Both Babies

I know it's just dumb luck, but I felt proud anyway when both babies fell asleep at the same time. Of course, they were just saving up their energy for later.




Uh, mom? She's drooling all over my toy boxes.




Yep, these are a lot of toys to handle, but I've got it under control!




Sweetie Pie.

Peek!

Just a little photo to brighten up your day.

Reading and Shaving

Now that Charlie gets up with Jett in the middle of the night, my job is to get up with him any time past 6:00 am. Jett and I have our own little morning routine now. This is what we do.



Eventually Jett will stand up and we'll look out the windows until Charlie ambles out and picks up Jett for a quick shave.



I hurry up and get dressed while Jett is occupied, and then somehow we all eat breakfast before passing around the goodbye kisses.

That's our morning!

Tricks of the Trade

It's not easy to change Jett's diaper. He always wants to stand up, and I end up changing his diaper while he's standing with his arms around my neck. Usually he starts to stand up (by grabbing on to my shirt and climbing up my stomach and chest) just after I've gotten the diaper off but before I can wipe his bare butt, so while it's sweet that he's wrapped his arms around my neck, it's not that sweet. There's always inherent danger holding an unwiped, bare-butted baby in your arms.

But thanks to his cousins Megan and Owen, changing diapers is getting much easier. They passed down to Jett an authentic-looking toy cell phone. It's gray and small, and there is hardly anything flashy about it. It has him fooled. And we're working hard to make things stay this way.

We keep the cell phone just out of his reach. And we always have to make a call on it at the most inconvenient time - every time he needs a diaper change, that is. We can only get in a few minutes of conversation until he has finally reached those little finertips high enough to snatch it away from our ear - and into his mouth.

Then, quick as a wink, we've got him down on that changing table and in a new diaper before he's figured out that wow - he finally got to play with Mom or Dad's cell phone!

Traffic, Sports, and Weather

Just getting caught up on local news.

Ten Months Old

Easter week was fabulous.

Easter morning

Great Grandma

"Hey, cool shirt!"

Grandpa

Grandma

And now Jett is ten months old! Last week Charlie turned 408 months old. I gave them both the best present I could give them - more time with each other. That's right. 8:01pm to 6:01am is Charlie and Jett time, because this month I am sleeping through the night.

Thankfully Jett is sleeping better now. Maybe drinking a bottle of formula in the middle of the night isn't a compelling enough reason to wake all the way up. Maybe Charlie slips him some whisky after I go to bed. All I know is that every night when I pull my covers up around me and snuggle down into my cozy blankets, I know I am staying in bed until morning. As much as I've loved my one-on-one time with Jett every 1:00, 3:00, and 5:00am, I do not miss my bare feet on the cold floor, walking bleary-eyed into the kitchen counter on my way to Jett's room, or that sinking feeling you have when you go to bed every night, knowing that in a couple of hours you're going to be awake again, and again, and again.

So, like I said, happy birthday, boys.

Ahem.

Jett is ten months old! He's accomplished a lot of stuff this month. In fact just today he did the following:

1. Figured out how to move the barricades (I mean footstools) away from the tv and stereo, which means we'll have to keep the armoire doors closed now, which means we'll be watching a lot less tv, which sounds good to me, but maybe not to Charlie.

2. Fed himself for the first time (except for that time he ate a little dirt at the park). He had his first finger food at dinner tonight. The first time he picked up that puffed little star, it fell off of his hand. Then he picked up another one and transfered it to his other hand. He closed his little fingers around it so his hand was in a fist. It took about a minute for him to figure out how to open his fist the perfect amount - just enough to put the puffed star in his mouth, and not enough to drop it. Who knew there was so much to learn? After that he ate like a pro.

3. Ate an entire banana (mashed up) for dessert.

But that's not all. In the last few days he has:

4. Learned how to wave bye-bye.

5. Cruised all the way down the couch.

6. Stood against the couch (or the footstool or the bench) with no hands.

7. Learned how to open the kitchen cupboards.

But wait, there's more! For the last few weeks Jett has been:

8. Taking baths in the big bathtub - no more kiddie pool. He slides around in there like a little fish. Despite the baby book telling us we'd scar our baby for life if this happened, he has swallowed bath water and lived to tell about it and sat in the tub while the water drained out and has not been afraid that he would get drained out with it.

9. Ducking his head to crawl under our bar stools, and his crib, and that chair from Ikea.

10. Drinking a bottle of formula, here and there.

11. Sleeping through the night every once in a while.

12. Being sweet.

This afternoon in particular was very sweet. He napped for only about half an hour, which wasn't nearly long enough to get through all of the bad tv that I was going to watch while he slept. But when I picked him up out of the crib, I think he must have been missing Grandma and Grandpa, because he told me that all he really wanted to do was snuggle on the couch and watch "my first place" on hgtv. And then he just wanted to keep on snuggling and watch the next show after that. And that's after a whole hour of laying on the couch with me this morning.

Now how did I get so lucky?



Happy Birthday, Jett. We love you.

Standing: check.

This afternoon my mom called and asked if we were all packed for our weekend trip. Obviously our phone doesn't have video yet.



Cleaning schmeaning. We've been too busy standing. STANDING!

Dinner and a Movie

This weekend we went to a friend's place for dinner and a movie. This is what we brought, in addition to the baby:

baby food, baby food spoons, a bib, a washcloth, diapers, diaper wipes, diaper cream, baby pajamas, burp cloth, a onesie, a pair of socks, blankie, two stuffed animals for sleeping, a new toy, three old toys, a pack-n-play for sleeping, quilted sheet for pack-n-play, humidifier to drown out the noise from dinner so baby can sleep, jacket, hat, warm blanket for carrying sleeping baby to car at end of night.

This is what we needed:

baby food, baby food spoon, bib, diaper, pajamas, blankie, and the pack-n-play.

Jett fell asleep at our friend's place promptly at 8:00, and we had to wake him up to take him home. He smiled the whole way home in the car, fell asleep as soon as we laid him in his crib, and didn't wake up until 7:00 in the morning. It's just ironic that the one time Jett sleeps through the night is the night that we have to wake him up just to get him home - and Charlie and I don't get to bed until 1:00 in the morning.

Go figure.

Quick update

I've been meaning to recharge the camera batteries all week, and here it is almost Friday and they still aren't charged. So here is a picture of Jett from a couple of weeks ago.



His cold is all gone - yay! But Friday he gets his 9-month TB test and a blood test to make sure he doesn't have any extra lead in his system. Apparently in Chicago there are so many old condos with lead paint on their walls that the doctors don't take your word for it when you tell them that your condo was a gut-rehab and that you painted the walls yourself and you guarantee there was no extra lead in those paint cans.

So a couple of needles are coming Jett's way tomorrow. Poor Jett.

Feva Drama

It was a crazy weekend. Jett woke up at 3:00 am Thursday with a temperature of 100.9. All of the seasoned parents out there might not bat an eye at 100.9, but we did, and that was just the beginning. By Friday his little thermostat reached 103, and by Saturday it hit a high of 105. Of course by Saturday he was refusing the baby tylenol and motrin that would reduce the fever, so I spent a few hours Saturday afternoon holding Jett and wiping his head and neck with a wet washcloth. (His temperature actually went down two degrees at that point, which just goes to prove that I am indeed SuperMom).

Our last call to the doctor came on Saturday, when he spit up immediately after we tried to give him his motrin (do we give him more motrin right away? would that be an overdose? do we have to wait another 6 hours?). At that point the doctor said that if his temperture wasn't below 101 on Sunday, then we'd probably have to take him to urgent care. Jett apparently can understand everything we say now, and opted out of urgent care and any threat of an I.V., and woke up this morning almost a new person and back to his old self. Still pretty cuddly though. I'm hoping that part sticks around for a while.

In addition to the feva drama, Jett had his nine-month check-up (very efficient use of his doctor appointment, I know). He's still tall and skinny at 29 inches long and 17 pounds, 4 ounces.

In addition to the feva drama and the nine-month check-up, Charlie and I went out Friday night without Jett for the first time since last August. (Yes, we left Jett when he had a fever. But he was taking his medicine then. He was cheerful. The doctor said we could still go out)! Anyway, we went to dinner with friends and then went to the Riv to jump up and down by the stage while we listened to the Great Big Sea. Everyone else sang along, but Charlie and I are new to the Great Big Sea, so all we could do was jump. Still, it was an awesome show. I didn't call home once (and only texted twice).

In addition to the feva drama, the nine-month check-up, and the Great Big Sea, on Saturday night we had 12 friends over for dinner. (Thanks to Charlie's parents for cooking a delish dinner at his sister's and then bringing it over to our house). There is nothing at a party as sweet or pathetic as a baby who doesn't feel good. Thank goodness our friends didn't mind the crying, and thank goodness Jett slept through all of our carousing.

Now he's tucked away in his crib, sleeping like this was the most boring weekend in the world. But it wasn't. It was a weekend of damp baby skin, medicine droppers, ear thermometers, fake irish accents, corned beef and cabbage, celtic music, friends, and fun.

This week I could go for slightly less fun and whole lotta healthy. Fingers crossed.

Nine Months

Happy Birthday, Jett! Yesterday you turned nine months old. But I thought that today was the 12th, not yesterday, which is why I'm posting this tonight and not last night, and which just goes to show how an extra day off will mess with your mama.



So even though I technically missed your nine month birthday, you celebrated in style by doing a couple of new things. First, on Sunday, you crawled twice - one time with each knee. At least that is what Uncle Nathan said, since he was the only one to see you do it - I knew you two were in cahoots.



Then yesterday you pulled yourself up to standing in your crib. You pulled yourself up the way inexperienced climbers climb walls - by reaching up with your hands and puuuullllling yourself up with your arms, legs stretched out straight, getting pulled along, not really bending and stepping yet. It was a herculean effort. You were like The Little Engine That Could. When you finally got up there, standing up straight, oh the look of accomplishment on your sweet face. And then you turned around to reach for your mobile, completely forgetting that you don't know how to stand up unassisted yet, let alone balance. Woops.

What has most excited me since yesterday though is that I think you understand a new word: drink. Every time I feed you in your highchair I give you a sippy cup full of water to drink and play with. Every time you drink from it I say "drink" and I make the sign language motion for it. It has occurred to me that anyone who can see me through our windows must think I'm crazy, because making that sign over and over is a little weird. But yesterday every time I said "drink" you looked right at your sippy cup. Are we communicating with words now? Very exciting!



Finally, you keep growing, little by little. Yesterday I tried to put three different hats on your head and they were all too small. The feet in your pajamas are too short, and you keep growing out of your socks. Today you had on your jean overalls, and they looked like shorts.



Despite these accomplishments of the last four weeks, I think this next month is going to be even more exciting. I predict crawling, a bit more hair, maybe some teeth, and oh, probably some reading, you smarty pants.



Keep it up, kiddo. We love you.

Tornado

I could argue that in some ways, Jett got his start in Americus, Georgia.
It's where Charlie and I met and fell in love.

It was our home for a while, and it's still home to some of the hardest working people I know.

I just wish they didn't have to prove it.

(photo taken by Richard Burkhart, published in the online Savannah Morning News)

Wrestling

wrestling already.
oh great.

Genes

Silas came over on Friday and Jett and I admired his hair.

Then Ellie stopped by to show off her teeth.

After they left Jett looked at me and asked

just what I had handed down to him,
if it wasn't my ability to grow hair or teeth.

I told him I passed down my unattached earlobes,
but he was unimpressed.

Caption Needed

Growing Out of Baby Yoga

Grandma H was here last weekend, and oh, the fun we had. We took Grandma to baby yoga, Jett's favorite place to show off. Baby yoga is awesome. There's not a lot of yoga involved, but we do get out the yoga mats, which is kind of a challenge actually, rolling out the yoga mat while holding on to your baby.

Anyway, lately Jett has been a hit at yoga. I think it's because he is so active. And cute. And he's got a name that all the moms remember. When we walk in the door most of the other moms and babies are sitting on their mats, in two long rows against each wall. (We're usually one of the last ones to arrive - I swear everyone else lives within walking distance of the place, and they all look so relaxed walking up with their strollers while I drive around the block looking for a place to park). So Jett and I walk down that center aisle to the front of the room and all along the way the moms are whispering to their babies, "Hi Jett!" "There's Jett!" "Wave to Jett!"

Most of the babies there are pretty darn cute and content to play along. Jett on the other hand not only follows directions, he improves on the directions. When he is supposed to sit on my knee, he sits and bounces like he's on a bucking bronco. When he is supposed to lay on his back, he lays on his back-and then his stomach-and then his back-and then his stomach. He does not sit still in yoga. And he's loud - so much squealing and giggling. And he's social. When the baby on the mat next to us turns and looks at him, Jett scoots over and tries to give her a kiss. Oh he is a little star.

