Smiles

We just had a little photo shoot (shocking, I know) and I captured a few smiles. He's a happy little man tonight.

6 Weeks Old

Jack will be 6 weeks old tomorrow. He just gets cuter and cuter, if I do say so myself. He's now smiling at us, which has made both Jason and I cry - it just melts your heart! He's having more and more awake time during the day and makes great eye contact and follows us (and other objects) with his eyes. He is getting so strong and is now not only sporting a double chin, but also some adorable Michelin Man arms!

I went to the doctor last week and got the all clear from my surgery - no more lifting or activity restrictions, which is nice. Jason and I also celebrated our 3rd anniversary on Wednesday - very exciting! We had a low key night, with dinner at El Maguey, our favorite Mexican chain.

I gave up dairy products three weeks ago to see if that would help with Jack's spitting up and fussiness. That is no easy feat - there is cheese in everything!! We decided this weekend that it didn't make much of a difference, so I'm slowly adding the dairy back in. If he starts to get worse, I'll gladly cut it back out (anything for my baby boy!) but if it's not making a difference, I'm not going to make the effort. Those who know me well would be shocked to hear I haven't had a bowl of ice cream in three weeks!! Phew!

Here are some pictures from the week. My goal is to capture a big ol' smile, but I'm still working on it.

All stretched out:
Our chunky monkey:
Bath time - poor little guy STILL has his umbilical cord stump (Yes - he's almost 6 weeks old!!!), so it's only sponge baths STILL!!Jack and Nathan Mincher - our little Cards fans:

5 Weeks Old!

Jack is five weeks old today! Our little man is quickly turning into our big man! He is growing so fast!

We hit a big milestone Saturday night - Jack is officially sleeping in his crib now! We have been talking about moving him someday soon (actually, Jason has been talking about it, and I have just been smiling and nodding hoping he'll forget by the time bedtime gets here). Then Saturday night I had Jack in a pretty warm onesie so I didn't swaddle him so he wouldn't get too hot. When he woke up for his middle of the night meal, his feet were pushing off the end of the bassinet and he looked HUGE in there with all his limbs spread out. That's when I decided it was time to move him, so he went to his crib after that feeding and has been sleeping there ever since. It's going well - thank goodness for baby monitors!

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Love his lips in this one!
So peaceful!Trying out his foot rattles:
Snoozing after a car ride (I promise he was buckled while we were in the car!!)Napping with Maggie!Exhausted after we took a walk:And here is a very grainy video of Jack waking up from a nap on Friday morning. A new video camera is on my Christmas list, so some day the videos will hopefully be much better!


Another big milestone - I can officially wear one pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans!! I can't wear them all yet, so I still have some work to do, but at least my wardrobe options are expanding!

Pictures

Jack had his first bottle Wednesday night and took it like a champ. I could get used to this pumping thing! He's now had a total of two bottles. Last night, I tried to feed him a bottle cold at Taylor's football game and he was having none of it.Friday evening Cyndi and the girls stopped by for some Jack lovin' time. Lily is really starting to pay attention to the little man - she loves to hug and kiss him - it is too cute.Mia decided to read Jack some books because he was kind of fussy. It was seriously the cutest thing - he just laid there and stared at her for awhile, then he dozed off after which Mia said (in her best pouty voice) "Mom, why did you make him fall asleep? I was reading to him!" So stinkin' cute!Saturday night, we went to the Ashers to watch the Mizzou game, and Jack met another friend, Nathan Mincher, our neighbor. In fairness, they actually met a few weeks ago, but they were never both awake so we didn't have a photo op. Nathan is 7 weeks older than Jack. We're looking forward to watching them play catch together in a few years!All the neighbor babies! This was hilarious - we put Addison down between them and she was looking at Jack for a couple minutes, then Nathan made a little squeak and she whipped her head towards him like "oh, I didn't know you were there." After that it was like Addi was watching a ping pong match - she just kept looking back and forth between the two boys. Hilarious.
I love this picture because it looks like they're trying to swap pacis.Sunday, we had a few people over to watch football. Mia just loves having all these babies around - she can't get enough!! She read to Addi and even sang "Old MacDonald" to her.At mommy Melissa's request, I captured Addi's poo face. Love it!

Growing Boy

Jack and I just got back from a weigh-in at the pediatrician and our "little" man weighs 12 lbs., 5 oz.!! Holy cow! He's not even 4 weeks old yet! I asked if he can be gaining too much weight and they said "Nah, breastfed babies often gain a lot at the beginning and then taper off." Crazy!

Here are some pictures of the growing boy from Wednesday:Trying out his play mat thing:Gotta love that double chin:Big yawn!Love the instant camera - I captured a little gas smile!

Oh, Dave!

Jason received the following email from our friend Dave Gratz today. This is awesome in and of itself, but those who know Dave will appreciate it even more:

This is a first for me. See attached photo. I came into work today with the two different shoes on! I didn't realize this until I was walking from the parking garage to the office. I kinda understand how I mixed this up because the room was dark when I put them on....but what I can't fathom is that I "slipped" one on and "tied" the other and didn't notice a thing! Work's been fun today. Of course, I had to show everyone here!

Take care,
Dave

Sorry, Dave - I had to post this!!

Taylor's First Point

We went to Taylor's second football game last night. He got to play a ton - he and another guy basically switched off and played every other offensive play. He also did the kickoffs and got to kick an extra point after his team's lone touchdown...and the kick was good!! His first point! He said during practice he's been kicking 40 yard field goals, so hopefully he'll get a chance to display that in an upcoming game as well. Unfortunately, his team lost again.

Jack enjoyed his second football game, but it was a little warm for his taste, which made the little baby acne that he just started sporting look worse. Poor little man. And it didn't help that he was mistaken as a girl for the second time in his short little life. Some lady at Target thought he was a girl last week, but I blew it off because he was wearing a neutral onesie. At the game last night though, Jason was holding Jack and a lady came up and said (in her sweetest baby voice) "Aaaaw, it looks like she was just born yesterday." Oh come on, lady! He was wearing a blue onesie with footballs, soccer balls and baseballs on it!! Clearly he is a boy! Jack didn't seem to mind the mix-up though.

Video

Jack obviously isn't doing much yet, but I took a video anyway - mostly so Aunt Kelly (who is far away in New York) can see him in action.

This is from last Friday (9/4). That's pretty much what awake time entails these days. Before long he'll be making more noises!

Weekend Getaway

Jack has his first mini road trip this weekend. We went to his Grandpa & Grandma Clayton's farm, which is about 2 hours away, with the Ashers for a couple days. It was a nice, low-key, relaxing time.

The highlight was watching the Mizzou/Illinois game with our two little Tigers, Addi and Jack. They were watching their first of many MU football games!! Too cute.I love this one because it looks like Addi is eating Jack's head. He didn't seem to mind:
Our little Tiger:Little MU cheerleader:The babies and their daddies:Here's another picture of my little man all stretched out before a diaper change:

First Time Apart

Jack and I had our first time apart last night. We had a pretty rough day yesterday - I had a pounding headache and Jack spent a lot of the day fussing and spitting up. When Jason got home I had a meltdown, which led to him insisting that he, Jack and Maggie go to his parents' house for dinner without me so I could relax. It was hard to watch them go (I cried) even though they were going a mile down the road and would only be gone an hour and a half. I survived and it was good for me to have a quiet house for a little bit. I was certainly happy though when I heard the garage door open when they got home!!

We're having a much better day today. Here are some pictures of the big man from today.

Another Friend & First Outing

Jack met another one of his friends yesterday - my friends Amanda and Lisa came to visit and Lisa brought her daughter Ella, who is turning 1 tomorrow! They didn't do a lot of playing just yet, but some day they will be buddies!!Jack also had his first big outing yesterday (aside from a quick trip to Target the other day, which doesn't count in my mind)! We took him to his cousin Taylor's first high school football game in Washington, MO (about an hour away). It was a good time despite the unfortunate outcome of the game. Taylor got to do two kickoffs and played wide receiver almost the whole second half. It was fun to watch! Jack didn't pay too much attention, but we had our first feeding in the car experience, which was interesting.

I took my camera and took 58 pictures - eek! I'm a proud aunt, what can I say? Here's Taylor's kickoff to start the game:
Taylor is #89 - lined up on the right side getting ready to make a run (is that the right football lingo?):Jack intently watching his first football game (OK, not really watching, more listening I suppose):