Billy's Therapy Has Begun!

Hey, Gang! Just a quick update. Billy turned 16 weeks old on Thursday, and he's already starting to show a stubborn little personality! He's discovered how to roll over onto his tummy, and now we can't keep him off of it! Every time we lay him down on his back, he rolls right over. He even sleeps on his tummy at night now, even though we put him to sleep on his back - he flips right over. You can see in the pictures below how strong he's getting and how well he can hold up his head now. He still can't roll over from his belly onto his back. Billy is very frustrated by this, and usually starts fussing and crying when he wants to roll back over and can't figure it out!











The other big news is that Billy's therapy to correct his Torticollis has started. Torticollis is defined as: "A contracted state of the neck muscles that causes the neck to rotate and tilt sideways, forwards, or backwards." In Billy's case, he has trouble turning his head to the right, and prefers to look to his left. His condition is very mild, and his physical therapist, Ray, thinks that Billy's case can be corrected in a few weeks. Below, you can see the photos from Billy's first visit. Ray does the work in Billy's room, which is really convenient for Mommy!

Here Ray is loosing up Billy's shoulders. He's not too sure if he likes it or not, but he's a pretty good kid and didn't cry once!











Here Ray is stretching out Billy's neck in the first photo. He repeated it on both sides... The second cradle position stretches Billy's entire spine. Mommy is supposed to do these exercises with Billy every day! But it's not as easy for Mommy to do it as it is for Ray...












Here, Billy lays on the exercise ball and Ray tilts him from side to side. The goal is to get his neck muscles to strengthen as he tries to instinctively keep his head centered as his body tilts.










And here Billy does the same thing, but from a sitting position. You can see how much more he enjoys it when he he's face-to-face with someone. He's a little charmer!

Billy will see Ray once a week for a couple of months. And now, we've got to go because Billy is yelling for Mommy to stop typing and FEED HIM!

Love,
Karyn, Jeremy and Billy.

PS:

Billy wants to wish Auntie Kris a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

:-)

Billy Rolled Over...and Other News

Hey, gang! Today was an important day in Billy's milestones... He rolled over onto his tummy for the very first time this morning! Good Job Billy!

Although I missed the 'moment' with the camera, you can see him trying by viewing the video below or see it directly at YouTube...



Billy has been been pretty serious about rolling onto his stomach ever since we moved him from his bassinet into his crib (another important milestone!) on Sunday night. Over the weekend, we'd gone down to Ohio to visit Grandma Peggy and to meet the rest of his aunts & uncles - Jer's family was having a mini-reunion. It was completely fun, and completely chaotic with all the Bonfiglio siblings and their kids in one place! Billy seemed to enjoy every minute of it, too.

He got to meet his Uncle Joel and cousins Nicole and Jana for the first time, as well as Aunt Jill, Uncle Dave, and cousins Jordan and Dustin. He also watched as Uncle Joel took Grandma Peggy 4-wheeling!











While at Grandma's, Billy slept in a crib, so we thought that when we got home it would be the perfect opportunity to get him out of his bassinet. Although Mommy was terrified and teary-eyed about letting him sleep all by himself in his own room, Billy settled down for bed like he'd been sleeping in his crib for years... but, unbeknownst to to him, Mommy sat up for a long time listening to every peep he made on the baby monitor! And Billy made a lot of noise as he rolled around and fussed in his sleep, as well as his more concerted efforts of turning over. Usually whenever Mommy or Daddy came in to check on him or pick him up, he was sprawled out in all kinds of crazy positions on the mattress.

Billy's also learning to play on his own, thanks to an Exersaucer Grandma Peggy had! Billy's technically too little for the Exersaucer, but he took to it immediately! He stretched out his legs and spun round and round, rubbing his little hands on the yellow tray top and trying to pick up the toys we put in front of him.

He enjoyed it so much, we went out and bought him his own Exersaucer as soon as we got back home. The one we bought is for babies 4 months or older, so, at 3 months, Billy's a little bit too small for it yet. He couldn't sit in it properly. But when we sat him backwards in it, so he was standing and leaning on the backrest to support himself, he had a great time! Of course, he gets tired after about 5 minutes or so, but while he's in the Exersaucer, he learns valuable skills, like bearing weight on his legs, and hand-eye coordination as he tries to grasp and play with all the toys on the tray top!











That's all for this blog update - We hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Love,

Karyn, Jeremy & Billy

Hey, gang! A couple of things in this week's blog: First, another too-dark-but-still-cute-video of Billy (Can we say, mommy needs a Camcorder, anyone??). Mommy shot this after Billy's diaper change this morning - he LOVES to have his diaper changed now, and loves watching his mobile when he's done.

Following the video are photos from our most recent jaunt down to Ohio to visit Grandma Peggy the last weekend in June. Click here to view the video directly from YouTube...

Billy's stylin' in his cute little Hippie Tie-Dye t-shirt and jeans shorts! Daddy coaxed Fancy up on Grandma Peggy's lounger next to Billy, and the two eyed each other for a moment... But Fancy vamoosed when Billy started flexing his legs in what looks suspiciously like a kick...

Billy got to meet his Aunt Gina for the first time...














...and everyone went outside to watch Uncle Kevin try and cut down a broken tree branch in Grandma Peggy's back yard...






...Luckily Uncle Kevin was just playing around, and wasn't hurt.


Lastly, a couple more photos of Billy, who's now11 weeks old. Here he is talking to his Fredbirds, and sucking on his fist while he sleeps. He's learning new skills every day. He's discovered that he can grab things with his hands and try to bring them to his mouth, but he's not very coordinated yet. His favorite thing to bring up to his mouth (other than his own fist) is Mommy's hand. He LOVES to slobber all over it.













Finally, Billy got his photos professionally taken by JC Penny this past weekend. He was ADORABLE. The photos will be available to order online in a few days...

Love,
Mommy, Daddy & Billy

Billy: 8 week video

Hey, gang. Here's a little glimpse of Billy at 8 weeks... I still can't get my camera's video function to record properly. Boo. And the editing software I have makes it poor quality. But Billy is still cute in the video - hope you enjoy it!

Billy gets his first round of vaccinations tomorrow. Hopefully he wont hate it too badly!



Love,

Karyn, Jeremy & Billy

Silly Billy Smiles

Seven Weeks Old & New Swag!

Billy turned seven weeks old on Thursday. Apart from his gassy issues, the biggest news with Billy is that he's finally starting to smile socially! He smiles more and more every day, at his mommy and daddy, at himself in the mirror, in his sleep. So far, I haven't been able to really capture his full-on grins on camera yet - he's always wiggling around, the little monkey!

<-- He's really starting to chunk out and gain weight. We wont know how much he weighs until his pediatrician appointment at the end of the month. He's got two new nicknames: "Chunky Monkey" and "Meatball."

Although Billy's been cooing for the last couple of weeks, in the last couple of days he's really ramped it up. Now he coos at us like he's trying to talk back or tell us about his day. Pretty darn cute.










On Thursday, Billy's personalized, genuine Louisville Slugger bat finally arrived! We'd ordered this when Billy was just three days old, the same time we ordered his birth announcements. Not only is it an adorable memento of his birth date & weight, daddy can use the bat to clobber intruders. We'll just have to make sure that Billy doesn't use it to clobber himself, any of the animals, or his parents.










Today we went to Baby's R Us to stock up on diapers and other supplies, and Billy got some new gear to play with. We bought a Boppy pillow to use for feedings and for "Tummy Time" exercises. Billy's not too sure if he likes the Boppy yet, but he really likes looking at himself in the mirror! At the store he was cooing and smiling at himself so much when we showed him the mirror, we couldn't resist buying it for him! He also got a colorful new rattle. He's becoming more interested in things around him, and mommy's been trying to find new and interesting ways to stimulate his little brain.

That's all for this week! As soon as we capture some of those big goofy grins on camera, we'll update again!

Love,

Karyn, Jeremy & Billy

Memorial Day Visitors

Over Memorial Day weekend, Billy had several "firsts." He got to meet his Grandma Peggy, his Aunt Jenny, Uncle Kevin and cousins Alexi and Bryce. He was also cleared by his pediatrician for his first tub bath (Remember, click on the photos to see them larger and in detail!).

Grandma Peggy gave Billy his first tub bath - he's not sure if he likes it or not.















Billy really enjoyed meeting his Grandma and his cousins:










Billy's ready for his close-up... and here he poses with his parents:











Granny Lyn bought Daddy and Billy a Fredbird mobile for Billy's crib (Cardinals 101: Fredbird is the Cardinals mascot!). It plays "Take me out to the Ballgame" and the birdies spin. Billy really likes it!













And finally, more adorable tub shots when Mommy & Daddy gave Billy his third bath. On hindsight, Mommy realizes she should MOVE the kitchen knives before the next bath (although they weren't nearly as close to the baby as they seem...)!










Other than some painful gas in his tummy, Billy is doing great. Weather permitting, Billy gets to attend his first minor league baseball game this week! We'll be bringing the camera, of course, so stay tuned for more photos!

Love to all,

Karyn, Jeremy & Billy