Dada

Here is Jax saying dada.  We were actually taking a video of him making grunting sounds while pooping because it was so funny but he ended up saying dada at the end so we will just call this the dada video and not the poop video until I get a better one. :-)

Brushing his teeth

First time brushing his teeth.  We are both learning.  At least he liked it after a while.
Here is a good picture of his 2 teeth.  H'es not too happy but he gave us a good view.

Jax's surgery

Jax woke up around midnight so I fed him and then we all slept in before his surgery on Thursday.  He did really well not being able to eat all day.  He wasn't really grumpy about it which was shocking since he usually wants his food NOW.  When we were finally called back to get him ready, he started  to get a little clingy to me.  I guess he was a little freaked out about everybody looking at him and all the new surroundings.  He looked so cute in his little gown, I had to take a picture.  When it was time to take him to surgery, I passed him to the anesthesiologist and let her take him away, trying to distract him, I saw her point out the lights above.  I saw his hand point up as he looked at them.  That was the saddest part.  Watching the lady take him down the hall and he was oblivious as to what was gonna happen in the next few minutes.  I hope he didn't cry but I will never know.  I guess that's a good thing.  He was so brave.  They don't do any of the IVs until he is out, which is good.  But they ended up sticking him like 8x trying to find a good vein.  They said it's harder to find on light skinned babies.  8 times!!!

The surgery took almost exactly an hour.  Just enough time for us to eat our lunch.  The doctor called us back and told us everything went better than expected.  His case was more mild than he thought.  He said he thinks there is a 0% chance he will need more surgery.  Yeah!  After that, they sent us out to wait some more.  Finally, after another 20 minutes, they let us back in to the room to wait.  When they brought him to me, he was swaddled in this white cloth, when he saw me he started to cry a little bit and wiggle around uncomfortably. I almost started to cry, he was so sad.  So I rocked him and fed him.  He ate and cried a little bit and then he finally settled down.  We finally got all the tubes and stuff off of him and they let us go home.  He fell asleep in the car.  Once we got home, he woke up and ate again and we gave him his meds and he past out for a few hours.  When he woke up, it was almost like nothing had happened to him.  He was crawling and playing and didn't seem to be in any pain.  We had to give him the good pain meds to go to sleep because he kept waking up, but he slept through the night.

Now he is back to normal for the most part.  He's a little more clingy to me and he doesn't want to be put down.  We go back to the doctor in 2 weeks and if everything is okay, then that's the end of that.  Crossing my fingers.

Surgery tomorrow

So tomorrow we take Jax for his hypospadias surgery. Basically we go in to the hospital at 9:30 and his surgery should start around 11:30am.  The doctor said he has a mild case and it should be an easy fix but he won't know until he gets in there and sees what he's working with.  If all goes well, we should be home and relaxing by 3pm tomorrow.  Hopefully he won't need a catheter.  Just 2 weeks with no straddle or bouncy toys and lots of TLC.  They say he will probably fine by the next day.  I'm not nervous so much as anxious to get it over with.  I know everything will be okay.  It has to be. 

FYI:
Hypospadias is a male birth defect in which the opening of the tube that carries urine from the body (urethra) develops abnormally, usually on the underside of the penis. The opening can occur anywhere from just below the end of the penis to the scrotum.  Hypospadias is sometimes treated with surgery to correct the placement of the urethral opening, usually during the first year of life. There are several different types of surgery, which may include repositioning of the urethra, correcting the placement of the urethral opening in the head of the penis, and reconstructing the skin of the area around the urethral opening. Because the foreskin may be needed for surgical repair, a baby with hypospadias should not be circumcised.

It's funny, when Jax was born, the doctors acted like his little issue was a miracle or neat thing or something.  He came out half circumcised at birth, what a rarity!  I remember telling everyone about our "special boy".  They said it only happens in a small amount of boys, like 1 in a million and our doctor had never seen it before.  Then, before we are released, they tell us it is actually a small birth defect that affects 1 in 250 boys and he will need surgery to correct it.  Nice! Way to make a post pardom first time mama feel wonderful.

I just hope this surgery doesn't change him in any negative way. I hope he doesn't have a clue about what is happening and doesn't remember any of this.  I hope he doesn't get scared. I feel so bad that he has to go through this.  In a way, his innocence will be gone just a little after tomorrow.  He has never known hurt or pain or real fear.  I hope he feels little if none of those tomorrow.  He is so little and unaware and innocent but I guess that's why we need to do it now.  So he doesn't remember.  I hope I can be strong and be a good mama and treat his wounds even though I will probably want to pass out while doing so.  I'm not good with the yucky stuff but I know I've got to suck it up this time.  I hope he is back to his happy, loving, playful little self in no time and he can heal and move on from this quickly.

