that was easy

Jack's first surgery to have tubes put in both of his ears was yesterday morning and I'd have to say it was so easy, the whole process! I can remember waiting at my OBGYN's office for a monthly visit longer than we were at the surgery center!

We had to be at the surgery center (not even the hospital so no annoying admitance/paperwork to do) at 7:30am! Dr. Baker does kids on Mondays and Wednesdays and they stagger them in every 30 minutes or so, 3 every 30 minutes! We were third to arrive in our group, but it took about 2 minutes to sign the couple papers I had to sign and for them to get Jack's temp and listen to his heart!

Then I was told I had to wear these "painters coveralls", booties, and a hat since I was going to go back in the OR with him while he was put to sleep (I wasn't really excited but oh well). We waited about 30 minutes and then it was Jack's turn! I went back with him in the OR and he was put to sleep - not gonna lie watching him being put under was a bit freaky! No more than 5 minutes after I got back to the waiting room where Chris and his dad, Doug, we waiting Dr. Baker came walking up the hall, my first thought was oh crap, something went wrong! Nope, he was just finished! We were moved to the recovery waiting room and not 5 minutes later I was let in to be with Jack!

Boy he was pissed and drunk! Haha! He just didn't know what the heck was going on, but he knew he didn't like it! We were back there for 20 minutes or so then it was time to go! Once we left Jack settled down and was fine. We all came home and took a good 2-3 hour nap (Dada slept the longest). Then Jack was ready and rearing to go, he ate lunch like a champ and returned to all his normal crazy, wild, boyish activities!

Dr. said he took out quite a bit of fluid from both ears so Jack should definitely be hearing better and I think he is actually. Tonya also said she noticed him talking more and reacting the first time she spoke to him, instead of her repeating things multiple times! He also slept much better last night than he has in weeks, months! He still ended up in our bed, but he didn't wake up once crying and screaming and tugging at his ears!

All in all I think we made the right choice and Jack is feeling better and that was the outcome we wanted!

jack's first haircut!

Jack had his first haircut back in November before Thanksgiving! I was a bit concerned how he would do, but I should've known better than to doubt him! He did GREAT! He was so interested in what was going on and he watched Steph in the mirror the entire time! I was also very impressed with Steph and Jess - they kept him calm and entertained the entire time (10-15 minutes!). Enjoy the pictures! And yes since this post is long overdue - Jack is already ready for a trim!

He has no idea what's coming!

At first, he didn't appreciate the water bottle, but then he thought it was funny!

Combing his hair!

He was very concerned Steph might cut his ear off!

Whoa Lady! I said a TRIM! :-)

Checkin' out the progress!

Getting used to the trimmer.

He was a little unsure at first!

Then he decided it wasn't so bad and did great!

I for some reason didn't have an "after" picture - sorry! But he did so well and I was so proud! Steph even gave him a quarter to get some Reese's Pieces! Thanks Steph!

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

we got a canine...

Nope, not a dog - Jack managed to pop through his VERY FIRST TOOTH this past weekend! And in typical Jack-Style it wasn't your "run of the mill" bottom middle tooth or even an upper middle tooth...it was his upper left-side canine!?

Weird I know, maybe even a bit concerning, but hey at least he has teeth, or a tooth! I guess we don't exactly know yet if he has the rest of his teeth!

Jack has also started being a dare devil and letting go of the furniure and standing solo for a few seconds (big achievement in Jack's world)! He is also getting better at walking while holding his hands and is cruising all along the furniture! I think we may actually have a walker - before his 2nd birthday! :-)

blast from the past in pictures

These are just some old pictures I came across from the end of May that I never posted, enjoy!

this lovely lil' green snake was sitting on the back of Tonya's porch chair one morning when i dropped Jack off! FREAKED ME OUT!

red eyes, but look how cute his chubby lil' finger looks pointing!?

attack of the jack monster!

"mom, seriously pick me up!"

"please pick me up?"

this is the "famous" McDonalds in Vinita, OK that crosses over Interstate 44! we sat right next to the window so Jack could see all the vehicles zooming by on his first trip to this "historic" landmark (haha)!

needless to say, he loved the big trucks! he is such a boy!

and a round of applause for the truck! too cute!

our little fish

We all went swimming this past Saturday at my Dad's house in Chanute! To sum up the experience in one word - FUN! Jack was awesome! This was his first time in a big pool and he was in HEAVEN! He wasn't scared of the water one bit! He loved floating, splashing, going under the water, and being thrown in the air (no I'm not kidding! proof is below)!

jack floating on his back, chillin!

chris and i threw jack back and forth about 5 or 6 times and he just laughed and laughed!


his cute towel poncho from heather, marshal, ruger, and beretta! he almost looks like an authentic mexican man! all he is missing is the donkey!

just hanging out!

i had to keep a tight grip, he kept trying to dive into the water and take off crawling! i don't think he quite understood he was surrounded by WATER!

jack loves his Gpa T!

