i, ronin

Ronin celebrated his first Halloween this Saturday. Thanks to his father’s craftmanship, he dressed up like his namesake, a samurai. He looked awfully cute but I think that his parents got a kick more out of the costume than he did. You can check out his costume in the photo section.

Ronin basically went trick or treating to two places: his grandmother Mo’s house in Tom’s River and his grandparents’ place in West Orange. Everyone loved his costume and lots of pictures were taken. Unfortunately, he didn’t rake that much candy so his parents who planning to raid his stash were sadly disappointed : (  Maybe next year will be better and maybe we will leave the costume design to the professionals.  JJ.

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. Ronin went in to visit mommy’s office in Cranford, NJ two weeks ago. All my co-workers loved him. He was just cooing and smiling at everyone. He is such a social butterfly like his mother. People couldn’t believe how alert and lively he was. I was so proud to show him off.

Last Wednesday, Ronin went to the doctor’s for his third appointment. He gained some pounds but not much height. He weighed in at 12 lbs 2 oz and 21 1/2 inches tall. I guess we better cut off some of the late night feeding (mommy only wished). Talking about late night, he was sleeping from 10pm to 4 am for a couple of nights but this week he has been waking up more often. Mommy hopes Ronin goes back to 6 hrs of sleep at night or more. At the doctor’s office, Ronin got his DTaP and polio shot and the rotovirus vaccination. Ronin didn’t care for any of it. We have an appointment for next month for the Pneumococcal Vaccine and Hib vaccinations.

This past Sunday was Ronin’s baptism. He was dressed up in Vin’s old baptism outfit, vest and all. He was also sporting a baptismal bib from Brussels that his godmother, Diane Thompson, gave him. He had two godmothers, one was my cousin, Diane Thompson, and the other was Vin’s sister, Gerilyn Ferraro and one godfather, my brother, Julman Tolentino. We had the ceremony at Our Lady of Mercy the same church that Vin was baptized as a child. It was pretty hot in the church and there was four other children baptized ( one was about three years old). Ronin did pretty well during the whole ceremony and only cried when Fr. Cryan poured the water over his head.

After the ceremony,  we had a party at Puccini’s restaurant in Jersey City and all of our friends and family came to celebrate Ronin’s big day. Ronin was digging all the attention. He was all smiles and coos during the whole day. You would think that he would be knocked out cold when we got home but he was still up for awhile while his parents were trying to stay awake. I hope this doesn’t mean Ronin will be a party animal.

We will have pictures up soon of the baptism. So keep checking the website.

Ronin just turned 2 months old this past Saturday. He is getting bigger and heavier but he is smiling and cooing more. There is nothing more pleasurable than having your baby give you a big smile when he sees your face, even if it is in the middle of the night and you only had 3 hours of sleep. There is an indescribable feeling to know that you can make someone so happy. Yeah, now I get what is the big deal about being a mother. : )

Ronin and I sang our first duet together yesterday. We sang the tune “You are my sunshine”. Of course he was a better singer than me although he didn’t know all the words : ) I found out that he even sings Tagalog duets. My dad later on told me that Ronin was singing Filipino ballads with him earlier that day. Watch out American Idol!

Ronin went to the doctor’s on monday. He is definitely growing. Last month he weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz and now he is 9lbs 12oz. He is grew 2 inches longer and is 21 inches in height. His head measured at 36 1/2 circumference.

He did well with the doctor. He was happy and alert and he only cried when he got his Hep B vaccine. Next month will be a tough one. He will get a series of vacines. His doctor assured me that she will only give two at a time but there are 4 that he has to receive next month. He and I will not be a happy camper then.

Well, I am just happy that he is healthy and happy now. He is a happy baby. Not as colicky as before. He is smiling and cooing now. It is really adorable. He engages people who talk to him. It is hard not to hug him when he is smiling at you. He is precious.