Jax,
Mama and daddy love you.  You are already perfect in our eyes and I know God will protect you and make you even more perfect once this is all over.

This is my new favorite picture

Eating breaskfast in our bed.  Of course, he is getting my side completely messy but he just looks so happy, eating his little pancake, hanging with his daddy.  Love it!  Such a big boy.

My baby can fly...look at him go!

Teeth

I have 2 teeth now.  Can you see them?  We discovered them last Wednesday June15.  Not the best picture, but it's all he will give me right now. Bottom front.  The left is coming up more than the right one but they are both there.  He keeps using his tongue to feel them and make funny faces and sounds.  Finally some teeth!

Tony's First Father's Day

Tony's Father's Day started out with breakfast in bed, cinnamon rolls for us and bananas and puffs for Jax.  Then we went to his parents house and had lunch and hung out for a while.  While we were there, we took a little trip down memory lane and let Jax ride on some of Tony's old toys.  He had a great time.  He thought he was hot stuff on the airplane, zooming around almost by himself. 

Jax on his airplane

Jax on Tony's old rocking chair

Jax on Tony's old rocking horse.

Once we got home it was time to play.  We have to trap Jax in the living room now or he will crawl to wherever he wants and that is usually to Sadie or Joy.  He is getting so fast.  the last thing Tony wanted for his special day was a PB&J sandwich made by me, so I obliged him and we all ate dinner together.  Jax finally went to bed at the correct time tonight.  He hasn't been sleeping well since he is getting his teeth in.  So basically Tony had a day of eating whatever he wanted and having it made for him.  He has a way of getting what he wants on days like these. I got him a gift certificate to a new kind of spa that we are both gonna try out.  I hope it was a good day for him.  He really is such a good dad.

Pain

Last November, right before Thanksgiving, I fell when I was holding Jaxson.  He was only 2.5 months old and I was still in a new mother sleep deprived, just had a c-section haze.  Up until this point, I had only been able to hold him cradling both arms horizontally, but this day for whatever reason, I decided to start carrying him with his head over my shoulder.  That probably saved his life or some major injuries in the least. I had just finished nursing him in the office and I was going to give him to his grandparents in the living room.  Sadie, my dog, had been making a habit of sleeping in the doorways or right outside the doors if she was locked out of the room.  On this day, she was locked out of the office.  When I went to open the door, I put Jax with his head over my shoulder and went out of the room.  Without thinking, I turned the corner and began to walk and Sadie was right in my way.  As I tried to not step on her, she tried to move out of my way and in the process, we continued to trip over each other.  My mommy instincts kicked in and all I could do was try to save the baby because we were going down.  So, I threw Jax forward and held him like I had just caught a football in front of me.  I trippped over the dog and down we went.  I fell forward apprx 5.5ft down and fell on my knees and elbows, then flat on the floor.  If I had been holding Jax the way I normally did, he would have hit the door frame with his head and who knows what would have happened to him.  But God was definitely watching over him that day.  Jax slept the entire time and didn't even know what happened. He was perfectly fine. Sadie was a little shook up but for the most part she was fine.  I on the other hand took the brundt of the fall and ended up bruising and scraping my knees and elbows and bulging 2 disks in my neck.   Tony's parents ran to see what had happened and assess the damage. 

From that day, I have been in some sort of pain everyday and for the past 2.5 months the pain has been constant everyday. I have never been able to play with my baby without pain.  I can't hold him for very long or my arms get weak and my shoulders start to hurt.

