Changing By The Minute!

... at least that's how it feels. Jackson is growing so fast, and although I may be slightly reticent to change, Jack has NO problem catapulting our lives forward on a daily basis. 

Today I met my mom and a friend for lunch and rather than sitting IN his carseat ON the highchair, Jackson sat IN the highchair! It only lasted for about 5 minutes because he was pulling on everything in sight, but he did it just fine! All by himself! 

Watching him do new things has become a regular occurrence...

He is trying lots of new foods... pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and even banana! So far (contrary to what I've heard about most babies) Jackson is not such a fan of ooberly sweet stuff. He actually gags with bananas and LOVES peas!

He has crawled a few feet, but prefers to scoot and army crawl because it's much faster.

(With all of these foods, Jack's spit-up has turned all kinds of LOVELY colors, so I had to get creative and start using an old cloth-backed tablecloth to protect our carpet. He loves the colors and I love that his puke wipes right up! Plus, because of the cloth-backing, it doesn't slide around! Triple YAY!)

We have started taking Jackson for walks in the big boy section of his stroller. He still goes in the carseat snapped to the stroller (facing me) 80% of the time, but he loves to watch the world go by...

Getting ready for our morning walk to the library.

At the Huntington (yes, I pose for pictures, too)

He is sitting up on his own now, not just in the tripod position with a hand propping him up. It's great because his hands are free to PLAY!

He is pulling up on everything he can to stand.

As a result of pulling up on everything, Jackson has also graduated to a big boy bed! (aka: a standard size convertible crib) We knew the day would come that my cradle would no longer cut it for Jackson, but I was still sad to disassemble it yesterday. My pop had made that crib for me when I was born, and it was (and is!) absolutely beautiful. However, it's slightly small. Jackson is an active guy, so when he would try to roll around in the crib, he ran out of room, couldn't complete his flips, and therefore SCREAMED! After a horribly fussy night I decided that we needed a bigger bed NOW (not in a few months when Adam might have time to make one). So I put the word out with my MOMs group, and within 2 days the Lord (and a wonderful family from church) answered our prayers! Jackson "helped" us put it together last night, and he seems to be loving it thus far (Amen to that!)

"Helping" me make up his new bed

The big bed all ready to go!

A new spacious crib, and THIS is where Jackson stays!

I'll Eat You Up I Love You So

Every parent has hopes... prayers... plans... concerns... 

There are worries regardless of the baby's sex... 

and there are worries that come with the baby's gender...

I was convinced I was having a girl. Even after 2 doctors and 3 nurses told me "it" was a boy, I was sure "it" was a girl. Because I know girls. Ballet. Baby dolls. Dress up. Easy Bake Ovens. Neat and tidy. Sensitive. Emotional. Giggly. Me. 

Boys on the other hand? Dirt. Sports. Loud. Rough. Ugh. I am not competitive. I have zero hand-eye coordination. I am squeamish. 

I know these are total over-generalizations. I have 2 brothers. I tagged along and toughed it out vying for their attention. I ate dirt, I played ball, and I certainly wouldn't consider myself a "girlie-girl." But some things are just more comfortable. Ultimately, I know God has a plan, and I believe He gives you what you can handle. Awhile back my pop told me that when I was born he knew he had to really step up and be a father. I have an older brother, and it's not like my dad hadn't felt like a father when my bro was born. But when a daddy has a little girl? It's something different. That's sort of how I feel with Jackson. I may not know or understand boys as I do girls, but God has a plan for me yet.

Tonight my mom babysat Jackson so Adam and I could have a date before he leaves for China (more on that later). We went to see Where the Wild Things Are. The boy in the movie, as in the book, is a strong character. Perhaps stronger than most. But I can look at this boy and see the future of MY boy. Dirty. High energy. Naturally egocentric.  Slightly reckless. At times revengeful. Ten minutes into the movie I turned to Adam and said, "Oi! We have a little boy!" But the movie continued. The boy is beautifully imaginative. Sensitive. Silly. Hopeful. Curious. Honest. Again I turned to Adam, this time teary-eyed, saying, "Awww... We have a boy..." I watched and learned. I think as adults our imaginations tend to go dull, our emotions are tamed, and our energy is harnessed. As a mommy, I need to awaken those attributes. 

I need to make sure I don't dampen by baby's boyishness. Because although I may not be a fan or dirty and smelly, or rough and tumble, or loud and crazy, I am a fan of energy exertion and creativity and fun. And what I am the biggest fan of? Little boys who are wonderfully in love with their mommies :)

My son may not be named Max, and he may not be a Wild Thing... 

But we do refer to him as our little monster...

If he continues to be as active as he currently is, he is sure to keep me busy. If he is as creative as his daddy, he's sure to keep me entertained. And if he has even half of the love for me that I have for him, he's sure to keep melting my heart.

This is the way we eat our food...

Jackson seems to be a bit better today-- he woke up SCREAMING at 6am, nursed, and then fell back asleep until 9:15am (unheard of). 

Although he's still a bit fussy/sniffly/groggy/clingy, I didn't want to lead y'all into the weekend on a sour note, so instead I'll leave you with this video from the other night (pre-pathetic-Jack).

