BirdSongs

What I did on my Summer Vacation.

2009-09-07T16:02:00.008-04:00

Welcome back blog fans. It's Labor Day. Summer's officially over. So, I figured I'd fill you all in on what Jackson has been doing all summer.

I Ate.

I Drank.

Went to some baseball games.
(w/ Dad & Grandpa)

(with Mom & Dad and The Mullins')

(shared a drink w/ Katherine)

(Free Hat!)

I spent some time in the Pool. Even had a few swimming lessons.
I "helped" paint the TV room.

We went to the beach a bunch of times. I even tried a little skimboarding.
Soaked up some rays.
Took a picture of my own shadow.
Told some fish stories.
Peed outside.
Checked out the new Asian gardens at the Zoo.

Pretended to be a veterinarian.
Removed a thorn from Mommy tiger's paw.
Won two slide races.

And I learned to read!!!!
(just kidding)

Of course we did lots and lots of other stuff this summer and It sure was fun. We'll keep you posted on all the fun stuff we do in the Fall.

Potty Trained.

2009-04-29T17:38:00.004-04:00

Hopefully I didn't just jinx it, but Jackson has been doing awesome without diapers. As a reward for his potty excellence, his Momma got him a well deserved toy.

He got to pick it out. He's still on a super hero kick and I think he chose wisely. Spiderman mask and web slinger!

In other news. Jackson got to hang out with Katherine on Saturday after the Mullins' joined us for the Jacksonville Beach sandcastle contest.

Here they are going for a drive.

and screaming in unison just for fun.

Dancin' Machine!

2009-04-13T20:20:00.003-04:00

Jackson gettin' down at Lily's Birthday Party.

Growing Up.

2009-04-05T10:06:00.003-04:00

Jackson is growing up fast. We've made incredible progress in the using the potty department. Took about a year longer than I expected, but I'm thrilled that we are getting there now. We didn't use a diaper at all yesterday. Jackson slept in a diaper last night but it was still dry when he woke up and he told us he had to potty. He's already used the potty twice today and sporting some very cool Spider Man underwear.

As if that wasn't enough, now he's shaving.

Don't worry. The plastic blade guard is on the razor.

Three Years old!

2009-03-25T16:41:00.004-04:00

Who'd 've thunk it?

Jackson's party was a great success despite Mother Nature trying her best to blow us all away. Just like last year we had wind gusts in the neighborhood of 30 mph and it was a little chilly for early spring in Florida. The kids had fun despite the less than ideal weather. The parents had maybe less fun thanks to the weather. As always, everyone was over generous with their gift giving. Jackson is a lucky boy to have such friends and family. Our household supply of toys is now in the red and threatening to take over.

Here come the pics.

First picture of Jackson at age three.
Betsy was already out of bed and I woke up to Jackson whispering in my ear "Daddy! Can I open my presents now?"

Jackson and Hunter having a swinging time at the start of the party.

Kool-aid mustache.

Cake Time! Thank goodness we had a sparkler candle in the shape of a three. There was no way we could keep regular candles lit in that wind. Thanks to Geoff for getting the sparkler lit.

Hunter and Gabe.

Katharine Stayed at the table until every morsel of cake was gone.

Opening presents was a challenge. We didn't get too many pics of the opening of the presents. Betsy and I both had to be Johnny on the spot with every scrap of paper torn off, lest it be immediately blown into the lawns of the surrounding houses.

Aunt Bunny gave Jackson a Spider Man Easter basket (among loads of other great Spidey stuff). He refused to believe that it was a basket. Jackson insisted it was a mask.

After all that sugar and fun, there was now slowing down for Jackson. At around 11pm we had dinner. So what do you have for dinner on your third birthday? A corndog and birthday cake. Why not? You only turn three once.

The next day, was Betsy's birthday. We let Jackson blow out Mommy's candles to make up for his lack of candles.

Finally, on Monday, his Power Wheels Jeep arrived. We ordered it online and it didn't arrive in time for his B-day. He was thrilled. Here is the inaugural ride after he helped me build it.

So far, Jackson's driving skills are shaky at best. We'll keep practicing.

That's it for the big 3.0. Thanks for reading.

Finally! A Haircut.

2009-03-14T13:01:00.009-04:00

We had to bribe Jackson with the promise of a new DVD, but he finally agreed to getting a haircut. He did great. He was a little squirmy but we got it done with no tears. Then we went immediately to Target to get "Scooby Doo meets Batman".
Here's the result. A very handsome kid with his new movie.

We are one week away from Jackson's third birthday. It's hard to believe it's been three years since this all began. We hope to see you all next Saturday for the party.

In other news. Jackson continues to amaze us with the things he says and does. He has a Spanish lesson a few times a week at preschool and he really picks it up. He's always singing songs in Spanish and asking how you say different things in Spanish. If I don't know, he'll ask that I look it up either on the computer or my phone. He's learned more in a couple of months than I did in four years of high school Spanish. What a kid... err.. guy. He insists that he's a guy. Definitely not a kid or a boy and absolutely not a baby.

He can't be referred to as a boy, but he likes to pretend he's the Dad and Betsy is the Mom and I'm the "boy". I would ask him if he could call me John or son or something, but he insisted that I was the boy and that is what I would be called in this little make believe drama. I have finally gotten him to at least call me John-boy when we play this game. He takes his dad role very seriously. It's really funny.

We went and saw the monster truck show a couple of weeks ago. Jackson had a great time. He especially liked the tailgating beforehand. He wore earmuffs to protect his ears from the loud trucks. He liked wearing them so much that we had a hard time getting him to take them off after the show.
Here he is "tailgating" with Lily and Kendall.

Checking out the action.

And here's the three of us.

The weather has been pretty nice here lately so we've had quite a few trips to the park and even a trip or two to the beach.
The Mullins' visited for a trip to the beach. The weather wasn't so great that day, but Jackson and Katherine managed to have a ball.

Jackson and hunter played at Tall Pines park. That's where the party will be next week.

Jackson and Hunter also had a fun day at Jarboe Park. Betsy and I played at this park when we were kids.
This kid was recently afraid to swing at all. Now he like to go "super duper high".

Hunter with a bucket on his head. Why Not!?!

And Finally, we had a trip to the beach last weekend. The weather was perfect. The water was still cold but Jackson was not phased. He loved it.

Next week is the Birthday party. So come on back after Saturday for a full report. Bye Bye

Jackson Said: Vol. 2

2009-01-31T13:24:00.002-05:00

Today, we went for a bike ride to a nearby park. Pine needle park as Jackson calls it. We did some swinging and sliding and whatnot. Then it was time to play firefighter. Jackson wanted me to come along to the imaginary fire station and I told him I was on break. Betsy volunteered to join him and Jackson said: "No Mom! It's dude's work. You're a girl." He's quite the chauvinist. We have no idea where he get's it form.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T16:39:00.008-05:00

It's a new year so I thought I'd start it with a blog entry.

Jackson had a great Christmas. He must have been pretty good this year. Santa brought him a ton of new stuff. All of his aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas were very generous as well.
I'm going to attempt to insert a videohere. It's a montage of Jackson opening his gifts. He said "No Way!" when he opened each present. It's pretty funny. The video is about four minutes long. Enjoy!

And here are a bunch of photos of all the Christmas Cheer.
Jackson ended up with two full firefighter outfits.

New Dora/Diego movie.

An Awesome kitchen!

Mike and Ikes! Oh Yeah!

Sportin' new shades and checking out a new toothbrush.

Chef Jackson.

We took the little fireman over to Grandma and Grandpa's and he insisted Capt. Grandpa put his helmet on.

Then it was my turn.

Once he got the second outfit he was able to recruit Lily.

Uncle Greg with the two junior firefighters.

The Family.

When we got home, Jackson fell asleep sitting up on the couch while still in full gear. He's even still holding the extinguisher.
The fire fighting did not end there. The day after Christmas, Jackson wore the outfit to Home Depot and the mall.

Here's Aunt Stacey as Jackson's latest recruit.

Now we begin 2009. We've come a long way in the 812 days since Jackson was born.

Impressive.

2008-12-23T22:44:00.002-05:00

Just another quick picture-less post. Jackson was saying something that we couldn't understand. This happens sometimes and it's frustrating for everyone involved. Tonight, he was saying something that sounded to us like "pugs". We responded, "pugs?". And Jackson said; "No. not pugs, pugs!" Then came the reason why I'm writing this. He said; "He's from Yo Gabba Gabba". Then it was obvious. "Plex!", I said. "Yeah. Pugs." and he continued on telling us something he learned from Plex. A breakthrough in my opinion. Usually, this sort of communication breakdown results in screaming and tears until one of us figures out what the heck Jackson is saying or we successfully divert his attention elsewhere.

Jackson Said: Vol. 1

2008-12-16T18:19:00.003-05:00

I've said this before, but one of the main reasons I started this blog was to chronicle amusing things said and done by Jackson as he grows up. So, I'm going to start doing that now. In between longer, picture laden posts, I'll post these "Jackson Said" volumes. That way I can just type it in and the hilarity is not lost forever.

Without further ado. Betsy was changing Jackson's diaper last night and Jackson Said: "Do you wanna smell my poop? Here ya go. Enjoy That."

A Christmas Miracle

2008-12-13T15:32:00.005-05:00

Jackson has been sleeping in the bed with us since day one. I know, I know. You can't do that. You just gotta let him cry it out in his own bed and he'll get over it. Well, we're wimps. We couldn't do it. We tried once or twice and he cried till he threw up. So we relented and just let him keep on sleeping with us. We got a king size bed and it wasn't so bad.

Now, with almost no provocation, Jackson is sleeping in his own bed.

It's been five nights. So I think it's safe to talk about it. Monday afternoon I rearranged the bedroom a little and put clean sheets on his toddler bed. That afternoon, Jackson asked me if fire fighters slept in their own beds. I emphatically said; "yes they do". That night, Betsy asked him if he was going to sleep in his own bed. He said yes and he did. And now every night since then, he has slept in his bed. It has required no argument and no tears. That king size bed sure is big with just the two of us in it. Next step, no more diapers (fingers crossed).

We Haven't taken a lot of photos since the cruise. So rather than post them on here one by one I've put them into another one of these slide show thingamajigs. Enjoy.

2008-12-13T15:32:00.001-05:00

The Cruise

2008-12-13T09:35:00.010-05:00

I figured I better get a post up before Christmas. Otherwise I'll end up having a whole bunch of pictures of Jackson opening presents and playing with toys, etc. and I'll never get the pictures from before Christmas up here.

So let's start with the cruise pictures that I mentioned in the last update. As many of you know, we went on a Cruise to the Bahamas, with lots of family and friends, back in October. We had lots of fun. Bringing a two year old on a cruise was maybe not the best idea but we managed to have a great time anyway.

Here's Jackson at the start of the cruise with the smoke stack in the background. For some reason he insisted on calling it the stack smoke.

