Figuring It Out

Jack has been a busy little guy the last few days while he tries to master some new skills and hone some other ones. I'm way tired from working the last couple of days, so I'll just leave you with some pictures and a couple videos (they're a few minutes long).

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Realizing that maybe he can sit still for a few minutes.

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I come home from work. Jack's in bed. I go to check on him. This is the bottom of the bed (the bed that's on an incline due to his pukey nature).

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Video of Jack

(there was another video but for whatever reason Blogger messed it up--I'll repost it tomorrow)

Hanging out...

Getting ready to go out for lunch. That teething ring takes 'cool' to a whole new level.

And here we are at one of our favorite lunch spots--Panera--with Lindsey.

Even Jack thinks its funny to leave a shirt stuck on his head. Goofball.

Proof that absolutely anything that CAN go in his mouth...WILL.

Jumping around on mommy--minus the jumperoo. Its a workout.

In the beginning, there were messes because he hadn't quite figured it out--the whole eating thing that is. Now...well, he's figured it out. Its a game to see if he can flip the spoon before it gets to his mouth, and then, he'll smack his hands all over the highchair and intentionally make a mess. Can you say rotten....really, rotten?

The many faces of Jack...

We've had a fairly busy weekend with different events and outings going on. So this afternoon, we devoted some time to just lounging around the house and playing with Jack.

Jack really reminds me of someone in the above picture, but I haven't quite figured out who. He kept pulling my glasses off my face, so...he got to try them on. Personally, I think he's still cute.

Below, is Jack sitting. This is a RARE occurrence. Not because Jack CAN'T sit...but because he really just doesn't want to.

In the picture to the right....this isn't exactly where I put Jack to start. He was originally laying near me on the floor next to the couch. After deciding he could scoot to get places on Friday, he figured out that maybe rolling was a little bit more fun (and faster) tonight. As for the hat and mittens, well, he got a little chilly during his bath because he literally splashed over half the water out, and then his little hands and cheeks were chilly, so I improvised (its not like he'd sit still to cover up with a blanket).

Over the last couple days (which also prompted an easy day at home)...Jack has become a little sensitive. He doesn't like to be laughed at. He certainly doesn't like to hear raised voices. And sometimes, he's just downright not happy. We're not sure if its just been a little too much activity and he's tired....or if like everything else, you could just blame the extra crankiness on teething.....but literally 20seconds after the above picture was taken, we took the one below. I don't think even HE knows how to feel these days.


I took the bumpers out of Jack's (rarely-used) crib today since he was just using them to pull himself places in hopes that maybe he would take a nap in here. Mmmm...not so much. It looks like he's found other ways to entertain himself like eating the bars and getting his arms and legs stuck.

Please occasionally leave us a comment if you're reading the blog--just so we know that someone actually is. :)

A day trip...

Jack and I spent the day at the Covered Bridge Festival. Thankfully, Staci, Lindsey (who I managed to not get a picture of), and Ashley helped take turns with Jack and the stroller (I say thankfully, because at times, he definitely qualified as rotten). It was gorgeous fall weather. And we filled ourselves with good food (that's pretty much the main reason for going, lets be honest here). Found a couple cute items. Got some great exercise in pushing a loaded stroller up and down a few hills. And headed home just in time to hit all the traffic.

Once we got home, Jack was pretty anxious to get out and get active. So...onto the floor he went (he was SO tired all day, and suddenly was JUST fine). Once on the floor, he immediately figured out a new trick.

Check the video out to see what Jack learned.

31-3

Yeah for the first Colts' win at the new stadium. Finally!

The hunt for a blanket in October

Today, we spent a large part of the day out of the house...on an insane hunt for the perfect blanket for Jack (don't ask). Eight hours later, we returned home, blanket-less with one tired baby. He essentially only took one nap (pictured above). He's sockless, not because we took him out that way, but because when we thought he was sleeping, he was really in the stroller, eating the sock after having pulled it off his foot with his teeth, er, gums.


Once we returned from this long day we promptly put the overly-tired Jack to bed after a quick change into pajamas and a bottle. For a baby who spent most of the evening a little grumpy since he was SO tired, we were rather surprised to find this scene an hour after we'd put him to bed..........

Apparently, he was just happy to be home and unrestrained....working on crawling, laughing, and saying ay-ay-ay-ay, ba-ba-ba, and (sadly for mommy) da-da-da-da-da. I am happy to report, though, that Jack is blissfully off in la-la land (for now).