I've been in physical therapy, had my body manipulated by an osteopathic doctor, traction on my neck, muscle relaxers and pain meds but they are all either temporary relief or they don't work at all.  Today, I went to get a steriod shot or nerve block in my neck to see if it will take the pain away, hopefully for good.  I have been such a wreck all week thinking about everything that could go wrong. I stupidly looked on the internet before I went and freaked myself out by what I read.  As of Tuesday I decided not to look anymore. I've really been trying to give it up to God and let him know that I trust in him and I know he will take care of me and my family.  It's just hard sometimes.  Shots in the neck are really scary but once we got there and the doctor explained everything, I really felt at peace with it and knew it would be okay.  It didn't hurt that he gave me some chill out medicine too. :-)   It wasn't as bad as I thought but I do have to go back 1-2 more times and do it again.  Hopefully this shot and the next will fix things and I won't have to have the 3rd one.  I just want to play with my kid and hold him and be able to do the normal things I used to be able to do without pain.  I've been a little depressed about it lately.  It just really sucks that it took us so long to get our baby and then when he's finally here, I can't do some of the things I want to do with him because of the pain.  I won't know if this injection is helping for a few more days and most likely I will be in more pain for a day or 2 so I'm just gonna pray that God will heal me or at least make this pain tolerable so I can enjoy my life and family to the fullest.

This kid is crazy!

After waiting months and months for Jax to hit some big milestones, he decides to just do them all in one week.  So far, in the past week, he:

1. learned to crawl last Wednesday
2. said dada and daddy for the first time on Friday
3. learned to stand up by himself in his crib on Sunday
4. and popped 2 bottom teeth last night
5. learning to shake his head no when he doesn't want something
6. understanding the word no somewhat

Now he is crawling all over the place and babbling dada every chance he gets (which gets Tony smiling everytime).  He is having a major big week.  :-)  Oh yeah, he can also turn the light switch on and off now.  What a smart boy I have.
Slow down bubba.  You don't have to do everything at once.  Of course, you are already not listening to me.

Picture time

I like to do these little collages every few months so I can see the changes he is going through.  I think those big blue eyes are gonna stay blue.  He can thank Ahma and Grandma for those.  He is a little flirt with those pretty eyes too.  He's got his mama's crooked smile and his daddy's eyes (minus the color).  I can't stop saying how cute he is and the bigger he gets the cuter he gets.  Every picture is better than the last one.  I can't not brag about him. 

Too much too soon...

Two days ago he started crawling, today he said dada for the first time.  What's next?  It better be mama!

Baby weight

Baby weight.........baby weight............baby freaking weight!   Ugh!
I was one of those people that thought once I had the baby, the weight would just fall right off.  And it did, just not all of it.  I gained 28 lbs in pregnancy and I lost 18 lbs in about 3-4 weeks.  That was back in September/October.  Since then I haven't lost one pound.  Too be honest, I've gained some of that weight back. I've never had a problem with weight before but I've also never really had to lose weight before.  I haven't really tried to lose this weight but I keep saying this is the week I will start to eat better and I'll try to exercise but it just hasn't happened.  I have an "excuse" for the exercise.  I've got 2 bulging discs in my neck and I've been in constant pain for the past 2 months and pain off and on before that.  But it seems the more pain I'm in, the more I eat.  And I eat crappy.  I feel sorry for myself and I eat a freaking donut and since I ate a donut, I might as well have a Mt Dew to go with it.  Now the whole day is ruined so I might as well eat a candy bar for dessert. Why not? It's a viscious cycle.

Why is it that when you have a good body, you don't realize it and hide it and then once you start to realize what a good body you have, it starts to change on you?  I had a good body in high school and college, but I covered it up and wore shirts over my bathing suit and never wore tank tops until I was in my mid 20s.  I don't know why I didn't like my body other than insecurity but hind site is 20/20 and now I wish I flaunted and enjoyed that body while I had it.  I know I can get that body back, but it just seems so much harder to get back there.  Like I said, I haven't really tried to lose this weight yet.  I've just been ignoring it and covering it up in blousy too big for me shirts which actually make me look fatter than I am.  I realize I can say I just had a baby, but not for much longer.  Once that 1st year is up, you can't really say you "just" had a baby and this is what's left of that journey.  I'm sick of this weight and how I look in clothes.  I've spent so much money on clothes in the past 9 months because I hate the way I look in anything.  So I just go buy something else I can loathe after I wear it once or twice. And Tony wonders why I have so many clothes in my closet....because I hate them all but I gotta wear something so I give myself a lot of choices.

Anyway, I guess I just needed to vent about how I feel lately when it comes to weight.  I am a very vain person.  I don't want to be fat and I know that I'm not fat, just a little chubbier than I used to be.  I want to work on it.  I am feeling a bit better this week since I took some anti inflammitory meds for my neck and shoulders.  I just need some discipline.

We have a crawler!

Big news in the Ricciardo household yesterday.  Jax finally crawled for the first time.  We aren't talking about a little ole army crawl, nope this is the real deal.  Way to go baby!  I can't believe how fast you are growing and how many new things you are learning everyday.  Guess mama and daddy will have to whip out the baby proofing supplies this weekend.  Leave it to us to wait til the last minute. 
We are so proud of you!

New videos

Jax screaming aka "talking" to himself while playing with his tool box.  He loves that thing.  I guess because the handle moves.  He's so cute.

Jax and Ahma playing with his buddy in the mirror.

Memorial Day Weekend

Jax had fun at the beach for the first time.  He likes the pool but was afraid of the ocean waves.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves. We had a good time.

Mornings

Morning is not my favorite time of day but since I've had Jax, it's been a bit better.  I am not a morning person and thankfully I married a man who is also not a morning person.  Everyone told us that when we had a baby, that would all change because the baby would wake up at the crack of dawn and that would be that.  Well, for now at least, I am happy to say we have a late sleeper, thank goodness.  Some days he will wake me up at 5 or 7 in the morning but he goes right back to bed after his bottle for another few hours.  This weekend he woke up at 7, had a bottle and went back to bed until 10am both days.  Talk about a great kid.  Giving his parents exactly what they need... SLEEP.  I don't mind getting up at 5 or 7 as long as I get those extra hours afterward to sleep.

This morning, my alarm went off at 6:50 and still no sound from his room.  Sometimes that still makes me nervous but deep down I know it's okay.  Jax slept through the night from 9-7.  Amen!  I love walking in his room to see him still sleeping and rubbing his back, gently waking him up to see him turn over and smile at me.  Melts my heart.  I put my arms out and ask if he wants up and he reaches for me with a sleepy smile on his face.  Love it!  And then, as he is still half asleep, he hugs my neck and rests his head on my shoulder and I just sway with him for a minute or two.  Then I change his diaper, and feed him a bottle as we rock away in the rocker.  I love how he flirts with me while he is eating.  Then it's back to bed for him and off to work for me.  I can handle early mornings like that.  Makes it a little easier to do what I've gotta do 5 days a week.  Although I do wish I could go back to sleep.

9 months old

I can't believe Jax is 9 months old today.  I feel like I missed some of the first months with him because I was in such a haze.  But he is just getting more and more fun everyday.  He is wearing size 9m and 12m clothing.  He is eating a lot of different foods now.  He will eat anything we give him except for mashed potatoes.  Tony doesn't like them either.  He seems to be allergic to spinach (he got 3 hashes on his face).  He also had a reaction to cinnamon and got a rasho n his tummy.  His favorite thing to do now is be up on his daddy's shoulders.  He is a big flirt.  He can go all directions in his walker now and he likes to pet the animals much to their dismay.  We are learning to pet and not pull.

9 month stats:

• 20.9 lbs ...........average weight
• 28 3/4 inches tall .............above average height
• 18 1/4 head .............above average circumference                                                                         (I guess he's gonna be smart with a big ole head)

Lots has happened this month:

• May 22, he got dedicated at church
• Memorial Day weekend  he went to the beach for the first time and played in the ocean.
• he eats lots of people food off of our plates now
• he has learned to sit up from a crawl position
• he rocks back and forth on his hands and knees
• he is starting to pull up on the furniture
• he is having major separation anxiety
• we are finally on some sort of schedule, bedtime is around 8:30-9pm most nights
• he sleeps through the night occassionally
• we stopped breastfeeding this month
• he uses the sippy cup pretty well and he likes to drink out of big people cups
• he is starting to express what he wants by pointing or gesturing to it

What we are looking forward to this month (hopefully):

• teeth
• crawling
• standing on his own
• saying mama and dada

TV

I've noticed lately that Jax doesn't really watch tv.  We don't turn on kid shows for him to watch and he isn't really into watching anything that we are watching with the exception of the Simpsons.  I know it is not the best show for a child to watch but he doesn't understand it yet and when he gets a glimpse of those little yellow people on tv, he will sit there and watch in awe with his daddy for the whole episode.  I know Tony likes that he like his favorite show. 

I don't know if we are doing him a disservice by not putting on Sesame Street or whatever kid show is the cool thing to watch.  But he just isn't interested in tv yet.  He would rather play with his toys and figure out why things do what they do on his own.  I guess we should start to introduce him to the educational shows soon.  I know it will help him learn a thing or two taht maybe we haven't thought of yet.  I just don't want him to be a couch potato at the age of 2.