This kid says the darndest things!
- These days just about every sentence starts with, "Hey!" (Hey, I want some milk!)
- One day he was climbing the stairs fast and he stopped suddenly and said, "It's wiggling... I feel my heart!" (my budding little exercise physiologist!)
- He is a PRO at spotting fire hydrants, extinguishers, and ladders everywhere we go. Often he will say, "did you see that? What was that?" and sure enough I'll look in my rearview mirror and there will be a hydrant. He also likes to take a wrench from Daddy's tools and go inspect the two fire hydrants on our street. Daily.
- His school was closed Wed-Fri the week of July 4th for cleaning and the holiday. So he got to go to Jackson's school on Wed and they both went again on Thurs so I could get some more work done [before Jim left for a 2-week trip]. Coincidentally, there was an intern there (studying psychology and child development, I believe) who was offering free developmental assessments for anyone interested. I had her do one on Mason - it will be a few weeks before we get any results - but in my phone interview with her we went up 2 age levels for the verbal questions (of course he did not match that for fine motor skills, etc). One of the things she seemed to be most impressed with is his ability to be flexible with schedules and plans. When I told her that typically the first thing he asks when he wakes up in the morning is "where are we going today? What are we doing next?" she was really surprised that he had that ability (flexibility?) at his age.
Jackson:
- had his 4 month appointment:
weight: 15 lb, 9 oz (50%)
height: 26" (80%)
head: 43 cm (60%)
Jackson:
- had his 4 month appointment:
weight: 15 lb, 9 oz (50%)
height: 26" (80%)
head: 43 cm (60%)
- I was starting to get a little worried because I didn't feel like we were doing a very good job of having him do tummy time, and I felt like he was having a hard time lifting his head - both on his tummy, and then there were 1-2 days where just holding him up on my shoulder I felt like he wasn't comfortable lifting his own head. But fortunately we've been a little more diligent about it (and I've asked his school to work on it the days he is there), and he is getting better at it.
- Along with more tummy time comes: finally rolling in both directions! Belly to back, and back to belly.
- Along with more tummy time comes: finally rolling in both directions! Belly to back, and back to belly.
- You can really get some good giggles out of him by tickling his ribs :)
- One day when I was leaving his day care (a day Mason was there too), one of the ladies was holding Jackson on the ground and a toddler came over and was dancing and marching around in front of him. It would make Jackson giggle so loud! Then the kid would laugh and dance some more, then Jackson would giggle some more. Of course we all laughed along, it was so contagious!
- He is truly a super happy baby. But he's been kinda fussy this past week, and had an especially hard time going to sleep a few nights. I would start to feed him around 7:30, but a few nights it was after 10:30 at night before he was actually asleep. We kept trying a combo of letting him cry it out and then soothing him. Of course it would happen on a night that I was hoping to climb in bed around 8 or 9:00!
- He's had a rash on his neck (I think from drooling and spit up), and eczema on his elbows/arms. The doctor checked both of them out at his appointment and said just to keep him moisturized. I've noticed if I consistently use the AveenoBaby eczema lotion on his elbows it goes away - but if I skip it for a few days, it comes back. For his neck, he said to use vaseline, A&D, and even hydrocortisone cream occasionally. That looks better some days than others, but isn't going away yet. :-/
Me:
I don't know why I feel funny talking about myself on my own blog, but I do. However, this blog is about preserving memories, and so preserve I shall:
I don't know why I feel funny talking about myself on my own blog, but I do. However, this blog is about preserving memories, and so preserve I shall:
- I've been doing pretty well with my post-pregnancy weight loss (especially when I muster up the will power to say "no" to the ice cream and dinner rolls).
I'm within 5 lbs of my pre-preg weight!
I'm within 5 lbs of my pre-preg weight!
- I've been running with the single or double stroller about 3 times a week. I started doing the Couch to 5K program with a friend, and took off from there to the point where I now run 4 miles at ~10:00/mile (which was my jogging pace WITHOUT a stroller before kids!). I'm thankful for the cooler PNW summer weather, and the beautiful scenery along the water trail to keep me entertained!
- I am so glad to be teaching - it makes me happy, keeps me mentally stimulated, makes me feel productive, and will benefit my future career. But working is EXHAUSTING when you still have the responsibility of two kids and the day-to-day house needs, etc. Jim has been really great about helping out when and where he can, and together we are making it work, but it's a crazy little life!
I think it is particularly challenging having an infant, breast feeding (meaning you never get more than ~2 hours of anything done before it's time for a feeding break), and teaching a new class that involves a lot of prep work. The fact that the kids are at different schools is time consuming and silly - but not much we can do about that right now. And Jackson is only in school on the two days I teach, and those days are packed enough that I don't have much "prep" time on those days, so I try to get all of that done while "working from home" with Jackson during the other days of the week. I'm definitely in an "time/energy investment" phase with both work and the kiddos! Hopefully things will feel smoother at work in the fall when I'm teaching the same classes and the prep work is mostly done.
Enough talking, on with the pictures!!
