Too, Too Cute

The Trouble Maker

I snuggled Jack up in bed with me and after getting drowsy myself I suddenly realized I could smell the vegetable oil from the tacos I'd made for dinner. For some reason, that smell just turns my stomach. So...after making sure the Jax-Snax was securely walled in with pillows, I got up and tackled the kitchen at one o'clock in the morning. Over the running water in the sink I heard the distinct sounds of a little boy trying to get into mischief! After snuggling him to sleep again, I laid him in his cradle softly chanting his Daddy's oft repeated mantra, "The lights are out and the snack bar is closed. Go to sleep!"

And this is what he was doing two hours later at three o'eight in the morning! And after his night of partying he still woke up smiling and chipper...at six thirty!

Bumbo Overhaul

That gadget on the left is a child harness. The package on the right is some super-duper, heavy duty, extra power, industrial strength Velcro. After determining that The Jack Snack is way too small to fit this thing, and that no matter how I placed it on him, it always rode up to his armpits, some rethinking was thunk. Yes that is a word, I looked it up on Dictionary.com!
I tried to get a clear picture of the finished product, but it's black on black. Mostly black and zero clear. I flipped the harness around, and turned it upside down and put Jack's pudgies through the spaces where the shoulders are supposed to go, and secured it in front. It looks more like a park swing now. After shortening the "shoulder" straps around his diapered butt, I flipped the excess strap ends upward and slapped some of that magically strong Velcro on the ends. Next I slapped some on the black plastic piece in back and loaded Jack into it and secured him in place. It worked like a charm!

Jack begs to differ!
Actually he was happily slapping the play tray until one of the burps he refused to give up this morning escaped as a painful fartie. That's when he made this face and started wailing! Poor baby!
Here he is sitting up nice and tall without toppling over or swinging wildly to the sides. Too bad my camera takes it's sweet time and I didn't catch him with his eyes open.

He was quite happy to be sitting up in his newly modified Bumbo with some suction toys stuck to the tray!
I can't wait to have another go at the cereal tomorrow morning!

Princess and Her Puppy

I know...Eeeewwwwww! But look what happened!
When Princess sat back and stopped licking Jack...
...Jack sat himself forward to get her! Forward! Are ya' listening 'developmental delays?' He did it himself!
There were many quiet little breathy "Ha! ha-ha-ha! Ha-haa-ha-haaaa's!"
And then he started saying "bbbbbrrrrpp! bbbrrrppp!" See that pucker he has going? See that dimpled cheek?
And then he fell back for a little rest...
Then he sat himself forward again for more! See? He's pulling himself into a sitting position with the front of his onesie!
Princess apparently is all the 'therapy' Jack needs! She got him to sit forward on his own (core strength!) twice, and she had him doing a pretty good pucker for about a minute (oral motor muscles!) I went back into the photo archives just to see...these pictures plus a few more were taken over a six minute period! Six minutes! The boy was sitting up, on his own, for at least four minutes! You rock Baby Head! And Mommy and Princess love you!

Lynch Mob

Seriously...as in a mob of kids named Lynch! These are from January 4th, 2010. Will was so very tiny!This is Debbie, Conner holding William, and The Pod Pie
Debbie, Conner and Willie
Here's most of the group! The Girlie, Ryan-the-seldom-photographed! Debbie, Conner holding The Jack-Snack, and The Pod Pie. See who's holding Jack in every picture? Auntie Bits had to pry the baby from Connor's grasp and then she only got to hold him for about 30 seconds before Conner swiped him back! True story!

These are from June 19th, 2010. The kids were so disappointed that Will wasn't going to be baby-sat at their house after all, since I didn't get work, that we drove over for a visit instead!
This is Conner.
He loves baby Jack! The feeling is mutual!
And he volunteered to do diaper "doody!" Great job on your first ever diaper change Conner!
Conner, Jack & Kyle
Jack will sleep in the famed Lynch family cradle when he sleeps over at Auntie Bits' house. If the kids ever put him down that is!
Kyle
Kyle Debbie
Debbie
This is Auntie Bits and I. I have yet to find the photo-shop tabs for "make us skinny," "remove the shine from apple cheeks," and "reduce my turkey neck!" At the very least there should be a "remove the lettuce stuck in my teeth" tab. Dang it all! And now I realize that the littlest Lynch is no where to be found in our pictures. Ryan was playing video games with My Girlie!

While They Slept...

...the sleep of the innocent, their Mommy danced and cavorted with the camera!

I have finally learned that trying to get a close up will yield an unusable, unsatisfactory, blurry print of what could have been. Now I crop the prints to get what I want to highlight...like his adorable foot, snug between his sister's legs. That second toe just naturally folds over the others when he's relaxed.
Two little hands...
...one giant love.
I love the way she holds him, even in her sleep.
His hands and feet are the sweetest things I've ever seen...
...until I see his face!

Losing Bleu

We lost our wonderful Bleu on Saturday, June 12th. He was only three years old. I will not say that losing a pet is like losing a child. We've been there with a pregnancy loss and it's nothing like that hell. Nor will I insult those who've grieved the loss of a birthed baby, child, teenager, an adult child. As a trauma nurse, I've seen their raw wounds too many times to compare it to the loss of even a beloved pet. I guess it's more like losing an intimate piece of my soul. The Beloved is a wreck. It hurts him more deeply. He's always had a deep connection with those who are blessed enough to gain his love, his trust. Pets included. In my grand plan I'd planned on posting a few of Bleu's puppy pictures. But I can't find the photo cards they're on. Dang.

New Pictures

Yes I know I have been slim on the pictures lately. So here's one...My Little Pup is snuggling up to his very favorite snuggle buddy ever! I think the feeling is mutual for The Girlie...

And a few more!Jack thinks this is better then an 'E Ticket Ride!'
Those of you who are mature enough to know what an 'E Ticket Ride' is will know how much Jack enjoyed this...
...and for those of you who don't...well, I don't want to acknowledge that you're old enough to use a computer. Because that would make me old.

Rice Cereal, Take Three

We had another go at the rice cereal. Jack hated the entire affair. He tried to be cooperative and in good spirits, but with the first bite he jerked back off the spoon in a painful flinching manner and it went downhill from there. He cheered up quickly and was game to have another few bites, but when he jerked back again and started crying really hard, I called it quits. I let him drink part of his bottle sitting in the Bumbo seat, one hand holding the bottle, one hand holding Jack up, until he was calm and in good spirits again. Once he'd relinquish the bottle without crying, I pulled him out, wiped him up and snuggled him for the rest of the bottle. And his mouth? He was more than happy to chew on my finger while I inspected every square cm. No bumps. No lumps. No flinching. Not on the gums, not on the roof of his mouth, nothing. No redness. No tell-tale whitish areas. Poor baby. And now that I've purchased the play tray for the Bumbo seat, bibs, spoons and bowls just for this momentous milestone, I'm scrapping the project for another time when he has better head control. It's either that or staple gun his clothes to the black plastic support I've wedged into the seat.

My First Night Back to Work & Did He Really Do That?

Okay, so my first night back to work? Yeah. Not so much. I work for a registry. A registry that has called me every night this week to see if I'm available. So yesterday evening, after sleeping and packing and getting everything ready to go back, when the phone rang I expected something like this: "Hi Tracy. Will you go to so-and-so hospital," or "Hi Tracy. You're booked at so-and-so, can I tell them you'll be there?" Instead I hear this: "Hi Tracy. This is D. No one needs you tonight." Okay then. Do not pass Go, Do not collect $200.00. Does anyone know if this amount has changed? Has our economy affected the Monopoly game? Dang. All dressed up and no where to go. But we did go! To celebrate Jack turning 7 months old yesterday, he and I had a very nice and quiet leisurely meal at Rubios!

This morning I was snuggling my Snork-Pork on my lap. He was playing with one of his favorite things - a spitty cloth. When he dropped it over the side, he immediately leaned over to see where it went. Then the making with the fussy noises until I retrieved it for him. Is this "object permanence?" Isn't he a bit young for that yet? I don't know. I was just tickled pink that he leaned over to look for it! Way to go Jack!

My Little Squee

I had to go pick up my Little Williker from the sitter this morning. Now he's in my arms where he should be! It's so nice to have him home even though he has just now started screaming like a banshee. He's screaming because he's gassy. And he's pooping. I can smell it. There's nothing else that smells like baby poop. Except all 3 of my kids' baby poop. The Girlie and The Pod Pie smelled exactly like KFC's Original Recipe fried chicken. Not the extra crispy. The Original Recipe. Kinda makes ya want to run out and get a big ol' bucket, doesn't it? And Jack? Jack smells - well - like raw sewage. Always has. Partly because he was constipated so much of the time and partly because he's now on a soy formula. I think mostly it's because Jack finds it so entertaining to sneak out a diaper bomb when no one's looking! Thanks to the Simply Thick that a bloggy friend named Jeanette sent us, he's no longer constipated. Meaning he doesn't turn red and bear down and tighten up from his hair to his toes trying to pass a tiny nugget. (Another chicken reference!) So there's no warning. And all eyes turn to Jack amid much shouted "Ewwws!" And he thinks this is funny. I'll go change him...

So the plan is to soak up Jack until I have to leave him at the sitter's tonight. Yep. I'm going back to work. Tonight. The Olders already spend a few days with The Other Mommy every few weeks. She misses them, they miss her, and they get to see their Other Family. After so many years under The Other Mommy's roof, we're a family of four parents, eight kids, two homes. So, The Olders are still at The Other Mommy's house, The Dear Daddy already left for work, and it's just Jack and I at home. It's odd, but it's good. The Olders get their special time with The Other Mommy and I get Jack all to myself!

The Divine Chromosome

I found this article on another blog. My brain cells are too tired to remember which blog, but I wanted to share it with you. I got so sick and tired of hearing people say "Oh Downs kids are so happy," or "They're such loving and sweet kids." They are loving and sweet. Most babies are. Even those with typical chromosomes. And "They" shouldn't be lumped into a category and set aside. Hearing someone described as "Downs" just ticks me off. My standard answer became simply, "I think the reason people with Down syndrome are described as 'always happy' (sarcastic font) is that the extra gene diffuses the capacity for contempt and malice that most people are capable of." Michael's Dad describes it better than I can. Please do read this heart pleasing article!

Mothers...

Hide your daughters! He's a handsome rake!He's sportin' a new haircut, courtesy of The Other Mommy!

What?

Every now and then, something still takes me aback. Today it was packing My Li'l Pup's diaper bag and packing a separate one for me. As in a purse. An actual purse. A non-diaper toting vessel designed for all things not baby related. Something a grown woman carries.

Let me explain. It's no news that Jack was a surprise baby. I was just getting my head around the fact that we were indeed having another baby when, low and behold, we were bringing him home. Another newborn. Another baby! And a few weeks later I was standing at the sink washing baby bottles when a few of the brain cells stunned into silence by the positive pregnancy test suddenly woke up and sprang to life! It just hit me. I'm washing baby bottles. Baby Bottles! Do you hear me? Are you listening? My brain was shouting to myself! B-A-B-Y B-O-T-T-L-E-S! For my baby. Not a grand baby or a friend's baby. My baby. At my age. It was surreal. But still good once I shook off the shock and picked my jaw up off the floor.

So this afternoon I am taking all 3 of the Squees over to The Other Mommy's. (BTW, I am not misspelling squeeze. It's Squee. As in little person. Plural of little person.) The Olders are having their fun special time with her, and Jack is tagging along so that The Beloved and I can have another go at our anniversary dinner sans Squees. Then on Saturday night I am going back to work. But I already warned The Other Mommy that I will likely be compelled, driven, to pick up Jack Saturday morning and return him to her on the way to work. She fully expects that either The Beloved and/or I will show up after dinner tonight to collect him.

So back to this story. I get side tracked easily, no? This was just another one of those times when WHAM-O I was gobsmacked by the fact that we have another BABY! And it's not in a bad way by any means. It's like finding the best birthday present you've ever gotten in your life, then forgetting about it briefly while you open other wonderful gifts, and then going back to that totally awesome present you opened a few minutes ago. It's really not a bad thing at all. Maybe like waking up to find that the wonderful dream you were having wasn't a dream after all, and you are really living it. Only it's better than the dream. But it still knocks me off my feet every time it happens. This is my life now. And it ROCKS!

And having remembered the other times I finally was able to transition from a diaper bag full time to a purse all the time, it made my heart silly-happy to remember all the times I'd be fishing for change in the check out line, or Kleenex to wipe a nose or whatever, and out would come toys, quite frequently a screwdriver, a Little Tikes Cow, various little treasures The Girlie had stuffed into my purse, "For Mommy." I never did understand the attraction my daughter had for screw drivers as a toddler, but there was almost always one in my purse. One day Grammy was just leaving our house when I spied the familiar black and yellow handle of a Stanley Phillips head poking out of her bag. I gestured to it. She asked, "Is that yours?" I saw my purse on the table and said, "Nope. I've still got mine!" As she hugged me goodbye she whispered that she'd leave it in the mailbox. Goofy kid.

And that memory led to others. Frequently in the morning I'd wake to find several toys lined up on the edge of the coffee table. These were the treasures The Girlie had lovingly deposited into her Daddy's work shoes to take to work with him. The Dear Daddy, bleary eyed from getting up at 3 am, would shove his feet into his boots, only to have to remove them again after some sharp piece of Lego had permanently crippled his toes. Magnetic alphabet letters. Plastic Easter eggs. McDonald's Happy Meal toys. One time, she'd pulled out a whole box of wipes and stuffed them into his boots one by one. They resembled tissue paper sticking out of a gift bag. You may ask, where was I when this was going on? I don't know. I'm pretty sure it was his turn to watch her while she did that particular trick. Or maybe not. The Dear Daddy still swears, "Every night, the last thing I did was empty my boots and put them by the door. In the morning they're sitting in front of the couch, once again loaded with sharp little toys to shred my feet!" I still remind him that they were her treasures she wanted him to have. "Well it's not so much of a treasure when I pull the bloody stump that used to be my foot out of the boot to find a Barbie doll permanently impaled in my flesh!" But he says it with a big goofy grin.

And so I am rather happily looking forward to all the little delights having another baby brings. Even if the realization that we have another baby still surprises me and catches me off guard sometimes. It's still a really good surprise! And I'm going to cling to that, rather than face the fact that for the first time ever, Jack will be out of my sight for a whole night. Sniffle