Thursday, September 13, 2012

4 months!

I will continue to play catch up, but I thought I would do a quick post today about how Jack is doing right now.


Jack had his 4 month shots today, even though he is really 4.5 months. He cries so hard and then smiles at his daddy and all is right with the world. And now, I will be one of those moms who post stats of their baby pretending that people want to know. Or know what the heck it means. Here they are:

Height: 26"                75%
Weight: 15 lbs 4 oz   50%
Head 16.5 "                50%

He is growing like a weed!

He loves

*His ring toys
*grabbing things
*grabbing mommy's hair
*putting things into his mouth
*playing on his tummy
*rolling from back to tummy
*talking to us
*being tickled on his neck and back (cutest giggle ever)


He has recently discovered his feet. He is almost constantly in the "happy baby" yoga pose. Good sign.

We took him to his first BYU football game in the stadium. Hated the screaming, but liked being outside! :)

He eats 4 or 5 times a day, with 3 or 4 short naps during the day. He sleeps 9:30 pm - 8 am (cue the heavenly chorus) and is perfect in every way.

Jack boy - 2 weeks ago!
 
You can follow Alex and I on Instagram for almost daily pictures of Jack Jack. We are @nataliealexmadsen on Instagram!

Monday, September 10, 2012

Jack Jack - the first few weeks

Hello all 3 of you!

I really want to try to be better at blogging. I have a new goal of once a week - mainly because I am horrible at writing in a journal, and my little Jack is growing way too fast.

And by blogging I mean posting pictures of Jack.




The hospital stay right after Jack was born was the most magical, sleep deprived time of my life. Everyone tells you how you loose sleep when you have a baby, but it doesn't really sink in until you don't get more than 2 hours of sleep at a time for a month of two. But look at those eyes! Worth it.

We spent 3 magical days in the hospital, while I recovered. It was kind of rainy outside, with family and a few friends coming to visit. Mainly, the world revolved around our tiny Jack, and truthfully it still does. I love that cozy, quiet hospital room, and think of it as a very sacred place. As you can see, Jack was so quiet and attentive his first few weeks. He would look around wiht a furrowed little brow, just taking in the world. Those first few days were so amazing - filled with instant love for this little one. The veil between earth and heaven was so thin, and we all could feel it.



Then we took our little bundle home. Alex, Jack and I drove in our car. It was so strange to me that the world had kept going on. I wanted to yell at everyone "Don't you realize the world's most perfect baby is here?! Show some respect!" but I think my stitched would have torn. Alex drove so slowly, with my mom driving behind us. The world seemed so loud, and I sat by Jack and he slept peacefully in the car.
So. Cute. Jack was a little bit jaundice, so we went back to the hospital three days after we got home. I remember I thought it was so much work to get there, I knew I would never be able to run errands again. But, alas, you learn as you go and things get easier. :)


My mom was with us for the next week. My mother is an angel. She cooked, cleaned, filled our kitchen,  helped me with middle of the night feedings, and filled my freezer with meals for later. I could not have done that first week without her. She was a huge help with nursing, too. It is a learned art form, one that took Jack and I a good month to figure out. I am so grateful I stuck with it - it was so hard for the first few weeks. When you need to feed a baby every 2 hours and he takes a half hour to eat...well, you can do the math. You don't get much time in between, and most of the time you just want to cuddle with your litle one and sleep. And that's just what we did.
Jack's typical furrowed brow. :)

I was so tired those first few weeks, but looking back, I know it was such a special time. I was home and shut the world off for a few weeks and just loved my baby. I am grateful for that time.