Colby's first Thanksgiving...

...and he is ready for Christmas!

Look what I came in to find in Colby's room!

In his playpen (below) he was placed in the standing position. This time, he was discovered while supposedly taking a nap.

Where to begin?

Natalie keeps harassing me, "Colby is [doing this], Colby is [doing that], now. Why aren't you putting it up on your blog?" Truth is, I'm a lazy blogger. I've neglected Rooney Ville for so long, there is now too much to discuss.

I've finally posted new pictures of Colby. These span 3-7 months of age. Yeah, it's been that long since I put up new pictures.

To catch you up: He is crawling, now. Has been for about a week. He's cut his first tooth. And he has been accepted to Yale. (okay, maybe it hasn't been that long)

We are also in escrow to buy a condo. Our first home to call our own! And it's brand new! We're still waiting for them to finish the building so we can move in. I've posted pictures of it under construction. Our unit is the one upstairs.

As always, all of the pictures I post can be seen by clicking the link on the right-side of the blog named "Family Photos"

I love standing in my playpen!

Colby Video

It was only a matter of time before I did it, and here it is...

Video online of Colby. I'll ask for your forgiveness now since I am new at this. It's ten minutes long and I don't know how everyone will receive this, espeically those on dialup, so let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday, Colby!

Colby is six months old, today. What a milestone. He just keeps on growing! I guess that is a good thing, eh? As you can see, he's sitting up, now. That's his proud Daddy to the right, and I am not even touching him. He is doing that all on his own!

Other new feats: straight-legged push-ups, passing his toys back-and-forth between both hands, shoving EVERYTHING he can reach in his mouth and chewing on it, rolling and scooting from one end of the living room to the other.

He is so close to crawling, it's thrilling and scary at the same time. Once he begins to crawl, we are in trouble. Our house is pretty open and would be difficult to 'cage' him in any one area. With as much energy as he has, he is going to be all over the place! He won't be happy in his play yard (that's what they call a playpen these days), it's too small to crawl around in. He would be doing laps like a hamster in his running-wheel.

I hope to be able to put up some videos of Colby soon. We have been taking them at various stages, and most recently of today when he nearly crawled. I'm working on it, so stay tuned.

Feel free to harrass me when I go a long while without new posts! I'll try to keep you all up to date on Colby's development as well as some exciting events we have developing in the background. Meanwhile, keep watching the ColbyCam LIVE! If you click on the sidebar ColbyCam LIVE! heading, it will open a new window with an even larger image!

Look out girls!

I'm going out!

You are watching ColbyCam LIVE!

^{click on image to open a larger image}

I have made some updates. You may need to refresh your browser page for this to take affect. Clicking on the image will open a new window with a larger image. The image should update every 20 seconds. You can also go to http://www.jacknat.com/images/webcam.html. Bookmarking that page will allow you to see the ColbyCam LIVE! without visiting the Rooney Ville Blog.

Colby is a Star!

Look at him now! Growing so fast. He even has his own show. ColbyCam LIVE!

Now the world can see him when he sleeps, when he's happy or sad, and see when he is NOT there, too!

Call me a Big Daddy Dork, but I thought this would be cute for those who can't visit him often enough.

ENJOY!!

P.S. If you see him crying, let me know... haha.

Who is traumatized?

I came across this artice on John C. Dvorak's Blog. Basically, someone had rearranged a marque for a new Barney video at a grocery store to say "Barney's Penis" and this guy FLIPS OUT! He rambles on-and-on about his six year old daughter being traumatized.

"Since then, she has not stopped mentioning Barney’s p***s. This has shaken the bedrock of our family. I made an emergency call to our church’s pastor about this bombshell in my daughter’s life and he is unsure how it will affect her future."

I think he is the one who is traumatized. I got news for you, bub... Half of the people (and animals) in the world have a penis! It's NOT a dirty word. Albeit, the incident was unfortunate and inappropriate, but get a grip! I fear for this little girls sex education in her future, or lack thereof.

He's now demanding an appology from the grocery store and vows to shop elsewhere. Because it's the grocery stores fault, right?

Earthquake!!!

