many people love our family. So many family and friends attended the church service. The church service was beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't record it but it is supposed to be on television tonight so hopefully I can try and record it, we'll see. Jarrett wore a white baptism outfit that I wasn't extremely fond of, but there's not that many choices when it comes to baptism wear choices. Robert A. Schuller spent a lot of time with Jarrett, it was really a beautiful ceremony. It couldn't have been any better. After the church ceremony, my parents hosted a gathering at their home. Again, another beautiful event. There were lots of food and lots of people. Jarrett changed into a more casual outfit and he stayed awake and alert for the whole event. By the end of the night he just wanted to sleep which he did for a long time.


















Just playing around

Just practicing as I only have 15 years and 7 more months before I can take over the wheel

Happy Birthday to me; Happy Birthday to me; Happy Birthday dear meeeeeeeeee; Happy Birthday to me!

presenting jarrett to the lord

Today, Jarrett will be publicly presented to the Lord through a baptism. The baptism will be held at the Crystal Cathedral at 11am. Following the baptism, my parents will be holding a luncheon at their house. We have a small program that we will be following:

Program

Appetizers

Welcome
By Thomas or Gifty

Poem
By Orania

The Lord has blessed you once again
With the birth of your dear son
A gift of love sent down to you
And a blessing to everyone
We pray that God will impart to you
His wisdom and His grace
That you may raise him to become
A man with Godly faith (M.S. Lowndes)

Verse reading
By Tominella

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost - Matthew 28:19
13Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there. Matthew 19: 13-15

Prayer
By Earnest

Thank you
By Marvin or Gifty

Lunch

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Jarrett Sterling Genesis
Born to Marvin & Gifty on May 19, 2007
Presented to the Lord on October 14, 2007

jarrett's first (and second) crush

Needless to say, Jarrett's first crush is me. Yes it is. You should see the smile he gives me when he wakes up!

Well, he has a true first crush outisde of his family. I can't believe it! The other day we were watching Halle on Oprah talking about her pregnancy. You should have seen the way Jarrett's eyes lit up when he saw her on tv. He was smiling at the tv. Everytime they would flash to her, his smile would get bigger. I couldn't believe it!

The second time this happened was with a girl on Jeopardy this week named Bethlemen. It was Kid's Week on Jeopardy and Jarrett was preparing for what's to come for him, and same thing happened like it did with Halle. His eyes lit up. His smile got bigger everytime she was on the screen and you could just tell he was in love.

what's going on?

Jarrett had his 4 month appt (actually he was 4 1/2 months at the appt) on Tuesday of this week. Jarrett weighed 18lbs 5 oz. He was 26 1/2 inches tall. Jarrett is in the 90th percentile for both height and weight. Dr. Wong said he was very proportionate and is a very healthy boy. Thank the Lord for that.

Just want to add a few things that Jarrett is doing in case you are interested. At this moment Jarrett LOVES Mickey Mouse. I think Disney does something to make kids addicted to characters like Mickey Mouse. I didn't think his love for Mickey was so interesting until I realized Jarrett's best friend Tyler (I'm not sure that Tyler knows Jarrett is his best friend yet, but I'm sure Tyler's mom will let him know :) loves Mickey Mouse too. Tyler and Jarrett were born 4 days apart so I'm thinking wow, Disney is doing something to make our kids addicted to their products. :) OK, what else does Jarrett like to do. Well, he had discovered kicking in the bathtub a couple of weeks ago, but now he has discovered that he can splash his hands and kick all at the same time so it makes for a very messy bath time. He enjoys it tremendously. Jarrett also loves to make noisy spit bubbles. It is so funny. He does this while we are out and if you don't know what's going on it sounds like he is farting. It is funny to see and watch it except when you are in line and you hear this little noise coming from a baby, you see all the customers in line looking around thinking what is that.

That's all for now, gotta get ready to go to church.

ask for pictures and you shall receive

Swinging around

My clothes match the furniture

Mommy & Jarrett at the fair

Enjoying the fair

Hanging out on my playmat

My 4 month birthday

Just being my cute self

At Hoover Dam in Nevada

At Red Rock Canyon in Nevada

Meeting my great grandfather for the first time

Exersaucing

Monkeying around

Jarrett's 3 month collage done at Sears