Mischief

It's amazing how quickly babies can go from not being able to do something, to being able to do it and then to using their newest trick to their advantage.  Case in point: Jackson went from learning to army crawl three weeks ago, to really crawling just over a week ago, to getting into mischief this week.

On Wednesday, Corey came down with the flu that we'd all been passing around so I was on single mommy duty.  I had Jackson all set up with toys on his play mat in the living room and went to wash bottles and clean up the kitchen.  His usual MO is to play with the toys I put in front of him, but J had other ideas of activities to keep himself occupied.  I watched him crawl over to the coffee table and start to chew on magazines (something his furry sister is infamous for).  After I moved those out of reach, he decided he wanted to crawl over and check out the DVD player and Xbox.  At this point, I decided to hold off on cleaning the kitchen and just follow him around and let him do what he wanted (within reason).  Soon, he found himself kneeling in front of Roxy's toy box (a metal garbage can about knee height) and loved banging on that and then trying to open it.  After that lost its luster, he spotted some of Roxy's toys across the room and quickly tried to get ahold of those.

When I decided to try to tackle the kitchen again, I set him on the floor by my feet with a toy or two, only for him to quickly crawl over to the oven and use the handle of the drawer below it pull himself up enough to pull down the kitchen towels hanging from the oven handle.

All these activities took place without about a 30 minute block of time.  I have a feeling we'll be getting a lot more exercise around the house in the very near future.

And so it begins.

I'm being a perfect angel, Mommy, don't worry...

J showing off his crawling skills just a few days after doing the real deal for the first time.

J's First Christmas

Jackson got to experience his first Christmas this week and apparently, he was a very good boy this year - he was spoiled rotten with all kinds of great gifts, and lots of quality family time.

The holiday weekend started off a little rough as he and I both came down with a stomach bug (which, sadly, we ultimately passed to nearly everyone in the family - so sorry, all!) but after a quick recovery, we were able to celebrate Christmas Eve over at Joan's with Corey's family and Consuelo.  Jackson did great while we opened presents, and as expected, was very interested in wrapping paper and bows. 

On Christmas Day, Corey, J and I spent the morning together opening presents and eating breakfast.  Once my family arrived, we opened presents with them and Jackson was excited to help destroy more wrapping paper.  Corey's family and Consuelo came over later in the day for a Christmas dinner of pork tenderloin, potatoes gratin, salad, rolls, and brussel sprouts.

Corey and I were completely spoiled by our families and Jackson made out like a bandit with several cute new outfits, a sherpa driving cap, pajamas, a wooden 'Jackson' train, piano, laptop (loves to shut it, just like the he shuts the doors on his pop-up toy), a standing/walking activity table (loves to stand and play, but walking with it makes him cry for some reason, even though he loves to walk with us), shape sorter (loves to chew on the shapes), a cookbook and fun cooking tools for when he's a little older, a ride on car, and a talking and singing bear.  It's so fun to watch him try to figure out how new toys work, and of course, it's fun for us to get to see some new toys laying around our house.

We all had a wonderful Christmas and were so lucky to be able to see and spend time with both of our families.

J takes his driving very seriously.

PS - Corey got me a Flip video camera for Christmas, so expect lots more videos in the near future!

8 Months

It's been another fun month in the Moran household.  And a BIG month at that.  Jackson learned all sorts of new and exciting things leading up 8 months.

• He started army crawling...
• ...and just today, he did a bunch of REAL crawling, which was so fun to watch as it looks like he's prancing around on all fours, very proud of himself.  Hard to explain, but will try to capture it on video over the next week, as we're both off work to hang out with him while daycare closed until the new year. Guess it's really time to baby proof...
• He started sitting up in his crib.  One night last week, we checked him out on the monitor after we heard a few sounds, and he was sitting upright, only to lay back down and return to sleep a few minutes later. The last few mornings, he's been sitting and either smiling or crying when I've gone in to get him up.  Pretty adorable either way.
• Even though he didn't need the pacifier when falling asleep at night before, he started waking up occasionally around 4 or 5 a.m. wanting it, and then he'd quickly return to sleep until his wake-up call.  That started to get old pretty fast, so we started attaching it to his sleep sack (since putting it within reach, unattached, caused it to continually get knocked out of the crib as he thrashed around in his sleep) and over the course of just a few days, he learned to put it in his mouth all on his own throughout the night as needed.  It's so cute to watch.
• He's been pulling up to a stand at daycare and even Corey got to witness it yesterday.  Apparently we have low enough furniture/toys here for him to do it at home, but I'm sure that will happen soon enough and we'll  need to be ready (read: baby proofed).
• His very first tooth appeared and boy, is it sharp!  Still hard to see, so no photos yet, but trust me, it's definitely there.
• He's figured out that he can feed Roxy some of the Cheerios we put in his Exersaucer - it's so cute to see him share his snack, for her to snatch up. 
• He's starting to exhibit signs of separation anxiety --- at daycare he puts up a bit of a fuss when Corey drops him off, reaching up and trying to get Corey to pick him up, until he's distracted by a toy or another baby.  When we try to hand him over to other people that he knows (our friends, family), he will sometimes start fussing and reaching towards one of us.  Sad, but kind of cute (for the moment).
• He's been sleeping a little more --- normally, he wakes up by 7 a.m. or 7:15 at the latest (when we are waking him at 6:45 to get ready for daycare) but last weekend he slept until 7:30 one morning and 8:45 the next morning (bedtime was at 7:30 both nights)!  On average though, he sleeps about 11 hours at night and gets about 3 hours of naps at daycare (or 3-4 hours of naps at home).

