Leila Sloane Rocconi

 I'm an aunt, again.  Cullen's sister, Faren, and her husband Dave welcomed their baby girl into the world last night about 8:30.  She weighed in at 7lbs.2.oz. and was 19 inches long.  She favors her daddy's side of the family in my opinion.  We think she is just beautiful and perfect in every way.  I can't wait for she and Jett to meet.  He can teach her all things boyish and she can teach him how to treat a lady.  Christmas at the Pollards will never be the same.

Daddy at Work

Wednesday when I went to meet Leila, our new niece, I left Jett with Cullen at work.  I was nervous the whole time, not of how Cullen would do with him, but of germs.  I have become very aware that the flu is everywhere.  I germ-x and wash my hands constantly.  Time seemed to fly when I was away from him and within an hour I had picked up lunch and was getting a rare treat of eating while not holding a baby.  Apparently, somedays in Cullen's office is like Daddy Daycare, so he was finally glad to be one of the Dads I think.

Trying to Smile

Five Weeks

Our big boy is five weeks old.  The weeks have flown by, my time at home is winding down.  Our schedule is working nicely.  It has been a little hard and one day even I was tired of him crying, but I worked through it and is had made life a little easier for all of us.  I realize it may have been a little early to put him in his Bumbo Seat, but he has been doing really well with his head control, so we went for it, and it lasted about five minutes, if that long.  His latest love this week is his bouncy seat.

Catching Up with Cody

 My sweet friend, Cody, came to visit Jett last Saturday.  I haven't seen him since July, which just seems crazy considering that for a year I saw him almost bimonthly and we walked almost everyday in the summer while we were in summer school.  He drove over from Cleveland and we were ale to catch up and hang out for a couple of hours.

Papa Jet

My dad, the original Jet, has never been a real baby person.  In fact most babies are slightly terrified of him because of his usual scruffy beard, and deep voice.  His other grandchildren have never lived within less than three hours of him and most visits, take place around holidays.  It is safe to say that my dad is quite taken with Jett.  He dropped by Friday morning about 9:30 and stayed through Jett's play time. He couldn't wait to hold him and talk to him. I could not have prayed for Jett to have been a better baby, he was alert and trying to talk the whole time.

One Month

 We have been blessed with this sweet baby boy for a month now.  I can't believe how fast the days have flown and how some nights have seemed to drag on forever.  I am thankful that he is adjusting to his schedule better each day, and I am learning exactly how to adjust to his schedule daily as well.  It is a difficult task learning to adapt a life that has been foot loose and fancy free, to the life with a newborn.

Here are some quick facts about Jett at a month old.

 *He is more alert each day and is focusing on objects more and more.  

*We weighed him and he weighed in at 9lbs. 2oz.  

*He has begun to love laying on his back and just looking around and he has really started working his mouth, trying to talk to us.  

*He sleeps every night in his Nap Nanny, and he still screams at most bath times.  

*He doesn't like change- to have his diaper changed or his clothes changed.

*He has managed to outgrow several of his little outfits.

Some of his nicknames- Fussy Pants, Big Boy, Butter, Sweet Love, Doll Baby, Little Man, Love-Love, Boo-Boo, and any other name that rolls out of my mouth in an effort to quiet him, keep him entertained, or just show him love.

Owl Baby

Meeting Mary Leighton

Jett met Mary Leighton McCarty this week. They came over and brought a delicious dinner and the babies were able to meet.  It was nice just getting to see them, since it has been few and far between in the last months.  I can't wait for these babies to grow up as friends.

Morning

There Goes the Neighborhood

Outside my front door this is happening. While I keep a baby asleep, and try to nap myself. I'm sure a parking lot will be made and I will have a great view of concrete from my front door. On the bright side this could be awesome for when we turn our house into a restaurant someday with plenty of parking.

Ready to Read

 So, this week we started story time with Jett.  I know we must be horrible parents we waited an entire month to read to this baby, but the first month was about survival, his and ours.  My friend and co worker, Betty Duke, once taught gifted and at one of my showers she gave Jett the black and white books and some flash cards that are similar.  Jett LOVES them.  So I decided to make the most out of playtime yesterday morning and bring out these books.  Every time he would get bored with a picture and look away I would just turn the page and he would stare at the new one.  Pages he loves the most are the snake page and the page with faces on them.

Papaw???

So this week we are trying the name Papaw out for Mr. Jimmy as his grandpa name.  He says Jett can calling whatever comes out first, but I kinda like Papaw better than any other option, because it is original to this family.  Not one person is called that on either side of the family or ever has been. Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Debi came over Monday to see Jett and Mr. Jimmy finally got to hold Jett and give him a bottle.  We then all sat and tried to keep our newly "scheduled" baby awake before his bath time.

Sing Along with Sadie

 My mom comes over on her way home from work every afternoon to offer help if I need any with Jett.  I always take her up because sometimes it's nice to have adult conversation.  As we are trying to get him on a schedule it is helpful that it is just around the time for his playtime.  She recites poetry to him, nursery rhymes, and Jett's favorite is the sing along time.  Move over Ethel Merman Jett loves a show tune.  The song time is at least thirty minutes of great entertainment for me.  There is no rhyme or reason to the order of songs, just loud and long.  At first it begins as a tour through the decades with songs such as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Daddy Took the T-Bird Away, and The Age of Aquarius, it then morphs into a tribute to the Carpenters.  Next, you have a little Tony Orlando with Knock Three Time on the Ceiling.  Then comes the show tunes, with a nice sampling of everything from Mame to New York New York, throw in some tunes from Bye Bye Birdie and begin to slow it down with Happiness Is from You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.  Finally, Sadie rounds it out with some hymns and it is just about time for his nap.  Just for the record, Jett is fond of The Old Rugged Cross, not one of my all time favorites, he doesn't like Because He Lives, which is one of my favorites, and we both love The Family of God.  I personally end our singalong time with a soul winning invitational hymn, but Sadie likes a jazzed of version of Jesus Loves Me to be her encore.  While all this is fresh on my mind now, I want to have record of the silly things we did to entertain him in years to come.

