Year In Review

Oh it's the last day of the year, so I might as well get on the bandwagon and do my Lew family year in review.

January: Introduction of Little Man blog. I get a new job as Director of Strategic Sales and Communication at CU Athletics. Jason wins dodgeball championship.

February: Another month with a grand total of one blog post. Jason assembles Little Man Lew's crib and other accoutrement for his room. Double root canal for me.

March: Baby shower(s) with Chickfila and CU. Amazing childbirth classes, where we meet friends Beth and Steph and husbands. Juno. Dedication to an epidural. Painting the room. WNIT. Visits from Jason's family.

April: Baby Mama. First kid born from childbirth class. Braxton Hicks. Baby pool at work. CU football spring game featuring debut of Ralphie V. Our last month of a two person family. At last doctor appointment on April 30, we schedule induction for May 6. We didn't need it.

May: On day two this month we welcome Jackson Conrad Lew to the world. Home at last. Circumcision (ouch). First trip out. Lews visit. First Mother's Day! Jason back to work. Big 12 Track! First online videos of Jackson posted. Meeting the Anhold family. Baby Bjorn trips. Jason's birthday.

June: Lifting of head. One month old. First trip to IBM and to CU main campus. First girls night out. First smile! First Father's Day! Lew and Davis families visit. Mom back to exercise and first soccer games. Cooing. Mice at work. Baby class reunion, take 1.

July: Shots. Fourth of July outing in the park and fireworks. First time sick. Escaping the swaddler. Ed and Kristen's wedding. Blackhawk. Mamma Mia. My birthday. Turned around in the crib for the first time. Football 101. First time sleeping through the night (930 pm-6 am!)

August: First studio photos (ha!). Back to work for me. Boulder County Fair. First time rolling over. Sick again.

September: First solids (cereal) and first real food (sweet potatoes). Attempt at first CU football game. More sick. Maybe rolled from tummy to back, maybe not. Baby picnic, take 2.

October: Real roll over from back to tummy. Uncle Eric and Aunt Jennie's wedding. Meeting his great grandma Dot and lots of aunts and uncles and cousins. Grabbing feet. Raspberries. Real rolling over. Jason to Indiana. Halloween and trick or treating.

November: Six months old. Second studio photos. Election! Sitting up on his own. Horrible, horrible sickness hits entire family. Stage 2 foods. Splashing in the tub. Thanksgiving and first meats.

December: Attempt at Cheerios. Photo with Santa. On again, off again 10 pm bottles. Light parade in Longmont. Tortured toenails from jumperoo. Teething..is he or isn't he? He is. Throwing up in mommy's mouth. Christmas! Almost crawling. And on the last day of the new year...clicking his tongue and using his pincers on cheerios for the first time.

Happy New Year...I will miss 2008, the most special year of my life.

No News is No News

Not much going on in Jackson land really. He still has his two lower front teeth that are just sitting there. Tiny little nubbins that if you feel them with your finger they are for sure the tops of his teeth and to an unseasoned veteran of teething they feel like they are through to me. But they haven't sprouted upward yet really.

Last night we had ridiculous winds that continue still in Boulder. So I didn't get much sleep but Jackson and Jason both did. I was so desperate I even attempted to sleep in the spare bed in Jackson's room while he was in there, but no dice Chicago. Jackson didn't seem bothered by them but for the second night in a row has awakened at 5:30 am with a ridiculously full pee diaper that I can't blame him for not sleeping through.

Public Service Announcement

I hate Microsoft and Microsoft/MSN customer service. Without going into too much detail, I tried to cancel a monthly service I had subscribed to for $14.99 a month on November 13. I have subsequently been billed twice by them for it and it was not until I called my credit card company to dispute the charges did I get the phone number. Not that I didn't try to find a phone number or an email address or a contact form for MSN Games for like an hour. F. Not even by Googling it could I find a phone number.

So I called Microsoft MSN customer service and blah blah blah after talking to a supervisor I got them to give me back one of the two disputed months of charges and she would not cave on the other. So I'm going to weigh my options and have yet to decide if I'm going to call my cc company and make them dispute the charge or call back Microsoft MSN customer service and make them give me the charge, but in the meantime, for all of you out there googling those jerks here are two Microsoft MSN customer service phone numbers that I couldn't find:

Phone number to contact MSN customer service (JUST PRESS 0 when you call): 1-800-386-5550
MSN Billing Inquiries (1-866-672-4551)

Tell them I say hi. Jerks. We now return to our regularly scheduled topics.

Attempting to Crawl

Key concept here is attempting....

