Summer Adventures

We kicked off the summer with a trip down south to celebrate my mother's birthday.  My sister and I packed massive amounts of children's things into her car, strapped the boys in, and headed down 95 to help out with the preparations.  Jackson pulled on his car seat toy while Evan threw his stuffed dog towards the front of the car and I would throw it back to his delight (a habit that I'm sure I should not be indulging).  All this to the sounds of childrens' songs about dusting and bath time bubbles.  We hoped the boys would sleep, but just as soon as one would settle, the other would start up.  But we made it there in time for a late night bottle and nighty night time.

That Friday we spent the morning prepping food (thank Goodness for morning naptime)...and with the help of my Aunt Holli, Joanne, mom, and sister we knocked out the food preps real quick and were able to squeeze in some playtime.

And beach time...

And sleepy time...

Daddy arrived just in time for the festivities and a couple hours of snuggle time before Jackson's fussing reminded us it was nearing bedtime.

Birthday celebrations....

Family gift to Mom - Cookbook with family and friend recipes

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Jackson's been working hard.  At my parent's house he was utilizing his unusual method of turning over from tummy to back.

So we continued to work on him getting those arms up and progress!!!

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For the 4th of July holiday weekend we decided to have ourselves a little "stay-cation" by packing up and heading down to Severna Park.  Jackson got to experience his first boat ride ever.  Did he like it?

Well, like many things he tolerated it.  It was like Ralphie's brother in a Christmas Story when he was so bundled up that he could barely move.  Jackson was all propped up and fell asleep in that exact position.  Such a trooper...

On Sunday, we plopped ourselves on the beach with friends and family and hung out for the afternoon.  Jackson had his first dip in the Severn River with Daddy.

Then we got cleaned up and headed back down to the beach to have dinner and watch the fireworks.

We had a brief interuption in our festivities with a storm that rolled on through.  Jackson was sleeping in his peapod, but I scooped him up and got him under the pavillion just in time for the heaven's to spill.  He stayed asleep initially...and as I looked around at all the young children crying and clinging to their parents, I was amazed at how Jackson was handling it all.  And then...one clap of thunder too many, and the wailing began.  If you like storms, this had it all...downpoor, thunder, and lightning that literally went horizontal across the sky. 

Jackson got himself back together and we watched the fireworks by the river (or Jackson slept while I held him while watching the fireworks by the river). 

On Monday, we got our things together and walked over to Matt and D's house to watch the Severna Park parade.  Once again, little man slept through about half the parade, but did wake up in time to see some old cars and floats. 

Hope everyone's summer has been filled with adventure...

More to come...

6 month well-baby

On Monday we had our 6 month well baby check-up.  Jackson could not stop wiggling around...You know that paper that they always stretch out on the table...a complete disaster, crinkled and torn.  All he wanted to do was roll around and play.

So another healthy trip to the doctor's.  He's 17lbs and 26 1/4" long (both 45th percentile on the "normal" chart).  Jackson has been officially diagnosed with plagiocephaly (AKA flat head) and has an appointment at Johns Hopkins to be evaluated for a helmet.  The very next day we have his cardiology appointment...they might as well set up a cot for us!  If I've spoken to you about his flat head, then you know that I was predicting this.  Due to his low tone and preference to one side, his poor dome is definitely flat on one side and now because of that flatness tends to roll that way when he's sleeping.  Our PT wanted us to sleep him on his side, but how in the world do you get him to stay that way (see above comment about paper at doctor's office).

Of course we may have issues with insurance...but we are keeping our fingers crossed that it gets covered and if not, we are ready to go to battle.  But if all fails, we are certainly going to dole out the moolah for this.  We are not naive that we live in a world where we judge people based upon appearances...he is already "different" according to most people and we as parents aren't going to add to his "differences" based upon money.

So long story short...get prepared for adorable pics with helmet included.  If anyone can make a helmet look good, its our man.

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On a (or is "an"...English teachers help me out...I think its "a" because it's referring to "note"...right?) exciting note...did I mention that Jackson has a tooth coming in?  Well...now his 2nd tooth is coming in.

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So we are continuing to work on rolling over at PT.  He's a champ at going from his back to his front, but tends to get stuck while on his tummy.  I call this his "beached whale" moves.  Karen said that I had to get a video of this as she had never seen this approach before.  So here is Jackson's attempts to roll back over.  Its highly amusing...so its okay to laugh.

We are really trying to get him to put his arms up and show him how to roll over, but he just does not want to put those arms up.  I'm convinced that once he figures out that he can push up on his arms that it will be a matter of time before he crawls.

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Did I mention that I'm on summer break?  I am...Its awesome.

A year later...

A year ago for Father's Day weekend, I could not stop crying and I didn't want to get out of bed.  I was scared and I was sad. I was scared that I wasn't going to have the "perfect" baby and I worried about what our lives would be like.  If only I knew how I would feel a year later when I get to hold his little body near to my heart and stare into his starry eyes.

If I could, I would go back in time and tell myself not to be scared, not to be sad...there's no need to mourn not having the "perfect" baby...because he is perfect.  He is who he was meant to be and you're going to love this little man like you never thought you could.  You're going to hang on every smile and babble.  You're going to cherish every moment you can hold him close.  You're going to feel like something is missing when he's not around.  You're gonna love him.

So this Father's Day there are no tears...we are celebrating...

And swimming...

And playing...

And smiling...

 And sleeping...

 

 And loving...

 Happy Father's Day...Nighty night.

What a weekend!  Busy weekend in the Bennett household...

Jackson turned 6 months old:

 So we're trying new things...like this old-school exersaucer. 

 He doesn't have complete control...so add a few blankets and he's propped up just fine.

Today we spent the day over at Brian and Meg's who treated us to pool time, yummy food...and some torrential rain.

 Trying to check out the ceiling fan...

 One of my favorite exercises...

Giving "kisses" to his lion...
 
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend...