Old Sturbridge Village

Again it's been a while since we've posted. This time we've got a good excuse - we moved! And while that was going on, Jack was busy experimenting with new foods. He started a few weeks ago with sweet potatoes. He didn't like them at first. In fact, he cried sweet potato tears, as you can see here:



He did eventually warm up to them, and also tried green beans (which he never did enjoy), then applesauce (he loves it), carrots (his favorite veggie so far), and bananas (a close second to applesauce).

But he's been doing more than just eating. His teething, which has been bothering him for the last 6 weeks, seems to have subsided for now, so he's sleeping through the night again (still no teeth, though).

For a while, he stopped rolling over from back to stomach, but he's doing that constantly now. In fact, we often find him on his stomach looking around in his crib.

We were looking for someplace new to take him today...but we ended up taking him someplace really old - Old Sturbridge Village. There weren't many places Jack wanted his picture taken at, but he did insist on joining a band while we were there:


He was so happy, he rewarded us by showing us his new skill - sitting unsupported!

A day at the zoo

Today was Jack's four month doctor's appointment (he turned four months old yesterday), so we celebrated with a trip to the zoo...but before we get to that, we've got some catching up to do.

On most days, Jack helps me with my work...



But then we bought him a new dragon...little did we know that it makes him sleepy.



After the effects of the sleep dragon wear off, he usually spends some time jumping and laughing in his jumper.



On Sunday, we took Jack to the park for the first time. It took him a while to warm up to the idea (he doesn't like the sun in his face)



...but he did eventually have some fun, particularly on this dinosaur:



On Monday, Adam came over for a few hours. Jack wanted to make it easier on us I guess, because he basically fed himself.



Jack loves to watch Adam, especially when he catches Adam enjoying his toys!



Anyway, back to our day. The doctor was a little late, so to pass the time, Jack rolled over from his back to his stomach for the first time! We didn't get it on video like we did for his first stomach-to-back roll, but we did catch a picture of it. I guess this takes a little imagination, but trust us, he's rolling.



We decided to reward him with a trip to see giraffes for the very first time. He was pretty anxious, and he jumped on the first animal he saw:



Turns out, that wasn't even a real animal. Jack was pretty irritated, so we steered him towards the zebras. Again, he mistook this wooden zebra head for the real thing!



Finally, we found the giraffes and took a family picture - the Sjolander family with some giraffe family.



After finding the giraffes, we let our guard down for a second, and that's all it took! We barely made it out alive.



Next time, we'll be ready!

Pictures

Rolling Jack

Jack just learned to roll over! Carly and I were sitting in bed with him and Carly put him on his stomach on the bed. He immediately rolled over towards his right side onto his back! I ran for my phone, and by the time I got back, he had done it again twice. Over the next ten minutes, he rolled over probably 15 times, going to his right and to his left. In fact, I think it's safe to say that he won't be putting up with tummy time any longer. We got it on video, but we didn't bother to take pictures, since a still image of him on his back or stomach doesn't really illustrate it.

Cereal

Today was Jack's first cereal meal. What a mess! Other than the flying food, it went really well. He didn't get sick or anything, and he was pretty happy to eat it. Maybe he'll be hard to feed some other foods, but I guess he's lulling us into a sense of security. I'd like to post a picture of the event, but we were too busy filming video. Since it went so well, though, he'll be eating cereal again tomorrow. Hopefully we can get some good pictures then.

In case eating cereal wasn't enough for one day, Jack made some big progress with his hand-eye coordination. He was grabbing and tossing toys all day - well, the ones that didn't fit in his mouth. He even pulled a placemat off the table at Nana and Grampa's house.

All in all, I'd say he's becoming quite Super...

Some random pictures

It's been a while, and I think we should have some pictures that have been piling up before moving on to today's news (which I guess you already read...)



Jack plays hard - and really tires himself out.



Here's Jack and Adam sailing a sea of striped shirts.



Nana and Grampa kept Jack busy at Outback.



Here's one of the first pictures of the whole family.

Shades

Jack picked out some new shades today, to keep him looking cool all summer.

As usual, we took a slew of unrelated pictures:

Raegan

After getting all packed, Jack came with us to Vermont to meet his new cousin Raegan. She was born at 3:38 AM on April 26th, weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces and 19 1/2 inches tall.



Jack seemed a little unsettled at the idea of having 2 new cousins in the same month, but I think he's getting used to it.

Jack in the box

Before heading up to Vermont to meet his new cousin, Jack had to get his stuff packed - including himself, in this box:

He soon tired of my interference, and wanted the spotlight alone.

A new skill

Jack just learned a new skill! He now turns his head to Carly or I if we call him (usually with a smile). It's wierd - he couldn't do it thirty minutes ago, and now he does it every time.

A few pictures

It's been a while since I posted any pictures, so here's a few to look at. Enjoy!

Sleep Realized

I'd like to say that today is a landmark day, but the truth is that he's been sleeping through the night occasionally for two weeks or so - I just didn't really think of it that way. According to that book I mentioned earlier, we've been feeding Jack on 4 hour intervals - 8 AM, 12 PM, 4 PM, and 8 PM. It almost immediately removed one night time feeding. If I remember right, he would usually eat 3 times a night before that. Then he started skipping his first night feeding, which would have been around 12 or 1. So after a week or so of the new schedule, he would wake up around 3 to eat, and then around 5:30...and he'd want to eat again around 7 AM, so getting him to wait until 8 was a chore, hence his lament pictured a few weeks ago. But that didn't last long. Now he sometimes wakes up around 1 or 2, but it seems to be less that he's hungry and more that he just needs to be picked up for a few minutes. More often he sleeps right through to 5:30 or 6 AM. I used to think of that as a failure - that he wasn't sleeping through the night unless he slept until his next feeding at 8 AM.

Last night he slept from 9 PM to 6:30 AM. I'm calling that a success, and as far as I'm concerned, this is first official night of complete uninterrupted sleep. So, at two months and 6 days, he slept through the night. I didn't bother trying to put him back to sleep. Instead, I gave him 2 ounces of formula, and sat with him until his 8 AM feeding. He was all smiles and lots of cooing. In fact, I think he said "I let you get a full night sleep, Dad. You're welcome."

Adam

At about 7:30 PM tonight, Jack became somebody's cousin! Adam Timothy Sjolander was born to my brother Roy and his wife Amy, weighing in at 7 pounds 14 ounces, and 20 1/2 inches tall. Everybody is doing fine.

Jack and the rabbit

Jack has been hassling us for weeks - "When can I meet the Easter Bunny?", "Why aren't we going to see the Easter Bunny now?", and so on... He even bought a special bunny suit with ears and a cotton tail. We finally caved. Being his usual social self, he invited his girlie Julianna. He was pretty excited, throwing smiles around all over the place, occasionally drooling and flailing his arms around in...glee, I guess.

Daddy & me

Now that we're a bit more used to taking Jack out, we decided to venture into the mall without a stroller. Jack slept peacefully.

Jack's been enjoying his new jumper. He's able to press the button to make the sounds play, but he doesn't understand that he's doing it. His feet don't touch the floor yet, so he stands on a cushion.

First smiles

We've been seeing smiles for the last week or two, and I finally got one on film!

The quest for sleep

At my mother's suggestion, I picked a book to help Jack sleep through the night. Today is day one of our attempt. Sadly, this means postponing Jack's morning feeding until 8:00 AM, much to Jack's lament:

He did eventually make it to 8:00 and then settled down, allowing me to score some quality sleep time:

A boy and his dog

Jack kicked back after a long day of shopping while Jackie stood guard.

Jack's new camera

Jack brought us to Best Buy yesterday and picked out a camera for us to take pictures of him with. It's got this neat thingy where you filter out all colors except one. Check out this blue picture. I feel so professional!

Our favorite pictures

While I'm waiting to get ahold of Sunday's pictures, I thought I'd post our two favorites so far.

Here's Carly's favorite:

And mine:

It's funny - he already looks different than he did in these pictures. Luckily, we're taking pictures almost constantly.