Only four months left until he turns one, which seems crazy when I think about the fact that I've been back at work over four months, and it doesn't feel like that long at all!

New Favorite Past Time

Evenings are hectic. 

I try to leave work around 4 p.m. to pick Jackson up at daycare.  By the time I get there, pack him into the car and get home, it's usually after 5 p.m.  Roxy needs to do her business, so I get J situated into the BOB and we take Roxy out.  Once we're home, it's play time for J while I get dinner started. 

At that point, J's usually had enough of me calling the shots so he takes over, which usually means he doesn't want to play on his own, but would rather be held or have me play with him, which isn't conducive to getting his (or our) dinner on the table at a decent time, allowing us to have some family play time before bath time. 

So this week, we found a great solution --- Jackson helps me cook by chillin' on the kitchen floor, chewing on whatever fun, new toy I can come up with. The toy of choice, which keeps him occupied for ages, has been a small wire whisk.  Seriously - the kid is in love with crawling around, while alternating babbles with chewing on his 'toy'.  I'm close by, he's happy and I'm productive.  Success!

First Chomper!

Baby J has his first big chomper! 

Given that our kid has drooled like there's no tomorrow (often requiring multiple bibs and anywhere from 2-5 onesie/shirt changes per day) since he was about 2 months old, we never knew what his teething signs would be.  That said, we find ourselves feeling his gums every few days, never finding anything except lots of slobber.  The last chomper check was Tuesday night.

Since getting over his horrible cold last week, he's been pretty happy and very proud of himself as he's learned to crawl.  Then yesterday, he was super fussy in the morning, requiring me to hold and bounce him while I was trying to get ready (not his usual style), but he seemed fine the rest of the day.  Last night though, he was up from 1-2 a.m. WIDE awake and fussing on and off.  He was kind of stuffy, so I thought maybe his cold was making one final appearance. 

But then tonight, he was being extra smiley in the bath and I told him how I loved his gummy smile and that one day it would be full of little chompers.  A few minutes later, I snuck my finger in his mouth and lo and behold...his first little chomper had finally made its appearance! 

No photos to prove it since we can barely get our fingers in his mouth to feel the tooth, let alone see it, but I'm sure it'll make it's way into a few photos soon.

Maybe his stupping to Roxy's level by eating magazines over the weekend should have been our clue that something was up in that little mouth of his...

Human Dust Mop

Our (army) crawler cleans the floor nicely, don't you think?

Munchkin on the Move

As you know, Jackson has loved to stand for quite some time but this week at daycare, he spent a lot of time (very proudly) pulling himself up to a stand using the toy box and the side of the ball pit. And then yesterday, when I picked him up, his teachers were so excited to tell me that he spent the much of the day army crawling around the classroom.  There were toys spread all around the room and apparently, those were all J's toys that he army crawled to and from to play. He's been army crawling a little bit at home recently, but nothing like that, so we were excited to see him do it for ourselves this weekend.

We spread out some toys on his play mat tonight, and sure enough...a little bit of real crawling and lots of army crawling followed.  Cutest thing ever!



Later, he kept trying to get Roxy's hedgehog, so I kept moving it from him everytime he got close to it.  He ended up army crawling about 10+ feet.  Guess we better start baby-proofing!

Seeing Santa

With a little one, the holidays have become even more fun.  Yesterday we decorated our house and Jackson liked looking at the ornaments and trying to touch the tree. Surprisingly though, the lights on the tree didn't fascinate them as I'd thought, given his interest in the lights in the elevator.  Then, last night, we headed to the U Village so Jackson could meet Santa. 

We timed it perfectly and arrived around 4:30 and the line was shorter than I expected - I think we waited less than 30 minutes for our turn.  Jackson did great waiting in line and was fabulous with Santa - no crying and we definitely got a few smiles on camera.

After J's first Santa experience, we headed over to the Ram for dinner, which J loved.  Seriously, the kid LOVES being out and about.  The louder and more stimulating, the better.

All in all, a great pre-holidays weekend with a very exciting first in the books.

Apple Cup 2011

As crazy as it may seem, I've never been to Apple Cup and Corey and I have never actually been to a Husky football game together. So when our friends Alex and Jen invited us to partake in their Apple Cup tailgating and party bus they'd lined up, we snagged some cheap tickets so we could join them.

Joan and Curtis were able to watch Jackson, and with him in good hands, we were able to enjoy an afternoon and evening out on the town.  We had a great time at the game, especially since the Huskies won 38-21 (yay!) and we were even able to stay dry as the rain held off until after the game.

Hopefully we'll be able to attend some more UW games together next season!

If you're happy and you know it...

...clap your hands!!

Disregard the layout, my awful voice and J's jumping that makes it seem like I'm violently shaking him and your heart will melt as much as mine does every time I watch this.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!  We wish you a fabulous day full of delicious food, lots of fun and plenty quality time with family and friends.

In honor of Thanksgiving, it seemed appropriate to share a few of the things I'm thankful for, so here goes:

• A happy, healthy baby boy.  Jackson is truly one of the best things that has every happened to me and I absolutely love being his mom.  I love my little munchkin to pieces.
• A supportive, loving, generous, and caring husband.  Three years of marriage under our belt and it's been the best three years of my life.  Corey is a fabulous husband and an even more amazing daddy.
• A wonderful family - both my own and my in-laws.  They're all so very supportive and willing to help out, and we're able to see them almost any time we want. And not everybody can say they love their in-laws, but mine are fabulous (and I'm not just saying this because they will likely read this)!
• A great job.  I am on a team I love and have a boss I adore.  I couldn't really ask for much more.

I absolutely love kissing this adorable face a million times a day.

7 Months

Baby J is 7 months old today! 

These photos are getting harder to take every month - he is quite the squirmer lately and we had to grab him several times during this shoot so he didn't face plant off the chair or climb over the sides.

It's very true what all other parents say --- that each month gets more and more fun.  Jackson is changing daily and it's so fun to watch and to interact with him more and more. 

Here some recent highlights:

• Reaching and army crawling towards things he wants that are just out of his reach --- we've caught him going after his toy box several times lately.  Speaking of army crawling, he can't really make it too far forward; however, he can scoot pretty far backwards.
• Clapping!  He won't clap along with us and stops clapping when we start clapping along with him or say 'yay!' when he's clapping, but he started while playing over the past weekend and we've been catching him clapping several times a day since.  This morning, I left him on the floor of his room to play while I went to grab something and when I returned, he was clapping with his back to me so I was able to just watch him.  So adorable.
• Taking more and more long naps (1.5-2 hours) and sometimes, if it's been a good nap day, only needs two naps --- one in the a.m. and one in the early afternoon.
• Loves Mum Mums, Cheerios and bananas.  The kid can polish off an entire banana in one sitting, it's amazing.  He doesn't love too many other solids (fruits are better than veggies and yogurt seems to be okay), though we continue to force bites in 2-3 times a day.
• Continues to love being out and about, especially when we go out for dinner.  He's an angel baby the evenings we eat out.
• Reaching up/out to be picked up when you're near.
• Enjoys playing with more interactive toys and especially loves his pop-up toy --- we open all the doors and he loves to shut them all.
• Is quite the chatterbox - he's constantly "talking" and is using more and more vowel sounds every day.  His favorite thing to say is 'ba ba' over and over.  No clue what it means, but it's very cute.
• Still loves flipping over to sleep on his tummy.  He also loves rolling around and shimmying to all sides of his crib.  A few weeks ago, we caved and bought a video monitor and we love being able to check on him, especially as he's moving all around before falling asleep.
• Is now in a big boy car seat (i.e. it stays in the car and he can't be carried around in it) -- he was getting way too heavy and way too long for the portable one.
• Most of his 9 months clothes are getting small (or are already too small) and he's in all 12 month PJs thanks to those long legs of his.

It's crazy to think that at 7 months, he's closer to his 1st birthday than he is to being born.

Fall Favorites

I typically do not like fall as it means winter is right around the corner, which, around here, means months of cold, gloomy weather and going to and from work in the dark and/or rain.  All that aside, there are a few things that have made me appreciate this fall a little more than usual as we say goodbye to warm, sunny days and many hours of daylight.

• The smell of fall/holiday scented candles. I have so many yummy candles, yet I never think to light them; however, I've been more on top of it lately and love the delicious smells that overtake our condo after lighting a candle or two.
• With more time spent indoors and without as many plans, I've had a bit more free time to enjoy some good reads.  From novels like Water for Elephants, to trashy magazines like US Weekly, I've been addicted to reading.  And thanks to Lisa and Natalie, much of my free time in the last week has been spent flying through Hunger Games, and now Catching Fire (the sequel).
• The beautiful colors of the leaves, both in the trees and on the ground, that I get to admire on a daily basis on walks with Jackson and/or Roxy.  Nearly every street around here is lined with trees, and this time of the year, that means colorful leaves, too.

• Cold weather means hot baths --- one of my all time favorite fall/winter activities to warm up and relax after a long day at work.  Add a good-smelling candle, a book, and, let's be honest, a glass of wine as well, and I'm a happy camper.
• Looking forward to the upcoming holidays.  This means time with family and friends, lots of delicious food, and extra time away from work---what's not to love about that?

I hope you are enjoying fall as much as I have!

From Jackson

(My mommy made my daddy take this picture of me after I ate Mum Mums for the first time.  They were all over me and got stuck to my face when she changed me before my bath.  I wouldn't have been as happy here had I known I had stuff on my face, though!)

Hi!

My daddy is always taking pictures of me and my mommy is always doing the blogging, so I thought I'd take over some of that responsibility for once.

I am 6-1/2 months old and am loving life!  My favorite thing is to chew (and drool) on anything that comes near my hands or mouth.  I especially like to chew on my book in the bath that my great grandma got me.  I love to watch my sister Roxy play fetch - it really makes me laugh sometimes.  I like playing in my Exersaucer, doing art at daycare and taking baths, too.  I especially love to be out and about on walks or out at social functions - there are so many fun things to see!

I've led my parents to believe that I don't really like baby food (I really make great horrified faces), but I actually don't mind the taste since it has lots more flavor than my bottles; however, I really just like to blow raspberries when I eat because it's funny to spit food on my mom and to hear her scream in surprise.  My favorite thing to eat is Mum Mums -- YUM YUM!  They fed me a few Cheerios at daycare the other day, and those are yummy and fun, too.

I am really good at sitting and I'm good at rolling from my back to my tummy, which I often do while sleeping now.  Sometimes though, I wake up in the middle of the night on my tummy and wish I was on my back, but I am just too heavy and can't seem to roll back onto my back, so I have to cry to wake mommy and daddy up so that they know to come help me out.  But, once they turn me over, I usually wish I was back on my tummy, so I flip right back over after they leave the room.

Well, I am supposed to be sleeping now.  I'll try to steal my mommy's computer again soon.

Sending you slobbery kisses and lots of raspberries,

-Jackson

Happy Halloween!

Our little dragon.

Several of J's school friends - Gray (Tootsie Roll), Kai (who's starting school this week), and Maggie (bumble bee).

My co-workers' kiddos --- Adam (Superman), Wes (skeleton) and Liam (shark).

Jackson's first Halloween was an absolute blast!  We had a super busy, but very fun, day and he was such a cute (and very scary) dragon.

It kicked off at daycare with the infant room's 'First Harvest Festival' which consisted of costume wearing, pumpkin decorating and lots of photo opps.  Grandma Joan was able to join Corey and I for the celebration. 

After leaving daycare, we headed to Corey's work to enjoy a delicious Halloween potluck (I always seem to get invited to the office on days where they have yummy food lined up!) and mingle with his co-workers a bit before heading to my work.  My co-workers Stacy and Stephanie brought their munchkins in at the same time we stopped by so it was quite the zoo but so much fun.

I truly think J is an extrovert - he slept only a few minutes in the car between his morning nap ending at 10:30 and us arriving back home at 3 but was such a great mood and seemed to be really enjoying himself at my work, being around lots of other people. Once we got home, he went right to playing by himself for an HOUR (he normally only lasts 15-20 minutes), happily bouncing around and babbling in his Exersaucer while I caught up on some work. 

\Tonight, we met up with Auntie Sara to walk around Market and see all the cute kids and dogs in costume, and of course, we had to dress J up as a dragon one last time before retiring the costume. 

Can't wait to see what costume we come up with next year to top the dragon!

Stats Are In

Jackson and I went to his six month check-up today and it was confirmed that he is one big, healthy kid!

He weighed in at a whopping 20 lbs, 14.5 oz (give or take a few ounces, considering he'd just finished a bottle) and was 29" in length.  This puts him in the 90th and 99th percentile, respectively.  Not only is it impressive that he grew two inches in length in as many months, but he's now the average height of an ELEVEN month old.  It's no wonder his pants seem to keep shrinking.  His head is getting a bit bigger and measured 44.5 cm (90th percentile) - if I didn't know better, I'd think it was because of all that hair that continues to grow and fill out.

He was very happy throughout our time there and did great.  He did have a bit too much fun with the paper they lay on the table, so I ended up moving him to my lap to hang out while we waited for the doctor.  J had to get an oral and four shots and he did great.  He didn't even realize they'd given him the first shot but for the next three he screamed; however, as soon as I picked him up, he calmed down and even smiled at the nurse who had done the damage.

The doctor was very pleased with all of Jackson's progress in the last two months and said he's extremely healthy and is totally on track developmentally.  He was even super impressed with how stable and strong Jackson was when sitting. 

Hooray for big boys!

6 Months

I know I say this every month, but I truly cannot believe another month has gone by and that baby J is six months old - halfway to his first birthday. WOW!

Every month continues to get more and more fun as he becomes more social and can interact more with us.

His six month check-up isn't until Wednesday, so no height and weight updates to share; however, here are a few of the key notables from the past month.

Jackson...

