not my favorite doctor's visit

Today Jack had his 4 month doctor's visit...it didn't go particularly well. Jack's length and head size are growing just fine, but his weight has dropped pretty dramatically in the last 2 months. As a mother who is exclusively breastfeeding (and would love to continue to do so) this was pretty hard news to take in. Our pediatrician is phenomenal and handled my emotions and tears perfectly. She now has me on a pretty strict feeding regiment for the next 2 weeks at which point she wants to see Jack again to be sure his weight is going back up. Besides the emotion of hearing that his weight was not what it should be, I'm even more overwhelemed by the process of having to fix it. This may be more information than you want to read about, but I now have to feed Jack, then pump while giving him a bottle at EVERY feeding for the next 2 weeks. Needless to say it's going to be a very confining two weeks and definitely a moment where living in the city will feel quite isolating. Cross your fingers, say a prayer, do whatever you'd like...let's just hope this works and quick.

Immanuel is in NYC

Immanuel is back in NYC this week to start off Clue Camp this summer. Of course, we're just happy to have them here and to have the chance to hang out. Sadly, we didn't get nearly as much time as we would have liked, but we did have one whole evening together at least. Jack got to show off his new room, and Chris entertained the group with the "do's and don'ts of parenting." We had some other moments during the week too, but here are some photos of them hanging out at the Sherouse house.

a Very Big Night

What a huge night for Jack! Alan and I were in the kitchen making dinner (blueberry pancakes) and Jack started crying from his playmat in the living room. I walk out to "rescue" him from play time and found him ON HIS STOMACH (he had been playing on his back)! We knew he was close to rolling over all week and he finally did it and we didn't even see it happen! Honestly, I got a little emotional about missing it, but it will happen again soon I know. The bad news for Jack though is that he has no idea how to get from his stomach to his back. At least we're not having to watch out for the continuous roll...yet.

Not only did he roll over this evening, but it is now 10:53pm and Jack has been in bed for over 20 minutes now...Yeah! Who knows if this will become a pattern, but it sure would be nice.

Completely unrelated to this evening, here are a few photos Robert took from Jack's first time in his bumbo seat.. They were so cute, I just had to share. Thanks Robert!

When did he get so big?

A little peak in at nap time today. Somehow he looks like such a big boy sleeping in these photos. Seriously...when did this happen?

This nap was followed by playtime at Leighanne's while I went and photographed an 8 day old little girl. I'm really feeling the difference 4 months can make now after this afternoon's shoot.

for your viewing pleasure

I was backing up images and videos tonight and just started watching random clips from these last 4 months of Jack, so I had to share a few...

Jack's very first video.

A visit with Aunt Kimberly...he's about 6 weeks old here.

2 Month Birthday! I can't believe how round he looks!

Jack and Hudson..it's not really fair when Jack is trapped and Hudson is free to move about...won't last long:) (Jack is 3 months here.)

Playtime with Jack...pretty normal day.

my "little escape"

Most people know that I have a love for drinking tea and get really excited when I order it from a place that will bring me my own personal tea pot. Well, it was about time I had my own tea pot at home and thanks to a good friend (Molly) I finally do. So, when Jack is napping this is my afternoon treat to myself.

something new:)

I love to dress my Jack as a "little man." Someone in the subway actually told me recently that he looked like a little man who was about to walk onto Wall Street for a corporate take over. Well, I don't know about all that, but I do love finding clothes that suit his "style." The newest addition to Jack's wardrobe just arrived in the mail and I thought I'd give you a sneak peek...I promise when it makes it first appearance on him there will be plenty of photos to show it off.

4 Month Thoughts...

Just a few thoughts on Jack's 4 month birthday...
*Some things don't change...he still loves his changing table. We now use it for tummy time too and he's 10 times happier to be on his stomach here than anywhere else.
*We're not rolling over yet. He had his one moment of fame 2 months ago, but never again. Now, when he's on his tummy if he gets tired of holding up his head (which isn't usually for at least 5-10 minutes) he just face plants into the ground:) He is starting to use his legs a lot more though. When he's on his stomach, he'll use them to kick forward...he'll literally push himself forward. And sometimes he'll move like he's trying to get on his knees. It's still all in desperation and gets him nowhere, but it's something.
*He is rolling onto his side now when he's on his back. The motion is really all in his legs, but he'll fling them over his body and be chest up belly down. I'm really not complaining (even though I chant "roll over" to him everyday) because I know my world will change drastically when he finally figures it all out. And truthfully in NY, I feel like that's an even scarier thing because of all the tight spaces we try to maneuver in each day...places without changing tables especially.
*I still wouldn't change a thing about breastfeeding, but it can be very cumbersome. There are times when I definitely feel overwhelmed and exhausted by how often I'm sitting still to feed. Some days I don't even think twice about it, but other days when I'm trying to go everywhere, it can be tiring looking for that Starbucks or little restaurant or park bench to sit down at for 45 minutes when I really just want to finish whatever it is I set out to do. I recently told a friend to start tagging my breastfeeding cover on facebook photos...at the end of the year we'll count up how many times it entered into pictures. I'm not even sure I want to guess how often that will be:)
*Jack is officially sleeping in his crib! Next step...going to bed before 11:30pm.
*Kicking is still Jack's favorite exercise. When he's really excited he puts on his serious face and stretches as long as he can and begins to kick. It is sometimes accompanied with various grunts and exclamations. I'm going to miss this little routine one day.
*First Laugh! It happened just this last week (6-14 actually)! We were walking through the city and I started tickling him in the carrier...I swear he laughed out loud. Alan, Robert, and Amanda were there to verify it too. He laughed a few times actually, but never since. It will happen again soon...I can't wait!
*I've mentioned his kicking quite a bit, but really his legs carry all the strength these days. Just in the last week or so, if you lay him down he kicks and does "hip thrusts" that will turn him around in various directions. I really don't think he knows what he's doing, but it's kind of interesting to look at him set in one direction then turn away for a minute and see him set in a whole other direction. He's on the move and doesn't even know it.
*Jack really is a happy baby. He's so much fun to be around, especially right after he eats. After he's full he's happy to do just about anything. He loves attention (really...he loves it), so if you give it to him he'll smile and talk non stop at you. This makes being in the subway or out on the street fun too because Jack will catch someone's eye and just make their day with a huge smile. He's also very content to play by himself too. If you lay him down to play, he's loves to kick and talk to his toys too. We really do have such a content little boy.
*I love Jack...what more can I say!