The day was great! We also got to spend time with Gammy Nan later in the evening, but of course I forgot my camera, boo!

birthday bash sneak peek

more to come...

happy first birthday jack!

Today is the day! Jack is turning one! I know everyone says this, but it doesn't seem possible! It seems like just yesterday he was a teeny tiny baby! But I have to admit I much more enjoy this stage then the newborn stage!

We are heading to OK tomorrow for Chris' family reunion, which kills Jack's birthday party timing, so his party will be next Saturday. I was going to document Jack's day (as much as I could before and after work), but wouldn't you know I pulled the camera out this morning to snap some pics before I woke him up and the damn battery died! I was more than annoyed! Photo Op Fail!

We took cupcakes to daycare today (see picture above) so Jack could celebrate with his friends! I think he will enjoy them! We don't have much planned tonight b/c we have to pack for the weekend and I know I will forget something no matter how many times I review my "list".

Here is an update on Jack from this past month!

• Jack says 5 words - Mama, Dada, No (Neh, Neh), Ba-Bye (Da-Dye), and Uh-Oh (I'm on the fence about adding a 6th word - dog, but he isn't consistent with it yet).


• Jack has learned to crawl this month and is all over the house!


• Jack is drinking whole milk and has been for about 3 weeks now.


• Jack has found a love for sippy cups and is only taking his bottle in the am and pm now - everything else is from the sippy!


• Jack started pulling up right around his birthday!


• Jack loves to crawl around his crib now, sit up, clap, scream with joy, and turn his mobile off and on multiple times throughout the night.


• Jack still has ZERO teeth.


• Jack has asthma and allergies...he is on 2 steroid breathing treatments/day and gets Singulair with his dinner.


• Jack HATES baby food. This gets tricky considering the lack of teeth, but he will and can pretty much eat anything we do (within reason).


• Jack still loves balls and cars and music.

This is all I can think of off the top of my head, but I'm sure I will add more things for documentation purposes later on!

balloon pit!

Jack was getting some practice for his birthday! There were tons of balloons at his Grandpa Doug's birthday party last weekend so we loaded them up in the pack n play and let Jack loose! He wasn't sure at first, but after a few minutes he seemed to enjoy himself!

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

milk mustache

Jack is on his way to milk mustaches! Yesterday was the first day we starting weaning Jack onto milk! Tonya is giving him half formula half milk bottles now! I think we are going to do this for a week or so and then start giving him less and less formula until he is off formula! I'm aiming by his first birthday! Tonya said HE LOVED the milk - I was affraid he might not drink it or it would upset his tummy...he did wake up alot last night, but that's really nothing new so I'm not sure if the milk had anything to do with it or not...We shall see!

Here we go on the "No More Formula Ride!" keep your fingers crossed its a smooth ride!

xoxo

A Day In The Sun

Jack's First Trip to the Park!

Riding the Teeter-Totter!

Playing with Addy!

Just a Swingin'

Too Cute!

He LOVED the Swings!

Deck Play at Home!

Such a Flirt!

There's that Glare I Love!

xoxo

clap, clap, claparoo

I'm so excited! After working for what seems like months (and probably was) Jack is CLAPPING! He doesn't like if I start clapping, but he likes to clap independently! If I clap and say "Yea!" He stops and just gives me one of his famous "WTH?" looks!

Either way, check that one off the list - on to waving! Oh how I wish he would wave...

xoxo

Jack The B.A.

B.A. stands for Bad A$$...

This is a couple weeks old story, but I'm just now finding time. I picked up Jack from daycare one day and Tonya said, "Man he was onry today!" I was like, "Jack were you onry, were you a bad boy?" Tonya says, "Well, him and Chase (Chase is about 6 weeks younger then Jack) were sitting on the floor playing and Jack handed Chase a car, then took it away, then he handed it back, then took it away. So Chase just kind of turned away and started playing with something else, then Jack let out a scream and launched the car hitting Chase in the eye! Chase now has a black eye!" I was like, "Are you serious? Jack that's a mean naughty boy!" Haha!

I seriously doubt Jack threw and hit him on purpose - unless he is just a bully, but I don't think he understands other people have feelings yet and that he hurt Chase, but it was a little funny!

