The Bean Tales: We Are Family

32 Weeks Old

Better late than never! We made it to the USA! After 3 flights, we landed in Louisville KY where we were greeted by Nana and Bapa. Jackson was a FANTASTIC traveler. All three flights were booked solid so there were no spare seats on which to stretch out. Jackson took four 2.5 hour naps and two 30 min naps. Despite the LONG lines in LA and the 2 hour delay in Atlanta, he remained well behaved, quiet, and in good spirits. I was SO proud of him. I think next time I will definitely book him a seat to ensure we have a bit more room, but as a lap baby he was brilliant.

Neither of us had any jetlag. He went to sleep about 11:00pm on Monday night and didn't wake up until 9:00am the next morning. We were probably just that exhausted!

The following nights, however, were interesting. He never had any trouble going to sleep at his 8:30 bedtime. But staying asleep is another story. Screaming, restlessness...he couldn't be put down. WELL... there is an explanation. Teeth! And on Wednesday morning, he chomped down on my finger and there is was! It isn't photographable just yet, but here Jackson is the morning his tooth popped through. Clearly, it was a rough night.

My dad took me to a wonderful organic supermarket in Evansville (go figure!). I bought brown rice, sweet potato, pumpkin, corn, green beans, carrots, pears and apples to make some baby food. (My mom bought me a Magic Bullet for her house!) I also got some Happy Baby organic puffs for Jackson to practice self feeding. He hasn't quite figured out how to get them puffs out of his fist, but enjoys the taste of the wheat puffs when someone helps him out. My dad also found organic, gluten free animal crackers. He (my dad) BEGGED me to get them for Jackson and after scouring the list of ingredients couldn't see the harm. Jackson's first cookie was a momentous occasion.

It was a busy first week. Jackson met a lot of people, went to Myles baseball game, went to Myles 6th birthday party, went Christmas shopping on the annual girls day out shopping day, and did a lot of playing. He is, by the way, STILL scootching backwards only.

The scariest part of the week came on Sunday. I was supposed to be singing and playing the piano at my Aunt's church that morning. I had just woken up when my mom rushed in saying "You're not singing... I'll call you on the way to the hospital!" My grandmother had been rushed to hospital in pretty bad condition. After a morning of waiting, she pulled through just fine. She is a fighter! I come from a family of good genes.

We ate many of the usual foods and just started corn which he appears to like.

Most of all, Jackson LOVES Myles. His face lights up whenever he comes over. He hugs him and kisses him and watches his every move. Myles said "I never knew a baby could love me SO much!" It is adorable to watch.

Tomorrow we leave for Indianapolis for 5 days. I am looking forward to catching up with old friends... some of who have babies of their own. The next post should be exciting!

In the meantime, here are picture of Jackson with those that are dear to me.