Quick Update

We took Jackson to the pediatrician yesterday for his flu and H1N1 shots. He did great and didnt even cry. The nurse had to switch to a longer needle once she saw how chubby his thighs were...ha! They took his weight and he is officially 19 lbs, 15 oz- one measly ounce away from 20 lbs!!

He looks so cute with his little tooth. The other one looks like it will be popping through any day now. We started having him nap in his crib today. That was interesting. It wasnt horrible, but let's just say I hope tomorrow is more successful. More on that later. I am also going to try and get a good picture of his tooth for the next update.

Getting so close!

You can seem him rocking on all fours at the beginning before gets tired of it. This video was taken last week just before he discovered he can just start rolling to get where he wants to go!

Jackson says....

Happy St. Patrick's Day, y'all! I am about to bust out of my swing. Mommy and Daddy desperately need to get me to start napping in my crib!

Daddy really scares me when he sings in a deep voice. I found this out when he started singing the song "mmm mmm mmm mmm" by Crash Test Dummies to annoy Mommy since she absolutely hates that song. It really upset me and this is the face I make, which breaks Mommy and Daddy's hearts!

I love bathtime and I am now in the big boy bath tub!

Mommy saw this at Target and could NOT believe her eyes! Yes, it says "Mommy Whaley loves me." She HAD to buy it! Check out my cool "action" pose!

I really love my teething rings!

We have a tooth!

This week our little man cut his first tooth! We have been checking his bottom gums for awhile to see if there are any teeth coming through, but lo and behold, his first tooth is a top one (just like his mommy)! It is so cute, and I guess I should expect the one next to it to pop through soon. He hasnt been too fussy lately, but earlier this week he woke up several times through the night for a few days, so maybe the teeth are to blame. He has been gnawing on everything in sight and his new tooth actually left quite a mark on Justin's hand. Although I am happy that he got a tooth, I am sad to see the beginning of the end of his gummy smile!!

Jackson has found a new game he likes to play. He loves for us to grab his hands so he can pull himself up to a standing position and walk around while still only holding our hands. He feels like such a big boy and will wait for us to clap and make over his big accomplishment. He wants to do it over and over again. Also, he is still thisclose to crawling, but he has discovered that rolling gets him anywhere he needs to go, so sometimes he gives up trying to crawl and just starts rolling. I have to really watch him when he gets rolling because he will get clear to the other side of the room in no time! He also has the backwards scooting down.

It seems like he has become even more vocal over the last week. The other day he was saying "aaah, hiiii, uuuugh alot so I started repeating every sound he made. He got so tickled over this and when he blew a raspberry at me and I blew one back, he let out the biggest laugh. So now he loves for us to go back and forth with me imitating every sound that he makes. He is using mostly vowell sounds, but we do get an occasional "ga, ma, or ba" in there. I think he will soon learn how to string them together.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. The weather was perfect so we went out to lunch at Vickery's on Shem Creek and then to the new park under the Mt. P bridge. We went to the playground for the first time and put Jackson in a baby swing. At first he was a little unsure, but then he warmed up to it. Jackson also make a new friend, a baby named Sara. She is about a week older than Jackson. She was a cute little girl, but Jackson looked like a giant BEEFY baby next to her. We let the two babies sit face to face and it was just too cute. She grabbed Jackson's hands and his feet. Then when we stood them up, Jackson leaned in and tried to grab her face. He was fascinated with her and he even cracked a couple of smiles! I think he was showing off his standing skills :) We made plans to hang out with Sara again soon.

We have begun giving Jackson baby food twice a day now, and he seems to be getting more excited about it. We are introducing more new foods everyday. Also, we tried the peas again and we got much further this time than last time, although the end result was still Jackson gagging. We have green beans to try this week. Tonight he will try his first meat-chicken and rice. We have been buying Gerber organic foods, but we found Earth's Best at Babies R us/Target that offers much more of a variety in organic food, so we got all kinds of new things to try. I am excited to give him his first finger foods soon! We also started mixing his vitamin in with his baby food and he doesnt seem to notice...yeah! In the past he has taken his vitamin from the dropper just fine, but there were two occasions where he choked. One of those times he choked so bad that he vomited all over Justin. He has never choked on any other medicine, but he always makes a face with the vitamin. We have tried different flavores of tri-visol and now we are using poly-visol, which he hates even more. So the other night while reading the bottle it says you can mix it in with food, so I tried it and- voila-problem solved!