We had a little rumble last night. It woke me up at 1:45am this morning with a BOOM. The house rattled for a second (that I noticed) and it was over. I was the only one who noticed. Natalie and Colby didn't stir. When I woke up this morning, I wasn't sure if I dreamt it or if it was real. So, I had to look it up on the internet. Sure enough, a 3.1 earthquake hit 6 miles WSW of us. It actually hit halfway between my brother Patrick and I in the middle of nowhere. A 3.1 is nothing big, but notable nonetheless.

Child Ban

While Grant thinks we are doomed, I think things are headed in the right direction. Now all we have to do is ban children from G-rated movies and American life can resume.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Wow, he keeps us so impressed! Watching Colby learn something new each week and then practicing it is so entertaining. He has rolling over down to an art, now. Front to back, back to front--no problem! Laying on his stomach, he can arch his back high, balance with one hand down and reach for whatever has his attention with the other hand. His hand-eye coordination is always being fine tuned as he grasps things (rattlers, toys, Mommy's hair) and he is using both hands to do things.

He has begun his prelude to crawling where he is on his stomach, scrunching his knees under him, and lifts his upper body off the ground. He'll then shift his legs in opposite directions and flop over onto his back.

His new thing this week is sitting up by himself on his changing table. He needs help getting there, but once he is up, he can balance himself like a little monkey. The cradling of the table matress helps, of course. On a flat surface, by himself, he tends to drift off to one side or the other. But he is getting there!

We started testing him on rice cereal last week and have been slowly increasing the frequency. He's getting two servings a day, now, and LOVES it. He is so smart! It didn't take him long to figure out when the spoon is coming to open his mouth. And as you are scooping the next bite from the bowl, he begins to flap his arms and sort-of giggle in anticipation.
He's pretty messy about it, but as long as he enjoys it we'll clean it up.

He is also becoming a big flirt! I took him to visit his Nana at work and he just smiled big and fluttered his baby blues at all the women in the office. We often catch him smiling at the TV when there is a close-up of a woman's face. That's my boy!

Go, Grant, Go!!!

Well, I have it!  Grant caught on video, dancing on the job.  Shame, shame.  I don’t know who should be more embarrassed… Grant, his friends, or the customers who had to watch.

CLICK HERE to download.  [2.8MB]

Spooky British Car Ad

Strange but interesting....

This is a car advertisement from Great Britain. When they finished filming the ad, the film editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out that a person had been killed a year earlier in that exact same spot.

The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Watch the front end of the car as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you'll see the white mist crossing in front of the car then following it along the road....Spooky!

Is it a ghost, or is it simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you'll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial.

Now click HERE to see the ad.
(If you are on dialup, it may take a few minutes to load the video)

Growing like a weed.

Watching Colby grow and develop is such a treat. I am so thankful that I’ve been able to stay home with him and watch him discover the world and try new things. He’s developing his motor skills and strength. Colby has also had good strength, being able to stand and hold up his body weight (albeit with a little help) since about 3 weeks, and he has been able to hold his head up just as long.

Push-ups are a new favorite of his, doing reps in his crib after waking up and entertaining himself. Natalie and I watch him from afar with pride as he pushes himself up and grins at his new found ability. He is able to entertain himself much more now. He can see greater distances and LOVES to watch television. Natalie and I hate ourselves for that—we’ve talked at length about not using the T.V. as a babysitter—but he is mesmerized by the changing images from anywhere in the room that he can catch a glimpse. I’m not sure how much he can distinguish from it, but it entrances him nonetheless.

He sleeps well through the night, now—going down around ten P.M. and waking around seven A.M. He began this wonderful pattern while visiting my mom in Fresno a few weeks ago. We both didn’t get much sleep the first night because we kept waking up to check on him because he wasn’t making any noise. He usually woke every four hours to eat during the night.