• Is quite the little sitter.  I love sitting him down with some toys and just watching him play.
• Can (sometimes) roll over.
• Was a great sleeper this past month.  Most nights he was in bed between 7:45 and 8 p.m., and slept until 6:30 or 6:45 a.m.
• Is enjoying solids more and more each day.  He especially likes fruit, carrots and sweet potatoes.
• Has been taking at least one long nap (1.5-2 hours) almost every day.
• Is no longer swaddled with either arm in when sleeping.
• Loves to be outside.
• Loves to laugh (see video below).
• Is constantly "talking"....while playing, when waking up in the a.m., when in the car.
• Loves bath time and being able to splash.
• Seems to like sleeping on his tummy occasionally.
• Has officially outgrown his swing (he tries to push himself out of it, and the shifting of his weight and change in balance makes the swing stop swinging).  Hilarious.
• Has almost outgrown his bouncer.
• Typically only takes three naps per day now --- around 8:30 a.m., around 12 or 12:30 p.m. and around 4 or 5 p.m.
• Continues to drink five bottles per day, each between 7 and 9 oz.
• Continues to drool like there's no tomorrow --- we have to change him at least 3+ times / day.
• Likes being out and about.  In the evenings, he's tired and it typically tends to be his fussy time but on Friday night, we went out to Azteca and he had a blast.  He sat in a high chair for the first time and loved smacking the table and trying to eat the placemats, napkins and plastic container our waiter brought him.  He also loved looking at the little boy seated near us.  He didn't fuss one time the entire time we were there.  Apparently, we have a social butterfly on our hands.

Looking forward to the next month!

(Sorry for the bad video skills --- I was laughing and making faces to get Jackson to laugh, and wasn't paying much attention to the camera.)

Five Fall Goals

I was tagged by my friend Natalie to do a blog post on five of my goals for fall.  Seems like it should be easy, but I had the hardest time coming up with five goals to accomplish over the next couple months - I guess I've been too caught up in the moment lately to plan ahead.  After much thought and deliberation, here are my goals:

1.  Partake in some girlie pampering.  I'd kill for a mani, pedi, brow wax and massage right now.  Seriously.  The last time I had any of those professionally done was over six months ago...or 'pre-J'.  I've had a gift card to get a mani/pedi in my purse nearly six months and I think it's just about burned a hole in my wallet.

2.  Set aside more time for reading. I enjoyed reading a few good girlie books that Natalie loaned me recently and just started reading Water for Elephants.  I'd love to finish that and read The Help so I can see both movies.  (And, I really should have already finished Water for Elephants, considering a bunch of us started a book club and our first date is tomorrow and this book was up first.  Oops.) 

3.  Tone up.  I've got about five of the ~40 pounds I gained during pregnancy left to lose and LOTS of toning up to do, so I joined the Fitness 19 that recently opened right below us.  In addition to my gym membership, I signed up for a personal training package and this was my first full week of my new work out regimen.  It feels so good to get back into working out, aside from the extreme soreness I'm feeling from the leg workout I did yesterday.  I've been waddling around all day like I did when I was nine months pregnant and have to sit down and stand up VERY slowly. Hope I feel less sore before tomorrow morning's appointment!

4.  Family day.  We've been so busy lately and have had so many plans and commitments every weekend, we haven't had much time to relax and enjoy time together as a family, just the three of us.  Don't get me wrong - it's all been very fun, it's just that it doesn't help life feel any less hectic.  I'd love to have a whole weekend day with no plans - no chores and no commitments allowed.  With fall officially arriving in Seattle, and lots of football on tap, I'm sure the boys won't mind spending a day at home, in sweats and cuddling on the couch together.

5.  Plan a tropical vacation.  I'm kind of cheating, because we actually just finished planning our Hawaiian vacation for February, but it was something we'd been talking about for ages, so it's a big accomplishment and something we've been looking forward to for a long time.  The last time we enjoyed any truly hot weather was in Vegas last summer, so we can't wait to pack up and head to Kona in February with my mom and dad.  It'll be Jackson's first plane trip and first tropical vacation and we are so looking forward to a week in paradise.

And now, let's see if my friend Jen at A is for Adalyn is willing to share her five goals for fall...

Family Photos

There have been less than a handful of times we've had the opportunity to have family photos taken, and never more than a few photos at a given time, so we were thrilled to meet up with the Shawvers over the weekend to swap family photo sessions.  We decided on Discovery Park as the backdrop and crossed our fingers for a nice, Fall day and boy, were we lucky!  A gloomy, cool morning turned out to be a fabulously sunny Fall afternoon, which helped make the shoot a success.

It was great to see the Shawvers since it had been nearly three months since we saw them last at Seabrook, which is a long time considering how quickly the munchkins change.  We had so much fun catching up while trying to keep Jackson entertained and happy during the Shawvers' shoot --- he may have been a bit loud and obnoxious for poor, sweet Addy, who had just woken up from a nap and wasn't in the mood for his antics.

Jen got some fabulous shots of our family (thanks for your photog skills, Jen!) and both Corey and Jen snagged some super cute pics of the two babes together.  I've included a few of my favorite photos from the day below.  You see all Corey's photos and Jen's photos from the day on Flickr.

 Looks like this cute couple is on a date!

Hmm...I guess we better teach J that hitting girls isn't okay, especially while on a date. 

The Shawver fam - Kevin, Addy and Jen 

Love, love, LOVE his cheeks!

J either had a stick or grass in his hand at this point - having never played in the grass before, he was having a ball touching and grabbing it.

J's outfit made him seem like such a big boy. 

My [super cute and charming] boys.

