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My apologies to Nana. It’s been nearly three weeks since I posted any Jackienews here on ITISTDFM (if other blogs can go by initialisms, then so can mine). If it had only been a couple of weeks, I would blame a new work project and other distractions for the gap, but three weeks is too long.
The weekend before last was spent in the North Carolina mountains with the Burns clan. Special thanks go out to Ben & Janet for the wonderful accommodations. It was Jackie’s introduction to her great grandmother and great aunt, and I’m sure they enjoyed meeting her as much as she enjoyed meeting them. I’ve posted a video and some pictures.
Note to the grandmothers: More Jackie news is forthcoming. Check back on Monday.
This post is exclusively Jackie. As you can see in the videos, she’s really starting to verbalize. She still hasn’t mastered the words, “cool whip.” Practice makes perfect.
Eating time comes after sleeping time, and after sleeping time comes playtime. Playtime occurs on a very cool jungle mat (including lights, toys, and music) that Rich and Mindy gave us. Two distinct activities make up a typical playtime session with Jackie. First, Jackie lies on her back for about 20 minutes and looks up at the colorful toys, squirming back and forth and sometimes reaching for a hanging stuffed animal. Second, Jackie is rolled over on her stomach for tummy time, which is not nearly as fun or relaxing. She still doesn’t really like being face down. The video below captures the first half of playtime, and not the second, less enjoyable half. There’s also a Baxter cameo.
Finally, I’ve posted a few images from last week.
Nana was with us last weekend, and she brought Burns family relafriend Judy Hall along for the ride. For those who might not know, a relafriend is a friend who is treated by a family as their relative (did Shannon Martin coin this term?). Nana and Judy got in a little late Friday night, but if Nana was tired from a long week of teaching followed by a six-hour drive, it wasn’t obvious when she arrived. I think she got her second wind when she pulled up to our house and saw her granddaughter through the front window. I have to give Nana credit though; as she made her bee-line from the car to the baby, she stopped long enough to give hug Katie and me hello. We all really enjoyed having Judy here too. Unlike the majority of our first-time visitors, she found Baxter and Robah to be more amusing than annoying.
Last Saturday, Katie, Jackie, Nana, Judy, and I hopped in Nana’s minivan and headed west on I-40. I drove the minivan, which wasn’t nearly as distressing an experience as I thought that it would be ten years ago. I can see why new parents give up form for a functional “living room on wheels” as my friend Jay calls his van. My Aunt Carolyn, and her sons Will and Ryan, hosted all the local Watsons at their house in Burlington. The food was great, and catching up with the 20 or so Watsons in attendance was even better. Jackie met some of her extended family, received several gifts, and sat in between both her grandmothers for awhile that afternoon. I’ve added an assortment of pictures from the day below.
Last Thursday, Alison Saville flew all the way from Denver to visit Jackie and the rest of our household for the weekend (she also attended a wedding in Durham on Saturday). We always enjoy having Aunt Ali around. She didn’t bring Steve, but she did bring kool gifts for the baby and a desire to help out with whatever needed to be done around here.
We really appreciated the meals she cooked, dishes she washed, groceries she bought, and everything else. She even changed some diapers, fed Jackie the bottle, and accompanied Katie and Jackie on their visit to the pediatrician last Friday. On top of that, she coined the phrase “Beanie Katie” to describe Jackie’s resemblance to her mom. We’ll wait until Jackie is a little older to tell her about her Aunt Ali’s behavior in high school (hehehe). Thanks for coming Alison!
Our baby is changing in front of (and away from) our eyes. Today is her one-month birthday and it took five inches of snow, which is essentially a debilitating blizzard here in Raleigh, to prevent Katie and me from going to the Cupcake Shoppe Bakery to score celebratory cupcakes. Instead of birthday sweet treats, we sustained ourselves at home with inauguration coverage and my return to the working-from-home world.
This past weekend our family, minus the four-legged members, visited the grandparents, uncle, aunt, and great grandmother in Boone. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and my parents were gracious, loving hosts despite their hectic move back home a couple of weeks ago. The Watauga Literary Society, also known as my Mom’s book club, threw a wonderful shower for Jackie. Our daughter was able to attend one of her own baby showers ex utero and Trimella Chaney, Susan Dubberly, Jeannie Caviness, and the rest of the Pearl Girls were extremely generous. Little Jackie was even initiated as an honorary Mini-Pearl Girl. Thanks to the entire group for the food, fun, and gifts!
We also appreciated our time with Uncle Rich and Aunt Mindy. Little Jackie has been showing emotion for a couple of weeks now, but it took some quality time with Uncle Rich to bring out a bona fide smile. Some of our daughter’s amusement at her uncle’s silliness was captured in this video:
Great Grandmother Jones met Jackie, and the highlight of our visit to the retirement home was seeing my daughter’s tiny hand in the hand of a woman three generations older. Here are a few pictures of that visit and some other fun had over the Dr. King weekend:
Finally, Katie and I took the baby out to brave the elements in Boone. It was her first snow:
Little did we know that her second snow would come today in the eastern North Carolina piedmont…
This is my last full week at home before I return to work, so the Jones family has several more days of full-time bonding. Jackie is a fantastic sleeper. In fact, she has slept at least six straight hours during each of the last four nights. She even managed to calm down and sleep well last night after watching her Tar Heels shoot an upsetting 35% and lose to the tie-dyes in Winston-Salem.
Jackie has been a little more fussy during the day lately, but it’s too early to label her as colicky. Like most babies, there is nothing more soothing than motion. Family walks, like the one in the video below, are a regular part of our routine. The crows are cawing up a storm in the background; there must have been some prime roadkill on Glenwood Avenue the other day.
Fussy or happy, awake or asleep, we love our baby girl. Mornings have been especially fun:
We’ve been fortunate to be treated to dinner the last three nights from family and friends. Thanks to Rich & Mindy (Italian on Friday night), Sarah & Eric (Lilly’s on Saturday night), and Jack & Nancy (homemade enchiladas last night). We appreciate their support!
Miscellaneous pictures:
Jackie will be two weeks old tomorrow and I’m starting to understand why parents always say that their kids grow up so fast. Our daughter has come a long way since her birthday on the 23rd (which she shares with her Aunt Holly). She seems pretty comfortable with the nursing routine Katie has established. As the waste management technician in our household (my vast experience picking up after two large dogs made me a shoe-in for the position), I can attest that all systems are fully operational.
Every passing day brings more active and awake periods, and those little eyes are opening wider and focusing a little better all the time. Here’s a video of Jackie having some wake-time today with her mama after her 1:00 pm feeding:
Here are some more pictures of Jackie meeting her family and her parents’ friends:
Jackie with Sarah Burns, Katie, and Nana
Jackie with her Grandfather Burns
Uncle Rich and Aunt Mindy hangin' with their niece
Sara with Jackie (not pictured: shy Uncle Stew)
Jackie with Dan Wilkinson
Her favorite position, this time in artsy black & white
We are #1 (oops...were #1). Jackie and her dad are pictured here jinxing the Tar Heels. Cool Carolina threads courtesy of Elizabeth and Noah.
I guess this is blackmail fodder for later in her life? She's obviously embarassed, yet undeniably cute.
It has now been a full week since Jackie’s birth, and our new family configuration is really starting to thrive. After a difficult and fussy first three days, Jackie settled into a peaceful, healthy routine. Katie deserves all the credit for making our daughter happy in her new home. As I told my mother (big Jackie) and mother-in-law (Katie’s mom Janet), I have a new appreciation for mothers after seeing Katie face and successfully meet the initial challenges of childbirth and nursing.
What, me worry?
Janet has been with us for the past nine days, and we’re very grateful for all her help looking after the dogs while we were in the hospital, cleaning up around the house, running errands and shopping for us, and helping prepare meals. When she isn’t helping with things around the house, she can usually be found doting on her granddaughter. Life during Jackie’s first week would have been chaotic and extremely difficult without Janet’s hard work, love, and support.
Joyous Nana and her granddaughter.
Nana also gave Jackie her first bath the other day, and it went much better than I ever dreamed it would. Our old house stays pretty cold in the winter, so a mid-winter’s sponge bath couldn’t have been too comfortable for the baby. Give Janet credit for making it as pleasant as possible…
I’m also appreciative of Jackie’s two older brothers, Baxter and Robah, for their good behavior. We predicted that Baxter would be curious at first, and then disinterested with a tiny human who can’t even hold a tennis ball, much less throw it for him. We predicted Robah would be loving and slobbery. We were right about both. Surprisingly though, both dogs are quite protective of their little sis. The five of us went on our first family outing today — a thirty-minute walk around Five Points.
Baxter and Robah meet/sniff Jackie.
Daytime feedings have become fun-with-music sessions. I guess we like to nourish Jackie’s ears while Katie feeds her stomach. First, I play dance or big band music and dance with Jackie to get her awake and ready to nurse. When Katie takes over, she plays oldies and sings along as Jackie eats. Jackie may or may not like these meal-time theatrics, but I assure you that Katie and I are having a ball.
The rest of the family, including my parents, Katie’s dad Ben, my brother Rich, and Katie’s sister Sarah, haven’t had too much time to visit Jackie yet. Sarah and Rich did hold Jackie at the hospital…
Here are some assorted pictures from the past week. Feel free to come visit whenever…we want Jackie to meet the rest of her family and parents’ friends.
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- What, me worry?
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- Baxter and Robah meet/sniff Jackie.
Jackie Jones was born at 10:05 p.m. on December 23 by way of c-section. She weighed 10 lbs., 8 oz., and was 22 in. long at the time of birth. After holding her for the first time, I realized how futile it would have been to hold out longer for vaginal birth. Jackie was just too big to enter the world without some help from her doctor and surgical team.
Katie did extremely well with the c-section procedure, and continues to recover quickly. On top of that, Katie even complied whenever the nurses asked her to put down her Blackberry (it was a little touch-and-go at first). In all seriousness, my wife is a rock and I didn’t expect anything short of courage and grace from her before, during, and after delivery.
Cutting the cord.
We should have known that Jackie would be a large newborn when one of the nurses on our floor guessed that Katie was carrying twins. I think that at least one-third of her wardrobe is already too small for her on day one. She’s going straight to 3-6 month-sized clothes.
Wow...10 lbs., 8 oz., 22 in.
Her long fingers were one of the first things that struck me when I held her for the first time.
Of course, Katie and I are enamored with our baby girl. Based on her appearance during her first day ex utero, she has a Jeffcoats nose and a Watson chin. I wonder if other new parents have identified physical resemblances from their mothers’ side of the family before noticing characteristics from their fathers’ side. Regardless of who she resembles, her mother and I think she’s perfect.
I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to the nurses, staff, and doctors at the REX Hospital Birth Center. They have really made us comfortable and confident as new parents during our first thirty-six hours under their watch. Most importantly, they delivered to us our daughter. We love her, love her, love her.
The doctor decided it would be best for mother and child to do a c-section in about 30 minutes. Jackie’s arrival is imminent!
I think I spent the dog food money 