So I have a new obsession

....its called photography. When I was younger, my weakness would be purses or shoes, or a nice dinner and evening out. Now, its documenting the little guy in photographs! As in, I love it when its time to get photos taken of Jack. Protocol is to get photos taken at 3, 6, 9, & 12 months in the first year. I make it a point not to miss one of these "designated" professional photo times. I just love the faces, poses and expressions they are able to capture. They're priceless. He's only this little once-- and we feel so lucky to have him in our world-- so yes, I'm have a little addiction to getting him photographed. We'll have these forever :) Can you blame me?

We have a 9 Month Old

Jack's 9 months old! Seems amazing, doesn't it? Mike asked me today which felt longer: being pregnant or having Jack in our world? I thought for awhile and decided that the pregnancy felt longer. I guess that's because of all the prep work with the IVF and the tests....and also because pregnancy actually lasts 10 months...40 weeks...no one really tells you that in the beginning. Also, it felt like we were waiting and waiting and waiting...as opposed to now, where we're so busy taking care of him that it feels like there's no down time. Regardless--- we've been lucky to have this little guy in our world for 9 months. Its been just great!

As for his 9 month check up...Jack is continuing to do well. He's 19 lbs and 29 inches tall. Thats 20th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. Our pediatrician said that we shouldn't worry about his weight index dropping. Apparently its pretty typical at this age for very energetic and mobile babies to drop a little bit. Babies who aren't yet crawling around and moving all over the place tend to jump up in the index.

At his checkup, they asked a lot of questions about his fine motor skills, his mobility, communication, social skills. He's in the normal range for everything. When it comes to coordination and movement, he's showing to be a bit ahead of the curve. Jack can stand, play with a toy while standing (where he only uses one hand to hold onto a table for example), gracefully fall from a standing position (that's so not a quality he learned from his clutzy mom), crawl, climb stairs (just going up, with an adult right behind him), get into a sitting position from his stomache, bang toys together, pass food from one hand to the other, feed himself cheerios, and clap. Not bad for 9 months.

He is begining to make more noises. He says Ma-Ma and yesterday started saying Ba-Ba. He also squeals with glee (its hilarious-- and usually is accompanied with a big smile and/or giggle). We're working on Da-Da and Boom.

It seems like every day a little more of his personality comes out. I love it!!!

A week away at Grandma & Grandpa's

Since my Mom retired and we had plans to see eachother for two weekends in a row (Mike & I went to Baltimore with friends on the weekend of 8/15, then we had the JRF Memorial Golf Tournament in Columbus), we decided that this might be a great time for my parents and Jack to have some quality time.

So, Jack spent 4 days in Maryland with my parents on his own. He had a blast. And they had a blast. Truthfully, I don't know who had more fun! Between the baby pool and all the toys we hauled out east (we took two cars so we could fit 4 adults, a dog, jack, and all of Jack's toys when we headed to Maryland). The child that doesn't sleep in (Mr 6am) and doesn't like to take long naps (we call him the Cat-napper) must have known he was on vacation. He slept in just about every day he was there-- sometimes until almost 9am! And then he'd take a 2-3 hour nap! He must have known he was on holiday.

Speaking of holiday-- I will admit that I did enjoy a little "me" and "us" time while Jack was with my parents. I also missed him profusely and kept having that sinking feeling in my stomache everytime I left the house or got out of the car that I was leaving something really important behind. I would always catch myself looking for him. We did have a really fun week of golf, dinners, actually watching some tv before 9:30p! It was a lot of fun. I will also admit that when this past Friday arrived, I couldn't get to Columbus fast enough!!! And when Jack arrived at Kevin and Collette's house, I was so estactic to see him. He flashed a big smile and let out a happy screech...and melted my heart.

It was a good week for everyone involved. My parents claim that Jack is one of the best babies they've ever seen. I'm very sure that there are two other grandchildren that they said the same thing about--- nonetheless, I'm really glad he was so good.

Check out the fun they had!!!

Just Add Water

This kid loves water!!! No joke—Jack LOVES being in the water. Since he is going to be at my parents all week, we thought it would be a great idea to get a baby pool for their back deck. That may have been the best $10 I ever spent.

He’s been in regular pools a lot--- in his canopy raft. But this was his first experience in his own personal baby pool. And, as you can see…..he’s a big fan. He spends a lot of time in the pool entertaining himself. He splashes, plays with toys, pulls himself up, bangs on the walls, stands around. He comes in water-logged from each session. Of course, these actions are accompanied by the funniest noises…..he laughs and screaches in glee, blows raspberries into the pool. It’s a riot! I think we’ll be signing him up for some swim lessons real soon.

Busy busy busy boy!

Its safe to say that Jack's officially on the move. He has found some very fun activities and staying in one location for a long period of time is surely not one of them. He justs loves to be on the go.

Here are a couple things he's really into right now:
1) Crawling (anywhere and everywhere!)
2) Pulling himself up and standing with the aid of a table, toy or the couch.
3) Bouncing (and climbing, like he's doing to my leg right now)
4) Banging on surfaces (the floor, his crib, tables, toys, counters, people, walls...he likes to use those arms)
5) Eating new foods (and we're introducing new goods all the time
6) Climbing on just about everything (and anything...Boomer included)

We had one of the best "hang out just the three of us days" ever today. It was filled with a ton of activity--- and maybe even more giggles and smiles across the board. We woke up and went on a long long walk at the Metro Parks. We came back (little guy napped while we got chores done...all before 11am). Then it was off to El Rodeo, which may have just beat out SnitzelHaus as Jack's favorite restaurant. He was in his highchair-- having a blast and eating just about anything we'd give him (chickies from my quesadilla and avacados from our guac). The place is decorated as bright as a neon rainbow-- complete with parrots carved into the chairs...hence why he LOVED the place. Then we came back home, played around in the basement before heading over to the pool. Then it was bath, then nap, then dinner, then playtime, then off to bed. What a fun day!

Making Nonna Proud!

First things first.....we went to the doctor and he confirmed what we thought: Jack has his first sinus infection. Poor little guy! The good news is that we caught it really early. His ears don't look too inflamed (they usually get infected whenever a baby gets a sinus infection...along with the eyes). So, he's on 2 prescriptions and seems to be doing better. In fact, his eyes already looked way better this morning when he woke up.

After we went to the doctor, we spent the day together. And although he wasn't feeling 100%, he was still fun to hang out with. We played....he crawled, climbed, scooted, pulled himself up, stood, pet Boomer...it was fun.

When it came to dinner time, I thought it was only fair to give the little guy a special treat. Baby Jones Pasta & tomato sauce! He's eaten the Gerber 3rd Food version and loves it. So, tonight, we made Nonna proud and gave him the real deal, which he LOVED!

Eyes, Nose, Ears & Throat

...Ears and throat. Eyes, Nose, Ears and Throat, Ears and Throat.."

Poor little guy. He's going to the doctor tomorrow as soon as we can get him in....but I did get in touch with the on-call nurse tonight and they called him in a prescription... His seasonal allergies (which seem to me to be all season allergies) seem to have turned into some sort of an infection. He's on eye drops for the night (And I'm hoping they're liquid gold b/c they were $59 with the Co-Pay!). And they told me to call in the morning to get him into see his pediatrician.

He's had his stuffy nose for a bit, and then came a little cough-- but they were never that bad, so I chalked it up to allergies...until I picked him up from school today with green goop in his eyes. They aren't puffy like Pink Eye (see, I'm almost a pro now :), but he's definitely got gunk coming from a number of places. I'm guessing Baby's First Sinus Infection. I've read that ironically, sinus infections show up to us as clogged nose (check), goop in eyes (check) and sometime pulling on ears (check). He doesn't have a fever though, so that's a plus.

Apparently, he somehow got my sinuses! We'll see what the doctor says once he sees him. Details to come....

Still, he's all smileys. What a champ!

The "Boy's Room"

Ah, the basement! When we first bought our home, the most important thing to him was the potential of the basement. He wanted his own sports room, so we finished it and turned it into a great family room. Every Sunday in the Fall we live in the basement watching football. Its a lot of fun. The room is decorated with Bengals, Reds, OU ....great sports memorabilia. Its always been Mike's sanctuary.

Now he shares it with a special someone (besides me). He shares his "playroom" with Jack. My oh My! How much fun we all have in this basement!!!