Rock and Roll

The first pour.



CHEERS!

IT FINALLY HAPPENED! Jack rolled over!! He was playing on floor under his jungle gym and we decided to do some "tummy time". I had him on his belly and he had pushed himself up on his arms and then all of a sudden he rolled over to his back!! I was screaming with delight!! However, I knew that Daddy would be so sad that he missed the first roll. He told me just the night before; "He better not do this without me here." After the first roll, I put him back on his belly and was fumbling for the camera when he rolled over again!! So I put him back on his belly, had the camera at the ready and thankfully he cooperated and rolled ONCE more while I was filming. I called Daddy right away and told him the good news and that I had caught it all on film! When he got home, Jack the show off, rolled for Daddy too. We were all so excited!!

Tonight is also a big night for Daddy and our friend Brian...they unveiled the first bottles of the beer they brewed. Five weeks ago they started the brewing process. After waiting patiently and many nights of "research" that have lead up to tonight they finally popped the caps on the first 2 bottles. It is a vanilla stout and both are very impressed with the results. Maybe this is the start to their own brewery? :)

With my cousin Ella



With Ava and Michael

In my Bumbo

Tummy Time!!

Crying it out....

On Sunday night we started our new bedtime routine. We have been working towards having Jack sleep in the nursery a couple of nights a week. Last week he did so well, we decided to keep him up there from now on. Usually he falls asleep in my arms while we watch TV at night and then I put him to bed. On Sunday night we put him up in the crib when he was tired, but not asleep. After a few minutes he started to cry, we had given ourselves a goal of 10 minutes before we would go up and check on him. At 7 minutes, there was silence. He made a few more peeps after that, but after just 25 minutes total he was asleep and stayed asleep all night! We were so proud of ourselves for getting through the crying. Daddy and I were silently high fiving and cheering!! Our plan is to keep up this routine all week and hopefully it will be a success and there won't be too many tears (from Jack, Daddy or Me :) ).

Meanwhile, during the day we are working a lot on tummy time and towards rolling over. Jack is able to hold his head and chest up when he is on the floor and he will lift his legs up to try and roll over. We have made it to the point where he is up on his side, but flops back to his belly. No roll overs yet. We also started sitting him in his baby bumbo chair. He doesn't really know what to think about this yet. The faces he makes are priceless! :)

Weekend in RI

This past weekend we went to RI for a visit. Friday afternoon Jack had a play date with his cousins Ava, Michael and Ella. It was crazy! The girls (ages 3 &2) were so loud and crazy, I don't think Jack knew what to think. He was awake, but just staring around at them! Soon he and Michael (age 10 months) will be able to band together against those silly girls. We ended the day at Gramma and Big Papi's so they could play with Jack while Daddy and I went out to dinner with our friends Brian, Julie & Brian T. We went to The Mews in Wakefield and had a great time. I even had a cocktail....the first time I had one with our friends from CT. Jack had a great time at Gramma and Big Papi's and then slept the whole night!! :) Saturday we just hung out and were visited by my cousins Erica (who is expecting a boy in April) & Jamie, my Aunt Terri and my Aunt Kathy. It was a great visit. They got to see Jack awake and doing some of his "tricks", smiling, giggling and playing under his jungle gym. I was able to chat a little with Erica about things to get for her baby and what to expect for the last couple weeks of her pregnancy. Saturday night we went back to Gramma and Big Papi's and Daddy and I went in the hot tub while Auntie Cait played with Jack. It was so relaxing. I wasn't able to go in the hot tub at all last year, so it was an extra treat to get back in! :) Boy did I sleep well on Saturday night!!

Sunday we headed back to CT. It was a rainy day, a great one for naps and watching a movie! Jack is getting so big so quickly! Everyday he is more alert during the day, cooing, giggling, and making all sorts of noises. He smiles constantly! I just love looking at him!! He wakes up so happy too. I hear him stirring in the morning and when I peek into the crib he sees me and just smiles and giggles. What a great way to start the day! We have officially transitioned him to his nursery and he is doing great. He loves being able to look up at his mobile in the morning.

Daddy Takes Over

This past weekend I had to work both Saturday and Sunday. Daddy was in charge! On Saturday, Valentine's Day, Gramma and Big Papi came out to CT to hang out with Jack and Daddy. They got to play all day, and he was talking up a storm with them! Daddy made me a very romantic and delicious dinner for when I got home from work. We enjoyed dinner while Jack sat in his bouncy seat to watch! I loved being surrounded by my 2 favorite valentines!