However, karma is a BITCH b/c the next day when I picked Jack up he had a black eye! I asked what happened and Tonya said well he was excited playing and grabbed a car from behind and swung it around and hit himself right under his eye! Poor Baby Jack! It really wasn't that bad, he just had a small red mark and it didn't even really bruise at all!

xoxo

Thinkin' Ink

To all my family if you don't like the idea of a tattoo...stop reading...I'm an adult and I'll do what I want! :-)

Saturday I will be getting my very first (of probably only 2) tattoos! I've always been the piercing kind of girl (nose, eye brow, ears gallore, belly button, and one that I won't identify) and made it through my youth with ZERO tattoos. However, this weekend that is ALL going to change!

I have an appointment at Punkteur in Joplin at 4pm Saturday afternoon! I'm going to get Jack's birth date on my left foot. I'm still debating on exactly where b/c I'm super obsessed and have to make sure the placement looks good with every type of shoe I will wear! Ha!

Wish me luck and little pain, although I hear the feet are just as bad as the ribs! Yikes! Pictures to come!

xoxo

Robeez!!!

Those of you that are around Jack on a fairly normal basis know that Jack NEVER wears shoes, never has! Chris and I tried to put cute little black dress shoes on him for his 6 month pictures, but he flipped out and screamed!? Not sure if it was just b/c something was on his foot or b/c they were too small, if his toes got curled under when I put them on or what, but we ended up wasting the $13 they cost b/c he never wore them and I know they are too small now! Ha!

Well I started thinking a couple weeks ago that I should probably try to find some comfy, light, flexible - almost sock-like, if you will, shoes for Jack so that he starts getting used to having shoes on his feet! He isn't too mobile, just still scoots all over on his belly - not really even an army crawl as much as just a wiggle until he gets to what he wants, but I don't want him to finally start walking and freak b/c he has never worn shoes!? Maybe I'm crazy, but this is my thinking and I'm a first time mom so it's OK!

All this leads to ROBEEZ! I did some online research and came across Robeez which are shoes designed for infants through the first few years of life! The first line of shoes are soft soled, leather, flexible, and I have read nothing but great reviews! They aren't hard like a lot of infant shoes, these will be great for Jack as he becomes more mobile b/c he will get used to having them on, but will still have the flexibility like he is in socks! Here are his first 3 pairs that should be arriving next week!

I love these plaid ones! They will be super cute with Jeans and solid colored Polos for this Spring!

I'm not a huge fan of the trucks b/c it is rather "babyish" but they were the cutest brown ones they had that were on sale!I think these black ones are ADORABLE! They will probably be his standard pair for most days!

7 Months Old...Already!!

So my little boy turned 7 months old on Monday! Time is flying by! Here is a quick update on his development and new skills!

• Jack is sitting completely unassited and without any pillows or people for support/security! I can leave him on the floor and he is perfectly fine. He lifts both hands off the floor to play with toys, he turns from side to side and leans over to grab toys and then sits back up. He hasn't figured out how to sit from laying down though - I think it has to do with him not liking to roll?
• Jack is still sleeping from 7pm until anywhere between 5:30-7:30am. If he wakes early he gets a bottle and goes back to bed - sometimes until 9:00am! What a good boy!
• Jack has started eating baby food. We skipped over cereal for now and he has had Pears and Squash with no tummy troubles! I think every weekend we will be adding a new food and see how it goes!
• Jack still doesn't have any teeth, but has been teething hard lately so hopefully soon!
• Jack is a jabber box! Dadadadadadadadada is all I hear!
• Jack is also a major screamer! He screams when he is excited mostly and flaps his arms up and down to add to the excitement! Tonya says he screams at all the kids all day long at daycare! I'm sure she loves that! But its how he communicates so I'm fine with it!
• Jack is starting to show some seperation anxiety tendencies - mostly when Momma leaves, but he loves daycare so we never have the problem there! It's mainly when cranky, tired, or hungry!
• Just last night Jack started getting his knees under him while on his tummy and pushing backwards! He's been wiggling around on his belly spinning circles for a few weeks now though. Hopefully crawling is in the future in the next couple months! Although he still has no desire to stand, at least not for too long.

xoxo

Jack's First Christmas Morning!!

Waking Up!

Present Numero Uno!

Sophie the Giraffe - It's a teether.

Move and Crawl Ball

Opening Daddy's Special Gift!

Eating Paper!

He would fling the gifts around until the contents fell out!

Giving the thumbs up about his Columbia Vest Daddy got him!

Shape Sorter.

Jack with all his gifts from Mommy and Daddy!

xoxo