Meet Baby Jones

Wowza. Almost an entire month without an update! Yes, we admit we have been bad, bad bloggers. One more day and our blogger cards would surely have been revoked. But I did tell you guys that updates during the summer will be sluggish because, well, it’s summer!

Alright, so yesterday we checked out the annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair in nearby Uwchlan, PA. Avery had a wonderful time, and really so did Melvin and me, but it got waaaay too hot out there. We came totally prepared to take photos and videos, but were unready to enjoy being outdoors without suffering a heat stroke or sunburn.

I don’t know what I was thinking or had expected, but as I looked around at other parents, I felt like such a rookie! Other parents came prepared with umbrellas, hats, blankets, water, stroller - you know, stuff you need when you expect to be out in scorching heat with a toddler for an extended amount of time. But us? No. But we did have a fully-charged camera battery and a clean compact flash card for photos we couldn’t take anyway because the conditions were simply not ripe for picture-taking.

It cost $7/adult to get in. I guess that wasn’t too bad. But the food prices were simply astronomical! For example, $7 for a cold cheeseburger, $2 for a can of soda and $6 for funnel cake. $6! My lord, when it probably only costs 15 cents to make. I swear Melvin and I are in the wrong professions. Don’t be surprised if you hear that we’ve decided to sell goodies at fairs, people, because obviously, this is where the money is.

But Avery really did have tons of fun, despite my grumbling. We sat and watched a carriage exhibition and then a jumping competition, all the while he squealed and clapped his hands with delight every time he pointed out horses. He also got to ride a real live pony for about 2 minutes even though it hurt me to my heart to watch those ponies go ’round and ’round in a circle over and over and over again. What an awful way to live!

Well, gotta run. The little boy is starting to stir and I’ve yet to start a load of laundry. ’til later!

Sunday, July 20

Avery loves to death some blueberries. While looking for something wholesome and outdoorsy to do, Melvin and I got the idea to go on a Pick-Your-Own-Blueberries adventure. We chose Highland Orchards in West Chester, PA.

Avery’s adult companions (Melvin, my mom and I) didn’t have as much fun as we thought we would. But, it wasn’t about us. It was all about Avery. And lemme tell you, Avery had a blast!!!

Yeah, Avery really enjoyed picking and eating blueberries. He so obviously could’ve stayed out there all day, but his adult companions were this close to succumbing to heat stroke (it was hot as heck out there!), so we called it a day after about 45 minutes.

This was our picken’ at the end of our adventure. The entire tray cost about $7+, quite expensive considering we could’ve bought them at the store for as much or cheaper sans the hard labor. But hey, the activity was immensely enjoyed by Avery and for that, we’d pay anything.

Saturday, July 19

Avery’s Pop-Pop and Nana visited from MD today. I unfortunately had to work (darn having to work!) so I couldn’t join the fun, but hubby tells me a great time was had by all.

First stop was the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester, PA. I’d suggested the place because Avery’s Pop-Pop is an amateur pilot (he flies Cessnas) so I figured he’d be able to appreciate it. Besides, it was too darn hot to do anything that involved the outdoors so it was perfect.

(Playing with a propeller)



(Cap’n Avery in the “cockpit”)



(In a kid-sized helicopter)



(Avery following his Pop-Pop around. Maybe one day they’ll fly together, huh?)

The second half of the day was spent at QVC Studios. Hubby used to do IT consulting work there and had always wanted to go, so what better time than then?

I don’t know whether flash wasn’t allowed inside (very likely), or if Melvin left the flash home (even more likely). In any event, this was the only photo taken inside (Avery watching a live broadcast from the glass-enclosed catwalk above the studio) that came out half-decent because of the lack of lighting thing.

After the QVC Studio tour, the fun really got started!



(Questions: How many Joneses does it take to change a diaper, how much powder does a child’s bottom need, and why did the diaper fall off 2 hours later? *Hee hee hee*)



(Daddy flicking Avery with bird bath water and Avery thinking it is the absolute most entertaining thing in the whole wide world)



(The two loves of my life having such a great time)

Monday, July 14

The newest member of the Jones clan, Lizzie, was born to Melvin’s brother, William and his wife, Cara, on June 18. They arrived in the States (Cara is in the Air Force and is stationed in So. Korea) the second week of July to visit, so we met up with them in Bowie, MD.

Avery and Lizzie’s Pop-Pop treated everyone to dinner at the Olive Garden that afternoon. Here are some photos taken there:

(With Nana and Lizzie)



(Just think, in a year these two will be running after each other)



(First time eating with a fork)



“Yummy, yummy, yummy, meatballs in my tummy.”

After dinner, the gang went for a walk through my parents-in-laws’ neighborhood.

(Riding on Uncle Tim’s shoulders)



(The gang from L to R: Cara, Pop-Pop, William, Nana, Tim, Avery and Melvin)

“Yeah guys c’mon by so we can get this party started. The fridge is stocked with organic fat-free milk!”

“Lemme call that jawn I met at Club Gymboree.”

“Seems someone forgot to spray on their Axe.”

For the July 4th holiday, we took a trip down to Annapolis, MD to the home of Ms. Weisenberg, my mother-in-law’s good friend (and really, ours as well).

We got to her house at 4p and dinner commenced soon after. There were plenty of good food, drinks, and best of all, friends both old and new.

Avery took to Ms. Weisenberg’s son, Micah, right away. Micah and I think it’s because Avery could smell that they’re on the same intellectual and emotional level. What’s the saying, “Birds of a feather, flock together?” LOL. I keed, I keed. Micah is good peeps.

Fireworks were scheduled for 9p, but we unfortunately had to miss it because I had to be at work early the next day. It was still such a fun time though, and we can’t wait to hang out with everybody again!

Ooops, by the way, I almost forgot: Big thank you to the Mendoza’s for the kick-butt Stanford University (Avery’s future school) t-shirt they gave Avery (their beautiful daughter, Amanda, graduated from there this year). It was such a thoughtful present! Thanks, thanks, thanks a million!

Last Sunday, our family headed out to Blue Bell, PA for an impromptu brunch at Normandy Farm (Thanks for the tip, Shakira!). We were all so pleasantly surprised at how elegant the place and how delicious the food were. I don’t know, but for some reason I was left with the impression that the place was casual after Shakira told me about it so the clan (Melvin, my mom, Aves and me) went grossly underdressed. Well, it wasn’t “Jacket Required”, but far from jeans and flip flops either.

I just love taking Avery places these days. He gets so excited being in new surroundings and seeing new people. He still gets pretty freaked out especially when total strangers approach him and get all in his personal space, but for the most part, he likes being around people. I’ve also noticed recently that he prefers children a whole lot more than adults so he really gets going when he’s around them.

He can feed himself pretty well now, too. We put him in his highchair, cut up pieces of food for him and just let him go to town. He seems the most content when he’s given some independence. Still not using utensils and drinking by himself from a cup though, but believe you me, he eats sufficiently

My cousin James and his wife Chiku were in town to meet up with some friends of theirs and they were nice enough to invite our family to join them. We all met up at the Maggiano’s in King of Prussia for dinner.

James and Chiku’s friends brought along their almost 3-year-old son (whose name I can’t remember) and their 17-month-old daughter, Shamara. You know, before dinner, all 3 kids were really shy, sorta like trying to feel one another out. After dinner though, it was a totally different story.

We let Avery out of the highchair because he started to get antsy. Then follows Shamara who walks up towards Avery. First, it was all so cutesy - Avery’s checking her out and Shamara’s checking him out, too. He starts trying to get close to her, even trying to give her a kiss (he has started to do that now and it is sooo precious. I’d have more kids just for that, I swear!). Shamara appears to be ok with all that, then all of a sudden, she starts like getting all in Avery’s face. I mean, she was like really aggressive and stuff, and I mean in a cute, lil’ kid kind of way. And she wasn’t trying to kiss him - it appeared to me like she was trying to exert her power over him (she’s taller than Aves).

So when Avery gets backed into a corner with nowhere to escape, he starts pushing her! It was sooo much fun to watch! And he wasn’t like trying to hurt her or anything (gee, I hope not), he was either just trying to escape, or wanting to play. Oh yeah, that’s like how he shows he likes someone - by engaging them in his own kind of play, most times in the form of pushing.

And Aves did very well with “the strangers”, thank you very much. He seemed to especially like Chiku - he even offered her some of his broccoli! The only time he cried was when she tried to hold him at the end of the night which I think was more because he was tired and was ready to go, not because he was afraid of her.

The only thing that was disappointing was the plan changing so James and Chiku didn’t get to spend the night in our new crib Oh well, there’s next time I guess.

Putang Ina, George! *LOL*

For Jan’s memorial service, our family decided to pack up a SUV rental and drive the almost 800 miles to Atlanta, GA. We figured that for the price that Melvin would’ve had to pay to fly, might as well take the entire family on a road trip. Sure, it was going to be just as expensive and it would take much longer to get there, but we felt it was important to be with family as a family.

Prior to this trip, the longest road trip Avery had gone on was 3 hours to MD. He does really well with being in his car seat for a long time, but 14 hours might be stretching it, so we decide we’d split the drive into 2 days. We would leave PA on Wednesday, stay in the ATL through Saturday, then leave for PA on Sunday.

Day 1 - Wednesday, June 4
We finally leave PA around noon. The weather was yucky - warm and humid with severe thunderstorm warnings coming from the south. Great. So we’re meeting up with severe weather. Just splendid. I told Melvin to prepare to take over the driving in case of inclement weather. That’s right, among the many phobias I have, included are thunder, lightning and really heavy rain.

For this drive, we were taking the 76W -> 81S -> 77S -> 85S way. Our stopping point was a Hampton Inn in Roanoke, VA (ETA 8p) with a lunch/dinner stop wherever we happened to be when we got hungry.

Well, hunger and nostalgia set in around 4:30 p. Melvin saw a sign for Shoney’s somewhere in VA and we just had to stop there! We really just had to!



Inside, the nostalgia kicked in full-force. Melvin talked on and on about how he and his family always stopped at a Shoney’s during their trips down south, and about how he and Joseph would always get the same thing: French toast sticks with a heaping pile of tooth decay and diabetes, er, something that resembled strawberry in a whole lotta strawberry-flavored syrup.



And so you know he just had to have a plate, right? I kindly declined because I figured, I’m doing a good enough job by myself accelerating my inevitable arrival at diabetes’ door without the help of Shoney’s, thank you very much. By the way, Melvin wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the stop



Ok, so on the way out, I pick up a coupon book for hotels in the area to see if maybe there was one for the Hampton Inn. None. But hooold up, wait a minute, there’s one for a HoJo for $39.99/night! With reserved enthusiasm, we call the place to find out the dealio. Free WiFi! Free HBO! Free Breakfast! Basics were covered, so we decide to give it a try. How bad could it be?



I’m still traumatized from the whole experience and to protect me, my mind is trying to actively block out our stay there so I have no remembrance of the occurrence. All I have are images that quickly flash in and out of my head: the truck with the confederate flag license plate in the parking lot, the 1982 Cadillac Seville limousine reserved for hotel VIPs, the elevator that smelled like death, the sticky carpet, the mold on the bathroom walls, the menagerie of questionable characters who loitered the halls.



Yes, we could’ve left, but we figured, it’s late, we’re tired, and we’re only going to sleep, so who cares about all the other stuff? We’re not going to die.

Or will we?

Come to find out, Melvin was scared to go to sleep because he had ideas in his head that the person(s) who owned the truck with the confederate flag license plate would break our door down and kill us. Well, I’m glad he didn’t share this with me until the morning because I swear, we would’ve been Audi 5000, g, with a quickness.

Disclaimer: Steps were taken to ensure that Avery was protected at all times from the organisms that were sure to be present in that hell hole. For instance, he was not allowed to walk on the floor without his shoes and his nose was covered when we rode the elevator.

Oh man, what a great time our family had yesterday! We went to 2 graduation parties and got to see much loved family and friends.

Our first stop was my relative Tim’s Graduation Party in Lansdale, PA. Ok, I’m really bad at defining familial relationships, so I’ll just describe: Tim is the son of my paternal grandmother’s first cousin, Ate Suzette. He graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree. Currently, he works as an intern for a local news radio station, but he hopes to get a job as a TV news anchor.

The trip to their house was an hour away from our house, north of I-95. So yep, attending the party there added an hour to our trip to MD to see the new MD (*hee hee*). It was all good though as we got to see family we hadn’t seen in ages. More importantly, Avery got to be around people.

To those familiar with Avery, you all know that it takes Avery forever to warm up to people. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t do very well at all around anybody except his dad, his lola and me. I would like to think that we have sufficiently exposed him to other people, and that this is just a normal phase that he’s going through, but many have accused us of sheltering him.

Ok, maybe there’s some truth to that. Maybe we’ve done a crappy job so far of socializing him. Melvin and I have thought about this so we have started making a bigger effort making sure Avery is around more people besides us. Bringing him to parties to which we are invited is certainly a start.

Anyway, after Tim’s party, we headed on down to MD to see the new MD (*hee hee hee* again. I just can’t stop!). That’s right folks, Avery’s Uncle Joe (Melvin’s brother) graduated from UMD with his MD!!! J.Jo is about to do big thangs, folks! He and his wife, Jenny, are en route to Hawai’i to start his residency in Orthopedic Surgery. How awesome is that?!?! Our entire family is beaming with pride at this tremendous accomplishment.

It was so nice to see so many people yesterday. I am hoping this starts a trend to more fun times with family!