{10 months}

Jack is turning 1 in two months!! WHAT!? I can't believe a year ago we had just found out what we were having! Bah.

Anyways, Jack had a big month. He mastered the army crawl, sitting up, and now he's starting to stand. Scary business. He is learning how to clap and wave, and he gets 2 solid meals a day, a mix of purees and table food.

He's had scrambled eggs with cheese and peppers, taco bake, muffins, toast, chicken, cucumber, rice, PB&J sandwich, basically anything we eat we cut into small pieces for him.

It's a messy world we live in now.

The big news is that yesterday we went to the Glenrose Neonatal and Infant Follow-Up Clinic, which is a 2-hour clinic all babies who spend time in the NICU go to when they're around 6 months from their due date. Because he was 6 months adjusted at Christmas we postponed a little bit. They evaluated him from 7 months.

He is 18 lb 11 oz, 26" long. He is in the 50%ile for weight, 10%ile for height, and 85%ile in his overall ratios. Aka, he's short and fat.

 For his actual age (10 months) he is in the 10%ile for weight, and not even on the chart for height lol.

They also graded his overall gross motor skills. For 7 months he is above the 90%ile. For 10 months he is the 15%ile, so even if he was a term baby they wouldn't be worried about him!

This boy loves his mama, daddy, and Grandma Martin. And Uncle Max. And Tyler. He wasn't a fan of Grandpa Martin's beard.

He also loves his shape sorting box blocks, and the stacking rings. We blew bubbles yesterday and he was all "Meh".

He likes taking his socks off.

He doesn't like getting in his car seat.

Hopefully we have a walker in the next month!!

"This is my house, I swear!"

Jack and I are down at my mom's house in Raymond because Carter is going out of town to work. But yesterday Carter texted me after work and said he was having the worst day ever, and that he locked his car and house keys in the car. Oops. He had called the landlord, but he was going to be another 2 hours and I didn't want Carter to be sitting out in the cold (although, luckily, it was only like -9) for that long, so I told him to try the windows (since we don't lock them. Well, now we do). The windows in our basement are tiny. Seriously, tiny. But my logic was that to be a legal suite the windows have to be big enough for someone to crawl out of. The reverse of that would be big enough to crawl into! He tracked through the (literally) 3 feet of snow to our kitchen window, and crouched down beside the window to cut the screen when he heard a helicopter overhead. The adrenaline pumping through his system convinced him that they were the police out to find him! He said he stood flat as a board and "hid" against the house. Once he pulled himself together, he knelt back down and cut the screen. Our kitchen window faces our neighbor's gate, by the way. He said he got all the way to his hips into the window when the neighbor's teenage daughter came out the gate, screamed, then ran to the front of the house. Great. The mom popped her head around the corner, then they ran to the car. Carter jumped out of the window and ran after the screaming pair, told them that this was his house, he locked himself out, and luckily the teenager recognized him from the many times she's come into the backyard to get their balls. The mom had 9-1-1 dialed and was about to push send! lol. When he got into the house he called me and said, "I basically peed my pants like 6 times. I thought the police were going to come arrest me for sure!" Poor Carter. Let's just say he won't do that again! lol

2013 Recap

What a year. What. A. Year. And 'tis the season! For a recap! Of 2013!

In {January} we found out we were having a boy!

{February} brought my first (and only) bout of morning sickness (at mid-20 weeks no less!), and our second anniversary!

The beginning/middle of {March} was pretty typical, being pregnant and all that jazz, and then I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and delivered our miracle boy at 28 weeks.

{April} brought the beginning of our NICU journey. By the end of the month he weighed 2 lb heavier than when he was born, was off the CPap machine, in a big boy bed, and we started nursing!

{May} was my first Mother's Day, a transfer to a newer, nicer hospital, and newborn sized clothing!

Jack was discharged in {June}! Which meant we spent the next month adjusting to having our tiny boy at home. And Carter turned 20!

{July} we had him blessed, and Jack and I spent most of the month hanging out in Raymond. And no more oxygen!