First Christmas

It was Jackson's first Christmas. Obviously. And judging by the photo at left, I would say it was a success. Jackson did well which isn't altogether unexpected considering he didn't know what was going on really. By the second round of presents after a fantastic morning nap he had figured out 1) to pull the paper off and 2) how to pull the paper off, but he just did it because he liked the sound, not because of what was inside. Last night we went to Aunt Rita and Uncle Willy's house and had a full table with all the cousins and their kids and their kids kids. It was lots of fun. We spent the last few days in Lakewood and will probably head north tonight. My brother gets back from Kansas today as well. Jackson did beautifully all week really.

He actually started doing some things this week he hasn't done before. He was never one for repetative sounds...but of course now it's dadadadadadadadada and gagagagagagagagagaga all the time. Missing from this list is mamamamamamamamama but someday it will join the ranks. He also made his first efforts at crawling forward...doing usually one arm and the opposite leg before collapsing into a heap of giggles and drool. He also has the very top of a tooth coming through on the bottom left front...we'll see when it decides to actually appear as it apparently has a shy streak because it's up, it's down, it's up, it's down. When it's up, it's interfering with him wanting to eat anything but it's nothing a little T to the Y can't fix in 15 minutes if needed.

Hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas and look forward to a Happy New Year!

Grossest Thing Ever

Jackson threw up in my mouth. I figured I would just cut to the chase on this one. I was laying on the floor, he was sitting on my chest and he was dancing and I was singing. The word I was singing was "Goooooooooooo," and the next thing I knew, regurgitated beef with carrots and corn, winter squash and formula were in my mouth.

There's really not much to say about this other than I'm scarred for life.

Is He or Isn't He?

Teething.  There is a lot of this guessing game going on lately in Jackson's world as he has had some uncharacteristically unhappy moments.  On again, off again fevers.  On again, off again screaming. On again, off again disinterest in his bottles. Or food. Sometimes there's a bump, sometimes there's a red spot. Sometimes not. 

Jason didn't get teeth until he was like nine months old.  I got my first tooth on my five month birthday. We are approaching Jackson's eight month birthday so who knows.  I'm in no hurry for it as most of my friends have had their wee ones struggle a bit. 

When the time comes, we're as prepared as we're going to be to help him through it. And there's always tylenol. 

Baby Pedicures Anyone?

Something funny we discovered recently was the damage he is inflicting on his toenails. See, he loves his jumperoo. Loves it. And he will only be able to use it a little while longer since he is getting to be in the weight range where its a no go. So far be it from me to deny him the jumperoo whilst in the jumperoo approved weight range. The issue is that he doesn't jump off the balls of his feet like you and I. He basically jumps off the ends of his rolled over toes. Yes, like a ballet dancer. I can't tell you how much that description troubles me....particularly since it is entirely accurate.

My work friends Megan and Justin used to tease me when I was pregnant about how they were going to buy the as yet undetermined gender baby Lew cheerleading outfits in the event that it was a girl. And how they would buy it theatre costumes if it were a boy. Let's be honest, if this kid wants to do anything other than play sports I am so screwed. Which virtually guarantees that he will want to do everything other than play sports. Cheerleading is fine...for other people's children. Ha.

We also need to have a long talk about Amish Friendship Bread. Jackson's former teacher Tiffany threw this bag of goo at me on December 7 when I picked up sweet pea from day care. I wanted no part of a bag of goo sitting around my house for 10 days while I waited around for December 16 to bake this stupid bread. But I accepted it, and did all the mashing and the adding of ingredients as was directed by the instruction sheet. Today was baking day, and blah blah blah after all the mashing and the adding and the mixing and the baking, the freaking things were sunken in the middle. I'm not happy about it. So hear this: don't give me any Amish Friendship Bread starter goo. It will end up in the Amish Friendship Trash.

Where's My Parade?

It's Saturday night in Longmont and we did a community thing and went to the community holiday parade. Jackson wore his very snuggly bear outfit to stay warm, which he did.

I don't think I can reiterate what a good kid we have and it may be a jinx to say so, but all evidence to date is to the contrary. He just chilled out and watched the parade. Every other kid was whining, crying or doing something other than chilling out and watching the parade. My friend has two nieces and niece 1 kept asking, while watching the parade, when the parade was starting. The first loud noise happened, Jackson was startled, and after that, he didn't flinch. He fell asleep in the stroller until the Longmont HS Marching Band came along.

Then he went to Chili's with his mom and dad and the only thing I could even describe as being remotely out of order was that he slapped the tiles on the table for a good 20 minutes. No, no toys, no food. Just want to slap the table, thanks. Oh wait, food? Okay I will down my bottle in like five minutes in an awkward place and position, and then inhale an entire jar of baby food all between when mom and dad order and receive their food.