We had an extra bed in our cabin that folded out of the wall. Jackson and Hunter loved it. They called it the elevator bed.

Breakfast in bed was also a welcomed perk.

We went to the aquarium on Paradise Island.

And we had Lunch at Senor Frog's. Fortunately Jackson was sound asleep on Grandpa's shoulder. So Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy a nice lunch.

This was our view from our lunch table.

After lunch, Jackson woke up and we went down to the nearest public beach with Jay and Denise and the Davis Family.
Here's Jackson collecting Big rocks from the sea.

Then we headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner.

At dinner, Jackson made a delicious concoction of water and bread, mixed in a wine glass.

And then he DRANK IT!!!

The bathroom in our cabin served as Jackson's surrogate fire station. He spent a lot of time in there. Don't as me. He's two.
Here he is making ghosts with with towels.

That was the cruise in a nut shell. We had fun despite the fact that Jackson wore us out. He had enough fun to wear himself out by the end.

The Return of the Blog (maybe)

2008-10-15T18:19:00.013-04:00

So it's been six months since I've updated this puppy. What a lazy bum! Right? Cut me some slack. Our camera broke, I got a new computer, had to learn new camera software, we moved, etc. Okay. I know. Excuses, excuses.

So when we left off, Jackson was just starting to say some crazy stuff and I couldn't remember any of it. Now he says tons of crazy stuff and I can't remember any of it. Last week his teacher told me that Jackson said he needed ten bucks for beer. How's that? That's a good one.

In order to get back into the swing of things, I think I'll just dump a bunch of pictures on you faithful readers of the blog. Of course, I'll comment when needed. I'll also insert any random memories that pop into my had as I go along. Okay? Ready?

Here goes!

Jackson in a kitty litter bucket full of water. Good times.

Jackson painting and sporting his new "cheese" face. For some reason he started closing his eyes when his says cheese.

These are the first of many many fire fighter related images to come. This kid is obsessed with all things fire fighter. He can take roll call and then tell all about how a pumper truck works. Just the mere sight of a fire hydrant on the side of the road is enough to make his day.

Complete outfit with mask, boots, and jacket.

Let's see. What else? We went to the Zoo a couple of months ago with Jackson's buddy Hunter and his parents,(our buddies) Scott and Jenny.

We got a new kitty and we named her Macadangdang. Don't ask.

Jimbo was not impressed at first.

But they quickly became the best of friends.

Now for some random silliness.

There's plenty more silliness. In fact, let's see some more.

Crazy hats with Theresa. That's fun.

And how 'bout diaper head? Also fun.

Another thing that Jackson is totally into is tools. He loves to "fix" He's always saying: "Can I fix with you Dad?" whenever I'm working on something. Or he'll say: "You wanna fix with me?" Whenever he's playing with his tools. If Uncle Greg shows up at the house, Jackson immediately runs off to get his tools to show Greg. He knows if Greg's here, something's gettin' fixed.

Here he is with his tool belt and no pants.

We recently went on our first fishing trip. Scott, Jenny, and Hunter invited Jackson and I to join them at a little lake that is slap full of tiny Bream. Jackson was all about it until the fish was out of the water. Then he wanted no part of touching it. We had Jackson and Hunter both saying they wanted to catch a "monster". In this lake, a monster was a three inch fish instead of the usual two inch fish. We sure had fun though.

That's pretty much it. Well, except for the pictures from our cruise to the Bahamas. I'll save them for the next post. That way I'll be more likely to actually create a "next" post.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for waiting six months for an update. I'll leave you with some more random acts of silliness.

Bye Bye!

April 2008

2008-04-28T21:41:00.003-04:00

Oh Man! Jackson says some funny stuff. I really need to write them down every time he comes out with a good one. As I type this, I'm forgetting quality words of wisdom. In the last few days he's started saying something that he obviously picked up from his mom. "How my look?" That's "how do I look?" For those of you that don't speak the language. If you, in turn, ask Jackson how you look, he'll say; "pretty good". "Pretty good" is his go to answer for just about every question that relates to how something is, was, or looks. Dad: "How was school today Bud?" Jackson: "Pretty good".

While I think of another example I'll let you peruse some recent photos.

The Icecream man is a pretty big deal in Jackson's world. We don't see him often but when we do, it's memorable.

Here's Jackson making his selection.

Let's go mom! Pay the man.

Then Jackson found a nice safe place to eat his frozen treat.

Here's the Bugg trying to be cool like dad.

Enjoying a nice walk on the pier with mom.

After several botched attemps at a haircut by both Grandma B and Betsy, Jackson finally got a real haircut by someone who knew what she was doing. Look how handsome.

And finally, here's a picture of Jackson and me in front of the sandcastle that Uncle Greg, Jay, Ryan, and I built on Saturday. We won "Best of Show" at the 32nd annual Jax Beach sandcastle contest.

Okay. So I'm still having a brain freeze on the other great things that Jackson says. I get them next time.

I'll leave you all with a little Harmonica solo by a nude Jackson. Don't worry. It's shot from above the waist. Enjoy!

Bye Bye for now.

Easter 2008

2008-03-29T11:13:00.003-04:00

We started easter with some crazy egg dying at Uncle Greg and Aunt Bunny's house. Unfortunately the camera died while we were there. We had a great time and by the time we left, Jackson's hands were solid green. Hundreds of eggs were dyed for the annual egg hunt that followed on Saturday.

Jackson got to get his egg hunting feet wet on Friday at a local park. Betsy took him for the annual Easter egg hunt. He got to ride on a train and climb on a fire truck and see the Easter Bunny. All at one of his favorite place on Earth. The Park. What a day. It proved to be excellent practice for the big hunt on Saturday.

Aunt Bunny hosts one heck of an Easter egg hunt. Complete with Bunny costume. Jackson got right into it and had his basket full in no time. Even though he had to pause to eat the candy inside after just about every egg.

Here's the pics.

Here's a short video of the action.

Thanks for stopping by.

2nd Birthday Party!

2008-03-29T10:38:00.003-04:00

That's right folks. Jackson is Two. It's hard to believe. We had a really great time at his birthday party. Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us and thanks to all for all the wonderful presents. Jackson is a lucky boy.

Here are some pics of the big day.

Jackson kicked off the birthday season with his party. I think it's got him a little confused. His party was nearly a week before his birthday. So, he had the party on Saturday, a little party at daycare on Thursday (they were closed on Friday), and then his actual birthday on Friday. He seemed to think that everyday was his birthday. The very next day (Saturday) was Betsy's Birthday. Jackson refused to say happy birthday to mommy. He would just say "my birthday too". Today is Uncle Lunchbox's (Jay's) birthday, mine is next Saturday, Aunt Jackie's is the 13th, Aunt Bunny's is the 15th, and Uncle Jeff and Lilly are both on the 19th. This poor kid will be in party withdrawal come May.

Skill Crane Champion.

2008-02-18T16:23:00.003-05:00

Jackson has had an obsession with skill cranes (claw machines, what have you) for quite some time now. It all started probably a year ago when we would go out and play trivia at a restraunt. We actually had to stop playing because Jackson would have a fit if someone didn't hold him up to the skill crane the whole time we were there.

Recently, Betsy decided to let Jackson try his hand at the machine, rather than just watching me do it. Would you believe it? He won! Now he's a skill crane prodigy!

Here's what he's won so far.

Winter.

2008-02-15T17:48:00.003-05:00

Alrighty, I'm just gonna do a quick pictorial update of December, January, and now half of February. Lots has happened and Jackson continues to amaze us everyday with the things he does and the things he says.

Which brings me to why I just want to quickly bring all you faithful readers up to date. I started this blog because I wanted to record the funny things Jackson will say and do. Mostly say. I would often hear talk show hosts tell hilarious stories about things their children would say, or it would just be a friend relating an equally hysterical anecdote about their kids. So I decided to do this blog as a way to preserve those moments. Those moments are upon us. Let's get these last two months out of the way first.

Here's Jackson lookin' good in some flannel

We had a nice day in December with the Mullins' and their daughter Katherine. They are very cute together.

Jackson brushing his teeth in the mirror and seeming very pleased with himself.

Uncle Greg throwing Jackson to Aunt Bunny (not really). Christmas Eve at Jeff and Jackie's house.

Tearing into his gifts on Christmas morning. We really had a great Christmas this year. All the aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas spoiled Jackson quite well. He had a blast. He's still talking about Santa and making us read "The Night Before Christmas" pretty much every night.

Olive fingers!

Jammin' on his new piano.

Playing with his lowrider from Ryan and Amber.

Helping daddy build a bookshelf with his new hammer. Jackson is a bit of a hammer collector. He has many.

Playing with Katherine during Jags postseason.

Chomp! Chomp!

And finally. "My parents went to Mexico and all I got was a sombrero and a guitar."

Caught up? Good. Let's move on.

So Jackson is saying a lot. Mostly, Betsy and I are the only ones that really understand what he's saying, but a lot of what he says is amazingly clear.

Betsy and Jackson went out to K Mart a week or so ago. While there, they discovered the Florida Gator themed baby gear to be on sale. Jackson is hopelessly addicted to his "ya ya". That's the word he made up for his pacifier and it stuck. Anyway, Betsy bought Jackson a Gator ya ya. When they got home he couldn't wait to show me. He dug it out of the bag and ran over to me and said "Look Daddy, cool ya ya." How great is that?

He has said many other funny things. I'll report on them when I think of them or whenever he says something else that's priceless.

One other instance that comes to mind is that Jackson loves to think he's the boss of Jimbo. Jimbo is our Kitty. She's kind of a trouble maker and we're often saying "no" to her. Jackson will chime in with "time out! Jimbo" and/or "No! No! Jimbo!". He really likes having someone to be in charge of.

Okay. That'll do for now. Hopefully the hits will just keep coming. I'll have to come up with clever ways to incorporate images into these sorts of updates. Have no fear. I'll figure it out.

Bye Bye for now.

Fresh Start

2007-11-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

Okay! We're gonna try this thing again. I had a bad case of the lazy's and with each passing week, the task of catching up the blog grew larger and larger. So here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna fill all you faithful readers in with the major advancements and achievments since the last post. I'll do this mostly with pictures and brief explanations. After that, I'm just going to start posting again. I hope. This kid is starting to say some pretty funny things and that's why I started this whole thing in the first place. To record all the funny things Jackson would say and do. Deal? Good. Let's do this thing.

Let's start with that big fat puffy eye of Jackson's that you saw in the last post. He had a blocked nasolacrimal duct (tear duct). The purpose of said duct is to carry away used tears (and the crud associated with them) and make way for fresh tears. Jackson's left duct was blocked and allowed for bad things to grow.

Well, we got that fixed. We agonized over the whole thing and then the procedure took all of about three minutes and was an instant and total success. Here are some picture from the big day.

before the surgery. Note the purple dot over the "correct" eye.

After the surgery and still a little doped. Showing his red Gatorade tongue.

