The Baby We Know vs The Baby We Don't Know

When we found out I was pregnant, we were surprised (already!?)....panicked...excited....afraid and full of questions.

How would we ever be capable of taking care of this little being?  

How would we know when to feed "it"?

What if "it" gets hurt?

How would we know why "it" was crying?

How would we know when to feed "it" solid food?

How would we keep "it" clean without drowning "it"?

What if he/she doesn't like us?

What if he/she gets sick?

What if he's not a Yankee fan?

...or, worse...what if he's not a Seminole fan?!

What if Lucky rolls on top of him/her?

What if we forget him at home one day?

What if we aren't good parents?

After Jack arrived, it took us only a few days to figure out that we had help.  We have parents, friends and siblings who have children.  We have a host of doctors and nurses that helped us.  And?  We have The Google.  There is NOTHING that you can not google and find information about.

But this post isn't about the google...it's about the progression of "comfort" -- and knowing that no matter what happens with this child, we will figure it out and he will thrive.  No matter what.

See?  

Not only have we NOT killed him....he smiles constantly.  Usually, I'm suspect of people that smile this much, but he's too damn cute to think anything other than he's just the happiest baby on the block!

When he's not smiling - he's giggling:

On "figuring it out" -- We've learned that we can formulate our own opinions about things like "acceptable care" and what is ok for us and what is NOT ok for us.  After he continued to be bitten at daycare, we let them know that there would be changes made or we would take Jack elsewhere.  There are too many options in childcare to continue to let this type of thing happen to your child.

And to be clear - if/when Jack starts to bite other children, we will work with his daycare and pediatrician to figure out why and address that.  There's no sense in simply NOT addressing it - which was the case for this particular family at daycare.

We've also figured out that he's going to fall down.  He's going to bump his head.  He's going to get stepped on by Lucky.  He's going to get tackled by his buddy, Liam.  As it turns out, he's also going to live.

How funny are these two?!

Luckily, Jack got to hang with Liam a few different times this month.  They hung out together at the aquarium:

Jack and Liam admiring the snake!

Jack is smiling at Liam standing next to him.  He thinks Liam is one cool  little dude!

They spent the afternoon together playing....and working on a lifelong friendship:

Best Friends!

Liam is using the "stare down" method on Jack while Jack's going with nothing but brute force.

They had dinner together and compared notes on their favorite foods and episodes of Sesame Street.

Just two men out having some dinner with family and friends.

There's comfort in knowing that he will be able to make friends.

There's comfort in knowing that he will walk someday soon, since I've assumed that I would carry him around for his entire life.  I had previously decided that I was ok with that.  Would it be weird to carry him to his college classes?  I plan to embarrass him WAY more than that....so, we'll see how it goes.

He's definitely mobile these days....he's recently turned into the best army crawler around.  It's just another thing we worried about unnecessarily - "what if he doesn't crawl" - Well, first off:  Who cares.  Not all babies crawl.  And, he's not great at it yet, but he moves to get what he wants....and he does it with his belly dragging.  

There's comfort in knowing that he will have a job one day. He's destined to be a politician or a salesman. With that smile, optimism and overall demeanor - how could he be anything else?

  

He also may be a chef with his immense love of food. He'll even eat it while sitting on the kitchen floor with his "drum set" (aka, the pan and the wooden spoon)

Although, if he's going to be a chef, he'll need some teeth to taste that food -- still no teeth yet for this fella, but damn - he sure does "teethe" a lot!!

He's told he likes FSU, but honestly?  How can you deny that he LOVES those Noles after pics like these??  He went to his first FSU game and loved it....all the way until the 4th quarter at 11:30 pm.

There's comfort in knowing that a) he's a Seminole and b) he will be juuuuuuust fine in college.

Party Animal.

Pre-Game with Meme!

My favorite person in my favorite place.

Partying all the way until the 4th - and then some!

We've even figured out that sand won't kill him....

Jack's Aunt Teen showed him how to enjoy the Jersey Shore

We've also figured out how to keep a hat on him....without pissing him off.

Crazy Hat Day at Daycare!

In fact, that's what I mean.  We know this baby...and there was A LOT of doubt (on our parts - and maybe yours) that we'd figure it out.  Don't get me wrong - there is MUCH to learn and experience, but I know now - We've got this.

