Happy New Year!

Jackson had a great first Christmas and it was definitely more fun for Lee and I with a baby around with whom we could share all of our Christmas spirit!  He received so many clothes, bibs, books, toys, and teething rings (which I need to stop referring to as "chew toys").  We are very thankful for all of the toys under the tree and although Jackson may not fully realise how much he is loved and how generous people were to him, he will have so much fun with his new things and he will learn new skills which will inevitably help him in the future.  The different sizes of clothes are also helpful because even though Jackson is nearly three months old, he is wearing clothes labelled to fit babies up to nine months!  He is a very tall little baby.

This week, Jackson unofficially weighs 16 pounds and is unofficially 2 feet 1 inch tall.  I say this because although the health centre was supposed to be open on Tuesday from 1:30 to 3 P.M. for baby weighing, the facility's parking lot was padlocked shut and no cars were in sight--except for ours and two others, which belonged to parents who were also there for a baby weigh-in.  This was the only time during this New Year week that the health centre was supposed to be open, but I wasn't going to let that get me down.  When we got home, we used an unorthodox method of weighing Jackson (a handheld luggage scale combined with a baby carrier).  It seemed to work just fine for this particular situation.

Yesterday, Lee and I ventured out at different times to get our hair cut and when we came home, Jackson whimpered a little bit and refused to look us in the eye for a few hours.  As far as he's concerned, he has new parents, but he's learning to like us again.

I am very excited to see what the new year brings for our little family.  2016 will bring lots of firsts:  Jackson will be eating solid foods, crawling, sitting, teething, talking, meeting the Carpenter family, going to the beach, and starting nursery school.  I am going to get my UK driving licence by the time I go back to work.  Lee doesn't have any official plans for 2016, but he always manages to find a project to work towards that is new and exciting.  He did mention that he wants to go on road trips and explore more of England that he hasn't discovered yet, so that will be fun for all of us!

We hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

Singing Jingle Bells and playing with musical instruments

Holding his favourite stuffed animal

Mastering "Tummy Time"

Falling asleep by the fire on Christmas Eve

"Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!"

Pulling up into a sitting position...

...and loving it!

Where's Jackson?

Someone is very pleased with his presents!

Retiring after a long day of opening presents and visiting with family

Developmental updates:  moves eyes smoothly when following an object, can move into a standing position while holding onto my fingers from a laying-down or sitting position, uses both feet at the same time to jump in his jumperoo but mostly alternates his feet (the jumperoo had to be stretched up to level 2 to accommodate for his height this week), puts everything in his mouth, shakes a rattle once or twice, and rubs his soft toys along his head and cheeks.

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Merry Christmas!

This is a very exciting week for everyone and can also be hectic with all of the Christmas preparations, so I will just give an update on Jackson's developments and spoil you with more cute pictures of what people at church are calling "the best baby."

Jackson can now touch the floor with his tiptoes in his jumperoo and is quite pleased with his jumping skills.  He now grabs toys and pulls them towards his face and also has started sucking on blankets and the ends of toys that he can fit into his mouth.  His smiling and laughter has doubled in the past week--maybe he knows it's Christmas after all?  Jackson's eyes are slightly changing colour and aren't as blue as they used to be.  I imagine he will have brown eyes like Lee and me, but they're in between colours right now and have a greenish-blue hue.  His favourite Christmas book is The Twelve Days of Christmas which is a commitment in and of itself, but he doesn't respond to the song without the pictures to along with it in the book.  With all of his books now, he is staring at the pictures and looking left to right over and over, sometimes laughing, sometimes furrowing his brows, or sometimes smiling at the pictures.  He's starting to blow little bubbles and make clear "oh" sounds.  Lately, he's been hoisting his head up to try and sit, but can't make it unless he's holding onto our hands and then pulls himself quite easily.  Somehow, during the night, he's shifting around in his bed and we discover him at new angles in the morning; so, he's discovering ways of moving.  Jackson has shown affection toward one bunny in particular and he falls asleep holding this toy during his naps.

As always, thank you for reading!  Have a very Merry Christmas!

Showing off his tummy time skills

Eating at Pizza Hut with Mom and Dad, sitting in the high chair.  Also, getting lots of attention from the tables nearby and smiling at the waitress whenever she came around.

