Jack's half birthday

Jackson turned 6 months old this past Sunday! I can't believe he has gotten so big so fast. I still don't feel the urge to have another baby (ever!) but I will miss him being this small and cuddly when it's gone...sniff sniff.

So about Jack! He grew an inch and a half since his last dr.'s appointment but gained less than a pound. The doctor was a little concerned and suggested I up his caloric intake (if we could all only be so lucky to have a dr. suggest that). So he is now on 3 solid meals and nursing 5-6 times a day. I have to say when I put him on the scale and he still weighed less than 16 lbs my stomach dropped! He is over the 95th percentile for height but only in the 20th for weight. Maybe I should puree him some pizza and Twinkies ; ).

He is still sleeping like a champ. Sleeping through the night with 2 big naps and one small nap during the day. Can I hear an AMEN for Dr. Ferber! I know his method doesn't work for everyone. My mff "mommy friend forever" tried it with her son about the same time I did with Jack and the results were not as great. So I'm not saying it's for everyone but it did work for us.

Jack is rolling over, but not sitting unassisted yet. He did use a restaurant highchair for the first time today which is a step in the right direction. I wasn't sure how well he'd do since they are far less supportive than a Bumbo type seat, but he was fine for about 25 minutes.

Other than that no real big milestones, still awaiting his first teeth. He laughs, smiles real bashful like and puts his hand over his eyes, babbles and blows raspberries. He thinks Daddy is the funniest person ever and likes to read books on the floor with mom. His hair is coming in more and more everyday and is a light brown similar to mine as a baby. We still are sure who he favors more, Daniel or I. I think it depends on the day, the face he's making or who's holding him. He's changing so fast it'll be interesting to see who he looks more like in a few months.

Bring out the SPF 50+

Today was Jack's first trip to the pool! Thanks Karmin for inviting us and getting this reluctant mom into a swimsuit. I needed the push or I would have kept my pasty self indoors. I had visions of being able to fit perfectly into my old bikini by the time Jack was 6 months old and old enough to wear sunscreen. Well I got into the suit but it definitely fits different than last year so I kept a cover-up on the whole time. Jack seemed to like the water OK, he didn't whine or fuss and was pretty content, so I'd say it was a successful outing. Note to self-next time take more towels!

Random Acts of Cuteness

Playing with dad before bedtime

Hangin' with Pops

Big smiles for Dad

Pick me up mom!

Waiting for mom to get ready

So happy in the morning

Love my baby. Miss my body

Like the title says I love Jack. More than love him! There should be a new word for love to describe the way I feel for him. But I miss my body. I miss my old clothes. I miss my butt, thighs and flat tummy. I don't know what I thought my body would look like after childbirth. I've been pleasantly surprised. Things are still in the same place and look relatively good considering what happens during the child growing and birthing process, but I still want the old me back. I'm about 8-10 lbs shy of my pre-pregnancy weight and seem to have plateaued in the losing weight area. Before Jack was born I would have done what any rational woman does when they want to lose 5-10 lbs, starve and workout like crazy. Since I'm still breastfeeding that rules out starving. If I don't eat then Jackson doesn't eat and a hungry baby cries a lot ;). So that leaves working out like crazy as the means to shed the last 10 lbs. Well here's the thing, I'm tired by the time dad comes home or the kiddo goes to asleep and I finally have the opportunity to go to the gym. I know some serious working out is just on the horizon. We are taking a trip to New York in two months and I'm determined to take my old jeans and sweaters! New winter clothes will so much more expensive than the few clothes I've purchased to supplement my summer wardrobe while I'm inbetween sizes and I dont want to spend our money that way. So I'm wondering all you moms out there...how did you lose the weight and how long did it take to get back to your old self, more or less?

Jack on YouTube

Danny here again. This is now my SECOND blog post. EVER. So here's whats up: Jack on YouTube.

