Is 2009 really almost over?!

It seems like this year has flown by. I was just looking back at our old posts and we have come so very far in a year. At this time a year ago, I was newly pregnant, still nauseous and sick, and not even out of the danger zone of the first trimester. Now, we get to snuggle every night and every morning with our own little beautiful bundle of joy. We are blessed and lucky in so very many ways.

It took us such a long time to get pregnant with Jack - so many months of hoping, waiting, wishing, and inevitably disappointment, crying, and sadness - that I look at him every day, even when he's fussy or screaming or just trying our patience, and I think of how very lucky we are. Jack is truly a miracle and right now, in the spirit of the season, it makes me so thankful.

Justin and I are both also very lucky to be employed in this economy at companies that are doing well, and appreciate us and are flexible and supportive of our family. We are lucky to have our health, our house, and the freedom to travel to visit those dear to us. We are most especially lucky for such wonderful family. Even though we are far away, we are supported by such loving and caring people on both the Farrell and the Crosby sides, and Jack is lucky to grow up in this environment with grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, and extended family and friends who love him very much.

Now that my sentimental mushiness is over, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone who is close to us, and who has made a difference in our lives, and has supported us through the best, hardest, and most amazing year of our lives. We love all of you very much! Happy 2010 everyone! Here's to another AWESOME year.

Jack's Christmas Dinner

Prunes! He loved them. He tries new foods all the time and usually is this excited (but thankfully isn't always this messy!!) Lesson learned today by us: don't hold the container of food close enough for him to dip his hands in. Because he will. (Evidence: his right hand. It's totally brown.)

We are loving our little foodie! :)

A Photo Extravaganza....

Our tree, complete with all of Jack's artwork from daycare.

Watching TV in the morning before school. Just like his Mom and Dad!!

Talking to the birds at the Cloister. I have never seen a kid LOVE birds as much as him. I guess eventually we will be getting one...

Jack's finished nursery. I don't think I ever posted this, but it's my favorite room in the house!

The Christmas card that Jack made us at daycare, complete with his handprints and a picture of him playing with all the glitter :)

Jack super excited while opening presents on Christmas morning (sorry for the blurriness, he was being Mr. Squirmy!)



VERY HAPPY with his haul from Santa!!

Learning to sit up like a big boy ... and loving every minute of it!

Getting ready for his first airplane ride! Just hanging out at Logan International Airport waiting to head to Georgia on 12/12/09.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!! Here are a few pictures from our visit home, to the Cloister on Sea Island, Georgia, where Justin and I spent our wedding night. We went to see all the beautiful decorations and take Jack to relive old memories!

Happy 5-Month Birthday Jack!!

Today Jack is 5 months old! He is such a big boy! What new things can he do? Let's see...

• Grab objects with both hands and pull them into his mouth. This includes anything from toys to blankets to Mom and Dad's fingers to hair to jewelry to my bag of animal crackers on the airplane. We are in trouble. No wonder he's sick every 4 days!



• Get mad when you take a toy away. This is a new development. Two nights ago he was playing with a teething ring and I took it away so that I could get him ready for his bath (his favorite time!) What did he do? Threw a mini temper tantrum! I was shocked! He is too young to have such a strong personality. Again, we are in big trouble.



• Entertain himself at 4am. Last night, he woke up hungry and proceeded to pig out only to throw most of it up all over both himself and his Mommy. So I changed him, his PJ's, and my nightgown, and of course this fully woke him up. I rocked him for a good 15 minutes until he seemed asleep (FAKER.) I put him down in his crib on his tummy and he promptly lifted up his head, gave me the biggest smile in the history of the world, and proceeded to entertain himself by trying to physically grab and pick up the pattern of circles on his crib sheet. I said... "Jack, I am tired and I am going to bed. If you want to play, fine. But I am not supporting your habit." I left him alone and he was totally okay! I have no idea what time he finally fell asleep but it made me feel good that he could put himself to bed. This bodes well for us!



• Eat solid foods. He is a starvin' marvin!!! Breastmilk is no longer enough for our little guy. He loves to chew on orange slices, apples slices, pear slices, and even lemons (eww!) He loves pureed carrots, sweet potatoes, and prunes. Actually, the only thing that he has so far NOT liked is peaches. Weird for a kid from Georgia!! We are having fun trying out new foods with him (although I have to keep telling Justin that NO, he cannot have cookies, or chocolate, or a piece of steak.)



• Celebrate Christmas! We are going to Sam and Tony's tonight for Christmas Eve, and then it will be bedtime for Santa's arrival for the first time to our house. We are thrilled and hope Jack loves his first Christmas. More pictures soon!

Jack's Baptism

We took Jack home to Georgia for a relaxing, fun-filled week with family and friends. Our first order of business was to have him baptised. We did so at Justin's church in Valdosta. They were kind enough to agree to baptize Jack on short notice and it was a beautiful day for all!

Jack and the Flu

So our little guy had his first setback - the flu. I guess it was unavoidable this time of year, but it was still miserable for all of us nonetheless.

His fever spiked at 102 and he was throwing up, coughing, and wheezing. Nothing breaks your heart more to see your little one sick and not be able to help!

While he is back at daycare and I think we are past the worst of it, he still is sleeping a bit more than usual. Hopefully that will return to normal soon so that we can have a successful trip home to Georgia next week. :)

Jack Visits Santa

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!
We took Jack to the Natick Mall to visit Santa. Amazingly enough, Santa was from Conyers, GA ... which I think I may have spilled to the little kids behind me in line. Oops! I need to learn about this being-discreet-while-you-are-around-kids thing. :)

Needless to say, Jack picked the exact time that we wanted him to meet Santa to take the world's longest nap. We walked around the mall and wasted some time, and finally woke him up, fully expecting him to scream and cry through the whole photo shoot.

Boy, we were surprised! He is a little ham! (Not that we didn't know that already.) He was enthralled with all the kids running around and loved Santa. I hope it stays this way for years to come!!


Jack @ 4 and a half months old...lovin' Santa already.

Crazy Hair Day!

Today was "Crazy Hair Day" at daycare. Justin was more excited than Jack, I think, at the prospect of purposefully messing up his hair. Unfortunately we decided last Sunday to give him a haircut (the mullet just wasn't helping the southern stereotyping in New England!) So we didn't have quite as much to work with, and this picture is from Justin's phone, but Jack looks adorable all the same. :)

His newest feat is that he is trying OH SO VERY HARD to sit up on his own! Every time he's even reclining just a little, he will strain and strain to sit up straight. I think it will be no time at all before we have a regular little sitter on our hands!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

It's Been Awhile, But...

Here is a video compilation that Justin made of Jack and I coming home from the hospital after 5 very long days! It was exactly 4 months ago today. It is amazing how much bigger he is, and how far we have come. He was a tiny little thing - just 5lb 14oz when we left the hospital! It is nice to relive these memories because it all has passed in such a fuzzy blur. We are so lucky to have such a sweet little baby boy. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a great time hanging out with Nonny Sue and Mr. Farrell (Pop Pop!!!) for Thanksgiving. We all ate lots... the food was great! Even Jack liked it!

"Nom Nom Nom, I love sweet potatoes!"

"These are so good, I even want to hold my own spoon!"

Jack joined us at the table for 1/2 of dinner... then he decided that he was tired and needed a nap. It was a good first solid food outing!

Once his grandparents went home on Saturday, we ventured out to the stores for a little Christmas shopping. Most of it turned out to be Santa presents for Jack (it's *much* more fun to buy for him than to buy for each other!) We did get him one present that we gave him early: a fresh-food teether. It's a little mesh bag on a handle, and we put pieces of frozen apple and frozen pear in it. He loooooooved it so much! It kept him entertained for hours. I think this is definitely evidence that he is indeed teething.

"Mom, those sweet potatoes were awesome, but these apples...they are sooooo much better!!"

We are enjoying him more and more every day, even though he is getting fussy more often now that he is teething, which the doctor confirmed. He had his four-month checkup on Wednesday, November 25. His stats were the following:

• Length: 24.5 inches
• Weight: 15 lb 3 oz
• Head Circumference: 40 cm

He also had the joy of the following immunizations:

• DPT (diptheria, pertussis, tetanus)
• Hib (Haemophilus influenza type B)
• Polio
• PCV7 (Pneumococcal)

He was sore and cranky for a day, but recovered nicely again. His next appointment will be in two months, when he will be 6 MONTHS old!!! I cannot believe it. He is growing up so fast!