This last wednesday morning, around three, Natalie and I heard him stirring and making some noise. We didn’t think much of it and hoped he would go back to sleep. After about twenty minutes, the noises he was making were unusual so I went to check on him. I found him squirming like a tortoise on his back—he’s a belly sleeper and managed to roll himself over for the third time in three weeks. The first two times were a couple weeks ago during his first week alone with Daddy, but he hasn’t done it since; and he has never done it for anyone to see. So, there he lies, on his back, arms and legs flailing with eyes shut tightly. I went to tell Natalie; but, un-amused, she said, “Roll him back over on his belly.” I did, and he went right back to sleep.

He can almost sit up on his own. He will grasp on to your fingers and pull himself up to a sitting position, but he can’t stay there without something to hold on. We often sit him on the couch between us and talk to him. He’ll stare at us and smile, talking back in his coos and squeals. Whenever one of us is gone for the day, we’ll usually return to a happy baby with a days worth of adventures to tell us.

He has his moments of fussiness, but we can usually account that to being tired, hungry, or teething. That’s right, he’s teething already! I can only hope those toofers pop through quickly, because he’s gonna gum our fingers off in the process if it takes to long. He doesn’t quite have the coordination to hold a teething ring in his mouth, yet; so we resort to our own digits when his won’t suffice.

I don’t have any new pictures, but keep checking back and I’ll try to post new ones whenever I can.

Good morning!

How your computer works.

If you've ever wondered how your computer works... HERE is a good diagram of what is going on inside your machine.

Surprise!

This past weekend was a most interesting one. Several months ago, my dad asked Natalie and me if we would be able to join them in celebrating his and his girlfriend (Judy’s) birthdays—they both turn 60 this year and wanted to have a birthday party for the two of them. Since their birthdays are a mere couple months apart, they split the difference and had their party last Saturday, June 10th. They were also taking this opportunity to have their house blessed after completely remodeling the inside and new paint on the outside. Our having his fourth grandchild—third this year—it was important that we make it so the whole family would be together to celebrate this auspicious occasion. We, of course, were delighted and promised to attend.

We received our invitation…
…and Natalie thought the wording suspicious. I thought nothing of it.

Since my dad lives about a five-hour drive from us, we don’t get to see him often—once or twice a year—so we were very much looking forward to this trip. We arrived late Friday night to a warm welcome and a wonderfully remodeled home—new carpeting, hard wood flooring with area rugs, new paint, Corian countertops, etc. The house never looked so great!

We visited for about an hour, than turned in for the night. The next morning, my sister Kristen and her fiancé, Wil, arrived and we all helped prepare for the party and decorate to the Hawaiian Luau theme. While I was sweeping off the back deck, I came across what could only be described as an alter. It was then that I realized I was going to lose a bet with my wife. Either there was going to be a sacrifice to the Hawaiian gods that night, or someone was getting married.

The guests began to arrive around two o’clock, and everyone participated in the luau theme. It was beginning to look like a Don Ho concert.

At about three or so, everyone was gathered out on the deck for the formal dedication of the house and blessing, my dad’s friend, Reverend Jay presiding. Jay did his best to not spill the beans, but he himmed-and-hawwed throughout his speech so much, if you didn’t suspect anything before, you were beginning to now. After several minutes of this, he turned the floor over to my dad who began a pouring of affection toward his girlfriend. He then turned to her, got on one knee, and popped the question. It was at this point, I’m sure, everyone was curious as to how far this would go.

Judy said, “Yes,” and we all cheered.
Suddenly, a guest yells, “do it now!”
Jay responds, “I’ve come prepared…”

The next thing you know, the dedication turns into a wedding. This was, of course, planned ahead of time, but surprising the guests was a blast anyway. Those who suspected were not surprised, and those who didn’t have a clue were picking their chins up off the ground.

The ceremony was beautiful, and the party a huge success. Everyone had something to talk about; and my brother, sister, and I were questioned by all whether we knew or not.

I took a lot of pictures and video. My dad was thrilled to see me recording video of the whole thing. He has the video, so I can’t share that with you, but I’ve uploaded the pictures for all to see. Go HERE for the fun!

Nintendo Boot Camp

At the request of a dear friend whom only has the best interest of my child in mind--I am starting Colby on a daily regiment of Mario Kart and coffee in the morning, followed by a swedish hand massage, and finishing the day with Mario Kart and tequilla before bed.