Whew! This past month has been a whirlwind and literally flew by! I can’t believe that in less than a month James will be 2 years old!
James is making Mommy and Daddy so proud and has basically learned all of his alphabet letters, however sometimes has trouble with the S, N, and often switches the B and R. James enjoys counting, but not always in order and he also knows a few shapes and colors.
James started calling us Mommy and Daddy instead of Mama and Dada.
During independent play, James got curious and got into his diaper bag and ate some sunscreen. When his independent play ended, I walked in and panicked! After wiping gobs of it from the roof of his mouth, I called poison control immediately. Thankfully, it was a California Baby sun stick, which is organic and all natural, so there were no concerns from poison control.
Favorite toys: any books, latch puzzle, cell phone (my first cell phone)
James enjoys hanging from the monkey bars at Little Gym.
As a big brother, James is the BEST! It is great to see his eyes light up when we bring Jackson into the room. James enjoys giving Jackson kisses and holding him, helping me turn on the music on his play gym, shows Jackson how to bat and hit things on his play gym, brings me a burp cloth when needed, pointing out all Jackson’s body parts, feed him the bottle, and brings Jackson toys (calling them wrattle wrattles).
Big Thanks to Mommy’s Helpers!!!
After Jeff went back to work, my Mom and Mother-in-law came to help me in my last two weeks of recovery from my c-section. James had a blast the past few weeks.
Week of July 11th – 16th w/ Teenie
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Monday – We went to the park and a neighborhood playgroup together
Tuesday – Teenie took James to the Dallas Arboretum and then had a playdate with Allison/Lauren Margaret
Wednesday – We went to the Splash Park to meet some friends (Ashley/Holly & Jill/Reese) and had a playdate with Jordan/Carter
Thursday – Teenie took James to the Dallas Arboretum and had a playdate with Jennifer/Mason/Preston & later with Valerie/Henry/Simon
Friday – Teenie took James to Little Gym
allison and jackson
teenie and james
holly and reese
james, jackson, henry, and simon
jackson and simon
Week of 18th – 21st w/ GiGi
Monday - GiGi took James to the Dallas Zoo
Tuesday – GiGi took James to the park and had a playdate with Amber/Campbell
Wednesday – GiGi took James to the Splash Park and had a playdate with Alison/Will
Last Thursday – Mommy’s helpers are gone and I was officially on my own, so exciting! Update: Things have been great, although sometimes of course a bit crazy!
Wow, I have no idea where the past month went? I seriously am having a hard time wrapping my head around how fast time is flying!
Although, Jackson isn’t doing a ton of things right now, here are some things that we have found about our little guy…
We call Jackson ”Squeaker” because when wakes up he makes all these funny squeaking noises (video below). He also has this high pitched scream when he gets really hungry.
He is super “productive” which is a good sign that my milk supply is good this time around (so thankful). Jackson is muddy after almost every feeding and is mega gassy. He burps like a champ several times within seconds after a feeding. We think that he toots and burps like a real man!
Jackson typically feeds every 1.5-3 hours right now, but now that he weighs almost 10 pounds I am going to start stretching him a little to get to 2.5-3 hours for my own sanity. The first three weeks, I felt like it was important to feed often to build my milk supply, so I was waking him up every two hours and every three hours at night. From the beginning, I tried to feed “on demand,” but I had a sleepyhead on my hands. However, since he turned three weeks old, I have been able to feed more on demand. We have also stopped supplementing. I am anticipating on getting on more of a predictable schedule soon because we have started doing the eat, activity, sleep pattern from the book Baby Whisperer (same book that we used with James). Jackson is typically fussy at night around bedtime (convenient, I know) because that is when he has the most gas! He enjoys doing a little cluster feeding… tanking himself up to do his two four hour stretches at night. I only have to wake up once at night because I “dream feed” him at 10:30pm, then again at 2:30am, and then wake up for the day at 6:30am. Now that he has “woken up” a bit more, he is sleeping anywhere between 16-17 hours a day.
Although, we haven’t used the pacifier yet (AAP now recommends waiting one month if you are breastfeeding), over the past week Jackson has done great self soothing himself before bedtimes. I try not to rock, nurse, or jiggle Jackson to sleep (another Baby Whisperer recommendation) just like we did with James.
