HOT

I thought I should post an update on us since it's been awhile, but I really don't have much to say b/c it has been HOT and when its hot this Momma don't do outside! :-)

Jack has been spending a lot of time at his Papa and Meme's house on the weekends so that Chris and I can try to finish getting our house in order, I'd say we are 85% of the way there. I finally got some pictures up and put around, but I know everything will be moved around 100 million times due to my OCD-ness! I got so mad at Chris once he made me put out pictures b/c he knows I HAVE TO move them 100 times before I decide to leave them alone. I'm not talking move them across the room or to another part of the house, I'm talking moving them centimeters! :-) Chris thinks it's funny, me - not so much!

Last weekend Chris and I did take a mini-vacation to Branson, just the two of us! It was HOT! Chris shopped til he dropped and I complained about it being hot! Chris did buy my a new Coach purse, so that was GREAT! We shopped, slept, ate, and swam - it was nice! No schedule, no places we had to be - NICE!

Jack is talking more and more every week, it's so cute! I'm starting to get concerned though b/c he only wants to do 3 activities/play - #1 Play Ball (baseball), #2 Ping (swing), and #3 Jump (on the trampoline). He has ZERO interest in ANYTHING else and it drives me nutso! I'm sure it's a phase and it will pass, hopefully sometime soon! I'm so sick of playing ball! :-)

xoxo

healthy?

Jack is just about 19.5 months now and I hate to say that so far this fall/winter he has been sick constantly! He is still having the respiratory issues and for some reason his doctor(s) haven't been able to kick it! He gets really congested and then the couging starts, then the gagging and throwing up from the coughing starts, and then we go to the doctor and he gets an antibiotic and within days he is BETTER - but it never lasts long.

Jack will be healthy as long as he is on his antibiotic and then for the first 2-3 weeks after he finishes his antibiotic and then the entire cycle starts over again!? Ugh, frustrating! We still do his breathing treatment(s) daily and he still takes his Singulair every night - I'm almost at a loss.

I have been told that it could be allergies (duh, the Singulair), but that it could maybe be a food allergy too. A few friends of mine have taken their toddlers to an allergist here in town that works with children/toddlers - so this week I'll be discussing that with Jack's doctor because you guessed it - it's time to go see her again!

Other than the sick issue, Jack is right on track developmentally! He is running, climbing and jumping! He has a new found love of books and wants to read at least 5-10 every evening! He also loves to color - on everything!?!? He is talking more and more and has started putting a few 2-3 word phrases together! Here are a few of the words/phrases I hear over and over - everyday, but I still find it just too cute!

• Where's Chahi? or Where'd Chahi go? (Where's Charlie? Where'd Charlie go?)
• Where's Daddy?
• Where'd (insert he/she/they/dog/kitty) go?
• Peedaboo (peek-a-boo)!
• Moooore!
• Chahi! Chahi! Chahi!
• Dawg! Dawg! Dawg! Arf, Arf, Arf!
• Kitty-Kitty! Moow! Here kitty kitty! (the cat call goes for an animal, not just cats)
• Birrrrr (Bird)
• Big Boy!
• Big Dawg!
• Baaal! (Ball)
• Nine! Nine! Nine! (this was the first button he found on his number book)
• Baaabeee! (Baby)
• Caaaaar. (Car)
• Deeeeer. (Deer)
• Baaath (Bath)

He says more words, but these are the most commonly heard and as you can see he LOVES to carry his "a's" out! Haha! It's cute! He also understands everything you ask him. He has started taking directions and following through. Ex: he puts his shoes away, he throws things in the trash, he helps put the laundry away, he knows his bedroom versus Momma and Dada's bedroom, he knows what all of his toys are and will bring you back the correct one when you ask, he knows when he is in trouble and needs to go sit down and chill out - things like this!

I couldn't be more proud of how he is growing and learning, although I could do without some of the "boy" characteristics - kicking and wrestling and climping/jumping up/off things! Yikes! He is going to make me have a heart attack!

At his 18 month appointment he weighed 24 pounds and was 31.5 inches tall (I think). He has about 11-12 teeth now too! And he is no longer my perfect little sleeper and is sleeping in our bed at least half the night, but I figure until I have a reason to kick him out...I'd rather sleep!

our first picture disaster

This is bits and pieces of an email I sent my two best "mom" friends, who also happen to be two of my IRL besties all the way back from middle school and high school - Chelsea and Chelse.

