Party Boy

So we're up in RI for the 4th of July and so we decided to have a little (early) birthday party for Jack yesterday. It was pretty delightful - I think Jack had a great time (and was slightly overwhelmed by all the people!) At the very least, he discovered the joys of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which is a milestone all its own. Here's some pics:

Cupcakes courtesy of Aunt Nora and Grandma - awesome!!

Walking?

So I THINK Jack took his first steps. But I don't know what qualifies as Official First Steps. For the last week or so we've been playing the "Walk to Mommy" game where I stoop down a little ways away and he has to let go of whatever he's holding onto to walk to me. Mostly it would be one or two steps and then a forward lean with the assurance that I would catch him. But over last weekend, I moved a little farther away, then it became two or three steps to get to me. Today, I was a good six feet away, so he had to take about five steps. Does that count? I think I'm counting it. Right? 

I'll try and get video so I can put it to a vote...

Otherwise, all is pretty great. Work has been mellow-ish and we're about to head into 10 days off, which I'm very much looking forward to. Jack's been in a great mood except for the four or five days when he all of a sudden had this bout of separation anxiety. He was screaming before bed (which he hasn't done in MONTHS) and wouldn't go down for naps. He'd just stand in his crib with his arms out toward the door, screaming. When I'd go in and pick him up, he was super clingy in a way that he never is (usually he'd pushing me out of the way to get to either food or toys) and once I even had to nap with him because he hadn't slept all day and had been crying for like 45 minutes. Sigh. But, knock on wood, after a few nights of a very extended bedtime routine (our usual bedtime routine consists of him drinking his bottle and me singing him a song, then he's in his crab and that's it), he seems to be handling it much better. Weird. 

Photos below from when we were at the playground last weekend and met up with my cousins. As we were coming over to greet them, Jack was mobbed by his two superfans - twin girls named Josie and Georgia. I had been told that they LOVE Jack but had never actually seen them with him - they literally were trying to crawl on top of him in the stroller - kissing him, trying to touch him - it was a little crazy. And of course Josie had just eaten something red and smeary so Jack looked like he had lipstick marks on both cheeks. 

I'm sure I'll post again after Jack's unofficial (early) first birthday party on Sunday in RI, but here's a couple photos for now (courtesy of cousin Caolan, mostly) of Jack's fans and the continued futile efforts to get him to drink out of something that's not a bottle and not Mommy's glass. So far, no luck. I fear he'll still be drinking from a bottle when he's eight...

Josie can't contain herself. Note the red mark on his other cheek where she already kissed him.

What can I say? The ladies love me.

I even attempted delicious sugary juice since I read that makes them want to suck from a straw. Nope. Jack DID learn that if he squeezed the juice box he didn't have to suck. Great lesson. 

 

Picnic lunch in Prospect Park last weekend

At the playground after J discovered that sprinklers are AWESOME. He loved playing in the water with the big kids, which meant I had to play in the water with the big kids. Hence my hair.

Cruisin'

Keeping up with Jack has officially become a workout. I'm not saying it's the equivalent to taking a spin class, but it's exhausting. The boy is very much on the move. We spent an hour at the playground today while he practiced his "cruising" (for any non-parents out there, this is what they call the phase where they can't really walk on their own, but they can walk around while holding on to something, so can make their way around the room if the furniture is positioned close together) He's still faster crawling so if he really wants to get somewhere, he'll drop and crawl, but he definitely likes feeling like a Big Kid at the playground and standing with all the other kids. 

He was up on the playground equipment holding on to the railing and I was trying to give him some space and stand a little bit away. A little boy (maybe 2 years old) runs past me and starts to run past Jack when Jack totally nonchalantly grabs on to this kid's t-shirt and proceeds to pull him down to the ground. He then of course grinned evilly, so proud of himself as he stood over the big kid who was now flat on his back, while the older kid starts crying and I start apologizing to his mother. I think mostly the kid couldn't believe that he'd been taken down by a baby and was certainly not really hurt at all, but it was my first "I'm so sorry my kid hurt your kid" parent moment. Thanks Jack. 

Video of him cruising around the playground here: http://youtu.be/CtIk6W1pHIA

Other than that, it's been pretty mellow. We went back to the Dr AGAIN on Friday for this cough that just hasn't gone away (I think I've mentioned it in my last 12 posts, it seems like he's had it for that long) and we were FINALLY given antibiotics because apparently Jack has pneumonia. Granted, it's "only" walking pneumonia, but it makes me feel vindicated (and furious at the dr) that we've been like 5 times in the last month and only now are they finally giving him something. He's been on the medecine for 3 days and he's already a new man - so much more energy and his sleeping and eating are much improved. Poor little guy!