Uh oh...

In just the last 2 days....Jack has suddenly discovered that he can push up and he can get his knees under him. And he likes to get up on his knees and elbows and rock back and forth. I'm fairly certain that this will be leading us to crawling. Jack being mobile is a little scary.

He went to the pediatrician today for his 6 month checkup. He got an A+ in the health department. Plus, a few remarks about him being "all boy", "a wild man", and "having gross motor control that was out of this world" -- all things to make a mom proud. Jack tends to enjoy putting on a show at the doctor's office so he was all smiles, 'talking' up a storm, and crazy active as usual. The doctor couldn't believe with as busy as he is that he had even gained weight. Nonetheless, Jack is up to 17lbs 20z and 27 inches long. All things considered, Jack was extremely happy and cheery for everyone, well, until he got his shots. His dramatic reaction led us BOTH to tears (I felt SO bad for him). After he was calmed down, he was back to his cheery, smiley self--except for (I know this sounds crazy) the poor girl who had wielded the weapons that wounded him--nothing but a blank stare. Ah well...he easily forgot after a nap and a tylenol/motrin combo.

Wild man Jack....

Half a year has come and gone...

I simply cannot believe how fast the past 6 months have gone by. I know everyone tells new parents that it will just fly by...but I guess you truly don't believe it until you experience it for yourself. And while its gone by so quickly....its hard to imagine when he wasn't with us. Its incredibly amazing, and I'll admit a little sad as well, but I absolutely LOVE watching Jack grow up.

Please bear with me....the following is an ungodly long update on Jack's current state of affairs (for the family--i.e. grandmas--who like that sort of thing).

He is so curious....and so 'hands on.' Sometimes when he sees something new or something he wants (which is pretty much EVERYTHING he sees)....he gets this excited look on his face, reaches his little arms out as far as they can go, and starts kicking his legs around. He is SO determined to explore every little thing (i.e. by, of course, putting it directly in his mouth). These days its hard to keep him from rolling onto his belly (which has definitely made diapering, dressing, etc rather difficult) ... especially since once there he can kind of scoot small distances and turn himself in circles. Still a little bit away from crawling, but once he figures out how to put his knees under him, we might be in trouble. Occasionally, he will sit up ALL by himself, but really he has no desire to sit....he'd rather stand or jump, but most of all his attempts at sitting often fail because he just can't sit STILL.

He has recently discovered faces (especially mouths)...but his version of exploring is to splay his fingers over your mouth and then pinch his little fist together (my efforts to thwart this behavior by demonstrating 'the nice way to touch mommy's face' haven't really been successful).

We're hoping someday soon we'll get some hard evidence that all this drooling, mouthing (and well, downright gnawing on OUR hands, his hands, his toes, his socks and basically anything else within range) isn't all for naught. But I have yet to see any real proof of teeth beneath those gums.

Other than trying to keep Jack occupied (and unoccupied at times....the boy's gotta sleep), we haven't been up to much else (we're totally that boring old, married couple). I'll try to update again with more pictures and all of Jack's information after his 6 month appointment.

Well....for our anniversary (a day early) I surprised Bob with some Colts tickets (I think I benefited a little from this deal). I can't believe I didn't spill the beans--and I waited til the last second to give them to him. We had a great time at the game (even if they didn't win). We had a great view of the field (even though we were way up there)....and a gorgeous view out the window of downtown Indy.

Jack spent the day with our GREAT friend Lindsey. We can't thank her enough for spending the day with him, and letting us get out together--sans baby. That evening, though, he had his first fever (barely)--despite acting just fine--and it just as magically disappeared later that night. A normal person would have moved on, but as the neurotic NICU nurse mother--I keep taking his temperature several times a day (even though he doesn't even feel hot) and waiting for a mysterious illness to rear its head. Little crazy.

Our major milestone of the day is a successful nap in the crib (its been over an hour--30 minutes would have been an accomplishment). This makes twice in one week (for those that don't know, he's a great sleeper at night, but not so much during the day). I peeked on him....and he's all snuggled on one side of the crib on his belly (which I have to remind myself, that since he did it himself, its okay).

Sounds like Bob just got home....so I will post some more pictures of Jack later. Hope everyone's enjoying the first week of fall (if only it wasn't 86 degrees outside).