We had our Family/Jack's 18 month pictures scheduled for this past Saturday and needless to say it was a 100% DISASTER! Jack was pissed from the moment we walked in the door and Jayme said, "Hi Jack!".

In the last 3 months or so he has really become aware of "strangers" or perople he doesn't see reguarly, but I never thought he would put on the performance he did Saturday. We started with the family shot for our Christmas card b/c I was worried he wasn't going to cooperate. And...he didn't. Every time Jayme said anything to get him to look her way he would either go "uhh" or "nooo" and stomp his foot. Then it got worse - he would throw himself on the floor and pound his hands and kick his feet in TRUE tantrum form! I couldn't believe it! I don't think we accomplished ONE picture. She said she thought she might have gotten 1 decent one of the first family pose. We even tried to just take some by himself b/c i thought he would act better if he could see me - WRONG! He stood on this chair screaming "NNOOOOOO" the entire time.

I AM SO SAD! I think I've lost control! He seems so angry and frustrated ALL THE TIME! He acts this way at daycare too...the fit throwing and stomping foot and punching and kicking things when he is mad. I don't know if it's just a phase or if it's his personality? And if it is his personality is it something we did!?

He is also not sleeping well at all anymore! And last week he wouldn't even nap at daycare more than like 45 minutes a day. He stays up until almost 9pm in his crib (even though he is put to bed no later than 730) just playing and talking to himself - then he is exhausted in the mornings and a total crab! UGH! I'm at a loss as to what to do with him?!?!

Sorry, had to vent!

I really don't know what to do anymore. We do time out! We are consistent with what the is and is not allowed to do. We love him. What in the world is going on?

xoxo Frazzled Mom

likes to bite!

Jack has a new found passion for biting! It started awhile back, but in the past couple weeks it has increased in frequency. At first every once in awhile he would kind on nibble your mouth if he was giving a kiss, but I never thought much of it and actually thought it was kind of cute! Then he started biting down on our fingers while we brushed his teeth (with the little finger brush - needless to say we use a regular tooth brush now).

But now he is getting more aggressive AND his favorite thing to bite you ask? TOES! Yes, toes - it's so gross, but he seems like he just can't resist! Bare foot, socked foot, shoed foot - Jack doesn't discriminate! He loves them all equally!

Almost every night now he will sneak up on our feet and dive right in (usually going for the big toe) without warning. Sometimes he will grab ahold of your foot first, which gives you time to pull back - other times we are just out of luck! OUCH!

Jack thinks it is down right hilarious! And I'm not sure he is doing it to inflict pain - I think he likes the reaction of us jumping, jerking, and screaming - its funny to him! He also now likes to fake us out and act like he is giving a kiss on the cheek, all the while fully intending to bite your face off!

I started to wonder if he was biting at daycare? I hadn't been told he was, but I couldn't see how he wouldn't be there if he was doing it at home so reguarly? I talked to Tonya today and she said he hasn't bitten anyone other than her and that was only one time. She said they were snuggling and he was burying his face into her and bite her right between the boobs! Oops! Ha, but at least he isn't biting the other children - yet anyway!

Here's to hoping its a phase that he QUICKLY grows out of!

Wood Farms Pumpkin Patch

This was our second year going to the Woods Farm Pumpkin Patch and I have to say our experience this year was TOTALLY different than last year! Jack was only 5 months old so we could prop him up and he would smile for hours and let us take all the pictures we wanted. This year he was more interested in "people watching" to let me take any posed pictures! He also wanted to do everything he isn't quite big enough for, which lead to multiple break downs on his part! Overall though it was a good trip and it actually made me super excited for next year when I know he will be able to do all the activities his little heart desires!

Seeing that we are in the middle of deer season Chris was hunting, so we met up with my friend Chelse and her little girl Tylee. Thanks Chelse for all the pictures!

Jack was in love with the miniature pigs! He went straight to them and stuck his hand threw the fence to pet them! He didn't want to leave them and we even went back for a second visit!

