Our Beach Buddy

Hello from the most excited baby on the block!

We've been taking advantage of the great weather out here and making numerous beach trips. We're excited for the day we can set Jack in the sand and he'll play with shovels and buckets, but for now we just love looking at his cuteness with the beautiful scenery in the background. Jack is one cool little guy with his hat and sunglasses.

I wanted to include this picture since he is sporting Clemson gear for all my Clemson friends. That's one yummy foot while riding in the car.

We purchased a new Peg Perego stroller this past month off Craigslist, and it has been amazing! It lays flat, has a slight incline, and sits straight up. You can also switch the handle so Jack is either facing us or facing out. When Jack is awake he gets to sit up and be part of the fun, but when it's nap time and we are out, he gets some good cozy sleep.

Whenever we go to the beach, we have to make a stop at Starbucks. We go so often now that Jack could drive us there on his own...

Here's one last picture before we left the house one day in his cute surfer outfit.

Jack is 5 1/2 months old now, and I feel like he is doing something new every day. He is a rolling machine, and he can roll over to objects just out of reach to pick them up. The only negative to rolling all the time is that there have been a few nights where he rolls himself awake. We also have the AngelCare Movement Sensor, but if he falls asleep at the far end of the crib, it can't detect him. We've had 3 false alarms now where the alarm goes off in the middle of the night saying it's not detecting breathing, and when I go to his room he's just at the farthest end of the crib after log rolling in his sleep.

He is also extremely close to being able to sit unassisted. He's had a few instances where he's been able to sit up unassisted for about 30 seconds, but most of the time he loses his balance after about 5 seconds. I try to practice with him every day, but he prefers to be standing instead of sitting, so he'll push up onto his feet when I try to sit him on the floor. He's also able to get himself propped up in something kind of like a push up position with his arms, and he makes swimming motions with his legs during tummy time. It's fun to see the way he starts to practice for the crawling stage a few months down the road.

My parents were in town for a long Easter weekend, so I will try to get some of those pictures up soon. But for now, I'd like to leave you with this cute little booty...

Rockin' and ROLLIN'

After I completed my last post, Jack had another successful back to front roll! I shared the play-by-play with Jonathan via text message pictures as it happened :). I was in the kitchen making myself some dinner while he was on his play mat. When I looked over the counter, this is what I saw (I missed the actual roll itself): As you might notice, his left arm is still trapped under his body like he hasn't quite figured out what to do with it yet. I watched him for about 2-3 minutes to see what he would do, and he gave me a look that said, "Mom, I'm stuck! What now?"

I helped the little guy out and freed his left arm from under his body. He lifted his head to look at me for a second....

...And he rolled from front to back unassisted to go back to playing with his moose toy.

I'm so proud of our little roller!! Next time I'll have to remember to grab the video camera to catch it.

He's Just Too Cute!!!

I don't have too much to report this week. My excitement for the week was completing the organization of our place. The only things left are what I need Jonathan here to go through before I throw them out or store them. He's been at work for just under 2 weeks now, and we are excited for him to get home on Tuesday. It's been a long hitch for him where he has not gotten very much sleep at all. I've wanted to make sure our place is a place he can come back to and just relax instead of still trying to unpack and organize. Jack has really come alive in the past week or so. I've commented before that he is getting more interactive, but he just continues to get to be more fun to play with. He's really gotten better with more of his fine motor skills and using both hands together. He is rolling from front to back every time we do tummy time now instead of just randomly. On Wednesday March 23rd, he was on his play mat and rolled from back to front, then front to back all in one swift move. When he came back around onto his back, he had a look on his face like, 'What just happened?' He hasn't rolled from back to front since, but it was very exciting! No real purpose to this blog besides sharing some pictures of Jack in action... Here he is while we are taking a walk. When I took this picture I felt like I got a glimpse of what he'll look like when he's a little bit older. He's really starting to lose that newborn look. He wasn't feeling very well one night and was pretty grumpy. He had a temperature of 99.6, so not really high, but not feeling completely wonderful. He passed out on the couch from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., and then ate and went to bed at 10 p.m. He still plays on his play mat regularly, but I feel like he's starting to lose some interest in it. Instead of randomly swinging at the toys, he will grab each of them or the rings on them with both hands and stare at them like he's examining every detail.

I love the fact that babies are so easy to please. People spend so much money on expensive toys when all babies really like are bags and boxes :). Jack loves bags! He will play with sandwich bags when we go out to eat, and he loved my chip bag the other day after lunch.

Jack has gotten really strong in his bumbo chair. He sits up pretty straight, and he likes to sit up on the couch with me while I fold laundry or eat. Here he is playing with his stuffed animal while sitting in his seat.

And another one in the bumbo chair since it's just too cute!

He likes his bouncer more and more every day. It holds his attention for a few minutes longer each time he's in it.

I wanted to give Jack some new toys to play with. He got these as a Christmas gift, and they are for ages 6 months and up. He doesn't understand the fact that there are mini activities on each block, but he likes to look at them, touch them, and throw them.

These next two are on here since I almost cried from how cute he is. Here he is in the puffy butterfly chair I've had since college:

And here he is in his teddy bear jacket getting ready to take Izzy outside in the evening:

Jack's moods have really gotten to be a lot more predictable. He usually eats around the same times, and he takes naps at around the same times each day. He doesn't really just cry for no apparent reason anymore. His reason may just be that he wants to be held or he's bored, but there's usually a reason :). He does still get grumpy, though, and here he is telling me how unhappy he is:

I spend a lot of my day in a non-stop circuit between Jack's activities. I have his swing, bouncer, activity mat, and bumbo chair in a circle around our coffee table. I pretty much move him from activity to activity as he loses interest in one with naps and feedings in between. It makes me nervous for him getting mobile, because he's very curious, active, and likes to be entertained.

I just can't believe how much I love this little guy, and I know Jonathan feels exactly the same way. We love him more and more every day, and we feel so blessed to have him in our lives. I've always known he's his own person and a unique individual, but it has really hit me in the past couple of days just how true that really is. I love seeing his personality develop and really shine daily!

4 Month Update

Today is Jack's 4 month birthday, and we also had his 4 month well-child check-up. Sadly, this check-up included his second set of shots. So, the stats are in:

Weight: 14 lbs, 1 oz (25th percentile)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16 1/4 inches (30th percentile)

Basically, our boy is long and lean since he's in such a high percentile for height but not so much his weight :). In the past 2 months he has gained 3 lbs, 3 oz; he grew 2 and 3/4 inches taller; his head grew 3/4 of an inch.

In order to prevent another freak out after shots like last time, we gave him Tylenol about 30 minutes after his shots. Here he is outside of Chipotle post-shots and after lunch:

After a bottle in the car before heading out for more errands he passed out from the trauma :) Notice the milk on his lip:

We have been enjoying the great weather here by taking some walks. The sun beats down on Jack's milky skin, so we went and got him a hat:

All that sun makes him sleepy, so here he is after our walk:
We found a dog park called 'Central Bark' here in Irvine that is great for Izzy. They have a side for big dogs and a side for small dogs so that Izzy doesn't get picked on so bad. Jack and I sit in the shade and enjoy the breeze while Izzy and Jonathan throw the ball around. Here's the family enjoying a beautiful day at the dog park:

Lately Jack has wanted to be upright seeing the world more vertically. He is a big lover of the Moby Wrap and Baby Bjorn so that he can be involved in everything that we do. He's been practicing his golfing skills by playing Wii Golf with Jonathan:
We had to go to the DMV, and Jack was a big hit with everyone there. He was looking around and smiling at people for the majority of the time:
He lost it near the end, and I was signing papers for my license and registration between two different desks while also trying to balance him in one arm and feed him a bottle. It was the DMV/baby gauntlet.

We also went out and got Jack an exersaucer/bouncy seat so that something besides us can hold him upright. We still put him on his activity mat so he can learn to roll, but he is learning to love this new contraption. His feet don't quite reach the ground even on the lowest setting, so we have to put a blanket or platform below it so that he can touch his feet down to bounce. I think he's tall enough but doesn't weigh quite enough to get the seat lower to the ground to touch.

One of my favorite home decorating stores is IKEA, and Denver was in the process of building one when we left. Luckily, we have one super close to home here in Irvine! We had a good time decorating our place to make it a little bit more cozy, and we even got something for Jack's room.
I'm hoping that in the next week or two I can post an update that Jack is rolling in both directions, but that's what's going on for now!

Nothing Comes Close to the Golden Coast

I know it's been a while since the last blog, but it's been a very busy three or four weeks. We are officially moved into our new place in Irvine, CA, but it was not a smooth transition to get here :). Initially, Jonathan was planning to set out on his drive with all of our belongings on Sunday 2/13, but he was hit with food poisoning that Friday making him unable to pack any of our things into the moving truck. By Saturday he was feeling pretty good, and we decided it was more realistic that he leave Monday 2/14. Monday morning I was not feeling so good, and I started feeling worse and worse as the day went on. I decided I could not take care of Jack without his help and asked Jonathan to hold off on leaving until Tuesday. We ended up going to Urgent Care where they recommended I go to the ER since I kept throwing up even though they gave me a ton of anti-nausea meds. I didn't want to go to the ER, so I refused. By time I got back to our apartment, though, I was in so much pain and throwing up every few minutes. Jonathan drove me to the ER where they did a CT scan and found out that I had appendicitis and needed my appendix removed. They scheduled me for surgery the next morning at 6 a.m. Jack had only taken 3 partial bottles over his lifetime, and I couldn't breastfeed from all the pain meds and the blue liquid from the CT scan. Since all of our stuff was packed in a moving truck and ready to hit the road, Jonathan stayed with some of our friends that also have a baby so that Jack had a place to sleep and baby supplies. My friend Emily also helped Jonathan get Jack to take a bottle with a lot of persistence while I stayed at the hospital. I had my surgery on Tuesday 2/15, and I was discharged that evening. Jonathan hit the road on Wednesday 2/16 while Jack and I stayed with friends while I recovered. We are so thankful to our friends, Emily and Mike Green, for opening their home to us and helping me with Jack while I was recovering.

Jack was pretty much the ideal baby while we were trying to get everything packed up in our apartment. He is not the most independent little guy, but he actually sat by himself and took naps in unusual places the two days we were doing most of the packing. Here he is napping in the corner of his empty nursery on his changing pad:

And here he is watching Jonathan pack stuff up while sitting in the nursery chair:

Jonathan also tried to do some packing with Jack in the Moby Wrap. It didn't work out so well, but it made for a cute picture:

Jack had his first plane ride at just over 3 months old. He did a great job even though we had a rough start. He was flipping out in the waiting area before we got on the plane, and people were looking at me with a sense of dread that I would be on their airplane :). Jack was just hungry, but I was trying to wait until take-off so his ears would pop while eating. Eventually he got too mad, and I just had to feed him. During take-off he ate a little bit more, and he was laughing with the bottle in his mouth as the plane took off. We changed one terrible smelling diaper on the plane after he finished his meal, and then he slept the rest of the flight.

Jack will be 4 months old in a little over a week, and he has been developing new skills very quickly. He's been so close to rolling from back to front over the past 2 weeks. He will roll onto his side and just hang out there watching tv or playing with the toys on his playmat. He can't quite get the momentum to push himself over his arm. He did accomplish rolling over from front to back on March 1st! Here he is trying to roll from back to front:

Jack's neck has also gotten a lot stronger, and he prefers to spend most of his time vertical instead of laying down. I spend a lot of time sitting and holding him up in a standing position since it's the only way he's happy sometimes. He has started to spend some more time in his bumbo chair trying to get that back and neck nice and strong.

We've also been able to put him in the Moby Wrap facing forward since he holds his head up so well.
Jack has also had an obsession with his feet lately. A little over a month ago he started watching them move, and now all he wants to do is hold them in his hands and make attempts at putting them in his mouth.

Jack has also started to find more enjoyment in toys. My mom got him a toy that is a little piano, and it used to scare him when it played music. Now he can sometimes turn the music on himself, and he loves to spin the part that has beads in it.

As far as enjoying our new California surroundings, we've made one trip to the beach. The trip was ridiculously chaotic since Jack was in a grumpy mood. Jonathan and I took turns eating lunch while the other one sat in the car with Jack while he cried and cried. He was a little moody while at the beach, and he had terrible gas while we were trying to leave for home. We had to change his diaper twice in the Starbucks parking lot while he screamed from gas pain. We only live about 15-20 minutes from the beach, so we'll have plenty more opportunities for a more relaxing trip. Here's a snapshot from a video I took of my guys at Huntington Beach.
So far California is treating us well, and we are having some great family time. Just a few more pictures I wanted to share since I thought they were cute:

Baby, it's cold outside...

The Colorado weather recently has made the big move to California A LOT easier to deal with. We've been dealing with temperatures dipping down to -15 while Southern California has been sunny and in the 70's. Jack and I have been huddled up in the apartment with space heaters trying to keep warm since the heater in our apartment is not really equipped for such frigid temperatures. I've tried to get Jack out for some fresh air as much as possible when the temperatures aren't too bad. One night I bundled him up and took him when I took Izzy outside to go to the bathroom. I have an amazing ability to get to the point where I have to go shopping on the worst weather days. On one of the worst snow days that we had here, I had no choice but to go to the grocery store since we had absolutely nothing to eat at the apartment. Poor Jack had to deal with the weather, and he looked less than amused while we were at Whole Foods.
We also went to Target with my friend Emily and her baby to get coffee and do some shopping. Jack was all smiles walking around the store in his cute little bear jacket.

As we get ready to leave Colorado I've been trying to put Jack in all of his cute winter clothes and get the most possible use out of them before we move to a warmer climate. One of the things that we got as a gift from my parents is a snowsuit. Unless a crazy weather shift happens in California, we are not really going to be needing it. We had a few sizable snows, so I took the opportunity to get Jack out to make his first snow angel.
Jonathan got back from work this past Tuesday. We went out to dinner with some friends on Wednesday evening, and Jonathan got food poisoning :(. He got to the point where he felt like he had to go to Urgent Care early in the morning. I got Jack bundled up and we took Jonathan to the doctor. I didn't want to take Jack in around sick people, so we hung out in the car. I stare at this picture multiple times a day, and it's the background on my phone now. Too cute!

Jonathan is driving a moving truck with my car hitched to the back, and he plans to leave Monday morning while Jack and I fly out on Tuesday afternoon. We decided that it would be easier for Jack and me to fly rather than participate in the caravan since Jack's eating schedule would majorly slow us down. The drive is about 18 hours, and we would have to stop every 3 hours for about 30 minutes to feed and change him. It would take FOREVER to get there with that kind of a schedule! We also didn't want to torture the poor little guy in a car seat for that long and sleeping in random hotels. I feel a little guilty Jonathan has to make the long drive while I get to fly, but it'll be the least disruptive to Jack's daily schedule.

Well, the next blog update will be from our new home in sunny California!