An Eventful Night

Our little 8 1/2 month old brings so much excitement to our lives. Today, as I walked in to pick up Jacoby from Trish's house, they wanted to show me that Jacoby figured out how to climb up the stairs. (our stairs go down, not up, from our living room so I had never seen this accomplishment before!) Anyway, he accidently bumped his mouth and was bleeding all over the place. It was kind of scary because we couldn't tell where the blood was coming from, so I called up to our pediatrician and he said to run him by. Apparently, Jacoby tore the tissue that connects his upper lip and gums. (I bet everyone reading this is feeling for theirs right now...) Dr. Lowry told us that it won't heal itself, but that he won't really need it and in fact, it causes a slight gap between front teeth sometimes anyways. The only difference would be that we can stick his head out the window and his lip may flap around in the wind. Glad nothing was seriously wrong so we could have a sense of humor about things!!! I'm a little relieved that the inevitable first boo boo is out of the way and that my pediatrician is understanding when we call and say, "How do we know if we are being reasonable or if we are just being overbearing first-time parents?"

Jacoby recovered and was a very giggly boy all night, so I got out the video camera to record him and Zach "racing" (while crawling) across the room. It was getting close to his bedtime, so he was tired of playing and pulled up on the couch. Suddenly, he turned and TOOK HIS VERY FIRST STEP!! I was so pleased that we had the camera on! (Dale Kisker's badgering paid off!) After going crazy, we pushed rewind to check if you could even see him since I was changing positions in the room at the time. Once we realized that it was caught on film, Zach and I were both (to our embarassment) screaming and giving each other high fives. Our lives are just so exciting, right? I think that has to be the most worked up we have been in quite a long time! Great night...very memorable! This one goes down in the books!

Jacoby Loves Dora

I came into the living room on Sunday morning and Zach had Dora the Explorer on in the background while he was playing with Jacoby, who was very much loving it. So, tonight, as I was flipping through, I had to stop and see what he would do. He couldn't stop dancing! I pushed rewind 5 or 6 times so he could listen to the theme song again and it never failed to make him move! It gives me flashbacks to my husband at our wedding reception. Now it's just too bad I didn't realize that I turned my camera sideways for a picture and never turned it back!!!

My Boy Loves Grocery Bags

Here is Jacoby sitting on the floor amidst all of the grocery bags...and it was very entertaining to him.

Long Overdue Update

People keep bugging me about updating the blog, so I figured I would go ahead and do it before I forgot or put it off any longer. We just had a read-a-thon at school, so my camera is not at the house to upload pics, but I figured I can write something now and put pictures and videos up this weekend.

Jacoby had his first doctor visit this week other than a check-up. Out entire family ended up with an upper respiratory infection, so he hasn't been himself for at least a couple of weeks. Sleeping well has been pretty much out the window. Luckily, he loves his new medicine and last night for the first time, he was finally acting like himself and laughing and playing all night. It was so nice to have him back! It's unbelievable how miserable a snotty nose can make a baby. To make matters worse, he got 3 new upper teeth at the same time he had the congestion, so that added ear rubbing and a nose that ran like crazy, not to mention and terrible time feeding him. SO GLAD they are in! I hope the next ones stay away for a little while! 5 teeth is enough for now!

I'm not even sure what Jacoby had accomplished the last time I wrote, so I will just venture on the safe side and put EVERYTHING that might be applicable.
Tricks he can do:
crawling
clapping
pulling up
cruising? not very interested yet but sort of
letting go and standing for a number of seconds
playing ball

New foods he's tried: (this is where I will have to list anything in the last couple months)
peaches
pears
sweet potatoes and carrots finally stay down (he loved them but spit up all night when he had then originally...we tried every once in a while and the last time was finally a normal feeding)
puffs...blueberry, peach, and strawberry banana
water and apple juice out of a sippy cup

We tried a mashed up banana, but it didn't end well
We have discovered that Jacoby has a pretty sensetive gag reflex...like his mom I think. If a puff or something is on the back of his tongue, he will gag himself and throw up...often. I cannot even tell you how many times I have seen that familiar look on his face and just reached out my hand and waited for it to fill up with puke. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Jacoby has also tasted the flavor of some random things. These are things he can't eat but we let him put his mouth on it to try it out, for example a tootsie pop (not so sure) and an apple (loved it!).

Most of all, Jacoby looked right at Zach and said "dada" this weekend. He did it again a few other times after that. Then, tonight, he was in the living room fussing because he could see me making his cereal. He cried and watched me and then started saying, "mama, mama". I KNOW he was really crying for me! I about fell over. We knew that it would be easy to tell when he was really saying it because he is a man of little words...while most babies his age have been babbling for a couple months, Jacoby seems to prefer not to say constanants. He makes the same noise several different pitches, like he is really saying a sentence but usually there is not constanants. (If that makes sense). Bottom line: I was not expecting it so I was so surprised but it felt pretty amazing.

Every time he is a month older, I think, "Wow, this is the best age." But then, he gets another month older and I think, "No, THIS is definitely the best age!" That's my disclaimer before I say that 8 months is most definitely the best age ever. He is learning SO much and has new tricks up his sleeve that he reveals every day.

