An Apple's an Apple....right?

Hi guys! I know I haven't updated in a while on life here at the house with Jackson, but things are going wonderfully!

If you would've asked me how things were going a week ago, I would've had a much different answer, but Jack has slept through the night (9+ hours) for the past three nights!!!! I've got an almost ritualistic set of things I do before he goes to bed based on the first night he slept well. lol. I was thinking that I'd try some deviations after he'd slept through three nights, but now that it's here, I think I'll wait a while longer! I just can't risk losing this precious gem of sleep!

Jackson is eating solid foods twice a day, and we'll probably increase to three times here in the next few weeks. I'm also going to be trying my hand at making him some meats like chicken and beef. Speaking of food...this title was talking about apples. I've had a tendency towards healthier foods most of my adult life, and recently watched Food Inc. with Jordan. It really changed both of our perspectives on food. It didn't cause us to say, "Oh, surely we must now eat only organic foods." That's what I liked about the documentary, it didn't try to force you from one brainwashed concept to another, it just said, "hey, maybe you should think about where the things you put in your mouth come from and what happened to them before you bit into it." Good point, I say.

We got Jackson a mesh feeder a month or so ago, which he LOVES. You just put any whole piece of fruit, veggie, food in it, and he's able to suck on it and get tiny particles out that won't choke him. Well, before watching Food Inc. I'd been giving him apples. Starting several years ago I wondered, hmm, what's on the outside of an apple. It's sort of waxy or something. When you're just taking care of yourself, it's a little easier to say, "Ah well. Tastes fine, and I haven't died from eating it yet so I'm sure it is fine." But then something changes when you hand the same apple to you fragile (it seems) little baby. You think, "wait a minute. How sure was I that this was ok?" While I might've been ok with eating something I wasn't quite positive about, it's a little harder to give my goofy, grinning little son a piece of something I'm not quite positive about.

SO I bought a bag of organic apples at the commissary our last trip. It actually only worked out to about 10 cents more an apple! And oh. my. goodness. they tasted really yummy! I bit into it with an open mind, reminding myself not to TRY to taste a difference. But I really could. And Jordan could, too. He's my tester. lol. I know he's not trying to think something "hippy" like an organic apple is actually better than a normal person apple. The apple was also a lot juicier. And it was more of a yellow color on the inside. And it browned faster after I cut it. And it wasn't such a vibrant color. All of those things made me wonder...why do the regular apples I buy (of the same varient: gala) behave so differently than these. Obviously nothing was added to these organic ones to make them be different, because the USDA won't let a grower do that. So, logic tells me that something must've been added to the other apples to make them different from the organic ones. And I'm not sure what that was. So I don't think I want to eat it....and I'm sure I don't want Jack to eat it.

Ok. I'm off my soap box. I'm just saying...for me, maybe an apple's not an apple.

(P.S. I also wanted to say that we tried grass fed ground beef last night. As I was eating it, again with an open mind, I thought, "Hm. This does taste different. What is it? Hmm....I guess it tastes like meat." I realize that is a strange thing to think. I thought it was strange, too. I also found it strange that I would not expect ground beef to taste like meat....)

A little piece of heaven

So no pun intended (ok maybe it was. Corny, I know.) since I'm talking about time I spent at church, but OH MY GOSH it was wonderful! Let me start off by saying that the ladies who work in the childcare for Bloom (similar to MOPs, but just my church's smaller version) are the most generous and wonderful women! I don't know if they realize what a gift it is to be able to spend time with other moms without our kids! The women in Jack's room were so wonderful and I immediately felt comfortable.

I spent the next two hours just talking with moms of kids around Jack's age, praying together and laughing together. It was marvelous! When I went back to pick Jack up he was smiling as I came around the corner and appeared to be quite happy. (I'll admit I was listening for his scream most of the two hours he was in there, but never heard it!) The ladies said he'd done well and only cried a little when they tried to lay him down to sleep. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets that after rocking that crazy baby forever! lol

Jackson slept for almost eight hours straight last night, I got two hours of "chill" time and then he took a good nap when we got home while I worked out. What a total blessing of a day. Thank you God!

A big first for mom...

Have you ever been anxious the night before a job interview or before a big trip? I feel sort of that way today. Before I say why, you have to promise not to judge. I'm going to a mom's group at church tomorrow morning and I'm putting Jackson in the childcare provided!!! We've gone to this church for several years now so I feel comfortable with the people working in the nursery and everything, but AH!

I've played out several scenarios in my head of how this might go. Jack could sleep the whole time. (If he does this, he will be grounded, because he needs to save that stuff for night time. Or at least when I'm home with him.) He could also smile and giggle and act goofy like he sometimes does when we're out. This inevitably causes everyone around us to say something like, "Oh he's so sweet and calm! You're so lucky!" To which I just smile and say thank you, but inwardly think, "Um...yea RIGHT! He's just charming you random people so he's got plenty of scream saved up for when we get home." Lastly, and what I fear (probably irrationally) is most possible, he will cry and scream most of the time. Jackson has recently developed a little bit of stranger danger. My mom, aunt and cousin recently had a chance to see him for a few minutes and he stuck that lip out so far he would've tripped on it if he were walking. (That comment is loosely based on a joke Jordan always says to me and Jackson....Tuck that lip in, soldier, you're going to get it caught on a trip wire!) Anywho. I'm nervous. I feel like I need to pack everything the child owns into a bag. And maybe a picture of me for when he gets lonely....lol. Ok I'm not that bad.

I am VERY much looking forward to spending some time with some other Christian moms, though. And I can't really imagine not having Jackson on my hip struggling and writhing and pulling my hair. So it will be a wonderful experience for us both. I've decided! :)

Oh and P.S. -- Jackson has a big ol' front tooth poking through now! Once it gets tall enough I'll take a picture so everyone can see. At this point I'd have to pry his mouth open with one hand and take the picture with the other hand and goodness knows that would never work!

Tempting Toast

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been a while since I posted much! We've been to Colorado and Texas for a few week and are just now getting settled back home. It was wonderful to see our families, but it feels great to be home. We've had lots going on with us lately!

Jordan has been approved for retraining and is going to be an imagery analyst. (Family trivia: my aunt Lana was an imagery analyst in the Air Force too!) We'll be heading down to San Angelo, Texas for almost a year for Jordan's training and then who knows where we'll be off to after that! It was definitely a change in plans since we assumed he'd get a different job, but we can already see God's plans for us in this new adventure! Both of us are excited to move around a little bit and see more of the country, although San Angelo isn't the most beautiful place on Earth. I was there for about a month for training a few years ago and all I remember is that it was flat and HOT! I guess it won't feel so bad, though, after having traveled to the Middle East.

In other news, Jackson has started eating solid foods. I really wanted to wait until six months since that's what the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests, but then this awesome toast story happened:

One morning while we were in Texas I was holding Jack and carrying a plate of toast back to the table. During this walk Jackson was reaching and grunting trying to get to my plate. When I sat down and started eating he intently watched the food go from the plate to my mouth several times. All of the sudden, he started reaching for the toast again and bawling! I figured it was just a coincidence until he did it again the next day. Sooo we decided to give him a little cereal. He actually opened his mouth for it and got a little irritable if the time between bites stretched too long. So once again I'm going to have to throw the authorities' opinion out the window and start giving my boy some food! (We did talk to his Dr. yesterday who agreed he would be fine with foods. He tested as a 6-7 month old developmentally and can almost sit up on his own so he felt like if Jack was interested in it, go ahead). So far we've done some bananas, which I actually make for him in my food processor, and rice cereal. Last night was the first time we did a noticeable amount of cereal and he slept ALL NIGHT. Yay!

The only other report is that Jack is starting to scoot! He pulls his knees up under him and gets on his forearms and scoots around. He gets up on his hands sometimes, but never when he's trying to move. Once he figures that out I think he'll be off!

Love you all and just a fair warning I don't think I'm writing a Christmas letter this year. You all feel updated this way anyway, right? ;)

When other people love him

Whew, things have been busy lately! We're just settling in from a trip to Colorado and are about to leave for Texas for a few weeks! I don't really have any cute stories for this post...just thought I'd update everyone on how things are going here with us. I will say, though, that it was an amazing thing to see Jackson with everyone in my family. I knew they would love him, but to physically SEE them loving him really gave me great joy. I love Jackson, and delight in every new little thing he does. I watch him learn to make new silly faces and go crazy when he laughs. It was just plain wonderful to share that joy with the people I love! To see their faces light up when he laughed or noticing that the whole room went quiet to watch Jack grunt and struggle his way over from his back to his front on the floor was so great. It just reminded me of how lucky Jackson is to have such a big, loving family! He's already learning that our family hangs out in the kitchen, too! :)

Anyway, things are going well! Jackson is rolling over both ways now and smiles and even laughs if you can really entertain him. He loves to play in his jumper or lay on the floor on his tummy and play with toys. I also think he's starting to get over his car seat aversion!!! It's a struggle to keep him from grabbing EVERYTHING within his reach as well. I'm starting to learn that everything on the table or counter near me needs to be moved when I'm holding him!

That's about all I've got...enjoy Thanksgiving!

Task management

When I was in the Air Force I had a really good handle on task management. There were several times that provided great experience in this field. Today blew me and my task management skills out of the water.

Today had been a frustrating day. Jackson refused to take a nap any longer than 15 minutes and hadn't slept real great last night either. (Just to include you...Jackson just spit up on his crotch while studying his feet. Had to pause for clean up.) Well I decided to put Jack in his jumper for a few minutes so I could clean up some bottles and get sooomething started for dinner. (Emphasis added to demonstrate a total lack of ideas). Less than 5 minutes later I come around the corner into the living room to see (and I'll do my best to describe this accurately and in great detail) Jack jumping in a puddle (yes a puddle) of his own runny poo. The poo has run out of his diaper, out of the jumper seat, and down his leg. You would think after that long distance travel there wouldn't be much that made it to the floor. Think again. Also important to note is that we have put a couch pillow beneath said jumper to help Jackson reach the ground. It apparently got covered in poo, became slippery, and exited the scene stage right. I honestly had to say out loud to myself..."Ok. What do I do first? Pick one thing, focus on it until it's done, and then you can pick another one."

SO I picked Jackson up out of the jumper, smearing poo on every thing along the way, and carried him upstairs. Seconds before depositing him onto the changing table a little 1/4 cup of poo slid down his leg, splashed off my bare foot and hit the carpet in his room. Again at this time I had to say out loud, "Focus on one thing at a time. Clean the child off first." I would've taken him to the bath tub, but after doing that once I learned that poo is not easily cleaned out of the bathtub either. Long story short, the involved paraphernalia are in the washer and I've put away the carpet stain cleaner I never thought we'd use again after house training the dog. I'm quite confident there is still poo in a few cracks of both Jack and my's bodies...but we'll get it later.

Moments of Mayhem

Things have mostly settled down here in the Scarbrough household. Jackson has been doing really well...he's working on saying "Goo" right now. That may sound sarcastic, but I'm actually serious. Up until now he's just "Oooh"ed and "Ahh"ed, so a consonant thrown in IS actually a challenge for him. Isn't that the life? Even though things are going swimmingly and we're in a definite routine, we still encounter moments of mayhem. For example...

Jack usually wakes up twice in the night. Once between one and three and then another time somewhere between five and seven. He then proceeds to sleep for another hour or two before waking up for the day. (I know...please don't hate me. I'm so lucky to have a good sleeper!) Every once in a while he decides he doesn't have need for those last few hours, so I'm careful to keep him in the dark and not talk to him that last time he's up in hopes that he'll stay groggy and go back to sleep. To help in that process I always change his diaper first and then feed him so he can relax and start drifting off while he eats. Well, this morning I forgot. I toyed with just leaving him in his diaper, but it seemed like it might be leaking a little. So I bit the bullet and decided I'd stop feeding him and expect crazy screaming for the few seconds it'd take me to change his diaper. I raced him up to the changing table, started taking his diaper off with one hand while getting a new one out with the other and then I actually looked at his diaper. Full from front to back with poo. Old poo. He'd just been an angel and slept for 6 hours straight, so who knows when this poo occurred, but it was dried on to his bits already. These are the moments of mayhem. I'm standing in his room without a light on (to help him stay asleep) while he screams bloody murder because I cut him off from his breakfast (to help him stay asleep) and we're both covered in crusty bits of baby poo (that has nothing to do with him staying asleep). I turned the light on.

He's all clean now and currently practicing falling asleep on his own. The Dr. said to start trying to put him down when he's drowsy but not fully asleep so he can learn to sooth himself to sleep. I was pretty skeptical, but we did it last night and after about 15 minutes (without ANY crying! just goo ing to himself) he fell asleep. And so we begin our "work week". Happy Monday everyone!