More laughing

The other day Jack laughed the hardest we've ever heard him laugh. He was getting some tummy time on his blanket, and for whatever reason he thought it was hilarious when we would drop one of his little plush toys near his head. I was really glad to catch this--I had been afraid by the time I got the camera he wouldn't think our antics were funny anymore!

Wolverine fan

Jack doesn't have any Michigan gear, so Grandpa Nold let him borrow some hats. At least Andy and Grandpa had something to cheer about. I hoped the Bulldogs would follow in Michigan's example of having a great comeback, but they couldn't quite make it. Oh well. 

We had fun visiting with Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday. Thanks to Grandma for making a yummy dinner!

Back home

This is Jack's newest trick. Just over the past couple days he's been doing a lot more things with his mouth--pursing his lips, and also sticking his tongue out a lot. He provided a lot of entertainment for everyone at the conference. We've been gone to the conference in Louisville, Kentucky since Monday, so that's why I haven't been posting.

The day before we left for the conference, I went to a baby shower for our friend Mary. She looks great, and we're all so excited for the arrival of her daughter Hannah Grace next month! This is Jack with Mary.

Jack is giving Eric, the proud father-to-be, some practice here.

Jack and Aunt Lisa

Here's Jack, Grandma Nold, and Aubrey--our friends' Dave and Megan's daughter. Congratulations to Megan, who is pregnant again! I think this was the first time Jack and Aubrey really interacted at all. The other times they've been together he was either asleep or unable to move around yet.

This is a head-on view of Jack pursing his lips. I took this picture in the car as we were traveling to Kentucky for the conference. Jack was a great traveler; I think the only time he fussed at all was yesterday when we were almost home and he was just tired of being stuck in his carseat. He also behaved beautifully at the conference and made a lot of friends. Jack received several offers of people wanting to take him home with them!

On Wednesday night, Jack and I went to visit my former track and cross-country coach, Dave Shufelt, and his wife, Sharon.  We had a great time, and they had a lot of fun playing with Jack. We couldn't seem to get him to smile for the pictures, but Jack really did enjoy himself. I loved getting a chance to see Coach Shu again and reminisce about old times. I can't believe it's been 13 years since I was in high school!

Laughing

Jack's finally becoming more predictable as to what will make him laugh. It's a little odd, but we've discovered that he likes to be a little bit startled. When we play regular peek-a-boo, he smiles but otherwise isn't very impressed. But if we turn away from him, and then jump around and yell "boo," he really gets a kick out of it. Generally, the stupider we look, the more he laughs, so sorry to disappoint you all, but I purposefully made sure I was out of the picture in this video.

Thanks for all the well wishes for Jack and his allergic reaction. All is well now. We're going to start trying new foods again, just no peas! His doctor said if he has a reaction to something else, we'll run some allergy tests, but I'm hoping this was an isolated incident and we won't have to do that.

Wisconsin trip

We've been in Wisconsin the past few days, so that's why I haven't posted in a while. Every year we go up to northern Wisconsin to a lake house that our friend Don Brown's family owns (that's Don in the picture above). Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy most of the time we were there, but it was still nice to take some time off and get away. A friend of ours loaned us an infant life vest, so we were able to take Jack out on the water. He was very helpful to Don in steering the boat. That picture was actually the only time we made it out on the boat due to the weather and cold lake water temperature. We were just out on a slow cruise; no one did any waterskiing. Since I was pregnant last year when we went up there, this is the second year in a row I haven't been able to do any water sports :(

The rest of the pictures are all from Wisconsin too. I hadn't realized until we got home that all of them were of Jack sleeping. I swear he didn't sleep the whole time we were there. I thought this was funny because you can see he's sleeping but wouldn't give up his grip on the toy.

This was from the one day where it didn't rain. Jack fell asleep while we were out for a walk, and he pulled his hat down cowboy-style over his face. He's asleep in this picture but still holding onto his hat.

Here's dad and Jack together on the couch.

Jack helped us out by sleeping quite a bit on the drives to and from Wisconsin. I had been a little worried about the trip, since each way it's 5-6 hours, but he did fine. A couple times he got a little fussy, but I'd go in the back and entertain him. I think we only had to stop once during each drive, so he really couldn't have done better. I hope he does the same next week when I take him to Louisville, Kentucky. I have a conference there for work, so we'll be doing a fairly long drive again. I'll have a couple of coworkers with me so we won't be by ourselves in the car. We're looking forward to the conference and also getting to see my high school coach, since I went to high school near Louisville.

