He's smiling

For the past few weeks, Jack has been paying attention to everything around him, and he's noticing that his parents are the funniest people in the world.  He's been smiling more and more every day.  The mornings seem to be when he's happiest because he's well rested, clean, fed, and happy to start a new day.  That's when we get the most smiles out of him.

Here's a video of some of those moments.

Summertime!

We took Jack in the pool today.  He fussed at first, but then he warmed up to it as we dragged him through the water and splashed around a bit.  At one point Angie was amazed at how well he was doing while in my arms; until we realized that he had completely fallen asleep in the water. 
Passed out in the sun.
But it was a fantastic afternoon.  The sun and the water lead us all to a much deserved afternoon nap.  I'm on summer vacation now, and I'm very excited to have time to spend at home with Angie and Jack. 

And now we know a little trick.  Next time he gets fussy, we take him in the pool to put him to sleep.

Mom's night out

Angie and Jack have been having a blast each and every day.  I come home from work as soon as I can to hear about the great mornings where Jack did nothing but smile.  He is so aware these days, and I am looking forward to summer so that I can take part in these little milestones in Jack's life.  Angie has been reading to Jack a lot, and he loves looking at the pictures while he kicks his feet and smiles.
While Angie is enjoying her new role as a mother, she won't relinquish her other favorite role as a Minnesota Twins fan.  Angie was thrilled to hear that her team would be making a trip down to Arizona to play a three game series against the Diamondbacks.  We got tickets months ago, and while the outcome of the series wasn't what she'd hoped for, Angie really appreciated a night away from the house for some peanuts, beer and baseball.  Our thanks to the Fosters for watching Jack for the night.  We really appreciate it.

Packed up and ready for game time!

the fans

A few visits

Jack has been blessed with visitors making their way to the Southwest for some sun, heat, and time with the little guy.  He's seen his aunts, grandparents, godparents, and his uncle Matt came in from Antigua via Newport for a few days.  We were happy to have him here, as we haven't seen him since our trip to the East coast to sail on Keewaydin.  
Below are some pictures of Jack's guests.  As always....to anyone reading...the door is always open.  The pool is warm, and we've got a spare room.  Jack loves the company.

Uncle Matt

Aunt Betsy

Aunt Katie... awesome Godmother!

Officially Catholic

Jack's baptism went off without a hitch. Well, kind of. Everything was running smoothly until we reached the church and Father Chuck was about to begin. Jack decided he needed his diaper changed, immediately. Ben and I decided to embark on this adventure together. We quickly ducked out of church and headed for a bathroom, only to discover that there was absolutely no room in which to change a baby. We went for the closest table we could find, naturally right outside the doors of the church! Jack started to cry and in order to avoid disturbing the other 14 families whose children were fresh and clean and ready for baptism, we grabbed him and headed out to the courtyard. We successfully got him changed only to walk back into the church to Father Chuck asking US what name we give our child. We answered, out of breath and took our seats and relaxed. Well, kind of. Jack then decided to be hungry. Ben quickly threw a bottle together and we "plugged" him, hoping it would do the trick. Jack happily sucked down ONE ounce of formula, and promptly fell asleep, smiling quietly to himself, clearly amused with what he put us through.  He made up for it by sleeping through everything after that. I mean EVERYTHING. All in all, we would call it a success.

Friends and family gathered afterward at our house for some food and much needed beverages. We had a wonderful weekend with everyone. We are really lucky to have family that loves us and friends who support us.  Now let the complaining about going to church begin! Well, kind of. I am sure it will happen as soon as Jack can talk.

 

 

Godparents Katie and Dan

With the Corsons.  Happy that our 'friends in the Lord' could be there.

 

 Below are a few more photos of Jack's baptism, as well as Ben's.  They both wore the same shawl on their special day.  Can you tell who is who?

 

Like father like son.

And here is a video of the ceremony.  Remember that Jack wasn't part of the crying baby chorus making all the noise in church.  He was an angel throughout the whole ceremony.

Apparently he's tall...who would have thought?

After our doctor's appointment last Thursday, we discovered that Jack is in the 95th percentile for height. He clearly got every inch of that from me. ;)  He's 11 pounds (I know, I know...sounds monstrous, but it's normal!) and 23 inches.

He's starting to smile more and he's awake a lot during the day. The doctor told me that I need to start keeping him awake during the day so he will sleep longer at night now that he's reached a month old. Sadly for me that means less time getting stuff done, but on the same note he loves being read to, which is really fun for me also. We have lots of time together on our tummies and our backs making each other smile. We are the funniest people we know.

Friday we took a trip to Ben's school. All of the teachers in his English department spent time talking about how cute Jack is. I swear Jack's head grew by the second. He was spoiled with attention from all of those ladies. We'll have to make more lunch trips before the year is over!

I brought him to school to meet my students and they were all so excited to see him. He stayed awake and didn't cry when a whole mess of third graders crowded around him. I don't think I could've managed to hold back tears if I was him! I had to laugh because when Jack opened his mouth, one student shouted, "Oh my gosh he doesn't have TEETH?" Funny what they don't know at 9 years old. Another student said, "Mrs. Reinhardt, I don't believe that coffee makes you short because you drank coffee when Jack was in your tummy and look how long he is!"  I sure miss those kids.

Oh and by the way, this whole post is dedicated to Betsy. I know she is a faithful reader and always appreciates my stories about my third graders. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

This year, today just seems a bit more special.
My heartfelt wishes go out to any of the mothers reading this blog today (especially to Jack's Grandmothers).  We've only had Jack one month, and yet it makes me realize just how much hard work, dedication and love mothers put in to raising children every day.  One day doesn't seem like enough to thank the mothers in our lives for teaching us about love and devotion.
As for the new mother in our house.......
She is taking to this like a duck to water.  Jack and I are both very proud of her as well as being hopelessly dependent on her maternal skills.  I'm not surprised, but I am thoroughly impressed .
I hope she knows how much we love her.

Happy Mother's Day!

One Month Old!

Well, Ben and I have successfully managed to keep this child alive for one full month. Piece of cake! ;) He's growing like a weed though. Tomorrow we have our one month doctor appointment and I am anxious to see how much he weighs and how tall he is! By the looks of him, he should be entering kindergarten. I am almost positive that he will be taller than me by his 8th birthday. It will be fun to look back on this post in 8 years to see if my prediction was correct.

Take that hipsters!

We are getting really excited for our upcoming guests. The whole Shellum family will be down a week from Friday for Jack's baptism. I've got his outfit all set, I just hope he doesn't outgrow it before then! We'll be cutting it close. We can't wait to celebrate this with family and friends. We are really grateful for Auntie Katie and Uncle Dan taking on the godparent roles. We feel really blessed to have this little guy in our lives, it seems only appropriate to party on his baptism. Wine slush for all! Cheers!

Arizona baby just can't seem to cool down!