Tired after the trip to Speke to eat at Pizza Hut and the long journey in the car

Laughing while watching Daddy dance

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.

Confessions of a New Mom

This week, Jackson had his first meeting with Santa and it went very well.  He was very well behaved and even posed for his picture without pulling on Santa's beard or throwing a tantrum--which I thought might happen seeing the other babies who went before him.

Later on the same day, Jackson had his first set of immunisations.  He received five in all (1 in liquid form and 4 injections) and I've never seen him so red, cry so hard, or have tears streaming down his face before.  Neither of us made it through without crying.  I know that he'll be better off for having the immunisations and I feel more secure taking him to playgroups and out in public knowing that he is immune to dangerous diseases, but obviously it's hard to explain these reasons for such a painful experience to a baby.  To my relief, it seemed as though Jackson forgot about his shots by the time we got home and he didn't have a fever or any signs of red dots around the injection sites that the nurse said may happen.  And I think he's forgiven me now.

Today, Jackson went to a "Tummy Time" session.  This was mainly an informative meeting for parents on why it is important for babies to spend time on their stomachs for at least 30 minutes a day and different ways this can be achieved other than obviously just laying the baby on his stomach on the floor.  Jackson was the second-youngest of the bunch and he held his head up with as much strength as the five-month-olds.  I was very proud.  Lee spends time with Jackson nearly every day when he gets home and the consistent effort has definitely paid off.  Elaine, the leader of the session, even commented and said that Jackson was doing very well and he's clearly doing his 'tummy time' at home.  Then she said that I was a "good mama."

This simple compliment and the fact that she noticed that Jackson has people working at home with him went a long way.  From the first night alone in the hospital watching Jackson sleeping in the little bedside crib, I have second-guessed myself more than any other time in my life many times a day.  My brain has conformed to Jackson-centred thoughts and there is very little room for anything else in there--even facts such as my age or dates of birthdays or anything that I once considered menial.  And even though I have Jackson's needs on my mind all of the time, I have many moments of wondering if I'm doing enough or moments of guilt because I don't know if I'm doing the 'right' thing.  At any given moment, these questions make me feel like I might not be doing the best job as a mom:  "Is this the best activity for his development?"  "I wonder what the research says about this toy?"  "Should I have his rain cover down on his stroller (pram) or is the air too cool for his little lungs?"  "Am I holding him too much?"  "Should I set-up more play dates with other babies his age?"  "Did I spend enough time today reading to Jackson?"  And the list goes on and on.  It's no wonder that my brain has gone to mush!

I realise that there are hundreds of ways to raise a baby and that not every day can be 'perfect.'  But, it is nice to hear that someone thinks I'm doing a good job.  I think that's the one thing I have learned since becoming a mom:  moms deserve a lot of respect and encouragement.  Moms don't get a full night's sleep (at least for the first ten weeks they don't--we'll see when that happens again), they might feel guilt for not getting enough housework done, they are questioning their parenting decisions since they really have no idea what they're doing at the beginning, they are trying to be a caring wife who still has time to prepare dinner every night, they are possibly still working or taking classes, they are quite possibly still healing from a delivery or C-section for the first two months, and they are trying to look presentable in case someone comes around to the house (which is purposely last on the list because this is the lowest of all priorities).  Then, of course, they're trying to raise a baby in the best way they can.

Before I had Jackson, I had NO idea how hard it would be to have the stamina to be a mom.  I thought I knew, but it's obvious to me now that I didn't.  When people said it would be hard--at least at the beginning--I thought that somehow, it wouldn't be hard for me.  Jackson is a true bundle of joy and he is a very easy-going baby, so most of the hardship comes from the internal questioning of whether or not I did 'enough' during the day or if I did a 'good job.'

So if you get the chance to see a mom today, tell her she's doing a good job and throw-in a few more compliments to boot because it will make a world of difference to her.

Ten-week update:  Jackson weighs 14 pounds 1 ounce and has started crying if his Daddy leaves the room.  He's talking a lot more now and has made new two-syllable noises, sometimes with consonant sounds, while he's playing.

Meeting Santa at the Kings Meadow Children's Centre in Ainsdale

Playing with his first 'friend,' Mia

Sitting in the 'big chair' watching Barney

If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.