There's been a lot going on recently, and I've gotten behind on posting about it all.
John was baptized on June 1. Both sets of grandparents, Joe's brother, his sister and her husband, and Tim and Cathy (John's godparents) were all there. John slept through the whole Mass, which was amazing since lately he seems to decide that the middle of Mass is supposed to be mealtime, so it was also nice for me to be able to stay and enjoy the whole thing. He startled a little when the water hit his head, and then went right back to sleep. Afterward everyone came over for lunch and cake and a nice time was had by all. Photos from the baptism are posted, although I wasn't thinking so I don't have any of John with all his grandparents, but we did get some with his godparents which is more important anyway. ;-) I decided to go with a traditional baptismal gown for him (which I bought on ebay) instead of the little suit/romper outfits that are more common for boys, and hopefully any future brothers or sisters will wear the same gown. (The gown also came with a long slip and a cute little hat, neither of which he actually wore.) The medal by the collar contains a relic of St. Maria Faustina from her canonization in Rome, and was given to John by our NFP instructor in honor of his birthday on Divine Mercy Sunday. I thought that was very sweet and thoughtful of her!
On Wednesday after the baptism, we packed up and headed to my parents' for a long weekend. Kristie and Hamilton are up finalizing plans for their wedding in a couple weeks (actually just over a week now) so we got to visit them, and also saw some other friends and family. On Thursday our beloved family dog Cody was euthanized. :-( He was 14 which is pretty old for a dog of his size, very arthritic, and had a lot of tumors including one in his nose that was giving him nosebleeds and making it hard for him to breathe. We knew this was coming for a long time but it was still sad. I think my mom chose to have it done while we were all at home so she could keep her mind off it. Instead of dwelling on losing her "baby", she got to introduce her grandson to all her coworkers. So I think that helped. :-)
On Saturday was Kristie's bridal shower. I can honestly say it was one of the most fun showers I've ever been to! Lindsay did a great job with the planning. The theme was a Hawaiian luau so of course everyone had a lei, and the guest of honor also had a grass skirt and seashell bra (and looked quite lovely). For games, first we split into groups and had to make wedding dresses out of toilet paper, which was hilarious. Kristie picked the winning dress, which I happened to be wearing, but all the credit goes to my aunts who created it. ;-) Then we played bridal bingo, but with a twist: the bingo cards were all blank and we had to fill them in ourselves with gifts we thought Kristie might receive, and mark them off as she opened them. I had fun telling Kristie to break the ribbons every time she opened a gift, and she had forgotten what breaking ribbons was supposed to mean, so she actually did it. *evil grin* (For those that don't know, the number of ribbons you break is supposed to be how many kids you'll have. John needs some cousins!)
After the shower, we had a birthday dinner and cake for the bride (as it was also her 25th birthday) and then stayed up too late playing the game of Life, which was one of her birthday presents. We said goodbye on Sunday and headed back home, and Joe and I also learned an important lesson: John does not travel well in the evening. He fussed a lot and needed to stop a few times to eat. Between that, our dinner, and the fact that we took the back roads instead of the Thruway, it took us 6 hours to get home (the trip normally would take about 3, maybe 4 on the back roads).
Monday was our anniversary. A whole year. There's a lot of things I could say about that but I think I will save them for another post! I woke up to a sweet letter from my sweet husband on my pillow. We celebrated by going out for lunch at Butterwood and then buying a cake. (We decided this will be our anniversary tradition. Our wedding cakes came from Butterwood, so every year we'll go there and get a cake.) This was instead of freezing one of the cakes from our wedding and saving it for the whole year -- that tradition didn't sound very appetizing to us, although everyone I know who's done it says the cake tasted great a year later. (Besides, looking at our well-stocked freezer now, I have no idea where a cake would have fit. We probably would have defrosted it a few months ago to make room!) Anyhow, we brought our cake over to Joe's parents', who turned out not to be home, so we spent the afternoon hanging out in their (air-conditioned!) house and watched Die Hard 2. So romantic! ;-) Eventually everyone did come home, including Joe's brother and sister, and fussed over the baby and shared our cake. It was a nice day. :-) Tuesday we continued our celebration by picnicking at the waterfront and then going to see Indiana Jones at the drive-in. Joe had thought all the drive-ins in the area had closed, so we were both thrilled to find out there is one still open. Now we can go to the movies and bring the baby with us! I have a feeling we'll be taking advantage of that over the summer and for the next few years.
As for Mr. Bumble... his list of accomplishments grows longer by the day. I already mentioned that he sleeps through the night now. He can turn from his back to his side. He's beginning to master grasping: he now opens his hand on his own to close around something (whereas before I would have to pry open his fingers). He's still working on getting his arms to go the right way; I still have to direct the object to his hand. Although, just now we have been playing a rousing game of him knocking over a toy and me setting it back up. :-) He still loves to smile and talk to people and experimenting with vocal sounds. He also loves having his diaper changed. Big smile every time. Actually I think it's that he likes to be naked. (A boy thing?) He is not a fan of getting dressed. He is learning that his feet are attached to him and will look very thoughtful and confused if he kicks and touches something. He's also experimenting with facial expressions and has started making a "sad face" complete with frown and lower lip that will break your heart in a million pieces. (It will not work as well when he gets older and starts using it to manipulate on purpose, but for right now when he does it you know he's really a sad baby.) He also started sticking his tongue out last weekend. People continue to comment about his big eyes, and how alert he is, and how calm and easygoing he is. He's already getting bigger. He takes up most of the bassinet now and we've moved him up to size 2 diapers. I haven't broken out the 3-6 month clothes yet though, but probably soon.
I'm having so much fun with him. I want to remember every little thing. :-)