Here's just a bunch of pictures from summer. Hopefully I'll at least get them in chronological order

We got a vist from the Bordings. Second cousin Kate showed off her skills.

Fun with the hose at grandma's

Chowin' on some Cheerios.

Jackson likes to hijack the camera and take lots of photos of nothing. This is one of my faves.

A visit to the Zoo.

Mac n' cheese head.

More fun in the sun.

Chicken nugget love.

Earning his allowance.

Lots of things have happened since I last blogged. Jackson started daycare and Betsy went back to work full time. This was very difficult at first. Both for Jackson and for Betsy. More so for Jackson. He cried non-stop for the first week. As the weeks went on, he got better and better. He really enjoys "school" now. The major drawback is the back to back sicknesses. Every week he catches some new bug from the other little dirty booger faces in his class. We're just getting over a particularly nasty one today. Hopefully, his immunities will be all built up soon and he'll be able to fearlessly chew on slobber encrusted toys without peril.

We got a new kittie.

This is Jimmie. We thought she was a boy at first. The people that I got her from told me she was a boy. By the time we realized she was in fact a girl, she was already Jimmie. Or Jimbo, as Jackson likes to call him. ....errr her.

Jackson says tons of words. He'll try and say anything. He recently started putting a few words into little hilarious sentences. His first was "I threw it!". If he couldn't find his "ya ya" (that's the word he invented for his pacifier), we'd ask; "what did you do with it?" and he would respond with "I threw it!" complete with a pitching arm motion.

Another of his favorites is "hold you" which he says when he wants someone to hold him. He sticks his arms out and say "hold you". It looks something like this.

Just a week or so ago, Jackson came out into the TV room with the diaper rash cream in one hand and his other hand on his behind and says to me; "cream for your bum". Of course it wasn't as clear as that. the "for your" part had to be slightly interpreted, but there was no doubt about "cream" and "bum". Now he often demands cream during diaper changes.

Jackson had his second Halloween with the crazy family he was born into. Last year he was blissfully oblivious to anything potentially scary. This year he started out very scared of Halloween displays at stores and he would clamp onto whoever was nearest and start crying or wimpering. That gave way to the slightly braver pointing forcefully at scary things and saying "whoa". By the time Halloween rolled around he was a full fledged Birdsong. Not scared at all.

"I aint 'fraid of no ghosts"

He dressed as a very cute, I mean very scary, skeleton.

I'm sure I've forgotten to include more than I've actually included, but I'll get whatever I missed next time. Hopefully less than four months from now.

Here I'll leave you with a few more pictures. He's getting real big real fast.

Making funny faces with Dad.

sitting in the kitchen cabinet.

Showing off his power tools.

Bye Bye for now!

June Bugg!

2007-06-16T16:38:00.001-04:00

I don't think I've mentioned it before on the blog, but back in January we started calling this kid "Bugg" (hence the title of the post). Betsy had been calling him bugaloo for a few days and then it got shortened to just Bugg. The extra "g" is just for fun. It just sort of stuck. It might come in handy in the future as we have met a lot of other Jacksons and Jacks.

Anyway, on with the update.

One Eyed Jack!
Wednesday morning we woke up to a face that looked something like this.

We instantly assumed it was some sort of insect or spider bite. So Betsy took him to see the doctor and she too thought it looked like a spider bite and prescribed Benedryl and and a watchful eye. The next day it still looked really bad. So back to the doc he went. This time she suspected an infection rather than a bite and sent us to the children's hospital to see an eye doctor. The eye doctor felt pretty certain that she was lookin at an extreme case of conjunctivitis (pink eye). She prescibed antibiotics and sent us on our way. It got a little better as the day wore on. It was half open and still all red. While on our way to dinner, Betsy looked at Jackson in the rearview and started laughing. She said "he looks like Nick Nolte's mugshot.".
You be the judge.

Dead on if you ask me.

Here's Nick binging on refried beans.

So, come Friday, he was looking much better. Now he's almost back to normal. Thank goodness it wasn't a spider bite. I was envisioning necrosis of the eyelid and losing sleep.

Here he is on Friday morning. Happy as a clam. This whole ordeal hardly bothered him. It looked so painful and itchy to me, but he just kept on like nothing was wrong. He's a tough kid.

In other news, Jackson has picked up a new game. It's called "This?". He loves to point at anything and everything and say "this?" wanting you to say whatever it is. It's really quite comical. Here's what mine or Betsy's side of the conversation might sound like; "couch, eye, nose, eye, couch, couch, still the couch, knee, ear, other ear, coffee table, and so on".
Here's Jackson playing the this game in the car with a book.

He's concentrating on that bee before he goes to the next page.

Summer Time...
The warm weather is here and Jackson loves to be outside enjoying it. We've been taking lots of bike rides around the neighborhood and trips to the park and the beach. Even if it's raining, Jackson wants to be outside

Here are a few more pics and a video clip from Grandma and Grandpa B's house a couple of weeks ago.

That all for now. See you next month. *** I dont know what's up with the crazy font size. I cant get it back to normal***

Back By Popular Demand!

2007-05-17T15:57:00.000-04:00

It's Jackson and his world famous blog.

Okay, so I'm not gonna make any excuses. I'm just lazy. I hit that one year mark and decided to take a little blog vacation.

So what's new in Jackson's life? Not a whole heck of a lot. In the time since the last post he's just been honing his skills. Walking, talking, eating, and sleeping (yeah right!). Actually, last night was the first time that Betsy and I woke up with the alarm clocks and Jackson was still in his crib. Total victory! I'd say it was probably seven hours in the crib all by his lonesome. Normally, come 6:30 am, we've formed a capital "H" in the bed. Betsy and I are the two sides and Jackson is that perpendicular line connecting us.

Walking has totally replaced crawling. He's pretty darn good at it too. And fast. Just the other day I laid him on the bed for a diaper change. I took off the dirty diaper and turned my head to get the wipes. Before I even had the wipes in my grasp, he was on his feet and sprinting across the bed. Fortunately he belly flopped before he reached the window sill.

I guess I better plug in a picture or two before I go on. He is still getting cuter by the day.

Jackson is still no pro when it comes to eating but he does a pretty good job. He'll try most anything we offer him and if he doesn't like it he'll just shake his head and the second offer. He's very fond of shaking his head "no" in response to most questions. We're working on "yes". He likes lots of different foods. We just have to cut or tear everything into little tiny pieces. Otherwise he will literally bite off more than he can chew. Shredded cheese is by far his favorite. He get's that from me. He also enjoys deli sliced ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, chicken, spaghetti, and he loves bananas. We pretty much let him go nuts with bananas. He'll take a big bite but it's so mushy that he can handle it.
Here's the little monkey with a banana.

Here's what happens when you mix babies and spaghetti.

The most important food shift is that from formula and breast milk to good old fashioned cow's milk. Jackson polishes off a gallon of whole milk every three days.

Other than that it's pretty much the same routine. Mommy during the day and Daddy in the evening.

Don't worry! Here come the rest of the pictures.

Jackson and I like to take the wagon out for a spin and hit the swings down at the boat ramp.

He totally thinks he's the coolest guy in town when he has his shades on.

And here he is on Mother's day. Note the awesome "mom" tattoo on his arm.

Okay, That's it for now. It's my plan to do a monthly update from here on out unless something especially noteworthy happens. Thanks for reading. See you next month.

Bye Bye!

The Party!

2007-03-31T08:30:00.001-04:00

Jackson's first Birthday Party was a ton of fun. Thanks to all the friends and family that came for the big event. We had the party at Jarboe Park in Neptune Beach.

Here's the Momma setting up the spread.

Grandma M. got jackson two awesome cakes from Cinotti's Bakery.

They even provided an individual size cake just for Jackson.

He started out a little shy, but he eventually tore right into it.

Create Your Own

Jackson got a load of great gifts and made quick work of the wrapping paper.

As always, he loved hanging out with his aunts Stacey and Jackie.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to celebrate with us. It was truly a memorable day.

He's ONE!

2007-03-21T22:15:00.000-04:00

Hot Dog It's Jackson's Birthday! It's late so I'm just gonna dump some pictures on here with captions. Check back Sunday evening for more pictures and story including those from his birthday party on Saturday.

Opening presents like a pro.

He loved the football.

He had his very own piece of cake.

And he wore it well.

As of yesterday, this kid can walk!
Here he is with his Birthday balloons.

Check back on sunday for the full story and videos.

Stuff.

2007-03-15T18:44:00.000-04:00

Jackson is asleep. So I'm gonna try and do this quickly. Just a few pics and a couple videos.

This first video is just funny. Be sure and notice the "mean mug" at about the sixteen second mark.

This next one showcases Some of Jackson's advanced walking moves.

Now for some pics.

Jackson testing out his sweet new bike helmet at the dinner table.

This boy loves cell phones. He puts everything up to his ear and says "Hello!" It's usually sounds more like "'lo" or even sometimes "Bob!" Here he is making a call.

Jackson in a basket.

And finally, Crazy face.

That's it for now. He's already awake. One year old next week. Whoopee! Check back then.

11 Months Old.

2007-02-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

Eleven Months old today. I usually like to take a picture of Jackson on the actual day that he increases another month in age. Unfortunately, the camera is dead and I can't find the charger. So All I have is this ridiculous picture of Jackson sleeping with his butt up in the air. It was taken yesterday. That's close enough, right?

Jackson continues to amaze us everyday. He's trying to walk all over the place, He finally has another tooth coming in, His vocabulary is expanding (We have no idea what the heck he's saying), and he continues to get cuter. I know it sounds impossible but it's true.

So, since I have no more new pictures to offer, I have something fun for all you good readers to do. Jackson appears to have a yellow nose in pictures. If you haven't already noticed this phenomenon, go through the pictures on this blog. You can't miss it. The boy has a yellow nose. It's undeniable.

Progress!

2007-02-10T11:59:00.000-05:00

WALKER!

WALKER!

Check it out.

This kid has been seriously making progress on his walking skills. It's happening very quickly. He's been able to stand on his own for a little while now and every once in a while he would take a step or two. Now, He wants to walk all the time. He not very good at it so it's very nerve wracking. He likes to go from wherever he has stood himself up to wherever he wants to go next. It's never more than seven or eight steps and he often doesn't make it, but he has no fear.

We have also made great progress in the food department. Jackson is eating all kinds of tiny things with no difficulty. This is the same kid who just a few weeks ago would gag on a single grain of cooked rice. Now he's a puff eating machine.

We're having a blast and we are rapidly approaching the first birthday. It's unbelievable.

Here are a few recent pictures:

Jackson eating a leather coaster and sporting his new Grave Digger outfit that Aunt Bunny got him.

Riding in his wagon.

And finally, just being cute in his super cool space jammies.

Bye Bye for now.

10 Months and Five States.

2007-01-22T13:03:00.000-05:00

Jackson turned ten months old yesterday. We just got back from a week long trip to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg Tennessee. Along the way, Jackson traveled through five states. Not bad for a ten month old.

So I realize it's been nearly a month since I posted anything here and Yes! I know I promised some Christmas pics. Pull up a chair. This is gonna be a long one. I'll try and keep the wordage brief and just get right to the pictures.

Let's start with those Christmas pictures. This first group is from December 25th (the day Jackson was sick).

Those three were at home in the morning before we knew he was running a fever.

Here's a couple from later that evening at Grandma and Grandpa B's house. He's hot and feeling lousy in these ones but He tried to have a good time.

A week later we had Christmas 2.0 at the Mills' house. Grandpa M. wasn't home on Christmas so we celebrated the following weekend. Jackson was feeling a heck of a lot better by this point and he had a blast. However, the camera battery was dead and we only managed to get three pictures.

There was an incident involving a santa suit and a very dirty diaper. So we changed him into his new overalls and a pair of jeans.
There you have it. Christmas 2006.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we're at the third annual Birdsong family vacation. As I mentioned before, we went to Tennessee. It was really great. On the way there we decided it would be best to split the drive in half for Jackson's sake. A good move. About 40 minutes before we reached our destination, on both legs of the journey, he had had enough of the car. reached our destination.
The only picture we took at the halfway point (Fayetteville, Ga) was of me testing out the new beds at the Hampton Inn.

Then we spent a wonderful week in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. I'm just gonna lay on the pictures and give brief descriptions of what and where.

Testing out the hot tub.

The family in Gatlinburg.

The family at Laural Falls in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We had to push the stoller 1.25 miles up a mountain for this photo op.

Jackson in a coon skin cap.

Betsy enjoying a delicious funnel cake.

We let Jackson drive down the mountain.

Jackson all bundled up for a cold day at the ski slope.

Nearly the whole gang (Jeff took the photo, Greg and Dianna had to leave a few days early) at The Smoky Mountain Brewery on our last night in Tennessee.

Later that same night, Betsy gave Jackson a bath. He always has fun splashing in the bath, but this time he was going wild. So I tried to capture the crazy splashing with the camera. What I got was much better.

He splashed so hard he nearly flipped over.

Here's one more of Jackson this afternoon. He had yogurt for lunch.

Thanks for reading.

Not Very Merry.

2006-12-27T15:58:00.000-05:00

We had our first trip to the hospital on Christmas night. We noticed that Jackson was a little warm on Monday morning after opening his presents. So we took his temperature. 100 degrees even. Not cause for alarm really, but we called the pediatrician's after hours hotline. Betsy told the operator the symptoms and the Dr. called us right away. She told us to give him Tylenol and monitor his temp.. So that's what we did.

After a relaxing morning and afternoon we went over to Grandma and Grandpa B's for Christmas dinner and festivities. Jackson had gone through phases of fussy, sleepy, sleeping, and happy all day and the evening was no different. We kept checking his temperature and giving him Tylenol and although Jackson was clearly not himself, the treatment seemed to be working pretty well.

After we left Grandma and Grandpa's house, We gave him another dose of ibuprofen and checked his temperature. 100.6 degrees. After about thirty minutes he seemed to be hotter. So we checked again. 101.2 Not good. The fever was going the wrong way. Another thirty minutes or so and we checked again. 102.1 degrees. We called the doctor again and she called right back again. She told us we could either go get him some Motrin and and keep monitoring it or head downtown to the Children's hospital. We chose the latter.

We got to the emergency room at about 12:45am and we were quickly moved through to triage. The nurse checked his temp (the hard way) and it was 101.2. They then led us to an exam room and we were thinking "wow! this is moving quickly." Wrong!

We dressed Jackson in a tiny hospital gown and began the wait. At one point he even perked up a bit.

That didn't last too long. He slept some and we waited and waited. Finally after two and a half hours a nurse came in and took his temperature. 103.3! He was burning up. They brought in some Motrin and we gave it too him. At first it seemed to have no affect, but within about thirty minutes he really started to cool off some and the redness in his cheeks lessened and he was able to get some sleep.

Eventually, the doctor came to see him. The doctor barged in, turned on the lights, and ordered us to sit Jackson up. (the doctor was far from friendly) He wanted to see if Jackson would track his movements as he walked back and forth (a test for menengitis). Jackson passed. The doctor felt fairly certain that menengitis was not the issue and ordered a blood test and some chest xrays.

Two nurses came in to put in an IV (the iv was in case there was a later need for antibiotics) and draw the necessary blood. That was the hardest thing Betsy or I ever had to witness. They placed a splint on his arm to keep the IV in place and poor Jackson looked like a wounded bird.

So then we had two xrays, which was less of an ordeal than I expected, and we went back to the room to wait an hour for the results of the blood test. Jackson was able to fall asleep again and after about an hour, the doctor came busting in again barking orders for us to wake Jackson up and get him playing with a toy or something. Easy for him to say. He'd be back in five minutes to see him. He came back in and checked for Jackson's eye movement tracking the doctor across the room etc. He again was satisfied. He told us that the blood work looked good and the xrays were clear. He dicided to go ahead with the antibiotics although he did not suspect bacterial infection.

A nurse came in and hooked up the antibiotics to the IV and said in 30 minutes it would be done and we could go home. With the Motrin still working, Jackson managed to have a little fun while the antibiotics were being delivered.

How cute is that little hospital gown?

That was it. They set us free with the instruction of having his pediatrician check him out the next day. It only took seven hours! We got home around 8:30 am (with the gown!)

Fast forward to today. After a long day yesterday of fussy, happy, sleepy, fussy, asleep, fussy, fussier, sleeping, happy, fussy, fussy, fussier. Betsy took Jackson to see his doctor. Within minutes she could tell he had hand, foot, and mouth disease. She couldn't believe the ER doctor didn't catch it. She really couldn't believe he didn't look in his mouth and see the tell tale sores.
Anyway, the long and short of it is that we have a sickly baby on our hands for several more days. He has a sore mouth and therefore doesn't want to eat or drink. Dehydration is the primary concern. He'll get through it, it's just gonna be no fun for a few days.

Friday we are having Christmas number two with the Mills'. So Jackson gets another chance at having a happier holiday. Check back on Saturday for Christmas pictures from both actual Christmas and from the upcoming Friday Christmas. I figured this post was long enough so I'll post all the Christmas pictures together.

9 Months!

2006-12-21T22:36:00.000-05:00

Today, Jackson turned nine months old. He visited the pediatrician for his nine month check up and another round of shots. He was weighed and measured as usual. Not much change since the last time. Still just under twenty pounds.

On Tuesday, Jackson took his first steps. He was standing at his piano, as he often does, then he decided to turn around and walk to his momma. She was just two steps away. I think he could have made it a couple more steps if she had been further away. Big trouble is just around the corner.
Here he is practicing his technique.

Other than getting older and learning to walk, we've been getting ready for Christmas. Over the weekend we worked on some top secret crafts.
Red on Saturday.

Green on Sunday.

Dressed up and under the tree just for fun.

Bye Bye for now.

Nothing is Safe

2006-12-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

This little monster is mobile and he knows it. Jackson is no longer content to just sit where you put him. He's gotta move! Of course he only wants to crawl to and climb up on things we don't want him to get into. Sometimes he does choose a safe target.
Here's an example.

It used to be that if Jackson was hungry you could give him a bottle and he'd sit still and drink it. Sometimes he'd even fall asleep. Not anymore. The bottle doesn't interfere with his roaming.

When Jackson does reach his destination he has to put something in his mouth. If he can't bring it to his mouth he just brings his mouth to it.

So that's life at the Birdsong house lately. Chasing a baby around and saying "No! Don't put that in your mouth."
And finally, here's a couple extra pictures that are just cute.

Jackson with his pants on his head.

And Jackson ready for the cold weather we had last week.

8 Months Old.

2006-11-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

Jackson turned 8 months old on Tuesday. He's doing great. We just cant believe that he's been around for 8 months. I know I've said this before, but time is just flying by. So I'm sure you are asking yourself, "What does the cutest baby ever look like at eight months?" Something like this.

You may also be asking yourself; "what's an eight month old baby do for fun?" Well, thats simple.

He plays in an empty diaper box.

And he wears goofy hats.

Yesterday was Jackson's first Thanksgiving. We started out with lunch at the Grandma and Grandpa M's. We were having such a nice time that we forgot to get the camera out and take any pictures until after Aunt Jackie had already left. So I just photoshopped her in. Don't mind the roller derby girl Halloween costume.

We then went from there to Grandma and Grandpa B's house for Thanksgiving dinner. We ate more yummy food and continued to have a great day. Here's Aunt Bunny (Dianna) with Jackson.

Grandma had us all make hand turkeys as our place cards. They turned out really great. Excellent idea Mom. Jackson's was too cute for words.

So there you have it. Eight months and and Jackson's first Thanksgiving are in the history books. Next stop, Christmas!

Some Firsts

2006-11-12T10:55:00.000-05:00

We've had a couple of first since our last post.

Jackson's first Halloween was loads of fun. Here's the family at Uncle Greg and Aunt Diana's annual Halloween party.

That's me as the cardboard robot, Jackson as a penguin, and Betsy as a roller derby girl.

On Halloween, we had our annual haunted house at Grandma and Grandpa B's house. Here's the family again.

We had lots of fun as always.

Last Sunday, after football we went for ice cream. Jackson got a free baby cone. Betsy had given him a taste of ice cream a couple of times, but this was his first ice cream cone of his very own. He dove right in!

(Thanks for the picture Denise.)

Now for the big one. Jackson has gotten his first teeth.
Both bottom front teeth arrived this week. We've seen them coming for a while now and they've finally broken the surface. Betsy took a photo of the teeth and it looks like there may be a third one popping up in the back. You be the judge.

Along with these firsts, Jackson continues to pull himself up on everything he can get his hands on. He loves to stand up.

Jackson continues to perfect his crawling technique. It's much less crab-like and much faster. He's also babbling away. We were out having dinner the other night and Jackson just jabbered away the whole time talking to everyone within earshot. It was really funny. He makes friends everywhere he goes.

Here's a quick little video of him having fun in the play pen.

Seven Months Old Today!

2006-10-21T19:03:00.000-04:00

So what's new at seven months? All sorts of things. Jackson has teeth that are coming in. They haven't broken the surface yet but they are close and they hurt. Chewing on a rubber duck's head seems to be the best remedy for gum pain.

Jackson's vocabulary is growing daily. He doesn't say any actual words of course. He does say something that sounds a bit like Mama. 11:30pm is usually the time that jackson likes to practice his words of the day. Very helpful when trying to sleep. Our favorite so far is something that sounds like "glop glop". We use it as a sort of hello or goodbye greeting. "Glop Glop Jackson".