Things I Love

There are a million things I love about our little man; however, here are my current very favorite things in regards to life with Jackson.

I love...

• The way he babbles to himself (rather than crying) when he wakes up in the morning until we go in to get him up.
• The huge smile and excited leg kicking he does when we go into his room to get him up in the morning.  Or, on the mornings we end up having to wake him, the big smile he has when he first sees us, and the big stretches he does when we take his sleep sack off.
• The fact that he's been sleeping from 8 p.m. until at least 6 or 6:30 a.m. 
• The way anything his hands come even remotely close to makes its way into his mouth.  And if it's not quite within his reach, you can bet he'll be reaching as far as possible to get whatever it is (my purse, car keys, ties on my shirt, necklaces, etc) into his hands and subsequently into his mouth.
• The huge smile he gets when he first notices me after I get to daycare and say hi to him.
• The way he moans and groans while falling asleep in the stroller or car.
• Sitting him on the floor to play with toys while we eat dinner...
• ...And how cute and little he looks while doing so.
• The way he likes to blow raspberries.  But not the way he occasionally does it while eating solids. (Makes for an even bigger mess!)
• The look on his face with the first bit of every solid food meal --- he still gets this shocked look as if to say "What on EARTH are you feeding me?!?".
• All of his fall clothes - he looks like such a big boy in his "back-to-school" clothes.
• Hearing the daily report of all the fun things Jackson enjoyed at daycare.  Today, he went on another field trip to the Seattle Center to watch the fountains, played with rattles, worked on his mosaic art project, and enjoyed nursery rhymes / story time.
• The big smiles and giggles he saves especially for playing fetch with Roxy.
• This picture of Jackson in his superhero cape.  There's just something about such a little body being covered by a cape.

New Trick

I've been trying to get Jackson to roll over by "helping" him roll from tummy to back and back to tummy. 

Over the last few days, I have been able to roll him just to his side and he does the rest of the roll on his own. Then one time yesterday, he did a complete roll from his back to his tummy all on his own but Corey wasn't there to witness it and Jackson wouldn't do it again, so I thought I had to have been mistaken and I thought I must have helped him without realzing it. 

However, after a few assists tonight, I coaxed him all the way from his back to his tummy with Sofie. Check out his newest trick below!

Firsts

Last week was a big week, with Jackson experiencing lots of firsts, including his first:

• Cold.  Poor kiddo got the cold I had the week before, which left him extra sleepy and congested.  Corey and I both worked from home on Tuesday (thinking we could tag team and work easier) to keep an eye on him in case he got a fever or his cold got worse, but he was actually in one of his best moods ever.  This was likely due to the fact that  he got lots of extra sleep --- he went to bed at 6:30 p.m. the night before and woke up at 7:30 a.m. and still wanted to take 5.5-hours of naps throughout the day, including two, 2-hour naps.  Happy to report that his cold seems about 90% better.
• Three-hour nap.  Between continuing to recover from his cold, and because one of the louder baby girls (Maggie) wasn't at daycare, J took a 3-hour nap on Friday morning.  His longest nap prior to this was somewhere between 2 and 2.5 hours.  (Maggie and J are both light sleepers but she's also very vocal and somewhat loud, which often wakes J up from naps at daycare.  This sometimes cases him to start crying, when then causes her to start crying --- sounds like these two really feed off of each other.  I'm sure their teachers just love when this happens.)
• Art project.  The letter of the week at daycare last week was 'C' and the kiddos got to "color" in a 'C' printed out on a piece of paper.  This consisted of putting the kids in high chairs, giving them Crayons and letting them go to town.  The result?  A completely un-colored 'C' with a few very faint Crayon dots around it.  Adorable.  I'd include a photo of J's masterpiece; however, it's still at daycare as they hang up the kids' artwork for a few weeks before we get to bring it home.
• Field trip.  Technically, this happened the week before last, but it was worth mentioning.  J and his baby friends got to go to the Seattle Center to watch the fountains and he loved it.  He even had the opportunity to go back two more times last week, and loved it just as much each time.  What can I say?  The kid loves to be outdoors.
• Sitting experience.  J has been working on sitting up quite a bit lately, but last week, we could actually see him improve so much each day.  It was amazing to watch.  About a week and a half ago, he could only balance for a few seconds at a time (and even did a face plant when I was reaching for a toy --- oops) but last week, he learned how to balance so much better and can now actually sit for as long as we let him.  If Roxy runs at him, causing him to get excited, he'll kick his legs and swing his arms, which causes him to tip over occasionally, but still I think we can safely say this kiddo is a "sitter".

Jackson is truly growing so fast, right before our eyes and it's amazing to watch.  He gets more and more fun every day and we have so much fun just watching and interacting with him each night when we get home.

Poor J was so stuffy and congested last week.  Not only did he need lots of extra sleep, he got lots of extra cuddles from mom and dad.

I was cuddling with J and he fell asleep just sitting on my lap, which is something he never does.  He normally needs to be swaddled and in his crib (or anything moving --- carseat, stroller) to fall asleep.  His cold really knocked him out!

