First birthday and such

Jackson's first birthday was about three weeks ago...we had a great day! I flew home from a business trip in Utah on Wednesday evening and was happy to be home with my boy on his first birthday. We made some cake and had all the grandparents over for his first birthday dinner. He smashed and threw his cake around, but did not actually put any in his mouth on his own. He likes to have a clean face when he eats and smashing cake into his face just wouldn't go with that.

We had Jack's party on Saturday, August 30th and had a great time! We had lots of company and Randy's barbecue for dinner. It was great. The cakes for the party were from Publix-we had a Nemo themed party and cake to go with it. The small cake for Jack was decorated with yellow and blue frosting trim. He smashed it around and made a horrible green mess. The worst part was trying to clean him up-it left a really funky ring in the bathtub. The cleanup from the homemade cake was MUCH easier!!

We have been pretty low-key for the last few weeks. I am being laid off at the end of September, so we are trying to prepare for that. I am actually somewhat excited about staying home with Jack for a while and getting some things done around the house. We'll see how the projects go...Jack will certainly keep me very busy. However, he does nap at least once a day, so I hope to do some sewing while he's snoozing. My mom will certainly be at our house a few days a week. She's going to go through Jack withdrawl, I'm afraid. I am grateful for the help, honestly.

Other than my layoff, there's not much news around here. Jack is walking around like crazy and we swear he's on the brink of talking...he jabbers a lot but hasn't even started calling us Dada and Mama yet. He is teething again...poor kid only has four teeth, so it's about time!! Jack is also back in ISR swimming lessons. We are hoping it will last for another few weeks or so. The teacher has been incredibly gracious and is comping the lessons to make up for our last experience. Jack went through six weeks of lessons and was not remotely ready to save himself if he fell in the water. It's a terrifying thought, but at least we are fixing the problem. Jack has bonded much better with this teacher and we are going to her house instead of her coming to my parents' place. The change in enviroment plus a heated pool have done a great deal already. Instead of him screaming bloody murder the whole time, he only fusses a little bit while in the water and afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed that this time we are successful!

Helmet Graduation!

We are pleased to announce the Jackson has graduated and no longer has to wear his helmet! We got the green light for abandonment yesterday from the pediatric neurosurgeon and we are so excited!

On the injury list is Jack's left big toe. He has been eyeing the canned goods (to his peril) at Gran's house for some time...and the worst has finally happened. He dropped a can of beans on his toe on Monday and it is pretty clear that he is going to lose his toenail. It's very purple and bruised and is starting to lift up. I have some pictures that I will post later...I am leaving for Utah EARLY tomorrow morning but wanted to post before I left.

One more thing-in case anyone was wondering, we survived Fay with no problems. The backyard flooded to near dangerous levels and we thought our back porch might take on some water, but Randy went out in the worst of it, dug a trench in the yard, pulled out a bunch of grass and some landscaping timbers and saved the day! The yard drained onto the front sidewalk pretty quickly and a crisis was averted. Whew!

Way overdue

Ok, so we've basically fallen off the face of the earth...but now we're back!!

In our last installment, Jackson had just begun to crawl around and get into everything. Within a week of crawling, Jack was able to sit himself up, which was very convenient for us. He'd get onto his hands and knees and then didn't exactly know what to do with himself, so he'd pretty much either lay on his belly or make noise until someone sat him up. You can imagine that by this time, he's just zooming around...which brings us to another milestone. Jack took his first real steps on July 10th and is now walking around all over the place. He FINALLY got his first teeth about four weeks ago and his top two teeth broke through his gums just this weekend. We're a little late in the teething department (just like his Mama). No words yet, but he babbles all the time.

Jackson was quite the little traveler in July. We went and met Amy and the three kiddos in Key West for the Fourth of July and had a great time. Poor Steve was at work, but Randy and Mickade fished off the crazy neighbor's dock and we went downtown on Duval for a little bit too. He did really well in the car and we all enjoyed ourselves. I highly recommend the Fly Navy hotel down there-it was simple but nice. And very affordable!!

We also took Jackson on his first airplane ride two weeks after Key West. My grandpa turned 87 on July 19, so we went to Michigan for a long weekend to visit. We went ahead and bought Jack an airplane seat and set up his carseat in the plane. What a great idea that was!! He slept for most of the way there and back. I thank my lucky stars that we weren't the people with the screaming baby. This time. Jack was a bit hit with my family and we had a good time visiting with everyone and going to the farmer's market and all that jazz. We also took Jack to EPCOT to see my sister a couple of days later (my birthday, actually), as she and her kids were there for a week with some friends.

We are finally weaning Jack off of his formula and he's now at 50/50 formula and milk. He had some stomach issues at first but seems to have adjusted quite well. We are excited to be through with the most expensive formula that's not prescription. God bless the internet, because I was able to get it much cheaper there than anywhere else.

We enrolled Jack in ISR swimming lessons (a must for little ones around water) in June. After about six weeks of lessons with (what I later discovered was) a terrible instructor, I am afraid that if Jack fell in the water, he'd sink like a stone. I wrote an email to another local instructor (she's a Master Instructor instead of just a Certified Instructor) and she has graciously offered to re-train Jack at no charge to us. I am waiting for a medical clearance because of the helmet (more on that in a minute) and we will hopefully start this week. I am quite thankful that she has offered to do this for free and hope she will pass on my terrible experience to the other people in the organization. For those of you that don't know, ISR teaches basic rescue swimming for infants as young as six months of age. They learn to roll themselves over in the water and float on their backs until help comes to get them. It's not a complete answer, but can at least buy you some time for when you realize that a little one has gone missing. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for young kids around here, so it's very important. In fact, Randy's parents found him at the bottom of the pool about two weeks before his brother was born. He was obviously very lucky. Anyway, I'll keep you updated with the swimming thing.

As for the helmet, Jack is in it for another ten days or so. He goes to what I hope will be his final appointment with the pediatric neurosurgeon a week from Friday. I am really over this helmet thing. I think he's getting headaches from it and he cries quite a lot when it is on these days. He had it off for most of the weekend because there was a spot that was rubbing quite a bit on his head (it left a red spot for quite a while after we took the helmet off). You have to be especially careful with stuff like that because if they get an abrasion on their head while in the helmet, you have to leave the helmet off until it heals completely, so you lose time. Keep your fingers crossed that this is it and that he's done.

Jack learned how to use a straw cup yesterday...I put some water in it and before I knew it, he was sipping from it. Amazing. I thought it would take much longer than half a day.

And finally, some pictures...

Jack enjoying his first ice pop to help with teething (it's Pedialyte from when he was sick-all I had, but he loved it)...

Jack and Mama in Key West on July 4th...

Jack's new girlfriend, Lucy...isn't she a total cutie?!!


Sitting on the beach, waiting for the fireworks to start...Mom, how much longer?

Four generations-us on Grandpa's 87th birthday

Nine Months!

I can hardly believe that Jackson will be 9 months old tomorrow! He started crawling the day before Mother's Day and hasn't stopped since. He is motoring like crazy and can now sit himself up as well. He has pulled himself up to a standing position a couple of times, but I don't think he realizes he can do it.

We had our first really bad bout of sickness two weeks ago with Jack. He had diarrhea one day and for the next week, his stomach just wasn't right. He threw up (all over me, of course) several times and managed to throw up in his bed as well one night. Finally, on day seven of being sick, he finally came around. In my mothering wisdom, I thought that giving him juice at this age wouldn't be a great idea. I don't want him to get the horrible sweet tooth that I have and it's just empty calories that rot your teeth (omg, I am turning into my mother). This totally backfired while Jack was sick, as he wouldn't drink Pedialyte or even the Gatorade G2 the pediatrician's office recommended to ensure he had enough electrolytes. He just wanted what he always drinks if he's not having formula in a bottle-plain old water. He did try and like saltine crackers which was a bonus, so we gave him those since they are chock full of salt. He's fine now and is making up for lost time with an insatiable appetite.

Jack has really got the chewing thing down now and enjoys food quite a lot. He likes chicken, pasta, carrots, potatoes and fruit. He does really like applesauce (apples and blueberries to be exact) and I don't mind giving that to him for dessert. And baby goldfish. Loves the goldfish to death. Did I mention that my growing boy STILL has no teeth? I think maybe they'll come in when he's in high school or something...

Helmet!

Well, Jackson got his helmet on Tuesday...it seems like we have been waiting for this forever. He is getting used to wearing it. They have you ease into it so the kid doesn't totally freak out. He wore it three hours on Wednesday (one hour at a time with an hour break), then six on Thursday (two hours at a time), then twelve today (four hours at a time). Tomorrow is supposed to be eight hours at a time, but we will probably just leave it on him. My friend Alison from work says that he looks like Speed Racer (and I think she might be right).

Turns out my sister got word on Monday that she and her family are moving to Houston this summer. While sad to be leaving Dallas, she seems to be ok with it. Ian is excited-they went to Houston a few weeks ago for a Tae Kwon Do tournament and he had fun, so he's looking forward to it. They have known about the move for a couple of years, but I think it was a shock to hear that it was FINALLY going to happen. I am excited to kill the proverbial two birds with one stone next year and visit Charlotte and one of my best friends, Anna. Anna's son Wyatt is exactly seven months younger than Jackson and I can't wait to see them.

I am so excited that my other best friend, "Little" Amy, is back in Florida again for a few years. She and her husband Steve are moving to Key West in June, and she has come down from New York early-yay!! She had baby #3, a girl named Lucy on March 2nd. I can't wait to meet Lucy and too see her other two little ones, Mickade (who will be a whopping six years old in about a week) and Lilli (age 3 1/2). Amy is looking forward to seeing Jackson for the first time. Should be fun...I haven't seen her since about this time last year when I was still pregnant (obviously).

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend...we need a break. Jack's sleep is still erratic. Last night, he slept through the night with nary a peep. He's been up a few nights this week with wet diapers and needing to be turned from belly to back. He freaks out when he wakes up on his belly. I am praying he sleeps as well tonight as he did last night.

Jack is finally getting the chewing thing for food. He had some avocado tonight and just LOVED it and was begging for more. He also had some yogurt, which I am giving him sparingly given his previous sensitivity to milk. I am hoping it doesn't upset his stomach, because he really did like it.

Birthday/Baptism weekend!

I promised an update on the first weekend of April, so here it is. My Grandma Shirley turned 85, my sister had another 29th birthday and Jackson was baptized.


Charlotte, Dean, Ian and Jeanette arrived on Thursday (also Charlotte's birthday) and we had dinner at our place with a lovely birthday cake. Apparently, Jeanette was very concerned about her mom having a cake since they were traveling, so we went all out. A beautiful Disney Princesses cake was set alight for Charlotte's birthday with a few candles for her to blow out.


We had pictures taken of the kids on Friday for everyone and they turned out so cute!! Ian was extremely helpful and fed Jackson his bottle in the car so he wouldn't get fussy and ruin the pictures. Here are our cuties!


Shirley's younger brother Jon came to visit Friday and we went to Islands Fish Grill for lunch with him and had a great time. She was incredibly surprised to see him and it was so sweet of him to visit. He flew in from California for just a few days and then flew back for his wife's birthday celebration. I just returned from California a week ago and can tell you that it is a grueling trip, so hats off to Great Uncle Jon.



We had a really nice dinner for Grandma's birthday at the Yellow Dog Cafe on Saturday evening. We lucked out and the kids managed to keep from melting down while we were eating at the restaurant. We had yummy Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake for dessert...soooo good! Ian decided that he wanted to spend the night at our house, so we put him up on the blow up mattress and he slept like a rock. He was such a great helper with Jackson and was so very sweet to him. He's a terrific kid...we wish we lived closer so we could see them more often.



Sunday morning was Jack's baptism...we packed it in so everyone could attend, since they were already there for Grandma's birthday. The baptism followed the longest Mass we have ever attended at our church...we were there forever! Jackson didn't make a peep when the priest poured the water on his head and was good the entire time. The lunch afterward went on into the evening hours and we had a very good time. May we state for the record that this is the only time that we will put Jackson in a dress, opting for the very traditional Christening gown that my mother made for him with her own two incredibly talented hands. It was beautiful and we had more pictures taken of Jack in the gown.


Jack will be eight months old on Monday. We have been giving him cereal puffs and just today I noticed him finally starting to chew them rather than trying to suck on them and swallow them whole. Woo hoo! Solid food, here we come!! He is sitting up by himself, turning around onto his belly and is so close to crawing that we are overdue for babyproofing the house. He LOVES to drink water out of a sippy cup and finds both our dogs and my parents' dogs just hilarious. He laughs at them quite a lot.


I am running a 5K for the Melbourne Art Festival on Saturday with some coworkers...should be fun. I haven't run a race in about a year and a half, so I'm looking forward to it.

Too long!

It has been way too long since my last post...a little catch-up.

Jackson's first Easter was great. Randy had just returned from a week in California and a totally botched (not-so-Good) Friday morning flight from San Jose...he missed his Friday morning plane and rather than being home Friday night for dinner, he was home for a late lunch on Saturday instead. And then we had the family over for Easter dinner on Sunday. Yes, I know we're crazy. But we already had all the food. Here's some pictures: coloring eggs with me, Jack's basket from the Easter Bunny and hanging out with Nana on Easter Sunday. Notice the super-cute sweater vest...my mom knitted it for him before he was born and it fit like a glove!!

We took Jackson to the pediatric neurosurgeon a couple of weeks ago and discovered that he has moderate to severe plagiocephaly (i.e. a VERY flat back of the head). Dr. Olivarria did indeed recommend helmet therapy to correct the problem. Thankfully, my friend Anna's husband Ben (also a doctor) is a great counsel in this area, as this is his specialty AND he just finished a two month rotation at Children's Hospital there in Houston dealing with issues such as this. Basically, it is no big deal, it will take 6-12 weeks depending on how fast his head grows and weather or not he has a growth spurt while wearing the helmet. The downside is that most insurance companies have determined that this is a cosmetic problem, not a developmental issue and will not cover the (in Jackson's case) $2000 cost for helmet and treatment. According to Ben, this is an awesome deal and is cheap compared to other places he has heard of. The neurosurgeon's office made our case to Health First anyway. I finally got so exhausted and insane from praying that insurance would cover it that I asked God to just give me peace and let me be happy with whatever the decision was...lo and behold, Health First approved the helmet therapy. We are so thankful!! Here are a couple pictures of our boy's very flat head. You can see that the one side is indented more than the other and that the back of his head isn't rounded out like it should be. His reflux and the throwing up he did every time we put him on his belly didn't help when he was a younger-he spent a lot of time on his back. Apparently, we are lucky that his forehead isn't bulging due to this. He has to go hopefully this week for the mold, then back two weeks after that for the fitting. Once we have the helmet, it's back once a week for the first three weeks to Orlando to have them check it and then it's up to the docs there how often they will see him after they have seen his progress. Very crazy and a huge pain, but I guess there's a possibility of brain damage if they don't fix it?

This weekend was another whirlwind that I will save for next time...Grandma Shirley's 85th birthday and Jackson's baptism were the highlights of the weekend.