Swimming lessons!

Sorry I haven't updated, we had a bit of a rough weekend with the funeral stuff. Everything went well, and we had a lovely funeral for Shawn. It was a rough goodbye, but we made it through ok.

Saturday was Jack's first swimming lesson! I was so confused, there was no introduction or anything, the teacher just said ok, start with safety turns. What?? Then, we sang a song, that everyone seemed to know the motions to, except me...hmmm. Then, the teacher said, "OK, since this is the last class..." How embarrassing. Turns out, it was the last lesson for the previous session, and the guy that signed me up was wrong. The teacher was very nice, and let me stay.

Jack was so different this time in the water! He seemed to really like it!! He didn't have the worried look that he had last time! Yay!! That made Mama SO happy!!

This is us not having a clue what a safety turn is, and looking at everyone else that knew what to do.


We practiced with Jack on his tummy...and he liked it!!





Jack was supposed to be reaching for the toy...keep in mind, this was the last class, this is not beginner stuff here!

Jack was supposed to watch me put my mouth under water, and then I was supposed to do it with him. It went pretty good!


On Sunday, we went to Belle Isle. The trees were so pretty!

We did some yard work outside, Jack watched in his Bumbo...

And, we tried avocado...and got the same result as sweet potato.

6 months old!

Tuesday was Jack's 6 month birthday!! We also had his 6 month appointment on Tuesday. Jack's still a little guy, but everything looks great! The Dr. was very happy with his growth and development. We talked a lot about food...yes, we can start feeding him solids now! Kind of fun, until you get to the new poopy diapers we will start seeing. Ick. Poop now has to go into the toilet. Yucko.

We do now have a problem with the monthly photos though...since Jack is now sitting up like a pro, and reaching for things he wants...and he now wants the blocks!


Jack has started to cry when I take things away from him, and he's so much better with his hands now! He really has a lot of control! And the sitting has improved so much in just a few days...he can sit forever now without tipping! It's unbelieveable how fast that skill developed!


The big news this month is food. So today, we started solids! I'm going to make Jack's baby food, and I decided to start with sweet potatoes. Here are my ice cube trays full of sweet potatoes ready to go into the freezer.

And, here is Jack's lunch of sweet potatoes and water in a sippy cup!


So, here it goes....



And, he hated it. A lot. I'm not even sure if he swallowed any...I'm going to try to thin it out some more tomorrow and see if that helps.





Also, now all the pacifiers go into the trash! My goal was to get rid of the pacifier by 6 months, and Jack pretty much weaned himself off of it. He never even wants it now! He's such a great baby!

Oh yeah, and swimming lessons start this weekend!!! I have been waiting for this since, well, way before I was ever pregnant!

We love you, Shawn.

This was Christmas of 2007 and the last photo we have of Shawn (sitting next to me, wearing a hat).

As some of you know, John's nephew Shawn died over the weekend. He was 19 years old. He was a sweet, kind hearted young man and will be missed terribly. He died of a self inflicted gunshot wound to his head. We have had a pretty rough weekend. When it happened, John was in North Carolina on business. Shawn has always been very special to John and I knew this would tear him up. And it did. He was frantic trying to get home so he could see Shawn before he died. Fortunately, he made it home. Shawn died on Friday night.

Shawn has saved 7 lives since then, thanks to organ donation. What an incredible gift!! We were praying when they were taking his organs, and it was such a good feeling that lives were going to be saved that night because of Shawn!

Visitation will be at the Vermeulen Funeral Home in Westland from 5-9 on Thursday night. The funeral Mass will be Friday morning at 10:00 am at Holy Trinity Student Chapel in Ypsilanti. In leiu of flowers, please make a donation to the funeral fund.

He is going to be missed so much. Please keep Shawn and our family in your prayers.

New stuff

Just a short update on Jack...

Tummy time has improved drastically.

He's sitting up by himself now...for a short time. You have to be ready to catch him, he tips easily! He's got an abacus because he likes beads.

And he found his feet! Finally!! Most babies do this around 4 months...He LOVES his feet. Laughs like crazy when he gets them.


And because he likes beads, he got a little bead toy for Easter.

Unfortunately, all he wants to do is eat it.

And since he can't eat it easily, he has to pull the tray off the Bumbo to get it better in his mouth.


Can you believe my baby is going to be 6 months old in a few days??

Happy Easter!

Jack had a lovely first Easter, He got an Easter basket with some new books and a little bead toy. He LOVES beads he can push around.

Jack and Marcel at church after mass. See how good Jack is sitting up??

I should wait til Easter...

But he's too dang cute to wait! It is Holy Week, anyway.

Happy Easter from Jack!

I have been scrapping...

I just haven't posted any pages. Here are some of my favorites I've done of Jack.

It's been a while.

Sorry it's been so long! I was going to update, then I went on a business trip last minute with John.

So, what's new with Jack? Well, at Jack's 5 month appointment, our doctor suggested we put Jack on Zantac in case he has reflux. We had suspected reflux in the past because Jack spits up constantly. But, he's happy, not fussy and had been gaining weight well, so the doctor didn't think medication was necessary. Now, though, the weight gain has slowed down, Jack is still spitting up like crazy and he's been coughing and congested for a LONG time. So, we are trying the Zantac. I hate that he's taking medication. I don't know if it's helping. He's still spitting up, that's for sure.

Jack had his first trip to the zoo, when my Aunt, Uncle and cousins came up. Yes, my cousins are closer to Jack's age, than my age. He is awake in this picture, but he spent the rest of the time asleep.


On Monday we left for our little trip.

Here is Jack in the car. Hi Sue! I love my hat!


I hate it when it does this though, like all of my hats do!


We had our first time swimming at the hotel pool! Jack wasn't too sure...but he was so cute! He had a worried look on his face most of the time, but he kicked his little legs whenever they were underwater!





We should have new news soon, here is a little hint...