We know how to calm him down.  We know how to get him to go to sleep.  We know which cry is "there's a doody in my pants" vs the grunt, grunt, grunt telling us "I'm hungry."  We know that he's going to get hurt - and hurt other children.  We know that if he wants water out of your water bottle or cup - he will take it.  We know that he lay in his crib and "play" until we come and get him in the morning.

Luckily, he knows us too.  He's figured out that he's #1, that he's in charge...and his every happiness is our priority.

This is good news/bad news.

He has no idea how I used to feel about being in control.  He has no idea that I'd like to run his life, schedule, needs, etc with a spreadsheet....like I did his diaper and nursing needs.  

There are no more spreadsheets, just two parents who are comfortable in their own shoes.

 Until next month,

Keep Calm and Smile On.

He's Less Interested.....Well, In Us.

He's cute.  He's crazy. He's squirmy.

He can't crawl, can't walk and has no teeth yet, but he thinks his SO BIG.  He rolls, squirms, pulls up, stands up while holding on to stuff....  I think he's doing things out of order, but it's his world - I just live in it.  And, so this month begins....

He has no interest in being held.  He lures you in with his sweet eyes, charming smile and endearing "da da da da" -- but all he wants is down....as in, "put me on the ground right now and let me figure it out from there" -- all the time.  He's become a big ole squirmball....to the point that Matt and I both have almost dropped him a couple of times!

Even when he's cruising in his stroller, he must sit up and see what is going on....and hit on all the cute chicks.  He smiles, giggles and squeals until the girls take notice.  

He's even started pulling up on everything he can get his chubby little hands on:

He's just not super excited about being pinned down .... unless, of course, it's time to eat.  Then?  He's in!  And, he's ready to eat exactly what Daddy is eating for breakfast:

Daddy's on the left, Baby Jack's on the right

"Wow, that looks like a lot of oatmeal!"

"I'm ready though - let's do this!"

"No, no, Grandma - you're doing it wrong"

"See? I'm good at this"

"and, I'm done and I'm cute."

 He also learned about brain freezes:

The daycare asks me about once a week to bring a bottle for Jack ("he's thirsty").  Even though I've tried to tell them 100 times that he has never taken a bottle, they just insist....  They finally got it when I showed them that - if he can't have THEIR glass of water - he will settle for his sippy cup, but never - and I repeat - NEVER a silly bottle.  He's clearly too mature for the bottle.  He's also a genius.  Did I mention that already?

Yep.  I take pictures of my kid drinking out of a sippy cup. 

In between meals, Jack continues his travels and social life.  He has a better social life than most adults I know.  He attended his first golf tournament this month (Jack is told that he likes golf) at Trump National:

"I help Daddy close the deals"

We learned the hard way that Jack isn't a 8 week old baby anymore that likes to sleep on planes.  And, I'm not complaining AT ALL -- but he didn't sleep.  He giggled and squirmed and laughed and flirted with all of the ladies around us.

And?

He pooped at all the most inconvenient times.  You know with all of that eating, this kid can poop like a champ.  Well, he did.  Right when the seat belt sign would come on.  You know air on planes is re-circulated, right?  Yeah.  We are lucky like that.

We traveled to Pensacola to see my parents and friends, the beach...and a pond?

Mean muggin' at P'cola Beach

....confirmed, NOT A FAN!

Granddaddy kisses

....until Jack heard food being made!

You need to watch this....then check out the photo below.  Awesome.

"a pond will be good for you" -- Thanks Meme!

Granddaddy B!

I can't tell if Jack likes Mac or not....

Jack is also more vocal than ever these days.  He recently started with his B and P sounds, but we are still enjoying his new found love for "da da."  As you can see in this video, he is very busy.  He hardly has time to entertain us.

We are enjoying watching him grow, but would prefer that he just slow down.  He has changed so much in the past few months....from being very focused on us - to being more and more interested in the world around him.  I thought he'd always want to be in my arms, but he has proven me wrong - for now, at least.  

WHAT?  You guys knew this was going to happen and you didn't warn me!

I just want to hold him and love him and snuggle him until he pops.  He, on the other hand?  ...would rather put Lucky's tennis ball in his mouth.  Or, he'd rather hurl himself out of the car seat before I can strap him down.  Or, he'd like to pull all of his books onto the floor and roll around in the middle of them.

Yep...he's a little person with a little to do list.

He's big.  He's busy.

He's Old Enough to Sleep Through the Night or...Not, in Our Case.

Jackson James Schneider is 7 Months young and absolutely full of energy, life and, well, blueberries.

Lucky searching for leftover food in Jack's hands!

Define "sleeping through the night" .....  

I feel like if he sleeps from 10 pm to 5 am, I WIN.  Even at 5 am, I can feed him and get another hour of sleep before I need to start making like an active member of the professional world.  Plus, he sleeps until noon after that...buying Matt some good morning work time.

The pediatrician is all "he's working you over....he can sleep through the night, from 7pm to 7am"

I'm all:  "whatever, doc, that kid is HUNGRY at 3 am!"

So, we compromised.  We feed him dinner at 7pm....everything from yummy sweet potatoes to pears, green beans and squash.  I then nurse him at 10pm to get him through the night.  It works for us.  And, I'm all about what works for us -- because when this kid is screaming at 3 am, the only people lying awake are Matt and I.  
The last time we let him cry for an hour...I walked into his room....and he was so frantically hungry that he attacked my cheek like a zombie and gave me a hickey.  Yes, folks - a good old fashioned hickey....right there on my cheek.  Try explaining that at work.  Thank God for Bobbi Brown concealer. 

Also?  He hates cauliflower.

He loves ice water though!  He bangs on his high chair tray until we hand him that sippy cup of water...and it had better be cold.

 

He likes his water cold and his food hot...unless it's green beans, which he likes cold.  Weirdo.

He also can't get enough of baby yogurt.  He tries to snatch the container out of our hands, so watch out if you're feeding that to him.  He'll go after your hand for sure.

He also demands bananas for breakfast along with his oatmeal and blueberries.  "Demands" may be a strong term, since he rarely cries (unless I'm starving him in the middle of the night), but you get what I'm saying.

He's been sitting up for a while, but has really started playing and reaching and scooching around to get what he wants.  I'm afraid that crawling is right around the corner, but truth be told -- I'd be OK if he skipped crawling.  In fact, I'd be OK if he just slowed down a little bit.  Where did my 6 lb baby go...that liked to be swaddled and snuggled?  Now, he's all about what ELSE is out there besides momma.

And, there really is SO much else out there for him to experience....

  

He's sitting up in high chairs ....

He's sitting up in shopping carts .... 

He's sitting up in his big boy stroller seat .... 

He's sitting up on the bed ....

And, he's STANDING UP at daycare.... 

He thinks he's so big!

This month not only brought on lots of sitting and standing, but also brought the opportunity for me to play a single mom for 5 days.  Of course, I have a whole new respect for how much work this really is -- and I only have one child.  Let's just say that showing up to work with blueberries on my jacket was the LEAST dramatic thing that happened in those 5 days.

I also discovered that the wonderful world of pregnancy and motherhood is the gift that keeps on giving.  It wasn't enough that my entire mind and body changed forever, was it?  Nope.  You needed to go and change my hairline too.....SEVEN MONTHS after the fact.  I now have a brand new hairline and new hair growth that is about 1 inch long right now along my forehead.  Attractive.  Really, pregnancy hormones?  Quit it.  

No book prepares you for this.  I read them all.

The thing books DO prepare you for....when your child gets sick.  The daycare called one day to let me know that Jack had a 104 degree fever.  I'm sorry?  ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR?  Geezus!  The dr then tells me that a infant over 3 months can have a fever this high for up to 5 days before it's considered serious.  Pardon??  My little guy was MISERABLE....but the saddest kind of miserable.  He didn't cry....he didn't whine....he barely whimpered, which made me feel even WORSE for him.

Luckily, it only lasted for 2 days and then the rash showed up.  Roseola.  Classic case.  Whew.

(Did I mention that Matt was out of town?  No?  Did I also mention that I was also so sick with a fever and other super pleasant symptoms that I could hardly get out of bed, much less take care of Jack?  It was a blast.  Hooray!)

We did end his 7th month of life on a high note with a little all American history lesson.  We visited Valley Forge!  We found lots of stuff, but most excitingly....we found George Washington and the musket collection.

Georgie!

aaaaaggghhhh!!!  Look at the muskets!!!!!

Jack was thoroughly impressed.  So much so that he slept through the night....from 7pm to 7am.  

What do I know anyway?