Made in Richmond

*A prize to the reader who knows what that’s from! The prize being the knowledge that you are the winner!

I know what with all of my gushing you might think that Jackson is the perfect child who spends all his days smiling and being cute and his nights sleeping soundly. Well, he does spend his nights sleeping soundly right now - probably mostly because we haven’t encountered teething yet. But he does have days where he’s, for lack of a better word, a butt head. A CUTE ONE WHO I LOVE, but a butt head nonetheless.

These days are few and far between, thankfully. But it seems like Jackson is going to be one of those people who has an extremely long fuse but when he explodes, HE EXPLODES. Case in point: his crying. He’s either smiling or screaming. There is no whimpering or whining. It used to upset me, but now that I know he’s fine, I find it somewhat humorous.

Here’s a video example for you, showing Jackson’s typical reaction when he’s been awakened unexpectedly from a nap. I assure you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with him here. You’ll even see that he suddenly becomes totally fine. Don’t call social services.

Cry baby from Valerie on Vimeo.

Like I said, he’s fine. He was fed, clean, and healthy. Just really, really pissed off. And I’m sure the fact that I was filming him helped a TON.

And it actually has nothing to do with my baby or my boobs. I KNOW, RIGHT?

Guys.  I love Battlestar Galactica. I LOVE IT SO.

Battlestar, I’m sorry for all the time I spent mocking you while Ross watched you last year. I didn’t know. I was too confused by all the “frakking” and the paper with the corners cut off and the “Oh my gods” and the wearing of what appeared to just be racer-back tank tops put on backwards to see you for what you really are:

THE BEST SHOW EVER.

I don’t care that Starbuck is a terrible actor and that the blonde Cylon has a super annoying whisphery voice.* I DON’T CARE. You are fabulous and I’m so glad to have you in my life.

I feel much better now.

*Please note that Ross and I started from the beginning a few weeks ago. We haven’t watched any new episodes yet. DON’T RUIN THIS FOR ME!

10 weeks in…

10 weeks out…

Biology is weird, guys.

(More new pics up on my flickr)

This is how the baby holds his arm while nursing. Just so I know he’s ready to clock me should I cut him off.

Friday: Woke up at 7:30 after approximately 45 minutes of sleep thanks to my ticking brain. Fed the baby. Got everyone ready to leave. Dropped the baby off with his grandmother and headed to work. Spent the day in a complete fog not getting anything done and freaking out about everything in the world because I was So. Tired. Back to pick up the baby at around 3:30. Home to nurse. Decided that I, just like the baby, needed a nap, so we took one together. Dinner. Puttering. Got some decent sleep.

Saturday: Up at 7:30 to feed the baby. Family playtime and cuddles. Put the baby down for a nap. Went back to bed myself. Lunch with the in-laws. Home to putter. Watched some TV. Bed.

Sunday: Up at 7:30 to feed the baby. Went to run bulletins for church and stop by Target. Home. Quick rest and shower. Off to church. Scared some ladies with stories of mastitis and plugged ducts. Home around 6. Watching some TV. Bed soon.

Have a great week!

I had a great day on Monday. I worked from home and got a million things done, including baths for me AND the baby, a decent lunch, and various tasks for my various jobs.

Tuesday was also good. I went into the office, got a lot done, and even managed to make it to the gym.

Today, on the other hand, I have been a complete waste of space. And I’ve spent the majority of the day pouting about how I haven’t been able to get anything done, rather than, oh I don’t know, actually doing something.

I get like this sometimes. Burned out from going full steam for several days straight and then overwhelmed by the fact that there is still (ALWAYS) so much more to do and I need to be so many things to so many people. So I shut down, stay in my pajamas, and zone out completely. Minor things get taken care of, but nothing that I could actually cross off of a to-do list. And as the hours tick by, I just feel worse and worse.

And I can’t decide if I should give myself a break or tell myself to shut the hell up.

This week will be my third back at “work.” I put it in parathensis because 1) it’s only a couple days a week, 2) it’s so friggin fun where I work that I miss it when I’m not there, and 3) my husband works there.

Speaking of work, I have to pump twice during the time I’m there. It’s all dudes in that office, but luckily the dude in the back office (who also happens to be my pastor) will vacate the room so I can do my business. They made me a sign that says “MOO! Do not disturb” that I put on the door when I’m in there. I’m glad we can all have a sense of humor about this.

I think I might have the best baby ever. When he started his fabulous trick of sleeping through the night, he spent the first couple weeks waking up at 5am to chat it up (LOUDLY) with his mobile for an hour. Now he’s completely zonked out the entire time. WIN.

Ross and I went to see Doubt last weekend. When looking up the show times, I misread how long the movie was. I went into the theater thinking it was going to be almost 3 hours long. Turns out it’s like 90 minutes. Since we had a babysitter until 8, we went to Red Robin for dinner where I awkwardly asked the server how the whole bottomless fries things “worked.” She said, “When you want more, ask and I will bring them to you.” I guess I made it out like I expected to have to do some sort of secret hand signal or something.

We had burritos for dinner tonight. My favorite burritos are the ones that Ross makes. And by ones that Ross makes, I mean ones that allow me to put as much Daisy sour cream on them that I want.

Tyra Banks is bat-shit crazy.

I only have 8 more pounds of baby weight to lose. Do you think it’s possible that it’s *all* in my chest?

I finally finished reading Twilight. It was horribly written and I cannot wait to read the next one.

Friday: Incredible day at home consisting of resting, nursing, and cuddling with the baby. Hubs got home around 4:30. Dinner and watched Battlestar. Bed.

Saturday: Up at 7:30 to nurse the baby. Ate breakfast. Cuddled and played as a family. Put the baby down for his morning nap. Went back to bed for a little bit. Up to shower and nurse. Mom got here around 11:30. Left for epic grocery shopping trip that involved buying the best hot chocolate mix ever. Home to nurse. Went back out really quick to run bulletins for church. Back home for dinner and more Battlestar.

Sunday: Up at 7:30 to nurse the baby. Ate breakfast and played. Shower. Nursed again. Out to brunch with some lovely ladies that I used to work with. Home to nurse. Passed the baby over to his dad so I could get a quick rest. Off to church. Chatted with lots of friends. Quick dinner. Finally took down the Christmas decorations. Nursed the baby. Stripped him down to just his diaper and let him play on the bed. Lots of smiles and cuddling. Doing a little bit of work. Possibly a snack and shower soon. Hopefully not to bed too late.

Have a wonderful week!

Dear Jackson,

You turned 8 weeks old yesterday, and already I can’t believe how much you’ve changed. I mean, seriously. Look:

Here you are on the Boppy at 5 days old.

And here you are on the Boppy at 7 weeks old.

WTF, dude?

You had a checkup yesterday. After you got weighed and measured (14 pounds and 10 ounces; 24 inches long), the nurses all passed you around to get a cuddle and go ape over your now-reddish hair and soon-to-be bright blue eyes. Quite the charmer you are, but not in an overt sense. You don’t hand out big gummy grins to everyone (just me and your dad at this point), but instead give people slight smirks while looking at them out of the corner of your eye. Keep it going with the aloof thing - it will play out well for you in high school because girls LOVE IT.

You got four shots in your chubba thighs yesterday. You weren’t too fussy last night but HOLY LORD what a day we’ve had today. Basically when you weren’t sleeping today, you were crying. Not hard, but just enough to let me know you were uncomfortable. Due to poor timing on my part, I also had to be out tonight, leaving someone else to wrangle you through this post-vaccination fussfest. Our good friends Allison and Sam came to take care of you - the first nonfamily to do so. From what they tell me, you did fine, you’re sleeping comfortably in your crib right now.

This month also marked my semi-return to work. It’s just two days a week, but I must say that I miss your little face. The first day was hard (for me, not you as you spent the entire day with your wonderful grandmother). The second day was much, much easier. While I do miss you, I think it’s good for me to get out of the house and have the opportunity to miss you. When I think about you while at work, it’s more about how much I love you, not about what’s next in the list of things I need to do to take care of you. Every parent should get that time I think.

You’ve found your thumb recently and you’re getting better at getting it in your mouth on your first try. A few weeks ago you would root around for it, grunting like a mad man. Now it just takes a few drooly attempts and you’re good to go. This achievement makes me oddly proud as I know you’re not going to be dependent on a pacifier. However, it will hard to hide your thumb from you as you get older. But I’ll take it for now.

The best development this month are the smiles and the coos. The grunts are phasing out (saved just for when you wake up and when you’re “working on something.”) You spend much of your naptime cooing and squealing, just to hear the sound bounce all over the room. And the smiles. OH THE SMILES. They make the spit up, poo-leaking diapers, and occasional fusses totally worth it.

Love,

Mama