Crawling is nearly there. He does have a slightly unorthodox technique but it gets him where he needs to be. He'd really rather be walking, so he gets down on his hands and one knee. The other leg is used as a pusher. He plants his right foot, pushes off, and kinda drags the left knee. It's very comical to watch. Here's a video of the little crawler in action. You'll see I had to put out some bait ( in this case the remote) in order for him to crawl toward me. He veers a little off course but you'll get the idea.

Then the reward.

Tasty remote control.

There is one other thing that I've been afraid to mention for fear of jinxing it. The spitting up has decreased dramatically. Once a day, maybe twice is all we are dealing with now. It wasn't long ago that it was more like ten to twelve times a day. The volume is considerably less also. To quote Martha Stewart, "It's a good thing". If we could just get the little booger to sleep by himself it would all be too good to be true.

Wrong Team!

2006-10-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

Ah man! I think we made a big mistake. The Florida Gators lost their first game of the season to the Auburn Tigers. Look what Jackson was wearing all day.

"T" is for Tiger. More like "T" is for Traitor. He should have told me he was an Auburn fan. Not cool.

Anyway, Jackson went to the doc yesterday for his six month 'well baby' check up. So we have some official stats. He is 17lbs 12.5 oz. 27 inches long and and has a head circumference of 17.5 inches. All of those numbers are in or around the 50th percentile. He's our average little man. He got four shots again. He did great with them. no fever today. Very impressive. He did eat one of the band-aids on the car ride home from the pediatrician's office. Don't worry! He didn't swallow it or anything. Momma just dicovered that he was chewing on it when they got home. Pretty gross I know.

Jack in the Box

2006-10-07T17:47:00.000-04:00

Just a quick post to get this picture I took this morning on here.

Balloons and the Beach.

2006-10-04T16:43:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of Jackson having a good ol' time with a balloon at Grandma and Grandpa M.'s house.

We all went to the Beach on Sunday. Jackson had a good time. He wasn't too crazy about the sand.

He is crazy about his momma!

Scott brought Hunter down to hang out with Jackson.

I guess they had to see if that was a real baby in front of them or just that baby they see in the mirror at home.

Jackson continues to grow and progress. He still cant sit himself up, but once you sit him up he can stay sitting indefinitely. He gets a little closer to figuring out how to do it everyday. If you hold his ankles he'll pop right up. In the last few days, he seems determined to stand up. He's grabbing on to things and pulling himself forward. Yesterday he grabbed on to his chair and stood right up. It's all very exciting. I'll keep ya posted.

Bye!

Look who's six months old.

2006-09-21T21:37:00.000-04:00

Who me?

That's right. It's been six months. I find it hard to believe. That was by far the fastest six months of my life. It was also, without a doubt, the best six months.

So we told Jackson he was six months old and he couldn't handle it.

Actually he just missed his momma. She was sick Monday and Tuesday and didn't go to work. Jackson got a little bit used to Betsy being home. He was really sad yesterday and was a little upset tonight.

The good news is, he got over it.

Fortunately for Jackson he had a recent ear infection. I know, that doesn't sound fortunate, but it meant he didn't have to get his six month round of shots today. He did go to the doc to check out his ears. He's good to go. Despite the fact that Betsy and I both have had colds in the last two weeks, Jackson doesn't seem to have it. The pediatrician gave him a clean bill of health. He was weighed with his diaper and shirt on and weighed in at 17lbs 8oz. They figure that is about 17lbs even when you subtract the clothes.

Here's one more picture. Jackson is grabbing at everything whether it's within reach or not. The latest in a long list of nicknames is Grabby McGrabberson. Here he is in action.

Quickie picture update!

2006-09-04T10:56:00.000-04:00

Here are some fresh pictures of Jackson

Jackson geared up for the start of Gators football.

This guy can drive his walker in any direction he chooses now. That meeans he drives it straight for stuff he wants to grab.

Rice cereal is still on the menu once a day or so. Today it was breakfast.

Five Months Old Today!

2006-08-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

Jackson is five months old today. He's taking it well. Especially since this month does not require a trip to the pediatrician or any shots in the thighs. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait til next month for an official weigh-in.

Along with the five month benchmark comes infant cereal. Jackson had his first go at eating something other than breast milk or formula last night. I guess you could call it a success. As long as you consider 5% in the mouth and 95% all over the face, all down the shirt, and all over everything within a four foot radius a success. He definitely enjoyed the exercise.

After the feed.

Yesterday, Jackson was baptized at St. Paul's Catholic Church. It was a very nice ceremony and we had lots of friends and family join us. Jackson, of course, was the cutest and most well behaved baby at the baptism. There were a half dozen other kids being baptized along with him. He was the only one that didn't cry. What a guy! Here's a picture of the freshly baptized Jackson with his proud momma.

After the baptism, everyone came back to Grandma and Grandpa B's for a nice lunch and some swimming. Grandma M. made a delicious spread of food and we all ate too much.

Don't worry! We waited fifteen minutes before swimming.

Hard to believe it's been five months.

On a Roll!

2006-08-16T17:31:00.000-04:00

Jackson is now rolling front to back and back to front at will. What's the result of such a development?
Runaway Baby!

As I've mentioned before, Jackson loves to roll around in his walker. This past weekend, Jackson took his ride outside and got his feet dirty.

Real Dirty!

We are getting lots of vocalizations from this boy. It's really great to witness language being learned. It seems like everyday, Jackson comes up with a new sound or a variation of a favorite sound. Betsy and I have loads of fun having conversations that consist mostly of grunts, groans, and raspberry noises.

Next week Jackson turns five months old. Come on back!

A Matter of Scale.

2006-08-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

Everything is scaled down in Jackson's world. He's got tiny little socks for his tiny little feet. His fingers and toes are just like big people's fingers and toes, only smaller. He's got small chairs and small blankets, tiny ball caps and tiny clothes. It's all stuff just like the rest of us have except it's a smaller version. One thing does not conform to this principal. One thing is alarmingly not scaled down.

His Farts!

Now I know it's a little crass to discuss flatulence, but I can't ignore it anymore. It amazes me daily that such a litlle guy can produce sounds that could be easily mistaken for those of a grown man. If he were a she it would be quite embarrassing. He's gassy but we love him like a son.

In other news. Jackson rolled over twice from front to back with no assitance. He rolls back to front at will. Despite the fact that once on his belly he realizes he doesn't like being on his belly. After he starts fussing about it, Betsy or I will flip him back over and within seconds, he's right back on his belly fussing. He just enjoys it so much, it's worth the consequences.

This past weekend, we took Jackson to Grandpa and Grandma M's river house on the Suwannee. We had a very nice and relaxing time.
Here's Jackson with Grandpa.

And here he is flying through the air.

And here he is in his super cool new "Baby Fire Chief" hat.

Bye Bye for now.

Drivin in the Kitchen

2006-08-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick little video of Jackson cruisin' the kitchen.

Way too much fun.

Momma's Home.

2006-07-29T15:39:00.000-04:00

This week we said goodbye to Brenda. She headed back home to Ireland on Thursday. Brenda was a great big help with Jackson and we enjoyed having her around this month. She will be missed.

The good news is that Brenda's replacement is Betsy! Betsy has left her daytime position for a part-time position in the evenings. So Jackson will get Momma all day and Daddy in the evenings.

Today, we are working on moving back into our house after our month long stay in the rental in Atlantic Beach. Thanks Grandma B. We enjoyed the stay. Jackson is little help in this moving process. He just lays around being cute. Here he is laying on the super cool blanket from the Burns family.

Rollie Pollie!

2006-07-23T15:02:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick picture of Jackson with his cool neon band-aids from his round of shots. He handled the shots much better this time. He was a little crabby yesterday and was running a slight fever for a little while. Overall, he was great.

Here is a video of Jackson rolling from front to back. I had to help him a little. I just put his arms in front of him instead of out to the sides. Viola! he rolled right over.

Pretty cool!

Four Months old today!

2006-07-21T15:33:00.000-04:00

From Three months to Four months with only one post in between. It goes without saying that that was one quick month.
Jackson was back to the Doc today for his 4 month check-up. As usual he is the picture of baby-hood. He weighed in at 15lbs. 5oz. and is 25.25 inches long. He also got another round of shots. Two in each thigh. Ouch! I recieved a report that he took in stride this time. At two months, when he got the quadruple whammy, he was miserable for 24 hours. Betsy says he's in much better spirits this time. That's good.

Jackson has been an absolute joy lately. He seems to never stop smiling. He's always in such a great mood. Alright, not always, but most of the time. It's contagious. He makes others smile. Jackson also has developed a very impressive, laugh inducing squeel. He'll just squeel with delight. It's hilarious.

There's really not a heck of a lot to report. There's no drama like days past. The boy is a dream come true everyday. So I'm just gonna post some cute pictures.

Here he is trying to beat the heat on a recent trip to Saint Augustine.

Here's Jackson fresh out of the tub.

Jackson hanging out on the floor with his "cousin" Rachel. I don't know why but we like to put wash cloths on his head.

And one final picture. Jackson and his daddy (Me!) chillin' on the couch.

There ya have it folks. Jackson at 4 months. We'll be back in our house probably by next weekend. Hopefully, that means the blog posts will go back to at least once a week.

Thanks for reading.

Better Late Than Never.

2006-07-06T15:26:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been two weeks since I last posted an entry. When I left off, I promised a better picture of Jackson and his second cousins. Buzz proved to be a little harder to capture than I expected. Here is another picture of Jackson and Kate.

Since then, we've been busy. We now have Brenda, from Ireland, helping us with Jackson for the month of July. Brenda is the seventh of eight children and is very practiced in handling babies. She has fourteen nieces and nephews. Brenda has been a great help. She watches Jackson during the day, while Betsy and I are at work. To accommodate this addition to the household, we have moved into My mom's vacation rental in Atlantic Beach. That's why this update has been so long awaited. I can never remember to bring the camera over when I come to get the mail etc. and we all know this blog wouldn't be nearly as much fun without the pictures of the handsome devil. Here's an example.

See! Wasn't that fun?

Anyway, back to the update. Jackson went to the pediatrician about a week ago for his three month check-up. He is doing great. Right on target in all respects. The doctor and her assistants were very impressed with the cuteness as well as the development. He weighed in at 13 lbs., 14.5 oz. and 25 inches long. He's still spitting up tons, so the ped. gave us some formula that thickens up in the stomach and therefore is supposed to stay in the stomach. Great theory. All it's done for us is make for thicker stickier spit up messes to clean. Ah well, We can handle it. Here's another cute picture.

This past weekend, Nigel and Cheyenne (our friends from Bradenton) came to visit the four of us (don't forget Brenda). We had a great time. Nigel and Cheyenne were both very pleased to meet Jackson an Jackson had fun with them.

Saturday morning Jackson rolled over for the first time. Back to front. Once he gets flipped over he gets very mad. He hates being on his belly. Nonetheless, if you flip him back onto his back, he'll roll right back over again and start fussin'. Once he get's it in his mind to roll, he's gonna roll.