Honestly, Jack loved all the animals which is making me think we need to visit the zoo or Deanna Rose Farmstead in KC as soon as possible! I know he would love it!

There was a bumble bee blow up obstacle course that Jack really thought he wanted to go in, but I knew he would never make it out because there were 4 foot tall walls that he would have had to climb and then slide down the other side once he got to the top! He was NOT happy about this, so we decided to let him try the bounce house!

I love this picture! When Jack got in the bounce house it was all younger, smaller children. But as luck would have it, about 2 minutes after Jack and Tylee got in - a 200 pound 10 year old jumped in and started reaking jumping havoc on all the little kids! After seeing Jack take a couple good hits I decided it was time to get out - of course Jack had a different idea. As soon as I said, "Come on Jack, let's get out!" he immediately headed towards the back of the house as far away from the door as possible. With the 200 pound 10 year old still going crazy I started to lose my cool (as the 200 pound 10 year old's parents stood by watching their huge son demolish 8 small children), and promptly kicked off my shoes, told the 200 pound 10 year old to STOP JUMPING! and climbed in the house to grab Jack. Jack was less than appreciative of me trying to save him from the 200 pound 10 year and decided to scream bloody murder the entire way out! Oh, the joys of a 16 month old that loves to throw tantrums! Ha! I smiled, looked at all the wide-eyed parents standing around and said, "Oh, he's just having a bad day!" Ha!

Jack also got to play in a huge corn box (think sand box, but full of corn), ride a barrel tractor ride, and then take a hayrack ride (minus the hay) through the "haunted" pasture!

Next year we might hit up Chelse and Tylee's pumpkin patch in McCune - just for a change of scenery (and hopefully not so many people)!

growing up

Jack is getting to be such a big boy these days and with that comes his independence, which is good and in some cases not good! When he doesn't get his way he now throws full out tantrums! He throws himself down on the floor and screams! Jack loves playing outside and making him come inside will guarantee a meltdown! I've started letting him come in on his own terms and then having him shut the door - this usually helps until he realizes that I'm not going to reopen the door for him to go back out!

Jack has also started insisting on holding a fork during meals. He uses it sometimes and he gets so excited when he successfully pokes his food and actually gets it in his mouth! It's cute!

Jack is now running around the house and loves it when people knock on the door! He gets so excited to see who it is! He is back in his own crib, but still plays for quite awhile before actually falling asleep!

We went to the doctor last week for Jack's flu shot and he weighed just over 23 pounds and was 30.5 inches long (yes he is getting taller)!

The cutest thing happened this morning when I dropped him off at Tonya's! Usually I sneak out when he isn't looking or I say a quick bye and Tonya takes him the other way. He never really cries too much and I can always hear him stop before I even get off the porch, but this morning was different. As soon as we walked in Jack wanted to play, I sat and talked to Tonya for a minute and then it was time to leave. I told Jack I was leaving and he made a bee-line for me, I thought oh he is going to cry! He walked over arms out (I thought b/c he wanted picked up), but I just squated down and said "Ok, give me hug and kiss," he hugged me and I kissed him on the cheek and he promptly turned around and went back to playing! What a big boy! That was the first time HE ever gave ME a goodbye hug and kiss!

xoxo

sicky sickerton

Over the weekend I noticed Jack felt a little warmer than usual, but chopped it up to teething because he wasn't acting any different. Well yesterday morning I took him to daycare and told Tonya he felt a little warm that morning so I gave him Tylenol, but that I thought it was just teething and told her to call me if he got any worse...9:15am I get a text from Tonya saying his temp shot up to 102 - 103 degrees! Needless to say I HAD to go get him.

On my way I scheduled him an appointment to see the doctor (or nurse practitioner since our doctor works at a satelite clinic on Mondays and the other doctor at the clinic was booked FULL). In the mean time Jack is fussy and just wanted to sleep and sleep! We got to the clinic and didn't wait long before we were seen by the doctor (he was loopy and I was not impressed), but he said it looks like he has some type of bacterial infection mixed with a sinus infection - say what? Anyway, he said his lymph nodes in his neck were swollen and there was lots of redness and swelling in his nose. We got an antibiotic and he sent us on our way...

I thought - easy enough... until I checked my voicemail last night only to hear Tonya saying, "I won't be open tomorrow. After you picked Jack up this morning Piper (her 3 year old) spiked a 104 degree temp and they took her to the doctor (after her husband got home from work at 2pm) and they think she either has 1) Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease or 2) Fifth's Disease"...GREAT! I'm familiar with HFandM as it has already made it's rounds through daycare since Jack started, but I still need to look into what 5th's is? Needless to say now I'm FREAKING out b/c I'm hoping Jack doesn't have one of these common/fairly common childhood illnesses that our doctor, I mean nurse practitioner who obviously didn't specialize or even see babies that often, wouldn't be familiar with...I guess I'll just have to see how today goes.

Jack is home with Chris today since I was out of the office yesterday...I'm taking bets on what time everyone thinks it will be before Chris calls me and says, "What is his problem? He has been crying and screaming ever since you left!" Haha!

big bully

Jack has turned into the BIGGEST BULLY! He is down right mean - I just haven't determined if it is on purpose or not... He has a new found love of hitting his mom (me) over and over again. He slaps me on the arms, on the face, just about anywhere! It's frustrating...oh so frustrating! I tell him "No" and give a little pat on his hand (now before anyone flies off the handle and tells me I shouldn't spank/pat/slap/tap/etc. my child - let's just not go there, I'm in no way causing him harm). Now this form of discipline doesn't so much seem to be working because most of the time he laughs and thinks it's funny, so now I'm at a loss.

I've also tried totally ignoring him, which is hard when he is whacking you, but I have - that didn't seem to have much effect either.

The BIGGEST issue is that Jack doesn't just like to hit this mom, he is hitting at daycare. Just this morning one of the 3 year old boys was sitting on the ground when we got there, I put Jack down and as soon as Jack headed for Logan - Logan scooched backwards away from Jack really fast! I looked at Tonya and she said, "Well it's because he knows whats coming!" Jack hits him! Ugh! What am I supposed to do!?!?

signing off - Frustrated and Embarassed

how hard is it to change a diaper?

this is how we have to do it in the Spear household...

we love on him in order to trick him into laying down...

he immediately makes a roll for it...

and gets onto his knees! now if your hands slip he will be off like a rocket so HOLD on!

we wrestle him back to his back while he screams the entire time...

then we quickly, very quickly strap on the diaper...as he makes his second or third or fourth attempt at a get away!

a slap in the face

I got a MAJOR reality check/slap in the face yesterday - here is how it all went down...
Cast of Characters -
Darci - myself (duh)
Tonya - Jack's daycare provider
Tanner - Tonya's 11 year old son
Logan - Tonya's 9 year old son

Tanner: Dionthe (the neighbor boy) thinks you're hot!
Darci: Dionthe is gross!
Logan: Well you ARE kinda hot!
Darci: Well thanks Logan!
Tanner: Hm..I'd say you are OK, like somewhere in the middle...
Darci: Oh, really? Well you should have seen me before I had a kid!
Tonya: Yeah, you should see her pictures on facebook from her wedding! She was really tiny!
Tanner: So you used to be skinny too?
Darci: Sad look on face...
Tonya: Yeah and she had really long black hair!
Tanner: So why'd you cut your hair off?
Darci: I don't know! I think I'll go home and NOT eat dinner now! Thanks Tanner!

That's all I have to say about that!

birth to three

For those of you that keep up with the blog know that we have been somewhat concerned with Jack's gross motor skill development for awhile now. He could roll over, but you would never see him do it (he didn't roll until about 5 months though), and he didn't start bearing weight on his legs until he was over 9 months old and he wasn't army crawling or even really attempting to learn to crawl, etc. etc. etc.

So about 8 weeks ago at our last "Parents as Teachers" home visit Dacia (our PAT lady) referred us to the "Birth to Three" program for an evaluation. I think Dacia was becoming slightly concerned as well, but maybe it was my insistance that swayed her...who knows. Either way a couple weeks after Dacia's visit I received a call from DeeDee from Bto3 and we scheduled a home visit for an evaluation. Bto3 is different from PAT in that anyone can do the PAT program, but Bto3 is more for children that have developmental delays. In order to qualify for the program DeeDee explained that he would have to show at least a 25% developmental delay or else she wouldn't be able to come back and see us again.

So she went through a ton of questions and observed Jack for about 30-45 minutes. In the end she reviewed all of his scores. I can't remember all of them, but there was 4 or 5 categories - fine motor skills, gross motor skills, cognitive skills, verbal skills, social skills, and if there were more I don't remember, sorry! All I know is that Jack does not qualify for the program, he is showing ZERO delays in any area. I do remember that gross motor was his lowest score, but still 2 points over the cut off. She was impressed with some of Jack's actions so she went ahead and tested him at an older level for verbal and cognitive skills and he scored in the 14 month range! What a little smarty pants he is!

In the end she said she would sign us up for a "Step Ahead" program that will allow us to continue to keep an eye on him. Basically I will get a survey that will ask questions about his development every few months and I will mail it back and if anything gets flagged then DeeDee will come back!

So all in all my worries were for nothing!

I have tons of things I could list as new things Jack is doing, but I want to wait a few more days until his birthday and do his 12 month update! Can you believe he will be 1 year old in just 2 more days!?! I can't!

xoxo

dear jack

I am so proud of you for learning to crawl and move around at your free will (finally), and I know you are loving your new found freedom, but we have a problem! Could you please find it in your heart to go to sleep at your bedtime like you always have since you were 4 months old (7pm)? I know you think it's super cute to crawl all over your crib, turn your mobile on and off 100 times, sit up, shake your crib rails, clap your hands, scream with joy, and laugh - and believe me inside I think it's cute too, but you need your sleep and I need my "jack free" time in the evening to get chores done, a shower taken, and mentally prepare for the next day! I'd also like to be able to give you your evening breathing treatment before 10pm!

mommy loves you!! xoxo

breaking news!

Jack started crawling yesterday! FINALLY! I'm thrilled, excited, proud, and a ton of other descriptive verbs! It's so cute! I'm just glad he is finally getting motivated! I got him on my cell phone camera last night, but the videos were too long I guess to upload? IDK - I'm not good at the whole uploading video thing? I'll try to take some pictures, but that won't be the same! I'm just so STOKED!

Go Jack - Go Jack - it's almost your birthday!

Milestone - Crawling @ 11 months and 5 days! Whoop Whoop!

xoxo

11 Month Birthday!

Today Jack turned 11 months old! I can't believe we will be celebrating his 1 year birthday in just another 4 short weeks! Time has flown by...I remember like it was yesterday sitting at the house on maternity leave thinking, "OMG - what have I done?" Haha. It definitely took some time for me to adjust to being a mom, but now I wouldn't change a thing!

Here's an update of some of Jack's developments:

• Jack is pointing.
• Jack is clapping.
• Jack is waving.
• Jack gives kisses when asked and sometimes when he isn't asked.
• Jack says Mama, Dada, No, and Huh-uh reguarly and I'm convinced he knows who Mama and Dada are when he says them...well Mama for sure.
• Jack doesn't like when he see Mom walk by and not come to see him - he screams until I come back to get him!
• Jack still loves daycare.
• Jack loves to give you a pat on the back for picking him up!
• Jack is starting to observe the world around him more and more everyday.
• Jack has mastered his "split scoot" and I'm not sure he will ever crawl.
• Jack is starting to try and discover how to pull up to things and if I give him my hands to hold he will stand up by himself, but I haven't found him standing next to any furniture yet.
• Jack drinks 3-4 bottles a day and is now back to eating his baby food as well as table food!
• Jack has ZERO teeth.
• Jack loves to flirt.
• Jack has a mean bone in his little monster body.
• Jack is starting to use toys in the manner they are meant (drives trucks around on the floor, etc.)
• Jack throws fits.
• Jack is starting to semi-sleep better (I'll regret that).
• Jack loves to throw things.
• Jack goes from sitting to knees and back to sitting.
• Jack will stand when placed as long as there is someone to entertain him.
• Jack can sometimes sit up on his own, but this isn't consistent and mainly only happens in his crib or pack n play.
• Jack weighs just under 21 pounds - I'm not sure on his length as Chris didn't pay attention at the dr. this week.

This is all I can really think of. All in all Jack is doing great (minus the whole pneumonia thing)!

xoxo

Pneumonia

That's right, Jack has pneumonia! Can't my little monster ever get a break? Poor little man, but he is such a trooper. Let's get a little background info going - 3 weeks ago I took Jack to the dr. b/c he had spiked a 102 temp when I got him up one morning (it was a Thursday), and she said it looks like his allergies had drained all down the back of his throat and into his ears leading to double ear infections thus the temp. She gave him antibiotics and we started singulair for the allergies. He was on his antibiotic for 10 days and had his last dose last Monday morning (not yesterday, but the monday before that). Friday I noticed he was a little coughy, but chopped it up to allergies. Saturday I went to Chanute for a wedding and stayed the night, but when I got home late morning Sunday it was quickly apparent to me that Jack was panting as he was breathing. Chris said he chopped it up to allergies - I on the other hand had a totally different opinion, so after Jack then proceeded to spike a temp of 100.3 we headed to Urgent Care.

Urgent care tested him for RSV, Strep, and the Flu - all negative. The dr. sent us to the ER though b/c he said it was obvious Jack was having trouble breathing and having to work really hard at it and that he needed a chest xray TONIGHT! We headed up the road to the hospital, so long story short after a breathing treatment with added steroids, an oral steroid, an antibiotic injection in his thigh, and one more breathing treatment Jack finally started to breath easier!

The chest xray revealed he has pneumonia, also both of his ear infections are still going strong! Ugh! His fever only lasted a few hours and he is feeling much better today! Thank goodness! It's scary how something that didn't seem like such a big deal quickly turned into a big deal!

xoxo

Teeth

Nope, we still don't have any, but I've concluded that the Devil is behind the entire teething process. Jack is heading into week 3 of his on and off, sleeping and not sleeping, screaming and not screaming teething escapade.

I have decided that he MUST be teething b/c he has been back on his reflux meds for well over a week and the hiccups have disappeared (thanks Prevacid), but the pain and sleep disruptions remain! I didn't think he would teeth for this long at once? Is this normal?

I've ruled any other illness out because the pain seem sporadic and not consistent. He will be fine and sleep and eat great, then the next day and night he is a mad man!?

I just wish his teeth would either come in or just go away! :-) So he can feel better and I can get back to sleeping through the night without disruption!

xoxo

Great Debate Update

I thought an update or more info was necessary after some of the comments I have received on the whole teething debate. Everyone thinks it sounds like teething to them, which is good and bad in my case.

I have tried Tylenol alternating with Motrin - doesn't seem to help much. We've tried the Teething Tablets - didn't see anything come of that at all. I haven't tried Baby Orajel, but I'm going to get some (hence we I haven't tried it), but I looked last night and I seriously DO NOT SEE ANYTHING in his mouth! No swollen gums, no white spots, no nada!?

I mean I totally wish/hope that he is teething because I'm dying to let him try more table food and I'm starting to wonder if he even has teeth anywhere under those gums - I mean he is 9.5 months old for goodness sake!

But I did start him back on his reflux meds this morning because the more I watched him the more I thought he was showing some signs of reflux - rearing his head back, not wanting to lay down on his back, the non-stop hiccups, it's always worse at night after he has ate all day long (Tonya says he is fine all day at daycare, but around 5:30 or so he gets super duper cranky!), wanting bottles over food - this soothes the pain in his throat, the wet burps have begun again as well and waking at 2am screaming.

Either way - his reflux meds won't hurt him and we can try weaning again in another few months and if it's teeth then teething TOTALLY sucks! We'll see hopefully here in the next week or so if we pop a tooth through or if his meds take his symptoms away (it takes about 5-7 days for the medicine to start working again - grr...).

xoxo

Great Debate

With myself that is...I can't decide if it's teething or reflux?

Jack has been a bit of Mr. Cranky Pants here lately and I can't tell if it's that he is teething or if it's his reflux? We took him off his reflux medicine on the 3rd of March to see if he didn't need it any longer because who wants their baby on medicine if it's not necessary?

I had actually forgot about the fact that we stopped his medicine until this weekend. He is either teething or having reflux pain and I just can't decide which one? He is chomping like an alligator, not wanting to eat his baby food, cries sporadically (screams in pain), is cuddlier than normal, drools, hiccuping more often, chews on his fingers, only wants cheerios and puffs or other finger foods, taking bottles well, he isn't spitting up (but he never really did with his reflux - it was "silent" - yes that is a medical term), no fever, he has been waking up earlier in the mornings screaming, screams when he wakes up from a nap (which is unusual - he is usually in a great mood upon waking), so all in all I don't know what the culprit is?

I'm going to check his mouth good tonight and if I don't see anything then I'm going to start his reflux meds again in the morning I guess...He still doesn't have any teeth so I have nothing to compare to in the teething behavior department.

Wish me luck...

xoxo

kisses from woowoo

Jack was so sweet this weekend - he was giving Chris and me tons of kisses! Jack isn't really the cuddly type of baby so this comes as a surprise to me! We were all laying on the couch and Chris asked for a kiss and Jack gladly obliged; leaning in then opening his mouth and planted one on Chris' mouth! So cute I almost died! Then I asked for a kiss and he leaned over and not only opened his mouth, but suck his tongue out and happily slobbered - I meant kissed me on the mouth!

The first few times I ever received kiss from woowoo I must admit I wasn't that impressed due to all the slobber and open mouthness, but they have absolutely grown on me! I will gladly be on the receiving end of a "open mouthed, tongue out kiss" from woowoo anytime!

By the way - woowoo is Jack's nickname at daycare. All the kids started calling him Jackie WooWoo which then became just WooWoo, but I like to write it woowoo in all lowercase because I'm cool like that! I call Jack googer (like booger, but with a "g"), but woowoo is starting to take over b/c it's so darn cute!

xoxo

9 Month "Kan Be Healthy"

Wednesday Chris and I took Jack for his 9 month "Kan Be Healthy" (Kan is a play on Kansas - I do know how to spell) check up with Dr. Mijares! I was excited, but also kind of dreading it b/c I knew we were going to have a problem.

I don't know how often I've mentioned this, but Jack does not stand - or doesn't stand well at least, not even assisted. You know like if I help him on my lap for him to stand or on the floor...he won't stand. To me in the last couple weeks it has become more apparent that he doesn't stand on his right leg really at all - he will hold it out and not put it down at all or will put his foot down on his toes and just kind of limp noodle the right leg. He has never been big on standing so I figured he was just being stubborn and would do it on his own time, but after 9 months I was starting to get a little concerned. It's odd though b/c sometimes (rarely) he will stand and seems to be fairly solid, but always more so on his left side and his right leg is always the leg to buckle first.

So anyway, I knew Dr. Mijares would want to check things out. So we were sent to the hospital to get x-rays of his knees and hips. I'm still waiting on a call from her with the results, but this is what we can expect: 1. If everything looks OK with his knees/hips then she is going to set us up with some physical therapy appointments so that I can learn some exercises to do with Jack to help build his leg strength. 2. If the x-rays do show something to be WRONG with his knees/hips we will have to go to KC to a specialist to have him checked out and she said most likely they will put him in a cast or braces for a period of time (hopefully a short period of time). Let's say I'm definitely hoping its more of a lazy bones problem rather than an actual bone problem!

In other news, Jack looks great in all other areas of development! He was 27 inches long and weighed 19 pounds 8.5 ounces! My little chunker!

He is still working on trying to crawl but does get up on all fours and bounce or rock back and forth now! He still hasn't figured how to go forwards, but he can worm himself all over in reverse! He is happier then ever and his personality is really starting to shine! He smiles and talks all day. I'd list the "sounds" (I won't refer to them as words) he makes, but there are so many. His faves are mama, dada, ba ba ba, oh, no, duh duh duh, uh uh uh, he whispers - it's odd I know, pst pst pst, ya ya ya, gaga. He really makes just about any sound you can imagine and he is starting to string them all together as if to make a sentence! He loves to share (not sure he knows that it's sharing?), but he will gladly try to shove, I mean gently give you his button! He screams with delight as people enter a room, he also screams with dismay when you leave! He loves to sit on your lap and bounce like he is riding a horse - we love to say "ride 'em cow-jack!".

I'll post an update when we hear from the doctor!

xoxo