Cry it Out

Not a month ago I wrote a post called Walk it Out.  Well, just four short weeks later I am writing about not walking to get our baby here, but letting him cry it out to get our baby on a schedule.  I always planned while teaching that I would save all my sick days and personal and would have a long great maternity leave. And I would have...except I moved schools not once but twice, and I didn't plan my pregnancy, and my days all 43 I have are sitting in my state retirement, so armed with just 9 sick and personal, and 10 vacation days, and thankfully disability insurance I am set to take just 7 weeks off with Jett.  I thought that sounded like such a short time, and really it has flown by, but there are days I long for my office and my desk and seeing adults, and I wonder what would I have done if I had been able to take the planned 12 weeks off.  I say all that to say, that baby boy has to be on a schedule in just one month.  So pray for us as this week we will be crying it out in an effort to get baby boy to self soothe to some degree and sleep without being held.  This is not for the faint of heart, I will post updates as we make progress.

Don't Call Homeland Security Just Yet

About a week ago, when Jett started waking up, I found it hard to get him to go back to sleep.  He wanted to be held and would just fight sleep.  So in my moment of insanity, I realized that if while I was holding him I used a light swaddle blanket and put it over my shoulder he would just kinda get bored and fall asleep, since he didn't really have any stimulation or anything to look at.  In the middle of the night, things like this make complete since to a sleep deprived mother, who has thought that maybe the light from the television is just to bright and is keeping him awake.  Well, one afternoon when he hadn't napped very much I told my mom about my new trick.  I leave her to hold him while I shower, and when I come back to check on them, this is what I find.  I did a double take.  Yes, my mom took me seriously on the head covering, and made a little turban for Little Boy Blue.  I laughed and laughed and she kept saying, "Well, you said he liked his head covered."  Bless his heart, we shouldn't call Homeland Security just yet, I promise this is not the beginning of a sleeper cell of terrorists in Pontotoc, just a grandmother's misunderstanding.

Just A Swanging

In an effort to get this sweet boy on a schedule we have now instituted specific play time activities.  He is learning to like his swing.  

 Just about the time he gets ready to be completely over it all, his little hand or foot accidentally hits the rattle ball and he is intrigued again.  Today he is listening to some fantastic music with it, that has gone from classical, to a fancy rendition of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain -his favorite.  Flight of the Bumblebee sent him over the edge.

Weekend Warrior

 I love the weekends, because Cullen is home, and i have help.  I will say it now, I could never be a stay at home mom, I love being around people too much.  This weekend, I felt like we are getting into a rhythm, a new normal.  i know as sure as I type that, Monday will bring new challenges, but a month in,and it is getting better.

Text from my Mother

Mid morning today I get this text. Yes, she is one of those women terrified of storms. I spent most of my childhood in the hall during a storm. Yes, she stockpiled food and water for the Mayan end of the world prediction. But know that we never went to a storm shelter and she now is planning on gifting her food inventory to the food pantry. And let's pray the asteroid misses us, I'm gonna need we to be here at 3:30 so I can get a shower.

Lucky Stars

Whenever I see your smiling face, 

I have to smile myself, because I love you...Yes, I do.

When you give me your pretty little pout, 

It turns me inside out...

And, I thank my lucky stars...

That you are who you are.

Temper Temper

If Jett doesn't get fed on his demand this face comes out! It makes me think of the Hulk...when he says, "you won't like me when I'm angry."

Happy Valentine's Day

Three Weeks

Jett is three weeks old.  This was the week I looked most forward to, because people said three weeks nursing and it gets easy...what a joke, it is still work and still a mind game, but we are surviving.

This week Jett has spent more time awake and honestly more time being held.  He may just be training us rather than us training him.  We will work on that come next week.  He wants to talk so badly, he just works his little mouth and scares himself when noises actually come out.

This week he went to Uncle Wayne's house for the first time, and met his cousins Daisy and Jason.
With no official measurements I think he has grown in length, his little feet seem to pop out of his gowns more and more.  I have even retired two of his first outfits already.  

D.D.

Cullen's mom has named her grandmother name as D.D.  She and Mr. Jimmy, his grandfather name is debatable, and dependent on who you ask, came over Saturday night to see Jett.  He had a great day.  He has started to wake up more and more and had two big hour and a half spans of time where he just looked around played and listened to the sights and sounds.

He hates bath time.  At the doctor Friday he told us it was fine to put him in his bathtub now, so last night was the night.  My mom is the designated bath giver.  She just does a great job, so I let her do it, since he screams from the unbuttoning of the first snap until being picked up.  She also is more kind than me, she picks him up in the middle and loves on him before putting him back down to finish bathing him. Ms. Debi wanted to witness a bath, so with three women in the kitchen you would know the only pictures taken were after he was dressed and needing to be loved on.

 Another thing I laugh about is, when someone comes over like his parents or my mom, I use that time to take a shower.  I always make sure I have a bottle on standby in case he comes undone while I'm upstairs, and no matter how quickly I get ready, it is guaranteed that bottle will be given before I come down stairs.  I tell Cullen, if he whimpers he doesn't need a bottle, but Cullen doesn't like to hear him make a noise, and thus my baby boy is gonna be in toddler clothes by Memorial Day.