The True Joy of Parenthood

I used to think that love for your child came from sacrifice and the hard work of parenting-- having true charity where you honestly think of someone else's needs before yourself-- and that loving someone that much and so unconditionally was the true joy of parenthood. But this weekend, I found out that I was wrong.

This is the true joy of parenting:

Hearing your baby laugh for the first time. He first laughed Friday afternoon. It was just half a giggle amidst his babbling to me, but definitely a real laugh. He then proceeded to laugh more later in the day as I twirled him. Matthew and I spent all weekend finding out different ways to make Jaeden laugh. It is such a thrill to hear his giggle time and time again. There is no other sound like it in the world.

A visit to New England...

Jaeden is such a cute little boy! I know, I say that every post, but he really is, you know? Here is a video of a typical morning with Jaeden. You may want to turn the sound down, since I'm talking to him, and I just woke up... pretty painful. The scene is the morning after Halloween (hence the Giraffe costume from Grandma and Grandpa Memmott). He's not as smiley as usual, but you get the idea.

So last week our house in Pittsburgh was completely empty! I went on a business trip to Charelston, SC, while Renee went back home to NH to visit family and friends! She had a wonderful time, visiting family, going to the temple (so nice to have a close temple, can I tell you? We were definately spoiled in Boston), and just hanging out. I have pictures from her visit below, but you'll have to try to get her to blog about the details, since I wasn't there. What I do know, however, is that Jaeden LOVES his cousins. You can see in some of these pictures that he loves looking at, smiling at, and being around other kids, and Bowman and Ivy (Renee's sister's kids) were no exception.

Grandma Clark, Bowman, Ivy, Jaeden, and Mom.

Renee and Jaeden at the temple.

Jaeden with mom looking at his cousin Bowman.

Bowman and his cousin Ivy

Since I've been home, however, Renee and I have made a serious tactical error. Jaeden was given a bumbo seat by a few of our friends in Boston (thanks guys!) and we thought we'd give it a try. He LOVED sitting in the seat. There's only one problem... he now wants to be sitting up ALL THE TIME!! Today in church he would start to whine, then cry, then scream if I had him in any position except sitting or standing, but the second I sat him up, he'd smile, and be totally happy. That is until I stopped holding him up. It was almost comical that I could make him smile or cry, just based on how I held him. That and because he loves other kids so much, he was enthralled by all the primary kids (today was our primary program) and wanted to be looking at them the entire time they were up there. If only everyone was so easy to please! Here are a few pictures of him in the seat he now loves.

Bumbo time! (sorry about the picture quality... all I had was the iPhone!)