The Sleeperoo

Q: When you can't hold a baby but want him to go to sleep, where do you put him?

A: The swing?

That's Right!

Q: When you can't hold a baby but want him to play and jump and laugh, where do you put him?

A: The Jumperoo?

WRONG!

Apparently the obnoxious blinking colored lights, loud music and wild animal sounds of the Rainforest Jumperoo have the opposite effect on our little man.

Put him in it, and he's out like a light... two minutes flat...

Who knew?

Little Drummer Boy...

I was clearing pictures off the camera today and came across this footage captured by a proud Papa sometime over Thanksgiving weekend. Here is my little rock star, complete with a string of bling around his neck.

I love it when I find pictures and video Jeff has taken when I am not around. I wonder, "Do other Dads do that?... Just see something cute and grab the camera?" Not to mention the sound effects! He is SUCH an awesome partner in parenthood.

It cracks me up how Jack purses his lips into a little circle when he concentrates on the song. Kinda like another drummer I know.

Baby Male Pattern Baldness

The progression of Davis' hairdo...

7-17-08: Davis is three days old with beautiful thick blonde hair.



8-20-08: One month old and hair seems to be turning brown. We started to mourn the blonde hair a bit.



10-10-08: Three months old. A total red head! This is when it started thinning from front to back.

11-11-08: Four months old and...just like that...it's almost all gone. Bald baby bald.



12-1-08: Davis last night showing that his soft little hairs are sprouting again.

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So, what do you think his hair color will be when he starts Kindergarten?

I want to hear! Record your predictions in the Comments section.

"What do you DO all day?"

Quoted from a dear friend's blog:

“What do you do all day?”

That’s my sister’s favorite new question now that she’s transitioned out of work and is home full time with her 1-year-old daughter. In some ways it is a naïve and offensive thing to ask, but in other ways, when those of us who are at home dare to let our guard down a little, it can be a very valid question."

I have been asked this question many times by working Moms, new Stay-at-home Moms, and many days... I ask myself the same thing. Where did the time go? What did Jack learn today? I wonder what they are teaching at preschool today? Is Jack missing out, or is he right where God wants him? When I look back and realize he's already FOUR, it's easy to forget how we spent many of our days at home. I decided to post some of the more mundane moments for Jack to remember what we did on plain old ordinary weekdays.



We made pizza at the house last week. He loved the activity much more than the pizza itself. So did we. I think by the time it was ready he was already full from the cold meat and cheese he ate throughout the prep process. I know that feeling from when I cook.

We met Ms. Laura at the Boerne Lake to feed the ducks with Grant and Jake. Those ducks were feisty and it took one duck bite for Jack to refuse to stand on the ground. He hopped up onto the park bench and pitched bread from up high for the rest of our visit. Jake was the only kiddo to avoid a ducky bite. I guess we could attribute that to the fact that he carried around the bread still sealed up in the bag. After feeding the ducks, we headed to the playground, to lunch, then to play at Laura's house. It was a fun-filled afternoon in my old hometown.



Jack is at SUCH a great age. I know, I say that about every age. It is so much fun to play games with him now because he totally gets taking turns, and is no longer a sore loser. Here we are playing a new favorite game, "Guess Who?" It's actually pretty complex for him, but is one of the more fun options for Mommy and Daddy. Of course I like it because it really makes him think. Jeff likes it because there are no small parts to keep up with.



He is also neat and clean enough to leave unattended with messy crafts for long periods of time... like to bathe or nurse a little bro. He is careful with water colors, responsible with stickers and markers and hates being dirty as much as his Mom hates for him to be dirty. This makes life with crafts much more enjoyable. We are still working on not mixing different colors of Play-Doh, but believe it or not, I let that one go. Here is an 18" x 24" poster he asked to make for Alli Jean for her bedroom wall. It is covered with construction worker stickers and he wrote, "To: Alli Jean, Love: Jack" (You're welcome, Julie!)

Jack begged me to change his room to a Star Wars room after seeing one commercial about Star Wars. After some pleading, I suggested we make some Star Wars wallpaper for the walls. HIS plan was to cover every inch of his walls with his handmade wallpaper. So, I rolled out some butcher paper, Star Wars stickers, markers, crayons, and water colors and he created this masterpiece over three long sittings one week. Needless to say, when I started to roll out another 4-foot sheet to make the next piece he informed me that he had changed his mind and "didn't want a Star Wars room so much anymore." Shocker.



Jack loves puzzles, and the new challenge is to make him complete them without looking at the picture on the box lid. Here is a fave - a puzzle his cousin Hope made for him. What a sweet gift, and of course he just loves anything with his name on it.



Another favorite activity for Jack is cutting coupons. It's great practice using the scissors to cut along straight lines, and keeps him busy FOREVER. However, he is much more entertained when he cuts out the comics. He calls them "shows." He'll say, "Look Momma, I cut out all the nice shows into squares and cut up all the mean shows into itty bitty pieces!" Yeah, it cracked me up too, but I still made him do the sweeping that inevitably follows any cutting activity. Yes, he has his own broom and dustpan. He also only cuts at the kitchen table now. I let him "cut coupons" sitting on the kitchen floor once and he cut the crotch out of the Batman costume he happened to be wearing that morning. Close call. He also likes to hold his brother every day when he gets up from his nap... for about three minutes.