So we go to yoga with Grandma and I'm excited for this because Jett is such a hit and he seems to love the class, and I love the class, and despite all the extra attention he gets, we spend the entire hour mostly just wrapped up in each other, and I want my mom to share in that too.

Except what happened is that in one week, Jett grew out of yoga. He kept scooting off the mat, or playing with the electrical sockets (which were covered), and sucking on my water bottle. He seemed a bit bored by the games and the songs. My mom and I spent most of the hour scooping him up and putting him back on the mat. How does he grow out of baby yoga in one week?

Thankfully there were still lots of opportunities to snuggle.

Eight Months

Dear Jett,

Happy Birthday, buddy! Today you turn eight months old. And how did you celebrate? You slept through the night. You fell asleep without crying. You wore big-boy pajamas. You ate your first stage 2 baby food (mixed cereal), and you ate carrots for the first time. It's been a big day.

And a big month. You're mobile! You know how to eat three good meals a day - and sometimes you do. You know how to sleep through the night - and sometimes you do that too. You like to sit on the windowsill and look down at the street below. You can pull over a box of toys and pick out the one that you want, and you can pick out a particular book from the shelf. (I'm not convinced that you are actually looking for a particular book, but you're a good little faker). You love the book Moo Baa La La La and I really think you imitated me making the cow sound and the sheep sound once. You haven't done it since, but it's ingrained in my memory; it was so funny.



You said "mama" this month, and I think you know what it means. When someone asks you where mama is, sometimes, often times, you look right at me. Or for me. It's thrilling.

We found the ticklish places in your back this month. And on your side, and on your belly (but we already knew about that one). You giggle like no one has giggled before and we have to restrain ourselves and limit our tickling because we don't want to wear you out. But we could listen to your giggling forever.



Oh, and that itsby bitsy spider? You can't get enough of him. But that little piggy who cried wee wee wee all the way to Megan and Owen's is the most hilarious little piggy on the planet. You also noticed your dragon this month. He was the first thing that we bought for you, before you were even born. Thanks for thinking it's so nifty.



You haven't slept in our bed in forever and I miss you, so sweet, laying next to us. But this weekend you and I napped in the bed, and when you woke up, well, you were completely charming. Cheek all rosy, sporting a waffle-print from my sleeve, neck kind of sweaty from resting on my arm, hair sticking up (yes, you have enough hair for bed-head!). You lifted your head up and looked around so drowsy, with those heavy eyes, we were in our own little sweet sleepy world until you caught a glimpse of the alarm clock. The alarm clock! Black! Shiny! With red numbers! And a cord! It's ELECTRONIC! I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT! I WANT IT I WANT IT! I WANT TO EAT IT! You've never woken up so fast in your life.

Actually, you are usually slow to wake up. Kind of groggy in the morning. Just a little grumpy. But that's ok, because you spend the rest of the day charming the pants off everyone, you little charmer.

You're eight months old and you're more fun every single day. Happy Birthday, Jett. We love you.

Toys

Oooh, shiny. Oooh, metal. Oooh, something that could pinch my fingers. (It hasn't). Must have it. Must taste everything metal in the house. That door stop sticking out from the wall, behind the door? Get ready. You're next.

Puppy

Is it bad if my baby reminds me of a puppy?

He has this little indoor "pool" and he has started to try to lap up the water with his tongue. Except the water is trapped in plastic, but he just keeps bobbing his little face against the plastic, until his little tongue marks are all over it.



He's scooting everywhere now. He pushes up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but when he wants to go somewhere, he swims across the floor, with his little butt in the air. Sometimes he almost swims right out of his pants.



When he wants me to pick him up, he'll scoot across the floor to where ever I am and lay at my feet, bouncing on his belly, with his arms and legs waving in the air. He'll look up at me and just wait there, bouncing, until I bend down and scoop him up. If he was a puppy, his little tail would be wagging.

Again with the sleeping

i·ro·ny [ahy-ruh-nee]
an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.

It would be ironic if after Jett learned to sleep through the night, he caught a cold which plugged up his nose and wouldn't allow him to sleep through the night. It would be ironic if after bragging about Jett's ability to sleep through the night, we were back to middle of the night and wee-hour of the morning nursings.

That would be ironic, and I live in an ironic world.