Yesterday, Jack experienced another “first.” He has learned how to pass a toy from one hand to the other. He took one of his links and held it with one hand, then grabbed onto it with both hands, and then let go with the hand he initially picked it up with so that it was in his other hand. He did this off and on all day. I was so proud of him. He also has gained full head and neck control this week. His little bobble head has disappeared, and he really is looking more like a boy than a baby each day. It’s a little bittersweet for his mommy.

His new favorite activity is standing. He loves to stand! He gets the biggest grin on his face and looks at us so proudly. It’s very cute.

Jack also has a best friend. His name is Roy, and he was born one week after Jack. This week during play group, we captured a shot of them together. His mom, Whitney, and I have enjoyed learning how to breastfeed together and love sharing our boy’s newest milestones with each other. She is truly a blessing in my life!

Here are a few of Jack’s 3 month pictures - thank you to Timeless Creations Photography!

Here’s a video that Jenny took where Jack almost turned over from his back! He can turn over from his stomach pretty easily, but he still hasn’t made it from his back to tummy… soon though!

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As you know, Sean and I decided to follow Dr. Sears’ alternative vaccination schedule to fully vaccinate Jack. Normally, he would only go at 2, 4 and 6 months, but we go every month in order to get all of his vaccines completed on this different schedule. So, today Jack got two more vaccines. My friends had warned me that when they get older, they are much more aware of things and would react worse to getting his shots. Jack has always been pretty calm with this kind of stuff, so I brushed it off knowing he would probably cry a little bit but nothing extreme. Boy was I wrong! Two nurses came in, so he only felt one stick, but when they stuck him, he screamed so loud and so shrill that I almost lost it. I picked him up immediately, but he was screaming in such a high-pitch tone that I could barely hold back my own tears. Sean was the same way. We all just tried to get through it without breaking down right there in the exam room. Finally, Jack seemed to calm down enough for us to leave. I held him in my arms and soothed him for a while in the car before we left. Poor guy… he is sleeping now, but he is having a bad teething day today on top of everything else, so he just isn’t very happy. Hopefully a little Tylenol will help him feel better.

We met our new pediatrician today, and we like her and the office MUCH better. It was a very pleasant environment. Jack even seemed to like it. There were monkeys on the wall, and he LOVES monkeys. HA! He was talking and playing and looking all over the place before we went into the exam room for his appointment. Jack weighed 14.9 pounds and was 26 inches long. He was in the 60th percentile for weight and head circumference, and he was in the 95th percentile for height! The doctor said he would most definitely be taking after his daddy when it comes to his height.

This week, Jack is three and a half months old. So many new things happen each week that I have a hard time keeping up! Jack is starting to watch us eat and notice when we have food. I drink a Carnation Instant Breakfast every morning, and he always stops what he is doing to stare at me when I drink it. Crazy kid! I guess he is going to be ready for rice cereal next month. He is also learning how to laugh. Right now, it’s just a short cackle, but I’m ready for the full laugh any day now. Since he is teething, his new favorite activity is to chew on blankets. We bought him a Pooh teething blanket at Target this weekend that he is enjoying today. He loves holding on to blankets too, so I think this will be a favorite of his. His favorite toy is links. He can hold on to them easily, we can hang them just about anywhere, and he loves to chew on them too! Jack can roll over from his tummy to his back, and he has just started to try to roll over from his back to his tummy. He gets his little hip turned sideways but can’t quite figure out the rest yet.

We go to our new pediatrician this week. Jack will get two more vaccines on this next visit. And hopefully, we will find out his weight and height. I know he is over 15 pounds now for sure. I’m getting nice arm muscles these days! HA! I’m also going to need a chiropractor soon from my aching back. I see now why you should be young when you have kids! Haha! I can only imagine what it’s going to be like when he becomes mobile!

His sleeping is off and on right now. He had a nice sleeping pattern established, and then he started a new growth spurt, as well as teething, so you never know what the day will bring as far as sleeping goes. On a good night, he will sleep 4.5 hours before waking up for a feeding, and then will usually sleep another 3.5 hours. Then, I usually bring him to bed with me for a little two hour nap before we get up for the day. I just can’t start my day at 5 or 6 a.m.! His naps are getting hard for him to go down for. He is so active and social now that he doesn’t want to slow down even when he is exhausted. He also is starting to outgrow his swaddling blanket, so he is sleeping mostly without that during the day, which is another big adjustment for him. We still have to attempt to swaddle him at night, but it looks like those days are numbered.