It's amazing that I only have eight more precious months at home with Jack. In August, he begins his nine to five. He has the REST OF HIS LIFE to join the daily grind. It starts when we drop him off for his first day of Kindergarten, and doesn't end until he retires. For now, he can get up when his body wakes him, not to an alarm clock. He can stay up late for one more round of Go Fish because he doesn't have a bus to catch. He can stay in his pajamas until his afternoon nap (as evidenced by many of these photos.) I am so blessed to have had these early years home with him. It makes every bit of the sacrifice so worth it.

"Gooooooooooooo O'Connor!"

We joined the Shaw family (and several church family members) at the O'Connor High School football game a couple of weekends ago. We mainly went to support Brady Brown, one of Lacey's best friends, who is a senior on the offensive line.



I was looking forward to painting Jack's face to match Hope and Lacey's in support of the Panthers. Well, Jack wanted nothing to do with the face paint. I said, "Let Lacey paint Mommy's face to show you how cool it looks." So we did.



After I got all school spirited up, he said, "No, thanks." It wasn't until we got to the game that I realized I was the ONLY person over the age of 17 with my face painted. Oh well. I'm used to looking younger than all the other parents.



It was a great night. We are unclear which part Jack Everett enjoyed the most... the football, or the band. Don't tell Paw Paw, but I think it was the band. By the end of the game, he had learned the cheers and was doing all the hand motions.



I can't imagine sitting between Jeff and Mom in matching "Griffin" jerseys, watching Jack play his last high school football home game. I would get teary-eyed just thinking about the pride and sadness Shannon and Andy must have felt as Brady took the field one last time.

I wish we had gone to more games this season. I have many many memories of high school football games. I attended dozens of games over the years, some from the stands, some from the press box, and others from the sidelines. It brought back so many of those memories... watching Trey play, watching Dad get soaked with the Gatorade bucket after the game, and the awesomeness of concession stand nachos.

Ah, there's just nothing like Texas High School Football.

Stuffed.

I have been a bit absent from the blog, enjoying the Thanksgiving preparation, procrastination, and celebration. We enjoyed victories on the NFL and College football fields, and Davis celebrated the occasion by getting his first little cold.

There is so much to do and enjoy this time of year... leading up to celebrating Christ's birth.

As my Aunt Susan would say, "Happy Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good nap."

Fighting for their Lives.

Want to fight the Freedom of Choice Act?

Go here.

Davis is 4 months old!

Davis turned 4 months old Friday. I just can't believe how quickly my little guy went from a skinny newborn to a chunky little infant. He has such a sweet little personality and is definitely getting stronger and more flexible. He remains pretty even-tempered most of the day, but definitely prefers to fall asleep while nursing. We are working on getting him to fall asleep on his own, but it is hard to enforce when he is so so sweet. I just know I will surely miss this time with him when it's gone...

He is starting to show signs of wanting to suck on two of his fingers. Mommy is on constant look-out and quickly takes them out if she sees them in there, or hears that tell-tale smacking sound. I have even employed Jack to help GENTLY take Davis' fingers out if he sees them in his mouth. I have made it this far with two kids and no pacifier... As long as it doesn't upset him, I am trying to stand my ground. We'll see.

Things are still going well with Big Brother although I have to remind him over and over not to jump and act crazy around the baby. Other than that, no real issues of jealousy. He is sometimes impatient with Davis' rate of development. "I can't wait until Davis can play steamroller with me. I can't wait until Davis can eat a lollipop..."

We still can't get over how different they look. We also can't believe the red hair on the little guy. He's practically bald on top, but has the soft little band of red hair across the back.

We introduced him to the Jumperoo this weekend. He loves it for about 5 or 6 minutes. He still barely fits in it and requires that we shove blankies all around him. He barely touches the ground, but will soon figure out how to bounce himself in it. For now, Big Bro provides more than enough bouncing action for him.

In a cute summer outfit. He looks even more fair in these colors.



Jack manages to get his head into most pictures I take of Davis. I usually try to take pics with Jack in them first, then ask him to make funny faces behind me to "help me" make Davis smile. He usually steps on my feet, gets in my light, gets his hair in the corner of the picture, etc. That's okay... we just thank him for being so helpful and remind ourselves to take pics while he is napping.



While trying to take Davis' monthly Bear picture, my helper kindly added his stuffed Lambie for me. Looking at Davis' little toes in this pic just reminded me: This boy has some stinky feet. Not like cute baby stink, more like teenage locker room stank. We can take him straight from the bath and cover him in lotion, and not fifteen minutes later, his toes are smelly. Precious and kissable, but smelly.

Left: In a big boy outfit from Kayla. He is quite pear-shaped nowadays as highlighted by the horizontal stripes. Right: With his first little buddy, Wade, who is five weeks younger.



I love this picture of Jeff. He really is an amazing Dad.

It's hard to express the amount of joy this little boy has added to our family in just four short months. We simply cannot imagine our lives without him. He had a precarious little start, but he is growing like crazy.

There are so many exciting firsts coming up... first Thanksgiving... first Christmas... pictures with Santa...

I can hardly wait!