First and Second Weeks--More pictures!

I started this post a few days ago, so I'm going to finish it now. (6/7)

I cannot believe Jackson is 2 weeks old! He is such a joy to have, and everyday as I become more and more comfortable with motherhood and taking care of him, I experience more of that joy. His little personality is starting to unfold and he is just too cute.

- He HATES to have his diaper changed. He has sort of resigned to the fact that it is GOING to happen, but he still whimpers and sometimes downright screams about it. Oh well, he's a happy baby otherwise! We'll take it.
- He loves to have his hands by his face. He had his little hand by his face during my last sonogram, too.
- He LOVES the sound of running water. It will calm him every time he's upset.
- He is very strong. If he tenses up his legs or arms, you can forget about moving them.
- He makes the cutest little noises still.
- He makes the funniest faces. We crack up all the time at him, wondering how a little baby who can't talk can be so funny.

We are loving getting to know Jackson and all of his unique little characteristics. I don't think anything--no amount of reading or researching or "Googling"--can prepare you for parenthood and all it entails, but by the same token nothing and I mean NOTHING can prepare you for the crazy amount of love you feel for that tiny little baby. Kyle and I are overjoyed at the privilege to be Jackson's parents.

Anyway I will stop rambling. Here are the pictures.

KK and Poppy lovin' on Jackson before Dad headed home. Wow! This bassinet has saved our lives. Some good friends back home gave it to us, and I'm not sure what we would have done without it! We wheel it around everywhere! :)
I love this baby
The cutest little Aunt and Great Granny ever!
Dad has informed me that he is no longer "DAD". He is 100% Poppy. At least he loves his new role.
See what I'm dealing with...these two love to NAP!
Is this not priceless? I mean he is OUT!
OK but seriously they do take a lot of naps together, but Kyle is the BEST Dad in the whole world! He is such a great helper and is so good with Jackson. He really is just a natural. He never complains to get up and help with late night feedings if I am just too tired. He says as long as he has something to watch on TV, he's good. Right now he's watching the first season of LOST, so he's got plenty to watch. I'll make sure we get the next season so he'll keep wanting to get up to help feed with enthusiasm. :)
Our good friends Eric and Kim stopped by on Monday to love on Jackson before their baby was born. Their baby, Caroline, was born May 29! We are so excited to be going through this stage of life with them!
Although Gran worked herself silly while she was here, she managed to squeeze in some quality time with the little guy!

Mom and I gave Jackson his first sponge bath on Thursday. He was not thrilled to say the least, but he LOVED when we washed his hair.
Pretty Granny--These pics are from our little impromptu photo shoot before Granny left on Friday. :(
Jackson spent a lot of time in his swing this first week. He really seemed to enjoy the music that it played. After a few days I had to request that we only put it on the nature sounds because two of the songs that the swing plays are "Pomp and Circumstance" and "Canon in D". WOW--It's hard for me to watch my newborn baby swing away to such heavy songs that are played at graduations and weddings. I'm not ready for that quite yet! But the nature sounds are great! :)
We love to laugh at the positions we find Jackson sleeping in...too funny.
Jackson and I take naps together every now and then, too!
KK and Jackson
To top off a great first week home, MawMaw and PawPaw came for a visit. We had a great time visiting with them, and of course watching them love on Jackson.

MawMaw is a natural, too!

Haha...are they both asleep?

OK so Mom accused me of playing dress up with these next pics...and I guess I was...but how cute is my little man in his bath robe? He didn't really know quite what to think about it...
We took this pic right before mom left on Sunday. She was going to leave on Friday, but I convinced her to stay til Saturday...then on Saturday I convinced her to stay til Sunday! It was nice because we got to get out on Saturday and go eat at Cafe Express (mom's Houston favorite) while Maw and Paw and Kyle watched Jackson. I was pretty sad...OK devastated when she left because I was not sure we (really I...) could do it. I had faith in Kyle, just not in myself. She always told me I would feel that way but that she would just have to leave so that we could establish our own routine, and we would be just fine. I didn't believe her, but she was right. I kept wanting her to turn around and come back the whole time she was driving home, but I just prayed that I could pull myself together to be the mom Jackson needs me to be and of course the wife Kyle needs me to be. We really did settle into a routine, and we had a great day that Sunday. It was nice to hang around as a family, and Kyle and I enjoyed playing with Jackson and talking about how far we had come in one week. We got out later with Nick and Jaime and visited our friends Kim & Eric and their new baby CAROLINE! She was too precious. We are so happy for y'all!

The new moms/babies!
New Dads and Nick with Caroline
Later in the week...Poor Jackson was having a nice little time on his Boppy Tummy Play mat...
And then...Kyle thought it would be hilarious to see if Jackson would watch TV...turned out ...he LOVED it. Ha. He sat there watching it and we were dying laughing. Don't worry...we are not going to stick him in front of the TV on a regular basis.
Apparently after all that he was a little upset with Dad and sat there covering his ears...Ha. Just kidding, he is always in this position and it cracks us up.
Jackson has been sleeping in his bassinet beside our bed. It's really just more convenient for us for late night feedings. We thought we would see how he liked his bed...

I think he liked it. He looked so tiny in there.
More sweet baby pictures...
Well, here we are going into our third week. I still get a little emotional from time to time thinking about how wonderful that day he was born was and just wanting to go back and do it all again! I know that sounds so silly, but blame in on those crazy hormones I guess. I have finally convinced myself not to be sad that he's "growing up" (ha--I know, he's only 2 weeks old but still...each day he's a little older!) because we have soooo much to look forward to as a family! Every time he smiles an accidental smile due to gas or something, I smile thinking how precious it will be when he is laughing and smiling all the time! He is such a precious baby, and I am just soaking in every moment of him being so tiny and small.

I can't believe how much he's growing and changing already! Last weekend his little ring from his circumcision came off (I still can't bring myself to throw it away...I know...ewww...gross), and on Thursday his umbilical chord stump came off while we were at the pediatrician. I was so glad when it came off because I always felt like I was going to hurt him if I accidentally pulled on it.

Our visit with the pediatrician went really well. He said that Jackson was a very healthy boy! He is no longer jaundice, and he continues to eat well. I finally decided to make the complete switch to formula feeding. It was a hard decision to make because I had always planned to breastfeed. My milk was late coming in, but I finally did have enough to make it work. However, since Jackson was a little jaundiced the third or fourth day after he was born, I had to begin supplemental feedings with formula. I was advised by the pediatrician and lactation consultant to continue those supplemental feedings even though my milk was coming in more so he could gain enough weight to get back to his birth weight by 2 weeks. He went back and forth between bottle feeding and nursing really well, which is unusual, but it was hard for me to keep up with everything we were having to do. The lactation consultant and pediatrician suggested I nurse him first, then bottle feed, then pump and save whatever milk I had leftover. Well, I did that for over a week and then it just became exhausting! I kept up with it because I felt guilty not doing it. I know that sounds so silly, but everything you read talks about how breastfeeding is the best way to feed your baby. I felt like I was lazy for not wanting to continue with that crazy cycle of nursing/bottle feeding/pumping, especially since I am staying at home. My pediatrician reassured me of the same things my mom and friends had been telling me (and what I knew deep down)...I was not a bad mother for choosing to bottle feed. Jackson will be healthy and fine even if I don't breastfeed. Now I'm actually enjoying it because Kyle can help me feed, and Jackson sleeps longer during the night. I know there are many advantages to breastfeeding, but I have to look on the bright side since I am not doing that! So, the bright side is--more SLEEP and HELP for me! :)

Anyway, there was really no other news from that appointment. Dr. Knapick told me to go ahead and give him more formula since he is such a hungry little guy. I was only giving him 2 ounces because I thought even that was more than he was supposed to have. He told me to go ahead and give him 4 if we will take it, and fatten him up! He was 7-13 at our appt. Thursday, so he had not yet reached his birth weight. We go back for a weight check on Tuesday. I feel quite sure that with all this yummy formula he will be back to 8-2 or at least close!

This really turned out to be a long post. Feel free to ignore me when I ramble like this! :) Well, we are headed out for a walk. I can't believe what just happened with the Tigers. Hopefully tomorrow goes better! Geaux Baseball Tigers!!!!!!!