In an effort to not make this blog entirely about Jackson, Justin and I are doing great! We have jumped back on the healthier eating bandwagon again. We have always tried to eat very healthy and lowfat during the week, but during the weekend, all bets are off! Well, we still eat pretty healthy during the week, but lately every meal is followed by chocolate :) I am mostly to blame for this because ever since I had Jackson, I can't get enough sweets! Justin has always had a major weakness for chocolate. We decided to cut out the extra weekly chocolate and instead have stocked up on lots of fruits, frozen yogurt, and fat free chocolate/caramel fruit dip for dessert. We have both dropped about a pound or two each in the last two weeks. Even though I weigh less now than I have in years, I still need to tone up and I think I've lost a lot of muscle since I havent been dancing. I still have some areas I want to work on before the summer! Working out at the gym just isnt quite the same as dance! Plus I want to make sure I stay this weight even when I stop breastfeeding. I have GOT to find a good dance class here soon.

When we began dating in 2004, Justin gained about 20 lbs and I gained about 15 lbs. We were going out every night, living it up/partying, vacationing, and eating dessert with every meal. One day I saw a picture of myself from girls night with my college buddies and I thought "Who is the chubby chick in the photo" and it was ME! Talk about a wake up call. We both started feeling like we needed to really make a change. So Justin and I made a deal and cut out fast food, fattening desserts, and began cooking healthy meals 5 out of 7 days a week. We also started working out 4-5 times a week. Of course he dropped all the weight (and then some) in NO time, and I took a little bit longer, but by our wedding day I weighed just under what I did when I graduated college. Success! On our honeymoon, we ate like gluttons and I put on about 3 lbs...Those nasty 3 lbs that I never did get off! I am so happy to say that I have lost all my baby weight (all 47 lbs..yikes!), those pesky honeymoon 3 lbs, and then some and I plan to keep it off!! That is why we both want to start our healthy eating habits again now so that we stay that way.

One other thing that I have been meaning to mention-I had NO idea just how bad post-partum hair loss would be for me! Around 4 months pp, my hair started falling out in globs. It was really bad for awhile and I could see patches where it was getting really thin. It finally stopped falling out around 6 months pp and now it is growing back. You can see in the picture above how whispy/spiky it is growing in and I just can't wait for it to grow out. Most days I wear pony tails because it is still kinda thin. Gotta love it!

Other than that, both of our jobs are going really well! And I know what a blessing that is. Justin continues to make me laugh on a daily basis and he is still the funniest person I know. We are really enjoying this time in our lives with each other and Jackson and remembering to cherish every day!

Laughing Monkey-Pt 2

Because this never gets old....

He sneezed and I said "bless you" which made him laugh really hard. He was still laughing by the time Justin brought the camera upstairs. I am not sure why he thinks it is so funny now!

First trip to Florida

Justin had his on-campus sessions for graduate school last weekend, so we made the trip to Gainesville. I was worried it wouldnt happen at first because Justin and I both got minor colds the week before, and I was sure it would hit Jackson. It was my first illness in about 2 years, although thankfully it was really mild! Well, Jackson never did get it and I am hoping that means he won't, since it has been a few weeks. Anyway, we started the trip by stopping for a night in Savannah to break up the trip up some. Jackson slept the whole way to Savannah, which was nice! We left for FL the next morning, and he only slept about half the way to FL, so for the second half of the trip, Justin and I took turns singing to Jackson and handing him toys to play with. Once we arrived, we put Jackson in the stroller and took a look around the campus. We also headed to the bookstore and got some official "Gator" gear. We got Jackson a cute onesie and a new bib. He is modeling the bib in the photos :) On Sat and Sunday, Justin had class so Jackson and I headed to the mall and some other shops around Gainesville. I did manage to get him to nap in the hotel, which was a huge success! We have not been successful thus far in getting him to nap here at home in his crib, so he has still been napping in the swing. I was able to get him to nap in the hotel by laying down with him and rubbing his back. He would wake up about every 20 minutes and fuss for a second until I rubbed his back. I was SO happy that I didnt have to drive him around during his naps to get him to sleep. I hope we can transition him to his crib at home soon! We also brought the pack and play for him to sleep in at the hotel, but he ended up in bed with us both nights. He actually wet through his diaper both nights, so we had to change him in the wee hours of the morning. It was very difficult to get him back to sleep, but when he finally did he slept better in between us. Truth be told, although it makes sleeping more difficult for me, I LOVED having him there in the bed with us. Saturday night I couldnt get back to sleep after his 5 AM diaper change, so I just layed there and watched my two boys sleep very peacefully. As far as the overnight diapers not holding, that has continued since we've been home. We are going to go up a size in his overnight diapers-Size 4, here we come! Anyway, we headed home on Sunday after Justin's class. Jackson slept for about 3 1/2 hours of the 5 hour drive. He really did a great job and it was a successful trip...Jackson's first trip to FL! Justin is already now officially halfway through graduate school!! He is working hard and making A's and we are SO proud of him!

