Jack is 9 Months Old!

Jack is 9 Months Old!!!

Very exciting. Even though this is our second time around the block (read: we're pros), we still celebrate every month. 9 seems big. It's so close to 1. He's doing so much. We're getting glimpses into what he might be like when he's Lauren's age. Sometimes it blows my mind that there are only two years separating Jack, who can't speak to speak of, can't walk, etc., from Lauren, who uses complex sentences and can climb around a jungle gym.

9 months has Jack sitting up like it's no problem, putting himself to sitting on his own (that's in the last week or two), and army crawling. Not crawling like Lauren did, where it looked like she'd broken both of her legs, but real deal army crawling that involves his arms and legs. He gets up on all fours and rocks, and the stomach off the ground crawling is clearly coming soon. Yesterday, he pulled himself up to his knees, so I imagine he's going to be pulling up to standing soon, and then cruising. Every milestone is such a huge victory for us.

Below, an impromptu couch race progression, where Jack gets a head start but has to body check at the end, and Lauren still wins.

Jack is a different beast than his sister. While he's slightly behind the curve like she was as far as crawling, pulling up, cruising, etc. goes, their methods are different. Lauren was so easy, we didn't have to baby proof anything, if she found a questionable foreign object on the floor she picked it up, deposited it in my hand, and then scooted away, like "I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have that." Jack's arms and legs are moving before we even put him down on the ground, and then he surveys the area, finds the most dangerous object, and gets there. In a hurry. Then puts said dangerous object in his mouth. He's taking years off of our lives, but mostly in a fun way. The best part is that he and Lauren can play together more now, when Lauren's in the mood. Sharing is still a bit of an issue with Lauren, but I think it makes for a pretty mellow Jack, so I'm OK with that byproduct.

Jack is still saying dada a lot, and now he says mama, too. I'm not going to say he's saying it directionally yet, but there are some indications that he might be figuring it out. I've just started giving him some finger food little cereal puffs recently, and he's not great with them yet, but I'm sure that's coming. He has his bottom two teeth, and then instead of his top two teeth, he has the teeth on either side. Little fangs, if you will.

We recently had Jack's 9 month appointment, and he is still long and skinny.  Of course I can't locate his stats right now, but I'll edit the post later and update with those; this is, after all, his baby book.  If I'm remembering correctly something like 85th percentile height, 15th weight.  Get this boy a cheeseburger.

Jack Attack

Oh, I've been remiss. Poor Jacko, the neglect of the second child is such a real thing (just ask me. I was a second child and completely ignored for most of my life. Ask Matt and Arie. Poor me.). These photos are from January, when Jack was but a wee 8 months old. Now he's working on 10 months. Around 8 months Jack started sitting up really well, clapping (he maybe started that around 7 months...see? I'm terrible, I can't even remember.), and enjoying pushing himself up on his arms during tummy time. Towards the end of January he also started saying "dada." Why do dads get the first word, always? Why??? I don't care, it was so cute it really doesn't matter.

Jack's favorite activities around this time consisted of a) watching Lauren and b) watching Stella. The picture above is Jack mid clap. He takes the palm of his right hand and claps the top of his left hand. It's about the cutest thing ever. Jacko also has his bottom two teeth, which you can see in the photo above, just slightly. He got those around 7 months, both at the same time like Laur.

Jacko in his stroller at the zoo on an unseasonably warm January day (no coat!).

Above, some serious baby perfection. I mean really.

Jack and Lauren are patient with their mother wannabe photographer, like all Coleman children (my mom and Aunt Jane are relentless photographers. Yes, I intended to use the word "relentless." I am happy and proud to have inherited that trait from them). Bless them.

Jack's New Life

I mean really. Jack is giving Lauren a run for her money in the eyes category, non? So Jack has some new ladies in his life, Ms. Brenda and Ms. Tina, in the infant room at Union Hill. Labor Day was our last day together before I went back to work, and after a week of work (well, a short week), I can say that I think we're both going to be OK. It definitely wasn't as hard as with Lauren, I think because with Lauren I had all kinds of doubts. Will she still love me? Will she resent me? Will she still know I'm her mom? I really thought all of these things. But she does, in fact, think of me as her mom. She does scream "Mommy!" and run to me when I pick her up. And while Jack isn't as vocal, I get an expression like this when I pick him up every night. Jack and Lauren are a sight for sore eyes every evening, for sure.