That's pretty much all that's been going on with the Birdsongs. We had a great time on the 4th of July at Grandma and Grandpa B's. I'll try and get the next post in before two weeks go by.
Until then, here's one more cute picture to hold you over.

Thanks for reading.

Three Months Old!

2006-06-21T15:59:00.000-04:00

Man, does time fly. Jackson is three months old today.

Monday, Jackson got to meet his 2nd cousins Buzz and Kate. I checked a chart to determine thier relationship. If I understand the chart correctly, They are second cousins because they share a common Great Grandmother/father (Saunders). Anyway, we had such a nice time Monday evening that we only took one picture.

Here's Jackson and Kate napping. Jackson is the large one in the foreground.

Looks like we'll see them again tonight. I'll try and get a better picture of the three second cousins. That is not to say that they will be cousins for only three seconds, but that they are second cousins and there are three of them. Confused? Me too. Moving on.

Here's another picture of Jackson. He's lounging on Grandma and Grandpa B's back porch in a deluxe baby beach thingamabob.

Well there ya have it. Three months down, 213 to go.

Full Frontal Hilarity!

2006-06-15T17:10:00.000-04:00

In the tub, Jackson has more fun than should be allowed. So I decided it had to be shared. He'll probably get mad at me when he's like 12 and finds out his junk was on the internet for all to see.

This week was a big one for the Birdsong household. Betsy returned to work this week. She didn't go willingly. Jackson spent Monday and today with Grandma B. and Tuesday and Wednesday with Grandma M. Tomorrow Aunt Jackie with be watching him. We are hoping that in the near future we'll be able to get Betsy a full time mommy position, but for at least the next month, it's back to work. Boooo!

Got 'im!

2006-06-11T11:29:00.000-04:00

Finally captured another smile with the camera.

That's a good one. We should start to see more of these. He's smiling all the time.

Short and Funky!

2006-06-09T19:23:00.000-04:00

Here's another video much like the previous one. The music in the background is some old school rap. The song title is "Short and Funky" so I thouhgt it to be an appropriate soundtrack for Jackson. He's short and funky.

Enjoy!

No News is Good News. Right?

2006-06-09T19:07:00.000-04:00

I thought the previous gap in posts was bad. Nothing exceptionally noteworthy has been going on with Jackson. He continues to get cuter by the day. He's still working on his sitting and standing skills. As evidenced in this picture.

He's still sleeping in a makeshift crib at the foot of our bed. Max. sleep duration is around 4.5 hours. Usually 3 hour stints is the norm at night.
The pacifier and bottle of breast milk are becoming more and more welcome. That's a victory. Betsy has to go back to work next week and that would have been exceedingly difficult if Jackson were still refusing the bottle. We all wish Betsy could never go back to work and stay home with Jackson every day. We'll figure something out. In the meantime we're just gonna chill. Like this.

'Til next time. Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave comments.

The Water's Fine...

2006-06-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

On Monday (Memorial Day) we had a nice day hangin' out at Grandma and Grandpa B's. Jackson had his fist experience in the pool.

Here he is after momma put his trunks on.

Hooray! for swimming.

And here he is in the pool.

He looked like he was having fun. But we didn't keep him in too long for fear that he would get too cold or over exposed to too much sun.

The rest of the week has been just your plain old baby stuff. Smiling, crying, sleeping, dirtying diapers, practicing standing and sitting, kicking like a wild man in the tub, and as always, lots and lots of spitting up.

Setting Records.

2006-05-28T12:33:00.000-04:00

Five days without a post. I'm slackin'. All has been well for the past five days. With the exception of the four shots Jackson got on Wednesday. They made him very cranky and irritable for about twenty-four hours. Who could blame him? He is still sleeping in the paypen crib on a couch cushion. He seems to like it, so we're gonna keep it up. Here's what it looks like.

Last night Betsy and I went to a wedding. We dropped Jackson off with Grandma and Grandpa B. We were gone for over five hours. That's definitely a record. We dropped him off with two bottles of pumped breast milk and a frozen portion of breast milk. We were certain that was way more than would be needed. We were wrong. He drank it all and was out like a light when we arrived to pick him up. When we got home Betsy fed him, but he wasn't really interested. So we just put him down to sleep and there he slept until around 5:00am Nearly five hours! another record.

This morning the three of us hung out in bed for a little while and played. It was lots of fun.

Yesterday we did some playing in his actual crib. We'll get him sleeping in there sooner or later.

12 Pounds, 6 ounces of attitude.

2006-05-23T19:34:00.000-04:00

Get a load of this guy.

Jackson went to the pediatrician yesterday because he bumped his head. It was nothing serious. He's just fine. He was weighed and is tipping the scales at 12 pounds, 6 ounces. He's reversed his original numbers of 6lbs. 12oz. It was recomended that we get him to sleep in a crib or bassinet to prevent future bumps.

We figured we'd be in for a long night of crying. That was, until I came up with a plan. We discovered that the portable "play yard" (play pen is not P.C. anymore. I guess pens are for pigs.) is almost exactly the same size as one of the couch cushions. So, I figured we'd just get him to fall asleep on the couch as normal and then pick him up, cushion and all, and carry him to the improvised play yard crib thing.

It worked like a dream. He fell asleep as usual around 11:00pm. I picked him up along with half the couch and headed for the hallway. That proved to be the most difficult part. The width of the cushion and the thickness of me had not been taken into consideration during the planning phase. It was a tight squeeze, but we made it. I lowered him into the "crib" and he was never even aware of the old switheroo. Betsy reported this morning that he stayed asleep and blissfully unaware until around 2:40am. At which time she simply fed him and put him back in and he went off to sleep. "I love it when a plan comes together."

We'll try it the same way tonight.

Here's a bonus picture of Jackson behind the wheel of his "car".

His feet don't touch the ground yet but he seems to like being pushed around in the walker.

He's Sleeping in the Crib!

2006-05-19T17:45:00.000-04:00

The cat is sleeping in the crib. Oh well. Someone might as well use it.

What a Difference.

2006-05-18T19:08:00.000-04:00

What a difference four weeks makes. The picture at the left is pretty much what we got at all times when Jackson was not eating or sleeping. Now, when Jackson is not eating or sleeping, we often see something more like the picture on the right. Sure he still cries, but we feel like it's good old fashioned, standard, baby crying. We can now even detect subtle differences in cries and we're learning what those differences mean. Before, he only had on and off. Great stuff. We're playing and smiling and having lots of fun.

I haven't had a chance to update as often as usual because I started a new job this week. I've had orientation and training everyday and just didn't have the energy to get my blog on. Today, I came home to this.

That sure erases the woes of long days of boring orientation.

Video Test.

2006-05-13T18:10:00.000-04:00

Short video of jackson playing. Probably wont work.

fingers crossed.

Slept through dinner.

2006-05-12T12:09:00.000-04:00

Unbelievable. We went out to dinner last night with a bunch of friends. We took Jackson along, of course, and he slept the whole time. Jackso usually has an uncanny ability to sense when Betsy is eating. As soon as the fork reaches her mouth, Jackson will usually start crying. He has slept through meals out before, but not like this. We put him in the car seat at 5pm and we didn't take him out until after we were home at around 8:15pm. The only drawback was that nobody got a chance to see just how snazzy Jackson was looking in his khakis.

It gets even dorkier. We dressed alike.

I think it's safe to say it.

2006-05-10T13:59:00.000-04:00

We've made some real progress in the sleeping department. The last four nights, Jackson has started out sleeping on his own. Not entirely on his own, but close. Betsy has been putting him down on his little sleeping wedge, on the couch. Instead of sliding in along side him, she lays down on the other end of the couch and they both sleep for around 3 hours. Monday night, Betsy was able to go and sleep on the other couch for about two hours, leaving Jackson to sleep all by himself. After the initial few hours of sleep, it's back to business as usual. It's a start.

Jackson is also spending much more time awake and not crying. As he becomes more and more aware of the world around him, he becomes more content to just hang out and take it all in.

Jackstand.

2006-05-07T20:06:00.000-04:00

We're working on Jackson's standing skills. Look at 'im go. All you gotta do is hold him up and he stomps his feet down and stands up tall. He's even trying to hold his own head up straight. As you can see in the picture, He's also growing his hair back. Considering he kept the hair on the sides and back, I think we're gonna be seing a pretty sweet baby mullet in no time.

Not a whole heck of a lot to report lately. Jackson has been great. Much less, seemingly unprovoked, crying. We are giving him the gripe water (the all natural baby stomach settling stuff) a lot less often. He doesn't seem to need it as much. We are all getting some good sleep. Still on the couches and still waking up to feed Jackson several times a night, but Betsy has mastered the sleep feeding so as not to wake up to fully. Doesn't bother me a bit over on my couch.

I guess that'll do for tonight. I'll try and post something more tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

2006-05-05T00:04:00.000-04:00

All Smiles.

2006-05-02T17:31:00.000-04:00

We're getting more and more smiles every day. Much like Bigfoot or Nessie, these smiles are elusive and very hard to capture on film. I did, however, manage to get these photos this mornning.

For some odd reason we seem to get the most smiles when Jackson is atop the changing table. I guess it reminds him of clean dry baby butts. Who doesn't smile at baby butts?

Grandma's Got Skills.

2006-04-30T13:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we dropped Jackson off with Grandma B. so that Betsy and I, along with Jay, Denise, and Stacey, could participated in the sandcastle contest. Here's what we made.

When it was all over and we left the beach dejected from not winning, I gave grandma a call to see how Jackson was doing. The answer was astounding. He slept for two-ish hours and then woke up a little fussy. So Grandma just gave him the bottle of breast milk that we had left with her, and the boy actually took it. Breakthrough! "So what's he doing now?" I ask. "Swingin' away in the swing with a pacifier in his mouth." She responded.

Unbelievable. Every day is is more amazing than the one before. What will today bring?

The Learning Curve.

2006-04-29T12:02:00.000-04:00

The extremes are amazing with this kid. I imagine Jackson is not unique in this aspect. I thought we were regressing back to a bad place on Wednesday night. Around 9:30 the screaming began. It was accompanied by intense rooting like the poor child was starving to death. So, naturally, Betsy offered him his favorite meal. He instantly latched on and started sucking furiously. "Ah! That's better" right? Wrong! Within seconds he had pulled away from the breast like it was full of scalding hot coffee and he'd just burned his tongue. Screaming and rooting despite having apparently what he wanted right in front of him. "Oh Crap!" we thought. What do you do with a hungry baby that now seems to hate eating? This went on for a while. Angrily feeding for a second or two and then crazy screaming and rooting. Finally Betsy gave up on trying to feed him and we focused our energy on just trying to sooth and calm the poor guy. We tried all our tricks and nothing worked. Giving him an impromptu bath calmed him down for exactly the duration of the bath. Then it was right back to screaming. By this time Betsy and I are shooting each other looks as if to say, "this kid is broken, what do we do know"? Around ten minutes to midnight I put him up on my shoulder and took him for a few laps up and down the hallway (my most reliable calming trick to date). Just as suddenly as the episode began, it stopped. Jackson became dead weight in my arms. I handed him over to momma and the two of them went to sleep on the couch. We had survived.
The next day followed and was a good one. Jackson had visitors and he even went shopping with Betsy and Grandma M. The perfect angel all day long and well into the evening. Then it happened. At the stroke of 9:30, crazy screaming Jackson was back. Just like the night before it seemed. Same wild eating approach and inconsolability. We figured we were in for another two and a half hours of "what do we do!". This time it only lasted about and hour. maybe even less. Victory! He calmed down and we watched TV

A little later, he and Betsy went right off to sleep on the couch. Survived another one.
Yesterday, was another good one. I put him in the car seat with a goofy hat, he stuck his tongue out at me, and we went out and had lunch.

