Mama's Little Troublemaker

About 2 weeks ago we got into a fender bender where the car two spots behind us hit the car behind us, who then hit us. No major damage to our car, but it's been a little bit of a pain taking it in for 2 estimates to get the fender fixed. On the positive side, though, it's California law that if a child is in a car seat at the time of an accident, the insurance company has to replace that car seat even if it was not damaged. Yay for us, because we were coming up on the time to upgrade to the bigger convertible car seat! So, we got a free car seat even though the other one is fine. I think Jack is much happier in this one, because it gives him a lot more room!
I have been sick this week and finally went to the doctor today to find out that I have a sinus infection. Being sick while at home with a baby is always an extra challenge when all you want to do is sleep in and lay in bed all day. Luckily, Jack seems to have a sixth sense for when I need rest and will nap a little bit longer in the mornings.

However, Jack finds other ways to make day-to-day tasks more challenging. I almost dread diaper change times, which take place about every 2 to 2.5 hours. He refuses to stay on his back, and he battles me til the end to roll over onto his stomach. My way of handling it is to get the diaper ready and wipes all in place, then put him on the changing table, get him unbuttoned, and then hand him a toy to try to distract him long enough to get the diaper on him. He still manages to roll over and get mad when I try to roll him back. You can't be too mad at someone this cute, though...

We give Jack a bath every other night, but one day last week I really wanted to get it done earlier in the afternoon so that we could make sure he got to bed on time. I decided a sink bath was the easiest way to go, and it lent itself to a pretty cute picture.

Jack is still not officially crawling, though our lives won't change very much once he does from where we are now. He still commando crawls everywhere and will follow me back and forth as I do things around the house. He is also relentless about going after Izzy's food bowl, and I spend much of the day picking him up and bringing him back to HIS toys over and over again. He gets into the crawling position and sometimes the push-up position, but he always decides the commando crawl is the way to go. The only reason I really want him to crawl is to keep his clothes from getting so dirty. He mops our floor with his onesie and manages to look like he rolled around outside by the end of the day.

Jack also continues to pull-up on whatever he can. He can pull up in his crib as in one of the previous posts, but he also gets enough traction on our leather couches and chair that he can pull himself up on the back of the couch/chair and look out the window. He tries to pull up on us all the time and whatever else he can get his hands on.

Jack has also found a new interest in trying to climb our stairs. You have to admire his confidence and perseverance in trying to climb them even though he does not get very far.

After work on Tuesday Jonathan took Jack and Izzy to the park while I stayed home. Jonathan gave Jack his first up close and personal experience with grass. Jonathan said that he wasn't sure what to think for the first minute, and then he decided he did not like it very much.

One last thing I almost forgot to mention is that about a week and a half or two weeks ago Jack started saying Mama. I heard most babies say Dada first, and I actually practice Dada more than Mama, but somehow Mama caught on. It's usually more like Mamamama drawn out and not directed at me, but it's Mama all the same. It also usually gets said most when he's upset. He wants his mama :).