Monday, July 28, 2008

A Nostalgia for Jack (at Four Months)

At four months, Jack has gone through some changes, to say the least. He is currently sporting three different hair colors – brown on top, blond around the sides and back, and red on his neck. Red is holding its ground but brown is surrounded and, frankly, Ann is hoping blond sends it into full retreat soon. His eyes have changed a fair amount, too. They started the month with a tint of brown but now lean toward blue, green, or hazel on alternating days. I don't mind a blond, blue-eyed baby that looks nothing like me – really. Not so long as he takes care of me when I'm old. ;)

In light of the sometimes difficult first weeks, and the intense learning curve we've struggled with since he was born, July has been fantastic. Jack has been a blast. He's been in a near constant good mood, quick to laugh, quicker still to smile, and finally interactive enough to play with. It's sometimes hard to remember those sleep-deprived first days. But we really want to remember Jack as he is now – it's a "nostalgia for the present" that I, sadly, feel every morning when I drop him off with his granny-nanny and that I suspect Ann feels every afternoon when she picks him up again.
“I don’t know about the rest of you
But I feel a tremendous nostalgia,
Not for the past,
Rather, nostalgia for the present.”
-Andrei Voznesensky
Now, by popular demand, some firsts from Jack's fourth month
  • Jack first vacation.
  • He discovered Sparky. Sparky didn't notice.
  • He discovered his ears. They noticed.
  • He discovered the TV. We noticed.
  • Jack held his first Diet Mountain Dew bottle. He is now officially Xtreme.
  • He's rockin' out at night in his Bumbo.
  • Jack advanced to level 2 bottle nipples. We like to think of this in video game / RPG terms: Jack is now a level 2 human. His new skills include grabbing, laughter, volume, advanced babbling, advanced sleeping, and advanced drooling.
  • He also advanced to the next size of diapers (16-28lbs).
  • Jack had his first trip to the river – Riverside Park and Riverside Landing along the Chattahoochee.
And, of course, we have pictures. Enjoy!



Jack sitting up in his Bumbo, drool at the ready


Jack rockin' out in his hoodie


JD and Jack at Riverside Landing


Ann and Jack at Riverside Landing


JD shows Jack the Chattahoochee


Resting on the way home from the river. Check out those great eyes.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Jack's First Vacation

This July 4th weekend, Ann, JD, and Sparky took Jack on his first official vacation – a three-day trip to the north Georgia mountains near Blue Ridge. We stayed at a great cabin about fifteen minutes outside of town and adjacent to the Benton MacKaye trail. We took the kid into town for a 4th of July lunch (and, to Ann's dismay, the biggest raspberry-cheesecake ice cream waffle cone JD ever ate), during which JD amazed the locals and tourists by both bottle feeding the kid and changing him.

While we had a good time in town and on the trail, we went north for the scenery and the quiet. The cabin was pleasantly isolated, so we spent most of the time with our noses buried in books or with Jack – exactly what we wanted. And for the kid's part, he seemed to enjoy the attention and all the new sights.

Of course, we got some great pictures of the new family and its current star, the lil' sir. Enjoy!



Jack, thinkin' hard about that thumb.


Ann and Jack on July 4th


Ann carrying Jack up and down the mountain. Turns out the combination of Jack+JD+baby-carrier = an enormous amount of heat.


JD and Sparky were there, too (despite the copious photo-record of Ann and lil' Jack)


Ann, paying close attention to her wiggly ward


The Jack Attack


Jack and Ann, relaxing in the cabin

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Three Month's The Charm

Jack's third month has been an eventful one – but, above all else, pretty enjoyable. While he is still a lot of work, both of us are having a blast with the kid. Seriously. The court is still out on other people's kids, but we've decided that ours is pretty awesome.

A couple of notable things from Jack's third month:
  • One terrible word: Drool.
  • One wonderful word: Sleep.
  • Jack less resembles a bobble head every day.
  • The boy has discovered his voice. And not his crying voice.
  • He likes chillin', propped up in his boppy.
  • Jack can hold a rattle. He doesn't know why this makes us so happy, or what he's supposed to do with it, but he can hold it.
  • He started day care with his granny nanny, Jill (JJ to him).
  • A few poo-related incidents. We don't like to talk about those...
  • JD no longer has a perfect "batting average" for diaper changes without incident.
  • And, of course, he's gotten huge. 15lbs, 6oz at the end of June. Needless to say, the infant inserts have come flying out of the car seat and bouncer.
But the most important event in lil' Jack's third month was his christening. This is notable for two very important reasons: 1) Ann didn't have to twist JD's arm at all (well, much), and 2) for two weeks Jack was the youngest baptized Catholic in Roswell. He was baptized June 1 at St. Andrew Catholic Church, where Ann attends. We were overwhelmed by the great turnout and we are grateful for the pictures Mary's friend Laurie and JD's dad John took while in attendance.

Enjoy some pics of the baptism and the boy.



JD's grandmother Val, Jack, and JD before the baptism


The baptism



Three generations of Kitchens: Glen, Jack, Ann, Mary, and Ed


Four generations of Jordans: John, Jill, Val (seated), JD, and Jack


And, of course, a bunch of obligatory pictures of the Jack Attack: