it's time...

We put off putting Jack in a big boy bed.  Part of the reason was that Jack never tried to climb out and he liked being in there.  It was his little safe place.  The biggest reason though, that we didn't switch was because everyone would tell us "Once you put them it the bed, they will never take naps!"  or "Once you switch they will be coming in your room every night!"

So we waited.  Well the time finally came we decided to switch.  Before we did I went over the rules for the new bed.  

1.  You can read/play/etc in your room, but no leaving your room.

2. If you want to leave or it's time to wake up let Mommy or Daddy know

I was praying that he would follow the rules and off to the big boy bed we went....

It has been a success...he is being such a good boy.  At night we watch him in the monitor (it's so funny!) and he gets his books, jumps around a little, and then turns off his light, turns on his star turtle and goes to sleep.  I can't believe it was this easy.  He still naps, and in the morning he yells "I'm ready to wake up!"

Let's hope this lasts. I think it will...I have to say, when given rules, Jack is very good about remembering them, and following them.

How was your transition?  Easy?  A nightmare?

First days....

 

Yes, my new teaching job is at a Chicago Public School.  And we are on strike, and it's not about the money like the news will make you believe.  It's about so much more that you can't know unless you experience the schools for yourself.  That's all I will say.

In better news, Jack started his first day of "school" today.  Because of his birthday he can't go to preschool yet, but he is going to a Parent's Day Out.  His first time being left alone with someone he doesn't know.  

He did fabulously: 

 

There were lots of hugs, but no crying from either of us, he was a very big boy.  

Have a great Wednesday. 

a first

 

With Summer ending so soon, and us not taking a vacation this year, we went up for a day trip to Michigan.   It was a great time and Jack did something we have been working on for 2 years....

 

 

He conquered his fear of the sand.    After screaming a bit, we distracted him with some rock throwing.  From there it was smooth sailing...he had a blast.

 

 

 

 I hope you are all having a great week, work starts for me next week and I am going to be busy spending as much time as I can with Jack. 

 

 

 

 

Up next ...a marathon

Jack loves to run.  Loves it.  Any time he can get someone to chase him or run with him or race him he goes for it.  So of course when our local fest had a kids 1/4 mile race, this past weekend, we had to sign him up. 


At first I thought 1/4 mile?  That's tough for some adults, how will Jack do it?  Well he did.  And after he finished he was ready to run again.  Of course sappy old me had tears in my eyes watching him run his first race all by himself.  He was so serious and so into it, and he tried to hard.


I think I have a future runner on our hands...what's next?  The marathon maybe??  If you want, take a look at part of his race below.  That's my husband cheering him on.  Oh and you'll probably see me running along on the sidewalk.

Have a great Monday!

Full of Words Wednesday

So I am starting to get back in the mood to blog.  It's funny how loosing a job can make you go through the same stages as when you lose someone.  I went through denial at the beginning, pretending it wasn't happening. I went though the crying, and feeling sorry for myself.  I went through the anger (and still am)..  And I am now starting to go through the acceptance stage.  Today I even laughed about it when I spoke with someone about it.  So I am hoping this time next year I can really laugh at the fact that I ever got upset about this because I will be in such a better place than where I was.


In other news....I am a freak about giving Jack juice.  I am not okay with it.  Why? I don't know.  He eats cookies and candy once in a while, but I have this fear of giving him juice..that he will never want a drop of water or milk again.   I think my mother in law gives it to him when I'm not around and I just pretend it's not happening.  BUT over the weekend he had punch for the first time at a birthday party.  


He loved it.

...and I lived through it.


I hope you are all having a great week.

 

have a son? then read this...

I cry a lot.  Songs, commercials, movies, you name it, I am a sap.  So when I found this post over at Team Studer, of course I cried.  The post titled "25 rules for Mothers of Sons", is perfect for any one that has a little (or big) guy in their life. 


For example Rule # 25
25. Be home base
You are home to him.  When he learns to walk, he will wobble a few feet away from you and then come back, then wobble away a little farther and then come back.  When he tries something new, he will look for your proud smile.  When he learns to read, he will repeat the same book to you twenty times in a row, because you're the only one who will listen that many times.  When he plays his sport, he will search for your face in the stands.  When he is sick, he will call you.  When he really messes up, he will call you.  When he is grown and strong and tough and big and he feels like crying, he will come to you; because a man can cry in front of his mother without feeling self-conscious.  Even when he grows up and has a new woman in his life and gets a new home, you are still his mother; home base, the ever constant, like the sun.  Know that in your heart and everything else will fall into place.
They are things we should all remember as we raise these little guys to be amazing, caring big guys.  


I hope you check it out, and I hope you are having a great weekend.  

2 weeks

August 1.  I can't believe it's here already.  This summer has flown by.  Actually it feels like I just finished work yesterday for the Summer.  And now here I am with 2 weeks left until I start my new job and have to leave Jack everyday. 

My heart is beginning to hurt.  Last Summer it hurt too, but this Summer it hurts twice as bad.  I can't even explain how much has changed in a year.  I can have conversations with him now.  He tells me what he wants, and what he wants to do.  He LOVES the park and swimming and the sprinkler parks.  He loves playing with his firetrucks, going to fests, and taking Lenny for walks.  And he even loves time-outs...(something I have to change). He loves running and even says .."on your mark, get set, gooooooooooooo!"

I am hoping to enjoy every single second we have left....because next Summer I am sure I will be saying the same thing and he will be doing so many more things that amaze me. 

 

and the countdown begins.....

30 days.  That's the number of days until Jack become a toddler and will no longer be a baby.  This is also the period where I get that ever growing feeling of dred and sadness deep down inside.  Sometimes I think to myself "He can't be almost one already, he was just born!"  I still see that tiny, new little baby.  The one that needed me and counted on me.   Then I stop and realize that he still needs me and counts on me now, but just in different ways.

I can't believe what a wonderful, smart person he is turning into.  He is discovering something new everyday, and I can just see how hard he is thinking and taking it all in.  And his melt-my-heart smile I get when I pick him up from daycare is something I will never erase from my mind. 

Time flies.  The most important thing I have learned since becoming a mom is: slow down, enjoy life.  Things aren't as bad as they seem.  We can never get time back.  Make the most of it.

Happy 11 months Jack.  I love you.

getting sentimental...

As the beginning of school gets closer and closer I have also started noticing this pain deep in my stomach.  It started out small, like a little upset stomach.  But as the days went on, it has gotten worse and worse, and I've realized it's not really in my stomach, but in my heart. 

This has been the best summer I can remember.  Better than those summers in high school full of bon fires and no worries, better than summers in my twenties full of Chicago bars, and Cubs games and sleeping in late.  But along with this summer comes the knowledge that I will never have this again.  I will never have this little 9 month old full of smiles and wonder and curiosity.  A summer of seeing everything for the first time. 

I will have many more amazing summers, I know that.  But maybe I am more sentimental becuase this is my first.  Our first.  And I don't want it to end.  I want to breathe in every second....deeply.

I want a million more days like this one.
Days full of warm days, snacks, and pools to ourselves. 

Days full of wagon walks and rest stops.

Days full of swinging, wondering and taking it all in.

Take it in.  Enjoy every second. 

Creepy Crawler!

Sorry I have been away all weekend! I have been so exhausted from being on the go, go, go the whole time and I needed a day to catch up and relax with Jack.  I will post some parade pics later tonight along with a few giveaways later this week, but I wanted to post a very exciting video....Jack is crawling!!!! It happened on Sunday, and he is super fast!  Excuse my video skills, I am still learning.

I hope you all had a great holiday!



He really wants that bag of popcorn!!!

Can it be??

I CAN NOT believe Jack is 8 months old. 2/3 (thanks Alyssa!) of a year.  I feel like it was yesterday. 

It's amazing to me how many things Jack has learned and how he has developed in these 8 short months. 
He is now crawling....backwards.  He hasn't quite mastered forward crawling yet.  He goes from laying to sitting and can pull himself up to standing (which will be addressed in my next post).  He LOVES puffs, and he can now feed himself. 

