The final count down

It's only a matter of months (2.5 to be exact) before life as we know it really changes.  I mean it's changing ALL the time in so many ways already but the real shake up will be my return to work and Jakson's introduction to life at nursery.  So the final count down is on but I have to say, it doesn't feel like an impending doom like I thought it would.  I actually went in to work this past Friday for a 'Keeping in Touch' day, which allows mom's on maternity leave a chance to go in to work without jeopardizing their maternity leave.  So I went in to the office to meet with HR, my team, my boss and say hello to the old stomping grounds (i.e. go out for drinks after work).  It was a great day and the 'test drive' felt pretty good.  I actually loved seeing my team and all my old colleagues and just having a few intellectual conversations.  I think I have a long way to go to get my brain back to where it was pre-Jakson but it was nice to pretend i was smart again, even for a day.

So the return date will be 16 April 2012, which equates to me taking a bit more than a year of maternity leave (can you believe I've been off since 14 March 2011!!!?) and returning 3 days a week for 3 months and then 4 days a week once I've used up all my holiday accrual from 2011.  It's crazy to think I've had all this time to spend with Jakson as he's grown up and changed (holy crap has he changed!) and I've not had to worry about juggling work + parenting + life at home.  I feel so, so, SO lucky.  But I will also admit I'm scared sh*tless to starting being a working momma.  After just reading my dearest friend Jenn's blog it makes me even more scared to think i'm gonna have to juggle everything I do now with work.  Yikes.  But i must remind myself people do it every day, all the time and they do it as a single parent or with multiple children or any number of additional challenges so I just have to take it one day at a time.  Harder than it sounds, I'm sure but at least I know it can be done!  And I'm lucky enough to have Jakson starting nursery a month before I go back, so we'll ease our way into it.  We will start with a few hours at a time, then a couple of half days, slowly working our way up to 3 full days.  This makes me feel much better about leaving him and also gives me a bit of time for myself before I head back to work.  I think it's the best option for everyone!!

And while all the planning for the return to work is happening, the wee man is growing so very quickly.  As I said on facebook earlier today; he's a crawling tornado on the move.  Crawling around all over the house, pulling himself up on everything, pulling CD's and DVD's and books off every shelf, reaching for things that were once out of grasp only to now pull them down.  Nothing is sacred to the wee man!  I keep saying it, with much love in my heart, that my baby is crazy!!  I do totally wonder if he's like other babies or just a little, extra special :)  I'm pretty sure it's option 2 :)  Here is some recent mischief:

No CD is safe in our house! 
The cheeky monkey even has his tounge out!

Going for a little stroll with his lion friend.

Jakson loves his lion!!

Baby's First Sign!

I am very pleased to report that after many months of teaching Jakson some basic signs (milk, more, mommy, daddy, bath, etc.) he is finally signing the most important: MILK!  It is the cutest thing EVER!  And while i still need to capture it on video, click here for a cute animation to show you what it looks like.

A sick boo :(

I can't believe I'm writing this as it was only my last post where I mentioned poor Jakson getting the flu and already i'm writing about another illness!!  My poor wee man was hit hard these past couple of days with another bug - not sure what to call this one but he had a horribly high fever (39.4C/103F) and was in a terrible state.  I knew he was really under the weather when he wouldn't let me put him down, even for a second and cried constantly for almost 48 hours.  The poor little man had yet more diarrhea, runny nose, no appetite and was so hot you hated to feel his little head.  And the most heartbreaking was that he wouldn't (or should i say couldn't) sleep unless I held him...all night long!  The poor little man was just inconsolable. 

Luckily by day two his fever dropped a bit to 38.1 (just over 100F) and he started to act a bit more normal.  Still quite fussy and still lots of diarrhea but he ate a bit more and seemed a bit more like himself.  Today is day 3 and although he's still not 100% better he seems a million miles away from where he was just 24 hours ago.  He's been smiling today and eaten both breakfast and a snack along with some milk. 

I can't even begin to explain how terrifying it is to have a sick baby and be unable to do anything to make them better.  The sick feeling in my stomach just doesn't do justice to how helpless i've felt the last couple of days.  As he was crying, I was crying.  It just killed me to know he was poorly and there was nothing i could do for him!

Luckily he's a happy man again today, here he is enjoying his snack of apples and cheese:

In happier news; Jakson has figured out how to 'get around' in his crib!  I went in today as i thought he had fallen asleep for his nap to find him nearly standing up in the crib playing with the mobile!  And when he finally fell asleep it was like a pretzel...still 'sitting' but with his head at his feet resting on his stuffed elephant (from Jenn McCarthy Gahm!!).  I had to pull the animal away and pull him forward to sleep on his belly.  Luckily he was ok with that and went down without a fight.  Oh and that's another thing - he's transitioned almost over night to sleeping on his belly!  I honestly can't believe he's slept on his back all the way past nine months but seems this is now a thing of the past.  He is quite keen to get on his belly in the cot these days.  He's also keep to sit up instead of lie down - i keep finding him backed into a corner of the cot, quietly playing, in the dark!!  He's a silly little boo I tell ya!!  I wonder what will be next, and i hope it isn't walking!!  I'm not ready for that yet!!

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!

More Firsts!!

I started this post more than 4 weeks ago but unfortunately time just went too quickly while we were in Iowa.  Busy, busy, busy is what we were!  Jakson had loads of fun no his first trip to Iowa where he seemed to develop at rapid speeds!  It's almost as we left an infant in London and have returned with a big boy! 

His first big achievement is getting around - he's well and truly on the move although i'm not sure i'd call it crawling - he sort of belly shuffles around the house - backwards!  That's right, he goes backwards, which i think is normal for many babies???  He's all over the place tho - if i turn my back for a second he's backed his way across the room and ended up under a table, or under the couch or into a corner.  It's hilarious watching him go.  He does get up on all fours (or on two arms, a knee and a foot) only to belly flop back down and start his little army shuffle.  Oh and he also scoots on his butt around the place, quite amusing if you ask me.  Here he is under the chair/table in the kitchen:

Where's Jakson???

He is also talking up a storm!  Dadadadadada or baabababababa or blahblahblah, whatever sound he wants to churn out on repeat is what he's saying.  It seems as tho he has a lot to say these days.  And he's also holding his own bottle - which is just way too cute.  He will literally snatch it out of my hands when he's hungry, pop it in his mouth and start chugging!  My little baby isn't so little anymore!!

Now thinking back over the last six weeks it's hard to remember when he started doing these things, it just seems like when we arrived in Iowa he changed.  But we had so much fun in Iowa it's no wonder.  He got to spend lots of time getting to know Nanny Kat and Grandpa Don, which was certainly the highlight of our trip!

Snuggling with Nanny Kat & Grandpa Don

Hanging out with Grandpa Don

And would you believe the weather was pretty amazing in Iowa?!  I could hardly believe how much we were able to get out and about and enjoy the days - it was a nearly 40 degrees for a number of days - IN DEC!! Now that's simply unheard of!  But it was great for us as Jakson was able to take his first ride on a real swing, which he found....interesting.  He didn't get super excited on his first go but he didn't reject it completely either.  He just sorta went with it.  But by the second and certainly the 3rd time we had him smiling. 

Nanny Kat pushing Jakson on the swing

And of course we celebrated Jakson's first Christmas while in Iowa.  I think he was still too young to understand it all but it sure was fun getting him dressed up in his Christmas duds and watching his reaction to it all.  Here is Jaksons first Christmas in photos:

Christmas Morning

Jakson's 1st stocking

Enjoying a walk before lunch

We stopped at the park for some fun

Christmas ride down the slide!

More fun on the swings!

Happy Christmas with Nanny Kat & Grandpa Don

Santa Butt is on the move...

Jakson enjoying christmas cuddles with daddy!

Jakson got to meet one of mummy's oldest friends
on Christmas eve!

I'm so bummed I didn't get any pictures of Jakson with some my other friends Jaime, Tina & Sarah + their gorgeous children.  Jakson got to spend lots of time getting to know his Iowa friends and he even went swimming, to a soft play area, to the mall (a lot) and out to eat (also a lot).  It was lots of fun hanging out with everyone and getting to spend some quality time with some of my oldest and dearest friends.  I miss you all!! xxx

Once we returned to London we had a few days to chill out and recover from jetlag before New Years was upon us.  We had a pretty chilled out New Years, went over to our friends Adam & Lou's for the afternoon and spent the night.  I think the babies had a pretty good time, as you can see from the pictures below:

New Years bath fun w/Livvy & Joshua

Story time before bed!!

So all in all we had a great time in Iowa and Jakson had some great first experiences.  Now it's time to kick-start an amazing 2012 with the little man and wait for the next couple of firsts!!

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: