15 Weeks

Jackson is officially rolling over from front to back!! Hes done it for a couple of weeks now, but not consistently. He does it every time now and is working hard on rolling from back to tummy...hes getting close! Over the last few days, Jackson has found his voice. He is "talking" to us so much now and laughing. His little personality comes out a little more everyday. His daytime naps are getting more regular now and he is getting back to his 9-9 1/2 hours of sleep at night...thank goodness! I still have to get up around 6 AM because he is fussing and kicking like crazy in his sleep, but as soon as I nurse him he settles right down for another 2 hours or so. I weighed him today and got 15.2 lbs, so its safe to say that he is creeping up on that 15 lb mark..my little baby is getting so big so fast!

He is also letting me know now when he is done nursing and had decided to start biting every now and then...ouch!! Then he gets this big grin afterwards. Thank goodness this doesnt happen every time! He loves to play on his playmat and shake his rattle that has his keys on it. He will switch it from hand to hand and bring it to his mouth. He also LOVES to be sung to and for me to play "this little Piggy" with him.

As for me, I am doing well and work is keeping me really busy. I am almost back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I have 2 lbs to go. If I lose 5 more lbs, I will be back to my wedding weight from 3 yrs ago...YAY! And for those of you that dont know, Justin has a new job. After almost 3 years with his last company, a new opportunity presented itself. It was perfect timing because in January his old company is having massive layoffs. He is now with a great company and he deals with diagnostic tests rather than pharma. So far this new company is heads above the last one and Justin is much happier. It is certainly a step up for him, and we are thankful not to have to worry about layoffs in a month! For Thanksgiving we are traveling to NC to spend it with Justin's mom and Carl. It will be Jackson's first road trip. We are hoping that it goes well!

14 Weeks

How slack I am for doing his 14 week update today when he is 15 weeks old! I will do his 15 week post in a few days. I have been back to work for almost a month now and needless to say I have been very busy. I feel like there arent enough hours in the day to get everything done!

The biggest news from this week is that Jackson has outgrown his bassinet. One morning we woke up and his little feet were hanging off the end and he was banging them against it. It was kind of sad to put it away! So now he is sleeping in his pack and play on a sleep positioner because we are not quite ready to put him in his crib. I know he should probably be in his crib by now, but Justin and I want to keep him close by until at least 4 months, when the peak risk for SIDS ends. We are going to transition him to the crib probably right after Christmas. So needless to say, it has been a bit of a change for Jackson from being cuddled in his bassinet to having all the room in the world to stretch those limbs out. He has done better than expected, but has begun waking up around 5:00 AM, giving me about an hour or two less sleep a night. Last night he woke up at 4 AM and didnt go back down until 7. So Mommy and Jackson had a party this morning and played while the rest of the world was sleeping! Lets hope he adjusts soon. Still, he is sleeping for about 7-8 hours so I cant complain too much. I am hoping that he steadily starts sleeping longer again once he gets used to the new arrangement. I am also hoping that this will make transitioning him to the crib much easier as well.

We weighed him the other day and we both came up with 14 1/2 lbs. He is really beefing up and still eating like a champ. He also smiles ALL the time and will just stare up at me and Justin smiling for the longest time. Still, nothing is as entertaining to him as much as when he gets undressed down to his diaper and gets in front of a mirror. He continues to love to stomp his feet and laughs, smiles, and coos at himself. It is the cutest thing!!

13 Weeks

This past Saturday Jackson turned 3 months old! He is getting SO big and heavy...the scale is now saying he weighs a little over 13 1/2 lbs. I wonder when his weight gain will level off. He is also starting to look like he is going to roll over very soon. He has almost done it so many times! I think he will roll from tummy to back first, but he is also really working hard on back to tummy rolling. He is sleeping an average of 9 hours each night now which is wonderful! He also seems to love being barefoot and will stomp his feet really hard when we stand him up in front of a mirror. He gets such a kick out of watching himself do this and seems to slightly favor his right foot over his left.

Jackson smiles ALL of the time and is enjoying sticking his tongue out at us lately. He also loves watching the TV, and we are constantly turning him away so that he can't watch it. He has found sneaky ways to sneak a peak sometimes! I have a feeling that Justin is going to have a movie buddy when Jackson gets older, but for now the TV is off limits. Mommy and Daddy are far more interesting anyway! :)

Justin's birthday is this Friday the 13th...he will be 31! This time last year we had a blast celebrating his 30th birthday on Folly Beach with family and friends. He always said that he didn't want to have kids before 30. A week after his 30th birthday, we became pregnant! So that worked out well. This birthday will be very different, but it a great way :) Happy Birthday Justin! Jackson's birth announcements arrived and they look GREAT! Keep an eye out for them in your mailbox soon! Here is a link to many of our favorite pictures that Kim Graham took a few weeks ago. I think she did a wonderful job!

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=85e1711cc8e8203e&sid=8AbuGzhm1ZOGFE

12 Weeks

Jackson is now weighing in at 13 pounds!! He is double the weight that he was born. He is also outgrowing his bassinet and now wearing 3-6 month clothes. We stopped swaddling him at night, and he has done well with that. He goes down at about 10:30 every night and is up at 7 every morning like clockwork. Usually he wakes up in the mornings like a wild banshee and kicks through his diaper change and cries until he is fed, but lately he has been waking up more peacefully and smiling which is a nice change! Lets see, he is now cooing a lot more and has been getting more tummy time where he lifts his head from side to side and looks all around. We love to practice "walking" and standing as well! He is grasping things more now and will hold a rattle if placed in his hand and move it around. He is learning new things every day! One of his new favorite things is to watch me stick my tongue out him and he gets a big grin and seems to start trying to imitate me-it is so cute!!

This past weekend we took him to Charles Towne Landing and he slept most of the time. We walked around and even went to see the animals, but he was more interested in sleeping. We also passed an alligator who was lurking about 5 or 6 feet away from us, which made me slightly nervous, but he didnt seem to really notice us. It was a beautiful day! That night we dressed Jackson up in his Superman outfit and passed out candy. We barely had any trick or treaters this year, but it was still fun. Also, we got the birth announcements done and ordered which should be in on Friday. I am really pleased with the way the look online and I hope they look as good in person!

I also forgot to mention that Justin got his grades back from his last class and got another "A" which means he still has a 4.0!! YAY-Jackson and mommy are so proud! As for me, I am back at work which has been a little hectic, but I have been working hard to play catch up. I cant believe that Jackson is almost 3 months old...time is going by so fast!!