Before we left he spent some time in the jumperoo. At one point he was just standing there staring. Which I now really need to remember means he's dropping off the kids at the Pampers. Because he finished staring and started jumping. When I took him upstairs for a fresh diaper before we took off for the parade he had kids creeping up the back of his shirt and I was at a loss for a plan of action. Good thing daddy was there to figure it out.

Sidenote: Jackson has a cold, which he had before the parade for all you cautious judgementals that read my blog. Of which I am guessing there are none. So he's been coughing and I have been trying to keep it under control so that he'll sleep, so I'm watching SNL. Amy Poehler came back for a couple of shows but at the end of weekend update she just announced that, no, really this is her last show. Boo to that...she is genius. I'm totally bummed. The Baby Mama is gonna spend time with her boy and be a baby mama. Oh and star in her own primetime show on NBC.

TGIF

It's Friday! Today was a productive day at work for me and a fun day as well as Jackson came to visit in the afternoon. He hadn't been to campus since homecoming on Oct. 4 when he was five months old so I decided it was time to return. What a difference 2.5 months makes as now he can sit up, creep around, play with stuff.

Uncle Mike and Uncle Justin were nice enough to hang with us for a bit, and Mike hooked up Jackson (or A-Jax as Justin calls him) with a new hat, which you see at left. Yeah, he's a badass. What are you gonna do about it?

There is Another Skywalker

It is so interesting to me how differently I react or feel about baby news now that I'm a mom. Before Jackson, friends would drop the baby bomb and I was like, whatever, hooray for you and to be honest I probably didn't care too much. Sorry friends with children older than mine, I was probably more terrified by your news than I was happy about it. I mean I was happy for them I suppose, but as far as like the Oh My God reaction and shrieking with excitement and stuff...not so much. Usually it was more about me dealing with my terror at the prospect of being pregnant myself. Yeah, I did set myself up to hate being pregnant but I would have hated it anyways.

So now obviously it's much different. I'm happy for them all (and lately there a LOT of them). Each time a first time future mom drops that bomb on me, I'm so excited for them because I seriously dig this whole deal. Jackson absolutely rules.

However, lately the new phase we are dealing with is the friends who have toddlers and are pregnant again. Each time Jason and I learn of a friend with the deuce on the way, particularly those with kids younger than 3 already, we look at each other and say NO WAY. We are in the NO WAY phase. As in no way will there be another. Of course everyone says, oh you say that now, blah blah blah. And yeah, we do. And yeah, I know that the more awesome Jackson gets and the more he is a person and not just a baby there is a likelihood that we will change our minds and roll the dice again. We both come from two kid houses but we had very different experiences. My brother and I fought constantly. Jason and his sister didn't. I don't know too many only children, but the ones I do know are pretty cool grownups now. There are pros and cons to both.

But for now...and for the foreseeable future...one is enough. When you've got a dream kid, why would you try again? As far as we are concerned we already broke the mold. So to my friend who minutes ago broke this news to me of another Skywalker...congrats...and I can't wait to see how this scenario plays out. Love you girl!

Moving Right Along

We've had a fun week around here. Jackson is Mr. Personality and it's more and more rewarding and entertaining everyday.

Yesterday he had a doctor appointment to get his second flu shot and I think the last Hep B for awhile (ever?). I was prepared for the worst as shots tend to turn into bad stuff in these parts. We arrived at the doctor and as Jackson sat on the desk while we signed in, he flirted with the receptionist in a way I haven't seen him do in a month. He was giggling, smiling, pretending to be shy...it was fantastic. Then when he sat on the doctor's table he discovered the white paper and went crazy with it. When it came time for the shots, he got an injection in each leg. His reaction was basically to stop smiling. Then go back to playing with white paper. Fantastic.

For the last few nights, he also hasn't woken up to eat at 10 p.m. On one hand it's exciting because he's sleeping from about 8:30 p.m. until 7 a.m. On the other hand, I'm kind of heartbroken. The nighttime feedings have pretty much always been mine. Anything after 9 p.m. was always mine to do from the time he came home from the hospital. Midnight, 3 a.m....those were always our times. Its also the only time he will do the super sleepy cuddle. He so far is not a kid that will just fall asleep on our shoulders, mostly because when he was a newborn that was the ONLY place he would fall asleep so we worked really hard to get him to sleep in his crib, which he obviously sleeps very well in.

So now I don't get my special time, and I also don't get my super sleepy cuddle, and it makes me sad. So we'll see if he continues to not wake up for his 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. chow, and if he doesn't, I'll have to identify a new Mommy-Buddy time.

Super Sunday Spectacular

Really it's true of the entire weekend. We got a lot done, including the majority of our Christmas shopping. At least that's true of those members of our family who have sent us their lists (hint, hint). Today we went to Target because we needed wrapping paper and gift tags. Jackson had his first ride in a filthy shopping cart. I know there are lot of filthy things he is around, but when he himself sneezed on the handle...we caved and the next time he's at Target with one of us he will have a sassy thingy to sit on that covers the nasty cart handle. Whatever. I can let most things go but today I bit the bullet. At least we were able to commemorate the experience while shopping because I take my camera everywhere.

We also hit the Crocs warehouse sale which apparently was going on for a long time but we just went today, the last day. It was insane. They set up in an old JC Penney's at our local mall which is like a mile from our house and just had rows upon rows of every kind of Crocs known to man. And accessories. It was out of control...hundreds of people digging through cardboard boxes, other people loading more Crocs into said boxes. Jackson came with us and just took it all in from the comfort of his stroller. Then he retired to the mall with daddy and had his lunch of bottle and squash while mommy went back looking for bargains. Crocs wasn't the only business reaping the benefits of the sale. There was a Pretzelmaker just outside the exit of the store into the mall and I'm telling you they were throwing dough all over the place.

In other Jackson news, he is eating like he's being paid for it. He routinely polishes off the entire jar of baby food after eating 6-8 oz of formula. He can eat a LOT of homemade mashed potatoes. In physical milestones, there isn't anything really new. He can do a lot more looking around...little things that aren't like show stoppers but things we notice he does better or more of. He gets on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but that hasn't morphed into any crawling or anything.

Santa Baby

This is our little Santa baby. He took photos with Santa but I forgot to bring them to scan them so this will have to do. Baby's First Christmas bib and the outfit underneath says I Love Santa.

Seven Months Old

When people say that the time with a baby flies by, they mean it. And there is nothing in the world to prepare you for how fast it goes. Jackson is seven months old today.

To celebrate his little mini-birthday, he has advanced to the infant two room at day care now for the entire four days each week. He had been spending two days in the infant one room and two days in infant two to get him adjusted. I guess he's not loving the back and forth and so as of today, he has progressed to infant two.

So I guess yesterday's blog told a good story as far as how I'm feeling about all of this big boy stuff. He has gone from being one of the oldest and biggest in his last class to one of the youngest and, well, still one of the biggest, but one of the least mobile of the group. But he plays well with the other babies in the little room and hopefully he will adjust to the big kids in his new room that can crawl and climb and stand and even start to walk without much incident.

For him, the biggest adjustment will be napping with seven kids instead of three...so we'll see how that shakes out. He has always been good at making changes, so this will hopefully just be another one he rolls with.

This time last year at work we were getting ready for a bowl game and getting fired up about a new basketball coach. I was just into my second trimester, feeling better, having lots of energy and getting bigger. Talk about an adjustment...wow what a difference a year makes.

Cheerios

Jackson had Cheerios today for the first time. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's another step in his progression towards being a "big boy," a phrase I find myself saying all the time. He's in the big boy car seat. Sits in the big boy high chair. Sits up like a big boy. Eats like a big boy.

Moms and dads of baby boys are always hoping they will do things like a big boy...potty train, fall down and get back up, keep their pants on when in public, etc. I think that Jason and I will wake up one day sooner than we think and find we have a big boy and will desperately miss these days when he isn't one. I think that's when people pull the goalie and have more kids...when their baby turns to big.

Today at dinner he was having potatoes again...an instant favorite he discovered yesterday. Mixed with chicken and sweet potatoes. We like to all eat together at the table now, but because he's not really feeding himself yet we feed him first and then he plays with the toy that fits on his tray. So he was playing with his toy and I was across from him and Jason was next to him. I don't know why, but he kept peering at me through the gaps of this tree that sits on his tray and giggling. It wasn't really peekaboo, a game we know well. He just thought I looked funny or something. Then I would laugh back and he would laugh louder and louder until he sounds like Randy from "A Christmas Story" and Jason and I melted right there in our chairs. He does it when he's on Jason's shoulders too...pictured above. Note the fabulous hair.

There are days I wish I knew what he wanted or wish he could tell me. There are days when we jokingly say to him, while he is screaming for food in that three minute window when he wakes up and expects his bottle and it is not there, "Jackson, why are you being such a baby" and then we laugh. I would not trade those days and those times and this phase in his life for anything on this planet. He is such a sweet pea and I love it. I love my little big boy.