Memorial Day in RI was great - beautiful weather, great time, I even got to see a movie which was so nice. Jack still has a bit of an aversion to grass, but my mom bought him an Adirondack chair (baby-sized) so he can sit on the grass without sitting on the grass. This kid has the life, I'm telling you. We got to hang out with the Carney kids and Jen, thanks again for being the voice of reason in regards to docs and sick kids and medicine - made me feel so much better! And I think her son Jack somehow taught my Jack how to use a sippy cup because he seems like he's doing it now (finally). He also wants to give himself his bottles and feed himself his meals. He no longer has any patience for me spoon feeding him (unless it's yogurt). I think this is good thing?

In non-Jack news, I had my first open house today for my apartment. I can already tell that keeping it clean and ready to show at moment's notice is going to suck, but I'm hopeful it will sell quickly so I can move on the other apartment. I still don't really understand how no one will sell you an apartment if you need to sell yours first. Is everyone else in the world able to carry two mortgages? I would think everyone would need to sell their current house before they buy a new one? Isn't this the norm? Maybe it's a weird Brooklyn thing....

With Uncle Matt at the Botanic Garden yesterday

10 months

Yesterday, Jack hit the 10 month mark! Usually hailed the 'longer on the outside than on the inside' birthday, though since Jack was inside for 42 weeks, I don't know if it applies. We celebrated by going to a birthday party for a friend of ours (who was turning one) and it was such a beautiful day that it was great to spend hanging out in someone's backyard. (and as usual made me want a backyard of my own!)

Jack has been sick all week. Projectile vomiting, massive amounts of pooping and a general loss of appetite. I think he's definitely lost weight, since he seems leaner and his face is less round. On top of that, he's reclaimed his cold, so there's the snotty nose and the cough which I feel like he's had for the last month. I think it's officially time to change doctors. I gave him baby tylenol yesterday and felt guilty about it for no reason (and it totally seemed to help and let him get some sleep, which he hadn't been doing). I just don't think I should live in fear of calling the after hours ped number because I'm afraid of being scolded for no steaming him enough. There has to be something else I can do to make this kid feel better - when are they going to come out with Baby DayQuil?? Then yesterday he had a totally dry diaper from 10:30a-6:30pm. Not good. Something's definitely up with him. Going to see how we do the rest of today and try and go in tomorrow. Sigh. 

The apartment search continues - I saw a place I liked last week and put in an offer, only to find out that 2 other people had also. There's an open house today for it and I think the plan is that the seller will come back to all of us that made offers and ask us for our best and final offer. I really don't want to get into a bidding war, but I did really like the place. But what's more of a pain is that idea that I have to sell my place. I had a broker come over last week and look at the place and while it's in pretty good shape as it is, there's definitely some cleaning/organizing that needs to happen before it's 'show-able', which I am not looking forward to dealing with. The idea of keeping my house perpetually clean and ready to show for the next couple weeks (hopefully only the next couple weeks) is kind of terrifying. Not that it gets filthy, but the baby crap seems to migrate all over the place and I feel like no matter how often I clean the kitchen, there's pretty much always banana or something on the floor. 

But in happier news, my side job is finished - thank god!! It was a fight to the finish but I feel really good to have it behind me and be able to focus on other things (like going to be before midnight!) My parents came to town last weekend to watch J for a bit while I worked and my dad even went to swimming lessons with him. It was...a learning experience. Jack was a little freaked at first but was into it by the end of the lesson even though my did kept inadvertently dunking his head under water :-)

As always, pictures:

The Grind

I've been a posting slacker - apologies. I took on a side job doing this other work that is some decent money for what I thought would be not a ton of work, but it's totally kicking my ass. It's due May 15th, and it's going to be a fight to the finish, so I've been working nights (and some days, when I can) on getting it done, but it's been tough. The house is a mess, I'm a zombie, and I feel totally checked out of my real job. But it's almost over. Thank god.

But in happy news, Jack started two new classes: music and swimming. The music class is just something in our neighborhood at another little boy's house around the corner, and I got to go to the first one with him, which was great (it's Fridays at noon, so I doubt I'll be able to make most of them). Jack seemed into it, but it was a LOT of singing and the babies seemed a little overloaded after a while. But he had fun shaking the little egg shaker, so whatever, it's fine.

Swimming, on the other hand, was a blast. Well, he had a blast. Totally loved the water and chasing after the rubber duck and grabbing on to the side of the pool. So that was good. The post-swimming shower/change/dress part was a bit of a shitshow, as I imagine anyone who's ever taken their kids to swimming would know. I brought food along to keep him occupied for three seconds to I could throw my clothes on (thanks for the tip, Mia!) but it's a very small locker room with virtually no raised flat surfaces, so you're kind of stuck on the wet, cold, dirty floor. Nice.

So other than my nightmare of a second job, all is good. I'm on the hunt officially for a new apartment, which scares the hell out of me because this time around, I actually have to SELL an apartment as well. Since my place currently looks like a cross between a flophouse and a toy store, I need to do some serious maneuvering to get it in shape to sell. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Here's some pics - none of us at swimming, but some shots of the little man (who is almost 10 MONTHS OLD!! Sweet lord, how did that happen????)

