JAB blab

Big slide got the best of Jack. Minor fracture, but a cast is still what the docor ordered. Last night’s visit to the ER resulted in phase one - a splint…

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Today we headed back to the hospital for the official cast. Jack was a little nervous but a real trooper.

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He chose the blue:

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Happily, it’s a “walking cast.” It will take a while for him to get the hang of it, but I think he cuts a rather dashing figure, don’t you?

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(Click for images to enlarge. Experiencing photo uploading difficulties.)

Abby’s still full of smiles. I mean seriously, I have never met a baby who was as content as this child appears to be at almost any give moment. As long as you feed her, lay her down when she’s tired, occasionally give her a smile and a nod, she’s pretty much just happy to be around. What a wonderful way to approach life! May it continue!

She’s been rolling over for a while now from back to tummy. She hasn’t mastered rolling from tummy to back (which is one thing that occasionally frustrates her!), but she is working on it. She’s also got a pretty good tripod sit:

The child LOVES to eat. She is mad about rice cereal…can’t get enough. We started her on it a couple of weeks ago and she literally shakes in anticipation when she knows it’s coming. We ended up increasing to two times a day because she was begging for it with puppy dog eyes. That, and she was grabbing for whatever else we were eating in her presence. I guess she is looking for sustenance to maintain that 95th percentile in weight and height. I think she’s going to be tall like her daddy.

Due to the roll over, she’s sleeping on her side and tummy (yeah, yeah, I know) a lot.  When trying to get her to sleep, if she is slightly over tired, she tends to flail a bit. We’ve found giving her something to hold onto helps. Today, she was most interested in her elephant (courtesy of her Nan) and I snapped this shot even though it was a bit dark in the room because it doesn’t really get much cuter:

While we’re on the subject of napping. Jack’s showing off his nap bed that he takes to school in this photo:

This week was his first week back after the summer session. Only one day of crying at drop off! He does explain to us very seriously that he is happy to go to school but that he will miss us. I’m not sure if this explanation is for our benefit or his! Apparently he has also taken to waving good bye to ALL the parents and has occasionally informed a crying child that “it will be ok.” Gotta love empathy.

And here’s one for the historical record:

And a proud papa shot:

The honeymoon period for pre-school seems to be approximately three days. Yesterday’s drop off showed signs of a slightly weakened spirit and today’s included tears. Mind you, the tears were gone a mere five minutes after parental departure, but it was tough to leave.

Overall the week went incredibly well. He’s loving it. And this two week summer session is proving to be the perfect transition into the school year. The class size is super small and he’s getting to know a lot of the teachers. They’re also doing a lot of really fun stuff.  This week’s theme was animals and they brought in a small “petting zoo.” Here’s a picture from the school’s newsletter:

I think it will take a little time to get used to the new routine. The small melt down at the end of the week was expected. He’s been exposed to a lot this week, not to mention a completely new (and reduced) nap time. It’s pretty fun to pick him up at the end of the day and hear how things went from his perspective. His favorite things thus far seem to be Mr. Hennigan and his guitar and the cars on the playground. You don’t say!

Abigail Elizabeth Cothran
born at 7:54 am
8 lbs 13 ounces

Abby was calm, cool, and collected from the start. She handled nursing like a pro – latching on before we even left post op. She slept both in and out of arms right away. She continues to be an easy baby, for which we are very grateful. So unlike Jack at this stage, that we often sit around and wonder what we’re supposed to be doing. We’d prepared for battle and have come home to some actual relaxing, family time. Who would have thunk? Of course, Jack hasn’t slowed down a bit, so that is still a bit of a challenge, but thankfully we’ve had my folks here, followed by Kieran’s mom, and a bit of paternity leave on Kieran’s part. It’s been rather enjoyable and has allowed for a relatively speedy recovery on Tiffany’s part!

I’m a little belated in the announcement on this website, but for those who haven’t seen the initial photos, you can check them out on our photo site. And of course, there are plenty more photos, but I haven’t made it to the back office where I can easily upload them to the website, so these catch up blog entries will have to suffice.

Granna and Granpa were on hand to watch Jack the week Abby was born.  They all came to the hospital later that day. Jack was a little cautious (that has since faded) but very curious and excited to see his new baby sister.

Also very happy to get a snuggle with Mama.

So Jack has gorgeous hair. Each individual strand is fine, but he has a lot of it, and, well, people pay lots of money to get their hair color to match his. I keep it kind of long because it’s got these cute little curls that I can’t bear to cut and I like it kind of scraggly. Besides, as I think I’ve mentioned his hair kind serves as his security blanket. When he gets tired, or upset, or is just relaxing he twists his hair around his fingers. I can remember early on he used to pat his head (before the hair really grew in) and it has evolved into this complicated twisty thing. It’s pretty convenient as far as a security blanket goes and also pretty darn cute. But a bit of a problem has developed lately. I didn’t think it could happen given the texture of his hair, but he must be twisting very aggressively to form this…

baby’s first dred!

More photos up on muchado.

jumping…it’s taken a good deal of strength training and hutzpah, but he can now catch air…no small feat for his 30 ound plus stature!

“go pee pee in the potty”…well, not quite. But he likes to say it and simulate it by sitting on the potty, throwing in some toilet paper, and flushing it down.

big boy bed…we took down one side of his crib turing it into a toddler bed because I feared he was very near catapulting himself out. So far he has done a pretty good job of adjusting. He (generally) stays in it when it’s time to go “night night” and he (generally) doesn’t fall out, though this morning he managed to push the  rail out this morning and”fell” off as a result. There’s lots of pillows on the floor for just such emergencies, but I think it was a little scary for him. The end result being a very early wake up….though he’s going on a 3 and 1/2 hour nap mid-day so I can’t complain too much.

talking…all sorts of words and phrases now. He still uses signs for some things. I guess he’s too efficient to switch over.

Jack is a walking newbie. He embarks on his small journeys (three, four, five steps!) multiple times a day always with a slightly uncertain smile on his face. I find it rather amusing to watch and though I was secretly hoping he would put this off for a while, it is impossible not to encourage him. I made a bet with Kieran that it wouldn’t happen until after his birthday. I guess I lost.

This past Sunday we had Jack “dedicated” at our church. We are members of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland and the dedication ceremony is basically an introduction/welcoming of members’ children. It also serves as a time for family, friends, and members of the congregation to symbolically commit to helping to raise the children being dedicated. It takes a village!

The children are blessed with all of the elements: water, fire (by candle),

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earth (a smudge of dirt on the bottom of their shoe), and air (soft blowing of the breath), as well as beauty (symbolized by a flower selected by the family). This is what we put in the program:

Jackson Paul Cothran
Parents: Tiffany Cothran & Kieran Ringgenberg
Godparents: Cassie Beck & Kent Nicholson
Acknowledgements: A special thanks to all of our friends here today for their constant support and love.

Jack loves his “kikis” (kitties), his walker, yogurt, and all things electronic. He has a winning smile and a groovy little dance. Like his daddy, he enjoys nature. His sense of drama is from his mama. Though sometimes shy with strangers, he can be quite the little charmer. He is happiest when he, Mama and Daddy are all playing together.

Some of our closest local friends were in attendance to celebrate with us and since it was so close to his upcoming birthday, we decided to roll it all into one with a small party following the service.

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Jack was in great spirits all day and had a fantastic time! Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were a hit. Other than missing some of our closest friends and family, it was the perfect way to celebrate the year of the Jackalope. 

**Published before it was actually finished so have added some at the end.

SO Jack seems to be picking up on the sign language thing. He is definitely using his “finished” sign when he deems his meal to be over. He’s even applied it to story time before bed on a couple of occasions. I think he thought if he told me ”finished” that he would get to play. It was a rude awakening when I plopped him into bed instead. I doubt we’ll be seeing ”finished” with that scenario in the future again! 

This morning he picked up the “more” sign. It was very interesting to watch it click with him. We were eating one of his favorites–toasted whole wheat english muffin with cream cheese and jelly–and I was doing my dog and pony signing show:

Jack reaches towards desired yumminess and screams, “Aaaarg uuugh ooogh.”

Mama signing “more” ever so preciseley, “You want more? More? More toast?”

Jack, eyes fixated on yumminess, not looking at Mama’s hands, screams and reaches again.

Mama holds up desired yumminess, “More?”

Jack takes yumminess, deposits in mouth, reaches and screams again, “Aaaarg uuugh ooogh eeeeek.” 

Mama repeats signs and wonders to herself if he is ever going to catch on.

Suddenly Jack sees Mama’s hands? Ding! Quizzical look on his face. He stares intently as she repeats sign again saying, “You want more? More? More toast?”

Jack looks at Mama’s face, looks at her hands, looks at her face and slowly makes the sign for more. Mama whoops with joy and passes yumminess to him…beaming look of triumph on both of their faces.

Ladies and gentleman it was “more, more, more” after that. Very exciting stuff. Of course, then he wanted to see what would happen if he threw in a “finished.” I knew he couldn’t possibly be done but didn’t want to confuse him so we started the end of the meal routine (roll chair to sink, wipe off tray, hands, face, etc). Suddenly “more” was back in play, then “finished” again.

On our morning stroll Jack was eating second breakfasts. He slyly dropped his melba toast (the kid likes his carbs). Not wanting to be a litter bug, I picked it up as we walked by. Good thing I did because lo and behold a minute later I see Jack signing for more. Now generally speaking, I don’t want to encourage the dropping of food out of the stroller onto the sidewalk in order to save it for later, but just for today in an effort to reinforce the new trick I handed him the melba toast invoking the three second rule in my head. 

**Following his first nap this morning we headed out in the car for a couple of errands and then lunch. At one point Jack apparently decided he had had enough of the car seat because I noticed him frantically signing “finished.”

“Sorry, kiddo, we’ve still got a little ways to go,” I said in response.

He grumbled a little but settled back in, seemingly content with the fact that I had at least acknowledged him. Now I am not such a fool as to believe that a few signs will magically make all tantrums disappear, but I can already say it is at least helping to curb what used to be some very frustrating moments for both of us. Pretty cool.

Oh, and surprisingly enough before his second nap today, he gave me the finished sign while I was reading to him. He was also squirming around and trying to get down to play. I gave him a choice…book or nap…which prompted the finish sign again. Into the crib he went and after only five minutes of protest screaming he was asleep. SCORE!

Lest you think it is all doom and gloom here, so much fun stuff is happening with Jack right now. He seems to be on the cusp of a lot of developmental milestones. His babbling sounds more like talking with the emergence of what may or may not be real words. These sound combinations are definitely in the repertoire: mama, dada, and kiki (kitty?). I don’t really think he’s made the connections…the sounds don’t necessarily connect with the objects they represent…but we are on our way!

Remember when Jack decided he was going to crawl? He is now approaching walking with the same fierce determination. He can “cruise” like a pro and the walker is his new best friend. He also likes to let go of things and stand by himself ever so precariously. He gets a huge smile of triumph on his face.

I think he has also managed a few signs. “Finished” pops up on occasion which is really great since it pre-empts a small tantrum. I think we have gotten “more” a couple of times as well, along with an accompanying “mmmmmmmmm.”

Big, exciting stuff!