Eeek...Molars!!!

So Jack decided to give Mommy the best birthday present ever - his molars! Here is an excerpt from a popular baby website to describe exactly what we are dealing with:

Even though molars might be weeks away from erupting, they are uncomfortable enough down in the gums to keep your baby awake when he should be rolling over and going back to sleep. For many parents, this means you’re suddenly up at night rocking and feeding a baby who used to sleep through. Most frustrating for these parents is the uncertainty as to why everyone is enjoying the late night snuggles for days or weeks on end – those pesky teeth can take forever to actually show up.

When you begin to suspect your child is starting to show discomfort and signs of teething, keep an eye out for more signs to verify your concern. If in doubt, you can also take your child to the doctor to rule out any other discomfort such as an ear infection or sore throat. The most common teething signs are:

Drooling
Pulling or digging in his mouth
Biting and chewing
Pulling or rubbing at the jaw or ear
Night waking
Slight fever (less than 100 degrees Fahrenheit)
Reluctance eating solids
Reluctance sucking at cups or bottles


When the nights begin to grow rough and the days grow rougher thanks to a cranky toddler and poor sleep the night before, dig back into your arsenal of survival tactics to make it through:


Take turns being up at night.
Use teething medicine and/or pain reliever with your doctor’s permission.
Offer your child cold things to gnaw on such as frozen pancakes, waffles, washcloths or bagels.
Rub the swollen area of the gums to offer counter pressure
Move bedtime earlier to accommodate the night waking
Try co-sleeping to comfort your baby and get yourself more shut-eye
Nap when your baby is napping
Offer fun distractions to keep baby’s mind off the hurt
Incline his mattress to help reduce pressure when sleeping.

We have discovered that Jack loves frozen teethers (he just holds them in his mouth like a dog while he walks around the house) as well as frozen waffles and veggies. He isn't such a big food fan very often - refusing even his most favorite foods at times. He has been waking between 5am and 6am for the last week, as well as going to bed very unhappily. We only hope that these teeth erupt soon so that we can all get some rest!!! He's been working hard at them, that's for sure!

Bathtime!

It's been awhile since we have had a bathtime post... Jack still loves it just as much as he did when he was younger!

Apple Picking!

We went to Tougas Family Farms this weekend for some beautiful fall apple picking. It actually was much hotter than we expected, and there were LOTS of people (and other little kids!) We did get a full peck of fresh, organic apples though. And I think Jack ate about three while we were picking them. We were going to visit the pumpkin patch and the petting zoo too, but it was naptime and it was just TOO hot. Maybe next time!

Eyeing the pumpkins

Helping Dad select only the most ripe apples

Eating apple-flavored dirt

Picking up as many as my hands could hold

"I like THIS one!"

"Hey Dad, think I can climb this ladder?"

"Not now, Mom. I have my eye on a Red Delicious."

If we took the first bite, Jack could eat an entire apple all by himself!

Enjoying apples with Daddy

Fall Days Are Here!

Petting the rabbit at the Northborough Apple Festival with Grandma and Aunt Cara!

Bonfire time with Dad!!!

One of our favorite things is to ask Jack "are you tiiiiiired??" because he does this!

Jack's Progress Report

Yay! Another progress report from Jack's teachers at daycare! We were thrilled to read all about our little man:

• Jack seeks familiar adults as a secure base when around new people and new situations.
• Jack uses others' facial expressions, gestures, or voices to guide his own behavior. Jack will do things like try to climb on the table until he sees you frowning and shaking your head "no."
• Jack has begun to participate in group routines. He is starting to do all the activities with his friends throughout the day, although sometimes he misses out on things to take his morning nap. (HA! That's my boy!!)
• Jack is able to walk across the room, starting and stopping. He is able to throw a ball overhand, using both arms, while standing, and is trying to catch balls that are thrown to him. He is slowing gaining the coordination to start running.
• Jack learns how objects work by watching others handle them.
• Jack continues to demonstrate an awareness of a problem and is beginning to apply problem-solving strategies.
• Jack imitates the actions of others. Jack will clap his hands after seeing his friends clap to music.
• Jack responds to simple gestures and to the intonation, pitch, and volume of simple speech. Jack stops whimpering when you talk in a quiet, soothing manner.
• Jack gestures, babbles, and combines sounds to communicate, using the rising and falling patterns of adult speech. He combines sounds such as "Ba-da" and is starting to say a few words, such as "Uh-Oh."
• Jack exchanges single words, word-like sounds, and gestures with others. For example, he says "ba ba ba" when you say, "where's the ball?"
• Jack recognizes and shows a beginning understanding of pictures. Jack will vocalize when pointing to a picture.
• Jack scribbles spontaneously. He is able to hold a crayon or marker and move his hand all around the paper.
• Jack only becomes distressed when he is tired, or when another child takes his toy.

Finally, the narrative:
"Jack is a very active boy," (understatement of the year) "who enjoys doing all activities set out for him. He likes to climb on the climber and enjoys building with blocks and throwing balls around with his friends. He also likes crawling through the tunnel while looking at his family pictures. Books are also a favorite before and after naptime."

We are thrilled (again!) with his evaluation. He is progressing right on course and we are so proud!

Playing Outside

Our Little Guy

Jack is seriously one of the happiest babies I have ever seen. He is known as the "Greeter" at daycare (I hope this doesn't describe his future profession at Wal Mart!) because he always stands at the gate of his classroom and says "Hi!" to everyone walking by. He also has learned new tricks, like when we say "Hey Jack, are you tired?" and he lays his head down on the nearest thing (concrete, in the sandbox, in the bathtub...) It's really cute!

We are enjoying every day of beautiful fall weather by playing outside and running around. I don't know what we will do when snow falls and we can't go "out out out" every day! (Jack stands at the stairs and yells at the door.)

Oops! At Daycare...

Yesterday afternoon Justin sent me this picture of Jack's mouth. Needless to say, I freaked out!! It turns out he fell and ripped his frenulum (the flap of skin inside the upper lip.) It is pretty common. Here is the handout from the doctor:

Scenario:

Typically, a youngster who's just learning to bike falls forward, with a minor bump to the mouth. This cut bleeds like crazy and scares parents to death, but it's no big deal.
Description:
The membrane between the upper gum and upper lip is called the frenulum. This membrane may be torn when the lip is bumped. This is usually not a serious injury.

He had a perfectly fine afternoon and even went back to daycare after seeing Dr. Hunt. He slept fine and is eating fine, and other than a little bad breath (ha ha!) he's totally OK.
We are trying to get through the next few weeks, which for me at least are awful busy at work. Mom's birthday will be here soon so hopefully that will be a day of rest for everyone!

Lots of love for now...

Happy Labor Day Weekend, Welcome Fall, and Happy Birthday Month to Mommy!!

We had a low-key Labor Day weekend with lots of time spent playing outside. We were lucky to dodge Hurricane Earl, and Saturday dawned bright, clear, and sunny. The temperature hovered around 80 during the day and around 50 at night all weekend. It was a great start to college football season! Nothing says fall like a little crisp in the air.

We watched our Seminoles cruise to a victory under new coach Fisher. We (sort of) watched (on the computer!) our Yellow Jackets win too. Hopefully this bodes well for our teams for the rest of the season!

We spent Sunday hanging out with Sam, Tony, Raegan and Colin. It was so nice to see them again! I struggled to remember how to hold a newborn - funny how that wears off once your own baby is older! Jack loved playing with Raegan and even with baby Colin (although he was a little rougher than we would have liked!) Either way, it was a very nice day and we hope to see them again soon!

What new developments have happened around our house lately? Well, Dad is almost finished painting the finished basement - which will be just in time for Jack's new playroom when the cold weather sets in. Both Justin and I have been really, really busy at work. (Which is why I have been so lax in updating the blog.) Jack moved up to the Toddler One class at Mountainside. He also recently started saying a lot of new words (syllables?) like "mine," "a-corn," and "nah nah nah nah nah." He is constantly devloping his "boy" skills like hiking, playing in the dirt and mud, collecting rocks, eating bugs, and picking things off of plants and trees. He's a regular daredevil and will climb on or up pretty much anything (outside or inside!) He is also smart enough to pull the baby proof plug protectors out of the wall sockets. He FINALLY learned the true difference between "yes" and "no" and will answer (some) questions properly. Whew! It takes a TON of energy just to keep up with his shenanigans. But every day is an adventure and we look forward to each new discovery with him.

Next up?? Weaning from the bottle. He's down to one in the morning and one at night (with half formula and half whole milk.) He drinks milk / juice / water from sippy cups during the day. Sam gave us the suggestion of buying an "extra special" sippy cup that's only for what used to be the bottle times, so we did that today. Next week we will start working on the weaning. I don't think it will be too bad - Jack is a handful but he's pretty good with change. :)

Til later!