Just hanging out

Not too much going on here. Jack's been a bit cranky this week with a cold. He was an extra sourpuss today; I think another tooth might be about to pop through. In the picture below, I was finally able to catch him at an angle where you can see his teeth. You can definitely see the top one, and there are also two that aren't very visible on the bottom.


Here's Jack hanging out with Lou. Jack had some unfortunate timing a couple days ago when he was playing with Lou. Right when Jack was crawling over Lou, the doorbell rang. Lou wasn't able to resist the doggy urge to jump up and get all excited about someone being at the door. Jack took a spill right on his head, which is the bruise you can see in the pictures.



Finally, here's just a couple short clips of Jack playing around and making faces.

Dancing

I've been trying for a while to get a good clip of Jack dancing, but as usual, he didn't cooperate today while I was filming him. Sometimes he really rocks out to the music, but all you see here is a little butt shaking and head banging. I'll have to try again later.

At least in the first clip you can also check out Jack's standing-to-sitting move. I was surprised that he learned how to do that really quickly. I've heard nightmare stories of kids screaming at night in their cribs because they stand up and can't figure out how to get back down. Jack never did that; his dismounts aren't necessarily graceful, but at least he gets the job done.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jack refused to smile for this photo shoot, but he wishes everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day anyway! We had a beautiful day here in Chicago--70 degrees and lots of sunshine. Tomorrow it's only supposed to be 40 degrees--gotta love springtime in Chicago!



Lou patiently put up with the usual abuse from Jack


Jack had his 1-year checkup at the doctor yesterday. He screamed his head off for a lot of the appointment, but today he seemed no worse for the wear and appeared to feel no effects from the shots. His weight was 20 pounds, 12 ounces, and his length was 28 1/2 inches. On the growth chart, Jack has now officially moved into "short" status, as he plotted at the 10th percentile. Sorry buddy, we knew your genes would catch up with you sometime!

Second Birthday Party!

Jack got his second taste of birthday cake yesterday at Grandma and Grandpa Nold's house. He wasn't quite as excited about it this time; I think he was full from lunch and not very interested in eating. He also got a big gob of frosting on his hand the first time he grabbed the cake. That bothered him, and he kept trying to shake it off.

We had a great birthday celebration yesterday! March is a major month for family birthdays. Jack, Grandpa Nold, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Lori and Alexis all have birthdays this month--Aunt Lisa's was actually yesterday. Happy birthday to everyone, and thanks so much for all our wonderful gifts!

Grandma and Grandpa gave Jack this cool horse to ride on, though at first he had more fun just climbing on the box.


Once Grandpa had assembled the horse, Jack decided that was pretty cool too. His legs can't quite reach the floor yet, but he had fun being pushed around, and he like to pet the horse's mane.


Here's Jack with Grandpa, and then Grandpa and Aunt Lisa:



Jack also got a lot of exciting new books. Here's Jack with cousins Marty, Lori, and Aunt Carol:


Jack got to hang out with a lot of ladies yesterday. We had a hard time getting everyone to stay still for the picture, but here's a decent shot of Jack with (from left to right): friend Aubrey, cousin Alexis, and friend Hannah. Aubrey is the daughter of our friends Dave and Megan, and Hannah is the daughter of our friends Eric and Mary.


It was great seeing everyone yesterday, and best wishes to Megan and cousin Michelle, who are expecting and will deliver in the next few months!

Fun with Grandma and Granddaddy

Happy Birthday to Grandpa Nold yesterday! We look forward to seeing him again this weekend.



Friday afternoon when Grandma and Granddaddy were here, the weather was nice, so we were able to go to the park. In the picture above, Jack is doing "so big." When we were in Florida, Grandma Nold kept trying to teach him that, but he only just started doing it consistently about a week ago. Now he won't stop! For that picture, I was just trying to get him to smile, but he insisted on doing so big.


Jack's just chillin' in the swing.


Here are some photos we took at home with Grandma and Granddaddy.




Jack doing one of his silly faces



And finally, just a cute picture of Jack in his high chair.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's official--I am one year old! My birthday was yesterday, and I got to celebrate with my Mom, Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa Fields. Here's a couple videos of them singing "Happy Birthday" and of me trying cake for the first time. Mom wasn't if I would know what to do with the cake, but as you can see, I dug right in.




Here's some more pictures of me while I was eating my cake. I was in a silly mood and decided to make all sorts of crazy faces.







And finally, I was done


I really liked the cake. I was so glad Grandma and Grandpa were able to come visit with me, though I wish it hadn't poured down rain most of the time they were here. Mom took a bunch more pictures of me with Grandma and Grandpa, but she says she'll have to put those in the next post because this one is already so long.

I'm finally starting to get teeth! I did my best to show them to you in some of those pictures, but you can't see them yet. I have one tooth coming in on my top gums, and two coming in on the bottom. It's kind of a drag having them all break through at once.

Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!

This is Erin, and I just wanted to share some thoughts and memories that have been in my head the past couple days.

• Labor: I try not to think about that painful experience, but one funny thing I remember was how some of the drugs kicked in right during delivery. They made me so sleepy that I was literally falling asleep between contractions. At first I didn't know it was the medication that was causing me to fall asleep. I was so embarrassed--what kind of mother can't even stay awake during the birth of her child? Finally, my doctor noticed how I was struggling and let me know what was going on!
• As soon as Jack was born, I had no trouble staying awake. I was so excited I couldn't sleep. I just laid there all night in between feedings gazing at him as he slept.
• I remember being startled at how much it hurt me to see him in pain. The first time it happened was when Jack was being treated for jaundice, and the tech didn't warm up his foot before trying to get blood out of his heel. He had to poke Jack's foot a couple times and really squeeze in order to get blood. Jack's cries of pain just cut me to the core.
• Despite the stress, worrying, and fatigue, this past year has been the best experience of mine and Andy's lives. I never imagined that having a baby could be so much fun. Jack is just the cutest, funniest, and most wonderful baby there ever was. He's only been with us for a year, but it's hard to imagine how life was without him.
  

Bedhead

Jack woke up with a nice case of bedhead the other morning. I couldn't get his hair to lay down, no matter what I tried.

We're getting very excited about Grandma and Grandpa Fields coming to visit for Jack's birthday! They arrive tomorrow. Jack hasn't seen them since he was 6 months old; he's a totally different person now!


I've been reminiscing this week about what we were doing at this time last year, getting ready for Jack's arrival. My mom was coming in town to help us. I also remember being relieved at finally being done with all my doctor's appointments. Because of my blood pressure, I had frequent appointments, and for the last 2 months of pregnancy I was either at my doctor's office or the hospital about 3 times a week.

During my last appointment, which I think was exactly a year ago yesterday, the ultrasound showed Jack in breech position. The doctor didn't think Jack was likely to move on his own before my induction, and if he didn't, I would have to have a c-section. Fortunately I had a great doctor who didn't just automatically stop at that point and insist I have a c-section. He gave me the option of having him trying to physically move Jack into the proper position. He said about 70% of the time the procedure was effective; however, if it didn't work, an emergency c-section would have to be performed right then and there to get Jack out.

I elected to have them try the procedure. After Andy rushed to the hospital, a team of doctors and nurses crowded into my little hospital room. Two doctors pushed and pulled on my belly, coaxing Jack into position. That was one of the strangest physical experiences I've ever felt. Fortunately it wasn't as painful as they'd warned me it could be. The procedure only took about 5 minutes, and little Jack cooperated! He moved and then was a good boy and stayed in position until it was time for him to emerge 2 days later.

I can't believe that was a year ago! How our lives have changed since then.