The Deer

On the weekly trip to the grandparents JT encountered "the Deer" which has become the pet to the residents of Cunningham lane. It is a sad situation as Grandpa B doesn't think the deer will make it through the hunting season; but at least JT enjoyed seeing the deer when he had his chance.

The deer is a boy, which has been feed by some of the local residents whom also put the scarf on him as well. Attempts by Grandpa Brennan to put the fear of humans back in the deer have been unsuccessful, and he has given up on the cause:

From JT and the Deer

From JT and the Deer

From JT and the Deer

From JT and the Deer

JTs Halloween Party

Since completing the move to the new house we have been unable to locate any of the charging apparatus for the cameras and video cameras (with the exception being the Flip Mino which is built in), so photos of JT have been rather slim.

Recently we had a Halloween/birthday party for the little guy and fortunately we had guests with cameras. Even better, Caroline's dad Shannon is a professional photographer and he got some shots too!

Here is the first set of pictures

From JTs Halloween Party

From JTs Halloween Party

Mini Update

Since we have moves into the new digs I've been really bad about updating the blog and documenting JT's development. Today I unearthed my Flip Mino video camera and took the following videos of the J-man.

JT gets Religion

JT with his Godparents Samantha and Hyo



JT with the Grandparents

Flip Mino mini cam video

For my upcoming birthday, Dad sent me a Flip Mino mini camera, which is about the size of a small Cell phone. Here is its first video, a repeat of JT on the swings (one of his favorite places on Earth).

House Hunting

The search for the perfect home, still eludes us. Nothing We've seen since Moneys Corner has been even remotely interesting. Either the houses are too small, too dated or just plan smell like pee. The yards are too small or the house backs to a highway or the house is in the hood.

People trying to sell homes haven't quite figured out that a 600K house is now worth 550K. Hopefully Moneys Corner will come crawling back to us begging for an offer. Time will tell...

JT enjoying a swing

Moneys Corner :(

We put a contract in on a great house in Oak Hill, but it was not accepted. The Owners didn't even bother to counter either, feeling like they going to get their asking price. We are trying to decide if we should enter a new contract, wait or just give up on the house all together.

JT eating breakfast

Soon to be walking

All good things must come to an end

At JT's last doctors appointment we found he is no longer topping out on the growth chart, He is now 95% in weight and 90% in height. Healthy as usual, and JT even got the next round of shots without the usual baby drama. Life is good.

A funny little video

Going through the digital camera, I found a few pictures from when Hyo and Samantha joined the Greek Orthodox Church. It's a long story, but converting was the only way that they would be allow to be JT's God parents. A $300 dollar donation, some holy water and thirty minutes they are now officially kosher. Well not kosher, but you get the drift.

As luck would have it I managed to take this little video of Areti's dad consoling JT not to cry because the only other time he'd have to come to church again is when he gets baptised himself. I didn't realize that I captured the moment, enjoy:

Mom and Yaya Go to Boston

Areti and Yaya went to Boston to visit Cousin Iliana, JT couldn't go because he is too small, but here are some photo highlights of the trip:

JT and the Grand Parents do Dulles Town Center

Here is some more old JT stuff, its about a month old and is not very good.

What's Going on...?

You might be asking yourself whats going on with the lack of updates to the JT website? It's been pretty difficult to keep things up to date living out of boxes, living at the in-laws while try try and sell the condo. That was further compounded by the fact that I decided to get completely off the Microsoft grid and run Ubuntu as my operating system on my laptop. Ubuntu is great, but up until recently there was no Picasa client for Linux. Finally, and probably the reason that had the most impact on the site, I just got lazy.

I'm still lazy, not much you can do about that, but hopefully the other two contributing factors have come to an end. First, I got Picasa running so I can do everything that you windows folks can on my computer without supporting Microsoft or Apple! Secondly we have a Signed contract on the Condo. We haven't going to closing yet, but all of a sudden we don't feel like the place is never going to sell.

Details on the condo to follow, but in the meantime please click here to enjoy an unfiltered web album of JT. They are mostly from Valentines day to give you an idea how recent they are
.

Cell Phone Pictures

With the big push to get the condo on the market and living out of boxes it's been difficult to keep the blog up today. I've thrown up a few of the pictures Areti took with her camera phone, and if time permits tonight I'll try to get some of the backlog of photos up as well. Sorry and we'll try to be a little better about keeping things current as soon as we get our new house.

The incredibly growing baby!

The incredibly growing baby is now enjoying his 18th month Naval Academy gear. It doesn't fit snugly but he still manages to fill it out at 6 months. Pictures to follow

Happy New Year!

In the Greek tradition there is a ritual performed every new year to bless the house and provide all of it inhabitants with good luck. You too can perform these steps at home following these simple steps.

1. Every one must leave the house (unless of course there is a major soccer game on Greek satellite television which will decide which team goes down in divisions next year and which team gets to stay in the A league in which case everybody but Mr Gourzis goes outside).

2. Smash a pomegranate on the front step, Not the one mistakenly peeled two days earlier by the dumb American, but the the one that was bought to replace that one.

3. If you are a baby look on, confused, as people throw money (in change and small bills), rice and candy through the front door.

4. Enter the house with your right foot first, if you are unable to walk ask a buddy to carry you in.

Following these four quick and easy steps will get you good luck for the next 365 days! On a side note, make sure to pick up the candy quickly so that the dog does not eat it and get sick. Dog vomit is definitely unlucky, even if it comes out of a dog named Lucky.

All I want for Christmas is two cracked ribs!