Just a quick update before heading to bed (I'm trying to update in a more timely fashion)...

This past Saturday was the NICU Reunion. Its something that I truly look forward to each September--since I get to see some of my favorite kiddos from over the years. Seeing them healthy, growing up, walking, talking, etc. is definitely what keeps me going. (If you were there and took pictures--don't forget to email them to me at laura23rn@yahoo.com). Anyway, it was wonderful to get to spend a couple hours visiting with old friends and, of course, introduce them to the 2 boys that are so important to me (Bob was gracious enough to attend as well). Jack was shockingly well-behaved (even took a nap without any fussing despite the distractions).

We're looking forward to going to a friend's wedding this Saturday and then we'll be celebrating our 2nd anniversary...(thanks in advance to Lindsey for helping us out). I'll update again soon with some new pictures.

I'm clearly a failure at blogging--2 entire months without a single post. Let's see if I can sum it up:

July-We had a wonderful visit (short, but nice) with Bob's sister and her family. And we especially loved our brief visit to Bob's aunt's house on the lake. We did make a visit to the Children's Museum here in Indianapolis--but OUR child wasn't as thrilled as we hoped (we'll try again later).

August-We made a trip to the State Fair with our friends Nick and Staci (who I think learned that parenting certainly complicates even the easiest of adventures). We also had a chance to tour the new stadium downtown--even Jack was happy to attend.

Those were probably the highlights of our summer (as you can see we don't exactly get out so much anymore). I'm impatiently awaiting the arrival of fall--can't beat sweater weather, leaves changing color, and the Covered Bridge Festival. This upcoming weekend is the NICU Reunion--can't wait to see some of my favorite little kids from over the years.

Jack is still growing like a weed (he's up around 16.5 lbs now) and turned 5 months old this week-its amazing how quickly time flies. He's a ball of fun--and he's constantly picking up new things. He's very grabby. LOVES eating real people food (or at least the pureed version of it)--he might even try to steal yours. His current hobbies include rolling around on the floor, eating his toes, blowing raspberries, drooling, his new Rainforest Jumperoo, and saying ba-ba-ba-ba. Hopefully, he'll be changing those b's to m's pretty soon. :) He's rotten, squirrely, and goofy--and I have no idea how we ever lived without him. He is most certainly the highlight of our days.

New things every day....

Mickey Blue Eyes

This past week Jack has nearly perfected a new pasttime. He's been gnawing on his hands for weeks--but he can now get to his thumb. However, this has created a dilemma for his little mind...at bedtime, when he has the pacifier, he wants his thumb--but when he pulls the pacifier out to get his thumb, he cries for the pacifier. Ahhh....eventually he'll self-soothe.

He's also decided that maybe people are more interesting than the ceiling fan (well some of the time). He's becoming quite social--and is starting to smile for more than just mommy and daddy. And then we have the pout. Even in the throws of an all out meltdown, it totally cracks us up.

We've gotten into our new routine now that we're both working again....and thankfully, it hasn't been a rough transition. We're very much looking forward to seeing Bob's sister, brother-in-law and our niece and nephews next week. And we're sure Jake will jump at the chance to go for a swim in the lake again. Can't wait....

Please feel free to leave us a comment or send us an email--we love hearing from everyone!!!

Just seeing what I can do....

Just practicing with videos and such. This was taken about 2 months ago when Jack was almost 2 weeks old. Crazy little boy...

Back to Reality

We all survived my first day back to work just fine. Mommy had a few tears. Daddy realized it was harder to leave him with a stranger than mommy. And Jack.....well, Jack thought it was pretty cool to hang out with the big kids apparently.

We're leaving Jack with a wonderful grandmother and two of her grown daughters who run an in-home daycare. Its a trek out to her house (its in the country, the wrong direction from downtown).....but we think Jack is going to LOVE it there. He got a great report--and we all came through the day with flying colors after the hardships of the morning.

The next hurdle is Bob's--managing an entire weekend (all day anyway), home ALONE with the boy. I'm certain he'll do WONDERFUL because he's great with him....but I imagine it'll be an eye opening experience (since he's only been by himself with him for an hour here and there). He's not a big napper and wants to be entertained a lot of the time. He's also a feisty one if you're not giving him what he wants (before he wants it). Should be fun times in the Smith house this weekend!!!!