Not Hungry?

Hey... why has Jack stopped eating solid foods? He used to be such a chow hound and now when I come at him with a spoonful of sweet potatoes, he shakes his head. Smarty pants. I'm hoping this is just a phase. Linda at "school" says this isn't unusual, but I'm still slightly concerned.

Another Poll!

Let me know if you like the new look of "Just Jack?" Take the poll at the bottom...

Baby Loves Daddy

Just recently Jack has developed a preference... not for his Mum Mum... but for his Dada. Whenever I'm holding him and he sees his father... he pushes me away and stretches his arms out for Stephen. Whenever I bring Baby Man into our bed at 5:30 in the morning when he wakes up... he immediately scopes out where his father is and wriggles over to him. But the best part of that is he totally wakes up his father who previously slept through Jack's early morning antics. Now he can't ignore him. Jack literally slaps Stephen in the head and then leans over and bites his nose. Stephen has been taking it like a champ, especially considering he is NOT a morning person. This wouldn't be so bad if it were later in the morning... like even 6am would be beneficial.
Baby Man has transitioned into his big-boy car seat. It was just getting too tight in the littler one when I tried to put a coat on him... and then strap him in... it just looked terribly uncomfortable. So no more "Baby in a Bucket." There is so much more room in this one... the only downfall is that when he falls asleep in the car, we have to pretty much wake him up to get him to wherever we are going. Also there's no bar for Jack to hang on or to attach his monkey to... But at least he can breathe.

Suitcase Jack

Since Stephen missed Jack so much while being on the road for two weeks, we've made a big decision: Baby Man is going on the next trip with Dad. We think we can do it like this:

We'll just put him in the suitcase! Considering Dad's next trip is to Orlando during school vacation week, Jack should have a super swell time.

What a day

We finally made it to Gymboree today. Even though Jack sounds like he is coughing up a lung I decided to bring him anyway. So we go and he's the youngest (and the cutest) one there. None of the moms were all that interested in chatting... but that's understandable. The "teacher" really keeps you moving for the entire 45 minute class. It's more of a workout for Mommy than it is for baby. We went up slides, we went down slides, we climbed through tunnels, we chased balls, we played on the parachute... and we had bubbles blown on us. I think that may have been Jack's favorite part... he was mesmerized by the bubbles floating down on him. We go again next week... and I'll try to remember the camera this time.
Then when we got home it was time for a quick lunch and then back out again. This time we headed up to the bathroom supply store that is going to give us the Toto brand products for our bathroom redo on NECN. We got to choose anything we wanted (Toto brand of course) and put it on a list. We had initially been told we could get a toilet, a washlet and some sinks. But we don't really need the sinks (they are pretty much all pedestals) so we added faucets, shower head and even a new tub... to the tune of $10k. I'll let you know what we end up with! I promised the rep that I'd have a Toto party... you're all invited!

Welcome Nanny!

I'd like to formally welcome Nanny (aka Grandma Sheep) to the blog. Today she finally got online, signed up for email and read the blog. Welcome to "Just Jack" Nanny!

Feet up

So we elevated Jack's mattress a bit to supposedly help with the coughing and stuffiness. Well, I guess that only works if he actually sleeps in the right direction. During his nap today he did a 180 and was sleeping with his feet elevated... making him nice and stuffy.


By the way, I also brought him to the doctor. He has bronchiolitis? I guess that's bronchitis for small people. There's no treatment... just time. At least it's not something serious.

A New Drink

You've seen photos of Jack holding the Gatorade bottle: http://bostonprmom.blogspot.com/2008/01/refueling.html

Well today he drank some. I figured it was pretty much the same as that Pedialyte stuff, so what harm could it do? I admit it does have a fair amount of sugar in it, but it's not like I gave him a 20 oz. bottle of it... just a few sips. Needless to say he enjoyed it.

Tomorrow I'm running him back to the doctor to have his hacking cough checked out... just to be on the safe side. Last night he coughed a whole lot, but never really woke up because of it. It's too bad there's no cough medicine for babies... that would be a big help right now.

Teething, Hacking, Grabbing and Cruising

Those are the four things Jack is now doing all day.
Teething: I think he's getting a few new teeth... probably the top middle ones. They'll be big. I bet this hurts.
Hacking: This is what he does all day. I believe this is the second stage after Friday night's vomit-o-rama.
Grabbing: As in grabbing anything electrical, sharp, fuzzy, dirty or on the move (such as the cat or the dog).
Cruising: Despite the above activities, Jack continues to refine his cruising/walking/crawling skills on a daily basis, making life in Foxboro a life in constant motion.

Did I mention I caught Jack licking the kitchen floor? Really, what is wrong with this child?

Speaking of living in Foxboro. I do believe we are the only NY Giants fans within a 50 mile radius.

On the mend...

Jack is feeling better already, though he still doesn't have any kind of an appetite. Fortunately he's drinking enough formula to stay hydrated. While Grandma Sheep was here a few days ago, she gave him some water out of her glass and he loved it. Must be refreshing.
Stephen is coming home tomorrow. Yippee! We're going to have to have to fight off the Patriots fans here. It's going to be really tough living in Foxboro and being a Giants fan...

Here is Jack coming at me... while I say "I'm gonna eat you..." We have a very rich mother-son relationship... very deep :) - why does this video transfer so dark? It wasn't like that when I played it back on my computer???

Can't help it...

Here's yet another video of Jack harassing the dog... I'm not sure that anyone other than myself finds them funny anymore.

Flirty Baby

Today Grammy and I took Jack out of the house for a bit. After being cooped up for 2 days it was nice to get him out in the fresh (albeit freezing) air. We took him out to lunch... to Bertucci's... and I was a bit nervous about how he would act. Most of the other times we've taken him into a restaurant he's been nearly asleep or completely conked out. Not today. Baby Man was ready to roll. We got seated near the back of the restaurant and Jack took his position in the high chair and became Curious George. He was craning his neck to see around the corner, looking around to see who was coming up behind him and flirting with all the waitresses who came by to check out the cutest baby in the restaurant. He was great the entire time. In fact I fed him some "bread-insides" that he really seemed to enjoy. By the time we left, Jack had made eyes with virtually every woman in the place. He truly is a Ladies Man.

Sick Baby

Baby Man is sick. It started around 5 o'clock last night. He got cranky and irritable... and didn't want to eat anything. Then, as I brought him upstairs, he vomited... big time. I mean vomited. It was almost projectile. Fortunately I had made it to the bathroom with him so he really let loose on the tile floor instead of the rug. Then he was inconsolable for about an hour. I took his temp (no Stephen, I don't love to do that) and it was just 100.3. So I gave him some Tylenol and he fell asleep about an hour later... at 8. Then at midnight he woke up again so I took him into bed with me to snuggle. He slept pretty well but at 6 when he woke up he was like a baby-furnace. I took his temp again and it was 102.3! Gave him some more Tylenol and gave him a bottle, which he drank about 6 ounces. I of course called the doctor and they said this was a bug going around. Just to watch for signs of dehyrdation. Just took his temp again and it's back down to 100.5 so obviously the Tylenol is working. Now he's sleeping again... hope for the best. Guess that means no Gymboree today. Our first class... darn it.

Cruisin'

Jack is officially cruising on the furniture. He can easily walk around the leather cubes in the family room. He holds on with just one hand. I have a feeling he may be walking soon. I also think he's getting some more teeth... this time on top.
He always has developed a love of water. He tries to drink it out of my cup all the time. Baby Man seems intrigued by the taste. Must be refreshing after not having a drink of water for 9 months.
Here is a picture of Jack after dinner tonight... he winds down with a couple of crunchies. He doesn't gag on them anymore fortunately. What he doesn't eat, he has already learned to feed to the dog. Thus Chatiemac is Jack's new best friend during meals.

I learned something today...

...that I really hate it when the power goes out!
Our power went out at 7am this morning thanks to the heavy wet snow blanketing all of Massachusetts. And when the power goes out, you know what doesn't work? Everything! The furnace, the microwave, the internet, the phone... everything. I do not envy Laura Ingalls. It was downright cold in the house today. Fortunately we do have a gas fireplace which did keep the living room and dining room frost-free.
Baby Man didn't care. He pretty much lives an electricity-free life anyway. He still had his bottle, his fruit, his oatmeal and his constant entertainment (my mother).
But one this is for sure, snow really makes everything look a lot prettier. This snow we got really put a strain on the trees. A lot of them are completely bent over and touching the ground.

After I saw all the birds in the backyard scatter I spied something quite large in the back yard. Check out the scary Cooper's hawk:

After Jack's second nap today (just as the power came back on), he found something he'd never really paid much attention to in the past. And that is the camera on his crib that sends the signal down to my monitor so I can watch him sleep, jump in bed and otherwise wreak havoc on the place. So when he got up from his nap, instead of just jumping up and down or banging his head against the rails, he peered right into the lens of the camera. Then he put his finger right over the lens. He knew we were watching and he didn't like it.

I feel good...

This is the best I've felt probably in the last 18 months. Today I took 2 hours for myself (while Mom watched Baby Man) and went and got a massage. Ahh... I can finally lift my left arm over my head. The massage-lady said I was probably one of the most tense people she'd worked on in a long time.
While I was out, Mom took the BM for a walk down to the playground. She put Jack back in the swing... he really enjoyed himself. Check out the proof:
Regardless of how he looks in this picture, he really did have a good time. Chatty even went for a walk all the way to the fire hydrant (about 500 feet from the house) before taking off on a brief, but unsupervised, jaunt.