JT's first Christmas

After receiving what I thought might be two cracked ribs, which later turned out to be just a set of severely bruised ribs, I was able to get out of doing a lot of moving at the condo leaving me with ample time to update the JT blog.

JT had a great Christmas and he has put most, if not all of gifts to use already. JT's favorites include his mini bowie knife sent by Betsy and Lorie, his bouncer from Bill and Mary and ironically a giant Penguin which Areti and I bought him (and he hasn't even seen Happy Feet!). It was a good haul for the little man however there is a general lack of photo's of him opening any presents, for which I blame myself.

I've just recently, as in today, learned how to correctly operate our new digital camera. You might notice most of the pictures taken before I got my new camera seemed to be better than my more recent shots. Well problem solved, I've learned how to use all the different picture modes and can now successfully take proper portraits.

μεγαλο κεφαλι

"Yeah, I'm in the 97th percentile in height & weight which is nice; so I got that going for me..."

Tuesdays at Cunningham Lane 2

Nikon CoolPix 3100 Retired!

It's offical, the Nikon Coolpix 3100 has been retired and all future publicity shots for JT will be made with the Nikon Coolpix S51C ! I briefly flirted with the D40/D80 but opted instead for a camera I can stick in my pocket and use without looking like a Japanese tourist !

Tuesday Trips to Cunningham lane

On my last trip to Mom and Dads, I left the room for about five seconds, returning to find both Dad and JT fast asleep. This is one of those moments that needed to captured for posterity, but I was without my own camera.

I raced back to the kitchen to grab Moms digital camera to get the shot, but then to my chagrin, found that the batteries were dead. Later I found out that she stopped using her Cannon PowerShot once she drained the rechargeable battery the first time. This was a Christmas present from her husband, which I can only assume is thought of in the same light as the bicycle helmet purchased years earlier. I ran to the computer room to try dads super mega digital SRL, with similar results. The camera had enough juice to power up the lens, but any attempt to actually take the picture shut the camera down.

My only remaining option was to pop out the trusty camera phone and take the shot. Dad began to snore at this point and woke himself up shortly after the picture was taken.

Halloween

JT Halloween

JT at Cox's Farm

Bumbo Recalled!

In words of Patrick Swayze - Nobody puts baby in the corner; or in this case a Bumbo! It's a sad day when you find out the Child Neglect Chair has been recalled. JT hasn't quite figured out how to do the escape trick yet and fortunately he can't read how on-line either; but I guess we need to start watching closer when he is encased in his foam rubber prison:

"If the seat is placed on a table, countertop, chair, or other elevated surface, young children can arch their backs, flip out of the Bumbo seat, and fall onto the floor, posing a risk of serious head injuries. "

My favorite picture of the little guy is actually taken of him in the Bumbo, or as Mrs. Gourzis likes to call it the "Bimbo". I suppose we don't need another cry baby head injury survivor in the family and soon as Areti finds out about the recall we'll probably have to throw the chair out.

Angie and Dee's House

Going to Dee and Angie's for dinner was a great change of pace from the regular monotony of parenthood. It's always great to visit with family, but with Dee and Angie also having a newborn, Palmer, it was good to swap baby stories and experiences. Palmer is a little bundle of energy and a glimpse of what we have in store in the near future with JT.

The only problem with going to someones house who also has a newborn is Areti ends up having to get whatever "magic" baby item/toy that we don't have. The Baby Bumbo chair, or as Dee likes to call it "the neglect chair" has made the list. Secondly we will be investing in a over the door frame bungee jumper. Palmer seemed to go nuts for his, video to be posted soon, and JT will love his too as soon as we get one.

Dee, Angie, Palmer and the pugs looked great and we wish them the best of luck with baby number two! Below is a link to the photos from the visit from Dee and Angie, with more pictures on their way soon (As soon as we find our cameras that is; we misplaced them in shuffle of baby equipment from the trip).

Dee, Angie and Palmer!

Big day tomorrow.

JT, Areti and myself will be heading over to Maryland to have dinner with Dee, Angie, Baby Palmer, Uncle Don, Aunt Maryanne, Gary and Susan. JT will no doubt scream his head off the entire way there, then act like a perfect angel while around strangers. That seems to be his new thing, which I suppose is a good thing because it makes us look like better parents than we actual are (and by "we" I mean mainly me). In any event, it will great to see everyone and who knows maybe if we're good we'll get some free chiropractic care. Pictures and details to follow.

On another note, the polls are about to close on the topic of changing blog names. Currently changing is in, with half the poll participants pulling for the change it might be time to say goodbye to baby725.blogspot.com! Next poll: "Should we change blog color schemes?". Right now it seems very October-ish, but I think it's time to shake things up a bit.

Latest JT Photos

JTs Latest videos

I was quite honored today when I realized that someone had comment one of my last set of JT videos. With support like "UR STUPID" I've decided that the public shouldn't be forced to wait for the next installment of JT videos.

Here is a shot of JT and his mother sleeping, where I prove my stupidity yet again with my obvious commentary "sleepy":



JT and Grandpa G hang out together:



Here is an action shot of Max holding JT:



Finally, my last video of this installment is a surprisingly happy JT after his latest set of immunization Shots:

USB Cable

I finnaly found the USB cable to hook the Digital Camera up to the computer, so here are some belated pictures from the hospital and the house. Most of the Pictures in the original Album have already been seen, but there are a few new additions.

On a side note, given the fact that my new cell phone takes higher resolution pictures than my actual digital camera I think it is time to upgrade.

Baby JT arrives

Grandpa

Daddy

Mommies Little Monster