Daisy

How has Daisy responded to the arrival of little Jack? She has done extremely well. When I was in the hospital I asked the nurse if Dustin could take one of his hospital receiving blankets from his basinet home so Daisy could smell it. Dustin left it at the house for her to sniff. When we came home we had placed Jack in the car seat on the chair in the front room and when Daisy came up from the basement she ran around the house trying to figure out who was new in the house. When she finally figured out he was in the car seat she basically sniffed him. Since the time we brought him home she has been getting used to him...and doing a little moping. When I nurse Jackson she lies underneath my legs. When Jackson is on the floor she sniffs him and gives him little kisses. Occasionally she tries to play with him and puts her paw on him. Generally this does not hurt him, but one time she scratched him and he didn't like that very much. It was just a little scratch, but a big paw in your face is scary. Daisy is a good sniffer of a dirty diaper. Whenever he has poop in his diaper she shoves her nose in his crotch...not that she doesn't do that to other people too, it is just different with Jackson. She does love him though, for an only child she has tried to share her toys, occasionally I find one of her toys in his swing with him. She waits for him to throw it to her. Much to Dustin's disappointment Jackson is still unable to throw a ball. The video below was a really cute moment when I think she decided it was okay to have a little brother and she will protect him. It was nothing asked her to do, she did it all on her own. It is followed by a moment of trying to play with him as stated above. There was to harm to the baby in the filming of this video!

8 Weeks Old

(Jack & Jared Lewis)

Jackson had his 8 week appointment last week. When we got there, they weighed him and he weighed 11 lbs. That put him at the 50% for weight, he was 25% for height and 30% for head size. He has hit all of his milestones for this age such as following objects, especially his parents, with his eyes. He is smiling purposefully and he has started putting his hands in his mouth. The coolest thing is that he has started talking...cooing, gurgling and making all kinds of fun noises.

He is growing too fast and it just seems like yesterday that he was sleeping all day and eating. He now spends most of his days awake...he only naps about an hour twice a day. While this is not much he is sleeping superbly at night. He goes down around 10:00 and does not wake until about 6:00 am. He eats then goes back to sleep for 2-3 hours and occasionally after eating he sometimes goes down for another 1-2 hours. This is great for my sleeping, but it does not allow me much time to get things done during the day. The good news is that it will work well for feeding him before I go to work.

I cannot believe that I have to go back to work in 2 weeks! I am so not looking forward to it! I never thought I would be so opposed to going back to work. If we didn't have bills to pay I would definitely work part-time, unfortunately, I have to go back to work. We did hear from the day-care we wanted to get him into and he is in. They have an opening that works perfectly with when I am returning to work (October 13th). I am going to work back in slowly and will take 3 weeks to work up to full time. I am really scared to leave him somewhere. Not so much sacred that he won't be cared for, but that they won't care for him as well as I do. I don't think any mother feels that there is anyone else in the world who would be as good as she. Not only is that a worry, but I think about all the firsts I will probably miss...I don't want to miss one second of his growing up and I don't have a choice. This is just the fact of life. There are great things about day care also and I have tried to focus on those things. He will be interacting with other children on a daily basis, he will start formal pre-school learning sooner and he won't be exposed to TV all day long. I just can't even imagine the day I will have to leave him there. I will be ready with my box of tissue and I am only planning on working 4 hours that day.

First Hike

On Sunday we took Jackson on his first hike (his Grandpa would be proud). We loaded the Bob stroller and Daisy in the car and took off for Tanner Park. Tanner Park is a off-leash area we take Daisy to.

There is a stream that runs through the middle of the gully and at the end is a swimming hole.

It is one of Daisy's favorite places to go. The ride was a little bumpy, but thanks to Grandpa Korfhage it was an easy trail to negotiate in the all-terrain Bob stroller. Jack seemed to enjoy the outing, he loves being outside. About 10 minutes in and he was already asleep. Sleeping is a good thing, but it turns him into a little bit of a bobble head.

Pumping

I am finally pumping! It is a little crazing because I thought my life revolved around Jackson's 2 hour feeding schedule, but now with the addition of the pump it definitely effects scheduling activities. Pumping is much more complicated than I anticipated. I thought that I could just pump any time I wanted, but no, that is not the case. I am lucky because just about .25 miles away from my house is a special store called the "Lactation Station" that specializes in breast feeding. I went in to ask them some questions and took my pump in with me. A friend of mine had given me her old pump. They told me that the pump should be serviced (cleaned and sanitized) and that I should use all new accessories because milk protein can remain from the previous user. I had all that done. My biggest question for them was when should I pump? With feeding him every 2 hours it did not seem feasible to fit pumping in too. The woman who owns the stores said to begin pumping 1-2 times a day 30 minutes after I breast feed. She said if he was sleeping at night more than 2 hours, which he was, that I could let my milk store build up and pump at night before I go to bed. She warned me that I would need to keep on a regular schedule because my body would be on a schedule and my milk would come in on that schedule.

I took all of her advice and went home to begin my pumping routine. The first few times I pumped I think I got about 1-2 tablespoons out of each side. As I kept up on the schedule I began to produce anywhere between 1-3 oz per side. I definitely see an increase in milk production when I stay hydrated. Last weekend I did get off my schedule and it was amazing how much this decreased my milk production and it took about a week to get back on schedule with good milk production.

The first time Dustin gave him a bottle was a cool experience for him. I think it made him feel much more involved. For me, the first time, I have to admit I cried a little. I was so happy for Dustin, but for me it felt like I had lost a little importance...I know that is not true, but it was just the feeling I got. I was the sole provider and all the sudden he could go on without me if he needed too. Now that I have come to terms with this loss of control, it is a reassuring feeling to know that if I am gone for more than 2 hours he will not be screaming because he is starving to death. While we could now go out and leave him for more that 2 hours that has not happened yet...I'm just not ready.

He has had a couple of outings to Layton High School football games (my clinic covers their injuries) and he loves football. The first game was in Salt Lake and Dustin came with me and the second game he and I went just the two of us. He is so good...I put him in his sling and he is awake for the first half, but by the second half he is asleep.

Overall, things are going well. He has his occasional fussy moments, but for the most part we are cruising along and I am not looking forward to my return to work in 4 weeks.

Videos

So I have finally figured out how to get video onto the computer and put it on the blog. My sister-in-law, Kari, called me the other day and told me that she is constantly checking the blog for new updates so that motivated me to figure this out. Thanks Kari! Although you do know that I will expect you to do the same so I can see my future niece. I must say, please forgive the amateur video, Dustin and I are just learning how to use the camera. The camera actually came in the mail the day we went to the hospital so we did not have any time to practice.



The first video is from Jack's second day of life. It was the first time he was allowed to leave the nursery and come down to our room. You should notice his huge cone head...luckily his head is now a normal size and nice and round.

7-21-08




The second and third video are from when my mom came to visit. I think if she could have she would have held Jackson 24 hours a day. She is such a proud grandma.

8-05-08




8-09-08




The fourth video is from when my dad came to visit. It is a good thing that Grandpa doesn't live too close because Jackson would be walking when he was 4 months old and out backpacking by his first birthday.



8-20-08


All these videos were taken about 2 weeks apart and it is amazing how in such a short time Jack changes so much. I will keep on adding new video to attempt to keep up with his growth (it happens too quickly for me). We did have a bath time video, but we have to re-shoot to maintain a G rating! Watch for "Bath-time" coming to a Blog near you!

Football

Jackson and I are just sitting here at home while Dad gets to go with Grandpa Treanor to the first Ute home game. We called his doctor last week to see if we needed to do anything to protect his ears at the game...the medical assistant came back and said that the doctor felt that it would be best not to take him to the game yet because of his weak immune system. At his 8 week follow-up appointment we will have to talk with her to see if he will make it to the next game. Luckily the next home game is not for 3 more weeks!

Even though we couldn't go to the game we got Jack all set in his Ute game day outfit so he could watch the game from home and cheer on those Utes! Before that game started we sat with Dad and watched the refs give the game to BYU when playing University of Washington. Those Dawgs just can't seem to do anything right (even though the ball was taken right out of their hands with an awful unsportsmanlike conduct call). It felt very odd rooting for University of Washington...it is the only time that could occur...when they are playing BYU.

We heard from Uncle Brian today who texted us from the Duck game against Utah State. The Ducks trounced the Aggies by a score of 66 to 24. The game wasn't on TV here but we still cheered "Go Ducks!"

Grandma Eickemeyer

On August 26th Grandma Eickemeyer came to visit (Dustin's mom). She flew in by herself because Grandpa Eickemeyer and Uncle Eric were not able to make it out this trip. It was very nice having her here. We have not had the chance to spend a lot of time together, just the girls, and it was nice to see her. She was very helpful here around the house with laundry, cooking and of course diaper changes.

Of course with her visit two events had to happen...1. we ate at her (and Dustin's) favorite Mexican restaurant "La Frontera". 2. Leslie made her famous chicken dish that Dustin has loved since he was a kid. It was Jackson's first time at a restaurant and he slept through the whole thing.

Leslie, Jack and I would go for walks every morning with Daisy. We took a trip to Red Butte Gardens, where Jack again slept through the entire trip. He loves being carried around in the Baby Bjorn by his dad.

Leslie had a nice visit and I think she had a hard time leaving her grandson behind. We look forward to seeing her again very soon!