Xbox and new pics

Dad loves to play Xbox, and since Jack came along, his time playing has been drastically cut. Not that I'm complaining, I love taking care of Jack. However on Monday, I figured out I could combine the two.

While he may not look too excited, Jack had a blast watching me play Gears of War. My friends, those on the other end of the headset you see me wearing, got a kick out of hearing Jack while we were playing. Jack's mama, on the other hand, was none too thrilled with the chainsaw weapon on the game, and has vowed Jack will never play that game. At least not until he's older. Her reactions ranged from "gross" to "ohmigosh what is that" to "that is horrible". Ain't video games great?

Before everyone freaks out, don't worry, when he's old enough to understand what's on the TV screen I won't play these types of games while he's watching. Just when he's in bed.

Here's a couple new pics and a couple new Jack info bits for this December 5.

Jack went 5.5 hours between feedings Saturday night, quite amazing we thought. Of course we woke at the normal time he would get up and then kept commenting on how long he was sleeping, rendering the extra hours nearly useless for sleep.

To make sure we didn't get too comfortable with his new longer sleep pattern, he was up pretty much from 1 a.m. until 7:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, with a few short naps in between. I think that's him laughing at us above.

Also of note, Jack has taken to his play gym pretty well, smiling at the elephant that pulls down off the arch. He's smiling quite a bit lately, although mostly at other people and inanimate objects and not so much at mom and dad. Kid's a wise guy already. He also a growing wise guy, as we've had to retire at least three outfits and a couple more are on the border, and he's wearing a couple 3-6 month outfits already.

Finally, for those in the Lozen clan, doesn't Jack look like a young Kyle in the above picture? I sure think so.

Catching Up...

Let's catch up after the big holiday weekend. So much has been happening in Jack's life since the last post. Dad only worked Monday and Tuesday and then had six days off over the Thanksgiving weekend. Let's look at the week that was.

Wednesday
Mom and dad took Jack to Target and we got all our holiday decorations in order. That afternoon dad decorated the outside of the house (man did the memories of decorating our house on Terra Bella come flying back standing on that ladder, putting hooks on the gutters). Meanwhile, mom started unpacking and putting things together inside the house. Soon enough we got the tree up and all decorated.

Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving! We all piled into the car and headed to Grand Rapids to hang out with Amy's family for Thanksgiving. We had a great meal at her aunt's house, and Jack got to hang out with his grandpa and gigi.

Jack got all dressed up for his first Thanksgiving.

He also got to meet Maverick, who was a bit jealous of all the attention Jack was getting.

Jack was awesome the whole day, never fussed with anyone who held him and then slept the whole way home.

Friday and Saturday
We headed back to Target to return some things and pick up some other things and finished up the decorating. Mom's friend Ronni came over to watch Alias, and dad went to Jesse's to play FIFA '07 on the 360.

Jack apparently had a difference of opinion with dad over the jacket he was trying to put on him.

And somehow, during the weekend, Jack seems to have joined a gang and is now proficient at flashing his "East Sideee" sign.

Here Jack looks pretty content taking his first real bath in the bathtub.

Sunday
Papa and grandma came over on their way to the airport (they're now in St. Thomas) and then Jack went to his friend Elle's birthday party.

Monday
Dad was off on Monday, too, and Jack had his latest doctor's appointment. He's now nine pounds 11 ounces and 22-plus inches long. Doctor said both numbers were better than he thought they would be, so we were happy to hear that. Mom was not, however, happy to hear that the next appointment meant shots.


So much has changed in just the time dad was home. I submit for your consideration:

• He now goes down for naps after feedings in his crib.
  
• He has smiled a couple times. Maybe not on purpose, but they were smiles.
• He takes a bottle now, and mom was happy to get more than three hours of sleep in a row for the first time.
  
• He went five hours between feedings for the first time, only once, but it was encouraging nonetheless.
• He seems to be going through a growth spurt, he's eating like a maniac the last three days.
  

In the next couple weeks, the doctor says we can look forward to:

• The number of poopy diapers steadily decreasing
• Him smiling on purpose
• His night-time sleep patterns getting longer

All good things.

Only 26 shopping days left until Christmas!

Monday, 10:26 p.m.

No baby yet. The biggest excitement tonight - Amy whooping up on me in rummy (I let her win, come on, she's pregnant).

Amy seems to think she's had less contractions today than on Sunday, so who knows?! The lesson here: Jack will come when he's darn good and ready.

So we spent tonight watching slide shows of all our digital pictures over the Xbox 360 while listening to music, ain't technology great?

Breaking news: Amy now states she is having a contraction as I type this (is this hard-hitting news or what?). It remains to be seen if it will be followed my many more tonight, or if I'll have to go to work again tomorrow. Only time will tell.

Until later.