Ribbit Ribbit!

Magic Momma

First, thanks to all of you who commented (by leaving a comment or sending me an email) on where the sidebar shows up on your computer. Sounds like some of you see it correctly and some of you see it way down at the bottom, and I'm not sure how to fix it. I'll have to figure that out as I go along. Actually I'll have to figure out how to figure it out as I go along. If any of you have any advice, I'll take it.

Now back to my favorite topic: Jett. Sometimes I spend all day making wrong decisions. We go outside without our hats. I attempt to change his diaper when it doesn't need changing. I think he's crying because he's hungry, but really he's sleepy. Sometimes it seems like being a mom really means that you spend your day doing things that you could have done more right. To be honest, I didn't have to become a mom to experience this phenomenon. I just suffer from it more often now.
It's not that everything I do is wrong, it's just not as right as it could be.

Tonight I laid an already-sleeping Jett down to sleep, but he woke up two minutes later. And he was crying in a way that said, "Come and get me now! I'm not sleepy! Are you crazy?" I thought I'd try to just put his pacifier back in his mouth, but when I went to him, he was still sucking on it. (Sucking and crying - he's a talented kid). Charlie or I usually pick him up at this point, but I was still all sweaty from having just held him for forever, so instead I leaned over him and started to sing. (I sing "Lullaby" by the Dixie Chicks - but that song is beautiful and you wouldn't even recognize it if you heard me sing it - it's not the easiest song to replicate). But somehow, four off-key verses later, he rolled onto his side and fell asleep.

Maybe it was the wine I had with dinner. Maybe he was finally ready to stay asleep. But I felt like magic. I think I'm the magic momma.

Techie Help + Stunt Double

Trying to manage a blog with a beginner's knowledge of html and computer-stuff in general is not that easy, so I need your help. Please tell me where on the page (if anywhere) you see my sidebar. The sidebar starts with a small section called "About Me". Below that is a heading that says "If They Wrote For the Tribune I Would Buy It Everyday" with a list of links after it. And then the sidebar continues with more links, previous posts, and a list of archives. You may have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see my sidebar (arrrgh) even though you shouldn't have to. If you have a minute, please click on the "comment" link directly below this post and tell me a) if you can see my sidebar anywhere, and b) where it is. Thanks. It's a big help and I really appreciate it.

And then I can finish correcting these errors and get back to entertaining you with stories of Jett.

Speaking of entertainment....Jett is earning his allowance these days as a stunt double for Bill Murray.

Johnson Family Vacation

What do you do when the Johnsons come to town?

You learn to fly.

You see the sights.

You find a comfy spot.

You give a hug.

You make yourself heard.

You rest your weary head.

morning conversation

Listen to Jett and Charlie talking.

Gabcast! Just Jett #1

Rain

Lately Jett's been sleeping from about 8:00pm to 7:00am. Before you all tell me how lucky we are, consider that we don't get home until 6:00 or 7:00 at night, which only leaves one or two short hours with our baby in the evening. Tonight he fell asleep at 7:00. Seven! And he drank 16.5 ounces of milk while I was at work. 16.5!! That's a lot. The baby book says he's probably going through a growth spurt. I keep telling him to stop it, but he won't listen.



So the sleeping is getting better. He's still waking up a few times during the night, but when he sleeps, he sleeps soundly. For example, it could rain in his bedroom and he wouldn't even know it. How do I know this, you ask?

Oh, a little storm swept through the other night. Right through the windows. And the walls. Onto the window sills and the floor. It blew onto the chair and the pile of important stuff we keep in the Important Pile on the floor. It was great - really gave us an opportunity to see how quickly we could work in the dark while tiptoeing around a sleeping baby and dodging raindrops. We rigged up a nifty little system to funnel the water into Jett's bathtub instead of letting the rain water our carpet. We were up and down the ladder, tearing strips of masking tape (don't we have any duct tape?), rummaging through closets and toolboxes and looking for the flashlight and ripping cardboard boxes apart, and wondering how much this was going to cost us to fix because there is no way I'm letting either of us climb up a ladder outside of our 3rd story window just to run a bead of caulk - and hopefully that's all it needs.



All of this is running through my head. Then I look over my shoulder.



It's nice to have a sweet, sleeping baby to focus on when it's raining in your bedroom.

Tour de Michigan

Last weekend we took on the Tour de Michigan, which meant 16 hours in the car (what with all the rain & the stops to nurse).

Why 16 hours in the car is worth it:
1. Great Grandma Bee
2. The Veryser cuteness
2. A splashy bath
3. Getting to hang with the college kids






And Jett did awesome in the car. Road trip, anyone?

With a name like that....

When we introduce a new person to Jett (no, not Chet, Jett, like Jeff, but with Ts) we almost always get a positive response to his name. (Except yesterday, when the pharmacist told me not to worry, Jett would like me anyway). Then people start imagining what he's going to be, because he'll certainly be something, with a name like Jett. People have suggested that he'll be a rock star, a football player, or at least he'll be very speedy (you know, like a jet). No one says realestate broker. But it could happen. You never know.

Like Father Like Son

Everyone says...



That Jett looks like Charlie.



But I don't know.



I don't see any resemblance.



Do you?

Three Months New

Three months ago Charlie said we should skip the hospital valet service and get that free parking space around the corner. Three months ago Charlie listened to me and paid for the valet.



Two months and 30 days ago the nurses wanted to take Jett to the nursery so we could sleep through the night, but we couldn’t stand to have Jett that far away from us.



Two months and 27 days ago, we brought Jett home.



Two months and 23 days ago he still had jaundice.



Eleven weeks ago we gave Jett his first bath.



Ten weeks ago he used a pacifier for the first time, and held it in his mouth with his hand.



Eight weeks ago Jett met his cousins Megan and Owen. Seven weeks ago Jett drank from a bottle (from Charlie) for the first time. He grabbed my hair for the first time. He started patting my back while I nursed him.



Five weeks ago he noticed the activity bar on his bouncy seat and looked at the mobile on his swing.



Two weeks ago Jett started talking to us in his Jett-language.

Today we fell in love with our baby for the 90th day in a row. Today Jett turned three months old.



Happy birthday, Jett.

The GBPs

It’s fall. Most of our Sundays, for the next 263 weeks or so, will involve football in some way or another.

When the Packers play, Charlie is a stand-up-sit-down-pace-around-the-room-call-your-dad-to-talk-strategy-throw-your-hat-at-the-tv-sort of fan. He has the gear: the Packers t-shirt, the Packers hat, and the Packers obnoxiously big plastic cups, which are sold at Lambeau Field. He even bought me a Packers hat. But I’m just the wife. Think of the son.


Considering Jett’s young age, his room is a modest Packer shrine containing two Packer Christmas tree ornaments, a small model of Lambeau field, a Packers pennant, and a professional photo of a certain quarterback. (This is one reason why I chose a neutral color for the walls).

Yes, Charlie is trying to pass this legacy down to Jett. He just signed Jett up for Packer tickets...which should show up in about thirty years. (How's that for thinking ahead)? I can just picture it.... The first story Jett writes in 5th grade will star Brett Favre. He’ll grow up thinking that the colors green and gold are appropriate for casual Fridays. He’ll secretly salute all of those fans bold enough to wear a big block of foam cheese on their head. Someday he will purchase green and gold face paint.

I don’t mind this stuff, and I kind of enjoy football Sundays. When watching football is the only item on your to-do list, your day is entirely accomplishable.

And today was one of those entirely accomplishable days. It was Jett’s Inaugural Packer Game. It was The Day Charlie Watches the Packers With His Son.

The Packers lost, but I would say that Charlie won, wouldn't you?

Jett and Ellie

What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life
- to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.
~George Eliot

Everyone Needs...

a warm welcome.

First Day Down, Lots More to Go

This is how we looked when I left for work this morning, and it's just about how we looked when I got home too. It was a good day. We did it!

Going Back to Work

On Tuesday I go back to work for the first time since Jett was born. I've never been away from him for more than 3 hours, and on Tuesday we will be apart for 10. I know he'll be in the loving arms of his Grandma Katie, and that makes this a little easier. But I still picture Jett missing me and me not being there to comfort him. Those of you who have done this before know how it feels. Those of you who don't know the kind of sad this is, imagine seeing a puppy get kicked. That's the kind of sad I'm talking about.

But let's dial down the sad-o-meter.

I'm keeping in mind that Charlie and I weighed the pros and cons and decided that we would both keep working - or at least give it a very determined try. Millions of women don't have that choice. I'm grateful that I do.

I also sought the advice of friends who have successfully navigated this transition, and this is what they had to say:

"Trust is not about being there all the time. Trust is about always coming back. Whether you do it now or when he's five, he will eventually have to go through this separation. That's a life lesson. You can't protect him from that lesson. And believe me, it's going to be much easier on him to do it now, than to do it when he's older."

"One of the greatest things you can do to build a child's sense of security is to let them know that there are a lot of people in this world that they can rely on."

"I think it was harder on me than on my baby. I think kids are very adaptable especially at such a young age."

"Sometimes it's really nice to talk about something other than your child (children). As much as we love them and talk about them and think about them, it's a nice break sometimes to think about and talk about something else. I think it is actually harder on us than on them."

I just hope it's all true.

Reason Number 3,412 Why We Love Jett

He sleeps in on the weekend.



If we pull him in to bed with us and let him sleep on our chest, he'll sleep for another hour or two. And he wakes up full of smiles. It's the best time of the day.

Good-bye Summer

Summer is almost over for Jett and me. His last visitors of the summer, Aunt Heather and Cousin Lisa, have come and gone. They came to love up Jett, and they did a mighty good job of it.

The real sign that summer is over is that my parents left last weekend. After spending three months here getting to know Jett, their departure is a big adjustment for all of us, most of all for Jett. For the last three months they played with him, read to him, held him, walked him, rocked him, and gushed over him all day. This was our first week alone in a long time. I’m sure he’s thinking, “What, the bouncy seat again, Mom? Wasn’t I just sitting in that thing? Grandma never put me in here!”



Yes, Grandma and Grandpa never did a lot of things, all of which I managed to do the first day they were gone: leave clean laundry all over the house, shrink my new pair of pants, lose the crib sheet somewhere between the washer and the dryer, and affix all diapers to Jett so that he leaks through each one before I even get him off of the changing table.

Oh yeah, summer is over.

But it was fabulous.

Tummy Time

Look at the neck muscles on this kid!

Seeing Stars

Jett is an urban baby. He’s gone out for an iced chai, he’s stayed for just one too many beers at the bar,

he’s been to office buildings in the loop, and he can sleep through anything – ambulances, fire trucks, motorcycles, cell phones, trains, cars honking, and the drum corps that practices outside at the high school across the street. So heading out to the countrylast week was a fairly momentous occasion. It was his first trip out of Chicago, and his first (and hopefully only) week without his dad.

Jett missed his dad, but he did great. Maybe it was all the fresh air. Maybe it was his grandma.

Maybe it was the root beer floats we had at the A&W in Edgerton.

Maybe it was the humungous amount of nature surroundings us.

I like to think everything went right after he napped with his momma in a hammock. For two hours. Napping in a hammock. With his momma. Heaven.

I like living in the city with Jett. But I can’t believe he’s 2 1/2 months old and this is the first time that he’s seen the stars.