Here is Jack at 13 weeks old…
(April 26, 2012)

It’s hard to believe that our baby has blessed us with his presence for 3 months! I know people say the kiddos grow up fast and it’s true.

Jack-boy attended his first birthday party this week. It was for an older woman, too – she turned 1. We enjoyed ourselves in the park and though it was overcast, I figured out that Jack needs a sun hat. He got the slightest sunburn. It was really more like a little sun kiss, but he’s so fair I will not take him out without his sun hat again. Here we are in the park together…

Another first was Jack’s first airplane! He was amazing going and returning with barely a peep…

While the flights with Jack were fun, the circumstances for our travel were not. We went North to attend my Uncle Paul’s memorial – he will be very sorely missed. The upside to our trip was that Jack finally got to meet his Uncle Robert. Hooray!

This week we’ve been enjoying Jack’s delightful dancing. He likes to chill on his activity mat and dance to the tunes on Pandora, especially the disco station. Click right here to see him getting his boogie on to Michael Jackson. (We think it’s cute).

Some things about Jack at 13 weeks:
– Jack is still only sleeping a four hour stretch at night. I’m so ready for at least six. Come on, Jack!
– Jack does not appreciate tummy time at all. He lasts about 1 minute max. Any ideas besides the “interest him with a toy”? He doesn’t care about toys much right now and we can’t seem to coax him with a mirror or our faces. He does like to fly around the house on his tummy via my arm, but don’t put him on the boppy, or the floor.
– Jack loves music! No surprise since he listened to so much of it in the womb during my classes.

We think Jack has soulful eyes when he’s in a serious mood…

His eyes are also starting to change from the newborn blue. We think they will be end up being hazel, like mine.
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Here is Jack at 12 weeks old…
(April 19, 2012)

Jack’s little double chin is getting bigger! In fact, this photo makes him look downright chubby. Check it out…

As you can see, we went to a Mommy & Me class. Unfortunately, Jack slept through the first half and nursed during the second half.

Jack is now spending more time awake and is becoming such a happy, expressive baby boy! We love interacting with him and watching his personality reveal itself.

This week R and I went on a date for the first time since Jack was born! First, we enjoyed a wine flight…

Then we went to the movies (Hunger Games = Book is waaaaaaay better) and dinner. Being out together without baby-boy was so lovely!

Meanwhile, Jack enjoyed hanging out at his grandparents’ house…

For his final 12 week photo, check out Jack’s left hand. He’s flippin’ the bird…

Unintentionally, of course!
(hee hee, I am mature)
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Here is Jack at 11 weeks old…
(April 12, 2012)

We have discovered that Jack-boy looks very good in the color red! We photographed him quite a bit in the same onesie this week.

We had a lovely Easter! We had Easter dinner at my parents’ house, where we hunted for Easter baskets. Jack was a little sleepy, so I did his hunting for him…

Because Jack was born at 37 weeks our pediatrician treats him accordingly, so we had our 2-month well-baby visit this week. His stats were:
Weight = 11 pounds, 2.8 ounces
Length = 22 1/4 inches
Head = 15 3/4 inches

The doctor remarked that Jack has good neck strength for his age. It’s probably because he spends so much time on people’s shoulders looking around.

During his visit, he received two vaccination shots which R attended to. I buried my attention into my iPhone and pretended like nothing was happening. It was too much for me. Thank goodness for husbands. Jack did great and only felt really icky for a short time later that evening.

Jack continues to charm all of his grandparents on a regular basis. Here he is in his favorite grandparent-napping-position with Grandma Maureen…

This week, Jack and I took a walk along the beach in Santa Monica with my friend, Kathleen, who was nice enough to snap this picture…

Jack’s current nicknames are:
From Mom: Little Leprechaun, BooGoo, His Royal Bugness, Jack-boy
From Dad: Kiddo

Jack gets more and more expressive every day. I’ll give you one guess who was standing over my shoulder while I snapped these photos…

Nobody makes Jack smile like his Daddy! They also play a really cute call and response game where R will sing a vowel sound and Jack coos back. It’s adorable. (Sometimes I get in on the conversations, too).

Jack sometimes enjoys playing by himself on his activity mat. I spy on him while he entertains himself by dancing and cooing and kicking his toys. Here he his doing so in his sleep gown that I think looks like a baby kimono…

Jack’s favorite things are: The mirror and people’s faces. He hasn’t really taken to toys yet.

Finally…

Can you stand it? I love my little leprechaun.
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Here is Jack at 10 weeks old…
(April 5, 2012)

Jack-boy is discovering his hands and likes to suck on them to indicate one of two things.
1) I’m hungry, please. 2) I’m getting sleepy, please.

I finally mustered the courage to trim Jack’s fingernails for the first time this week, which he slept through very soundly…

Jack’s biggest milestone this week was reaching 10 pounds! Here he is at the weigh in…

I’ve decided that since he has finally reached 10 pounds, I no longer need to weigh him weekly. I will wait patiently until his well-baby check-ups like a normal mother.

Jack is moving into the 3 month clothing size, which I am enjoying so much! I am particularly fond of this outfit. I’m sure you can see why…

Just before Easter, Jack got dressed in his first big-boy-outfit and we went to see my friend Chelsi who accompanied us to our Easter Bunny photo shoot. Here is Jack expressing himself to Chelsi. Jack found Chelsi to be an empathetic listener…

Jack has now taken to sleeping one 4-hour stretch at night usually beginning at about 8:30 or 9:30pm. He then wakes up every two hours after that. We are working on the 4 hour stretch starting a bit later so we can sleep with him.

Time sure flies when you have a baby! My maternity leave is coming quickly to an end (in 4 weeks: boo hoo). I requested to return to work 80% time and unfortunately my request was not granted without relinquishing my current position as a department leader and taking a “step down”. I am very disappointed, to put it mildly. So, our family is now in decision mode about how to move forward. I will be sad to leave Jack for 5 days a week if that is what I have to do. I just don’t want to miss anything at this tender and sweet age…

Can you blame me? Jack is my little rockstar cutie!
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