Dear Mack - Month Five

Dear Mack-a-licious,

As we come to the end of your fifth month of life, you continue to mystify the current scales of cuteness.  To me, they simply cannot measure you accurately.  I am not sure how I got so lucky.  You are one amazing and wonderful boy and I am truly blessed to get to be your mommy.

First let me just say "Whew!!!!!!".....We have had a very busy month with no let up in sight as we head into July.  I must have taken 2,000 photos of you with all your "firsts", so this edition will be a bit more photo intensive.  They were all so precious.  It was impossible to have restraint.  Here is a mere sampling...but I just love them so much...as I do you..I want to remember everything. 

The end of this month of your life has us returning from many more travels and adventures to Arizona and the great state of Texas where again there were many people looking so forward to meeting you and spending time with you and generally wearing your little hiney plum out!

Here you are with your Papa and Granny: 

And Swimming for the first time with your cousins:

Taking the new jumper I got you for your 5 month birthday for a test drive:

I had a sneaking suspicion that you might not nap through these flights like you did last month.  But that was for naught.  You were a model traveller - smiling at everyone when you are not sleeping - which is a very good thing since your mommy likes to roam the planet.  However, I did learn a couple of things this month about travelling...

Fact No. 1: It is nearly impossible to travel with a cute baby without having to talk to every single person in the airport because you smile at them as we journey through with you in your little baby carrier facing out to the world on my chest. This includes the airport bathroom. This is fine, because it's not like it pains me to be told that my baby is cute. But seriously people. Leave me alone in the bathroom.

Fact No. 2: The new Delta and Southwest Airlines "family boarding" policies makes me want to write a strongly-worded letter. Because it turns out that "family boarding" is a nicer sounding way to say "Oh, you have a stroller and a 40-pound diaper bag and a baby and you're traveling alone, so you'd like to chance to pre-board so you don't have 65 antsy airline passengers breathing down your neck while you try to get all that onto the plane and into the seat? Well too bad, lady!"

Fact No. 3.  Whoever said baby poop does not stink has NOT changed your diaper.  It seems especially odorous when confined to a small regional jet full of passengers who can also smell it as you squeal, giggle and smile at absolutely everyone as it descends into its destination.  This makes for a long 20 minutes while holding said poopy diaper and wriggly baby it is attached to trying to keep the "larger than normal" poop from becoming a much larger problem if it escapes from the diaper it is housed in.  In future, I will do all I can to get poop before takeoff.

Fact No. 4: It's good to be home. We are both exhausted and need to sleep in our own beds for a few nights. But we had a really good time on our trips and these pictures alone make all the airline hassle worth it.

Your cousins and Granny helping convince you that you are, indeed, the center of the universe:

Uncle Z telling Mack about the art of being a deer hunter:

Ashton toting you around the Fredericksburg Farmers Market. She could not hold you and play with you enough while we were there.  She is sooooo good with you...

A very special treat!  Your meeting with the other "Mack's" of the family...Darrell Mack, Carol Mack(Mc)...and you!

You with your cousins and Papa and Granny:

Meeting your first bird:

With Grandma:

Playing with Papa:

Overall Month Five has been a really fun month for you. Your current goal in life appears to be to kick your legs incessantly. All day long, whether I'm holding you or you're playing on your playmat or sitting in your bounceroo or getting your diaper changed, you kick your legs. I think you're building up your muscles for crawling, which is something you're also quite interesting in doing as evidenced by the amount of time you spend on your stomach, waving your legs and arms around like a tiny, spastic Olympic swimmer and then seeming puzzled when your efforts don't propel you forward.  

You are also working equally hard at perfecting sitting up on your own.  You are not quite there yet, but I expect any day now to look up and see you sitting upright. For the last couple of weeks I've been propping you up and watching you immediately slump over.  I am waiting anxiously to report on your new accomplishment when you do finally succeed.

Now that we are at the end of month five, you are teething in full force as well.  It appears that a little lone bottom tooth is starting to break through on your bottom gums but I just noticed it yesterday, so only time will tell.   You will chew on anything as if you cannot get enough.   And you have also developed a newfound ability to spit.  And I mean spit.  Not drool.  But launch spit in my eye which you have done on numerous occasions as you practice the new things  your mouth can do.  And with the teething also comes lots and lots and lots of drool.   You are spending a good part of the time with a soaked shirt from all the drool.  You also took to teething to your cousin Bailey's nose....a bit of baby weirdness...but very funny.  

We started this month with our own personal angel, Aunt Lori, coming to save your mommy from a stereotypical loser nanny situation.  I am not sure she will ever know how much she is appreciated or how much I love having her gentle spirit caring for you as I have to work.  But the guilt and processing of the guilt I am doing about working is for another time.  She listens to my insane neurotic ramblings and reassures me that all is good for everyone.  She was a godsend and earned extra angel points while dealing with you and your catnap style sleep during the day.  You definitely do not take long naps unless I lay with you and then you will pass out cold for 2-3 hours.  It is quite a phenomenon.  We pieced together your day care the rest of the month with dear friends, family and neighbors so your mommy could earn a living and we just finished up the month with a 12 day stay in Texas where your Aunt Jen and cousins continued their fan club meetings for you while your mother slaved away in the back room darting out during the day because I was missing all the fun.  Starting this next month you will get Aunt Lori full time and that will be superfun!

And although our travels were fun and necessary as someone has to keep up the cash flow around here, I found myself by the end of the month missing our time alone together when I get you all to myself and get to work for those precious baby smiles and just snuggle and simply "be".  I really enjoy spending time with you and longed selfishly to just have an evening with you all to myself.    Again I wonder how you will ever be entertained when left with only me for entertainment, but as family is the most important thing in our world, I just love that you get to spend as much time with them as you do.  And as we are a family "on the go", then we just will enjoy the ride and "go" until it is time to "rest".

Ulitimately you are a such a very happy baby.  Many people say they have never seen a happier baby.  I don't know if they are just saying that, but all in all, you are my mostly happy baby most of the time and I just love that.  It makes you so much fun to spend time with and see you interact with the world and people around you.  You really are a charmer.

By far the most fun thing about you this month has been getting you out of bed in the morning. Most mornings I wake up and hear you over on the other side of my bed babbling to yourself since you usually move into bed with me about 5am for another couple hours sleep for both of us. After a while, I open my eyes and smile at you, and that is the moment I love the most, because every morning, when I open my eyes and smile at you, you break into the most ecstatic smile the world has ever known. You are so happy to see me that you kick your legs and squirm and giggle and squeal.  I pick you up and you snuggle your face into my neck and we're off on another day together, our little family. And life is grand.  

I love you.
Mommy

Happy Birthday USA!!!

This is what happens when your cousins are in charge of taking your important dress up holiday photos.  First they make you pose like the Statue of Liberty....embarrassing.

Then just when you think it is safe...

They mess with your hat.

Thank goodness my next dress up session is Halloween...Maybe I will be big enough to defend myself against such attacks. Happy 4th of July!  I hope you are all celebrating in style!  

**mommy note:  OK...I know it is a day late.  But give me a break.  I have a 5 month old to take care of....T-16 days until I have a full time nanny!!! 

Oh yeah...and July 4 is Mr Man's 5 month birthday too!

Having a Ball...

This is the latest toy that has been a big hit around the house...

This is one of the best $35 investments I have made.  I can see hours of fun with this in our future.  I am sure soon I will be saying "no throwing balls in the house", but for now, we throw them and play and roll around in it and generally have a GREAT time!  I highly recommend it with an extra set of balls...

First Swim...

So little man had his first swim with Papa (they let me horn in for a photo or two)...he seemed to enjoy it.  The water was warm and he was as protected from the hot Arizona sun as I could get him...He never much splashed around, but rather seemed to be taking in a whole new sensory experience where he was in a giant bathtub with clothes on and all of us were in  it with him....he couldnt seem to quite figure it out.  But since he loves the bath, this went over very well.  We usually went in twice a day while we were there and he never complained, so I guess it was all good in his book.   

We are now in Texas and he is off with his cousins at the pool while I am supposed to be working....I sent a camera.  I am looking forward to the report back...We will be here for a couple of weeks bridging the gap until Aunt Lori is there for full time nanny duty!  

So far, so good...he slept 9.75 hours last night and seems to routinely be going down for longer stretches.  He has been averaging between 6.5-7.5 hours...with a few 8 & 9.5 hour nights thrown in just to keep me off guard.  We have not had a night bottle in about a week, so I am starting to think he may have self-dropped that feeding....all good news.

So enjoy our "first swim" photos and I will be back more with updates...we are having a very busy month...lots of new things and adventures...

Chillin with Papa

Papa trying to teach Mack how to jump in

This is FUN!!!

Chillin!

"Motorboat, Motorboat...goes so slow (ours never really went very fast on this swim)

Kick, Kick, Kick

Margarita Mack

My little man's first swim...mostly he looked like he was waiting for a margarita...he pretty much just chilled in his float while the rest of us made stupid sounds and bounced around acting like a nut trying to get him to smile....he eventually did...more to come...

Channelling Jasper Parnevik

Here is Mack styling Jasper Parnevik style during his first swim this past weekend.  He had a great time...maybe I can get him a product placement deal too!  Perhaps there will be a bidding war between Pampers and Huggies...

Over and Out

We are off to Arizona for the weekend to visit Papa, Granny, Grandma, Cooter, Mandy and Sophie.  We will catch you all on the flip side!  It is hard to believe how much he has grown in his 18 short weeks of life...but he is getting so much bigger.  I am looking forward to new photos and stay tuned for an update on Mack's first swim this weekend!  Fingers crossed for another uneventful flight with the little man.  I will update upon our return...bon voyage!!!
    
  
  

I love Aunt Lori...

For the last 11 days I have had some sense of continutity in my world and am starting to feel like I might be getting it all back together again. And we owe it all to Aunt Lori!!!

29 days and counting until we get to have Aunt Lori, Uncle Dean and Cousin Austin here FULL TIME!!!! Yipee!  We are counting the days and wish them Godspeed as they start their new adventure out in the city of Fruits and Nuts!  I think it will be, as Martha says,  "a good thing"...

Classic Overachiever...

Now Maverick does not only suck one thumb....he sucks them both at the same time....He is working hard at fitting both fists into his mouth at one time.  I expect him to succeed any day now ...  I will keep you posted...

Dear Mack - Month Four

Dear Mack,

I'm happy to report that a large part of your fourth month of life was
spent very happily, since for nearly 2 weeks of it we were traveling
to see your cousins, on what I am starting to refer to as the beginning of the Baby Mack Summer World Tour. It has become apparent to me pretty early in the planning stages of this first trip as well and others we have upcoming that our family and friends would have totally been OK with it if I'd sent you to see them by yourself. But since the airlines won't let you fly unaccompanied yet, I came along for the trip as your chaperone.

For the first leg of this summer tour, you and I were on our own, flying from LA to San Antonio. I was a bit nervous about this, because I've flown a lot over the years, and have witnessed a few quite spectacular infant meltdowns on airplanes. Previously, I have been that childless traveler who knows better than to sit anywhere near the woman with the adorable drooling baby, because everyone knows that kid is going to start screaming the minute the fasten seatbelt sign is turned on. And I have always secretly dreaded the day when that woman would be me. 

But in the end, like most things I worry about, it really wasn't that bad. Maybe it was because you kind of liked the plane, and fell asleep almost as soon as the engines started droning. Maybe you really wanted the twenty bucks I promised to give you if you would be good, in which case, I had better pay up soon or face your wrath on our next flight. Either way, you were a model traveler and had a good long nap by the time we touched down in San Antonio.

In San Antonio, you met your Uncle Z for the first time, as well as Roxy the dog and you were held until you just couldnt take it anymore by your cousins as they fought over who got to hold you next or who was next to feed you. Your cousins loved to show you off to all their new friends. Your Aunt Jen was the ringleader and master of ceremonies when it came to the Baby Mack Holding/Feeding Battles

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You served as the official mascot of your cousin Ashton's 10th Pink Monkey Party... and Ashton loved showing you off to all her friends.  Besides you were a wonderful sleeper at the hotel as well even with the screaming of a bunch of 10 year old girls.  

You continue to be a very happy baby though you still are very very unhappy when it comes to your car seat. You do not like it at all. I have tried everything from having company sit with you in the back seat, to toys, to videos, to music, to driving with the windows down..with the windows up. You name it, Ive tried it. I am not going to blog about the combination of steps I've taken recently to try to sort this out. But I'm writing about this struggle I've had because these letters will also serve as a record of what this first year of your life was like for me, and I want to remember how frustrating this part was.

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I want to remember this for two reasons. One is so that I can be sympathetic to someone going through the same thing one day. I truly believe that there is some kind of fog that descends on the minds of parents that prevents us from recalling in detail just how hard some of the parts of having a baby really are. And sometimes, when you're in the middle of those hard things, people can't access the memory of what you're going through, even though they went through it themselves. So, with the best of intentions, they say things like "Oh, this is nothing. Wait until she's a teenager. Then you'll have problems." That may be true, but it is not helpful, and I don't ever want to say it to some poor mommy struggling with her own challenges..

The other reason I want to remember this is because trying to get you to be happy in the car seat has taught me what I am pretty sure is a major parenting/life lesson: No matter how much I want there to be a well-defined answer for how to fix any given problem I may face as your parent, the fact is that you are a unique little person, and even if Solution X worked for 6,235 babies before you, none of those babies are just like you. In some ways, it's tough for me to embrace that, because it means that there are probably never going to be any easy answers. But at the same time, that lesson also makes me feel really lucky, because it's another reminder that there really is only one of you. And there isn't any other baby I'd rather have, even if you scream at the top of your lungs every time we leave the house.

Now we're back home in LA for the time being, and you certainly are going through the people withdrawal I had anticipated. It's like I've come home from with a different child, because you did so much growing up in those few weeks. When we left, you were showing no interest in toys, and now you love toys. Specifically, you love to put toys in your mouth, which is also where you recently decided your hands should stay at all times. You have a cute double fisted thumb sucking maneuver that I find pretty darn precious. 

You now roll from back to front at will and are working hard at getting the front to back thing down.  You also have a very strong desire to sit up.  Almost any time you are put in a reclining position you struggle to get up doing amazing long baby crunches that last as long as you are left in that position.  That's the thing about you. You're always changing, and learning something new, and that's so much fun to watch.

Thanks for being such a good traveler. I definitely owe you twenty bucks.

Love,
Mommy