But mostly what amazes me is how his personality is showing more and more everyday.  How he cracks up at the silliest things.  How he loves to dance with me to music. How he lights up whenever Lenny walks by, even though Lenny won't give him the time of day.  How just a look tells me "I need you Mama" .

I fall more and more in love with Jack everyday.  It's amazing how much love a heart can have for one person.

And now my pictures.....a mom's gotta brag!

7 months...a little late

So I have been putting off his 7 month pictures.  When I work, by the time I get home, it's play, dinner, bath and bedtime.  Usually mixed in with all of that is "Crabby Jack". Mornings are his happy time.  Mornings are my crazy time.  Tonight I found some "down" time and a not so crabby Jack. 

He is also getting ready to crawl which is so exciting to me, yet also so scary.  Exciting because he will be able to move around and will become less frustrated with things, yet scary because he will become less dependent on me. 

"That's a good thing", my husband says.  I am trying to feel that way too. 

For now when he gets frustrated he lifts all four limbs off the ground, we call it his skydiving pose.

OH.......THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

Cry Baby

No, not him....
Me.

Before I had Jack, I was a crier.  I cried during sad movies, Hallmark commercials, certain country songs, or if I was having a bad day.  I never imagined I would be a million times worse once I had Jack. When he was born I cried becuase of the hormomes, and he was so perfect and new and little and I never wanted him to grow up. 

Now it seems I cry over something everyday.  I cry before I sleep at night sometimes because I wish he was cuddling next to me instead of in his crib. I cry when I rock him before bed because he is getting bigger and bigger, and is almost too big for me to hold him like a baby.  I cried Friday at our school's Spelling Bee because the parents next to me were SO proud of their son that won, and I imagined how proud I would be for Jack. 

Sometimes I look at him while playing and cry, thinking, " I will never have this moment or day again, he is getting older and older by the minute". 

Am I the only "cry baby" out there or are some of you criers like me?  Will it ever end, or am I doomed to a lifetime of tears and heartache???  Some imornings I wake up and it seems like Jack has "grown up" over night! 

Life does fly by.  Enjoy it. 

Enjoy it like Jack enjoys his wagon.  He loves it!!!

Seriously, what is cuter than a baby's smile?  I can't think of anything.

Better late than never...

I never took Jack's 6 month pictures.  I had them taken professionally (they will be posted soon!), but not with his month stickers on him.  He turns 7 months old Friday.  I figured better late than never right?  Every time I take pictures of him he looks more and more like a little man to me than my baby.  Which makes me extremely sad.

Yes I know there are great times to come and I will love all the ages to come, but I just want to freeze this age.  I love this age.  I love that since he learned to clap, that is ALL he wants to do. I love how when I pick him up after work he gets so excited he looks like he will explode.  I love how he cuddles me, how the smallest, simplest things make him laugh like crazy, and I LOVE that amazing smile he has when I go into his room in the mornings. 

I love six months.

Six Months...and Lessons Learned

Can it really be six months already? I still see Jack as this tiny, new, beautiful baby, yet I know he isn’t. He is growing so fast into a little man. So much has happened in six months. I have learned so much about myself, so much about life.

I learned that I am a much better mom than I thought I could ever be.  I have learned the true meaning of "teamwork" by having a great husband who helps out so much around the house. I have learned that spit-up and poopy diapers are just part of my day now.  I have learned to admit when I need help and to also accept it.  I have learned to “not sweat the small stuff”. 


I have learned that not always having a clean house, or a gourment meal for dinner is okay.  I have learned that having a child is the most amazing experience I will ever have, and that I need to enjoy every single second of it…before I know it my now six month old will be leaving for college.
Most importantly though, I have learned, it's not about me. 

I can only imagine what else I will learn over these next months, and years.

I would love to hear from you.  What are one, two or 100 things you have learned as a mom?  I love reading your comments!

Look Ma...No Hands!

Yes...Jack is sitting on his own!  

He has been sitting for a while now with his arms in front of him and with us supporting him.  But just this week he has been sitting on his own.  He is in awe of this new found skill.  Every time he sits he gets this expression on his face, like "I can't believe I am doing this!" 

We of course think everything is happening way too fast.