While one moon waxes, another wanes

True Story: My sister, pregnant with #2, called last night to report to Jen that she could no longer button her pants. On this same day, Jen had happily discovered that she fit into a pair of jeans she hadn't worn in quite some time. It's the circle of life.

The social butterfly

After Jen's first day at the office last Friday, she surprised me by calling me as I drove home and suggesting we invite Jeff, Kathleen and Ellie over and order carry-out from Bombay Curry. I thought the babies weren't ready for Indian food just yet, but I was thrilled Jen felt up for it. We had a great evening with our neighbors and Jack got to try his smoothest "yawn-and-stretch" move on Ellie. Or maybe he was actually tired.

The next day, Jack got to see his buddy, Austin, when we popped over to visit Josh and Jenn. These guys were cracking each other up.

Now when all the fun was over and we were done visiting with friends and letting the babies play, (well, not exactly "play" at this point,) Jack went down to sleep. The weight of it all caught up with momma Jen, who became very sad as she thought about the demands of modern life and the "two-income trap" of living in the DC-area. It's very tough to leave young Jack in the morning and this adjustment period is a real challenge.

Pictures from the family visit

I'm finally getting those pictures up I promised last week from my family's visit to DC. It's no small effort to transport four adults and one child from Ohio to DC for a weekend-- Jen and I are very grateful for the effort. The weather was picture-perfect and we were thrilled Jack got to meet his cousin, Ethan.

Click on the album for a bunch of pics. I may add a few to this album down the road if I can get my hands on Karin & Dave's camera.

Family Fall Visit

Hot momma goes to work

I used to think having a camera on your cell phone was a gratiutious "convergence" product that didn't serve any real useful purpose. But then, this morning, I realized I had a chance to document a fairly momentus event-- Jen's return to work-- as I dropped her off at the Pentagon City metro. Now I think my cameraphone is nifty.

Things to notice in this picture:

• Jen's pants fit. (Wow.)
• Jen can't button her blouse all the way up. (Awesome.)
• Jen is carrying her breast pump in a discrete black satchel. (Slick.)
• There is a mailbox in the background decorated to look like R2-D2 from Star Wars. (Why?)

Once in a while I have to pause to pay tribute to my wonderful wife for all that she does. Jen has been amazing in the run-up to her return to work. Jack and I are lucky to have her in our lives, and I will be sure my son always appreciates his mother.

This weekend I'll post an album of pics from my family's visit last weekend, but in the meantime, here are a few tidbits from the World of Jack (also in list form):

• All the mothers who said Jack had tooth buds were wrong! Jack's doc said they are "pearls" and they go away. So much for the early-teether theory.
• With the teething theory shot, it turns out Jack might have a touch of reflux, after all. He's been struggling a bit with some of his feedings, so we are going to give him the reflux medicine. Put in perspective, this is a small thing, but for first-time parents like us, it's been an emotional rollercoaster.
• Jack likes to face out when he is carried. In fact, he insists on it. The boy likes to look out on the world, not at your shoulder.
• Jack is discovering his hands. In addition to putting them in his mouth, Jack is grabbing onto things with great deliberateness.
• Jack continues to be Mr. Smiles, especially in the morning. This kid can melt your heart with all his happy faces.
• Jack is also Mr. Talker now. He is making all kinds of noise. It's hugely entertaining.
  
• Last, but certainly not least, Jack set a sleep record last night. He must have known that his momma would need a good night's rest before going to the office, because he went down at 9 o'clock and slept until 6 am. Nine full hours! What a great little boy. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention that we moved him out of our room to his crib earlier in the week. It's been a big week for our little family!

The Family in DC

We hosted my parents and my sister, Karin, her husband, Dave and their 5-year-old son (my nephew), Ethan over the weekend. This was a picture-perfect weekend in DC, with high temps in the mid-70s and the air conditioning OFF.

It's a really special time for the family-- Ethan got to meet his young cousin, Jack, and he got a sneak peek at what his future holds since Karin is bringing another bundle of joy into the family next year.

I will post more photos in an album down the road, but the one of Ethan at the White House is a favorite. I can just imagine the snipers on the roof checking him out.

Glorious Sleep

On the verge of his 3-month birthday, Jack is starting to figure out his sleep routine. On both nights over the weekend, Jack went down around 9 o'clock and put in a solid 5 1/2 or 6 hours before waking up to feed, and then he went down again for a few more hours. Very civilized.

Last night, Jack went down at 8:30p, slept for 8 hours, woke up to feed at 4:30a, and then slept until 7:15a. What a little champ!

Meeting Alex

Approaching his 3-month birthday, Jack already has a great circle of friends, and it continues to grow. In the previous post, we welcomed Alexander into the world. You'll see more photos of young Alex in the new album.

Jack and Alex

There are also a couple of great shots of Ellie, Jack's unofficial girlfriend, in the album. She is doing great and it's fun to see these little babies next to each other.

Of developmental interest, our little guy is super advanced in at least one category: teething. According to baby literature, "The vast majority of babies sprout their first teeth between 4 and 7 months of age." Try telling that to Jack, who already has three tooth buds. This makes him a little cranky, especially because he doesn't know how to gnaw on a teething toy yet. In fact, he's just starting to figure out how to get his hand in his mouth. Mostly, he finds himself tonguing the sore tooth spots (top and bottom) and wondering what the heck is going on.

Despite the early teething, we find that Jack is a good-natured boy who graces us with buckets of smiles every morning and charms everyone he meets. How can you not love this little guy?

Jack's new best friend, Alex

On Saturday, Matt & Mae had friends over for a baby shower. Jack was on his best behavior and didn't even fuss when mom and dad gave Aunt Mae a practice run at bottle feeding and a diaper change.

Maybe Jack took that opportunity to telepathically communicate with the little package Mae was carrying, because on Monday morning, Alexander Joseph Fromm decided he was ready to come into the world.

Everyone is happy and healthy, and the new family will be returning home on Wednesday. I'm sure there will be many more pictures of Jack with his friend, Alex, in the years to come!

Labor Day weekend pics (finally!)

Sure, it's two weeks after the fact, but I finally uploaded some pics from our Labor Day weekend journey to Ohio. As you read in the previous post, we stopped in Pennsylvania on our way there. The first few pics in the slide show are the only shots I got in PA since we were so wiped out from the drive, but I do have some good video footage to splice together.

And then we made it to Ohio! Jack did great with Jen's family and got to meet a lot of people. Remember cousin Kristy from the baby shower back in April?

Well, time marches on and here now we have Jack and his cousin, Alexandria!

Bill threw a party on Saturday for Jack with the Engle clan, while Debbie and Steve invited Jack to "crash" Steve's party celebrating his retirement from Ford on Sunday with the Ramsey clan in attendance. Fortunately we had Monday to recover from all the excitement. Tuesday was a long ride home, but the little guy made it intact!

Click the album below for more photos from the weekend:

Labor Day Weekend

Holla!

I haven't had a chance to get the Labor Day pics and video put together, but Jen shot this moment with Jack last night and I had to put it up.