Jack is changing every day. He's getting a lot better about standing, holding his head up, etc. We bought the "GoPod" (above) with our November trip to St. Thomas in mind (we weren't quite ready to pack an ExerSaucer), and so far we're loving it. Jack doesn't stay in it for incredibly long periods of time, he's still working on his strength, but this little gem keeps him entertained for awhile, and you just strap in new toys to the loops. It collapses, kind of like those fabric camp chairs, so we can take it all over the house. I highly recommend.

Jack loves his binky, but he loves to suck on his two fingers, as above, even more. I kind of prefer the binky because you can take it away...I have a feeling he'll be doing the finger sucking a lot longer. Good thing it's cute.

Jack and Lauren are still pretty big fans of each other. If he cries, Lauren says "ooooohhh, Jacky, it's OK! You're just so little!" and other words of encouragement.

Jack is starting to eat some cereal at school, although I couldn't get him to eat any this weekend while we were at home. He still sleeps through the night, bedtime is at 8pm and then he usually wakes up around 7am or a little before. He plays in his bassinet when he wakes up, just cooing and looking around. I know I shouldn't say these things because new parents might be reading this...it's not fair, I know. But if it makes you feel any better, Lauren was the same way and then put us through hell while I was pregnant with "sleep regression" (that's such a nice way to say it, right? Not so nice in real life). I expect it may happen with Jack, too, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now they're on the same bedtime and wakeup schedule, and it's kind of the best thing in the world.

Jack still nurses or has a bottle around 6 times a day, with cereal once a day. Slowly we'll start introducing some other baby foods and the schedule will probably change a bit. Typically he has one long nap in the morning, and a shorter one in the afternoon. He's still happiest being held or carried around when he's awake, but when he wants to sleep put him down, he's not interested in you anymore. Like Lauren, he can almost always be soothed by walking around outside and looking at the trees, although it's not like he's fussy that often. He's still on the reflux medicine and it seems to be working...he can still spit up his own body weight, but it doesn't seem to bother him as much. We go in for a well visit this or next week, I'll share those stats with you when I get them.

All in all, we are making it work as a family of four. Weekends are go time, and exhausting, but we are so very lucky that the exhaustion (yes, you're still exhausted even when you have good sleepers) seems like only a minor inconvenience. We are so thankful for every day we have with these two little creatures.

Jack is 3 Months Old!

It's hard to believe, but Jack is three months old. Which means that yours truly will be back to work soon (after Labor Day), and Jack will be following in his sister's footsteps and starting in the class that she started in at UH. His teachers are very excited to have him and keep asking when they get him every time I go in to pick up Laur. Back off, ladies! For now he's still mine.

Just like Laur, at 12 weeks he woke up all of a sudden and is so much fun. He laughs, smiles a ton, and even found his feet last week. He still prefers to be standing (I know, Grandma, this will allegedly make him bow-legged), thinks sitting is second best (and laying down is the WORST) and can hold his neck up like a two year old. Sean and I predict that, unlike his sister, he will be walking well before his first birthday. WELL before. He continues to mostly sleep through the night. He doesn't eat during the night anymore, since he turned 7 weeks old (night at our house is 8pm to 7am for both kids), but sometimes wakes up politely requesting a binky (by politely requesting I mean he screams bloody murder until he gets a binky) or that I re-swaddle him. I happily oblige since it takes about 10 seconds and means I get to go back to sleep. Life with Jack is good. Even though I went through it with Lauren I can hardly believe that some day he'll talk and have his own little personality. I mean he has one now, of course, but you know what I mean. Sean and I might be the two luckiest parents in the world.

Jack the Sleeper

It's hard to believe our little boy is 9 weeks old, and by the time some of you read this he'll be 10 weeks old. This maternity leave is flying by. We recently had Jack's 8 week appointment at the pediatrician. He was 25 1/4 inches long, and 11 pounds 13 ounces. This puts him in the 50th percentile in weight and well off the chart in height. We talked to the doctor about my suspicion that he has reflux issues, and because of some of the symptoms we described we ultimately decided to put him on Zantac to help him feel a little better. The weight wasn't a huge concern since he's still in the 50th percentile, although considering his height, and the fact that he was a larger baby at birth, it might be a little low because of the reflux, so we'll see how he does after he's on the medication for awhile. It definitely seems to be helping what appeared to be some pain after he eats (not every time, but enough that it concerned me), and he looks a little plumper now, so maybe it will make his weight go up a bit, too. Or maybe he's just going to be tall and skinny...only time will tell.


