Jack's 5-month Pictures--January 2009

A tooth is emerging! Both bottom ones popped into the scene on January 11th!
Cute crooked grin!!
Ooooh! Somebody is sleepy!!
In his favorite place!! His jungle swing!

Here is Jack's 5-month update:

A new year, a new month…and a new Jack!! Jack went to the doctor back on December 8^th (for his four-month check-up), and he weighed 16.4 pounds and was 27 inches long! His weight is in the 75th percentile, and his length is in the 90th percentile! Dr. Chidester was very pleased with Jack’s growth and with his strength in his arms and legs. She was complimentary of his large, small, and fine motor development, as she watched him grasp items and use his legs to balance himself when he was helped to stand on the observation table. She checked for teeth, but didn’t find any, but did comment that all his drool might be indicative that a tooth is not far away! He also received his 4-month immunizations, which he took like a little man!! Jack had a small cough this month with some added congestion at night, so we kept a vaporizer running in his room, and we kept his bed elevated at the head to promote easier breathing! Jack turned 5 months old on Monday, January 5^th, and Wednesday, January 7^th will mark five months since placement!

Jack loves to eat! He began eating cereal from a spoon early in December, and although it began as a fight, he seems to really like it now. He still regularly eats 8 ounces of formula at each feeding. Dr. Chidester said that Jack was plenty big and healthy, so he should begin eating more solid foods. He is eating around 32 ounces of Target Brand Formula (with cereal) each day. We added oatmeal cereal to his diet later in December, and that seemed to go a bit better than the rice cereal. He is definitely getting used to using a spoon, although lots of cereal still does not find its way down his little hatch! Jack still wakes up every morning around 7 a.m., and goes to bed each evening by 9 p.m. However, sometimes Mommy and/or Daddy will snuggle with him until after 10 p.m.!

Being a lover of light, Jack was mesmerized with the addition of the Christmas tree and its 800 twinkle lights to our den. Jack loves music, and he always grinned when his favorite Christmas songs would come on the CD player (especially Jingle Bells!!)! Jack loves being on his tummy and his back when he plays…and now he loves trying to sit up. He still falls over pretty quickly, though! Jack will hold Mommy’s hands and use his muscles to pull himself up to a sitting position, and then with a little encouragement, he will straighten out his legs and come to a full standing position. This always brings a huge smile!! He feels like a really big boy when his is standing on his own two little feet!! Daddy has begun raising Jack over his head and making airplane sounds. This usually brings a hearty belly laugh (and sometimes drool in Daddy’s face!). Jack has begun to notice his reflection in the mirror outside of his bedroom, and he LOVES to smile at the baby that he sees. He also gets excited when he sees Mommy or Daddy in the mirror too! Jack still loves his swing, but his time in the swing is getting short because little Jack is getting bigger!! He still holds his rattles, grabs at his handing toys, and is beginning to put these things in his mouth for further exploration. Overall, he is a very happy, happy easy-going boy!! We are so proud of his accomplishments and so blessed to see his love of life everyday!

Jack had his acting debut on this month when he played the role of Baby Jesus in our church’s Christmas Program. He was such a cutie up there on stage in Mary’s arms!! He didn’t seem a bit nervous. However, he didn’t quite make it through the whole program….he had to be replaced by a Cabbage Patch doll when the applause frightened him! He also got to visit with Santa and do quite a bit of Christmas shopping. We celebrated Christmas at home together on Saturday, December 20…and Jack opened some of his gifts from his Mommy and Daddy which included a play telephone, spoons, new bowls, a sippy cup, and a very special new book that is called Jack’s Story that Mommy made for him. (She also sent one of these very special gifts to Jessica!!) He also got a high chair from Santa!! We all went to visit Grammy and Poppy in Nashville on Monday, December 22. Jack was well-loved by his Daddy’s five brothers and their wives…and the 9 cousins who all wanted to hold and love on Jack! Jack would grin really big every time anyone would stop and talk to him or play with him! He is certainly a very social kiddo! We stayed in Nashville a little longer than planned because Mommy and Daddy, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even Grammy got a nasty stomach bug…but Jack never did!! On December 27th, we headed to Grandma and Granddaddy’s farm in Kentucky. Mommy’s three sisters, their husbands, and Jack’s 7 cousins were waiting on him when he walked in that door! They were amazed at how much he had grown in just the few weeks since Thanksgiving!! Jack got lots of great gifts from his family! He got several books, a Fisher-Price Farm and lots of farm accessories, a ball popper, a musical cube, some clothes and a very special Titans Build-a-Bear! He also gave his grandparents a copy of the very special book Mommy made for him and for his Jessica. They cried when they read it. Jack thinks it is their favorite book ever!!

On January 2^nd we left Grandma’s house in Kentucky and drove to Clarksville, Tennessee to meet someone very special! Jessica’s mom, Maria, was waiting for us, and she could not wait to meet little Jack!! We had planned to meet her on January 26^th, but due to our tummy troubles, we had to postpone this wonderful meeting! We ended up eating at Steak-n-Shake…but Maria never ate because she was so busy holding Jack, kissing Jack, and just loving Jack!! We took lots of pictures, exchanged email addresses and phone numbers, and promised to keep in touch. We were very thankful to arrive back to our house that evening after having been gone for almost two weeks!!

It’s been a very full month…and we are all exhausted!! We are very excited to be home now and get back to our regular schedule…although I think Jack does miss all that non-stop attention! I dare say he got a bit spoiled!!