Christmas 2008

Christmas was a blur. A long, slow blur.There were so many people to see within a four day period. My only concern was get Jack to take a nap! He did and his sleeping schedule wasn't messed up too much thank god.
The presents. What can I say about the gifts. He got tons of clothes. Clothes that he needed - pants, shirts and sweaters. There is no such thing as too many clothes for a kid. Because Jack is the king of growing out of clothes quickly. His size is now 12-18 months . He is definitely the little monster. And growls like one too.
The TOYS!!!! One of the best gifts that he received was a ride along Thomas the tank engine. It has buttons that makes train noises and plays the Thomas theme music. Since Jack's feet cannot reach the floor yet, we are the ones that are pushing him and the train around the house. The only bad thing is that the handle on the back of the train is too small so we are hunched over pushing Jack around. Meanwhile my 32 year old back aches just after 1 minute of pushing Jack. Well your back would hurt too if you were leaning over like the Hunchback of Norte Dame.
Another great gift is a new Baby Einstein DVD. I played it for him and he watched for all of 3 minutes. Then he crawled away.
With all these gifts, Brian and I were wondering where to move next since we now had to find space for all of his toys. Not so, as Brian's mom gave us a toy chest. Phew!!!!Now we don't have to move.
Also, Jack had no interest in ripping the gift wrap. I had to open all his gifts. He did have some interest in eating the paper however.

11 months

11 Months

(photos to come soon)

So here we are at 11 months. This weekend, we went out with to see the Christmas tree at the Daley Center and look at the Macy's windows. My mind kept going back to last year, when I was enormously pregnant, my back ached, my feet were swollen so big that they couldn't even fit in my sneakers, and I waddled very carefully as I walked to work. Back then, I kept thinking to this year and wondered what our baby was going to look like. What would it be like during Christmas with our first? Would he like it? Would he like Santa? I cannot believe that we are here a year later and how quickly a year has gone by.
Jack is definitely showing his personality. One of his trademarks is his grunt that he greets other people with. If there is someone that he does not know, he will not just look at them. He will give them a serious look and go "Urrrrgggghhhh". It takes him about 10 minutes for him to warm up to you. Please don't take offense if he ever does that to you. That is just his way of saying hello. He has got the waving hello and good bye down. Sometimes, he waves at the Sesame Street characters. Sometimes he will wave at Brian if Brian is still sleeping.
He has started to walk around by holding unto furniture now. He still does not have the confidence to stand on his own. He gets super excited when there are kids, babies, dogs or cats around. He will start to laugh whenever one approaches his way. He has no fear of animals at all. And that's a good thing since Aunt Jill has a fiesty dog named Wilson and Tia Maria has a fiesty cat named Tiger.

And most importantly, Jack has given me his first real kiss. On the cheek. Ended it with a hug.

Best Mom moment ever- so far

I went out with a friend last night so I didn't come home til eight.Yes, I know that is late.
My dad was taking care of Jack and usually, my dad is the king of getting Jack to fall asleep early. I walk in and sure enough, there was my dad , sitting on the couch and Jack was sleeping in his arms. I made the slightest sound when I walked in so Jack's head snapped and woke up. He saw me and started to whine a bit so I took him from my dad. Jack immediately relaxed, and with those little chubby arms was trying to put his arms around me. His little legs kicked and he just got so happy. And he looked at me like he was relieved that I was home. If he could talk, I swear he could have said "yay Mommy's home. You're home!!!!!" I didn't let him go, swayed with him for 20 minutes, sang a lullabye and then, blissfully,he went to sleep.

There are few moments when I really feel like a mom. Last night was one of them. Jack's lullabye last night was Bye Bye Baby by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye) - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Jack, Santa and us

We took Jack to see Santa at the Harlem Irving Plaza (to us Northwest siders, it's known as the HIP). We wanted a legit Santa to be Jack's first Santa. One that is old, kind crinkly eyes, and whose beard is real, not hanging by a thread. This Santa looked real and did have the kind eyes, so we were set. As we went around the ropes in line, I was getting nervous. And then I started to feel the tug at my throat.I thought" Oh my god am I really going to cry? Cause I can't do it in front of Santa and I can't give Jack any ideas that you should crying front of Santa."

Jack was great. We approached Santa and he looks at me and said
"Now Mom, place the baby on my lap and walk away and stand next to the photographer." He said this with all the enthusiasm of a lentil soup. I did and Jack was looking at Santa very carefully. We took the photos. No smiles from Jack but no tears either, which was fine for us. After the photos were taken, Santa was talking to Jack. He probably was telling him to wake up at a normal time cause , you know Santa knows everything. It was when Santa took Jack's little hand to touch his beard that Jack started to cry. I swooped in and took Jack in my arms.It wasn't until Jack put his arms around me that I started to cry. And I couldn't stop because I couldn't believe that we are in this stage where we are taking our kids to see Santa. And Jack will be one next month and pretty soon we are going to have this little boy that is going to be running around. And he won't be Baby Jack anymore. So with the sentiments that all first time moms have - I got emotional and cried. And then I handed Jack over to Brian cause my eyes were getting so blurry that I couldn't see and hold Jack anymore.

On to Christmas, where Jack is going to get.... I am not telling you guys yet!!!!

Jack knows....

-that air vents are cool.Especially when the hot air is blowing.
-The word NO! He doesn't like hearing it. But he knows what it means
-the term "no bites" means no biting. Success!
-I am a sucker for when he cries and Brian is more of the authoritarian. Blimey. This is in regards to the night cries.
-that I get more excited when Curious George is on than he does...and laughs at me.

Sunday - November 30,2008

Jack is a bit curious as to why I always have a camera in his face. Notice the serious expression that he has.

Thanksgiving, new wake up call and the ever loving hacking cough

Thanksgiving was pretty good for us. Our niece spent the day with us and it worked out well since we were cooking, she was mostly playing with Jack. However, all that playtime led to no afternoon nap. 7 pm rolls around and Jack fell asleep. Great. So i thought, Fine he will have an early bedtime and he will wake up early tomorrow. No big deal.Well, he wakes up at 8pm. Terrific. Around 11:30, Jack still wanted to play but I thought at that point that it was just ridiculous. So I placed him in the crib, he cried for about 15 minutes, and went to sleep. Only to wake up at 5:30 am.

Which leds to another great adventure that Brian and I are embarking with Jack now, his new wake up time. He has been waking up sometimes at 4:30, sometimes at 5:30. We don't know whether to give him a bottle, pick him up, or try to just have him go back to sleep and keep him in his crib. The last choice makes Jack give out this shrill scream that Brian and I just look at each other and say "Huh???" At 4:30 your mind really is not in working mode. We came to a final decision that the next time that happens , we will just let Jack cry it out. Which sucks, cause we did that on Monday morning and he cried for about an hour. Straight. No pauses. At one point , I wished that I could send a hologram of myself so it can soothe Jack and he could go back to sleep. This morning , he woke up at 6. Perfect time. Perhaps he learned his lesson.

Jack is sick once again. My parents blame the cold, that perhaps Jack's room is cold (trust me, it is very warm in there) and the fact that I don't dress Jack up in 5 layers of t-shirts and turtlenecks.

I pretty much blame Germs. Gotta go, I must call the pediatrician for the ump-tenth time.