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.

Ten Months

This is Jack's first photo. Such composition. I guess this is what happens when you are the son of two photographers.

Night of Halloween. Jack was exhausted.


And the changes keep coming. Jack now wakes up around 5 am. I think that it may have something to do with how two new teeth that are coming in. That makes 10 now.

Lullabye songs

Originally, when I was pregnant, I wanted to sway with my baby to classical music. Ahhh, so inspiring, so soft and soothing. Such is not the case. We can move to any song and he will get so excited that by the end of the second one is when he starts to drift and get sleepy.
One of our favorites -Echale Salsita


This was yesterdays songs;

Some song by this group, The good, The Bad And The Queen. They're British. The song sounds cool and is sung by the lead singer of Blur, this amazing band that I love. If you heard this song, it's not really the most soothing song to have a baby go to sleep, but who says that all babies like to be rocked to just slow music right?

Next up was Lights by Journey. And I can see my sister go "Why????" But it was the song that was playing on the Drive 97.1. Then I started to find another station on the radio and couldn't figure it out cause apparently, I do not know who to work a large stereo system. All the preset stations vanished somehow and I said, well that's the end of dancing.

First Concert

Inti Illimani is this great Chilean band that we have been going to their concert for many years. Yesterday they were in town so we all went. So they start playing their first song and it was a very sweet mellow guitar followed by a loud GONG!!! of the panflutes. My sister was holding Jack and my immediate thought was " Crap, that gong is going to scare him and now he'll start crying." I turned to look at him and expected to see his little face scrunched up. However his face was very serious and intent as he watched them. By the fourth song, he did the rub of the eyes and was getting sleepy. Thank God the concert was only 75 minutes long cause I don't know how long we could have delayed Jack's bedtime. Before we left,my dad did have one dance with him during a song and that was nice. All in all , Jack behaved well. Congrats Jack! You just experienced your first post concert ear ringing.
Ok so it wasn't that loud but I did wonder how sensitive babies ears are. Then I started to wonder if maybe he was too young to go to the concert. Then I started to wonder why the hell was Brian and my dad having a shot of tequila???? What has happened here?
Enjoy a couple of Jack's first concert music below.
inti-illimani">

Jack's First Word

Papa.
Brian was trying to make Jack say Papa and as Brian walked away Jack crawled toward him and said "Papa?" as if he was about to ask him a question. We both looked at each other and tried to make Jack say it again but he didn't. He instead wanted to just look at us. Jack was talking a lot last night and all he was saying was "wah wah wah wah wah wah. "
Time to introduce that kid to the word "Mama". Then we will try to teach him " I want to go to Disney World. Grandpa can you take me there?" I am confident that Jack can say that by the end of next week.

Halloween

I know that it may be a be a little late, but here are some pics from Halloween. Jack was a hot dog and a very delicious looking one at that. The night was so overwhelming that he passed out around 7, which is a super early bedtime for him. But as soon as we got home, he woke up and didn't go to bed until 9 pm.
I will post up more pics as soon as my computer wills me to.


Since Jack was a hot dog, we were really excited to find his counterpart, the mustard.


It was a strange night that Halloween. The weather was gorgeous and was about 72 degrees. And a kid with a pumpkinhead walked among the streets.

The night Baby Jack turned into Little Boy Jack

I think that it is cute that everyone calls Jack "Baby Jack." It just became his official name since the day that he was born. However, he is slowly turning into the little boy that I have waited and dreaded for so long.

Wednesday night, my father in law was at our place and Brian was making dinner. I came home from work and as soon as Jack saw me come in, he had this look that said "Mommy!!!!" and started to cry. Emotions got the best of him that night. However, it wasn't the usual "weeehhhhhh" and a few whimpers. Jack let out some "aheh aheh aheh." It definitely didn't sound like my kid. At least not my kid that has been with us for the past nine months. I went over to him and he started to do more "aheh aheh aheh". Although I got that secret happy feeling that all my kid wants is mommy, my heart broke a bit that now here was this kid that is no longer a baby. He isn't a squirmy worm and doesn't want to cuddle when I rock him and give him his milk. Now he sits on my lap when I give him the milk.He will stop after 2 ozs of milk, jump on my lap for awhile, sing and then try to drink his milk again. All he wants to bounce and crawl and climb and chew. This is bad things. These are terrific moments that Jack brings to us. But I miss the times when he was a wee one, and we would sit on the couch together and he would sleep while I watched the Price is Right.

Ok thanks. I got that off my chest now.

Unto November

This is the kid that Jack is growing into, alert, curious and happy. Such a happy baby. Til we get him in the car seat and he starts to complain that he is confined to one seat.

He crawls like mad now. I am sort of missing the days when I place him on the bouncer and I talk to him while I make dinner. He can't stay still for one minute and who can blame him?? So may things that he wants to touch and so many places to explore now. I am going to relish these few moments that I have before the real chasing around begins. By the way - should he get a haircut?

Jack Moment

This Jack moment has been brought to you by Jack Morowczynski.

Nine months

Let's say that this marks the official countdown to his first birthday. And let me tell you that when Jack is thirty, I will still be writing in this blog about him. Although at that point we may have computer screens like the movie Minority Report and with the wave of our hands, we can write on the screen.

Alright, back to Jack business. 10.18.08 marked the official date that he started to crawl. Fowards. He is a bit apprehensive about it and starts to whine when he realizes that he has not gone as far as he would have liked to. Whining came into our lives. This is when we know that he is not happy with where he is at that moment. It sounds pretty cute. No words yet and should he be talking at this point? He said "Si" which is Yes in Spanish. At least it sounded like Si. I started to show him how to eat little baby puffs on his own. He still has seven teeth. Level 4 diapers. Great with people, great with babysitters. He doesn't really have any attachment issues which still makes it a bit easy for Brian and I to have a night out. Clothes - 12-18 months.Bedtime still at 8:30. And when he is sleeping in that bed, man does he look huge!!! There is no way that this 21 lb child is the same little sleepy head that we brought home on a cold winter day many months ago.

Jack's 10th month will bring his first Halloween, first taste of Fall, and the meeting of his blood brother and future best friend, Bridger Berg.

I say No and then he bites

Jack is always willing to see how far he can go with biting items; washing cloths, TV remotes, and our shoulders.

Yesterday, I was holding him cause I have not seen him all day and it was a long day of work. Perhaps I was squeezing him a bit too much but I had to. I just spent eight hours without him. So he starts to hug back, and it feels great, and then he bends his little head down and out come the Dracula fangs. Argghhhhhhh! He bit me and I said No. Not very sternly, but in a way that I want him to know that biting shoulders is not a good thing. So then he reaches for me and starts to bite me again. This time my "NO" came out a little harsher.

This is when Jack started to learn that NO is a bad thing. And NO is something that he does not like to hear.

Everytime I said no, he would reach for me and want to bite more. As if he was trying to say" Oh yeah? The more you say No, the more I will bite."

My final NO to him was a little too much for him to hear. His face scrunched up and he started to cry a bit. Then my heart broke in a million pieces and I thought "Oh my god, I have ruined my kid for life." But as soon as we got up, he forgot all about the crying.

Follow the spoon -September 25, 2008

When is he not sick?

I feel that Jack is sick almost every month. Well, not so but it feels that every month he has a new sniffle or runny nose. I fear that he has the cold gene that my dad has - when the tiniest bit of weather changes

So Jack has a runny nose and little fever. Good news is that he has no ear infection. He hasn't had one yet ( knock on wood) as I hear those things can be a bit scary.

The stinker part is that know Jack is old enough to know that if he doesn't want something , he will push you away. So when all the little snots are coming down ( little being said lightly) I try to wipe his nose and he hates it. He starts to grunt very loudly and turns red all over. While clenching his fists! He's almost 9 months. He shouldn't be showing such emotions like that should he? And of course, I say the typical Mom phrase of " Jack. Jack! Stay still! " While I try to wipe his nose, all the snots smear all over his face. Now I have more to clean up.

October 6, 2008 - 3:08 pm

This is from www.makemesuper.com . And yes, I know, I should get back to work.

September 22

When Jack is at my parents place on the Mondays and Tuesdays, my dad likes to hold Jack by the window and explain to him the different types of cars that go by. This was a shot that Brian got when we were arriving to pick up the little guy. This actually looks like a paparrazzi shot. As if Jack hasn't been seen in public.....and there he is!!!!

Update - Seven teeth!

Two on the top, with two more growing on either side of the teeth, plus one more growing on the bottom. So, four on top, three on bottom. Can he eat real food now?
(this pic is an old one by the way. Notice the one top tooth)

FIVE TEETH!!!!!

Two on the top and two on the bottom, with one coming up on the bottom. Thank God I do not breastfeed anymore.

