Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sleepy Boy

Well, Jack slept a good 9 hours last night. I'm going to say that I just got lucky because he had a full day with getting his vaccinations, then meeting his Uncle Nate-dog for the first time, and to top it off, it was bath night! I just put him down for a nap in his crib because he was yawning and falling asleep as we were singing and dancing to, "Give me gas for my Ford, keep me trucking for the Lord..." - do you guys remember that song? It's another verse to "Give me oil in my lamp". LOVE IT and can't believe I remembered it after all these years! Anyway, back to the subject. It's been about 10 minutes and he's just started to scream. My prediction is that after 10-20 minutes of screaming, he'll finally fall asleep again, and about 20 minutes later, he'll start screaming again. It seems like he'd really rather nap in my arms or my lap, but I'm not all about that. No way Jose. Let's hope he takes a good nap this morning. More to follow soon...

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Two Month Checkup

Jack officially turned 2 months old yesterday. Crazy how fast the past 2 months have gone by! We went to the pediatrician today (I keep wanting to say vet because we have a dog) for his 2 month check up and his first round of shots. They took his measurements and got his weight and he is growing and eating well, and is perfectly healthy. I can't seem to convince the doctor that I think something is wrong with him because sometimes it seems like all he does is cry my ears out. APPARENTLY, that's normal. Oh well - I guess he's not defective after all. :)

I'm sure you all are eager to hear his measurements - I've had several people ask about that and his percentiles, so here they are:
AT BIRTH:
Height - 20"
Weight - 7 lb 15oz
Head Circumference (I guess this is to make sure his brain is growing??) - 14"
TODAY - 2 months and 1 day:
Height - 24" (about 90th percentile)
Weight - 11lb 4oz (about 50th percentile)
Head Circumference -16" (about 50th percentile)

He also got his first round of vaccinations: 1 oral and 3 needles in the leg. OUCH. He did real well. He's not as tough as his friend Logan - he did cry, but not for too long. I started to worry before it was his turn for shots because I heard a baby screaming down the hall and I'm sure that kid was getting some shots, too! Here's a picture of his cute thighs with his cool Band-Aids: blue camo, Spiderman, and Snoopy. I wonder if he'll like Band-Aids as much as I did as a kid. It always seemed like bandages made everything feel better, even if you weren't bleeding or scraped up. I used to sneak into the medicine cabinet to get bandages to stick all over me because I thought it was cool to have Barbie on my finger or on my knee. My parents didn't think so - something about wasting them...
Here are a few more progress photo of our little Jack.
Holding his head up:Being a Cutie Pie for his Momma:Tired of "Tummy Time": Rolling from his tummy to back with the help of the pillow on the mat - amazingly I had the camera in my hands when he was doing this - and more amazing that he did it twice for me!
Starting the roll: Oh so close!!The roll over was so quick it scared him! Look at that SAD face!!Here's Maggie saying, "What's the big deal? I can do that!!"

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Once I started to get the hang of things, Jack decides he wants to get up in the middle of the night again. It's tough getting up for him now that I know what he's capable of doing. I went back to my log, and he hasn't woken up in the middle of the night for a couple of weeks now. He's been consistently sleeping about 7.5-8 hours - even made it just over 8.5 hours one night! He did about 5 hours Sunday night, and 6.5 hours last night. I guess that's really not too bad. I just wish he was more consistent. I've been letting him cry it out for the first 15 minutes to see if he'd fall back asleep, but no luck either day. I'm hoping tonight that he'll be back to "normal".

As for the daytime, he's still fussy. I guess if I had the option to choose, I'd pick fussy during the day over during the night. I think one of the reasons he's so fussy is because I can't seem to figure out his naps. We eat, play for a while (sing, take a walk, talk, shop, people watch, meet a friend for lunch, do our arithmetic and work on our latin - just kidding!), then try to nap - but his naps seem to only last for 30 to 40 minutes. Friends have suggested journaling what he does for a week to see his patterns, but I haven't done that yet. Maybe I'll start tomorrow. Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do about the nap situation? I'm also looking for more ideas for other "waketime/playtime" things I can do with Jack, so please let me know if you have any recommendations!! Thanks!!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Jack's Modeling Career

I think my precious Jack could have a future career in modeling, even though his father would NEVER go for it. I wanted to share a few photos to see what you guys thought...

GQ pose:All smiles:The Pout:He's saying, "Get the cameras away from me!" - Practicing for the Paparazzi...

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Charlie Returns...

I'm talking about THE Charlie, the not-so-miniature daschund.

Full name: Charlie Brown Langley
Nicknames: Prince Charles, Chunky Charlie, The Tank, Dumbo (not because he lacks intelligence because he's rather smart, but because of his enormous ears that he's had to grow into), and Slobber Face (he drools like no other)

Here's his before shot:
Cute, huh?

If you remember, my wonderful husband (and I'm not being sarcastic because I really do think he's wonderful) Josh got me Charlie as a surprise gift for my birthday last year. I was OH so surprised and wasn't sure what to think. He's a cute little stinker, but I was not mentally prepared to take on the responsibility of raising another puppy. We were thinking about having a kid at that time and I started to stress out about raising a child and a puppy. Maggie Mae, our first daschund, seemed so easy to train and caught on pretty fast. I struggled with Charlie... to his defense, we only had him for a short time and my patience with him was lacking. AND Maggie Mae didn't quite handle the new sibling very well. SO, he got re-gifted and was given to Josh's parents for their birthdays. We are such great children!!

Josh's parents love Charlie and I'm thankful that he could go to such a loving home. We see him every now and then, and Maggie and Charlie play better together now. This week, we had the pleasure of puppysitting Mr. Charlie while Josh's parents are on a mission trip.

