Picking oranges

Yesterday was a baby-siting day for us! As we did last time, we just hung around my parents' house. Next Friday we'll have to get out and do something.

We did take a walk down the hill to my parents' orange grove, where we picked several dozen oranges. Jesse loves being outside and going for a walk in the baby carrier, although he invariably falls asleep. Also, as he seems to be teething, he spent the entire time chewing on the strap of the baby carrier!

Oranges? I'd rather eat this strap, thanks

Self-portrait with oranges

A week without Jesse

As it had become evident that baby-sitting and swimming lessons weren't compatible to our schedule, last week we didn't get to see Jesse. We will be doing it this week, however, on Friday! So stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some photos taken during our Independence Day visit to my parents' house.

Jesse and his mother visit the pond at his Opa & Oma's house

Oma, Jesse, and Erica stay shaded from the sun

Cousin Isaac gets to hold Jesse's bottle (with Aunt Nicole's help)

Bird calls

Here Jesse enjoys Aunt Nicole's attempts at bird calls, and even joins in a bit!

Day Four

How did Jesse like his baby-sitting day with me on Friday? He thought it was pretty fun, I think. He actually saw a lot of my family over the course of three days, as we stayed with my parents for a few days for the Fourth of July.  Erica came with him to my parents' house on the Fourth of July, my mom baby-sat him the next day, and I baby-sat him yesterday. So he is growing very familiar with our faces! In fact, when I went to pick him up at Erica's house on Friday morning, he grinned broadly when he saw me, and (maybe) even stretched out his arms to me.

Jesse's grin is a wonderful thing

We hung around my folks' house all three days, unlike our last two baby-sitting days when we went out and had adventures. In some ways it is easier to take care of a baby at home instead of out at a park or store, but really the big difference was the number of adults around: between me, my parents, and my husband Craig, there was never the need for any of us to juggle three kids at once. And watching just one kid at a time seems pretty easy! (Assuming you're not completely sleep-deprived, that is.)

My parents live in a beautiful rural setting, so Jesse had his first campfire cook-out by the pond, and we went for several walks in the woods.

Aunt Nicole and Jesse in the redwoods

And when it was time for the second nap of the day, what could be nicer than Oma's lap?

They both had a nap, actually

We'll be taking next week off from baby-sitting (swimming lessons get in the way, unfortunately) but we'll be back the following week on Friday, July 20. I wonder if Jesse will forget us by then.

Playing with cousins

Isaac has decided Jesse can play two different games: Marching Band and Uh-Oh.

Marching Band involves Jesse jerking his legs in a marching movement (while reclining) and rattling a toy:

Jesse plays "Marching Band" with Laurel and Isaac

Uh-Oh involves Jesse repeatedly dropping a toy in order for someone else to pick it up:

Laurel picks up a toy that used to be hers

Actually, Jesse isn't quite old enough to play the Uh-Oh game purposefully; he can barely hold the toy as it is, so when he drops it I suspect it is by accident. However, Laurel played this game, and Isaac remembers it vividly.

And when games with your cousins grow tiring, you can always gaze out the window at the breeze blowing the leaves:

Gazing out the window

Daddy's boy

Here's a short movie of Jesse with his mother, enjoying his first fireworks experience!

Fireworks

Frequently on my own blog I remark that temperament is everything; it seems that no amount of parenting (whether arguing, pleading, or trickery) can change someone's fundamental personality traits.

This was proven to us yesterday as we set off fireworks ("safe and sane," of course!) at my parents' house. Erica was there with Jesse, as were my two kids, and the three cousins showed different reactions to the fireworks.

Some of my readers might know Gary, Jesse's father, and his enthusiasm for fireworks. For many years he has brought "unsafe and insane" fireworks to our Independence Day celebrations, and although he couldn't be with us last night, he did contribute a brick of my mother's favorite firework, ground flowers.

Erica was eager to show Jesse his first fireworks. When she handed me her phone and asked me to take a short video of Jesse watching them, none of us were sure how the four-month-old would react to the lights, noise, and smoke. We hoped to catch some kind of fleeting positive reaction on his face, but I ended up easily taking four or five videos, because it turned out that Jesse loved the ground flowers. He watched them raptly, and every time one ended he got a huge smile on his face.

Meanwhile my own children were cowering in the house, daring only to watch the fireworks from the safety of a window.

Isaac has a near-phobia of fire, but Laurel was only frightened because of Isaac's extreme anxiety; she doesn't like loud noises, but usually she doesn't mind stuff like fireworks. And after my kids observed from a distance for a while, they both got comfortable with the situation and came out to join in the fun, which is completely typical for Isaac's temperament. They both waved sparklers, watched ground flowers and fountains, and didn't want it to end.