Happy 4th of July

Jack's first 4th of July was packed full of adventure...as usual Mommy tried to pack as much into one day as humanly possible...Poor Jack! The day started with mommy being on call at the hospital. Usually this is not a big deal because we don't have too much going on the morning of the 4th. But this year my clinic was in a 4th of July parade and I thought it would be great for Jack to be in his first parade. In order to make this work I had to be at the hospital at 7 am and Jack had to come with me since I work so far away from home. KC, one of my co-workers, offered to watch him for an hour and a half I while I was at work. When I got off work I walked up to Jackson while he was playing on the floor with a couple of gals from the office and he looked at me like hey mom no big deal I'm having fun without you. He had so many friends and he just let everyone pass him around and hold him.

When we got to the front of the parade we went to line up and there was this guy in a 4th of July eagle costume and I thought it would be great to have Jack's picture taken with the eagle. Jack on the other hand did not think this was such a great plan. I took a couple of pictures and then the entire time until the parade started Jackson kept his eye on that eagle to make sure it wasn't going to get him again. I decided not to hold Jack on the float because he is so wiggly and instead I carried him in his back pack. He did extremely well as I tossed out candy and little squishy baseballs. He loved looking out at all of the people and rocking out to the music. He was such a champ, but because the parade was during nap time he made it about 3/4 of the way through the parade and then he zonked out.

After the parade I took Jack home and he took a long 2 hour nap. It was a good thing because after his nap it was time to go to the Garcia family BBQ. This is Amy's family and it is a BBQ we go to every 4th of July. Jack had so much fun playing with his BFF Will. They actually played well together/next to each other. Will might be bigger than Jackson, but I think Jack is more pushy. At the BBQ Jack ate more junk than he has ever had and he loved it.

Hot dogs are delicious!

Puffs are good too!

MMM...Popsicles!

Blowing bubbles is fun!

After the BBQ we took a quick trip home to let the dog out and get our stuff together for fireworks. We decide to take Jack in the back pack because I was worried about negotiating the stroller with so many people. The back pack worked great and I think it is our new favorite mode of transportation. Usually Jack goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and since the fireworks started after that Jack was fighting like crazy to stay awake. Once the fireworks started I laid him back and he was mesmerized. He loved the fireworks and he was not afraid one bit. He watched about 15 minutes and then he was out and down for the count. What a great 4th of July!!!

Grammy & Grampy come to town

The weekend before the 4th Grammy and Grampy came to SLC to see little Jack. They got here on a Friday morning and left the following Sunday. We crammed as much in those three days as we could. I think Grammy might have over-done-it a little. The first night they were here we went to see the Salt Lake Bee's play.















Unfortunately we got caught in a 96 minute rain delay. The rain came just a batter or two into the top of the second inning and the Bee's were down 5 to 1. We probably should have just headed out, but we decided to stick it out.











As the rain came down it got colder and colder. Grammy and Grampy were freezing. After a trip to the souvenir shop to warm up I decided it was time to buy a blanket. Lucky for us they had a really nice, big and warm Red Sox blanket.










The only thing that would have been better would have been if they had a SF Giants one, but no cigar. In addition Dustin wanted to get Jack his first baseball bat and fortunately they did have a SF Giants bat. It was the cutest thing...as soon as we handed Jack the bat, he would not let go. He actually fell asleep with his hands and feet wrapped around the bat. He is his father's son! Dustin couldn't wait until the next day when he could show Jack how to use his new bat. He had him batting right handed and left.



Saturday we took a trip up to Park City where Grammy went a little crazy at the Carter outlet. That evening we had a BBQ at the house and invited our friend Eric. He and David have a great time debating topics of all kinds. This particular night revolved around health care.






The rest of their trip we spent hanging out...That is always the best part of Grammy and Grampy's visit. Grammy got to play with Jack, read him stories and love on him as much as she could.

Happy Father's Day

We had a nice Father's day...Dustin slept in and then Jack woke him up to give him his father's day presents. Jackson got Dustin some Red Sox golf balls and a golf dice game. I went to Dustin's favorite bagel restaurant for breakfast and then we hung out as a family and watched the US Open. Dustin went golfing with Grandpa Pete on Saturday so he didn't do any golfing on Father's Day. We ended the day with take out at home and just relaxed. All and all it was a nice Father's Day just hanging out the three of us. Jack just loves playing with Daddy's hats.

The Waldron's

Last weekend we spent Saturday evening with Steve, Rebbecca, Lauren and Patrick Waldron. The Waldron's are the family I nannied for while I was in PT school. It is crazy to think of how old they are now and when I first started working form them Patrick was 4 and Lauren was 6. We went over for a BBQ, but ended up eating inside because of a thunderstorm. Regardless the food was delicious.

Patrick is going to be a Junior at East High School and plays basketball and football. He always tries to keep is distance from Jack, but I don't let that happen!

Lauren is home from college at Cal State Berkley where she excelled her freshman year. She is teaching Jack to longboard! Hopefully she will be able to babysit for us while she is home from school.

We always have a fabulous time with the Waldron's and hope that they will always play a big part in Jack's life.

Grandma Leslie's Visit

Grandma Leslie came for a visit 2 weeks ago. The last time she was here Jack was only 6 weeks old. The last time she was here the only real interaction was for her to hold him. This time she was able to read him his bedtime stories, play on the floor and giggle and laugh with him.

We had a lot of fun hanging out at the house. We went to the park to walk around and enjoy the beautiful weather. We enjoyed ice cream and snow cones! We were fortunate to have beautiful sunny weather in the high 70's/low 80's.

On Sunday we took some time to take in a Salt Lake Bee's (Anaheim Angels AAA Team). We are so lucky to have such a nice facility only 10 minutes from our hous. Jackson does pretty well at the games, this is his second game this season. Usually around the 5th inning I have to get up and take him for a walk, but other than that he makes it all 9 innings. This game he actually fell asleep in the bottom of the 8th.

On Monday I had to go to work but Leslie, Jack and Dustin took some time to go the aquarium. Jack just loves looking at all the fishies! It was sad to see Leslie go, but hopefully we can take some time this summer to go to Spokane for a trip so Jack can meet Grandpa Allen and Uncle Eric.

Bigger and Bigger

Wow! I have been on an extended hiatus. My plan was to blog more consistently and it hasn't panned out very well. I could make excuses saying I was too busy, but too lazy is more like it. Jackson is growing like a weed and I wish he would slow down a little bit. He is growing out of babyhood and into boyhood. I just want him to stay a baby a little longer.










So...what have we been up to? Since last I blogged I had my first Mother's Day. We went over to our friends John and Jeannine's parent's house for brunch. We had a nice time there and ate delicious food. Of course I was not prepared and I forgot the camera so no Mother's Day pictures. Later that day Grandpa Pete came over to watch Jack while Dustin and I went and saw Star Trek. It was a great movie and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.


Grandma Leslie came for a visit a couple of weeks ago...see next posting. We had a nice time.

What has Jack been up to? He is moving all over the house. Not in a conventional manner however. He scoots on his butt everywhere he wants to go. It is so cute. I don't think he is going to crawl, I think it will be straight from scooting to walking. He is pulling himself up on all the furniture and pulling everything out of every drawer he can reach. We have worked on baby proofing the house and have just a few more drawers to lock up. It frustrates Jack a lot that he can't open the refrigerator.


Teeth! Jackson had no teeth up until last week. Last Monday we had a miserable night. Jack was up crying several times and he was very hard to console and get back to sleep. The next day I was poking around in his mouth and behold a small sharp point on the bottom left. The next couple of nights were bad too and I then noticed the top right tooth had broken through and it looked like the top left one was on the way. You can't see the teeth very well yet, but they are on there way...I am going to miss that gummy smile! We are still having some rough nights, but if we give him some Motrin before bed this usually will get us peace until about 3 a.m. I just feel bad for him because there is very little we can do. I have tried rubbing some Ambasol on his gums and I am not sure if it is the Ambasol or me rubbing his gums, but this just seems to make him scream. As much as I will miss that gummy smile I will be glad when his teeth are in.