Hello America!

It's been over a week since we landed in the good old USA so I thought I better post an update on our adventure thus far. 

The majority of my anxiety over the trip was around how Jakson would act on the 9 hour flight to Chicago, followed by a layover and a second flight to Moline.  And since i was flying alone with him (Rob is meeting us here in mid-Dec) the anxiety was at an all time high!  Well, would you believe Jakson was a little angel for almost the entire journey?? 

Our first saving grace was the 'sky cot' that we nabbed when checking in.  It's like a little moses basket that hooks onto the wall of the plane and gave Jakson a place to hang out.  Luckily he spent a lot of time in this, sitting and having a couple of naps.  It was quite amusing because where this little cot was happened to be right under the screen where movies played and he just sat in it and smiled at all the people on the flight.  I couldn't believe how well behaved he was and he was certainly a hit with the flight attendants as well as the other passengers!  People kept coming over to see him and saying how cute and well behaved he was!!  Even the flight attendants from first class kept coming back to coach to play with him!  Too bad his adorable face wasn't enough to get us upgraded!!  Here's a pic of him hanging out in his 'sky cot', reading a book:

I also sat by a lovely girl who was so helpful, she actually wanted to play with him and really helped keep him entertained, which made a difference.  Jakson even slept for a couple of hours on the plane which gave me a chance to get up and go to the loo and have a bit of food!!  It was still A LOT of work to keep him entertained but i'm glad we did it.  I'll get to why in just a bit.  Here's a pic of him all cozy in his own seat on the plane:

I'm all cozy and ready to go!

Now the layover in chicago was a bit of chaos as we were an hour late leaving London due to fog.  But we luckily made our connection with 5 minutes to spare so Jakson didn't even have a chance to fuss during our rush through customs and security.  However, I think the jetlag finally caught up with him once we boarded the second flight (it was nearly 9 pm and he is normally in bed by 7).  So during this flight Jakson sort of lost it but was easily appeased by giving him a bottle, after which he promptly fell asleep.  But again, jetlag really hit him hard when we had to get off the flight and he was awoken from his nap and had a complete meltdown in the Moline airport :(  Poor boo was exhausted.  But we got him home and sleeping by about 5 pm iowa time (11 pm London time).  And, knock on wood, with each passing day he seems to be getting better and better.  He's pretty much right on schedule and has been sleeping through the night since about the 3rd or 4th night. 

Now, as i said above, it was all most certainly worth it when I got to see Jakson playing with Nanny Kat and Grandpa Don on the first morning.  They were just in awe of him and loved every minute. 

First play date with Nanny Kat and Gpa Don

The other big excitement here in Iowa is whether Jakson will crawl with each passing day.  He's SO close.  Pushing himself backwards around the kitchen and nearly taking a forward crawl, if he could just figure out what to do with those pesky legs!  Only video can show you how funny this is:

Some other highlights from our first week in the US include some other firsts for Jakson:

First morning and first smile in Iowa :)

First breakfast: banana toast and pineapple

First thanksgiving!!

First taste of eggs

I'm sure we'll have many more firsts while we spend the next few weeks in Iowa.  Stay tuned for more fun and adventures with Baby Boo!

One more before we go...

I just couldn't resist posting this video of jakson yesterday.  He thinks it's so funny when we sneeze, have a look:

A good nights sleep

I can hardly believe I'm typing this BUT it's been nearly two weeks that Boo has slept all the way through the night.  TWO WEEKS!  And I don't care if I type it here and jinx it now as we are leaving for America on Sunday so it will get messed up anyway!  So yippee - we have a baby (and a mummy + daddy) who is finally getting one good nights sleep after another.  He's usually down by 7 and has been getting up at 7.  It's totally mazers, that's for sure!

