It's been a rough day.

That's right, my baby is sleeping on his head. What's it to ya?
Jack was screaming at us mercilessly this afternoon. We were at a bit of a loss as to what to do. He had been fed, burped, changed, rocked, held, given Gripe Water - all to no avail. Hip-hop music worked for a while, but only when combined with Josh dancing with him, and sadly Josh had to get back to work. So, I strapped him into his carseat to take him for a drive. He could imagine nothing worse, and let his opinion be known...loudly. So, while I was trying frantically to collect my purse and keys and get out the door, I left him with Josh. When I came back mere moments later, Jack was sound asleep...in the position you see him here. I'm not sure how his car seat ended up in this position, or why Josh saw fit to tip him on his head, and to be honest I don't really care. It made him not only stop crying, but fall asleep (for a few minutes anyway).

Jack is sporting this season's hottest design in diaper covers...

Now that Jack weighs in at a whopping 11 pounds, he is finally big enough to wear cloth diapers. I know, I know...back in the days before disposables, babies wore cloth diapers from the time they were newborns...but back then there was no other choice. When Jack came home from the hospital, I tried to put a cloth diaper on him and it was just ridiculously huge. I could have diapered him from head to toe with room to spare. So, I decided to wait a while for him to grow into them. For his part, Jack seemed unfazed by the change. He promptly peed in his new diaper (with no leaks, I was pleased to discover). The diaper cover is a bit stiff, and it seems to make it harder for him to move his legs, so perhaps we'll try another brand. Overall though, I would say that it was a successful first foray into the world of cloth diapering.

2 Months (and still going strong...)

I have been pumping more successfully lately, so Josh is now able to give Jack a bottle every day. It's so sweet to watch him feed the little man. Look how he stares up at his daddy while he eats. I love it.

He had his 2 month checkup yesterday with Dr. McGuinness. He weighed in at exactly 11 pounds, and is now 22 1/2 inches long (his birth weight was 7 lbs. 7 oz. and his length was 19 1/9), so he has been busy growing. Based on oodles of statistical data, the doc was able to predict Jack's adult height with 90% certainty to within +/- 2". Any guesses? It was taller than I expected based on his parents' rather puny statures (but still not exactly what you would think of as tall).

Apparently, he has positional plagiocephaly of the right occipital (which is an unnecessarily frightening term for flattened head). Luckily, it hasn't caused any migration of the right ear, which frankly sounds a little scary to me, but he does have a big flat spot. We're supposed to try to convince him to sleep with his head turned to the left (yeah right).

He did great at the doctor's office, bestowing his big goofy grin on passersby in the hallway, the receptionist, the nurse, and his doctor. He laid on the table looking around the room and cooing for most of the visit. He was in such a rare good mood that I was really wishing we didn't have to ruin it by giving him his shots...but such is life. He got four immunizations - one orally and three as shots. The oral vaccine was for Rotavirus. The first shot was a combined Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (Whooping Cough) vaccine (DPT) as well as Hepatitis B. The second was for Pneumococcus, and the third was for Hemophilus Influenza (HIB). He didn't care much for the shots. That's all I'm going to say about that.

The doctor warned me that he might run a slight fever and feel achy for the next 24 hours or so after getting his vaccines. He suggested that I give him infant Tylenol as soon as we got home, and every 4 hours if he continued to act like he didn't feel well. He slept most of yesterday, and is still pretty sleepy this morning. I gave him another dose of Tylenol already today because when he woke up he laid in his bed quietly fussing and crying big crocodile tears. So sad. He also feels a little warm, but nothing too serious. He bled when he got his shots, and got little tiny Snoopy band-aids to cover up his battle scars. He still has little lumps where the needles went in (two on one thigh and one on the other). Poor little bug. I wish I could have just gotten the shots for him.

*Update* I was just reading through the handout that the doctor gave me to take home. It includes a section on nutrition, behavior, and safety - what you can expect at this age. In the safety section, it says, "Do not leave your baby unattended on a bed or changing table or with your siblings or pets." So, I guess my sister won't be babysitting anymore. Good thing they warned me - I had no idea that it was so dangerous.

Happy Birthday to Me

Jack put on his spiffiest outfit for my birthday dinner.
Last Thursday was my 30th birthday! My sister came up for the day to help take care of Jack so that I could get a few things done. I cleaned up the house, made a dinner plan (my parents were coming up for dinner to celebrate with us), and was feeling so on top of things by noon that I decided to go to the gym and incapacitate myself for the next three days. I guess I like to make things hard on myself.

I started exercising again in earnest after my 6 week postpartum checkup, which is when the doctor makes sure everything is all healed up and gives you the go-ahead to resume all normal activity. I am anxious to get back into shape, and it's nice to get out of the house and do something for myself every day. So, on my birthday I decided to try a new class. It sounded a little intimidating - it was one of those group weight training classes - but I was feeling brave. By the end of the hour, my muscles felt like jello, and I could barely walk up the stairs. I knew I was in trouble. The next morning I could barely walk. Oh well. Nothing a few days and some rest won't cure. Unfortunately, I don't have time for much rest these days... At any rate, I'm going back to the class this Thursday, I'm just going to try to take it a little easier. If I'm going to run around after a mini-Josh all day, I'm going to have to be strong!

Jack fancies himself to be a boating sort.

Captain Jack - ready for an afternoon paddle in the canoe or a trip out on Grandpa's boat to bring in the crab pots.

Why I shouldn't go to the mall...

Josh and I were at the checkout counter at Victoria's Secret today with Jack in his stroller next to us. The store was pretty crowded, and the line was very long. While the woman was ringing us up, another cashier opened up next to us. I saw her getting her cash register set up, so I scooted the stroller in a little closer to the counter. The sales girl who had just opened called out to the next woman line, but the woman ignored her. She again tried to get her attention, and the woman turned to her and said, in a loud exaggerated voice, "oh, I can't...there's a stroller in my way" (somehow managing to make "stroller" sound like an expletive). I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I turned to double check that my stroller was in fact well out of the pathway, and then looked at her, incredulous. I turned back around and shared a "can you believe she just said that" look with the sales girls and the other customers in line. Josh asked me if I wanted him to take the stroller outside. By this point I was really pissed. I said (loudly) that our stroller and our baby were fine right where they were and that we weren't going to move them. Thank goodness Josh was there to tell me to calm down. I seriously wanted to rip the woman's throat out. The cashier handled it without batting an eye. She just turned to the next people in line, and asked if they would like to checkout. They (all four of them) walked easily by the stroller with room to spare.

On the way home I was trying to figure out why this silly incident made me so upset. I guess I'm still feeling a little awkward about taking Jack out places - what with all of the gear that I have to schlep along (carseat, stroller, diaper bag, etc.) for even the simplest of outings. Plus, I feel fiercely protective of my baby. And while this horrible little shrew of a woman didn't exactly insult him, she came too close for my comfort.

*Note* The above shown photo is not of the actual woman described in my post, but at least in my mind this is pretty much what she looked like.

In the meantime...

I have a new (well, new to me...Josh has had it for a long time) little video camera to play with. So, in the near future you will all be treated to (or subjected to, depending on your point of view) videos of my son's exciting daily activities. So far I have footage of him playing with his fish mobile, having the hiccups, and laying on his back like a lump while I try to get him to smile for the camera... Unfortunately, I have no idea how to edit these clips (and I assume no one wants to watch 20 minutes of Jack's hiccups - except for me that is). So, after several failed attempts with a video editing program, I finally had to ask for Josh's help. I HATE asking for his help with anything computer related. I don't know why I have to have such an ego about it - I know that he knows more than I do, and he's always very patient and willing to teach me. I just like to think that I can do everything by myself. I know, it's ridiculous. I'm a goober.

So, Josh is going to show me how to edit my videos this afternoon, after which I will make some more posts. However, in the meantime, look how cute my baby is... This is a photo of us at Caspian's first birthday party last Saturday (birthday post yet to come).

Physical Therapy?

Uncle Andrew is doing physical therapy for his recently reconstructed shoulder by swinging Jack's carseat back and forth (one of Jack's favorite activities).

We're begging you Jack, please STOP SCREAMING!

I was trying to take a picture of Jack's cute little baby mullet (which is coming in quite nicely) but he wasn't in the mood to be photographed.

You Rock, Gramma!

Jack is looking cool in his new onesie from his Great-Gramma Vera.

Griffen & Jack Hate the 4th of July!

This is what's going on at our house, right now, this minute (well, at least the minute I made this post).

Josh is getting a lot of work done.

Griffen is completely stoned (we finally broke down and decided to sedate him this year to try to spare him the effects of the fireworks). So far it isn't really working. Now he is just sleepy and scared. He has been hiding under Josh's desk all afternoon, which doesn't bode well for when the real fireworks start this evening. Good times.

Catsup (I mean Catch-Up) Post

I'm sure you're all dying to know what's been going on here at 'Root House: The Next Generation,' and I apologize for my egregious lack of posting over the past week (and a half...). Having a screaming baby in the house (tune in for tomorrow's 'Adventures With Colic' post) tends to make the days (and nights) all blur together, especially when you're also sleep-deprived. In the brief moments of calm, I have been frantically trying to get things done before the next episode begins (taking a shower, brushing my teeth, tackling the mountain of laundry) and so haven't had a lot of time for blogging. There have been some fun things going on at our house nonetheless, and of course we have been taking photos. So, here is the week in review for your enjoyment...

Our beautiful new Icelandic Au Pair...

Ok, ok...she's not our au pair, but she is our wonderful friend Sigrun (sorry, there are no accents in this program) who is visiting from Iceland, and she does have some wicked baby-calming skills.


She even helped us go out to a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (The Big Fat Fish Co.) by taking turns walking around with Jack when he got fussy. Between her and Josh I got to sit and eat the entire meal in (relative) peace! Yay for thoughtful friends and husbands.

Clarity & Caspian came over to visit. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, so we went for a walk with the babies and then hung out in the front yard.

Caspian took a dip in our new pool.

Great-Grandma Kay and Grandma Kathleen made the trek up to B-ham and brought us yummy Gere-a-Deli sandwiches for lunch. Jack snoozed in his Great-Grandma's arms. His little tummy was bubbling up a storm that day, but she was able to calm him down and help him relax.

Bethany Sternberg came up to meet Jack. She is now 20 weeks pregnant, and the newest member of the Sternberg clan should be arriving in November! She looks beautiful, and is feeling much better now that the dreaded morning sickness has passed. We had fun talking about pregnancy/birth/baby stuff and it was great to see her.

We got to meet our friends Chris & Mandy's new baby. Gwenivere was born the day after Jack (6 weeks early) and mom & baby are both doing great. Gwen is absolutely adorable and makes Jack look like a giant. She's still in the "sleepy phase" that Jack went through for the first few weeks after he came home (those were the days), but Jack fussed during our visit to give them a preview of what's to come... A big congratulations to Mandy & Chris on their beautiful little girl. I'm sure our families will have lots of fun adventures together in the future!
Jack is slowing learning to like bath time. He likes showers just fine, but it's hard to hold onto his slippery, wiggly little body AND wash him at the same time. So, while he may prefer showers, I prefer baths...