don't judge...

Jack watched his first video today (Baby Mozart). He was in a mood this morning and I needed to eat breakfast...so I did it. I put on a video to see if that would distract him...it did. I felt kind of bad about it, but also thought he was pretty cute watching it. He was kicking and talking back to it. I assure you this is not and will not become a regular occurrence, but it bought me 10 minutes to myself today:)

once again...please excuse the mismatched pj's

Happy 4 Month Birthday Jack!

4 Months...how can it be? Some new toys were in order for his 4 month birthday, so Jack and I went shopping at Buy Buy Baby together. For those of you that don't know what Buy Buy Baby is, imagine a Bed Bath and Beyond store where the items are stacked up the walls higher than you can see...well Buy Buy is just that only filled with baby items. It's a bit overwhelming, so I took a list with me:) As we were shopping I would put toys in front of Jack to see what he thought. He liked them all really, but the toy that stole his heart (and made his eyes literally bug out...I'm not exaggerating I promise) is the one that we walked out with...along with a bumbo and one or two other small things.

Please forgive his mismatched pj's...they ended up in the dirty clothes the minute we woke up.

Not the best dressed in these photos...we're actually still getting dressed in this one.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy 1st Father's Day Alan! May this always be a special and memorable day for you each year. I hope we learn to celebrate you well and make this a great family tradition. We love you!

Northern Central Park

We spend a lot of time in Central Park (Jack ensures this), but I am sad to say we never ventured into the northern part of Central Park until just this week. Everyone has their patterns, ours is to enter in at 94th (there's a Starbucks on 94th and Broadway...you can see why we entered in here right?) and then walk south. I still love this walk, but this week I had a photo shoot and needed something "new." So, I entered Central Park at 100th (we live at 101st, so it's kind of funny we've never been to this part of the park). It's a whole new "world" there. You walk in next to the Pond, which is scenic and calming, then if you walk northeast you enter the North Woods where there's a WATERFALL. Who know there was a waterfall in Central Park? Just further proof that there's still much more to explore in this city...

a big week of firsts...

It has begun...sleep training! I must admit, the whole idea of sleep training leaves me feeling dumb and helpless, but we're learning. The first step included cleaning out the crib:) No more cradle for Jack. (Truthfully, I'm a little sad not to have the storage space inside his crib anymore.) We started Sunday by laying him in his very own crib at "bedtime" (11:30pm mind you) and letting him work it out on his own. It took 27 minutes of "working it out", but then he slept peacefully for 7 1/2 hours....not too bad. The next night, was only 6 minutes! We've put him down all week on his own and he's had to cry it out for a minute or two each night, but tonight was the ultimate success...I put him down without the sleep positioner (his first night without it since we brought him home), he looked up at me and cried for 2 seconds then layed there looking up with a look of "this is what I wanted you to do all along". He didn't fall asleep right away, but took advantage of being able to roll around (I think he was happy to be rid of the sleep positioner) and "played it out" on his own. YEAH!! Now, if I could only figure out how to make bedtime 10:00pm...

Related to sleep, here's a video from his nap one afternoon. I heard some noise, but no crying and walked into his room to find him awake and totally content by himself...I'm still wishing for an earlier bedtime first, but waking up happy like this is next on the list.

AND just for fun...here's Jack's first time ever being in the crib:)

Jack's Dedication

We are constantly blessed by Metro and feel overwhelmed to be raising Jack in such a loving space. Today was further proof of that with Jack's Baby Dedication. Tiffany did a beautiful job. She walked him through the church introducing him to his church family, telling him what he might learn from the various members who already love him. Ensuring him (and his grandparents) that his Metro family will be there to support him throughout his life in whatever ways they can. Of course, we wished all of our family could be there with us, but we were so glad Grandpa and Bibi could be there for the occasion. Bibi read scripture and Grandpa prayed over Jack and they both sang in the choir. One other special part of the service was the song "Beautiful Boy" sung by Angie and played by Brett. One of Alan's "tricks" with Jack from Day 1 was to sing to him...Beatles songs work the best, so we were happy to have that special touch added to the service too. To celebrate the occasion, we brunched at one of my favorite places Marseille with great friends.

I feel like I have more to say about the day, but I'm not finding the right words at the moment...I'll think on it and come back with more later. For now...here are a few photos.