7 Months Old!

It seems like Jackson has grown so much in this last month. His personality just comes out more and more every day. Here are some updates about Jackson this month:

-He is so BUSY! He is constantly moving, looking around, jumping, climbing, etc. He reaches out and grabs anything within arms reach. You can forget drinking anything when you are holding him because he will yank the cup/bottle out of your hand.

-He seems to have gotten so much stronger! He has begun kicking when he is mad/frustrated. When he is done nursing, he is ready to get up and go (unless he is sleepy). If I don't stand/sit him up right afterward, he bucks and kicks and fusses until I do. He is just so interested in what's going on around him. He also has begun throwing his toys when he is done playing with them. He gets some good distance too! He is almost able to pull himself completely to a sitting position from laying down.

-He LOVES to be naked and gets such a kick out out of watching himself "dance" (jump up and down) in front of the mirror. I think his favorite part is when we are getting him undressed because he starts smiling/laughing when his clothes come off. He is a ticklish little guy!

-He is sticking his bottom lip out into a pout pretty much every time before he starts crying. And let me tell you it is the most pitiful sight in the world. I think he's learned that he can get pretty much what he wants from us because that look breaks our hearts every time.

-He is on a great sleep/nap schedule-two naps a day for an hour and a half each. He is sleeping for 11 hours a night, although he wakes up to nurse after about 7 hours. He goes right back to sleep though.

-We are STILL waiting on some teeth. He got a runny nose and was sneezing and fussy for about 2 hours a few weeks ago, but then was perfectly fine after that. We were thinking maybe some teeth were coming through, but nada. He is beginning to chew on his bottom lip a lot now, so maybe we are getting closer.

-He continues to rock back and forth on all fours, so it's just a matter of time before he starts crawling. He has mastered scooting backwards, though. He loves when we encourage and clap for him when he is trying. We have caught him trying to pull himself up onto things a few times now, so we will most likely be lowering the crib VERY soon!

-He sits up all the time and can sit for very long periods of time. He is beginning to play more independently, and loves to sit and play, surrounded by all his toys.

-We weighed him on our scale and got 19 1/2 lbs. He is very long and lean and it is getting harder and harder to lug him around in the carseat these days. He is in 9-12 month clothes.

-He is eating stage 1 baby food and has tried: apples, bananas, peas, carrots, prunes, and sweet potatoes. We have only been feeding him baby food at dinner, but we really need to start giving it to him more often in the day. The problem is that he has never been super excited about solids. I expected him to go crazy for them, but he has seemed kinda indifferent. He will open up for the spoon, but has never seemed overly impressed. I started letting him grab the spoon with me and guide it into his mouth, and that seems to get him more interested. Sometimes he thinks it is a game and will spit it out at me and laugh. But tonight, we tried sweet potatoes again and he actually got excited! He was reaching out and wide eyed, and he ate much more than usual. I hope this trend continues! He is still nursing about 7-8 times a day. We are going to start Stage 2 baby food soon which include meats. We are also going to start giving him some some soft finger foods for him to try.

-He absolutely loves to be sung to. When he is fussy, if we sing to him we can get a smile every time. That also goes for "this little piggy". It just never gets old for him. We need some new songs to sing, though. I feel like we need to expand our song selection for him! I recently remembered a song from my childhood, and he LOVED it. This is the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEEsX69iIxY . I actually remembered all of the movements to it, which were confirmed when I found the link. Man, that takes me back!

-His eyes are still deep blue and his hair is coming in more and more. It is a light brown right now. His fingernails grow so fast and I feel like I am constantly clipping them.

-He is such a sweet baby. He still is fascinated with anything that his Daddy does and it is a challenge to feed him if Justin is in the room because he is so enthralled with him . He also really loves his mommy too, though. After his morning feeding we snuggle on the couch together every morning and I rub his back as he sleeps for awhile before he finally fully wakes up. That is honestly the best part of my day. That, and watching Jackson's face light up when he sees his daddy for the first time each morning.