Jack is Back!

The last week has been a little out of the norm for Jack.  I had taken last Wednesday off to spend the day with my pal, hoping to play, snuggle & have some fun.  Jack’s lungs had different plans for us though…  It’s a tough thing to see your typically happy/easy-going/fun-loving baby become an uncomfortable, snot-dripping, mucus-filled coughing mess.  He didn’t want to be laid down for naps, or really at all for the first few days.  I didn’t mind giving him extra snuggles and holding him to nap for the most part, but after a few days, admittedly my patience had started to wear thin.  (Patience has never been my strong suit – one of the many reasons I would make a terrible teacher.)  Luckily I’m not a single parent and it was 5 day stretch that both Brian & I were home for with lots of family around to help.  PopPop missed Thanksgiving dinner because he was holding Jack while he finally napped amidst all of the noise & craziness that Thanksgiving brings in our family.  Grammy entertained him & brought out multiple smiles/giggles when Mom/Dad just couldn't seem to get them from him...  PopPop held him again on Friday afternoon for a couple of hours while he napped (PopPop is a good napper). Nana took a turn and held him on Sunday afternoon while he napped, which allowed Brian & I to finish decorating the house, fold laundry, cook dinner, etc.  Thank goodness for family! 

There was only 1 night that Jack didn’t sleep through the night in his crib and even in between the coughs & nose wipes, he was still squeezing in multiple smiles/giggles. 

Everything is relative to what you know and experience.  Last week wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t too fun either.  We know that we have a good baby on our hands and genuinely feel lucky & blessed 99.9% of the time, but we’re all allowed to feel frustration & self-pity sometimes, right?  This morning I had to wake Jack up at 6:40 so we could get him ready for the day and he was such a happy happy boy again, I think Jack may be back and I couldn’t be happier - for everyone’s sake J 

On another note, Jack has been very interested in grasping/reaching/lunging for things that catch his eye (tomato soup anyone?). 

He seems to get frustrated pretty quickly if he sees something, but cannot reach it or touch it.  He still despises being on his belly for any amount of time greater than about 5 seconds, which makes it difficult to teach him how to move in order to get himself to touch those things that catch his eye.  As of this morning, he has officially been moved to the Infant 2 room at school.  This means he’ll now be surrounded by crawlers/movers which may be the motivation he needs to figure out this whole crawling/scooting thing.  It’s convenient to be able to plop him down with toys in front of him and know that he will still be in that same spot when you turn back around…so we’re not overly anxious for him to move.  But if his frustration/temper (don’t know WHERE he gets the temper from) also makes us eager for him to be able to control his ability to get to those things that catch his eye…  Life is about to get interesting in our house J

Thankful

Thanksgiving at my Mom's house is the opposite of quiet...and as our immediate family keeps growing, the noise seems to multiply...  A few years ago, my cousin Jacki started a tradition where everyone writes down what they're thankful for and then we take a minute after dinner to sit together and read them, even the little ones write their own!  I quickly snapped this photo tonight during "thankfuls" (doesn't show our whole crew) and was amused at just how much is going on here.  It was a great day (as always) spent catching up with family and stuffing ourselves with delicious food...

 

Snuggles with family earlier today: 

 

Brian & I have so much to be thankful for this year, but of course we have 1 in particular...our easy going happy boy Jack Maurice.  Jack is currently experiencing his first sickness (bronchiolitis) and it has been heartwrenching to watch.  Here's a photo when he fell asleep today during his nebulizer treatment, poor guy :(  Even through all of the coughs & wheezes, he's still smiling...we can't wait until he feels better.

7 Months!

Our little buddy just keeps on changing & growing!

At 7 months old he:
Weighs 16lbs 14oz
Loves when people make eye contact with him so he can give a big grin and show off his dimple.
Sits independently & fearlessly reaches for objects that look like they may be within arm's reach...
Dislikes his belly just as much as he seemed to the first time we put him on his belly
Still loves hanging out in his bouncy seat that we're pretty sure he is far beyond the weight limit for, but it makes him happy :)
Will entertain himself in his exersaucer for quite a while
Enjoys hanging out in his playroom, playing with musical toys, blocks, rings, etc
Sleeps solidly from ~8pm - ~6am
Naps multiple times a day without predictability on timing
Loves sucking on his fingers (still)
Has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, mashed potatoes, avocado, puffs, Mum Mums - the only thing on that list that seems to interest him is bananas, guess he gets that from Mommy :)

Jack's personality seems to shine through more and more as the weeks go by... The fierceness/depth of love is not something that we were entirely prepared for, no matter how many people told us about it.  It just seems to grow deeper as the days go on - my goodness, we love this little boy. 



Food & Hockey...Is this my future?

We're making progress with solids at a slow pace and going through our paper towel supply rapidly.  Jack has now tried apples, avocado, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, rice cereal & oatmeal.  His facial expressions are pretty amusing.  He could be happily eating away one minute and then make a disgusted face the next, with no change in the food in his bowl...  Some days he likes Mum Mums, some days he doesn't.  He is in charge.

 

 

He is also doing much better with sitting.  It seems like early last week he decided he was going to make full use of his abs and give himself some stability while sitting.  He can sit on his own for quite a while, happily playing with toys.  This past weekend, I was outside using the leaf blower and Brian was inside with Jack, having a little photo shoot (role reversal?!).  Although Mommy is not a fan of this sport, the photos sure are cute...I suppose we'll just see what Jack is interested in playing...

 



 

Trick or Treat!

Apparently I didn't realize what a big deal Halloween is for tiny babies...Jack's school had sent a letter home a week or so ago letting us know there would be a parade at 3pm and we should send costumes in for the kids to get dressed in right before the parade, parents were invited, etc.  I figured if I could escape work, I would, if not - no big deal, he's 6 months old.  Well, I didn't get to leave work in time for the parade and I showed up at school to find out that Jack was one of 3 babies left in the building!!!!  All of the rooms were dark, parents were streaming out of the parking lot and my poor little buddy looked so lonely in the exersaucer when I got in his room.  We were making a trip to Grammy & PopPop's after school so we could see our cousins in their costumes and go on their first trick or treating with them - Jack fell asleep in the car on the way over.  Needless to say, he never left the car.  Luckily I took a couple of photos of him on Tuesday night when we tried his costume on him to make sure it fit.  Daddy's idea to try on the costume - and thank goodness, at least we have 1 photo of his first Halloween!  Though I'm sure the scars won't run too deeply from him having missed out on it :P

Interesting tidbit...Jack's costume is on it's 3rd round...I had bought the costume for Tyler when he was a baby since Kristen loves monkeys...who knew it would come full circle 2 years later?!