Big Kid Bed

Last month I wrote about our bedtimes woes with Jack. He could climb out of his pack-n-play and many nights were a long dance of toddler climbing out and mommy returning toddler to his bed. 

Since we were in a furnished rental cottage (in January-February), we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. I could tell it was time to move him to a bigger bed, but the beds in our rental were all really high and the doors to bedrooms wouldn't stay shut because it was a hundred+ year old house.

I was thrilled to move into our new house for many reasons, but I was especially thankful that we were able to finally move Jack into a big kid bed... We set up his crib converted to a toddler bed as well as a full-size bed in his new room. The first night we started him in his toddler bed, but he ended up requesting to sleep in the big bed. Also, on the very first night I ended up sleeping with him... it was a new house, he was still recovering from his hives incident and we wanted the transition to go smoothly.

The first couple of nights involved me laying down with him, but the last week has been amazing. We all get in his bed with him, read books and sing songs, and he goes to sleep. We shut the door (it has a child lock on the handle so he can't escape) and he RARELY gets out of bed. He has free rein of that room and I RARELY have to go and put him back in bed. After two months of on and off climbing out of his pack-n-play at bedtime I am in mommy heaven. I actually have my evenings back and I am incredibly grateful.

I am one happy mommy. Here are a few pics of me from my nephew's birthday party that I didn't get in time to include in my blog post: I am "slide-down-a-big-slide-at-Monkey-Joes" kind of happy now that Jack is sleeping in his big bed with no issues. He doesn't even get down and play with toys during nap time. YAY!!!

Jack is Seven Months

Jack discovered screeching at the beginning of the month. Initially I thought something must be wrong with him, but I think it was just a new way he learned to communicate. Thankfully this phase only lasted a week. As a friend of mine told me: he is singing and this is the song that God gave him for right now.

By the end of the month Jack had discovered growling, roaring and saying "Argggghh" like a pirate. He especially enjoyed doing this with his Grandpa Voyles. He also started scrunching up his face and squinting his eyes when he doesn't like something. Though he also does this when he wants something and occasionally when he thinks something is really funny. This little face is quite comical and it is hard not to laugh when he does it.

Jack has been sleeping through the nights for several weeks now. Consistently 9-11 hours. It is awesome {for me}. Our biggest issue with this was finding a cloth diaper that doesn't leak during this longer time period. We finally gave in and purchased a BumGenius and we have been very happy with it. Now we have two expensive diapers {the Rumparooz and BumGenius} that we use exclusively for night time. Occasionally those leak too. I think this is just part of the deal with baby boys – they pee a lot. Having to wash the sheets once or twice a week hasn't been too big of an issue though. I'm just glad he is sleeping so much now!!!

We lowered his crib mattress at the end of the month. Jack is quite strong and though he hasn't figured out how to get into a sitting position from laying down, we don't want him to figure that out in his crib when we are not around.

Jack consistently rolls over front to back and back to front. He hasn't really figured out crawling, though he can scoot. He has become quite proficient at sitting by himself and if you are holding him, he insists on pulling himself up to a standing position. Jumping and bouncing in our laps have become favorite past times as well. This behavior is making it more difficult for me to burp him after nursing and sometimes I feel like he is going to squirm right out of my arms.

This month we started introducing solid food. We are tentatively doing the Baby Led Weaning approach. Jack's first food experience was with avocado. He did pretty well. Since then he has tried both adult and baby oatmeal, bananas, squash and broccoli {and one french fry from Red Robin and a bite of guacamole from our favorite local Mexican restaurant}. He seems to do best with bananas and oatmeal. He handles a spoon really well. So far his eating seems to consist of sticking food in his mouth and then talking and/or shouting at the food {while it is in his mouth}. This results in about half of it ending up on his chin, bib and surrounding area. We will continue to forge ahead with new foods every few days.

It looks like Jack has finally outgrown spitting up -- at least as an all the time thing. We no longer have to keep him in bibs 24/7. So glad to be out of that phase!

Jack was a little late to the game in realizing the fun of bath time. A few days ago, it was like a lightbulb went off and he figured out that slapping his hand on the water made loud noises and that scooping copious amounts of water out of the tub {onto his daddy and the floor} was something that could bring him great joy.

We are still a no go on the teeth front. Every once in awhile he has a fussy day and we think maybe this is it, but so far, no teeth.

This past month Jack went to his first fish fry... 

  

cheered mommy on at her first 5K since having a baby...

sat in a high chair for the first time...

and experienced his first birthday party {no cake for Jack Jack though}.

Jack continues to bring us great joy every day. There is a sweetness to him that I didn't know existed. I am sure all parents feel like this about their own children. We are so thankful that Jack is a part of our lives.

*I will be writing monthly updates of Jack with pictures of Jack and the Tonka truck on the 11th of each month. One Month Old. Two Months Old. Three Months Old. Four Months Old. Five Months Old. Six Months Old.

Jack is Six Months

Happy Half Year Birthday Jack!!!

At the beginning of this month, we had success with sleep training after two nights. By the last day of the month Jack actually slept for 11 hours straight – a new record for him.

In addition to good sleep, Jack has progressed to waking up happy. He plays quietly until I get him out of his crib, instead of crying and wanting to be fed. Stat.

 

He also started scooting around in his crib this month. He has managed to turn completely sideways on several occasions and even got his leg stuck through the slats once. We have officially installed the bumper to prevent any kind of injury {and the loss of pacifiers}. He has also started to scoot when we lay him on the floor on his tummy. I am sure he will be crawling before long {definitely before we are ready}.