Hooray for big boys who can sit and play!

Jackson in Action

Snagged a few videos of Jackson doing some cute stuff over the weekend and thought you'd enjoy seeing the little man in action.

Laughing

More Laughing

Sitting + Eating Books

More Sitting + Playing

Remembering Sara

Last month, Sara Cottrell, an amazing co-worker of mine, lost her 13-month battle with colon cancer and today, her friends, family and co-workers met up at the Kirkland Performance Center to celebrate her life.  It was a beautiful service and there was not a dry eye in the house after the many stories that were shared. 

While I had the opportunity to get to know her through work, it was great to hear the stories of her close friends and families and get to know the other side of Sara that I didn't have the opportunity to experience.  In addition to the stories that were shared, there were several wonderful slide shows that had us all laughing and crying some more. 

Sara was truly a wonderful person and was one of the most cheerful, fun, hilarious, and quirky people I know.  She was full of smiles and had such a quick wit.  She remained extremely positive and optimistic throughout her cancer battle, as can be seen on her blog (be sure to start from the beginning - you will laugh, cry and truly feel as though you know her, I promise).  If, after reading her blog, you're still interested hearing more about Sara, check out this blog post one of her friends wrote shortly after she passed away.

I am honored to have known her - my life is better because of Sara.

Here are a few photos of Sara from work --- she made it so much more fun and exciting. 

Nothing says "Happy Friday" like a snowflake headband and a fake bird on your shoulder.

Sara doing her impression of Michael Jackson as a way to honor him shortly after his death.

5 Months

J man is five months old today!  Again, I can't believe how quickly times passes or how many new things he learns and is able to do as each month passes.  And because he's so big, several of the teachers at his daycare thought he was already 5 months when he started.

Here are a few of the things that are big in J's world at five months old:

• Still absolutely loves to stand and can do it with less and less support and for longer periods of time.
• Can sit for a minute or so at a time without any support (but still falls over very quickly out of no where, as he proved last night when he did a face plant --- oops).
• Loves to try to sit up anytime he's laying down --- changing a diaper, pulling up on his rings on his Einstein mat, etc --- I can't tell if he's working on a six-pack or if he's just trying to get a better look at things.
• Continues to sleep really well all night.
• Has taken some longer naps at daycare in the last couple weeks - several 1.5 hour naps and even two 2.5 hour naps!
• Isn't too interested in food --- he'll eat it but definitely doesn't love it.
• Can stay up longer and longer between naps --- he typically goes between 2-2.5 hours, but can last around three hours or so if we push him.
• Is still drinking 7-9 oz. per bottle (he has five per day, which explains why Corey likes to say he drinks a Forty every day).
• Loves to touch and grab anything that comes near him including faces, my hair, necklaces, blankets, Roxy --- my favorite is when he gently cups my face in his hand while smiling at me, making my heart melt...until his gentle touch turns into a firm grip / claw.
• Is very vocal and loves to "chat", especially in the morning.
• Is so very happy when we wake him up in the morning, greeting us with a huge smile, excited arms and legs and lots of stretching after we get him out of his swaddle.
• Loves his Exercauser and easily entertain himself in it for 15-20 minutes.
• Is back to sleeping with one arm in his swaddle since he doesn't sleep to fall asleep or stay asleep as easy when both hands are rubbing his face and eyes.

All Night Long

I am (super) happy to report that Jackson's recent overnight sleep issues have greatly improved over the last few weeks.  I'm not going to say 'he's sleeping through the night' or else I know I'll jinx it...but I will say that since the day he started daycare two weeks ago, he's slept all night (8/8:30 until 6:30 when I wake him up to get him ready for the day) except for two or three nights (which, oddly enough, were weekend nights --- apparently daycare tires him out more than we do!).  And even the few nights he didn't sleep through the night, he still made it until around 4 or 4:30 before waking up and needing a little TLC from us to go back to sleep. In addition, he hasn't needed to be fed overnight at all since daycare started! 

That is HUGE progress considering we spent about four weeks getting up anywhere from 2-4 times / night to help him get back to sleep and to feed him.  It was especially hard for us since leading up to these sleepless nights, Jackson had been a great overnight sleeper, only waking to eat once and would go right back to sleep or, in the few weeks leading up to the issues, he slept all the way through the night on several occasions.  We were definitely spoiled there for a bit, so suddenly not getting much sleep, especially when we were both trying to function at work, was horrible!

Fingers crossed for more full-nights of sleep in the weeks and months ahead!

Our little sleepyhead is a total morning guy --- he is the happiest and chattiest first thing in the morning as seen here in his elephant PJs.  (BTW, this precious face is cute, but I'm not gonna lie - I think it's even cuter when we don't see it multiple times in the middle of the night!)

A Day in the Life

My friend Natalie got the great idea of posting her typical daily schedule on her blog from one of the blogs she follows --- and I thought it was a fun idea and decided to do it myself.

5:55 a.m. - alarm goes off; I check my work email, Gmail, Facebook and Twitter
6 a.m. - jump out of bed and into the shower
6:10 a.m. - get ready
6:20 a.m. - make coffee, feed Roxy
6:30 a.m. - wake Jackson, change his diaper and get him dressed for the day
6:40 a.m. - play with Jackson, get dressed and blow-dry my hair
7 a.m. - hand J over to Corey (after he returns from walking Roxy) for his first bottle of the day and head to work
7:35 a.m. - arrive at work (Manager of Sales Ops at T-Mobile); drink coffee and eat a breakfast bar
8 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - write / answer emails, attend various meetings, update project trackers / documents
12:30 p.m. - eat lunch while continuing to work
1 p.m. - continue emails, meetings, etc
4/4:10 p.m. - jump in the car and head to daycare
4:30 p.m. - arrive at daycare to pick up a smiley, happy boy
5 p.m. - get home
5:10 p.m. - put J in the stroller (for a final nap of the day) and take Roxy for a walk
5:30 p.m. - get home, wash bottles and get J's diaper bag packed back up for the next day while he continues his snooze in his stroller
5:45 p.m. - make / heat-up dinner
6:30 p.m. - eat dinner and discuss our days; feed Jackson a snack (sweet potatoes, carrots, etc)
7 p.m. - family play time with J
7:45 p.m. - bath time for J
8 p.m. - feed J, read a book(s) and put him down for the night
8:30 p.m. - relax on the couch or in bed while catching up on TV, Facebook, blogs, email
10/10:15 p.m. - lights out and asleep before head hits the pillow

---End of day if we're lucky like the last two nights; otherwise, Jackson beckons us into his room for party time 2, 3, or 4 times throughout the night (usually 12, 2 and 4 a.m.)---

Daycare Day #1 Recap

I am happy to report that Jackson had a great first day at daycare - whew! 

Jackson handled drop off better than his mommy, who cried on the way to work.  I can't even imagine how sad I would have been and how much harder it would have been had it been my first day back to work today, and thus my first day away from him.  I'm definitely glad I was able to ease back into this whole working mommy thing with him staying at home with family the first four weeks.

When we arrived this morning, J smiled and looked around for awhile before we left him.  As we were closing the door behind us, we heard a baby cry.  We quickly looked in the window to see if it was J, but it wasn't him - he was just grinning at some of the babies.

It was hard to focus on work today, so I'm glad it wasn't too busy.  All day I kept wondeirng what he was doing at that moment and whether he was being a good boy.  Around lunchtime, I emailed the program director to check in and an hour later she wrote back saying he was doing great, had taken some short naps (surprise,surprise) and that he'd been eating well.  Even though that put me at ease, I was so excited to see him that I snuck out of work a bit early and rushed over to pick him up and hear about his day.

Every day, we'll get a form that says when he ate, slept, had his diaper changed, what activities he did, and how his mood was.  Today he had Spanish, music, story time, and went on a walk between his four naps and they considered him "happy", "vocal" and "playful".

When we got home, I definitely noticed the vocalness --- he had some loud (happy) shrieks while playing this evening.  And he was very happy and full of smiles.  He devoured his sweet potato snack while making 'mmmm' sounds and quickly opening his mouth again every time I put the spoon back near his mouth.

I'm so glad today went well and that J seemed to enjoy daycare - it'll make the coming days a little bit easier.

First Day of "School"

 

Tomorrow is a big day --- Jackson starts "school"! Tomorrow morning, Corey and I will pack J up and take him to Young Child Academy for his first day of daycare.

We are so thankful to my dad and C's mom for taking care of J for the past three weeks --- I was able to ease back into work much easier knowing that J was having fun with family --- but I am really hoping he enjoys daycare. I think it'll be great for him from a socialization perspective and with activities like Spanish, sign language, art, sensory time, etc, he'll be exposed to so many new, fun things.

Today I gathered together all the things on the infant classroom list --- extra clothes, diapers, sheets, blankets, burp clothes, etc --- and it looks like he's ready to move in! I also wrote up some instructions regarding his eating and napping but formatted it as a letter from Jackson to his teachers to make it a little more fun vs. an instructional document (thanks for the idea, Stephanie!), so that his teachers have an idea of what works well and what J likes.

Normally Corey will do the drop-offs and I'll do the pick-ups, but we'll both drop him off tomorrow.  I'm sure it'll be hard to leave him the first time (or, let's be honest, the first week or more!), but I'm glad C and I will be there together and I know J will be in good hands.  Regardless though, I can't help but look forward to tomorrow's pick-up so I can see how his first day went!

Gettin' His Grub On

Earlier this week, Jackson tried real food (brown rice cereal) for the very first time...

...and wasn't a huge fan. (Please excuse the hair; we were trying out an alternative style, but clearly it wasn't working as he looked like Donald Trump.)

After a few rounds of the rice cereal, we decided to sweeten things up with some sweet potatoes...

...which he liked much better.  Not only did he seem to enjoy the experience, he actually swallowed what was in his mouth and ultimately ended up eating a decent amount, with more ending up in his tummy than on his face and bib, like last time.

Looking forward to continuing to introduce J to more new foods in the coming weeks!