I forgot to mention that Jack had his 6-month old checkup last week. He did great getting his measurements taken this time, and he didn't suffer any ill effects from the shots. His weight was 17 pounds 12 ounces, and they said his length was 26 inches but I know he's longer than that. He won't fit into a small sleepsack anymore, which is 26 inches long. So his weight gain has definitely tapered off--I think he's gaining at only a pound a month now. 

Unfortunately we also had to visit the doctor again today. Jack had an allergic reaction, which we think was due to the introduction of a new food (peas). He started to break out in a rash while we were in Wisconsin, and by the time we got back to Chicago it still hadn't gone away, so we took him to get checked out today. The poor kid has hives all over his chest, back, and up the back of his head. It doesn't seem to bother him too much, except for a few bumps on his face which he keeps rubbing. When he's undressed, he'll scratch his stomach, but with clothes on he usually doesn't try to. We got a cream today which should help ease his symptoms. Unfortunately he's still too young for Benadryl, so we can't do anything to stop the allergic reaction. It hasn't gotten worse today, so hopefully we've reached the peak and it will gradually get better. But as long as we can relieve the itching, that will make the main difference for Jack.

Surprise visit

The reason I haven't posted in a while is because Jack and I were out of town this weekend. We flew to Georgia and surprised my stepmom for her birthday! Needless to say, she was shocked to see us walk through the door on Friday. We were able to stay through Monday, so we had a nice long weekend and got to see relatives and friends Jack hadn't met before. We also celebrated a lot of birthdays--my brother Stephen's on Saturday, my mom's today, and Aunt Anna's which is Thursday. Here are some pictures of Jack with his Grandma.

Here's a picture with Lindsey, a friend of mine from high school who was a bridesmaid in our wedding. Her daughter Amelia, in the picture below, was born exactly 5 months before Jack (note there isn't much size difference between them though!). We had a great time at the pool on Sunday with Lindsey, Amelia, and Lindsey's husband Cliff.

Here's Jack with his cousin Devon, who he didn't get to meet last time we went to Georgia.

Aunt Anna and Jack. He passed out a couple minutes after this picture was taken.

Jack with Uncle Stephen

Jack with Uncle John

We were very happy that Jack's Aunt Deane was able to come out for a visit. Here's a cute picture of the two of them together.

Jack with Grandpa

Jack was a terrific traveler. He didn't cry at all on either plane ride or hour-long trips to and from the airport with just me in the car. He was especially happy on the first plane ride, and spent the last half hour of the trip entertaining our fellow passengers by singing and squealing. I was worried about him pooping on the plane like he did last time. He cooperated and didn't poop on the flight to Atlanta, but on the flight back to Chicago yesterday he let me have it. With about 40 minutes left to the flight, he had such an explosive poop that the back of his outfit was instantly soaked, and so was part of my shirt. To my great irritation, we were not allowed to get up and go to the bathroom because of "possible turbulence" (I never felt a single bump). One flight attendant felt sorry for me and said I could change him on the seat next to me. God bless her, I knew she was trying to help, but I could tell she didn't have kids when I told her I couldn't change him there because I had no water, and she said "what kind of water do you need?" I wonder if I had told her Jack's butt could only be exposed to bottled Evian water if she would have gotten it for me. Anyway, I explained to her that he was going to create such a mess that I couldn't change him without running water and soap. So we had to wait until the plane landed and then I changed him in the airport bathroom. I was afraid sitting in his poop for so long would really irritate him, but his skin doesn't look too bad today, so it all worked out in the end.

Happy Birthday again to Doo, Stephen, and Anna! We had a great time!

Go Dawgs!

This was Jack in his Georgia gear for the game on Saturday. He helped us cheer them on to victory! The picture below is solely for Grandma Nold's benefit. You can see Jack is understandably confused as to why he would have an Ohio State football.

Here's a before and after shot of Jack with his feet. He has now discovered they are good to chew on.

We're still working on solid foods. He's getting a little better; he'll open his mouth when the spoon touches his lips, and he'll usually swallow the food. So far he much prefers carrots to cereal.