The thing with this teeth is that Jack is turning into quite the little T-rex. Everything has to be in his mouth, of course cause he is a baby, but when he places it in his mouth, he attacks them. His face scrunches up and he somewhat dives for his victim, AKA the stuffed animals he is putting in his mouth. I am trying to teach him to not be so ferocious by petting his toys and saying "Nice, Nice". All the time. It sometimes works and it sometimes doesn't. Today Jack bit my cheek so hard that I tried to shake him off and yell "That hurts Mommy! No No". He thought it was funny, giggled and tried to get me again. I like to think that he is so overcome with love that he can't take it and he just has to hug you, right now!

I have a voice and I can use it

Jack has made the occasional noises here and there. An "ugh" followed by a "ehhhh". On Saturday, it seems that those noises are not enough for him . He has discovered that he can make a sound with his mouth and throat, so now he does a full " ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH". And very loudly I might add. And his little face scrunches and his eyebrows are furrowed so everytime he does that , someone asks "Oh what's wrong? Why is he is so angry?" Then I go into Mom defense mode "My little boy is not an angry boy. He is just expieriencing his vocal chords".

I would love to post a video of him doing this, but the true actor that he is, whenever he sees the camera , he will stop what he is doing and will look straight at the camera. Speaking of which, Jack has been entered in the Baby Gap casting call contest. Go here http://gap.eprize.net/castingcall/index.tbapp?affiliate_id=1i , current gallery, and you can search for his photos by my email address erazoandrea@hotmail.com

Go Jack Morowczynski!!! How can he not win!

Eight months

"So, staaaaaaaaannnnnnd." - REM

Sitting is passe for Jack. For him, it is just stand and try to stand alone. As soon as you place him on the floor , he will grab you and just pull himself up and stand. If he wanted to and if there was such a thing as all the time in the world, he would probably stand for the whole day. Unless he wants a nap. Napping is few and far between. Yesterday, he spent the whole day with just an hour and a half of naps under his belt. He was too enthralled with his cousin Nathalie to take a nap. He is not crawling, nor does he like being on his tummy too much. Four teeth. Level 2 Gerber baby food. Garden Vegetable anyone! Looks gross but Jack likes it and that is all that counts. Actually one of his new flavors is Pineapple banana and I can't wait to taste that one. Yes, I do taste some of his desserts.No new words yet but my mom claims that today he said "mama" and then went on with some gibberish. hmmmmm....

Bedtime - 8:30 without a doubt, and still sleeps beautifully.

Wakes up - 6 am. On weekends, when he wakes up, we take him to our bed,give him his milk and he drifts off to sleep for another hour and a half. That is our way of getting another hour and half for ourselves too.

next up - Jack has been entered in the casting call for gap baby. Finalists are then voted by the public. My first birthday as a mom. Halloween and fall time for Jack.

Summer is almost over

This pic is one of the last memories of Jack's first summer. Hanging out with his cousin, Nati, on a Friday in August.

I cannot believe that we are here in late September. Jack has started to get his fall/winter clothes. He is on the verge of turning eight months! Our best friends Paul and Brooke just had their first son, Bridger. And with that , Jack has been dethroned as the newest baby. Now he has become the veteran and the one that can show little Bridger the ropes. I am in awe and a bit shellshocked that we are in this stage. Where we meet the newest baby and I get to say" Oh my gosh, he is so little. I remember when Jack was that small." Or I get to say stuff like "He is a lot lighter than Jack."

I remember my friend Allie telling me that when she met Jack for the first time. And she was doing her comparisons from Jack to her daughter Olivia, who is nine months older than Jack. With Jack only being 4 weeks old at that time, I thought that it would be a lifetime before I would get to say that about another baby. And now here we are......

PS my friend Katie has a blog about her daughter in which she keeps it updated excellently. http://haleycohen.blogspot.com/

Every time I go on it, I realize that I need to update it more often than I should. I will try but it is soo hard. I am working mommy, who tries to pick up her son at a decent time so we can have at least one hour to play before he goes to sleep. :(

Where is everyone???

Some labor day weekend. The one weekend in a long time where I can enjoy the three day glory of no work -and I get sick. Almost severely. It was at one point where the whole body aches and you can't even lift a tissue cause it hurts so bad. That is where I was on Sunday. Brian was also feeling it too. So we tried to have a family outing to a picnic but my body was not having it. I wanted to call someone sooooooo bad to come over and just watch Jack for 5 hours. Just enough so Brian and I can take a quick nap and take medicine so we could get better.
All our family lives here.
There was no one available.
People had plans ,were out or did not want to catch our germs. Understandable.
But I really wanted someone to be over and help. I even asked Brian where is everyone? We have everyone in the world here except all our friends in St. Paul and no one can come over. : ( I felt lonely -and germy.
Good news is that Jack -who was the originator of this cold - is getting over his cold and did not get it as bad as us.
The bad news is that I have lost my voice.
How can you parent and be sick at the same time? That is hard stuff.

Seven Months

"And they couldn't prevent Jack becoming happy." - The Who

This was the month of smiles. Smiles and laughs. Big belly laughs -maybe. Went to Kiddie land and the only ride that Jack was on was the ride along train -of course. Brian held him the whole time during that ride. Jack finally rolled on his back!! But then he couldn't do it again. Perhaps that was just a fluke accident.Two teeth on a baby is adorable. Getting bitten by a baby with growing teeth is not so cute. Ok, so maybe it is. Jack loves carrots, butternut squash with corn, applesauce, bananas, mixed fruit, peas,oatmeal and pears. Writing this made me realize we have made him try a lot of foods in the short one and a half months that he has been eating solids. A new house, his own room. That may be scary for a seven month old- yet he has the magic pillow.

Coming soon... the beginnings of the crawl, as Jack is already starting to. He is only doing the backwards crawl as this point. And the strains of Jack's first word. He moves his mouth but nothing comes out. He is unintentionally doing an impression of a fish out of water. But with this fish impression is the beginning of his first word - Dada.

New place , own room and cries in the night

We officialy moved into our new place July 26. A two bedroom with a yard in the back and I was feeling the first tinges of mommy attachments. Even though our rooms are a couple of feet away, the first night was a sleepless one for me. I would lie awake and torture myself while Jack slept soundly, I would just wait in the night for his cries. Then when he would cry, I actually breathed a tiny sigh of relief. Because I was going to be really mad if I wasted the whole night not sleeping. Of course, I would have no one to blame but myself.



Jack is having weird nights. Some nights he would wake up at 3 am and just cry. We would give him a bottle to get him back to sleep, until we were told not to. Since that would accustom him to always wake up and be hungry. So as hard as it was, we would let him cry until he fell asleep. It was the worst to hear your own child cry and I swear at one point Jack cried out "Don't you love me anymore?? Come here??" We would try to do the realzing sounds of the shhhhhhh but Jack would be screaming so loudly that he couldn't even hear our coaxings. After an hour, he would go back to sleep. Why he woke up? I have no idea. How he went to sleep? I won't even question but just let the boy sleep.



My theory for a good night sleep is play with him til he tires out, feed him well, and as soon as he starts rubbing his eyes, rush that boy to his crib

Courtesy laughs, new room and the magic pillow

So I must mention the magic pillow first, because this is amazing! NEW MOMS TAKE NOTE! My mother in law gave Jack this cute lullaby book with a plush toy star. Then she called it the "night night pillow" because it is scented with lavender. As soon as we gave Jack the pillow and he rubbed the pillow on his face, he immediately started to rub his eyes and it looked like he was about to collapse into sleep at that exact moment.Later that night, when we got home, Jack was extremely fussy when going to bed, so I gave him the pillow and - Ta da! sleep!

And the third time og when the magic pillow worked was when Jack started to wake up around 4:50 am and I gave him the pillow to hold and once again he drifted to sleep. Now I don't want to sound like a loon, but this pillow may have saved our lives and I need to preserve that scent as long as possible. I wonder what google would bring up if I typed "preserving scented pillows."



Jack now has this new laugh. He crinkles his face and nose and sticks his tongue out a bit and goes " Haugh!" It more sounds like a cough and sometimes our heads whip around to see if he is choking. But we see him with this crinkly face and he is trying really hard to come out with a laugh. I discovered that tickles make him laugh, as well as fake sneezes and hiccups. Although after awhile, if we keep on doing the fake sneezes and hiccups, Jack will look the other way and give us the courtesy laugh. That is where the "haugh" comes in.

Six months

I cannot believe that it has been already six months that I was lying on a hospital bed, yelling across the room "It's ok" to a crying baby that was only 15 minutes old. It was at that moment that I thought "I am the one that is going to have to take care of this baby. I. Don't. Know. What. To.Do."Six months later and I think that Brian and I are doing an excellant job. Everyone says he is a happy baby. He goes to anyone who wants to take care of him. Well, except for this one dude that works with Brian. That needs to be investigated. He sleeps like a rock. Yes his fussy nights were just a phase. Cereal eating is going great. He knows who his mom and dad are, even if we do work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, thank god. And , six months later, Jack still does his half- smile,Harrison Ford style. I hope that never goes away.