Giggles

Today Jack is 4 months old! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Over the past few weeks he has just gotten more and more interactive. He loves to play with his hands and is exploring his feet too. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and has started drooling like crazy. We started putting a bib on him today because his shirts have just gotten too wet during the day from the drool. When we put him down to play under his jungle gym he is grabbing and pulling at the toys with purpose. It is truly amazing to see how much he changes everyday! He rolls all the time from his belly to his back and has almost flipped the other way too. If we have him on his back under the jungle gym and he wiggles away from some of the toys, he will try reaching for the ones farther away and in doing so he is all twisted and almost able to turn from his back over to his belly.

We recently found some "tickle spots" on his chest, collar bone and little chubby thighs. It is so funny to hear him start laughing and giggling. Some times he gets going and it is as if it is coming all the way from his toes. Tom and I just have to laugh too. There is nothing cuter than a baby belly laugh! :) When we change his diaper he enjoys having Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Itsy Bitsy Spider sang to him. I don't know why....but he loves my singing! Probably one of the only people that does and doesn't make any comments about my being off key and tone deaf! :)

Yesterday Jack and I took a walk at a park near our house. It is a place that I spent a lot of time when I was pregnant. There is a great walking path with 3 different loops of different lengths. We walked in the sunshine for an hour and could have gone longer but we both were getting hungry :)! I am looking forward to many more walks there this spring and summer.

Jack spent St. Patrick's Day with Grammy while I was at work. He was dressed in a special St. Patty's Day outfit all day....complete with a shamrock on the butt! The next day Grammy K and Uncle Brendan left to meet Uncle Chris in Ireland. While Grammy K was in Ireland Gramma Mary came out to play with Jack ALL DAY so I could go to work. He was a very good boy (of course!) and they had a lot of fun together! Again, we are so lucky to have such a great and supportive family. I love that Jack gets to spend so much time with them and they all love him SOOO SOOOO much!

Next week we go back to the doctor's. I can't wait to see how much Jack weighs, I am dreading the shots and I am excited that we might get to start rice cereal!

Shopping!

Today Jack and I met up with my friend Jill and her son Nick for a little outlet shopping. Nick was born in August and is now 7 months old. Jill and I always find something to chat about. It was nice to spend the day with her and Nick and chat in person, since most of our conversations go on over the phone (they live in MA about an hour and a half away). We first hung out at their house and Nick and Jack were able to "study" one another and they definitely passed some coos and giggles back and forth. It was so cute! After a lunch break we hit the stores. Both boys were VERY well behaved, snoozing in their matching strollers or just looking around at what was outside! After many purchases, including some really cute stuff for Jack from the Carter's outlet, we packed up the car and headed back to CT.

I am hoping to try and clean out my closet tomorrow. My mom took me shopping for my birthday and I need to make room for the new clothes and get rid of the stuff that REALLY doesn't fit anymore. I work this weekend, so Daddy will be in charge! I am sure he has something fun planned for him and Jack.

Being silly with my mom.

Tummy Time!

In my high chair with my snuggly bear

On a date with Suzie

My Family-Happy 30th Mommy!

SKYPE

We also have been using skype to chat with people. If you have it and want to chat send me an email or leave a comment for this blog post and we will try and hook up. We have a lap top, so we sometimes put it on the floor with Jack in the hopes that he rolls over and shows of some of his other tricks :).

Mom turns 30!

It has been awhile since our last post and I apologize. The days just seem to fly on by! Since our last post, Jack has been rolling over quite a bit, although he does get stubborn at times and will go days without doing it. It seems like he has "found" his feet. He is always putting his legs up in the air and looking at them, pulling at his pants and socks and kicking them like crazy. At night when he is in his crib sometimes you can hear this thump thump thump. It is him picking his legs up and slamming them down on the mattress. He gets cuter and cuter everyday (but I think we are biased in that assessment :) ). He is babbling and cooing tons. For some reason he LOVES when we sing that McDonald's Filet o Fish song to him. It was stuck in my head for days driving me crazy and then Daddy sang it to him while I was at work and he loved it. Now it is a running joke that will guarantee a smile when we sing it to him :). He still loves his "jungle gym" and is reaching and pulling at the toys ALL the time. When he is on his belly he is really holding up his head well and even will reach out with one arm to grab/swat at a toy. It is so amazing to see how he progresses even day to day.

Two weeks ago, Jack and Daddy took a road trip to RI to see Gramma and Big Papi while I was at work. Daddy got up with me in the morning and packed up the car and they were off. It was a great success and I know that Gramma and Big Papi were happy to have Jack for the day. It also allowed Daddy to do a little shopping for my birthday. On Sunday, Jack and Daddy made their first cake ever! When I got home from work we all celebrated and enjoyed the delicious cake. I was very impressed. Jack and Daddy gave me a beautiful Pandora bracelet with a little baby bootie charm and one with my birth stone. It was a great birthday.

Last week Jack switched up his bowel routine from going after every feeding to not going at all. A quick call to the doctor's office told us that was normal at this age, but that we could give him a little apple juice to get things going. He loved the juice and we sure opened up the flood gates. He ended up in the bath after an especially explosive poop! :)

We also started putting him in his high chair during the day. It reclines back, so he can sit comfortably and we put some toys on the tray. He loves being up at "our level" and is able to look all around at what we are doing. I love it b/c I can wash dishes, brush my teeth, put make up on, etc and I just pull him around the apartment with me and he can watch it all. I also like that it keeps him sitting after he eats, so he doesn't seem to spit up as much.

This past weekend we all travelled back to RI to celebrate my 30th birthday. Daddy put together a dinner on Saturday night with his parents and mine and my brothers and sister. We went to the 1149 and it was a great time. Lots of good food and a few glasses of wine too. Suzie was able to come from Boston to watch Jack. My Aunt Kathy joined her and they had a great time with him. He even rolled over just to show off! We all returned to my parents after dinner and enjoyed some cake and even more playing with Jack. He was the star of the show :).

The weather was amazing over the weekend (60's) so Jack went on 2 walks in his stroller. He loved it and I told him "This is what WARM weather is like....you are going to enjoy it!", and he did! Unfortunately, it snowed on Monday and it is a little colder again, but it does seem like spring is around the corner with the days being more consistently in the 40's. I can't wait for the warm weather!

Jack continues to sleep up in his nursery every night. We have established a great bedtime routine and he goes down with very little crying every night and stays down all night. It is such a blessing that he is sleeping through the night and I hope it stays that way! :) We are starting to work on putting him down for naps during the day to get into a better routine with that. He does a lot of cat naps, so it has been a little more challenging. Honestly, I really only care about him sleeping through the night! I do realize that it is important to start a nap routine though :). One thing at a time.