Jakson has also been doing very well on the food front, tho that's not surprising.  His weight is also proving how well he's doing as I took him to get weighed yesterday and he's now 17 lbs + 14 ozs!  That's between the 25th and 50th percentile so he continues to climb the charts.  He has a very ambitious appetite and quite regularly eats 3 meals a day and sometimes even a snack!  For breakfast he has things like 'banana toast' which is toast topped with mushed banana.  He loves that.  I alternatively give him different types of fruit for breakfast to shake it up, usually some melon sticks and/or apple/pear slices.  Then for lunch I try to give him some sort of protein, which is mostly chicken or tuna with some veg and maybe potatoes if we had a roast or something the night before.  And then dinner is usually some veggies, maybe a rice or something but i try and limit protein as they say it is better left out of dinner/before bed time to ensure a good nights sleep.  It's just so much fun to watch him mow down - and he's even chewing now!  Chewing with his two tiny teeth but mostly gums :)

And the two bottom teeth are fully visible now and boy are they cute.  He smiled at me today and you could seem them clear as day.  Only problem, i think they are crooked!!  I wonder if it's the dummy?  Gonna have to nix that habit...right after the trip to iowa :)  I also read somewhere that once the teeth push through that we should start brushing.  Does anyone brush their babies teeth?  Because I've tried and he's not so keen.  So i guess i'll just let him 'chew' on the toothbrush for a while and see how we get on.

My next post will likely be from the corn fields of Iowa.  Stay tuned for a full update on how we got on with the plane ride and how Jakson enjoys his first snow storm.  Snow men anyone?

The World of Boo

I've been posting a lot of pics lately so I thought it was time for an update on what's been going on in the world of boo.  He's a little monkey, that's for sure.  We've got two teeth coming in on the bottom, which makes for lots of biting, chewing and general fussiness.  It's all good tho because the fussiness isn't too terribly bad.  One of the little chompers is almost fully visible while the other one has just broken through.  I'm sure it's only a matter of days before he's showing off those new pearly whites to anyone who will have a look!

We are also getting very close to crawling, as you might have seen from the last video post.  It seems each day he gets closer and closer - this morning he was going backwards!  Pushing his way toward something he wanted.  He has the idea that he can move and pull himself towards items of interest, what he now needs to figure out is how to pick himself up and move his arms and legs to get it.  Again, only a matter of time before he has it figured out.  I just pray he doesn't do it before we get on the plan to head home to Iowa.

Speaking of Iowa, only two weeks to go before we head off!  I am bricking it as the idea of an 8-9 hour flight alone with Boo seems overwhelming and certainly exhausting.  I've got fingers and toes crossed that we can get a 'sky cot' but we won't be able to secure it until we actually check-in.  I think that would make the flight a lot more bearable.  A LOT!  But i've also purchased a baby carrier and a few new toys to (hopefully) keep Boo entertained along the way.  I've been very anti-TV since Boo was old enough to pay attention but i may just have to bring along the portable DVD player as an option to keep him calm on the flight.

The only other exciting happening in the world of Boo would most definitely be FOOD.  It seems food is the highlight of most things lately.  He's (or should i say 'we are') having so much fun exploring and eating new foods.  We've ramped up quite quickly but such is the nature of baby led weaning.  His most recent conquest included some homemade lasagna.  And oh boy did he LOVE it:

What are you looking at?

What started off with such good intentions (and coverage)
ended with a complete and total mess!

I think it's safe to say he loves Italian food as we also had a great experience at Jamie (Olivers) Italian.  Here he is enjoying some risotto and ravioli:

Mmmmm....risotto is yummy!!

And the most fun with food has got to be eating whole fruit.  Yes, I said WHOLE FRUIT.  Check out boo eating a whole pear:

So lots of fun goings on in the world of boo.  Love his cute little bum! xxx

Times they are a changing

Jakson is getting close to crawling and i'm soooo not ready for it!  We are gonna have to baby proof this house ASAP!

Boo!!!!!!

Did I scare you??  Since it's Halloween I of course had to get a shot of Jakson in his costume!  I bet you'd be realllllly scared if you saw this little guy walking down the street towards you!!

We've also had quite a few play dates recently, spending time with friends and family during our days is a great way to pass the time as the summer comes to an end. 

These photos are from our recent NCT meet-up, it was a babies Halloween party :)

Elsa was a kitty cat - meow!!!

My little skeleton has a lot of meat on his bones!!

A group shot!

Jakson and Sid = buddies!!

We also spent a day out in Essex with Sarah, Xavier, Emily and Joshua.  After a lovely bit of lunch at Emily's we went to a place called Timbuktu where the kiddos had a chance to play in a huge soft area with a climbing gym, ball pit and Jakson even went down the slide!!  It was a great day:

Jakson and Xavier are friends :)

Look how nicely they play together!

Xavier catches some zzz's while
Jakson and Mummyplay in the soft area

Jakson really enjoyed the ball pit...
too bad he wanted to eat all the balls!

Joshua hanging out in the soft play area

Jakson and mummy took a ride down the slide!

And here are some other recent photos of our young man being generally cute and having more fun with his food!

Tigger, please!  Love it!

My little rocker :)

Jakson having fun with his great nan (aka little nan)

Jakson with Auntie Clare and Cousin Sofia

Jakson's first roast dinner, complete with carrots,
green beans, brussel sprouts and roast lamb!

What's for lunch?

Things have been getting crazy in the kitchen lately!  We had our first BLW (baby led weening) lunch in a restaurant and oh boy did it get messy!  Jakson ate lamb kofta (!!!) and chicken - his first ever meats!  He also enjoyed a number of salads that included things like broccoli, green beans, aubergine, potato and the list goes on.  What was fun is that since we were in a restaurant it wasn't just the plain steamed variety that he typically gets at home.  The salads had chillis, garlic, yogurt and loads of spices and I think Jakson really enjoyed all the flavour!  He gobbled it all up! 

Now I think it's fair to assume the restaurant wasn't as pleased with us as we were with ourselves, but who cares!  It was a riot!  Here's a pic of Jakson with his birthday buddy, Nell (born 3 minutes apart in the same hospital!!) enjoying their lunch.

Lamb kofta, eh?  Let's see about this...

After the restaurant experience I think i need to get a bit more adventurous in the kitchen so Jakson isn't bored with his food.  So today we had tuna + pasta salad for lunch.  Another big hit!  Jakson loved it!  Although he loves anything that involves cucumbers or tomatoes!

Mmmmm....cucumber!!!

And the aftermath...

Jakson is also learning to take sips from his cup (pictured above) and is doing quite well!  He can pick it up by the handles and put it in his mouth.  I'm just not sure he knows what to do after that (he needs to suck to get anything).  Oh well, the rubber spout makes for a good chew toy which is perfect as we've actually got a tooth coming through!  It's only just broken ground so v. hard to see BUT if you stink a finger in his mouth he will certainly gnaw on you with it.  And it's a sharpie!  Hurts like hell when he properly bites down!!  Little stinker ;)

Lookalike?

Rob and I were talking this morning, don't you think Boo looks a lot like the baby from that 80's TV show?  HA!

Not the mama!!! HA!

More Fun with Food!

No major updates today, just wanted to post a few more photos of the wee man enjoying his food.  Check him out:

Having toast for breakfast with Daddy!

Nom nom nom i like toast

Green beans, I guess i'll give them a try?

Only problem is I keep gagging myself!!!

This past Friday we took the train and visited Sarah, Brett and their new addition to the family, Xavier out in Billericay.  It was a fun day and little Xavier is such an angel (i.e., nothing like Jakson :)).  Unfortunately we were so busy chatting that I only managed to get one photo of Xavier...when we went to the pub for a drink :)

It was cold outside but little Xavier was all snuggled up!

We also went to lunch with the O'Brien clan + Phu & Foster on the Sunday.  It was a lovely day in the sun and Jakson enjoyed being out and about.

I love auntie Clare xxx

Foster giving his best mate a kiss :)

I'm a big boo now!!!

Two pair of best mates :)

6 Months of Boo

I know everyone says it but there are no other words; I honestly can't believe how quickly the last six months has gone.  It is crazy to think that Boo has been around for half of the year and even crazier to think back to when he was such a tiny little man who slept all day and could barely hold his own head up.  And to look at him now and see how much he's grown.  He's a bundle of energy, he has his own personality (which is very similar to his mummies) and he's doing so many things!  I just had to take a quick trip down memory lane to remind us when he was such a wee little boo:

When Jakson was born he weighed in at a mere 6 lbs, 6 ozs and within a week had dropped down to 6 pounds.  It was a scary time and the community midwife was concerned he was losing too much weight.  But, with lots of perseverance and dedication I am pleased to report that at 6 months old Jakson weighs a healthy 16 pounds, 9 ozs!!  And he's got a very cute pair of chubby cheeks to prove it, one on his face and one the top of his legs :)

Jakson is also developing with leaps and bounds!  He can do some amazing things, like: give high fives (seriously, he can), sit up on his own, hold his own bottle, babble constantly and bounce like there is no tomorrow.  The bouncing is one of his new favourite past times, as demonstrated on this video:

He loves taking a bath and is doing very well in his weekly swim class.  He can even go under water for about 5 seconds and doesn't cry!!!  We've also started a 'sing and sign' class as jakson loves music and i really want him to learn a few basic signs so we can communicate better.  We've learned milk, more, mummy, eat, drink and many more.  We practice loads and are hopeful it wont be too long before jakson can tell us when he wants 'more milk'.

The weening is also going pretty well.  He's almost entirely on formula/bottles and is "eating" two meals a day.  So far he's "eaten" apples, pears, avocado, carrots, sweet potato, banana, oatmeal, cucumber (one of his faves) and broccoli,  Many of which were not pureed but in their natural form (i.e., broccoli florets, slices of cucumber).  Today was his first day of breakfast and we opted for a banana:

So I think it's fair to say that baby boo is getting on quite well.  Happy 6-month birthday little man!  We love you more than words can say!!! xxx

Apples & Avocados

Oh boy are we having fun with food!  Or should I say "I" am having fun with food??  I know Jakson is still getting used to all the new flavours and textures but it his hilarious to watch as he experiments.  Today we had apples and avocados.  Not a very appetising duo but i didn't mix them, just encouraged him to play and eat them one after the other.  Here is some footage of this fun adventure:

Avocado?  This is...strange.

I think I made a mess, mummy.

Pot Belly, Baby Pig

One thing Jakson has always enjoyed, pretty much since the day he was born, is a bit of singing.  When he was quite little he could easily be hushed by anyone singing to him and to this day it's amazing to watch his fits cease in mere seconds by playing a bit of Jack Johnson.  But no song or artist has ever topped a song made up by Rob and perfected over the course of the past few weeks.  That song, titled "Pot Belly, Baby Pig" was an instant hit with Jakson and will stop his crying in an instant.  So, I thought what better way to remember than add it here for all to enjoy.  So, my friends, here are the lyrics to the original hit: "He's a pot belly, baby pig"

Chorus
He's a pot belly, baby pig
Pot belly, baby pig
Pot belly, baby pig
He's a pot belly, baby pig

Verse 1
He's got a cute face, button nose
He's got bright blue eyes and big ears
He's got a baldy patch, we don't care
He's the pot belly, baby pig

Chorus

Verse 2
He's got a little fat belly and a stinky butt
He's got real strong legs that never give up
He puts his hands in his mouth, gives 'em a suck
He's a pot belly, baby pig

Chorus

Verse 3
He likes listening to music and having a dance
He puts his arms in the air like he's in a trance
He likes to drink his milk at any chance
He's a pot belly, baby pig

Chorus

Verse 4
He likes to sleep with his blanket right over his head
Doesn't even matter if he's in his bed
He's started to eat food and it's baby-led
He's a pot belly, baby pig

Final Chorus

Jakson's First Experience with Food!

