19 Weeks today.
Around this time in pregnancy I was eagerly anticipating learning his gender!
While we thought he was a boy in the first trimester, the second trimester I was positive he was a girl! Not due to the old wives tales or anything, just a gut feeling.
I was wrong! But we had wanted a boy first so it was a very pleasant surprise to see that little thing-a-ding on the ultrasound.
Our little family did some shopping this weekend and this outfit (above) was one of our finds! I put away most of Jack's 0-3 month clothes, but he still fits in a couple outfits. We went shopping for some more 3-6 month clothes because half of his have long sleeves. Definitely don't need those yet! We found some good deals at Old Navy and discovered that a Children's Place is somewhere in that shopping center! That is so welcome as we don't have any good children's clothing stores in Lynchburg- well, besides second hand stores. Mommy and Daddy both like Dinosaurs for Jackson and this one was perfect because it was camo. We saw the camo shorts and knew we had to get the ensemble. In shorts or pants he is in 6-12 month sizing. No, he does not have a disproportionate bottom. His cloth diapers are so bulky that he can't fit into his normal size pants! For church nursery I'm taking advantage of his adorable BabyGap jeans and BabyGap army green shorts (both 0-3 months) as much as possible. He has to wear disposable diapers at nursery so I get as much use out of those pants as possible!
Jackson continues to do well during the day with Daddy while Mommy is at work. Mommy cannot wait for the day that it's her turn to stay home with baby! But for now, this is good bonding time for father and son. Especially because come January, Daddy will be gone for a good long while (Army training). Daddy is so good as understanding Jack's needs and cries, reading to Jack, practicing sitting and other exercises to build Jack's muscles, talking to Jack, and just overall playing with Jack. Matt is such a wonderful Daddy and I am so blessed to have him as my partner. Not every man could stay home with a baby full time and do that job well. Matt does it well and it is such a relief to not have to worry about my baby while I'm working. No, this isn't how either of us would have imagined or chosen Jack's first year to go, but we're making the best of it and Jack is thriving.
Jack rolls over a lot on his own now. He hasn't done it on the floor yet, but we don't put him on the floor too much anyways. We prefer to keep him on our beds since it's softer. He did roll over in his bouncer seat, which caused him to halfway fall out of it! He did not enjoy that. So now we have to buckle him in to his bouncer. Before we could just sit him there and he would be content.
Jack has been learning so many new things. His favorite sounds are "Mum", "Da" and "Ga". I like to think he says "Mum" when he actually wants me. It may be coincidental, but each time he says it he's in a situation where he wants me to hold him. He also has been flipping his tongue! Mommy can't do that, but Daddy can. I would say that at least 75% of the time his tongue is flipped. He just sits there smiling with it flipped. Jack also has begun to squeal when he's excited. It isn't loud enough to be annoying yet, but I know it will get there. Right now it is endearing and so adorable because the squeal is partnered with the biggest smile. We'll see if he becomes a screecher. Maybe I'll be lucky and bypass that stage. Jackson also began to turn the flower attached to his jumper (what I'll call his exersaucer from this point forward since that's a better descriptor). We were sitting there playing and he reached out and twisted it a few times! I had done this with him before but he never did it himself! He did it three different times while we were playing. I tried to catch it on video, but he only grabbed it on the video. Still, he is learning!
Still not sure if he's teething or not. I don't think so as he doesn't seem to be bothered at all. He is still a drool monster and always has his hands in his mouth. Most of the time he sucks on his thumb. He has figured out how calming this can be and I don't really feel the need to nip that habit. It's more convenient that having to keep putting a paci in his mouth after he spits it out. Though as he gets better with the paci I'll try to give him that more than his thumb.
This week we also said goodbye to the kitties. This is sad because Jackson was just starting to notice them. It would have been fun to see how he interacted with them as he grew. This will make it easier for us when we move for the Army and hopefully the cats will also be happier in their new home. Their new owners love to play with them and just pet them. It seems like a good fit so hopefully they mellow out and learn to love their new home and family. The first day and night apparently they didn't do too well. At least they just fought with each other though, they loved being pet my their new owners.
Jack has been such a good little sleeper! Recently he's been going to bed around 8-9 and not waking up until 4ish! Mommy will definitely take that with no complaints! He takes about 4-5 naps each day and likes to sleep on his back, side, and tummy. When he sleeps on his side we normally prop a pillow behind his back to support him. When he is on his tummy we move everything away from him so he's just on the mattress and we are always right next to him so we can check on him. I think that at this point if he just turned him head into the mattress and couldn't breath he would move it on his own. So as long as he doesn't have a sheet or blanket to get caught around him we don't have to worry about that. But even still, I would only leave him on his side or tummy if we were sitting there with him.
He is still co-sleeping with Mommy. It's still easier since he has a middle of the night feeding and I like having him so close. It is so comforting. I especially like when he wimpers in his sleep and I can just snuggle him back to sleep. Jack continues to laugh in his sleep on occasion. It is so beautiful to hear him laugh. I can get him to laugh fairly regularly now by a variety of things, but in his sleep he just seems so peaceful and happy.
Jack is growing stronger! He is putting his thunder thighs to use. When we hold him up he now locks his knees and stands. Of course, he can't hold his own weight at all, but he keeps his feet planted. It won't be long before he can stand against a couch or table. Matt has been practicing Jack getting on all fours when he's doing tummy time, but Jack isn't a fan of that. I'm certainly in no rush for him to crawl!
Jack continues to eat well. He varies from 10-14 ounces in a bottle during the day and we nurse on demand in the evening and weekends. I still don't care much about a schedule for him. He can eat or sleep when he wants and we just play with him when he's awake. It seems to working fine for us. We get all his little baby activities in and we generally get a nap with him during the day. He's still on 100% breastmilk. Probably will stay that way until 5 months and then we'll start trying some solid foods. Maybe. Maybe we'll even wait until 6 months!
Speaking of solid food... he did get a little taste of something this week. Sweet Frog! For those who aren't in the area, Sweet Frog is one of the many froyo chains that has popped up. It is amazing and I love it. I gave Jack a lick of the leftovers on my spoon. At first he scrunched up his face, which I assume was due to the cold. Then when he opened his mouth to fuss his eyes popped open, he rubbed his lips together, and he got a BIG smile. Matt took a picture on his phone that I'll have to get to share. We didn't give him anymore, but that smile was priceless!
This is the little Booger I get to come home to everyday. He is such a happy baby. He smiles or laughs when he first seems me when I get home. That just melts my heart. When we go out to run errands people gawk over him, which I don't mind at all. He makes them fall in love with him by smiling at them. The church nursery workers just love him. He is our little heartbreaker! Watch out lady babies!
And he's all mine!