On Sunday, Daddy had Jack all by himself. They had a great day together. Jack did a lot of tummy time and almost rolled over! He gets his legs and butt up in the air first with his chest on the floor. We call it his "breaking dancing". It is hysterical. Daddy took him for a nice walk around The Pavilions too. I was so happy to be home by Sunday night. It was a very long weekend!!! Daddy has developed a nice routine with Jack and has mastered thawing and warming my milk and is now a super pro at messy diaper changes! :) Jack gave him a lot of material to work with! I think that we all are feeling more confident in how things will go while I am away at work. I knew it would be hard to leave Jack all day, but all in all I think it will be good for all of us.

Once again, thank you to everyone who sent well wishes and support about my going back to work :).

Mommy's First day back at work.

Feburary 11th, 2009
The day had finally come....I had to go back to work. I had been dreading it since I found out the actual date of return. I got everything ready the night before and made my plan for the morning. I had called my mom and we went over the plan for the day and Jack's typical day. I got up at 5am, Jack also woke up right at 5am (a perfect little boy). I fed him, pumped and then got ready for work. I had plenty of time for my coffee and to get to work without rushing. When I went to say good bye to Jack and Daddy, Jack just looked up at me from the bed with this HUGE smile on his face. I started to cry! He looked so excited to see me (and I know he was just waiting for me to jump back in bed to cuddle with him). I was able to break away and get to the car. I cried the whole drive in. I was so sad to leave Jack and miss out on his smiles all day. Once I got back to the unit I was greeted by so many people that were so excited to see me. From then on, the day flew by. My patients were really sick and they kept me very busy. Everyone was so supportive of it being my first day. They helped me to get reacquainted to the unit and routine, helped me when things were going downhill and ooohed and aahhed over my pictures. I felt so welcomed and missed, that made things so much better. Next thing I knew I was on my way home!

At home, I was greeted by Daddy at the door who told me how proud of me he was that I went back to work and had a good day! There were flowers waiting from Jack with a super sweet note too. My mom started a journal of their adventures for me to read. The best part was being able to pick up my little buddy and snuggle with him! (after a shower of course!). We had both survived and had great days. Jack had a lot of fun with Grammy, taking advantage of the beautiful weather (50's) and going on 2 walks, making us a valentine and being a very good boy all day. That made ME feel better to know that he was happy all day.

Fun over the weekend

Jack, Daddy and I had a great weekend together at home. We were blessed with a nice change in weather, where the temperature finally came above freezing to the 40's. We thought that we would be able to take Jack out for some nice walks, but the sidewalks here are still so covered in snow that we couldn't make it to our favorite neighborhood for a nice walk. We opted for a trip to the mall where we walked and walked. Jack LOVES his stroller!

Jack continues to smile more and more and has been cooing and coming up with all sorts of new sounds. He makes Daddy and I smile and laugh everyday. He has definitely found his hands and is using them more purposefully to grab at toys and just to hold them in front of his face to examine them. It really is so amazing to see all that he is able to do everyday! :)

I have been using the weekend to get myself and our family ready for when I go back to work this coming Wednesday. I am getting really anxious about leaving Jack all day and about getting back into the swing of things at work. I hope I am ready :). I reorganized the frozen milk that I have, over 80 ounces! I bought more bottles and diapers too. Daddy fed Jack a bottle today just to see how it would go. He had bottles when we were last in RI (back at the beginning of January), so it was a good trial run for Daddy to have my support and try it out again. Jack did well...but it definitely took him a little while to get a hang of the bottle again. We are going to give him one bottle on Monday and Tuesday too to get him used to it for the all day of bottles on Wednesday.

Another big step for us this weekend was moving Jack to his crib in the nursery and out of the pack and play in our room. He did great! He has been sleeping through the night for a couple weeks now, so we thought it was a good time to make the switch. He sleeps in the nursery during the day sometimes so he was used to it a little. Anyway, it went really well and we were even able to put him down while he was awake and he put himself to sleep. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this continues, but know that it could change at any moment! :)

Wish us well in our last days before I go back to work. :)

First Shots :(

Jack had his 2 month doctors appointment today. He is now 11lbs, 1oz! Yeah! I give myself a little pat on the back for that weight gain. The doctor said he is right on track and doing really well both physically and developmentally! My choice of this pediatric group as the right one was further reinforced by the time the doctor took to talk to us, get to know us a little and to answer all of our questions. I didn't feel like we were rushed at all! After all our questions were answered the bad part came...THE SHOTS! Jack got 3 shots, screamed and cried and I shed a few tears too. I just hated to see my little buddy crying so hard. He was easily consoled by both me and daddy. We made it home without too many more tears. I gave him a little tylenol and hopefully we will have a good afternoon.

Happy Wednesday! Jack, Daddy and I are gearing up for LOST tonight :)

First Road Trip

Thursday January 29th, 2009:

Grammy, Jack and I packed up the car and headed out for our first road trip down to VA to see Uncle Chris. Chris is going to Thailand for a month and we wanted to see him one more time before he left. Grammy called me the week before to see if Jack and I wanted to join her on this trip. Since I am still on my maternity leave, it was easy to pack up at the last minute and head out to VA. So Thursday morning we got up early and started out. It was a very smooth ride and Jack was a great traveller. We made 2 stops for him to eat, stretch and have a diaper change on the way down. We ended up getting to our hotel around 3pm. The ride, as always, was filled with lots of good chats and even more laughs. One laugh over Grammy's first attempt to climb into the back of the car to start to wake Jack up as we got closer to a rest area. After making the decision to climb in the back, all I saw in the rear view mirror was 2 little legs up in the air and a shoe kicking me in the shoulder, coupled with a lot of giggles. Needless to say, she did make it safely to the back :).

Once in VA, Chris met us at the hotel and we packed Jack into his stroller and walked to Georgetown for dinner. It was in the 40's and felt SO WARM TO US! How sad :). It felt so good to be out of the car, in the fresh air and to walk!!

Friday, January 30th:
We got up early and after a much needed cup of coffee we met up Chris and headed into the city. Jack experienced his first ride on the metro. Since the weather cooperated with us again (it was in the high 40's and sunny) we were able to walk from the Washington Monument all along the mall to the capital. We rounded out our DC trip by stopping at the Museum of Natural History for Jack to have lunch and then we took in all that it had to offer. What a great place!! We then regrouped back at the hotel and went out to dinner a restaurant at the Tyson's Corner Mall. Jack was so good! He happily sat in his car seat and either slept as we wheeled him around, or was just awake and taking it all in. I couldn't have asked for a better baby!! :)

Saturday, January 31st:
In the morning, we packed up the hotel room, loaded the car and headed to Chris's house. From there we met up with Camilla and her husband Jason at The Original Pancake House for breakfast. I was so excited for Camilla and Jason to get to meet Jack and for my mom to meet Jason too! :) We had a great time and with our bellies full we said good bye! We dropped Chris back off at home and started our journey back to RI. The ride home was rather uneventful. We made great time and stopped again, only 2 times for Jack to eat, stretch and get his diaper changed. During our drive through NYC we were stuck in a little bit of traffic on the George Washington Bridge. We heard Jack filling his pants and knew a stop was going to be necessary as soon as possible. When we finally made it to a rest stop we were greeted with a big mess! Grammy had come up with a great way to make the most of the car space to change his diaper, while keeping him warm. GOOD THING!! We put the back seat down (on one side, just one seat will fold down) and then we stood outside, with the door closed as much as possible while the other person held up a jacket to block out the wind :). Anyway, we made it back to RI by 9pm and quickly unpacked and headed to bed. What a long couple of days!! Daddy came home from a boys night out with friends and was so happy to see his family again! He couldn't believe how much he missed us!! We were so happy to see him too!

Sunday February 1st:
We all slept in, including Jack, and then packed up again and headed over to see Big Papi and Gramma (Tom's Parents). We had a relaxing day at their house and a great dinner before heading to a Super Bowl Party in Providence. Tom's friends were hosting a party and we wanted to stop by to show Jack off. It was a great time with lots of food and people eager to meet little Jack. We were also able to see our friends Jim and Lauren and congratulate them in person on the news that they are expecting a baby this summer!! YEAH!! We left after half time and headed back to CT (after Tom collected his winnings for the Superbowl Squares :)). I was so exhausted and happy to be home!

It was a great weekend and I was so happy to see how well Jack travelled since I know going back and forth to VA will be something we will continue to do in the very near future!