{August} was Jack's first concert(s), weddings, and more time in Raymond, sending Ryan on his mission, and spending the last days with Grandma Atwood.

Grandma passed away at the beginning of {September}, then Jack was suddenly 6 months old!

{October} was Halloween, family pictures, Thanksgiving, and 7 months! Also, Ethan came home.

{November} we started celebrating Christmas (a little early.. oops), went to a NICU reunion, and.. yep.

{December} was, obviously, Christmas! Lots of time in Raymond, and Adrian came home!

We're hoping for a slightly less crazy 2014, but 2013 was filled with surprises, joys, tears, and most importantly - love.

{9 months}

On December 12, Jack weighed 16 lb 14 oz. We'll get another weight on January 2 when we go to get his second Syngais injection.

His first tooth cut through on December 6-ish. An eye tooth and the other bottom tooth followed around December 21. His other eye tooth is almost ready to come through too. Poor boy.

He is still eating 4-5 6 oz bottles a day, but he's also eating 2 meals of solids a day. Toast and yogurt, pureed fruits and veggies, bananas, bites of this or that. There's really nothing he won't eat. Except corn. He spits it out every single time. Turd.

We're at Grandma's, and she borrowed a Jolly Jumper for us - he loves it. LOVES it. He also loves "reading" his Peek-a-Boo Elmo book, and watching Thomas the Train on tv.

He still sleeps like a champ - usually 8-10  hours a night, and 2 naps during the day. We've put a crib projector in his room., and he's asleep by the time the music stops. Every time. 

We celebrated his first Christmas yesterday! He got so spoiled with a ton of clothes, books, and toys. And LOTS of cuddles. Unfortunately, somewhere along the cuddle line, this little man ended up with a nasty runny nose and a Croup-y cough. :(

Here's a bunch of pictures from that fabulous day!

The cutest little Santa EVER.

Mama's new hair! :)

X-mas PJs!

Some of his loot from Grandma M.

{8 months}

Mister Jack is now 8 months old!

He weighs 16.7 lb and is 24.6" long. And is in a new convertible car seat! [Rear-facing - I'm no cray!]

He is now mobile - he can roll when and where ever he wants, and can almost crawl. And he sits.

He still loves his duck, his teething ring, his jumper, and he recently discovered his toes.

He still doesn't have any teeth, but he's working hard at it.

He started loving the swing again!

We've started giving him more solids, his favorites are spaghetti, beef and vegetables, peaches, and carrots. We've also given him homemade pancakes, breadsticks from Olive Garden, and onions! He's a huge fan of raw onions. And red peppers.

And in celebration of his first Christmas coming up in a month.. We took some festive pictures!

[First time w/ Santa @ the Grey Nuns NICU party]

jack-o-lantern!

happy halloween

2013

{7 months}

*Photo overload. You have been warned.

Mister Jack-a-mole is 7 months old!!

He weighs 15 lb 5 oz.

He is 25" long.

He is wearing size 3-6 months clothes.

He is wearing size 3 diapers.

He sleeps from 8 or 8:30 until 8.

He started sleeping in his crib this week, and is doing great!

He can roll - when he wants to.

He loves his Sofie the Giraffe, duck rattle, and O-Ball.

He eats 36 oz/day of formula.

Occasionally he has pureed carrots, bananas, or apples. He's also tried sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, chunks of banana, mango, apple, and strawberry. He isn't a fan - at all - of baby cereal.

He always wakes up with a smile, and even when he's sitting with dad after work he follows me around with his eyes.

He LOVES bath time.

And boy, do we love this kid.

*Photo credit to Laura Sylvestre.

hello, old friend.

first - we got family pictures taken! if you're on my facebook you've already seen a plethora, and tomorrow i'm posting jack's 7 month update with a couple more, but here's a favorite!

second - one of my high school friends, ethan, got home from his mission last night! i talked to him for 45 minutes on the phone today, and it was wonderful. which leads me to

third - jack and i are going on our first roadtrip to soab since he stopped liking the car seat. i'm nervous. but i have a collection of toys he's never played with, and i bought a fisher price iphone case that i can set up and have him watch a movie on or something.

eek.