Again, he was good all day. He even did a little sleeping on the couch by himself. We got some smiles. He went shopping again. He got to see his aunt Stacey.

Good times. Don't get me wrong. There's always crying and fussing and spitting up and whatnot, but that stuff's easy now. Then it happened again. Just like clockwork. Around 9:30 the poor kid started going nuts again. same exact story. Betsy and I hoped it would be more like the previous night's episode rather than the one before that. Turned out it was even shorter than that. Forty-five minutes, tops. He settled down, had a nice calm feed, and the three of us watched a movie. After the movie, we decided to try actually sleeping in bed. All three of us. Guess what? It worked. Unbelievable. Before long we're gonna have this kid sleeping in his own bed.
Of course, now that I've bragged about all of this, the next several nights will be hell on Earth.
Wish us luck.

Another Day, Another T-shirt.

2006-04-25T12:13:00.000-04:00

Dang! That's a lot of spit-up.

Well, we're 36 days in and still doin' our thing. Jackson is being pretty good and Betsy and I are learning to laugh at things like massive amounts of baby barf. We've had some more successes with the pacifier, but most of the time he acts like we're trying to get him to suck on a jalepeno. He's still not sleeping by himself, but he is sleeping next to Betsy on the couch. That's a step in the right direction if you ask me. Here's proof that this boy likes sleeping with his momma best.

He was sound asleep (left side) and Betsy was trying to eat some ice cream, so I said "Here, let me take him from you for a minute so you can eat". The result was what you see on the right.

One Month Old!

2006-04-21T15:11:00.000-04:00

Jackson turned one month old today. So, what do you get a one month old baby to celebrate such a momentous occasion?

A hepatitis B shot right in the thigh! Bummer.

That's right. Jackson got his first shot today. He took it like a man. He screamed for a minute but Betsy calmed him right down afterwards. As always, he was weigheed and measured. 10 lbs. 5oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. The doctor says that he is very healthy and doing just great. Except for the crankyness. We are doing quite well. We took a picture of the family at one month.

Betsy is still losing weight and looking great. Jackson and I are maintaining our one pound a week weight gain. That's the scoop for today.

Bald headed baby!

2006-04-20T21:33:00.000-04:00

"Are you talking about my hair again?"

Poor Jackson has lost some hair. Right outta the middle. He's looking more and more like his grandpa every day.

We've been doin' okay lately. The Birdsong birthday season ended last night at Jeff and Jackie's. It was Jeff's birthday. Jackson had a great time. He didn't really start crying til the party was over. He just hates it when the fun is over. Aunt Colleen got Jackson to take his pacifier for only the second time in his life. I offered a fifty dollar reward for the first person that could do it. The check's in the mail Colleen.

Tonight we took Jackson out to our favorite Mexican restaurant. He went there so many times while in the womb we figured he'd come out with a pencil thin mustache and an accent.

It was a Fluke!

2006-04-16T13:15:00.001-04:00

I knew it was too good to be true. We haven't been able to convince Jackson to take the pacifier again. He kept it for about two hours yesterday. He hasn't wanted anything to do with it since.

Good things.

2006-04-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

This boy of ours has been a pill today. He was pretty grumpy last night too. I guess that's the cost of two good days. Not a bad trade, I guess.

I did accomplish something remarkable today. I tricked the little man into sucking on a pacifier. He's been sucking away for like thirty minutes. YES! Next week, bottle feeding. Yeah Right.

Our wishlist.

Not a bad day.

2006-04-12T10:34:00.000-04:00

After quite a few rough days and nights, we finally had a relatively peaceful 24 hours. We started yesterday at the pediatrician's office. Jackson weighed in at 9lbs. 1.5 oz. Two and a half pounds in three weeks. If he keeps up that pace he'll be over fifty pounds by his first birthday. Then we'll have to take him around the country to various daytime talk shows. He'll be billed as "Hungry Jack! The fifty pound baby"

The doc thinks we may be dealing with colic and precribed some drops that should help. This morning the doctor called with a revelation. She realized that Betsy was given antibiotics before delivering and that may have killed off the "good" bacteria in Jackson's digestive system. So she reccomended we try a natural booster for these bacteria before we go on with the prescription colic medication. Makes pretty good sense to me.

Unfortunately, Jackson still insists on being held 24 hours a day. He's what is called a "high need" child. Once we came to accept this fact, life has gotten a little easier. By not trying to constantly put him down and then being disappointed when he doesn't stay down, our mental health started to get better.

*Update: I started writing this earlier today. While I was at work, Betsy and her mother took Jackson out with them to buy the suggested natural remedies. He screamed the whole time. The car seat, which is usually one of the few place that Jackson sleeps, was apparently a torture device today. He calmed only when carried at the stores and only once he was home and safely in someone's arms.

So that brings me back to 'high needs'. We came by this term online and in books. It seems to describe our situation perfectly. Basically it describes a child that needs to be held all the time.
Here are some traits of a high need baby: They need to be held all the time; they hate sleeping alone in a crib. They need to nurse all the time. If their needs are not met, they cry and cry and cry and cry. (from an article by Jeri Carr at http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/infants/81605)

Most articles say that with time it will all get easier. We're patient folks and Jackson is worth the work.

Gillian Anderson?

2006-04-09T14:05:00.000-04:00

There's a website called myheritage.com that will run facial recognition software on your picture and tell you what celebrity you most look like. So I ran The milk drooling picture (the one a couple of posts below) of Jackson and it decided that he looks like Gillian Anderson.

I uploaded pictures of Betsy and I also. Betsy was said to look like Holly Marie Combs (who neither of us had heard of) and I was found to look like several different people. I kept uploading different pictures until I got a result I could live with. The fisrt result was Stan Lee (the comic book creater), the second was some Chinese actor, the third was soccer player Diego Marradona, then finally Michael Landon.

Fountain Face 2.0

2006-04-05T16:30:00.000-04:00

Legend has it that Jackson's uncle Greg was quite the spewer. It is even rumored that Greg was able to upchuck an entire bottle of formula after drinking it. Because of all this spitting up, Greg earned the nickname 'Fountain Face'.

It's been over thirty years since the first Fountain Face was released to the public, So I now offer the brand new, 2006 model. Fountain Face 2.0 (Travel system sold separately)

Easy Come, Easy Go.

2006-04-04T10:51:00.000-04:00

Of course, as soon as I write about how we are doing much better, the latest problem arises. High volume spit up. We thought he spit up a lot before. Now he's spitting up a ton. Who knows why. Maybe he's eating too much and purging the extra, maybe he's been reading fashion magazines and is concerned about his double chin. He seems to be spitting up enough to make himself hungry again. That means less sleep for the momma. We're still getting a couple of good long (two hours) sleeps a day, but not at night. The pediatrician is going to call us back this morning. Hopefully she'll have some advice. We are still enjoying this whole deal despite the lack of sleep and all the dirty laundry.

In other news. Congratulations are in order for our friends Scott and Jenny. They had a baby boy yesterday. He and Jackson are destined to be life long buddies.

The Power of Milk!

2006-04-02T13:11:00.000-04:00

Look at this face. Milk leaking out one corner of his mouth. Obvious sign of a milk junkie.

We are doing much better this week. As you can see there is no question that this boy is getting enough to eat. He was weighed on Friday. Jackson is already weighing in at one pound over his birth weight. It's all in his face in my opinion.
Sleeping has already increased. We are getting those two hour stretches of sleep that we had heard were possible. He even sleeps by himself on occasion. He's still not crazy about the bassinet but we're getting there.

Betsy is doing great and looking great.

We took a trip to Wal-Mart's portrait studio yesterday for some Easter pictures. Unfortunately, they won't be ready before Easter. Oh well.

So that's the report for day 12. Things are lookin' up. We're all getting the hang of this and having a lot of fun doing it. Those first days of panic are quickly becoming distant memories.

Poor Kitty.

2006-03-30T16:57:00.000-05:00

Uncle Jesse (AKA "The Buster") has been the baby of the house for about four years. How's he handling the new addition to the house?

This is what he came in looking like today. Filthy and exhausted. Poor cat. He's been kicked out of the house so many times in the last week that he doesn't know what to think. He keeps coming back ( a little dirtier each time). So he must still like us.

A day in the life.

2006-03-27T17:54:00.000-05:00

Okay. Now this may seem a little crazy, but it was a tool that worked and I also decided that it would be interesting for this here blog. Sunday, Betsy and I documented pretty much everything this kid did from about 10:30am until around 9:30pm. I'm not talking a couple of little entries here. I'm talkin' a crazy OCD, minute by minute account. I'll relay this as close to exactly as we wrote it. We are really not insane (yet). We just wanted to be sure of what was working and what wasn't, then it took on a life of it's own and became this nutty thing.

Here it is:
10:30 feeding
10:50 put in bassinet
10:54 hiccups
10:59 loud poop (wet sounding)
11:01 hiccups stop
11:02 approaching sleep?
11:05 fussing (with noises)
11:07 very fussy
11:08 diaper change (yellow poop)
11:12 back in bassinet (rooted on dad's neck while holding)
11:16 fussy w/ loud bursts of crying
11:19 wailin' and flailin'
11:20 going into car seat
11:23 in seat and screaming
11:26 in car and not crying
11:32 Crying in car
11:36 stopped crying
12:15 back home. still quiet
12:30 still sleeping in car seat (Betsy napping)
12:38 starting to stir
12:57 awake and hungry
1:00 nursing right side
1:20 burped
1:24 nursing left side
1:32 poopy fart
1:33 came off left side, sound asleep
1:42 Changed diaper with litttle fuss
1:45 swaddled and content
1:48 into the bassinet
1:52 2 sneezes
1:53 hiccups
1:57 hiccups stopped
2:45 wiggling around and fussing
2:47 Into my arms, spit up and crying
2:48 pooped
2:51 finished diaper change. very fussy
2:54 Rocking in chair, super fussy until poopy fart calmed him down
2:59 another poop
3:15 pretty happy in arms
4:05 changed diaper. wide awake and hungry
4:09 nursing L side
4:31 burped
4:34 nursing R side
4:45 sleeping in mom's arms
5:15ish Left to go over to Grandparents's house
6:10 nursed at grandma's house
6:45 finished nursing, hiccups expelled most of milk
7:45 left grandparent's due to crying
8:04 home and nursing on L side
8:15 sleeping in mom's arms
8:30 nursing R side
8:37 sleeping with mom again
9:37 nursing R side

There you have it. One day in the life of a five day old baby. Sound like fun? We are now at one week. We're doing pretty well. It gets a little easier every day. Anything this good shouldn't be easy.

