Greg and Jennifer's World

Yes, this is what you get for today’s post…a “list-like” week-in-review.  I apologize for the lack of espousing in this blog post, but I still have a load of laundry in the washer that needs to be dried and hung up, only one clean bottle, and a pile of hangers on my bed that separates me from a night of slumber.  So, I have decided to “bullet-point” this blog post in a manner of speaking.

1.  We’ve had some rough days this week.

2.  Jack made it through his Upper GI Endoscopy like a champ.  Now we are waiting on test results.

3.  Rolling over finally occurred.  Tummy time is still kind of hard for him to do, but he stuck with it and his smile speaks for itself.

4.  Jack and his daddy (a.k.a. the husband) made this a WONDERFUL Mother’s Day.  My sweet little owl gave me a sweet little owl necklace.

Dear Sweet Jack,

Happy 4 Months!  You have reached another milestone, and it is so fun to see how you are changing every day.

You are growing more and more alert of the things around you, and it is entertaining to your daddy and me just watching you watching everything else.  When we sit down in church, you look all around at the different people, the stain glass windows, and the big screens (I’ve decided you “think” they are giant televisions).

We’ve continued to have our ups and downs this month with your health, but have made some discoveries and think you are on the right track.  As of this past Monday, you still weigh in at a “hefty” 12-lbs and 2-oz (which is what you have weighed for the 4 weeks prior to that…ugh), but you are now 24 1/2-inches long.  You have two wonderful doctors working with you, and we are hoping and praying that when we go in on Monday for your official 4-month visit, that you will have reached their goal (we have been praying this week for a chubby tummy), otherwise, we will have to move onto some testing (again, ugh).

One of your favorite activities is putting your hand in your mouth.  Any chance you get, in goes that hand.  You also take your paci pretty well.  I think it is just an oral fixation, and so you have become pretty slobbery, but we just wipe your mouth and back in that hand goes.

Your talking and interacting has also picked up quite a bit, and you are starting to talk to other people and not just your daddy and me.  We have so much fun listening to you and talking with you.  While MaMa has heard you full belly laugh a few times,  I have only gotten to hear it once, but it was funny.  I’m hoping this next month brings more of that.

Overall, you are still a pretty laid-back boy, and that is what people comment on the most.  I have been known to strap you into the Baby Bjorn carrier and conduct a meeting with you hanging from me.  You also are pretty good at letting other people hold you.  The only time we really hear fussing from you (knock on wood) is when you either don’t feel good, you need a diaper change, you are hungry, or you are tired.

We are just really enjoying being your parents, and we can’t wait to see what the next month brings.

We love you!

So this is the boy’s new favorite pose.  Seriously, you pull out a camera, and back either one or both of those arms go.  I think he wants everyone to see his “chill” side.

Here we are the next day, waiting to head off to church.

Anyway, back to the point of this post.  On Saturday, the boy and I were having a lazy day as the husband worked on some end-of-the-semester papers.  I noticed a stack of hats on our dining room table laundry station as I was folding clothes that had just come out of the dryer.  Therefore, I decided it was time to subject the boy to a hat day (of course, I took pictures).

And now for your viewing enjoyment…

As you might guess, the boy was not as thrilled with this “dress up” time quite as much as I was, but he remained a good sport.

Also, in case you wanted to see the boy looking a little more street.

The boy has had a rough week.

This means the boy’s parents have also had a rough week.

I know, I know…he looks all cute and asleep in these pictures, but these moments have been a little few and far between.

One of the “side effects” of this rough week has been the inability to get sleep without being held.  So, we have held and we have rocked and we have held some more.

Today after church, Jack was not feeling well and the pitiful crying was fading in and out like the tornado warning alarm siren.  I had already pulled out the vacuum cleaner in the hopes of getting at least a good basic once-over of all the carpet in our house, but he wasn’t having any of it.  So, I did what every good mother would do…I stuck on the Baby Bjorn carrier and strapped him to me and proceeded to vacuum.

About two rooms in, I looked down and noticed that the boy was asleep…fast asleep…amidst all the jerking back and forth as I vigorously vacuumed…he was asleep.

Who knew?

We had already discovered (based on the tip of a family member) that the sound of a vacuum cleaner would lull him to sleep, but never had we experienced this type of vacuum-related phenomenon.

If this week is anything like last week, my house may end up substantially cleaner.  That might actually be part of his master plan to get more holding time.

The boy is a crafty fellow.

Dear Sweet Jack,

Happy 3 Months.  We are just amazed at how time has flown.  I know it is cliched to say, but it really does feel like just yesterday that you were born.

It is incredibly fun to watch you develop.  You have discovered your hands, and you absolutely love putting them in your mouth.  In fact, there are many times that you try to get both hands in your mouth at one time.  When that happens, you usually end up gagging yourself.  You also have become a world champion drooler.  Your mouth is constantly dripping, and while I can’t imagine that you are already starting to teeth, the amount of slobber makes me wonder.

You love to talk to most anyone who will sit and visit with you, and if you are in a good mood, you will just smile and talk for long periods of time.

It also amazes me just how happy you are during diaper changes.  That is usually when we get the biggest grin out of you.  I think it stems from the fact that you want to be clean and dry.  You are still in size 1 diapers, but I think your belly will soon force us up into the next size.

Tummy time is a source of contention in our house.  You hate it with a passion, and so we struggle in that area, but we just keep doing it with you.  I know eventually we’ll be able to place you on your stomach and there won’t be a loud cry from you, but so far, that is not the case.

In your 3 short months, you have had the opportunity to wait out a tornado warning (sirens and everything) in the bathtub with your Mamaw.  Once she got both of you settled in the tub, you went to sleep and stayed that way until the all clear.

3 Months also marks a few other milestones (not just natural disasters).  You have discovered what it is like to be a child of someone who works in Children’s Ministry. After the Spring EGGstravaganza, we just laid you on the floor (you are the speck on the far end of the room) while we finished cleaning up, and you were completely fine.

You have also started attending Bible class.  Now, while I was not a good mommy and missed out getting a picture of you your very first time in Bible class, I did think to get one of you your first time trying to sit in the Bible class chairs.  Admittedly, you are still a little small and lacking in the body control department, but some carefully placed pillows kept you from tipping over quickly.

Plus, you weren’t completely certain what to think of the older kids, but I think you noticed that there were plenty of girls to keep your eye on.

All in all, it has been a fun and very interesting 3 months.  Your dad and I can’t wait to watch you continue to grow and change.

We love you!

P.S. Outtakes/other favorite shots from the 3-month “picture session.”

#1 – It’s pretty hard to type out a blog post at 4:30am with a baby in your arms.  I probably shouldn’t have decided that now was the best time to try not swaddling Jack and then to do so cold turkey.

#2 – I wish they still had online grocery shopping.  I could be much more efficient if offered the opportunity to grocery shop when I get up for these early morning feedings and then can’t go back to sleep.  Do you think the husband would mind if I attempted to do that via Amazon.  Powdered milk and dried peach slices can totally make up the staple of our pantry.

#3 – Every first time mom’s google search engine should be deactivated.  Truly, no new mom should be able to google any baby-related question.  After having done so myself, I have “discovered” that Karo Syrup is a good “cure” for baby acne.  Common sense tells me that this may not really be the case.

#4 – I must keep multiple changes of clothes for myself and my child up at my office. When the child has to come with me to work occasionally and chooses that day to both have a blowout diaper and later wet through his clothes while laying against me, we will need more clothes than what we came with.

#5 – If your child is handed your iPhone with a cool new baby app that was free, there is a good chance that the app, when opened, has advertisements on the free page for things to purchase and baby will purchase some of those items in the course of playing with the app.

Well, after 3 days of supreme fussiness, Jack can now be moderately proclaimed fussyless (which I realize by typical suffix terminology would mean without fussiness, but in my world of spit-up and bottle brushes it is going to mean less fussy).

In fact, he did enough better today that we survived this morning’s plethora of events and were even able to grab a quick lunch out today via gift card (and I do heart me a gift card).  However, lunch was where we reached our limit, and the boy’s good humor began to evaporate from there.

After we took a nap today, though, Jack had a burst of energy and he and I had a nice conversation.  One caveat, you must ignore my high-pitched sugary voice.  It is not the voice I ever imagined myself using.  However, I also never dreamt that I would have an in-depth conversation about baby poop (i.e. how is it coming out, color change, etc.) over lunch.  Chalk both of those up to motherhood or lack of sleep or both.

Anyway, here is Jack telling you what he thinks. You might have to turn the volume up to hear him some.

So, I know this video will not be interesting to anyone but my family and close friends, but I wanted to post it for posterity.

Jack has had a fussy last few days…a VERY fussy last few days. Today has seen the husband and I executing a very special series of maneuvers to keep relative calmness in our household.

Enter the owl mobile.

This precious mobile was made for Jack by a wonderful lady at church, and our intention was to hang it from the ceiling in his bedroom. Well, let’s be honest, in the overwhelmedness of new parenthood, it has remained suspended from the chandelier above the dining room table. Anyway, in an attempt to try to distract and calm the boy, the husband grabbed the owl mobile, and the rest is evidenced by the film.

This mobile may remain above our dining room table for the time being.

Happy Anniversary to my amazing husband!

Well, there are a variety of things I really feel like I need to cover in today’s blog post, but none of the ideas are large enough to carry a post all by themselves.  So, I have decided to go with a hodgepodge post (i.e. a veritable cornucopia of Jack and Jack-related items).

First, our sweet boy turned 2 months on Sunday.  However, we didn’t have his 2-month stats until Tuesday (and let me tell you how fun that appointment was).  Actually, notice the look on Jack’s face.  That says it all.

The first picture is from his 2-month appointment, and the second picture is from his first pediatrician’s appointment when he was 6 days old.

Two-Month Old Stats:

• Height:  23-inches (50%)
• Weight:  11 lbs and 1/2 of an ounce (25-50%) – I feel that probably if his diaper hadn’t of been there, it would have been an even 11lbs.  
• Head Circumference:  15 3/4-inches (50%)

As my life evolves into this thing called motherhood, I have noticed some mildly disturbing tendencies.

First off, I struggle to find a topic of conversation that does not revolve around the boy (example 1–this blog).  I’m not sure if it is the combination of hormones running through my body that dictates my lack of mental diversity, but it is a little disconcerting.  The other day, I had to go to Oklahoma for a camp meeting with a car full of my Children’s Ministry peeps, and while I made a conscious effort to engage in non-Jack conversation, every time I opened my mouth, it was epic fail.

Now, please do not get me wrong, I love my sweet boy, and I love getting to talk to others about him.  However, I am an educated woman who used to be able to carry on semi-relevant conversations, and now when someone asks me what my views on the upcoming presidential election year are, I respond with an explanation of Jack’s latest pooping schedule.

Secondly, I have started doing the “mom spit clean-up” thing.  You know what I am talking about.  It’s where a mom uses her own spittle to clean the face of her child.  Yes, I do that, and it has become habit enough in this short time that I almost did it to the husband the other day.  Fortunately, I stopped just short.  I think that would have taken a good bit of the magic out of our marriage.

I know there are other things that I catch myself doing all in the name of motherdom, but right now, I just want to share more pictures of our sweet boy with you.

Jack was hanging out with me at work the other day.  His tummy was really bothering him, and I desperately needed to get some work done.  So, in the words of Tim Gunn, we “made it work.”

Yes, this is my niece reenacting the opening scene from The Lion King.  Had we not been in the parking lot of a restaurant, she probably would have added some song and dance to her “presentation”.