We're officially bathing in the big boy bath now (aka the tub). I have no idea how deep to make the bath...

At music class, looking slightly concerned...

Gnawing on a chicken bone. Jack has realized the wonder of eating chicken - he LOVES it. 

With our nanny, Leeann, the woman Jack thinks is his mother...

Never misses the chance to practice the standing

Phew

Well.

It's been kind of an exhausting couple weeks. We drove home to RI for Easter only to have Jack come down with a killer cold (complete with his first fever - awesome) and ended up driving back to NYC on Easter morning with my mom, who came to watch Jack for the week. Ended up in the ped's office twice, since one night he was so congested that he was having some trouble breathing, only to be told by the dr that a) Tylenol/Ibuprofen has never done anything good for anyone and there's no reason to ever give it to my child and b) we like it when babies get sick because it shows that everything's working properly and c) the thing I needed to do was to sit Jack in front of a hot steam vaporizer for 5-10 minutes TWENTY TIMES A DAY and he would be fine. Oh, and don't call the after-hours number unless I'm on my way to the hospital with him. Now, this wasn't our normal dr - this was one of the other docs in the practice since ours was on vacation last week, but needless to say, I was not thrilled with the action plan of 20 hot steams a day. Seriously? Was I supposed to wake him up to steam him again? Quit my job to fit in all 20 steams? You would literally be sitting this kid in front of the steamer *which he hates, by the way* like every hour all day long, for 5 days straight. I just don't think that's helpful medical advice.

But whatever. So last week sucked. It got to the point where if you laid him in his crib on his back, he'd just cough so much he couldn't sleep, so he ended up sleeping with me for a few nights (which NEVER happens - not even when he was a baby), which was good for him but not so good for me, sleep-wise. Poor little guy. And my poor mother ended up getting sick too, which just rounded out the fun.

But in happier news, everyone seems recovered now and we're back to normal. Jack's latest trick is pulling himself up to standing. For a couple days, he was only pulling up on a person - say, if I were laying on the ground on my side, he'd kind of drag himself up and lean on me. Now, he's discovered that he can pull up on ANYTHING that's taller than he is, and he is delighted to greet me after a nap by standing up in his crib. Since as usual, his crib is the testing ground for new tricks, I've seen him actually cruising around the perimeter of it. It's kind of hysterical to see him try and navigate a corner and watch how deliberate his actions are as he tries to figure out how to let go of one side and grab another.

Another big development is that he's finally started saying "mama". I'm sure he doesn't know what it means exactly, but he only says it when he wants something from me (to be taken out of his crib, to be fed, or if he falls over and wants to be picked up) It's kind of awesome though, hearing it, even though most of the time it's said in frustration or impatience.

I'm not sure why these pictures are so badly placed on the page, but here you go:

Looking at flowers in Papa's garden

Before the sickness really hit

So I didn't get to take an legitimate Easter pics, but I staged one yesterday of Jack in his would-have-been Easter outfit. In 15 years, who will even remember that we didn't take it Easter morning, right? 

Saying hello to the bees!

Post-recovery. First merry-go-round ride! He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be terrified or excited...

On the Move

I knew this kid had the devil inside him, but wow. Now that he's 100% officially crawling, it's crazy times over here. I put him on the floor and turn around to empty the diaper pail (which takes less than a minute) and he's literally on the other side of the apartment licking the vacuum cleaner. Really, Jack???

He's also figured out how to go back to sitting from crawling, which is quite helpful, since what good is it to crawl over to the toy you want only to find that you have to play with it while lying on your belly. No fun!

He's loving his newfound freedom and is still pretty delighted with himself that he has the run of the place. I've done a half-ass job of childproofing, but I'm going to have to up my game pretty soon. Do other people do any kind of securing of the television? Mine is on top of a pretty high, pretty heavy modular shelving unit, and I can't imagine he'd be able to get to it, even when he's pulling up, but is that wishful thinking? Should I secure it to the walls somehow??

Another opinion question: so Jack tries out all his new moves (crawling, sitting, rolling over) in his crib before he performs them for the outside world, so as a result there's lots of activity in there. Now that he's really moving, the bumps into the side of the crib have gotten harder (to the point where I can hear the loud thunk over the baby monitor, sometimes followed by wailing). So crib bumpers seem like they'd be pretty great in this case, but are they this terrible thing that somehow he'll find a way to suffocate on? He's past the most dangerous SIDS time, and can roll over as necessary... Do other have bumpers? Do I just keep letting him bump his head? Now that he's starting to practice pulling up to standing, that's getting to be a bit of a fall...

I'm sure I'll have pictures to post after Easter (going back to RI to see the family), but here's another video for you. To put it in context, let me remind you that Jack is incapable of sitting still for more than a second, so this is pretty much the only thing that can stop him in his tracks. He's completely fascinated, every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGUvDLHz4bA