Whoa Baby! This is tough.

2006-03-26T16:27:00.000-05:00

Alrighty! I'm just gonna sum up the days at home since we left the hospital. I won't go into such lengthy detail.

We started out having a lot of trouble getting Jackson to sleep for more than a few minutes. We were under the impression that you feed the baby and he'll sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. At which point he gets hungry again and doesn't hesitate to let you know it. A little baby's stomach only holds enough to keep him satisfied for roughly two hours. We hadn't seen anything close to two hours Thursday night or all day Friday or Friday night. There were a couple of exceptions but all involved Jackson sleeping on Betsy's chest. That was a hard way to spend about thirty-six hours.
So Saturday morning we called the pediatrician with our tale of woe. Being that she is awesome, she agreed to see us on a Saturday. So the doctor looked him over and weighed him. He was already within one hundredth of an ounce of his birth weight (baby's lose about 10-12% of their weight in the first couple of days). So it was clear that he was not starving. So why wasn't he sleeping? you ask. The doctor decided that he wasn't getting enough milk per feed. His belly was only full enough to last him a scant few minutes. Nearly constant feeding was getting him enough nourishment but not enough at once to get us a break.
So with some instruction from the doctor we got a little more milk in him and he slept. For about two hours. An hour of that sleeping was spent in the car on the way home and during our stop at Publix for supplies, but we managed to get another hour out of him while at home. Then we fed him (listen to me. "we") and he slept in the bassinet for nearly two more hours. Full victory, right? Wrong!
That was the last good sleep we saw until this afternoon. Last night was a nightmare no sleep for anyone. No consoling this kid. He wanted to eat and not sleep. We tried everything and nothing was working. We were both at our wits end. We had no idea what we were doing. Eventually around 5am Betsy and Jackson finally fell asleep together after a feed. A couple hours later they did the same thing fed and slept on the couch. That's no way to get quality sleep. With a tiny brand new baby in your arms. I was trying to get sleep in the bed while all this was going on but I was waking up about every forty-five minutes to check on mother and child. Rough. Way rough.
This morning was shaping up to be more of the same. In a panic we called the pediatrician's service and was told she would be contacted for us. So we loaded the family into the car and took a drive. He had been very relaxed in the car seat twice before so we figured; "couldn't hurt". It worked. He slept for about an hour in the car while I drove around aimlessly. Again we got about another hour out of him when we got home. Things are looking up. So after Betsy and Jackson both slept that hour, it was time to eat again. Afterwards he slept again. He even slept for about an hour in the bassinette (or is it bassinet). After that hour he started getting fussy and crying but a fresh diaper which was instantly soiled. Twice. seemed to soothe him. He went to sleep in my arms and stayed asleep. With the bassinet time and the time in my arms combined, he and Betsy both got a little over 2 hours solid sleep. I think we are starting to make this thing work (knock wood.).

What a Week! (the first four days)

2006-03-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

First off. The baby has arrived. He's amazing! It was not easy. I'm going to recount the first four of the past six days all in this one post. This is the first chance I've had to really sit down and write all this out.

Here Goes!
Day 1, Monday, March 20th 2006
Betsy woke me at 7am to tell me that she was having some severe abdominal pain. It had been hurting since around 5am, when she got out of bed to use the bathroom, and the pain was progressively getting worse. We were pretty confident that we were not dealing with labor pains because the pain was constant. I made the decision to go immediately to the hospital when Betsy began vomiting. I called the Doctor and let them know we were coming.
Of course we were stuck behind slow cars on two lane streets, but we got to the hospital and were rushed right into a room. All the standard tests were administered. Fetal heart rate monitor, contraction monitor, blood work, urine tests, etc. Initially, the gall bladder was the suspect of the pain. As Betsy writhed in pain the nurses knew we were dealing with something serious. Betsy was admitted, and given stadol (a synthetic opiod) to ease her pain. The drug worked within seconds. After about thirty seconds, Betsy said; "Oh that feels a lot better." twenty seconds later she was snoring.
They then took her for an ultrasound to determine the source of the pain and the cause. It was determined that she had preeclampsia. preeclampsia is a pregnancy related disease marked by high blood pressure, swelling, and in severe cases, upper gastric pain caused by the swelling of the liver as it copes with the problem. The true cause of the disease is not known in any who suffer from it. Betsy showed no signs of the disease until that morning when it was in a very advanced state known as HELP syndrome. HELP syndrome means that the blood platelet level is low and clotting ability is lessened.
The only cure for preeclampsia is delivery. Fortunately for Betsy and the baby, the pregnancy was full term and labor could be induced. So that's exactly what they did. They began inducing labor. They also had to administer magnesium sulfate (a smooth muscle relaxer) to prevent seizures. Seizures being another dangerous (for mother and baby alike) complication of preeclampsia. While the magnesium prevents seizures it also makes the recipient feel awful. Like they have the flu. Also, the magnesium counter acts the drug given to promote contractions and induce the labor (pitosin). So we were locked in a balancing act of these two drugs doing their things .
Slowly but surely, Betsy progressed through the stages of labor. The cervix dilated and thinned. Betsy received an epidural around 4pm after the stadol began to ware off and she started to experience the full force of her induced contractions. The epidural worked like a champ. So we waited. And waited. And waited. All the while Betsy's and the baby's health were strictly monitored and attended to. The nursing staff was amazing.

Day 2, Tuesday, March 21st 2006
Around 1:30am the nurse examined Betsy and decided that she was fully dilated and ready to begin pushing. So we did. The Nurse instructed me to hold one of Betsy's legs toward her chest while she held the other. During a contraction, Betsy was instructed to take a deep breath in, hold it, and PUSH!. Then let it out and do it again. Did this three to four times per contraction (usually four). We did this for about two hours. The time between contractions was longer than normal at the pushing stage. This was mostly because of the intravenous cocktail being delivered into Betsy's left hand. The long pauses (two to four minutes) allowed Betsy to rest in between pushing, but it also prolonged the end result. Often the nurse left it up to me to watch for contractions and coach Betsy through the pushes while she went off to help other patients, get stuff for us, and ultimately to get the doctor.
Around 3am the nurse began to see the baby's head and she pointed it out to me. After a couple more rounds of pushing the head was even closer. It was easily visible and the nurse (Melissa) went to get the doctor. By 3:20 Betsy, Melissa, and I were joined by The doctor and two more nurses. One nurse to assist the doctor and one nurse to perform all the necessary diagnostic exams on the baby once he was delivered.
After just a few more contractions and a dozen or so awesome pushes, the Baby's head was out. Followed very soon by the rest of his body. 3:50 am Jackson Scott Birdsong was born. It was the single most amazing moment of Betsy's and My life. Jackson was briefly placed on Betsy's chest and then whisked away to be cleaned up tested for all his vitals and reflexes.

Meanwhile, Betsy had a frightening crash. Remember those platelets we talked about? A small tear in the perineum resulted in a significant amount of blood loss. Betsy's blood pressure plummetted and she all but fainted. The doctor acted fast and stopped the bleeding. Betsy's pressure stabilized and she came back around. It was scary, but Betsy's tough.
After they finished checking on Jackson and tending to Betsy's situation, one of the nurses brought us our son and we finally got to see just how perfect he is.

We alerted the family (some of whom were already in the waiting room) and let the games begin. After a brief visit from Betsy's mom and sisters and my mom, Betsy fed the baby and we tried to get a little rest. We spent pretty much all of Tuesday showing him off to all the visiting family and friends. Everyone agreed that he is the cutest baby ever to have been born.
After everyone had come and gone and Betsy and Jackson learned how to breastfeed some more, the nurse took him for a bath and we drifted off for some much overdue sleep.

Day 3, Wednesday, March 22nd 2006
Day Three was Betsy's birthday and her first gift was more sleep than expected. The nurse checked on the three of us all night. She said we were all snoring and happy so she didn't wake us. So we got about four hours sleep. The second and more important gift, was finding out that the magnesium drip had finally been turned off and Betsy could now eat. She had gone since Sunday night without eating anything other than ice. They brought her a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and a bagel with cream cheese. After that they kept the food coming.
We spent most of the day admiring our son and getting updates on Betsy's health. She was progressively getting better but she was very sick. Because of the blood loss, her hemoglobin count was real low and therefore she's real pale and a little weak. Blood supply just takes time to replenish. In about 4 weeks, she should be good as new.
Wednesday evening we had a party! You can't have a birthday without a party.

We had cakes and balloons and presents and a nice visit from the family. Not bad for a birthday party in a hospital bed.
After everyone went home, we relaxed and watched tv. I eventually fell asleep and stayed that way until morning. Betsy was less fortunate. She continually fed Jackson and tried to get little cat naps. She got a little sleep, but could have used a lot more.

Day 4, Thursday, March 23rd 2006
We had heard a rumor the night before that we may get to go home the next day. Thursday morning that rumor was confirmed. Very excited yet very scary news. "We get to go home!?" "Oh crap! we gotta leave all this help and care and wisdom." We didn't know exactly when we would go home but we knew it would be after the pediatrician visited one last time. We knew she was coming after lunch time so we made the calls for help. We had gained a ton of new stuff in the course of a few days. Beautiful flowers and balloons and gifts. We sent stuff home with Betsy's dad. We had my mom take the car to the fire department to have the baby seat checked out and then we loaded her car with stuff.
A nurse came in and gave Betsy all the info she needed to go home and was officially discharged. A little later the pediatrician came and gave Jackson the green light for going home.
So that was it. We collected the rest of our things and loaded them into the car. We figured out how to put a real live baby into a carseat. Then we mustered up some final courage and left.

I would like to say that the nursing staff and the doctors at the hospital were amazing! Everyone was so great. We will never be able to thank them enough.

To be continued...

No Haps.

2006-03-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, It turns out my feeling was wrong. St.Patrick's day has come and gone with with no baby. So we are still waiting. The good news is that the doctoor has agreed to induce labor next week if He's not born by Monday. We'll see. I'm not making any more predictions.

Any Day Now.

2006-03-17T00:45:00.001-05:00

It's technically the 17th of March. St. Patrick's Day 2006. The due date is just five days away, but I have a feeling today is the day. Betsy and I have decided that if he is born today we will name him Jackson Scott O. Birdsong in honor of St. Paddy's day. Poor kid.
Here he is as we know him now: