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.

Jackson update!

Jackson went to see Dr. Witte on Friday for his latest check-up and shots. As of Friday, he was 18 lbs. 5 oz. (65th percentile) and 28 1/2 inches long (off the charts-95th percentile +). We are going to give soy formula a shot next weekend at her suggestion, so that should be an adventure. We are also going to visit the pediatric neurosurgeon (don't freak out yet) because of Jackson's warped head (also called plagiocephaly). She wanted to be cautious and have us go now. Should he need a helmet, it will be quick and easy now rather than later when his bones have calcified more. His head has quite a slope to one side, so we've been expecting this for a while. We'll see how that goes. If he does need one, it should only be for a few months at most.

Jackson continues to be a very happy kid and just loves being outdoors, taking baths and eating. He watches in earnest as we eat, wanting so badly to have some. He did have a little taste of cake, frosting and ice cream a week ago Sunday at Aunt Nancy's birthday party. He also had some toast at breakfast the same day and managed to get butter in his hair. He's pushing himself up with his arms quite well these days and Gran said just today that he managed to get up on his knees. Here we go! It's all downhill from here. Jackson hates lying down and wants to sit up or stand up all the time (I think so he can see everything). We have switched him out of his infant car seat into his convertible one because having him in "the bucket" was just way too heavy! He can sit up a bit more in the convertible seat as well, which he seems to like.

All is well here...we're just very tired.

Not sleeping...again

Jackson broke his four-night streak on Friday and hasn't slept through the night since. Ugh. He is waking at 2am and is taking a full 7 oz. bottle, so we are certain he is hungry and not just waking out of habit. I did try giving him some baby food that has some cereal in it for his dinner tonight. We'll see how that goes.

Had a nice weekend. Jack and I went out with my mom on Saturday to the mall and then went out for lunch. We had dinner plans with Randy's boss so Jack and I got home and pretty much turned around and went to Adam and Sue's for dinner, which was awesome. Pork chops with yummy cherry sauce, asparagus, carrots and carrot cake for dessert (belated for Randy's birthday). So tasty!

Worked in the front yard on Sunday and hacked down the hibiscus plants out there, which was long overdue. Trimmed the crotons and the elephant ear plant and they all look much better.

Not much else going on here besides the daily grind. I've started running again, this time at work with my wonderful co-workers Jenn and Alison. This is their first go at the running thing, and they are doing awesome and are such troopers. I really hope the three of us can make it to the end of this running plan, as I think it's so much fun. I'm glad to be getting back into it for both the exercise and other health benefits. My ob/gyn suggested I get back to running to help build my bone density, as our sweet little babies tend to suck calcium right out of our bones as they get big and strong while in utero.

Speaking of sweet little babies again, Jackson will be six months old tomorrow. Amazing to think that six months ago, I was gazing out the window at the full moon at the hospital, with them just starting my pitocin. I had no idea what I was in for...ha! He's so much fun now and we just couldn't imagine life without our Jackson. Crazy stuff. :) And again on the baby front, I'm still waiting to hear if baby Atchley #3 has decided to make an appearance yet. I believe he/she is due on Friday, so we are all anxious to see how it turns out. Thinking good thoughts for Amy and baby for a quick, easy, painless birth....

Three in a Row!

Ok, so I'm probably jinxing myself...Jackson has slept through the night for the last three nights in a row. He was up REALLY early this morning (4:30am) but who needs sleep? Keep your fingers crossed for us...