Here's Charlie when Josh's parents left the house. I guess he knew what he was in for at the Langley household...Here's Maggie's Ball that Charlie decided to eat (and when I say "eat", I mean chew and digest) - notice his enormous ear that seems to stand up on its own every now and then: Here's what Maggie thinks of Charlie:The boy was a handful this week - everything from wanting in and out of the house every 2-3 minutes, to barking right when Jack seemed to fall asleep. Maggie wasn't any better with her growling. I wish they could learn to play quietly. I made a point to get out of the house everyday this week. I don't have anything planned for tomorrow, but I'm sure Jack and I will make it out of the house once more to get away from the chaos! The week was a challenge, but we survived it! I'm giving myself a pat on the back!!

Off to Work We Go!!

Jack and I visited Key Construction last Friday. It was so good to see everyone and have everyone meet Jack! I'm not back at work yet - I still have 5 more weeks, which I KNOW will fly by so fast! Sorry fellow estimators, but you guys seem to be doing fine without me! My friend Kristyn took some pictures of Jack with everyone. She's real good about having her camera on her at all times. Here are a few shots she got:
Aaron and Jack... Jack says Aaron might be ready for kids pretty soon! He looks like a pro! :)Andrea and Jack... he's staring at her and loves that she's loving on him!Adam and Jack... they're chillin'...Grandpa Robert and Jack... Robert didn't want to hold the little monkey because he was afraid he'd get jinxed with real grandkids.Aunt Kristyn and Jack... Jack ALWAYS loves to be held by his fav Auntie!Jack and Aunt Veronica... Jack loves his Aunt "V"!

More Funny Faces

Taken when Jack visited Key Construction...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Best Friends Forever

Jack is fortunate to already have so many friends! Just of boys alone that are about his age, there's:
-Cason - 8 weeks older
-Logan - 3 weeks older
-Lincoln - 6 weeks younger (was just born yesterday!)
-Baby Boy Mayberry - due in October
...and the verdict is still out on 3 other babies!!
With so many boys in our circle of friends, we've been fortunate to receive and pass on hand-me downs - everything from unused diapers, to shoes, socks, and clothes! It's great because with all the clothes we currently have, we don't have to do laundry so often. I think Josh and I kidded ourselves when we thought we'd only need 8-10 newborn outfits the first couple of weeks. We were doing laundry every 2-3 days just so the little monkey would have something clean to wear! Here's what Logan recently brought over for Jack. It was overwhelming how much there was. THANKS LOGAN!! Lincoln will get all this stuff next - Happy Birthday Lincoln!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my 27th birthday - wow. That much closer to 30! This is my first birthday as a momma and I didn't think mom's got to celebrate birthdays. Well, this momma did... (remember that for me, just getting out of the house these days is something to celebrate!!)

I was almost certain that Jack was going to sleep through the night for me for my birthday, especially since it's his 6 week birthday. He didn't, BUT he did let me take 2 good naps with him during the day, which almost never happens. I always seem to find something else to do or take care of, but I decided to rest today.

Since he's so much older now, I thought I'd let him try the bouncer again. We tried it out a few weeks ago and he didn't so much care for it. He seemed to enjoy it this time and even fell asleep in it. Isn't he precious?!I am almost certain that Jack smiled at me today, too. I didn't get it on camera, of course, but I KNOW I made him smile. Hopefully I can get a picture posted soon to show you. Up until today, he's only smiled in his sleep.

Josh made a point to make it home by 6 so that I could have dinner with my coolest friend ever, Kristyn. We went to PF Chang's, our fav, and had lettuce wraps and Mongolian Beef. YUM!! It was fun to catch up with her and to spend some time with someone older than 6 weeks old. She got me some awesome gifts that I'm excited about using, including a gift card to STARBUCKS. She knows how to spoil her friends. Here she is with Jack. Look at the little monkey's face - he started to fuss because he didn't want her to leave!! Jack loves his Aunt Kristyn! She spoils him, too.
Finally, Josh surprised me with the WHOLE Cosby DVD set. I LOVE the Cosby Show and watched it growing up with my family. I can't wait to watch them all with Jack one day. It's one of the greatest shows ever. I think Bill Cosby is HI-larious and I love his clean humor. I've even won tickets to one of his shows at Bass Hall by proving how much I love the Cosbys. The unfortunate news is that I won't be watching any of the shows while I'm at home during maternity leave... our monthly electric bill went from $80 (yep, $80.00) to $240 since I've been home. Funny thing is, I usually have the TV on just for noise because we don't have cable and there's never anything good on. So now, I'm more conscious about keeping the TV off, leaving the lights off during the day (I'm bad about leaving them on during the day because I like light), and keeping the thermostat at 79 degrees. Hopefully that helps next month's bill!
Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes on facebook, all your emails, and phone calls! I'm so glad we still get to celebrate birthdays when we get to be this old! The Lord is so gracious to give me such an awesome family and loving friends!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Diaper Duty (or 'Doodie', as Courtney would say)

So Jack moved up to Size 1 diapers this week. It's hard to believe how fast he's grown! One thing we have enjoyed about the Newborn diapers is the yellow stripe that turns blue/green when the diaper is wet. Sure has made life just a tad bit easier for us! We're finding out that the indicator stripe is not so common with Size 1 and up diapers. What a disappointment! You'd think all diapers would come this way - who wouldn't want to take advantage of the stripe? Well, I had given up on trying to find the Size 1 diapers with the stripe, but low and behold, I found some at Wal-mart the other day! I got so giddy (yes, over diapers). I went ahead and splurged on a couple of packs because it was worth it to me. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture of them. Don't worry, we plan to slowly wean off of the stripe so we don't get too attached...