So I think a lot changes in four days. Coming home from being gone was pretty weird. I was very excited to come home and see everyone, but I was very excited to see Jackson since it was the first time I had really been away from him.
New noises. New crazy behavior in the high chair. More skilled eating with hands. A different laugh. Not sure if it's just me, or if it's real stuff...but it sure seems real to me!
So tomorrow, I take my first flight in over a year, my first *real* trip away from Jackson. I'm going to California for work. Jason's parents are here to help him out while I am away.
I'm nervous to leave him, but he will be in good hands obviously. I'm glad he won't be at school, which has felt like a petri dish lately because my child seems to be sick every other week. So maybe when I come home he will be well? A girl can dream. I'll check in to the blog soon with an update on how I'm doing...and how Jackson is doing with out his "mama" and how his Dad is doing :)
I love Diapers.com. I love them. They have a great variety of the brand of food Jackson likes, they take manufacturers coupons, I get credits if my friends use our coupon code (jacksonlew, incidentally) and they ship for free at $49 bucks, which let's face it, that's nothing.
We do Earth's Best food. He likes it, they have lots of variety. Unfortunately that variety can't be found anywhere in a single store. A few things at one store, a few at another. The most variety is at like Vitamin Cottage, and it's ridiculously expensive there so that's out. So we order the food and his diapers and now, other accessories there.
When we first started using it in May, it was basically diapers, and then a few brands of other things. Now they have everything. So congrats to them on expanding their business and hooray.
So yesterday Jackson said the word mama. It was a pivotal epic moment in my life. Did he mean it? I seriously doubt it. Did he look right at me and very carefully enunciate two syllables? Yes he did.
Jackson had school closed for the holiday, but I did not. So my mom watched him all morning and much of the afternoon. Then I came home to prepare for a meeting and take over, and I was feeding him a nice big snack at about 3:30 pm. I paused from shoveling the food into his mouth to take a sip of water and while I wasn't looking at him, he just said, "Mama." That was it. Not mamamamamamamamamamamamammaa. Not mama followed by bljounoeuwounlkjouiojlajsdas. Just mama.
I was like, Mama? Did you just say Mama? Were you talking to me? Trying desperately to get him to say it again, which to me would at that moment have validated it, etc. But he waited a bit to say it. But he did smile and laugh, because he knew that he just made my...well I don't know. More than my day, more than my year. It was just awesome. Hooray! Mama! That's me!
I'm seriously starting to dread beyond dread when school calls me at work. Because it means Jackson is sick. Again. This time, a small fever. I didn't have to get him because there were no other symptoms and such, but seriously. This child is going to have to move into a bubble because his father and I are at the end of our ropes with this constant cold. He's much better tonight, but it doesn't roll back the clock on the "what are we in for this time" thoughts we both inevitably get.
Jackson was in rare, rare, rare form tonight. He had a pretty good day at school. Didn't take amazing naps, but got a bit of sleep. When I arrived to pick him up at 4:30, his teacher said that he had, "An active day" which is a fairly normal thing to say. Jason and I would soon learn what she meant by this statement.
So he got home and made it clear he wasn't going to nap. This started on the changing table, when he was basically flailing uncontrollably and laughing while Jason changed his diaper. Then we gave him some yogurt, as lately he doesn't seem to have a full enough tummy in the afternoon to take a nap. He had a whole thing of yogurt and we put him down at 5:30. He sat in his crib and laughed. So we got him back and decided to go ahead and do a bottle at 6. Then we played until 6:30. During play time, he FOUR TIMES went over to the only really, really banned thing in our house, the fireplace. The bottom piece of the fireplace can fall open with little effort, and that's not okay to play with. So when we told him no, he would turn around and laugh in our faces, and then continue to play. Needless to say, we tried the minute of solo time in the crib without toys and stuff to get him to do something other than play with the fireplace. It worked.
Then he ate an entire jar of chicken mango risotto. And then played in his chair and when I would look through his play tree, he would stick his hand back through the other way and laugh hysterically. By now it's after seven, and it's clearly time for beddy by. He didn't go down easy but he did go down eventually...it was a banner evening.
Jackson has had the worst combover ever going for awhile on the back of his head.
We decided to address it yesterday while visiting grandma and grandpa in Lakewood. Grandpa used to cut hair when he was in the army, and he used to cut my brother Eric's hair, so I asked if he would try cutting Jackson's hair. It wasn't even very much, but it made a huge difference.
We were back at the doctor again, this time for Jackson's well-child exam for nine months. We knew in advance it would be a shot-free appointment, which I was happy about and I'm sure Jackson was relieved about as well.
He is up to 28.5 inches long, 19 pounds, 15 ounces and his head is...well big. Jackson lost some weight with his bout with a virus last week...he was well over 21 pounds not even two weeks ago, so that's a bit of a bummer. But he did very well. Tonight he fed himself some chunks of baked potato and pigged out on chicken and apple compote baby food. It was a fun night and it's nice to have a relatively healthy lad.
So the great fever epidemic of February 2009 has come to a close. At least this version has. Jackson has recovered thanks to some TLC from his grandpa who came to stay with him yesterday and today.
I forgot to share a fun detail...which is that Jackson climbed stairs on February 1 at my parents house. Yeah, it was only two stairs...but he climbed them. Watch out world!
Today is Jackson's nine month birthday. I wish we were celebrating with much fanfare and excitement, but honestly Jason and I are just wondering how high his fever will get tonight. He's been having night fevers since Friday...so far his PR is 103.8. Last night it was 102.6. Tonight...only time will tell. Usually it starts at about 9 pm so we are enjoying our brief time without it.
He was supposed to get photos taken yesterday but we had to cancel because he wasn't doing so hot. Today grandpa came up and stayed with him until it was time to go to the doctor because Jason and I had big days at work today, and gramps is going to come back tomorrow, which we really appreciate. It's so fun watching Jackson and my parents...it's a side of your parents that you pretty much have no memory of for yourself. My dad was laughing at Jackson on Sunday morning and he just was so enthralled and I said, "Kinda makes you wonder what you ever did before he came along, doesn't it?" which is I think a feeling we all can relate to. My mom had him on Saturday at the game while I was working and she is the only person that can get him to fall asleep sitting on her lap...she's like baby Yoda when it comes to Jackson and strange napping opportunities.
I'm not going to lie, the last two nights of trying to get his fever to a point where he would sleep have been two of the top 10 most brutal. It's just exhausting. But when we were just playing with him tonight...he has a way to make me forget what I went through the night before and what assuredly awaits later this evening and just bask in the glory of his adorableness. Gosh what a cute kid.
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