When Jackson gets his diaper changed, his feet go into a froggie position and sometimes he gets poop on his feet (gross, I know). He outgrowing most of his 0-3 clothes, so he is starting to wear most of his 3-6 month clothes. He seems to be long and lean with a very long torso (like James has). Although, he started life wearing newborn diapers (unlike big brother James) he quickly outgrew those and is now wearing size 1 diapers.
He has already started to notice various toys on his play gym and bats at them. He enjoys tummy time most of the time. Jackson has started to trace people’s faces and objects, which is a lot of fun! He can already kick out of miracle blanket (GREAT, now I feel like we have no chance of him sleeping through the night early). Jackson had super strong head control in the hospital and continues to get better daily. While being held on someone’s shoulder, he lifts his head like an older baby would.
Jackson gave mama, then dada immediately following his first social smile… I just love his toothless grin!
We feel very blessed to have two boys that have been EASY babies. James was certainly more laid back, but Jackson is getting to be like that the older he gets (the first week was such an adjustment for us). Thankfully, Jackson loves his infant carrier as much as James does because I have a feeling when I am “cleared” at my six week appointment we are going to be on the move!
Finally, notice the piece of paper that we had with James’ monthly pictures is gone… this mama got smart and started shopping on Etsy for a sticker that I could put on a onesie, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the toddler drama with Jackson that we have had with James over the past few months in taking some of these monthly pictures. James always wants to hold the piece of paper now… geez, sometimes toddlers just don’t want to cooperate! I found a lady on Etsy that would custom make stickers up until 24 months, so onesies here we come…
For the past few weeks, I have had a steep learning curve having two under two. It is certainly no walk in the park, folks! Although, with some respects it is easier that I thought it would be (especially because James has done so well with the transition). Random thoughts…
Due to my c-section, I cannot get out with my “bunch” by myself without help. I am not able to pick up James and I am not able to pick up Jackson while he is in the carrier. I didn’t think about this until I was homebound for about a week and a half, then I was wanting to tear at the walls desperate to get out! I think I am going a little stir crazy and can’t wait to get out with them because I am wanting to know how this is all going to work with two. Grocery shopping, mall visits, Little Gym, EVERYTHING will be different! As you saw from the previous post, I have started to get out more… SO thankful for my sweetie helping me!
Nursing Jackson has been difficult because James wants to be in the center of the action either “helping” me or giving Jackson kisses (which is tough on the old incision). Another “challenge” is the frequency of nursing right now, which is about every 1.5 – 3 hours during the day (however, two four hour stretches at night). This leaves me not a lot of time to spend with James much less run any errands or do much housework. Basically, I can’t spend enough time with James and I can’t hold Jackson enough (unless I am nursing, of course). MEGA Mommy guilt I tell ya!
I am so thankful for my ”Baby Timer” app on my iPhone. It has been a LIFESAVER… I highly recommend it to all new Moms (there is no need for the Itzbeen Baby Timer with it). It keeps track of Jackson’s nursing dates/times, wet/muddy diapers, future solid foods, and sleep times. It also averages his daily and weekly progress, plus I am able to export it into a document to save it for a reference.
Another “challenge” that I foresee is how I am going to manage breakfast/nursing Jackson, lunch/nursing Jackson/nap time, and dinner/nursing Jackson/bath/bedtime routine when Jeff goes back to work (and my Mom and MIL leave at the end of the month). Am I just going to have to nurse Jackson on my feet? Baby bunchers, how does this work exactly?
Laundry explosion… our laundry has tripled since the birth of Jackson. Maybe I just forgot how much laundry there is to do with a newborn!
Something else I find myself doing is comparing notes. So, as most of you know I took copious notes with James, so I am constantly comparing them to Jackson’s schedule (or lack thereof), wet diapers/poops, sleeping, etc. Is that normal?
BIG THANKS…. to my sweet husband (what better person to help you) who has attended to my beck and call over the past month, the family and friends that have brought us breakfast/lunch/dinner, very thoughtful gifts, letters, and emails. I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. I can’t imagine not having y’all during this time…. y’all are the BEST!!!
This weekend was such a blast… I was finally able to get out of my house (aka cave) for some fun events to celebrate July 4th!
Jeff took James to our neighborhood parade because a parade isn’t exactly a great place for a newborn. We went to two different parties with friends to celebrate, but thankfully they were on different days otherwise we would have been pooped! Then, the Slades/Uncle Doug & Aunt Laura and then some of our friends, the Moores, came for a visit.
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