The Boy Got Skills (motor skills, that is)

We have seen an amazing change in Jack during the last three weeks or so. He has suddenly changed from quietly observing his environment to wanting to interact with it. It is so neat to see him not only become more aware of his surroundings, but now he wants to experiment and play in those surroundings, too.

For example, about a month ago Jack was all about mobiles and ceiling fans. If it moved in circles and he could see it, that was enough for him and he was quite happy. Now he prefers toys where something can dangle in front of him for him to kick, grab, or touch. Just watching the mobiles are no longer enough! They are yesterday's news! He started out with being excited about kicking things, but now he's really improving on using his hands, too.

Isn't it amazing when you think about it? For us boring grown-ups, picking up something like a drinking glass or a ball is no big deal - we do it without even thinking about it. But for someone whose brain is so new like Jack's, there must be thousands of little electrical connections firing in his brain to create the sequence of stimulus leading to thought that then produces action.

All you veteran parents out there - feel free to go ahead and laugh at me! New mommy Anne is excited because Jack can kick a ball dangling in front of him! Well, yes, I am excited. I've never seen so up close and personal the many milestones that this little person is experiencing and the changes in his personality that they bring. Just one more amazing thing about becoming a parent, I guess.

Uncle Hayden from across the sea

Last weekend John and Hayden came for a brief but very enjoyable visit. Jack got to meet his Uncle Hayden for the first time. Lyle and I actually hadn't seen him since Christmas of 2007, but somehow it didn't seem that long ago once we were all together again.

It was a fun and busy weekend - We went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, grilled out hamburgers and brats, ate pumpkin pie, and learned about how Hayden shares the Good News with those from the other side of the world through the art of storytelling. Good, good stuff!

So if he's "Little John", which one of us is Robin Hood?

Okay, so that isn't the best picture of Jack ever, but I'm trying to make a point here...I needed a more recent picture of him and this one was taken a week or so ago.

When the nurses handed Jack to us in the hospital, we could see from the beginning that he favors Lyle. As he's getting bigger now, though, we're starting to see traces of not just Jack's daddy's genes, but definitely those from Jack's grand-daddy as well! Sometimes I'll look at him and see John smiling up at me in Jack's face!

Well...whoever he looks more like - Lyle or John - there is no question the boy is a Sewall, that's for sure!

Side Trip down Memory Lane

Okay, so this little story in Jack's blog today doesn't really have much to do with Jack, but it does have to do with me and Lyle and without us we wouldn't have Jack, so I guess there is a connection...

This weekend we went to Sarah's house in Waynesboro and on Sunday night we spent a very fun evening watching home videos from when Ben and Lauren were very little. The video was made in the fall of 2004, right after Ben was born and Lauren was just about the happiest, smiliest toddler you've ever seen.

There are two pieces of background info that will help this story make a little more sense. First, some of you might not know that Lyle never actually got to meet my mom face-to-face. She passed away before he and I started dating, and although it breaks my heart that he's only gotten to know her through the stories we all tell, there's obviously nothing we can do to turn back time. Second, when I first met Lyle I had a huge (actually a HUGE) crush on him. During the 2004-05 school year when I worked as the intern at the BSU at Virginia Tech, my mom heard me talk about Lyle quite a bit. I was definitely "smitten" and just about everyone in the world knew it!

My parents and I spent Thanksgiving of 2004 at Sarah and Nathan's house (then in North Carolina). Nathan got out the video camera and started rolling it just as we all were sitting down for the big dinner. My mom asked us all to go around and say one thing we were each thankful for. I remember thinking at the time how cheesy this was to get on tape. So we started going around the table...Sarah was thankful for Benjamin since he had just arrived two months before. Mom said she was thankful that year just "to be here." When it was my turn, I said I was thankful for all my nieces and nephews and that I was thankful to be back living in Blacksburg.

Mom interjected and said "Oh, come on, Anne...that means 'Lyle!'" and she did the finger quotes sign in the air just to emphasize. In the video, all of us around the table laughed while I blushed, because, of course, she was right.

The laughter in the video mingled with the laughter in Sarah's living room as we watched this scene...and here it is five years later. This little incident was probably less than four minutes long on tape, but in that short time it brought so many feelings to the surface. It brought joy because I love that my mom can still make us laugh, here in 2009. It brought sadness because of the irony of her statement of gratefulness to be with us when we know now that was her last Thanksgiving here on earth. And it brought a bittersweet feeling of thankfulness for me that Lyle could witness in watching her - however briefly - some of the best characteristics of my mom that we all miss...namely, her sense of humor and her ability to always "call a spade a spade."

Watching this video was probably the highlight of my weekend. It brought my mom close to us if only for a few minutes. It was like a belated Mother's Day gift from my mom to me.

12 Weeks and Counting!

Today Jack is officially 12 weeks old. Can he really be 3 months old already? That sounds so strange...I feel like having him here is all still very new and we're just getting used to being parents, but when I look at him I can hardly believe that he ever fit inside my tummy! He is so much bigger and looks so much older than when he first arrived.

Speaking of bigger...we learned at the doctor's today that he weighs 19 lbs, 10 oz! I knew that the car carrier seemed to be getting heavy. Turns out it wasn't just my imagination!

Sad to say, Jack did not celebrate this milestone in a very fun way. He had to get two shots this afternoon, and he has not been a very happy camper since then. It's been a long evening...

Mother's Day in VA

I can't believe it's already been a full week since Jack and I returned from Virginia. We left the Thursday before Mother's Day and returned home a week later. Lyle came back earlier than we did to go back to work on Tuesday, which left me and Jack to fly home by ourselves! I was way more nervous about it than Jack was. He was perfectly well-behaved on both flights...the pressure changes didn't seem to bother him and the people around us were all pleasantly surprised by the lack of crying. I was so relieved both times to touch the ground, though! I was about a nervous wreck.

Here are some pics of our time in Virginia...we got to see lots of family and friends. Mother's Day was particularly a treat because we went to Mitty's house in Winchester. The weather was perfect that day, and it was so good to catch up with everyone.


The only bad part of the day was the trip home, where we got stuck in traffic on the interstate and poor Jack was inconsolable for about 45 minutes. I felt like such a horrible mother (which you shouldn't feel like on your first Mother's Day!!) but there was nothing we could do. We were stuck between exits in stand-still construction traffic. It was a bit of a nightmare, but the day was still very good overall.

We had lots of good time at Aunt Amy's house. We played a LOT of Guitar Hero there!


Here comes trouble...It was so crazy watching David toddle around the house and knowing that he's the size Jack will be a year from now! Boy, will we be busy chasing after him!!

Here are the two cousins together. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Jack when Mary played peek-a-boo with him. Jack took a particular liking to his Big Cousin Mary. When he's a little bigger he'll have more fun playing with David. For now, David still frightens him a bit!

Thanks to everyone we got to see and visit with! We had a great time!

Sleeping through the Night!

For the past two nights, Jack has gone to bed at 10 p.m. and we haven't heard a peep from him until 5:30 a.m.!! It may well be temporary, but he seems to have turned some kind of corner as far as sleeping goes.

Here's the ironic part that all mothers can probably relate to...

Note that I said we didn't hear a peep from him. It was, in fact, because we didn't hear a peep from him that in turn caused his mommy to wake up at oh, let's see...1:00, 3:00, 4:00, 4:30, and once more at 5:00 before he decided to wake up and eat half an hour later.

So while I'm excited that at least Jack is sleeping through the night, I think I'm actually getting less sleep than before, what with all the hopping up and down I'm doing now! Other experienced mommies can chime in here...does anyone know when my body clock will stop going off every two hours with the irrepressible urge to check and make sure he is still breathing?!