 

I don't know how/where/from whom Jackson learned to do this, but it cracks me up! Neither his doctor, Adam, nor I have ever asked him to open his mouth and say "Ahhh" but he does it with nearly every bite!

P.S. If you have never watched a turtle eat-- they stick out their heads with their mouths already open and then chomp down on their food with a tilted neck-- this is SO Jackson ;)

What's Up Doc?!

After 2 days of having (what felt like) the fussiest baby alive-- one who refused to sleep, or eat, or nurse, or do anything other than fuss-- last night Jackson practically begged us to put him to sleep (in his own baby way). So at 8pm, without his final feeding, he went to bed. At 5:15am he woke up and nursed, then fell back asleep until 7am, at which point he woke up whimpering (mind you, he usually wakes him giggling and smiling and playing with his best buddy Bob in the crib). I picked him up and swayed with him, and he could not have been more clingy. As much as I LOVE having a calm and snuggly baby, that is not MY baby. MY baby wakes up raring to go and literally JUMPING out of my arms to get down and play. I knew something was up. Luckily, his 6 month appointment was this morning, so I felt comfort in knowing the doctor would be taking a look at him. 

The doc said his ears and throat are clear and normal, and he isn't running a fever (despite the fact that sitting in the cool office in nothing but a diaper his skin was on FIRE!). The fact that he has a runny nose, sleepy/pink eyes, and is completely lethargic may simply be because he is teething. However, they opted to hold off on giving him one of his vaccines, which tends to cause a fever. They want me to keep an eye on his temp, keep him on Tylenol while he's acting sub-par, and call if he gets worse.

The only way I can describe Jackson's demeanor today is pathetic-- it's awful. However, it sure made the doctor's visit easy-peasy. He just laid on the scale-- weighing 17 lbs 13 oz-- and laid on the table-- measuring 26 inches long-- and laid in my lap for his head measurement-- 43.75 cm. The nurse did get a tiny smile out of him, but she could tell he wasn't his usual chipper self-- especially when he couldn't even work up the energy to cry during his other shots-- he just laid there and made a horribly sad face :( 

In other news regarding the doc... Jackson had his post-op with the dermatologist on Tuesday and things are A-okay! He had his stitches removed, and the scar should disappear in no time!

P.S. For everyone who has made comments about Jackson being a heffer with an abnormally large head-- here are his current *percentiles:

He's right on track... he just has adorably rounded features... 

so SHUTTY!!

In fact, once he's feeling better, we're supposed to start him on 3 solid meals (aside from breastmilk) a day! Yay for growing boys!!

*Percentile chart courtesy of BabyCenter.

Way Back When...

I think I reference November 3rd every year, but because we didn't start dating on an official day (we just kind of happened), I always remember and celebrate the first time I told my husband that I loved him. It was on this date... 6 years ago. 

I'm a bit of a take-the-bull-by-the-horns type of gal, so I think the conversation went something like this:

Me: (staring at Adam while we were getting ready for class)

Adam: What's that look for?

Me: Nothing. Well. Not NOTHING. I don't want to scare you, but I love you... And I'm pretty sure I'm going to marry you... And I'm not kidding... But don't be scared.

Adam: Oh yeah? (with a HUGE smile on his face)

Me: (totally casual-- but so not) Yep. 

Adam: (leaning over to give me a kiss) I love you too.

... long pause to smile and swoon over one another...

Me: So... we're boyfriend and girlfriend now, right?!

Awwww... young love :)

6 Months

I don't know how it happened, but somehow the hours between feedings, days between baths, weeks between doctor's appointments, and months between onesie sizes became our routine... 

and here we are... 

Parents of a 6 month old!

Last week I received our weekly email "news" from The Bump and it announced that Jackson was 26 weeks old-- HALF A YEAR OLD-- 

I did a double-take and started counting the weeks for myself. There's no way he's already half a year old! I was just pregnant! 

Everyone warned, "They grow so fast!" and everyone says, "Time flies when you're having fun!" ... well I must REALLY be having fun. This has been the fastest and most amazing 6 months of my life. When I think about how quickly each day runs into the next, I know I am blessed to be able to stay home with Jackson. Sure, there are days that 

I know it would be easier to drop him off and head into the office-- to have a boss and coworkers say Please! and Thank you! and Get pats on the back! and Have a lunch break! and a Pay Check! But instead of heading to the office, I get to be here, day in and day out, to witness every milestone-- every laugh, smile, babble, and scoot-- along with every fit, bump, blow out, and puke. Taking the good with the bad-- totally worth it. Because the bad? Really isn't that bad ;)

Here is our big boy at 6 months:

(pics taken this morning)

And just for fun, here are pics of Adam and myself at approximately 6 months. I see bits and pieces of both of us in Jackson-- our little ears, blonde (bald) heads, and chubby cheeks...

Adam's chin...

My nose...

But more than anything,

I see Jackson as his own little being... 

Incredible in every way :)

Little LoveBug

We didn't go Trick-or-Treating.

We didn't even carve our own pumpkins.

... BUT ...

We went to a costumed birthday party.

We went on a long walk to see all of the decorated houses.

We passed out candy.

And of course, WE DRESSED UP!!

(for a total of 15 minutes-- until Jackson was too hot and bothered by his costume:)