Jakson is 24 weeks today and we've marked this exciting date with something extra special: Jakson's first taste of solid food.  This first food came in the form of lightly steamed carrots as I'm trying something called 'baby led weaning'.  BLW is a method of feeding that let's Jakson feed himself from the very start of weaning, instead of giving him 'baby food' in the form of purees and mush.  I'm a big fan of giving Jakson food and letting him explore it on his own so he will get used to the various textures, tastes and the idea of eating much more easily.  However, I'm not set in stone on it and am thinking i will probably do a combination of finger foods and purees for the little man.  I just won't introduce the purees until he's at least 6 months (or another 2 weeks).  So for now I'll play with Carrots, raw cucumber and maybe some toast fingers?  Who knows, we'll see!

So, here it is in all it's glory, Jakson's first experience with Carrots!!

Do you want a carrot???

Hmmm...ok...let me see what this is all about?

It feels pretty weird and I'm not sure about the taste?

Now a few caveats on the video: yes I realise he's in a nappy AND sitting on the floor.  Don't worry, the floor is clean and we don't have a high chair yet.  But who needs a high chair when this little man was happy as anyone experimenting down low :)  We are waiting for the highchair to arrive as we ordered it over the internet so soon enough he'll be riding high!  And the nappy is just in case things got messy.  Why get an outfit (or a bib?) dirty when he's so happy to be sans clothes?

Another exciting event that happened today was Jakson attended his first 'sing and sign' class - which was awesome!  The class is basically designed to teach babies how to sign basic words/ideas through singing.  He LOVED it.  He was a bit fussy when the class started but as soon as the teacher started singing with her lovely voice he immediately tuned into her.  We learned signs for home, more, milk, duck, horse, and a few others.  And although jakson won't be able to sign these immediately the teacher said the earlier you start the earlier they are able to learn the signs.  So we're hoping it won't be long before Jakson can sign what he wants.  How cool will that be?

Portugal

We've just returned from baby Boo's first international adventure and it was certainly one to remember!  I know my last couple of posts have been a bit depressing so it makes me very happy to report that our little man was an angel while on holiday.  Not only did he sleep well throughout the trip, he also had a ton of fun.  He went swimming, to the beach, ate out at (or visited, since he's not yet on solids) some awesome restaurants and the most exciting of all: started to sit up all by himself!!  He really enjoyed spending time with his fabulous Daddy, Nanny, Grandad, Auntie Clare and the Costas.   Here are some of the most memorable photos from the trip:

Sunbathing baby!!
(Note: no babies were tanned in the shooting of this photo)

Out for dinner in Fuzeta.

Ready for more fun in the sun!

Chillin in my sun tent.

Family Photo.  I love this pic!!

Pool time!

Happy man at the beach.

There are lots more photos of our adventure on facebook, they can be accessed here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150446232094619.454061.675059618&l=515b0ff031&type=1

As mentioned above, Jakson has started sitting up by himself for short period of time.  He's still a bit unsteady but i can put pillows around him and he will certainly sit up for a minute or two on his own.  It's great and he loves being a bit more independent.   The trip also may have helped with the sleeping issues we were facing for so long.  Not sure if it was the change in scenery or potentially the introduction of one bottle of formula before bed but he slept pretty well on the trip and since we've been back he's been sleeping much better.  Most nights he sleeps until 2 or 3 am before waking up.  Now the challenge is to keep him from wanting to feed when he wakes up as I am slowly weening Jakson from breastfeeding and moving him onto formula.  I want to do this before we introduce solids which will only be a few short weeks.  It's been bittersweet for me.  I like having some of my freedom back but I also miss the closeness and cuddle time breastfeeding has given us.  I'm certainly trying to enjoy the last few weeks of this special time with my boo.

It's also exciting to report that Jakson now weighs 15 lbs and 7 ozs which puts him near the 25th percentile!  So he's gone from a wee 6 lbs and 6 ozs in the 9th percentile all the way up to the 25th!  Crazy, eh?  Our little man is certainly growing up!!!  Something else that's bittersweet, that's for sure!