Working on Tricks All Night

As I write this, I am hoping that Jacob will soon tire out so I can go back to bed to get some much-needed sleep. Jacob was very restless last night and just refused to sleep much. I tried just about every trick in the book to get him to go back to sleep, without much luck. He continually spit out his pacifier which is what he (we) usually rely on for him to fall back asleep. I patted him, rocked him, changed his diaper, fed him, put him in the swing, even drugged him with Tylenol after we thought maybe his mouth was hurting him (hence not wanting his pacifier). One thing that worked was putting him into bed with us, which knocked him right out. Yay!! Dan carried him back to bed which gave us another hour's rest. I woke up hearing lots of banging and went to check on him. The kid was sitting up in the middle of his crib! This is the first time that he has sat up from a lying down position. I was in complete shock. I brought him back to bed with us and nursed him hoping that he would fall back asleep. He just wanted to play and sat up AGAIN on his own. We then gave up sleep and Dan dropped his crib to a safe position so he can't easily pull himself into a standing position and try and escape. Dan joked that he must have been working on this new trick all night, which is why he didn't sleep.

Weekend with Aunt Sharla

This weekend my sister, Sharla, came down to visit. Dan was in Minnesota for a long weekend visiting all of his family there. Usually when Dan takes off for the weekend, Sharla comes to visit and we usually have some good quality sister time. I was so thankful that she came down, not just so we could hang out, but it was nice to have another pair of hands with Jacob! We spent a lot of time on Saturday outside since it was so nice. We got Jacob a pool and tried him out in it for the first time. I think that it was a little too chilly for him so it wasn't as successful as I was hoping it would be. Jacob played so much on Saturday and we had the best time with him. We went shopping yesterday and Jacob did so well in his stroller. He loves to people watch and got to see himself in a full-length mirror for the first time which was a hoot! All-in-all in a was a good weekend.

Well, I guess the weekend was great until five minutes after Sharla left yesterday. I put Jacob in his pack-n-play upstairs so I could work on laundry. I checked on him a couple of minutes after putting him in it and saw what looked like a whole bunch of throw-up. Not so. Mr. Jacob had a big poop blow-out that went up his back, all over the pack-n-play, his clothes, his skin, his toys, everywhere! He had it on his face and hair even. I just hope it didn't end up in his mouth. It was such a mess I almost cried. We have been trying out the Stage 3 Pampers diapers (two different kinds) and they just don't hold up very well for him. The kid poops A LOT, usually 4-5 times a day and there is usually quite a bit of damage in there. We have already tried and loved the Huggies brand, but had some Pampers to try out. I called Dan on his way home and told him not to show up without some Huggies in hand because I am DONE with the Pampers. I know they work for others, but not for Jacob. This is why I prefer to put Jacob in some sort of one-piece outfit or onesie, so if he does blow-out at least it's contained to his clothes. Well, now that I've ruined your appetite, I'll change the subject :)

I hit a few garage sales last week in order to look for some gently-used toys for Jacob. I have been wanting an exersaucer for him so I can put him safely somewhere while I'm outside or working upstairs. We have a jumperoo downstairs, but it isn't very portable. Well, I found an exersaucer and several other toys and books for him. I took a picture of my finds because I was so excited at how much I got for so little money - $30!! I even found a brand new walker for him that is still in the box for $5! I think that I am now addicted to garage sales and already have plans to go to more later this week.

Here are some other random pictures.

Jacob standing up

Jacob trying to crawl

Jacob at 7 months

Jacob trying to steal the camera

A very messy lunch

With Grandpa on Father's Day

Jacob's (really our) mishaps

Poor Jacob has been through the ringer this past week. He is proving to be one tough guy when it comes to pain. I debated about even posting about this because I know this makes us look like uncaring and irresponsible parents, but we have learned how careful we need to be with him now that he is an active child.

The first incident occurred last Tuesday when Dan placed Jacob in a sitting position in the middle of our bed. He ran into the closet for a quick second and Jacob had managed to roll off of the bed in no time flat. We both heard a thud and quickly deduced what had happened. He cried hard for about 20 seconds and was over it. Although he seemed okay, I called the 24-hour nurse because I was getting ready to put him down for the night and was concerned about him sleeping if he had a concussion. She reassured me that he did not exhibit symptoms of a head injury, but that we should wake him up every two hours to make sure he was okay. She said that this happens more than you think, although this still doesn't excuse it! No more sitting on the bed for Jacob.

Second incident happened three nights later when we were sitting down for dinner. Jacob usually gets put in his booster seat, but I really wanted to hold him. I thought that my plate was far enough back out of his reach, but not so. Before I had even sat down with him, he had already managed to reach onto my plate and pull apart my baked fish filet. This time, his crying lasted awhile. I kept his hand under cold water for a few minutes until he calmed down. I knew that he didn't burn his hand, but it was the first time that he had felt something hot and it scared him.

Last incident happened last night when I was carrying him to bed. I ran his arm into the gate on our stairs pretty hard. It did leave a red spot that may bruise, but he fell back asleep pretty quickly after that. I am a natural clutz when going through doorways or turning corners and often run into things. Poor Jacob has gotten bumped into doorways now and then while carrying him and I need to pay closer attention!

I know that kids get hurt and fall down a lot, but it feels a lot worse when you are the one that was stupid enough to let it happen. It is so easy to judge other people when you hear stories about how their kids got hurt doing this or that, but now I won't judge as quick because now we are one of those "stupid" parents :(

Pictures taken around 6 months

Here are some pictures of Jacob taken around 6 months of age, yeah I know these are a month old already, but I wanted to share them. We elected not to have professional ones done at this point, but may around 8 or 9 months.

Family on Mother's Day

In front of our crabapple tree in full bloom

Mother's Day cookout

Visiting my Grandma (mom's mom) in the nursing home. Jacob was uncooperative so the picture didn't turn out very well.

Playing outside

Falling asleep in Daddy's arms

Always the poser!!

Mr. Grabber

It has been WAY too long since I have blogged last. I have been waiting for a time when I can download all of my digital pictures so I can post some on this blog. Well, I still haven't gotten to that yet, so I thought I would just go ahead and post an update on Jacob. I seriously don't know how people manage with multiple children!!

Jacob just keeps getting more and more fun! He is on the verge on crawling and we are just waiting for him to figure it out. He lunges forward from a sitting position and either props himself up on his hands and rocks or lands on his stomach and then rolls to where he wants to go. We have been putting off baby-proofing but seriously need to get going on that soon!!

It is so fun to watch his curiousity and exploration of the world around him. He grabs at EVERYTHING now. Once he sees something that he wants he somehow makes his way over to it to check it out. His pacifier seems to always be on his radar now. I swear he can spot that thing a mile away!! The pacifier has been a life-saver when he gets fussy or needs to sleep, but now he pops it in his mouth even when he doesn't really need it. I'm starting to hide it from him because I don't want him to get too dependent on it.

Jacob is turning into a good little eater. He is now on three meals a day of baby food. There really hasn't turned out to be anything that he doesn't like. He is starting to turn his nose up at rice cereal though, probably because he has seen the greener pastures of flavored food. We're supposed to be starting him on some table food, but I'm still a little uneasy about it.

We've been trying to get outside more, but it has been so rainy here lately or too hot to go out. I'm really paranoid about taking him out in the sun. I try and lather him up with sunscreen and throw a hat and sunglasses on him, but I still worry. I'm a huge sunlover and love to lay out in the summertime, but I don't want to ruin his perfect skin. We've had a few playtimes outside in the yard on a blanket. Jacob seems more interested in pulling up the grass than his toys though!!

I do have a few pictures that my sister has forwarded me so I'll post those until I can add mine.

Jacob at 6 months

This is probably my favorite of him. He looks so innocent!!

Here is a non-Jacob picture of my sister, Sharla, with Ray Romano and Kevin James at a club in Vegas. Apparently she is the only one they would allow into their section to take a picture. Pretty cool!!