Kind've a poopy night

A special guest blog entry by Holly:

So tonight was my second night to come over and bond with Jacoby. I worked through the mental list that Amanda had instructed me with. After I fed him his mushy rice and soft pink-colored bananas (don't know what was up with that), we headed toward the tub for bathtime. I was a little nervous as I've never given a baby a bath by myself. Everything went pretty smooth until suddenly he began to make an unusual face and his body position became awkward. He looked as if he was in pain. I felt bad for the little guy and didn't know what to do. Perhaps he was uncomfortable in his little tub chair. I picked him up out of the tub and I looked down to find two floating brown pieces of feces. I immediately froze with fear! (I am a person who isn't good with burping, farting, and especially not poop!) The one thing I feared about little kids (and dogs) and it happened in the tub of all places! I took him to his room, dried him off, and put him in his pj's. Now it was time to face the music. I reluctantly walked back into the bathroom, drained the tub, and contemplated how to conquer this fear of mine. I decided I would just have to pick it up with some tissue and put it in the toilet. I figured if I picked up the chair and tried to angle the poop into the toilet I'd miss and have an even bigger problem on my hands.

Unfortunately, I never got that far. Just looking at it and imagining my plan in my head was enough to send me into a major gagging fit, complete with coughing, watery eyes, and a red face. Jacoby thought it was pretty funny. I decided it wasn't going to happen and texted Amanda:
"So Jacoby pooped in the tub and I really tried to clean it up but I kept gagging. So I guess it will be here when you get back. I'm sorry"

I really do feel very bad. I am a bad babysitter. After all that, I couldn't figure out which way his diaper went on and his usual bottle/rocking chair routine didn't put him to sleep like it was supposed to. In the end, though, I was able to get him to sleep with a simple sway and back pat with music playing in the background (that is very relaxing by the way!). It was a very sweet moment.

Amanda and Zach, please don't band me from babysitting!! I'm learning! And I look forward to Jacoby and my's adventure next week.

Long Overdue Update

So our little man is now 6 months old as of Wednesday. He has accomplished a lot just in the last month!

1. sleeping through the night consistently without waking up to fuss
2. Feet in his mouth to suck on toes
3. Blowing raspberries
4. Playing with his momma's hair and sucking on her chin. It can be fascinating for a 6 month old.
5. 2 teeth! Every time we make it through another day of nursing, I feel very proud (and relieved).
6. Staying at a sitter for the first time!
7. 1st official play date with little Reagan, who is three days his elder
8. Saying mmm-bah and other babbles in "conversation" with us
9. Sitting up without support! (but not for long before he is reaching for something/anything and knocks himself over)
10. Eating solids...on his list of foods he's tried:

• rice cereal
• oatmeal with banana flavor
• rice with mixed fruits flavor
• rice with apple flavor
• green beans (pretty neutral about gb's...like most people)
• peas (shuddered every couple of bites the first couple feedings, but kept coming back for more. he's a little pig.)
• carrots (being shelved for a while... he kept spitting it up later although he loved it while he was eating it!)
• bananas (savored this one the most...he gave me the hugest, sweetest smile after his first bite!)

Last week, Jacoby had a full day of nothing but screaming and grunting. (No babbles or anything!) He really mustered up the energy to get out a good one each time. He would squirm and kick and then take a deep breath before shrieking at the top of his lungs. Try getting through lunch at Pizza Shoppe with that kind of behavior! I found myself plugging his mouth with a paci to get through the outing!

Jacoby has made a lot of friends at Trish's as well. During the day, he hangs out with Abby (4 months), Joanna and Sam (around 2 years). Although we thought he would befriend Abby first, he seems to be in love with her older sister Jo. Every morning when we walk in, Jo starts clapping and then puts her hands on her knees to look at Jacoby and talk to him. I was told that the other day she was telling Sam not to play with Jacoby and saying, "Mine!" Jacoby gets so excited when he sees Jo and laughs at her all the time. Too cute!

After school, Sam's two older sisters are there for an hour or so and I have seen 2nd grader Carly singing and dancing for Jacoby several times. She also sprints off of the bus to beat the other kids inside and yells, "I get Jacoby!". Her little sister, Paige (who is in Kindergarten) stopped me as I walked in the door the other day and said, "Hey, Mrs. T, where's Mr. T?" I said he was at a tennis match and she said, "Oh, he's on the tennis team?" These are the kind of conversations I get to enjoy daily. We feel so thankful that the transition back to school has gone so smoothly and that Jacoby is so loved in Trish's home. All of my uneasiness about leaving Jacoby and missing the afternoon with him was relieved when I realized this. We are truly blessed to have a church family that loves our son like their own.

I'm excited to experience the holidays with a kid. It will be so wild! That is something we are looking forward to in the coming months.

As a side note, we had our beginning of the year kick-off for Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) tonight. We were amazed to find about 75 kids there for ultimate Frisbee and a blizzard eating competition. A high schooler from our church that I like to call Jr. Zach (for several reasons) can eat a large blizzard in just 37 seconds and there was another high schooler that actually thought he could beat that amazing record. Between the two showdowns, Zach shared his testimony with the high schoolers, which made me very proud. He was reflecting on the wasted years of being too timid to share the gospel with his friends and teammates, and that he finally realized that God calls us to be bold in our faith and to not have a spirit of fear or timidity. I can attest firsthand of the change of heart that I have seen in my husband even since we started dating. It has been wonderful to watch him really be a man about being a servant leader and to have a heart for sharing his faith. There is nothing better than that.