I think it is particularly challenging having an infant, breast feeding (meaning you never get more than ~2 hours of anything done before it's time for a feeding break), and teaching a new class that involves a lot of prep work. The fact that the kids are at different schools is time consuming and silly - but not much we can do about that right now. And Jackson is only in school on the two days I teach, and those days are packed enough that I don't have much "prep" time on those days, so I try to get all of that done while "working from home" with Jackson during the other days of the week. I'm definitely in an "time/energy investment" phase with both work and the kiddos! Hopefully things will feel smoother at work in the fall when I'm teaching the same classes and the prep work is mostly done.
Enough talking, on with the pictures!!
Mason was really upset about not having fire gear to wear one night, so I had him call Lola on the phone and tell her why he was sad. Hee hee, I knew what grandma would do... send him some fire gear!!! (This is the same set he had at Lola's house, that's why I could harass her about it). Of course she couldn't leave Jack Jack out, he got a fun new toy too!
Spotted on our water trail, right at the end of our run!
I was trying to get Mason to hold his hand up so I could make it look like he was holding the eagle in the picture, but these boys weren't playing along ;).
Here's a sweet little "video" of my happy Jack: "YOU are so big"
Here's a sweet little "video" of my happy Jack: "YOU are so big"
Just a little fire fightin' from the back of the fire truck
A hike to a nearby lake from our house, with Daddy and Duncan
Sometimes on your hike you just have to stop and wiggle: Wiggle shake bideo
Sometimes on your hike you just have to stop and wiggle: Wiggle shake bideo
Happy Jack!
We also introduced Mason to the Wii:
And here he is getting coached on his batting technique :)
Last swimming lessons class for the session.
We really made great strides in ~5 weeks!
We really struggled with whether or not we could do the 3rd/final session for the summer, and even considered signing Jackson up too (she starts with 3 month olds). But it would have been way too chaotic for us to all try to get to this place that's 45+ minutes away from home by 5:30 on Monday nights, especially since that's my long day at Western.
Our plan was to keep going to our local pool one night a week to practice... but that hasn't happened yet :-/
Oh yeah, ha ha ha - my birthday was this week too!
For my special treat I picked strawberry short cake with pudding/cool whip frosting (and nilla wafers to eat with the left over frosting the following days!).
This guy just happens to be the BEST frosting maker [and taster] I know!
He is also really good at helping blow out birthday candles :).
One day, after Jackson and I tucked Mason in for nap, he grabbed on to Jackson and said, "I want Jackson to be my sleep-thing!" ha ha!
Them are some cute cheeks and some cute boys!
Mason loves to "sneak" onto the blanket when I'm taking the weekly pictures!
Mason actually took this picture with the phone camera!
Happy little 20-week old!
Some tired looking boys with Jack the morning person... but Jackson wasn't the one that got everyone up so early!!
Morning cups of joe (and H2O)
4th of July parade in Anacortes
Left: best view in the house!
Right: Someone in the parade handed this stuffed giraffe to Mason. In this picture, he is "riding" his giraffe while waving to all the parade people.
We sat with Miss Amanda, one of Mason's teachers from the toddler room, at the parade.
We got the jumperoo out!
I call this guy Jumpin Jax ;)
"Mason" the giraffe (named by Mason the human) joined us for milkshakes to end our 4th of July. I felt really guilty not taking Mason (the human) to see the fireworks - with his obsession with fire these days, I think he would really have liked it! But 10:00 just seemed a bit too late, considering I knew we'd all still be getting up ~6ish the next morning (i.e.: whenever Mason woke up).
For my birthday weekend, these shopping buddies came with me to let me spend my birthday money on new "Dr. FitBritt" clothes at the outlets.
Good thing Jim stretched when we got there, it was quite an endurance event!
I was exhausted after hours of trying on clothes and fighting the crowds... I can only imagine how tired he must have been from keeping both kids entertained that whole time!
But before all of that craziness, we fueled up with a delicious breakfast at Calico Cupboard! Since it was my very special day, I even dictated how we ordered the food (I would order 3 pancakes with fruit, and Jim would order an egg scramble with potatoes... then we would all share all of it, family style). It actually worked out so well (No surprise, I'm pretty brilliant!) that I think we'll plan to do that from now on. :)
Sunday afternoon this guy napped for over 3 hours before we woke him up. Come to find out he had a bit of a fever (we never did measure it, but he was pretty hot!). Look at those rosy cheeks and ruby lips, sweet sweet boy. We still ran out to do a few errands, all the while I was scrambling to come up with back up plans A, B, and C for child care the next morning in case he wasn't feeling better... on Mondays I leave for Bellingham at 7 am and don't get home until after 6 pm! And this was the day Jim was leaving for his Navy trip! (Fortunately, he woke up feeling fine the next day, and we did end up sending him to school. But I was also grateful to have two babysitters who were on standby for my call early Monday morning, and then also for a call anytime throughout the day if he needed to be picked up from school before I could get there).
Talk about contagious giggles: We discovered an episode of Handy Manny that CRACKS Mason UP every time he watches it... and we can't help but giggle too :)
There may have been a few extra fussy periods this past week, but we ended on a happy note, holding that head up high!!
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