While the reflux talk is all so very exciting, I've yet to tell you the most exciting news: JACK IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. Has been for awhile now, actually. At 7 weeks, just like his big sister, Jack magically slept through the night. We have had a few nights where he wakes up in the middle of the night, usually because he's Houdini-ed himself out of the swaddle, but for the most part he sleeps from 9pm to 7am. What a dream. I feel human again. In case you're wondering, we achieved this miracle through the techniques in the Baby Whisperer book with both kids. Thank you Tracy, for your sleep training methods. We're basically running a baby boot camp over here. And thank you, Lauren and Jack, for apparently being prone to long bouts of sleep. Or maybe Lauren and Jack should thank us, since both Sean and I are pretty good sleepers ourselves. You're welcome, children. It's a mutually beneficial relationship.

Jack is getting more and more interested in what his big sister is doing, and what's going on in the world. He's also learning self defense at a very young age, as Lauren appears to have lost control of her limbs and often knees, kicks or elbows Jack in the face. Poor Jack. But you'll thank her later when you're tough Jack, I promise. Above and below, Lauren can't stand to not be the center of attention and cuts in on Jack's cuddle time with Grandma Power. The Power grandparents visited this weekend and were as surprised as us at how much Jack has grown.

Jack is a dream of a child. After he sleeps for 10 hours, he wakes up and eats, plays a little, and then naps for three or four more hours. This is when I head to the gym for an exercise class; my teacher calls him the class mascot (he sleeps in his car seat next to me the entire time). You can see that the gym class is working for him in the photos above, he has crazy neck strength. But it's not just the sleep, Jack is happy and easygoing. He's starting to smile a lot more, and in fact when he wakes up in the morning he doesn't even cry, just wriggles a hand out of the swaddle, sucks on it a little bit, and then when I go in to get him gives me a huge smile. Love this boy. I've always heard that you're only given as much as you can handle, so apparently I can't handle much because I've had two amazing babies. There's a lesson in there, I think.

Jack is 6 Weeks Old!

OK, by the time I actually post this he'll be 7 weeks old, but work with me people. I took some photos of him at 6 weeks, mostly for a special project that you'll see later, but I thought that since I haven't posted since the end of May I should throw a ton of photos from that shoot up in this post to distract you from the fact that I'm way behind in posting.

Life with Jack is still grand. He's not quite the sleeper that Lauren was yet, but part of that is my fault because I let him fall asleep on my chest way too often. But sometimes mama's tired, and when the baby sleeps three hours or more straight on your chest, sometimes you let him fall asleep on your chest. I'm working at undoing the bad habits now, and even moved back into our bedroom with Sean last night (I've been sleeping in the bed in Jack's room since we brought him home). Hello husband, I missed you. Of course then I went in to comfort Jack at 2am and fell asleep with him, you guessed it, on my chest again. Oops. Oh well, such is life.

OK, some tidbits about our little Jack Attack. He's starting to smile, and even smiled when I walked over to him last night. [cue heart melt] He likes to "coo talk" back and forth with us, and even he and Lauren coo talk to each other. He puts weight on his legs and stands up whenever given the opportunity (pretty sure Lauren didn't do that until she was about a year old). He can hold his head up for minutes on end, and is even hanging out in the Bumbo. He doesn't mind tummy time (Lauren hated it).

He spits up. A lot. Like a lot a lot. A lot of parents nod understandingly when I say this, as did I to other parents before Jack, but I don't think they're quite comprehending how much he spits up. Lauren spit up a lot, and that's what I considered spitting up. Jack's spit up makes Lauren's look like a slight dribble of drool, despite the fact that she'd sometime soak through two burp rags. We're talking projectile. We're talking three and four burp rags is the norm. I know that's kind of gross, but I'm keeping it real. He eats seven times a day to the tune of four burp rags a feed...you do the math, I'm doing laundry all the time. I took him in for a weight check because I was worried he wasn't keeping anything down. He weighed 11 pounds when I took him in, which was on the same percentage projectile as his 10 day visit, so I guess he's keeping something down, but I'm still anxious for our 8 week visit to make sure it's not something to worry about.

Jack is great in the car and in the stroller for reasonable amounts of time. He likes to be carried around and he likes to go for walks in the Bjorn. He is both a lover and a fighter. He sometimes cares if his diaper is full (Lauren did not). He tolerates baths (ditto on Lauren), and even sometimes enjoys them.

In sum: we're going to keep him.

We have no idea who he looks like. If you have an opinion, please leave it in the comments.

It's a Boy!

