Firsts

It's amazing how time flies. It seems like Jonathan and I can't remember a day without little Jackson in our lives. It's been 11.5 weeks and he is growing like a weed and starting to hit those milestones.  Sometimes I find myself just sitting and staring at Jackson, marveling about how perfectly made he is.  Other times I am running around like a crazy lady, heavy diaper bag on one shoulder, infant carrier on an arm, grocery bags in the other, Lincoln following along behind like the good dog that he is.  Here are some of Jackson's firsts that we have enjoyed!

-Jackson started to smile and now smiles more consistently. What a joy to go into his room in the morning, lean over his crib and see his face light up! His smile makes me melt and even cry tears of joy.  

-He tracks all types of objects and faces very well now

-He can see longer distances and follow us across the room

-He recognizes voices, mostly of mom and dad when we come near him

-He LOVES his hands! We have a thumb sucker in the Byrne household, which is ok with us if he's a self-soother. Means we don't have to run for the pacifier as often at night.  But if sucking his thumb is good, the thumb and first finger are even better! Try to put those two fingers in your mouth...yes, it's pretty awkward to watch him.

-And with the discovery of hands comes DROOL. It's everywhere. Little trails of drool. Big puddles on his clothes, bib, hands, sheets. Thank goodness for sheet savers and bibs.

-Bath time is fun now; no more crying! 

-He's wearing size 2 diapers

-We have pretty much put away all 0-3 month clothes.  He's consistently wearing 3-6 or even some straight 6 month clothes. Dang. Chunker :)

-His extensor muscles are strong enough to do airplane, but we go easy on that one because I get covered in drool and/or spit-up

-He has slept "through the night" - 6 hours in one stretch! Technically it's not through the night since he goes to bed at 7/8pm and it must be after 12pm to count, but hey, 6 hours is 6 hours and I LOVE to go to bed at that time with him.

-When you are with someone 24/7 and one person is sick, the other one is not far behind. I got sick on New Years day and Jackson got his first cold 4 days later. It's so sad to listen to his little cough.  

-Now that he knows he has hands, he can hit thing on purpose. He loves the playtime mat that we got from the Bonners. So far he prefers to hit with his left hand and he likes the rattle more than other noise-less toys.