Parenthood: The Amazing Journey That No One Can Prepare You For. Like? Not Even Remotely.

As I sit here....at 9pm on Dec 23...and I think about where we were this time LAST year.  I was in surgery...an unexpected c-section that brought on anxiety...

 (I was in the middle of a normal work day!)

...panic 

(what if they actually let us leave with this newborn?!)

....and, excitement.

In the end, we spent Christmas 2011 in the hospital with that sweet 6lb baby -- and found ourselves dazed, confused and immensely happy and thankful for a healthy baby boy with 10 fingers and 10 toes.

Nowadays, it's all about sleeping with one eye on the monitor, not letting him slip in the bath tub (as he tries to climb in by himself now!), feeding him all the right stuff (but not too much sugar), car seat recalls, cute Christmas cards, taking enough pictures, figuring out how to "make my eyes pop" and what color lip gloss to wear, not letting the dog roll on top of him, the right shoes (wait.  he needs SHOES now??), documenting everything, participating in everything (what do you mean the "mommy and me" group meets on Tuesdays at 9:30 am, people?  I have a JOB.), swim lessons, losing weight, keeping in shape, car seat recalls, poop consistency (why does it smell like "THAT"??)....and how much Sesame Street is TOO much Sesame Street?

I read somewhere that being a mom is like trying to knit on a rollercoaster...and that didn't include trying to have a successful career on top of it all.  For me?  It's like trying to SCRAPBOOK on a roller coaster.  There's a lot of tiny pieces of paper, glue, SCISSORS, pictures, brads, tape, stickers, ribbon, buttons and embellishments....and it's all flying around while I try to nail it down on the page.

Then.  I think of these families in CT.  These mommas who don't have their babies anymore....and I stop.  I stop worrying - even if just for today - about all of it and I just enjoy Jack.  Because if you've met him, then you know that he's just plain cool.

He laughs a lot.

He's sensitive.

He doesn't like pain.
(Like when a teething terrorist took over his body during the first week of December?  Yeah.  We don't talk about it.)

He loves his lawn mower walker.

He loves to throw the ball.

He loves to out smart you in "peak a boo."

He loves his Daddy's hats.

He likes to pat Lucky on the head.

He loves cords.

He loves to eat.

He loves to sleep.
(until 10 am some mornings!)

If he's awake, rest assured - he's happy and he's smiling.

In the last month of his first year, he continued his travels from Springfield, IL .... to Tampa, Honduras, Belize and Mexico.  As suspected, he LOVED cruising, but mostly loved meeting all the new people every day.  He was the talk of the ship ("the baby with the hat") with his "cruising fedora" and "constant smile" -- I could only assume that he'd be driving that ship by the time we got back to the port in Tampa.

He didn't like facing me in the stroller.  He needed to see the people.

He traded in his fedora and rattle for a sombrero and maraca!

Steadying himself in Mexico.

As you probably suspected, I've been planning his first birthday party for a while.  But, only in my mind.  I didn't actually MOVE on any of it until after Thanksgiving -- with less than a month to go.  This is one of those moments where I beat myself up for underestimating the task at hand.

Here's how it all went down....

 

 

  

 

I only managed to cry once during the song.

(confession:  I had already cried once in the morning)

We didn't do everything right in his first year.  Some of those experts that I read about would have scoffed at our version of sleep training....and especially gasped at all the times I let him sleep on my chest in the recliner.  They would have been dumbfounded by my lack of wiping everything down all the time in frantic germ annihilating mode.  Those experts wouldn't have liked whiskey on the gums for teething either, but it worked.

We laughed a lot, we (I) cried a lot, we learned a lot and we had fun anyway.

And, he survived.

A whole year.

Mission Accomplished.

Gobble, Gobble...Eat Till You Wobble....Literally.

This little fella is O.V.E.R. being held.  He wants down.  He wants to be independent, and, well - he is.  He doesn't want to be bothered when he's in the middle of something (what could he be in the middle of??) He wants to walk everywhere, but he can't walk without holding on to something, which means you're going with him.  He's a bit of a wobbler, but he's in good company. 

Did I mention that he doesn't want to be held?

Did I mention that he has a TURKEY HAT?!

It was a big month though....even without Thanksgiving!  Jack experienced his first Halloween - as a LumberJACK.  Yes, we are those cheeseball parents that have come up with 1000 different ideas that incorporate the name JACK into the costume.  It's going to be a fun few years until Jack figures this out and decides he wants to be a Ninja Turtle or Teletubby or whatever.  Until then, he's what we want him to be for one day a year:

  

He also FINALLY got a few teeth.  I know, it's hard to believe....since I've been complaining about "teething" since he was 6 months old.  LOL!  And, he just now got his first 3 teeth -- and I can actually see them.  Unlike when the doctor - at his 6 month appt - said "oh yeah - there they are...coming right in!" 

Um, doc?  Where??

Anywho, I did A LOT of research - and it turns out that there's never been a case where a child was born sans teeth.  The doctor kept telling me that they were in there, but I didn't believe him.  I mean what does he know?  He's so young he might as well be 12.  So, yes, people - I did the research, because LORD knows that if it CAN happen...it will happen to my child.  

Am I right?

Turns out?  Our lovely, super sweet and smart pediatrician was right.  They ARE there.

In other news, we flew somewhere with Jack.  Surprised?  I think not. 

We visited the Pensacola fam for Claire's wedding and Jaime's baby shower.  Of course, Jack visited with all the Grandparents (Granddaddy B, GGMama and Meme shown here)

 

And Jaime's "baby's" too:

In making our Christmas cards, we found LOVE in Philadelphia:

(did you puke a little?)

In the "not wanting to be held" department, Jack is still in charge.  He crawls and cruises and plunders.  Have we discussed how nosey he is??  He gets it honest from me....and he ALWAYS needs to know what is going on, what everyone is doing, where they are going and what new stuff has arrived in the toy basket.

Who's happier than this guy, playing all by himself with his wooden spoon?

With all that plundering...he did find his head:

...which is good news.  We are working on the tummy, but every question we ask him ends the same way -- with his hands on his head.  Go figure.

Thanksgiving Day was a joy with little Jack.  There's nothing more that we are thankful than this little guy right here....complete with SMILE and BOWTIE, his signature accessories.

You guys know how much Jack likes to eat.  This was his reaction when we told him what Thanksgiving Day entailed:

    

After giving THANKS and feasting on some great food, Jack hung with the family: 

Aunt DJ and the sales papers.

Granddaddy M and Sesame Street

Meme and playtime in the living room

While in Springfield, we hung out with the Lincolns.  Did you know that Abe Lincoln didn't discipline his children and was known for having "wild" boys?  Do you think this is an omen?

Us and The Lincolns.  We go way back.

A little history lesson from Aunt DJ.

Sadly, I can tell you that the word "no" is already being introduced to Jack.  He thinks it's hysterical.  As such, we try to distract....but he's learning.  And his newest face is one of mortification when we say "no" to something.  He has me wrapped around his finger doesn't he?  This is bad.  Very, very bad.

 Next month, we'll cruise through December...and his first birthday party!!  Can you even believe he made it a year with US as parents?  I didn't even smother him today trying to smooch his face off!!

New Tricks of the Trade

10 Months and MOVING.

Now that Jack is standing, he tends to want to attack the chalkboard or erase the chalkboard or kiss the chalkboard - more than he wants to hang out next to the chalkboard for a picture.  

Luckily, we have a new method of tracking that kid...a custom creation by Matt - (yes, he MADE it) our new gigantic ruler!  

On this eve (of sorts) to Jack's first Halloween, I must report out on the tricks of this past month....before we get to the treats of his first Halloween.

I know you all have kids* **

(*well, not ALL of you)

(**kids can mean dogs, too)

...but do you guys realize how fast they change, grow, move -- all right before your eyes!  I used to loathe would people would tell me to "enjoy it - it flies by" -- as if I needed to do something differently to ensure that I was soaking it all up.  But, you know what?  Those people are RIGHT.  I want it all to slow down...and I want JACK to slow down.

I want him to want to snuggle with me.  I secretly let him fall asleep in my arms sometimes just because I know he will....and he'll snuggle into me like he really likes me.  Yeah, I know you experts out there are shaking your head at me, but he's mine.  And, he sleeps through the night just fine...and if I want him to sleep in my arms for 10 minutes before he goes in his crib, then he will.

So, there.

However,

I don't remember approving him to be so independent!

I don't remember saying that it's ok for him to leap fearlessly of the edge of everything.
I don't remember agreeing to him pushing me away as he pulls up on anything and everything....and sometimes pulling things on top of himself!
I don't remember approving him being able to steal food off of my plate.  (but are we surprised really?)

I don't remember being ok that he could take off his clothes and toss them out of the crib.

Are you kidding me?!

He throws everything from food to his pacifiers to his socks.  His room is like a war zone in the mornings...riddled with baby paraphernalia scattered about.

It wasn't 2 months ago, I confessed that Jack was being carried around too much ...and that he may never learn to sit up, crawl, feed himself or be any sort of independent.

To say he proved me wrong is an understatement.

He crawls on all fours like a "normal" baby.  He army crawls like he's back in 'nam.

He even ropes me into pushing him on his BMW:

He cruises between the toys:

And, because of all of these new tricks...he feels like he needs to practice in the middle of the night!  With all that moving - you'd think he'd be tired!  Nope.  He needs to practice sitting up...and crawling from end of the crib to the next....and then pulling up on the side of the crib...  I mean, look how proud he is!

Hanging out in his crib at 2 am...pondering life.

And, when he's not motoring around, he's "playing ball":

We did manage to sneak in a whole bunch of fall fun with the fam:

  

Brunching

Hanging out on the front porch

Fall Festival Fun and supporting his favorite baseball team:

 

Playing with all of his toys:

Jack eyeballing Lucky's toy.

Jack DID finally find someone that he didn't care for though....the eye doctor.  That damn blocked tear duct...

Even with all of this moving around and new trickery....we did have some illnesses.  Matt got the flu, Jack had a fever -- and I'm pretty sure Lucky even participated by puking in the front room a few times.  You can imagine that this required me to stay home from work to take care of my menfolk.  Actually, it all happened at the most inconvenient time with work, which is about par for the course.  Jack decided that he'd only sleep if I held him and walked in a circle.  I couldn't even sit down in the rocking chair and you can FORGET about putting him in that crib when he doesn't feel good.  When I tell you that I walked in a circle holding him so that he'd sleep - I mean that I did this ALL NIGHT.

Even with all of that walking, Jack still ended up being the easiest patient.  I'm sure that comes as a big surprise.

It's been one helluva month, let's just get some sleep people.

Till next time....we'll be traveling to Pensacola for family/friend fun time, hunkering down for Hurricane Sandy, Halloweening (Jack is going to be a LumberJack!) and hopping on another plane to Springfield for Jack's first Turkey!