It's a Boy!!! As most of you know, although we found out that Lauren was a girl at 18 weeks, this time we decided to wait and be surprised. After having Lauren, we realized that truly just having a healthy baby is all that you can ask for, and besides, it is what it is anyway, so why not wait, right? It was really an experiment, people feel really strongly about either finding out while you're pregnant, or waiting. We wanted to see what all the hype was about. After having done it both ways, Sean and I both decided that the waiting was more fun, although I don't feel so strongly about it that I'd tell people that waiting or not waiting was stupid (surprisingly, people actually told me that we were stupid for waiting...calm down, people).

So, here's the birth story. Jack was in no hurry to make his appearance. My May 6th due date came and went with no sign of a baby. A week passed. Then several more days. Finally on Monday, May 16th I had a doctor's appointment (my doctor was out of town the week before, and I'd told him that I was going to wait him out, although I didn't think that would really work).

At my appointment my OB did an exam and found that I was about 40% effaced, and maybe 1 cm dilated. In other words, I wasn't close. He wanted to do a quick sonogram to make sure I had enough fluid (once you go over, you start having non-stress tests and they check your amniotic fluid level, just to make sure that everything's still operating the way it should be...Jack aced the tests). I asked if he would check the size of the baby, too; he'd been saying all along that the baby was "average" sized, but I just knew that the baby was bigger than average. The sonographer took some measurements, did a calculation, and...predicted a 9 lb. 8 oz. birth weight. Not exactly average.

We went back to the exam room to discuss our options. After the size prediction, and the fact that I wasn't progressing at all on my own, a c-section was looking more and more likely. I'd been trying hard to have a natural birth after my c-section with Lauren (Lauren was frank breech, and a c-section was my only option), but because I couldn't have pitocin as a result of the prior c-section (correction, I could have it, but in limited amounts), it was either go on my own (or at least mostly) or another c-section. We scheduled a c-section for Wednesday, May 18th and I left the office feeling a little defeated. We were still in the building after leaving my OB's office when my water broke. So we turned around, headed back in, and confirmed that maybe Jack was finally ready to make his way into the world (although we didn't know that "he" was a "Jack" at the time). My OB didn't look too thrilled with my water breakage...although it was a sign that labor was starting, the fact remained that I was not even remotely close to being ready for delivery.

Off to the hospital we headed, tout de suite, with no time to run home and grab our bags. I think it was around 3pm. We checked in, got to our room, and waited. And waited. I had small contractions, but I wasn't progressing. Finally at 11pm my OB came in and recommended that we go ahead with the c-section. I was torn. I'd hoped that with my water breaking maybe labor would ramp up and I'd be able to avoid another c-section. We debated and debated, but the clock was ticking since my water had broken, and ultimately we decided on the c-section, although with a lot of tears. By me, of course.

In the end, it was the right decision. We found out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Jack's neck twice, and things could have easily ended badly (like I labored for 24 hours but then had to have a c-section, or, much worse, because of his size and the fact that the cord was wrapped twice that Jack went into distress, lost oxygen, or worse if the cord tightened around his neck). I was so thankful that we'd just done the section and that we got a perfectly healthy baby out of the deal. Sometimes things work out the way they're supposed to.

It was quite a moment, first hearing the baby cry, and then finding out that it was a boy. Everyone exclaimed that he was a big baby, but I had to wait for what seemed like forever before I got to see him while they checked him out. He did great on his Apgar test, he got a 9 and then a 10 (out of 10). Sean was with him as they examined him and then brought him over to me for my first viewing. He was perfect. He looked tiny to me, but my relative scale was a 30 pound 2 year old, so I'm a little skewed. Jack was born at 12:08am on Tuesday, May 17th.

Getting to hold Jack for the first time in the recovery room.

OK, so maybe he does look a little, um, "healthier" than most newborns in the above photo.

Above, photos of Jack in the hospital, 1-3 days old.

The photo above is Jack at 10 days old. His pediatrician wanted to do a weight check (he'd left the hospital weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz., 12 oz. lower than his birth weight, which is perfectly normal). He's doing so well that we get to skip the two week appointment altogether and will see the pediatrician when he's two months old. His 10 day/2 week stats:

Weight: 9 lbs. 4 oz. -- already back over birth weight, his doctor and nurse were surprised

Length: 21.5 inches -- he's recorded at 21 inches at birth

Head circumference: 15 inches -- 14.5 inches at birth

Lauren is doing splendidly. I think she really enjoys being a big sister, although mostly it's the novelty of it all. She calls Jack "Baby Jack" (as do we, most of the time), and wants to see him first thing when she wakes up in the morning and when she gets home from school. Although she's maybe acting out a little on occasion as a result of the newest member of the family, for the most part she's handling it much better than we expected. We are all adjusting to life as a family of four, and can't imagine our lives without Jack now that he's here.