The return to normalcy...well sorta

We've been home in London for over two weeks and I must admit it was difficult getting back to some sense of normalcy.  Jet lag took a serious toll on the wee man and it took him nearly a fortnight to return to our pre-Iowa sleep pattern, including his naps.  It seemed he was waking up way too early from his morning nap; instead of 2 hours he would wake after 45 minutes.  And the afternoon nap, well that has certainly been hit or miss.  We often end up with Mr. Cranky pants around 4 pm and when he just can't keep himself awake he will just crash.  And most difficult has been bedtime.  We've got him staying up a bit later these days so he can enjoy dinner with us but getting him in bed before 9 pm was a major challenge, after which he would wake 2 hours later for more fun.  But, knock on wood, i think we've finally got him back to the routine and he's sleeping pretty well, tho not as well as before we left.  Ugh, i guess it's the price you pay!

The sleeping issues weren't helped by the poor man getting a case of the flu!  His first proper sickness!  First Rob got it; puking and diarrhea for 24 hours!  And shortly after Rob got ill, Jakson got ill as well.  It was horrible.  He woke up on the 2nd of Jan and had a bottle which he immediately projectile vomited up...all over the living room.  It seemed to come out exorcist style, over and over again.  Funny thing was, he didn't seem bothered by it at all.  After he puked up for about 5 minutes he just carried on playing.  He didnt' have a fever and didn't seem ill in any other way.  That is until the diarrhea started.  Ugh, the diarrhea.  It was the worst of it all, and he had it for nearly two weeks!  It seemed after every bottle there was an immediate wet, runny, poohy, stinky nappy.  It was horrible.  But as of the last week or so he seems to be past that.  He's back on his bottles and back enjoying his food. 

And oh the food, as always Jakson is enjoying his food.  As you can see in these pictures and one hilarious video:

Jakson's first sandwich: tuna and avocado!!

The wee man LOVES pasta but boy does it make a mess!

And then of course there is the crawling!  Still not an 'official' crawl but he is certainly on the go!  His favourite  position is similar to the yoga pose: downward dog.  He gets up on hands and feet (no knees) like he's ready to stand, then drops down and kinda rocks a bit.  He's so so so close but just not got the actual 'crawl' down.  It's quite amusing, quite scary and certainly will keep us on our toes!

Trying to catch him in motion has been difficult!

We thought maybe a leftover xmas box would give him
some incentive to crawl...but no luck!

Opening a late xmas gift from James & Ginny xxx

The last update for now is the dreaded nursery registration and return to work.  Luckily we've found a nursery that we like (fingers crossed) and I've just dropped off the registration form this past Friday.  I've done a lot of back and forth in my mind about what the right thing would be for Jakson; should we get a nanny so he gets the same level of care that he would by being with me OR do we go the nursery/day care route and hope for the best?  I hated the idea of 'hoping for the best', which was not helped by the first nursery we saw.  I just didn't get a good vibe and felt a bit more inclined to look for a nanny.  But we saw a second nursery and i had almost the opposite reaction: I WANTED Jakson there.  Plus, Jakson loves (like really LOVES) being around people and i thought at a nursery he will get so much more interaction with other babies, children and adults.  Plus they have an excellent curriculum of learning/teaching activities that a nanny could never offer.  It helped me decide against a nanny and go for the nursery.  So again, fingers crossed, all goes well.  Nothing has been finalised here so there is surely another update to come on this topic!  Stay tuned!