Exciting News

We're getting a free toilet! (not what you were thinking, right?) Anyway, as you may know we are working with a local tv station (NECN) on the redo of our master bathroom. part of the deal is that they call around to suppliers/advertisers to see if they would like to give us a break on any of their products. well we struck gold! The Toto supplier wants to give us a free toilet. Any toilet we want! Here's the one I'm leaning toward: http://www.totousa.com/productpage.asp?PID=952 or go to www.washlet.com and watch video on how it works. Once you get over the bare butts, it's pretty good!

I'm not sure why it has a remote control, but I'm sure Stephen will be pleased with that feature. It has a heated seat! It has washer-thingies... very European of us. This toilet is so cool that I think we'll have to have an "Open Toilet" instead of an "Open House."

Just think, Jack will learn to go to the bathroom... and basically never need to use toilet paper! By the way, his newest trick is blowing raspberries. Once he gets going, it's hard to get him to stop...

Jack speaks!

Tonight as Stephen was putting Baby Man to sleep, Jack said his first sentence... (or so Stephen says). Here's the scenario. He got a bath, was put in his jammies and sleep sack... and Stephen was giving him a bottle and rocking him in the chair. I went downstairs... and I heard Jack crying. So I went over to the monitor and turned it on so I could listen. I heard Stephen ask me to come upstairs... so I did. I got up there and Stephen said with absolute certainty that Jack had just said his first sentence. The sentence was: "I want my Mama." No ifs and or buts about it, Stephen insists that is what Jack said. He may be possibly the smartest 9 month old on the planet. What do you think?

"Who needs Gymboree when you have Chatiemac?"

Regardless... I've enrolled Jack in a couple of activity classes at Gymboree. We start next Saturday... hope he likes it!

Refueling...

Jack, even at just 9 months, feels the need to refuel his electrolytes... hence this photo:
Actually he just likes to play with plastic bottles. Tomorrow he has his 9 month check-up with the pediatrician. I think he gets more shots. Thrilling.
The Seattle Hewig clan got us a gift certificate to Gymboree for Christmas. I thought it was just a baby clothing store. Boy was I wrong. They also have classes, like baby yoga, baby sign language and other activity-based classes. I'm excited to take some with Jack and maybe meet a normal parent or two. We'll see.

Getting Ready for the Game

Not the Patriots game... but the St. John's basketball game. Tonight they take on Cincinnati at 6pm. Jack is taking a nap right now so that he'll be able to stay up for it. I've asked Stephen to pick a new team to root for... one that actually wins a few games each season. Why do we want to doom Jack to a life of rooting for a team that stinks? Granted a few years back St. John's was actually good... but not now.
Regardless, Jack is ready for the game... he's in the chair... and wearing the gear!

Tennis Anyone?

For Christmas, one of my most favorite gifts, was a tennis racquet and lessons... and a cute tennis outfit. I can't wait for this spring to take the lessons. I think I'll be really good. I have pretty good eye-hand coordination... but we'll see. Stephen says I'm not the most athletic person he's ever met. I'll show him :) I'm also hoping that Jack will act as my ball boy... and hopefully not scrape his knee diving for a ball.
Stephen is on his way home from Orlando right now. I didn't say that he was gone before... it makes my mother in law nervous to have people know that I'm home alone. But now he's coming home so it's safe to chat about it. (And I'm not even going to mention that he's going to be gone for a long time for the rest of the month) Single parenting is tough. Jack is a great bambino, but it's a lot of work to do it all on your own. Thankfully I have daycare a couple of days a week.
Baby Man is getting really good at eating crunchy foods. He eats those Gerber Graduates thingies like crazy now. But you can only give him one at a time otherwise he'll fill his mouth with them... which I still insist will gag him.
Thankfully it's going to be warmer this weekend. I hate the cold weather.

Wag the Dog

So poor little Chatty is sitting by the door minding his own business, when along comes Baby Man to roll over him and then try to eat his wagging tail. Chat doesn't mind... but I'm starting to mind all the dog fur that is now covering my son. He's almost 9 months old and I think he's probably eaten more dog hair than anything else. After this brief game... I had to go change him... he was covered in fur. I'm sure someday I'll learn that Jack is allergic to dogs and this is what caused that horrible kennel cough.

Jack Chooses His Lunch

I'm not saying it's a great choice... maybe a little too much sodium... but he did choose it himself.


Needless to say, Baby Man didn't have Ramen Noodles for lunch, instead we had Pear Blueberry Oat... a perennial favorite.
At one point today he did try to give Chatiemac mouth-to-snout resuscitation... not that the dog needed it.
From there he moved onto the door and was kissing his reflection. And then it was onto the plant in the hallway...
And then the dishwasher...
And then he tried to scale Mt. Chair...
Fortunately now he's taking nap #2 so I can finish unpacking from our week away from home. It just started to snow here... hope I don't have to figure out how to use the snowblower. My idea is that I open garage door and look pathetic... and hope one of the nice neighbors comes over to help me. I'll let you know if it works.