He no longer needs the aid of a pacifier to fall asleep. Mostly he just takes it out of his mouth and amuses himself by waving it around and trying to stick it back in. He would much rather suck his thumb than the paci. Not sure if this is a good thing. 

 

I have learned that if I stick the paci in his hand instead of his mouth, he will play with it, putting it in and out of his mouth, until he falls asleep. He is pretty dexterous and I think that he will have no problem shoveling food into his mouth once we start down that path.

Thumb sucking is now an intentional thing. I don't know why, but this totally melts my heart.

Jack has been trying to roll over all month, but he didn't seem to be in a huge hurry to actually complete a roll. On 4/27/12 he finally managed to do it – Daniel and I were both there to watch :) As the days passed he has become more proficient at this and by the end of the month he was using his new prowess to sleep on his side/belly.

Jack loves to make spitting sounds - he seems to think it is greatest thing in the world. Screeching is another new sound he has discovered. It is really funny {unless you have a headache}. 

 

We have been nervous about him screeching during church, but he is more interested in watching everything around him than he is in making noise {at least for now}.

Almost every time we take him out in public, people ask us if he is always this good :) We are blessed to have a very laid back, happy baby.

This month marked his first time to go to Bible class...

his first Day Hike...

his first time to attend a graduation...

his first time to visit a Rescue Mission to serve lunch...

and his first time to display signs of separation anxiety.

During this month Jack became very distracted while eating. This was a bit of a challenge for about two weeks... I wasn't sure if he was actually getting enough to eat. He is dying to get his hands on real food and loves to sit in our laps during dinner and try to touch our cups. He also enjoys hanging out in his high chair watching us cook and at the dinner table. I think meal time fascinates him.

Jack has been making a "ma-ma-ma" sound for some time now. I don't know that he is actually saying "mama" but when he is upset, it is what he repeats over and over. 

Our little guy figured out how to give us wet, slobbery kisses. He thinks it is great fun. We think it is really sweet {and funny}. 

Jack now recognizes Sophie and watches her every move. He is also very interested in touching her. Sophie is pretty tolerant of his petting {which is more like grabbing fist fulls of fur – we supervise this}. She has come a LONG way!!! Sophie also seems to be protective of Jack, always checking on him. Poor girl is torn about where to sleep since Jack is now sleeping in his nursery upstairs. She divides her time between sleeping on the futon beside his bedroom or downstairs with us.

Happy six months Jack! We love you and are so thankful to have you in our lives! It is going by so quickly.

*I will be writing monthly updates of Jack with pictures of Jack and the Tonka truck on the 11th of each month. One Month Old. Two Months Old. Three Months Old. Four Months Old. Five Months Old.

Jack is Four Months

At the start of this month we started sleep training. Initially Jack was not a fan. He would cry for up to 60 minutes before we intervened. Sophie found this very worrisome and would go to check on Jack when the crying got really intense. Night time was still a breeze... it was just nap time that seemed to be problematic :(

After two days Jack finally seemed to get the hang of sleeping in his crib for naps. Even better is that we have basically cut out the middle of the night feedings – Jack can go between 6 and 8 hours without eating. Yay for more sleep time for me :)

Our little guy is talking up a storm these days. He especially seems to like babbling along to music. Sometimes he just shouts out sounds. It is so sweet. However it seems that the days when I could nurse him and put him back {quietly} in his bed {after his 7 a.m. feeding} are gone. He babbles away, getting louder and louder until I finally make myself get up and start my day. I am going to miss those extra 1-2 hours in the morning.

Jack is using his hands more to grasp things. He really likes the rings that we have hanging down for him to grasp when he is in his car seat or bouncer. He also likes holding onto my hair.

He is starting to splash with his feet during bath time. It won't be long before we have to move his baby tub from the counter top to the bathtub. Otherwise the floor {and Daniel} will be soaked.

Jack has really been growing this month. He seems to be getting longer by the minute. He has totally outgrown his footed pajamas that are 3 months {even the 3-6 months are snug}. So I had to buy a few 6 month jammies {I am hoping to make it to some big consignment sales in Nashville and Huntsville soon}. It will be interesting to see how long he is when we go to his 4-month PED appointment on Tuesday.

When Jack was first born, Daniel asked his dad how often we should cut his fingernails. His dad replied, "Every six hours." We all laughed, but sometimes it really does seem like those suckers grow with abandon. At least we discovered that clipping fingernails while Jack is asleep is much easier than when he is awake.

Jack went to the park for the first time this month. We are looking forward to more park days.

We introduced Jack to his high chair this month. He loves being able to "sit" and watch us eat. This means we will have to start eating at the table regularly instead of at the coffee table in front of the TV {a bad habit we have developed over the years}.

Daniel recently showed Jack how to use a screwdriver. He also tells him how to fix things like HVAC units. Jack soaks up everything we say. Sometimes I wonder what is going on in his little mind. Especially when I sing him silly songs or talk in different voices or when Daniel uses big words to describe the world to him.

We were able to see a lot of both of our families this month. My family got together for a visit in Nashville so that my parents could meet their newest grandbaby, Levi. In the last four months we jumped from one grandbaby to three {and in the last ten years we have gone from a family of five to a family of ten}. I see lots of fun in the future.

Jack also got to see his Great Grandmother {on Daniel's side}. She is smitten with our little guy – as is everyone. 

We truly grow to love our little boy more and more with each passing day. It is amazing how your capacity to love grows and changes. We are so blessed.

*I will be writing monthly updates of Jack with pictures of Jack and the Tonka truck on the 11th of each month. One Month Old. Two Months Old. Three Months Old.