We had a great weekend overall, without mentioning of course the two painful losses incurred by both Georgia Tech and Florida State. I don't think anyone will claim that Jack has been good luck for either team!!

More to come soon. Lots of love from cold New England.

Jack & Food

Lately we have been trying a few bites of new foods with Jack. I wouldn't necessarily claim that he has officially started solids, because a) none of it actually makes it in his tummy (see below), and b) we only give him a few spoonfuls at most of whatever it is.

So far, we discovered that he loves popsicles. I plan to try pureed sweet potatoes over Thanksgiving. This past week, however, we tried organic baby oatmeal mixed with breastmilk. He was totally NOT a fan! We decided that trying this newfangled spoon concept in the bath was a good idea, and you can see why...

We will be persistent and continue our quest soon! We don't want to rush anything and he is still getting all of his nutrition from breastmilk. It is a fun experience, though, to see his super funny faces when he tastes something he does or doesn't like. He's turning into a big boy before our very eyes!!

Thanks to great recommendations from Sam, I will be making all of Jack's food, at least for the forseeable future, from recipes contained in this book:

Top 100 Baby Purees

While I feel that, like formula, other babies do absolutely fine on store-bought baby food, I am going to try and give him a fresh, organic start by making our own. With his dairy allergy, I think it's safer, and it may inspire Justin and I to eat much healthier too!

Much love, more soon!

Jack Rolled Over!!

This morning, Jack and I were playing on the floor. I kept manually rolling him from front to back and back to front, saying, "look! This is how you roll over! Look how fun it is!" He just kept looking at me like, "Mom, seriously, you are more than a little disturbed..."

At around noon we decided to take a walk outside. I had left him doing tummy time on a blanket with all his toys surrounding him, while I quickly went to grab a pair of socks from his room. I came back and VIOLA!! He was on his back! He looked at me with the funniest expression, as in, "Hey! What just happened?!?"

He hasn't done it again yet, but it's a big accomplishment and for now we are so proud of him. We thought he was just a lazy bum. Apparently he isn't :)

Love,
Kelly & Justin

Fall Fun

We took Jack out to play in the leaves on Sunday afternoon. Justin set up a bonfire to burn some of the debris and in the meantime, Jack had a great time playing! He giggled up a storm when we buried him - it's kind of like "Where's Waldo?" - except it's "Where's Jack??"

It was about 45 degrees and sunny out, and he got to venture out in his super cuddly bear suit for the first time. He loved it! We went for a short walk and all of us enjoyed the brisk fall air. Soon enough it will be snowing and too cold for wonderful days like this.

A Few Videos

Jack can hold up his head really steady now, and for a very long time. He also looks about 20 pounds lighter when he doesn't have three chins :)

Jack found his tongue!! Just in the past two days, he has been very fascinated with sticking his tongue out all the time. We thought it was hilarious!

Halloween @ Daycare!

This morning, Justin and I visited Jack's daycare to watch the Halloween parade of the infants! Unfortunately it was too cold for them to go outside, but their teachers dressed them all up anyway and we had a fun party in their room. Jack was fast asleep when I arrived at about 10:30am, but he was a happy boy once I woke him up and put him in his horse costume! All of the babies were adorable all dressed up!

Miss Ashley (Jack's teacher, whom has has a very large crush on, was a baby herself!) Here she is holding Jack's friend Gavin (left.)

On the picture at the right, you will see Jack (a horse), Aiden (a pumpkin), and Tucker (a doctor in scrubs) in their favorite bouncy seats, behind Jovie (a mouse). She was just visiting their class today and is not normally with them, as she is a big girl and can crawl and do things that the little babies can't quite do!

Here is Jack in his outfit. Everyone loved that it made real horse noises when you pressed his hoof!! The babies got a kick out of it.

Finally, here is Jack's whole class. From left to right, Ansley (Gavin's big sister who was just visiting!), Miss Ashley, Gavin (in her lap), Jack, Aiden, Tucker (in blue), Jovie (in grey), Miss Cara (holding Stella), and in front of her, Alexandra.

They were too cute and I know that all of them are looking forward to trick-or-treating on their very first Halloween!

Here is a real live shot of the noise, confusion, and most importantly all of the cute babies on Halloween!!!

Our New Schedule

I posted awhile ago about Jack's daily schedule while I was home on maternity leave. Well as you can probably guess, that has changed drastically since he has gone to daycare! Here is an updated daily (weekday) schedule:

3am: Feeding (around this time, sometimes a little earlier or a little later.)
6:30am: I wake him up to feed him.
7am: I leave for work.
7:45am: Justin wakes Jack back up and takes him to daycare.
There he eats every 2-3 hours, about 2-3 oz at every feeding. To save myself a lot of hassle, I let them reheat and refrigerate the same bottle if he doesn’t finish it in one sitting.
At work I pump at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm on the dot.
I leave work at 4:30 to pick him up at 5, and then Justin can work as late as he needs.
We (Justin & I) usually eat dinner around 6 - 6:30pm.
At night at home before bed and then during the night I feed on demand. If he looks hungry, he is offered a breast. I want him to make sure he knows I’m still available even if he doesn’t see me all day. Sometimes this means I am up often at night, but to me it’s worth it, because it’s my bonding time with him.
As always, he gets a bath at 730pm and goes to bed at 8pm.

It makes for long days around our house, but it's so worth it! He's doing beautifully, except for his stuffy nose. Hopefully that will go away soon.

I will be posting pictures soon from his Halloween parade at daycare!

Kelly :)

Uncle Colin and Aunt Ashley Visit

Colin and Ashley came up for a quick weekend visit to meet their new nephew Jack. Lucky for them, it was the earliest snowfall in 80 years in Boston (see picture, taken on Sunday October 18, 2009)! The crazy kids took a run through our neighborhood in the snow ... let me tell you, the hills plus the snow = no fun for Kelly, so I definitely admire them for that!




We spent a lot of quality time with our little guy, which included trips to Babies R Us, the grocery store, Chipoltle, and our favorite hibatchi grill, which definitely scared Jack! However, both of them were naturals with him, and I know that Jack cannot wait to see them again soon!

Uncle Colin


Aunt Ashley

Look at the cuties (all three of them!!) Jack especially loved it when Colin played with him like he plays with Doak ... except when Jack got scared for a minute and started screaming! Colin quickly calmed him down. Also, we discovered Colin's love of baby powder - we may have to buy stock in Johnson & Johnson when he comes to visit again :)

All in all it was a great trip! Thanks for coming up!

Jack Holding Up His Head!

"Mommy, look what a big big boy I am!"

Taken on Jack's three-month birthday - October 24, 2009!

We've Survived!

It's Friday, and Jack, Justin and I have survived the hardest week yet! On Tuesday Jack had his first full day of daycare, and I spent the day cleaning, pacing, and waiting anxiously by the phone for the call that never came. He did fantastic! His only issue is sleeping there, which he is still adjusting to, but other than that everything is working out fine.

I am also adjusting to being back at work. Everyone in my office has been incredibly supportive and understanding, especially because I am having to pump breastmilk every 3 hours or so. I am on a schedule of working from 7:30am - 4:30pm and then picking Jack up at 5. Justin takes him into daycare around 8am every morning and visits him most days at lunchtime. We are slowly morphing into our own little family with our own little routines, and I love my two boys more than anything!

I will post pictures of his first week at daycare soon. They let him "paint" a pumpkin picture, and next week they will be having a parade for Halloween, so stay tuned!

I cannot believe I forgot!!

It's been THREE MONTHS and I had totally forgotten, but as I went back through the blog, I remembered!

Back in March, I asked everyone to submit their guesses for Jack's birthday / time / weight / length. Here were the responses I got:

CARA: 8/1/09, 4:00pm, 8 lb 6 oz, 21 inches
COLIN: 8/5/09, 7:00am, 7 lb 7 oz, 21 inches
ASHLEY: 7/31/09, 9:00am, 8lb 4oz, 21 inches
COURTNEY: 8/8/09, 8:08am, 8lb, 18 inches
RYAN: 7/30/09, 6:00pm, 7lb 14oz, 20 inches

I didn't see any from the grandparents...maybe I missed them? If not ...

I believe that based on the date, RYAN was the winner with ASHLEY a close second!

Based on the weight, COLIN was the winner with RYAN a close second.

Based on length, I think RYAN was the winner with CARA, COLIN, and ASHLEY tied for second.

I will now have to come up with some kind of good prize, because back then, it seemed like so far away and I didn't even come up with anything...and then I forgot!! Either way, it is fun to look back now. I have to say, if he had stayed in there until August 8 (COURTNEY!!) I would have died. :)

Lots of love,
Kelly

What A Big, Strong Boy!!

Jack's fine motor skills are developing very nicely!! He is a champ at holding his head up now for extended periods of time. He can even sit up (with assistance of course!)

One of his favorite things to do is sit in his Bumbo chair while I type away at the computer. This way he can practice sitting up and look at his beautiful Mommy (ha, ha.)

"Look, Mom, no hands!!"

He also loves to lean over the Boppy pillow, showing off his head coordination. He can do this for up to 1/2 an hour and is perfectly content, if not concentrating really hard at the task at hand. :)

"This is hard work! But man, I'm good at it!"

"Look at me!!!"

Finally, last night we broke out the doorway bouncer. He is still a little too small for it, but he hung out for a few minutes and seemed to enjoy the challenge!

"Phew! Daddy, I'm tiring myself out before bed."

We are so proud of our little fireplug! He is a solid, strong boy and impresses us each day with his new skills. :)

Jack's All-Time Favorite Thing

...BATHTIME!!! He loves it! Every night, no matter how fussy he is, we put him in the water and he just lights up. I take that as a good sign that he will be a little swimmer just like his Mommy! He kicks and squeals, coos and giggles. It is hilarious and it is definitely the highlight of our day. This is Daddy's bonding time with Jack, and Justin has all of his own rituals that he follows every night. It's adorable to watch and it makes for a very happy baby. :) I just thought I would share some of the pictures from this week...of my smiley little boy!

Bubbles!!!

I am sooooo happy!!

Smiley McGee!!!!

Love the 'do!!!

Jack Visits Daycare for the First Time

Jack begins at daycare on Tuesday, October 20, so in preparation I took him this morning for a short visit to meet his teacher and classmates. He will be attending the Mountainside Children's Center in Framingham and be in the Infant One class.

He met a few of his new classmates, and I spent a few hours with his teacher, Ashley. She was really great with him, as is evidenced by the pictures below:

Sleeping on their Boppy Pillow, just like at home.

Sleeping in his personalized, very own crib!

He spent most of his time sleeping, which made me feel much better. I took his extra outfits, blankets, diapers, bibs, winter coat, binky, hat, booties, and all the other things he needed and already stocked his cubby...this makes it less likely that I will forget something on the day he leaves me!

Ashley told me all about the art projects they will do, the outdoor activities that the babies participate in, baby yoga, baby sign language, their schedules, the big playground and gym accessible to all ages, and the HALLOWEEN PARADE that all the parents are invited to! We cannot wait. Jack will love it, and I am glad that he will be in good hands.

Until then, everyone pray for me to have strength ... I will hate to leave my baby boy in just a few short days! *sniff sniff*

October already?!

How is it already October?? Jack is 2.5 months old this week. He is rapidly gaining new skills, such as bracing his legs against anything hard trying to stand up, holding his own head pretty steady most of the time, and pushing himself up to his chest and moving his head from side to side during tummy time. He also sleeps very well; we put him to bed at 8pm and most nights he lasts until 4 - 4:30am before he needs to eat! He is generally very happy in the mornings, and a little more grumpy at night, but that's OK. He's a smart, growing boy and needs lots of attention to keep him stimulated and occupied!

In other news, fall has officially arrived in New England. I cannot believe it; that means snow is right around the corner! However, I am bound and determined to enjoy the fall foliage before that happens.


We took a short overnight trip to the Berkshires in Massachusetts with Justin's parents this past weekend (only about 1.5 hours away; I was scared to go any further with such a little baby!) I was amazed, he did great! Only a few crying spells in the carseat, but other than that, he really enjoyed himself. We even had lunch, dinner, and breakfast out in restaurants and he slept through most of it! What a great little boy we have :)

Enjoy our pictures!

On top of Mount Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts, on the Appalachian Trail. It was about 45 degrees and windy on top of that mountain!

Justin, Jack and I outside our hotel before we left to come home. We stayed at the Cranwell Resort and it was beautiful!

Hanging out waiting for the (older) boys to climb to the top of the monument at Mount Greylock! It was cold, good thing Jack was all bundled up!