Jack slept in his crib!

I even have a photo to prove it! Okay, so it lasted for about 37 seconds - just enough time for me to grab a camera and snap a picture - but still, you have to start somewhere right?

Jack's musical preferences

Of all the different musical selections we've tried, Jack seems to be partial to Wu-Tang Clan. On the one hand, I should be happy about this because while I am not a fan of hip hop in general, I have always had a secret fondness for Wu-Tang. There, I admitted it. I don't know why. Their lyrics represent everything I hate about the genre. They are particularly offensive and misogynistic. I just really like their voices, and their beats make me feel like dancin'. It's hard to dance from up here on my high, hip-hop-hating horse though. So, because I don't want to be one of "those" parents, I am going to make an effort to lighten up and dance with my son to Wu-Tang at least once a day. It'll do us both some good. I just hope the first words out of his precious little mouth aren't "bitch gimme my money".

Fun day...long night...

Jack got lots of visitors yesterday. My gramma (Jack's great-gramma) stopped by with her friends on their way home from Birch Bay. They told stories about when their own kids were little and Jack snoozed peacefully while we passed him around from lap to lap.

Then Uncle Andrew & Aunt Gretchen came for a visit.

Next our friend Lisa & her adorable little girl Madelyn came to say hi. Mattie was so sweet with Jack. Here she's shrieking "AWAKE" because Jack had opened his eyes for a millisecond. He wisely decided to go back to sleep (or at least to fake it).
Things were going so well that Josh and I decided to join Andrew, Gretchen, Myke, Kevin, and Joey for sushi dinner at Osaka. Josh was going to meet us there after stopping by his CCA meeting. So, Andrew, Gretch, & Myke helped me to bundle Jack into his car seat for the drive to the restaurant. Before we even got out the door, he started screaming. By the time we got to the restaurant he was having a full blown meltdown. His little face was beet red and he was choking from crying so hard.

I crawled into the back seat with him, while everyone else went in to sit down. I nursed him until he settled down, but the calm was shattered by the giant explosive poop he took. I changed him on my lap (not the easiest thing to do while sharing the backseat of the car with a giant baby carseat), cleaned up, and fed him again. By this point he was so upset that he was crying while nursing. Very sad. Although not as sad as the fact that his little tear ducts produce actual tears now. This was the first time that not only did I have to endure his screaming, but also the big crocodile tears streaming down his cheeks. Somehow that makes it so much worse.

Josh arrived to find his wife in the backseat of the car looking frazzled and holding a screaming baby. I had already tried everything I could think of, so he tried some of his patented daddy techniques - jiggling, dancing, singing - all to no avail. I gave Josh my takeout order and headed home. The second I left the parking lot Jack went to sleep (not for long though).

He screamed and fussed on and off all night long. Seriously, all night long. I'm exhausted. Josh is exhausted. I can only surmise that Jack is too, although he did sleep most of the day yesterday, and probably will again today. Perhaps I will try to join him for a nap this afternoon.

At least I'm having a better morning than Clarity. She called to say that she had just uttered words that (pre-parenthood) she could have never imagined herself saying - "Please tell me where else you hid the poop..." At least we have that to look forward to in 10 months. Yay!

My baby likes rap music...

A couple of days ago, Jack was really fussy. We didn't know what else to do for him. He was clean, dry, and fed, and we had already exhausted our (admittedly rather limited) repertoire of baby calming techniques. So, Josh took him for a walk out to the shop, where some of the guys were hanging out and using the climbing wall. They had on really loud rap music. Jack settled down instantly. Josh came in to tell me how much Jack liked the rap music, but I was sure it was just a fluke.

On Saturday when I drove down to Anacortes, he was fussy again. I put on some nice relaxing classical music. He screamed so loud I thought he might shatter the glass of the car windows. I tried easy listening, sports talk, classic rock, jazz, and country. The crying only got louder. So, I gave in and found a station playing really obnoxious rap music and cranked it up loud. Of course he stopped crying.

I am currently sitting on the couch listening to a fine little ditty about "bitches & hos." As long as the music keeps blaring, my precious little boy snoozes peacefully. As soon as it gets quiet though, look out because all hell breaks loose.

This wasn't exactly the way I had expected to share the joy of music with my son for the first time, but at least my baby is happy (see photo if you don't believe me...notice the speakers right by his little head). Josh seems to be enjoying himself too (a little bit too much if you ask me - I think it's less the music he enjoys and more the fact that I am so annoyed by it). Perhaps I will invest in a pair of earplugs today.

A week in the life of Jack...

Jack has had a very busy week.

He met his Uncle Andrew...
...and his Aunt Gretchen.

Clarity & Caspian came to visit.

He got to snooze in Grandpa's arms for hours.
His fussiness level has increased dramatically...
so, we bought him a vibrating chair.

He went to a BBQ at Tony & Myke's house.
We were both tired after all of that, so we took a nice long nap.

The Payoff

Seeing Josh feed our baby makes the stupid pump worth the hassle... (but I still hate it).

The things we'll do for our babies...

What is this woman's problem? Anyone who smiles like that while attached to a breast pump has something seriously wrong with them.

This week I joined the ranks of pumpers - women who willingly hook themselves up to these things and allow themselves to be milked like cows. I have never done anything in my entire life that has made me feel quite as ridiculous and un-sexy as this horrible contraption.

All I can say is that Jack is lucky he's so darn cute...


*In response to Sean's question about what kind of pump I used:

I started with a hand pump, but didn't have much success. It took me 45 minutes to get a measly ounce of milk, half of which leaked out through the seal between the bottle and the pump. After much online research and a conversation with the nice women at the Mother Baby Center (www.motherbabycenter.org) I think I figured out what went wrong. I followed the directions that came with the pump that said to boil all of the parts before using it for the 1st time. Apparently, doing so warps the plastic, weakening the seals and reducing the suction. Of course you can't return it. Awesome. So, I rented a fancy electric hospital grade pump before deciding whether or not to shell out the $250 for my own. It's definitely worth it!