Background
Knowing I wanted to record our fun times with Jack, I started doing research on HD camcorders about a year ago, a few months after we learned Frances was preggers. I had my feature wish list all picked out: Full HD (1920x1080), a decent sized disk drive (no messing with memory cards), light weight, reputable brand, etc. But I planned on waiting as long as possible until actually purchasing anything because camcorders go the way of all electronic equipment: as time increases, cost decreases and quality and features increase. In other words, roughly speaking,

T = (Q + F) / c

HOWEVER. December 25th came and with ZERO prompting, my MOTHER bought us a camcorder as a celebration of that magical holiday where we all get presents. Now, upon opening up that gift, here's what went through my mind: "WHOA. A CAMCORDER. Awesome! Oh wait. How is this going to line up with my feature wishlist? Given the vast array of possible camcorders she could have purchased, the odds are fairly low." But after a cursory view of the specs, astonishment came over me as my eyes parsed the important parts: Canon HG20, Full HD, 50GB HDD. So naturally, I thanked my mom asked how in the world she ended up buying the perfect gift. She replied that she asked the salesperson at Best Buy which camcorder was a good one then WENT TO READ REVIEWS ON BEST BUY'S WEBSITE. Why in all caps you may ask? Because I work for the company that provides Best Buy with their superior online Reviews/Questions/Answers services (Bazaarvoice). User Generated Content (UGC) saves the day!

So since Jack was born, we have recorded several videos, and a few of them were quality enough to post on YouTube for family and friends. So I uploaded the first video file in its native format to YouTube, and it worked! Woohoo! Here it is:



After a few months, we recorded 2 more videos that I wanted to post, but YouTube changed their video processing at some point recently and they came out all garbled up. GRRRRRRRRR!!!! What this meant was that I either had to buy video converting software ($50-$100), or spend the time to learn how to convert each video to a YouTube friendly format with open source tools. Long story short, after a weekend and a few late weeknights of research, I figured out a way, and so here are the next two videos:






So sorry for not posting these earlier. We hope you enjoy them :)

First Play Group Date

So Jack and I went to our first play date with the mom's group I found on meetup.com. We really enjoyed it and the other moms and babies were very friendly. The meet up was at a coffee house/romper room in Round Rock called Jungle Java. I would highly recommended this place to mom with children of all ages. The high points- first of all it's air conditioned, that all by itself is would be reason enough to check it out in this heat. It has a really nice coffee selection along with baked treats and some sandwiches. There are two play areas that the kids get to enjoy, a huge indoor play scape and an area for babies with a slide and other fun little toys. There are also comfy chairs like other coffee houses and all in all its nice. The noise volume was a little loud but not so loud that it bothered any of the younger kiddos.

Jack and I took our first trip down a slide together! I think I enjoyed the slide more than he did but that'll change soon. I forgot to take my camera so I don't have any pictures to show, check out their website.

Wow! Jack is 5 months old!

Jackson was 5 months old last Thursday. This has been whirlwind of a month in so many ways. Jackson has changed a great deal in such a short amount of time.

The biggest change has been sleep. Since we posted last we hit a brick wall in our sleep time routine, both bed time and nap time. I was nursing Jack to sleep every nap and at bed time. I was pretty happy with this plan, it was working and he was sleeping. It was very time consuming but I thought it would only last a few months and he'd learn to go to sleep on his own. Boy, was I wrong. One night the nursing wasn't working, daddy rocking wasn't working, none of the trick up our sleeve were working. In an instant I said to Daniel it's time to cry it out or Ferberize this baby. Daniel was pretty shocked I was willing to do it, but I was desperate! I''ll spare you all the nitty gritty details, let's just say with in 2 1/2 days my little guys was going to sleep on his own for all naps and bedtime with minimal fussing or crying! Our lives have changed! Daniel and I now eat dinner together. I'm able to leave the house with out worrying if he'll be able to sleep with out me. It's been wonderful!

Now on to other stuff. Jack is rolling over now but not consistently. He seems content to chomp on his arm during tummy time or just look around. I'm getting frustrated :). He is sitting up really well in his Bebepod seat (like a bumbo) and this is where we have been feeding him. A highchair will be our next purchase but I just can't decide which one to buy and I'm overwhelmed with online reviews. If you have a recommendations I love to hear about it!

Speaking of feeding, we started rice cereal a few weeks ago and have also introduced bananas and applesauce. He really likes it and gets a little serving in the morning and right before bath time at night. Jack has really learned to use his voice and is making all sorts of grunts, high pitched squeals, and general babbles. He thinks Daniel is hilarious and those two have a ball together before bedtime. That seems to be when he is most excitable and will laugh at anything Daniel says or does.

Jackson has also officially made his debut into society. We have joined a play group on meetup.com and have our first date this week at a coffee house in Round Rock. Jack has also been to many lunch dates over the past month and does so well out in public. We are right in the middle of a big teething spell and being out and about usually distracts him from the discomfort of teething and also gives mom a break from the whining and fussing associated with cutting those first teeth.