Jack’s 3 month pictures were taken last week, so we should have those to share with you very soon!

Jack’s newest discovery is his feet. He loves his feet. He will sit up on the couch like a big boy and just stare at his feet. He tries to reach for them, and he is trying hard to figure out what exactly makes those feet move. He will move his feet and just watch them ever so intently, as if to wonder how they do that. HA!

We had Jack’s 3 month photo shoot this week. However, I got a call from our photographer who said he should have set up his big lights during the session, and the photos didn’t come out as well as he would have liked for them to. So, we are going to retake those on Saturday morning. I can’t wait to share them with you. He has the cutest outfits to wear!!!

I jinx myself everytime I blog about his sleeping patterns. Last post, I bragged on his seven straight hour stretch of sleep. Two nights later, we are back to not sleeping or napping for that matter. Last night, I was up either every hour or every two hours. And trying to get him to sleep for a nap is harder than acing a college calculus course. He fights sleep worse than anything I’ve ever seen in my life. My mom will laugh at this post because she tells me I was the same way. I guess I’m getting a dose of my own medicine - haha.

Sean works from home on Wednesdays, and I’m really starting to like that just for the fact he realizes what exactly I do all day. Our latest dialog after me trying to get Jack to sleep for a nap:

Jenny: *Sigh*

Sean: Are you going to be okay?

Jenny: Yeah.

Sean: Good because I wouldn’t be.

Jenny: *Laughs* Can you please run get us some lunch? I’m too tired to drive anywhere, and I’d probably run off the road.

I have to brag on my husband for a moment. There couldn’t be a better daddy in the world than Sean is to Jack. And I couldn’t have a better husband in the world, either. He is very understanding of how hard it is to be a stay-at-home mom, and he really takes such good care of us. He is always willing to pick up fast food on his way home when I’ve had a rough day, and will drop pretty much anything to help me out around the house or with Jack. He could complain about how I never cook homemade meals much or how we are out of groceries for the fourth day in a row or how the clothes are piling up. But he never criticizes. I know he would appreciate that home cooked meal. I would too! HA! I’m sick of delivery, fast food and take out for sure! One day things will get a little easier, but right now, our little man is very demanding, but worth all of my time and energy. I love him so much! And his daddy and mommy can sacrifice some things as we take care of him in his newborn days.

I better run get a few things done before Jack wakes up from his nap. Hopefully my next post will go back to bragging on how wonderfully he is sleeping again!

Could it me my singing? Or perhaps daddy’s storytelling? Something wonderful has happened in our household! Night before last, Jack slept seven hours straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I could hardly believe my eyes when that sweet little cry woke me up and I looked at the clock. Did it really say 5 a.m.????????? WOOHOOOOOO! Last night was pretty good too… the little munchkin slept until 3 a.m. and then again until 7:30 a.m. What a treat this has been! I haven’t gotten seven straight hours of sleep since my second trimester of pregnancy. So, yeah, it’s been a LONNNNNNNNNNNNNG time. Just had to share our sleeping success this week!

As of yesterday, Jack is three months old! He is becoming such an active little boy these days. Loving to sit in his bouncy seat, his eyes light up when the lights and music come on, and he loves to grab at the toucan and monkey that dangle in front of him. He is getting so long that his feet dangle off the end of the seat now. He loves it so much that we are crossing our fingers that he will get to use it a little while longer. When propped up on the couch, he loves to sit up like a big boy and look around the room at all the fun things to see.

This week, Jack discovered his feet for the first time. He would stare at them very intently and then follow his foot as he kicked one leg. So sweet! When I have him in the car seat, he loves to try and lean forward and grab his feet. He hasn’t quite figured out how to grab them yet, and he often gets frustrated not being able to grab them but seems to settle down into staring at them after while.

He continues to love getting a bath and playing in the water. Sean and I bought him a little baby pool to use on our back porch this summer, and we are anxious to try it out. The pediatrician says no sunscreen for 6 months, and they don’t advise getting them in the swimming pool this early (partially because they have a hard time controlling their body temperature right now and also due to the chlorine), so we thought this would be a good alternative for this year.

This month, we will visit our new pediatrician, and Jack will get two more vaccinations. Jack also will get his three month portraits taken. We bought him a very cute outfit this week for those, so I’m excited to show him off soon.

Grandma (my mom) came down to visit for a few days this week. We took Jack to the mall and wore ourselves out while shopping. And fortunately, I went down a size in jeans (YAY!), so I got a few new pairs of pants. Still more weight to lose from pregnancy, but it’s getting better. Jack got a lot of new things, as usual. He is lucky to wear all of the outfits he has before outgrowing them. He is filling out his 6 month clothes, and we are hoping he stays in that size for a little while so he can wear all of the outfits we bought or were given for him. Today, Grandma took us to lunch, which was nice. The rest of the day, we have been catching up on our rest from our big day yesterday.

We hope you all have a fun and safe July 4th weekend!

Sean and I are sitting here playing with Jack, and I had to write a new blog! Jack is on his play mat and is grabbing his links that are hanging on the sides. This is the first time I have seen him intentionally see and grab an object!! YAY for Jack! He also loves the rainforest monkey on all of his rainforest toys, and he is laying there talking to and batting at the monkey with his fist. HA! How cute! (Grandma and Grandpa, this was a great toy to buy for him!)

Some other things he has accomplished lately:
- Jack is learning to scoot a little bit. On his tummy, he grips the blanket and tries to scoot. He is still figuring that out. On his back though, he digs his heels down in the floor and pushes himself backwards. He also does this on the changing table, so we always have to keep one hand on him.
- He also has the fascination of watching TV. We try to limit this as much as possible… I already have to limit my child’s TV! HA! He gets really caught up in all the movement and colors. His favorite show is Sesame Street. He loves the music, and he enjoys Elmo the most. I think it’s because of his high-pitched voice.

We can’t believe our little boy is growing up this fast! I’m so fortunate that I can stay at home with him and catch all of his “firsts.” He is truly a joy, and we love him so much!

Jack has had a very productive past couple of days! On Saturday night, he got back into the swing of things with his sleeping schedule. He has gone to bed by 10pm, woke to eat at 3, and then slept until 7am! WOOHOO! Mommy and Daddy are so happy!

He grabbed his first toy today while having tummy time on his mat. He looked bored just being on his tummy talking to me, so I grabbed some toys and placed them in front of him. When I looked down, he had grabbed his links and was holding on to them. YAY Jack!!!!!!!!!!!

Really wanting to be a big boy, he likes sitting up on his own, with a little help from us. Today, he was laying on my legs, sort of in a recliner position. And he grabbed one of my fingers with each hand and pulled himself up a little bit like he wanted to sit up. So, I pulled back to help him, and there he was sitting up on my belly like a little man. HAHA! He had the proudest look on his face. It was very cute!

Every once in awhile, I feel like I’m having an anxiety attack when I think of him growing up so fast. I sort of lose my breath and have this panicked feeling like I’m going to miss something. The hardest thing by far was moving him from our bed into his own crib. I still wake up and run in there sometimes worried that someone has taken him in the middle of the night.

Then there is the infamous question, “When are you going to let us babysit?” Um, I can tell you right now, that won’t be happening for awhile. Sorry family and friends! Someone asked me that about a week ago, and I really got short of breath. I’m just not ready. I sat in our kitchen and kept going on and on to Sean about how I wasn’t ready and seriously could not do that right now. He kept saying, “I know honey. I’m on your side, remember?” HA! After I was having trouble with my milk supply and Jack was having trouble with his latch while breastfeeding, we have cut out all bottles anyways. So for now, my little man will go with me where I go, and I’m fine with that.

He is becoming a lot more flexible since I ditched the schedule. I just feed him where ever we are when he needs to eat, and we have found that he really likes to sleep in restaurants. Guess it is because of all the white noise there. There are times I can tell he has had enough and just needs to go home to his own bed. Like at church this Sunday… I nursed him as soon as we got there and ended up spending most of Sunday School in the hallway with him because he was fussy. So, I just told Sean we needed to go home after they finished the lesson. It’s so great getting to know my son. I’m learning his cues and his cries. I know best what he needs and when he needs it. We are getting so confident being together, and I just really enjoy being his mommy!