All Kinds of Gifts

Happy 7 month birthday Jack! It's hard to believe that your rocky start has led here. You started off in the hospital for an entire month, and now you are home with us-- happy, healthy, and strong. Everyone who meets you is amazed by how happy and friendly you are. You always have a smile; even if you're crying, you can't help to smile or laugh when played with. And man, are you strong! The nurses remarked how strong and stubborn you were, despite being sedated...when 1 day old you pushed up on your elbows and hands in the hospital, frustrated with your situation. Now, only home for 6 months, you're crawling. What a miracle baby. We love you.

Jack first started crawling last night! He has crawled even more and farther this morning! Can you guess what his motivation for this latest development could possibly be? Behold, the REMOTE CONTROL!!! Yes, the TV remotes (all 3 of them) hold mystical power over our baby and he cannot resist them. Last night he inched his way towards the cable remote until he finally got a hold of it. This morning he crawled about a foot to get to the remote. We are so excited; it's truly amazing to witness Jack's development. He is a strong willed little guy, and will not be denied his wants and wishes. My dad claims Jack is stubborn like unto his mother, which is a little hypocritical since I got my stubborness from my dad...so Dad, if you're reading, Jack gets his stubborness from YOU! Anyways, I can't think of a better time of year for him to begin his crawling since you know, there is a big lit-up Christmas tree with dangling ornaments everywhere to tempt him with...wait, now I gotta chase after him! Dang it, I guess I didn't think this thing through. If you wish, you can view the remote control's power over Jack in the video link. Til' next time!

Nature's Magic

Today we braved the cold weather and took a walk to our favorite park. The trees are so beautiful, creating a canopy overhead with a winding walk through the idyllic scene. We walk here with Jack a few times a week. He loves to be outside and sits happily staring at the trees. I often think babies must feel closer to home (heaven) when in nature. It doesn't matter if Jack is throwing a monstrous fit, the second we step outside he becomes silent and still...once when he was just a couple of months old we had a tough time keeping him calm and happy. So I took him out to the backyard where he instantly calmed down, falling asleep. Within 3 seconds of walking back inside the house he started wailing again (how did he know we were back inside? He was asleep!!). So of course I walk right back outside again where he immediately calmed down. Nature, whatever your magic is, keep it coming!

Chapter 1

Reading all of my friends' blogs on blogspot, I thought to myself "what a wonderful idea!". I should get into that, if nothing else for my own personal reflection and written memories. Now I don't have to keep a journal, which if you know me never ends that well, or starts that well for that matter. My little family consists of my husband Jon, son Jack, and myself. While it's technically little, it feels HUGE and even unmanageable at times, mainly due to Jack the 6 month old. He keeps us hopping; for example while writing this first entry, he has not ceased screaming for 10 straight minutes. Lest you think I'm a heartless mother, I assure you that it's happy, joyous screaming...the kind that makes your eardrums bounce around. So the fact that I'm typing this with mostly correct grammar is amazing, award-worthy even.

Back to the point...Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a pretty laid-back Turkey Day here. We stayed home and had dinner with my parents, no extended family. I'm now plotting to hide the rest of the deviled eggs from my Dad, so I can have them all to myself later. After dinner we played Outburst, well semi-played it. We didn't keep score. Who knew it would be so hard to guess 10 American rivers?? For my credit, I did get 3 of the 10. Not one of my proudest moments. And then we played cards including Crazy 8 and Jen. Guess who won? (I'm sure Jon will want a rematch later tonight.) And it looks as if Turkey Day will end about the same as every other day: bath time, bottle, and shhhh.....quiet time. Goodnite everyone!