Five Months!!

Jack turned 5 months old Monday. I know I say this all the time but it is going by so fast! He is so much fun these days, we are enjoying every moment with him.

At 5 months he is reaching and grabbing for things. Everything that he has in his hands he wants to put in his mouth. He loves holding onto and chewing these colorful rings that you hook together, I think it's because they are easy to hold. He loves his hands, they are always in his mouth.
He smiles a lot. I think he has started recognizing me and Rob. I think he knows that we are his parents. Whenever I go pick him up from daycare when he sees me, he gets a huge smile on his face. When Rob or I walk up to him he gets so excited.
 He likes to babble a lot and has figured out he has a tongue and he likes to stick it out.

He is very aware of everything now. When we walk to another spot in the house he will turn his head and watch us, if we are making noise in the kitchen and he's in the den, he looks over to see what is going on. When I am feeding him his bottle in the morning and Rob walks in the room, his eyes follow Rob.
He still loves bath time. He can be as tired as can be but as soon as I put him on the changing table to take his clothes off, he starts laughing and gets the biggest smile on his face. When we walk into the bathroom we always look in the mirror, he loves it! He kicks and splashes in the bath now, he likes to move.
He is holding his head up like a pro these days. He like sitting in his bumbo seat for a few minutes at a time. He likes his jumperoo but still hasn't figured out how to jump. I have a feeling it won't be long though.

He is getting more hair, I think it is going to be a light brown for a while but we'll see.

Just loungin'!

We had our first sickness. Jack started coughing real bad and it sounded terrible. He felt fine though, he didn't run any fever and never acted like he felt bad. It was just the cough that sounded terrible. I was afraid he was getting RSV that has been going around. So we took him to the doctor and they tested him for RSV and it came back negative (thank goodness). The doc said that it sounded like croup and gave Jack a steroid shot to open up his airways. We waited a week and his cough was still sounding terrible so we took him back to the doctor. The doc listened to him and tested him for strep but that came back negative, thank goodness. The doc said that the croup probably turned into a little infection and prescribed him and antibiotic to take once a day for one week. We gave him his medicine every night and he took it like a champ. The cough has finally cleared up and he sounds normal. Even though Jack never felt bad it still made me sad to hear that horrible cough. I am glad that is all cleared up!
By having to take him to the doc we got to get him weighed. I always like knowing how much he weighs. He is now 14.9lbs, up a few ounces from his 4 month appt. He is still wearing size 2 diapers. I don't know why but whenever he goes up a size in diapers, it makes me kinda sad. I am so glad he is growing but he won't be a little baby forever. I have got to start packing up his preemie, newborn and 3 month clothes. He is now wearing 3-6 month sleepers and 6 month sleepers. Pants he can wear 3-6 month pants but the just regular 6 month pants are still a little big.
About a week or so ago Jack got his first taste of rice cereal. He ate a little bit but wasn't too sure about it. This past weekend he ate some again and did a good job and ate it all. I will do a post with a video of him eating rice cereal for the first time. Soon we will be introducing veggies!!

The love for our little boy is beyond any love we could have ever dreamed of feeling. He brings such joy to our lives. We look forward to each milestone as he grows!

We Love You so Much Jack...Love, Mama & Daddy!!

Smokin'

Yesterday we did a little smokin'. Rob has recently purchased a smoker to smoke ribs, boston butts, etc. He decided to try it out and he smoked some ribs.

The smoker

The wood and coals

He trimmed the fat and then put his special rub on them and let them sit while he started the fire.

waiting to be put on the smoker

on the smoker

Allie helped keep and eye on things!

He has this computer thing called the bbq guru that hooks to the smoker and gets it and keeps it at the right temperature the whole time. Once he got it to the correct temp he put them on for about 2hrs. then took them off, wrapped them in tin foil with a little apple juice and put them back on the smoker for 2 more hours. After the 2hrs was up he took them off, unwrapped them and sauced them up and then put them back on for about 20 min. to get the sauce good and carmalized.

Jack and Pop watching Rob sauce up the ribs

All sauced up

They are ready!!

Pop (Rob's dad) came in town and visited and got to enjoy a wonderful lunch with us. While we were waiting on the ribs to get ready, Pop and Jack enjoyed some play time. We love when Pop comes to town!!

This was Rob's first attempt at smoking ribs and it was a success. They were delicious. We had homemade mac and cheese, baked beans and rolls with our ribs. It was all very good, I think next time he is going to try smoking a boston butt!!  We had such a wonderful Saturday!

I'm going to leave you with another picture of our precious boy. The weekends go by way too fast!

He loves these rings!

sweet boy!

My Precious Valentine!!

I get to spend my Valentine's with 2  precious boys this year. My son and my husband! I am one lucky girl!!

A few cute pictures

A few cute pictures during his 4 month photo shoot.

they are checking each other out

uh oh, i fell over!

I love my hands!

Just hanging out!! He love being the baby bjorn!

pretty eyes!

 I meant to post this picture a long time ago but I forgot, so i'll post it now bc it's so cute!!

first day of daycare. MaeMae gave me my cute hat!

Four Months!

I can't believe that our baby boy is 4 months old. Jack turned 4 months on Friday Jan. 27th. Time is going by so fast and I look forward to each stage, but I want it to slow down a little. My baby is growing and changing so fast.

He is holding his head up much better these days and enjoys sitting in his bumbo for a few minutes at a time.

At daycare they put him in an exersaucer and he loves it. I think he likes being able to sit up and look at everything. He likes checking everyone and everything out. He is trying to sit up. When I put him in his car seat before I strap him in he trys to sit up and whenever I put him in the corner of the couch or in his glider he always trys to sit up. He is getting better at grabbing for toys.
We put him in his jumperoo that his MaeMae and Papa gave him this past weekend for the first time. He isn't long enough to reach the floor so we have to put a book under his feet. He wasn't quite sure what to do so he just sat there and looked around. I'm sure it won't take him long to figure out how to jump and once he does I think he will go to town.

He smiles at us all the time now and talks to us, it melts my heart.

My favorite time is when I go in his room in the mornings to get him up and he just smiles and laughs. I love it! His laughs are so funny, Rob and I crack up every time. He is generally a very happy baby. The only times he really gets upset and mad is when he is tired or hungry. I love having a happy baby. He is sleeping through the night. Our routine is get home from daycare, Rob and I eat dinner while Jack hangs out in his swing our bouncy seat. Then it's bath time and like I said in my previous post, he loves bath time. After bath time we get lotioned up and dressed and then it's time for his last bottle. He is in bed by 7 or 7:30 every night. We usually have to get up once or twice just to put a paci back in, but he doesn't wake up until about 6:30 the next morning. It's wonderful. It is so nice not having to get up for those middle of the night feedings, especially since I'm back at work.

I took him to the doctor for his 4 month check up yesterday. Here are his stats:
14.5lbs (45%) and 24.5 inches long (45%)

At the doctors office before he got his shots!

So he's about right in the middle for his weight and height. The doctor was happy with his growth. I'm so happy we have a growing boy. The doc said we can start feeding him rice cereal, so that should be interesting..haha. He also said that Jack was teething. I figured he was because he chews and sucks on his hands all the time and is drooling a lot more. Poor baby had to get 3 shots. He did not like those at all but did good with them. He screamed but as soon as I picked him up and loved on him, he was fine.
He is so much fun now. I miss being with him all day every day. I look so forward to the weekends now bc they are spent with my baby. We are enjoying and cherishing every day with our little guy. It is so amazing to watch this little guy change and learn new things. He is the light of our lives!!