Addie & Jack .....UNEDITED!: Bursting the Bubble!

Jackson has made it 1/3 of the way through his first year of life! He is now 4 months old, 25.5 inches long, 14 pounds, and 9 ounces! We had our 4 month appointment with Dr. Wood a few days ago. When I think back over Jackson's last four months...well to be honest... it feels like it has been 4 years! We have been stretched spiritually, physically, and emotionally beyond what I thought I could bare. Good thing God knows us better than we know ourselves! The highs have been high, and the lows have been low. For me there is a distinct line in Jackson's life history thus far....the time of screaming, and the time after the screaming! I am so thankful that we are on the other side of this line! My heart hurts for parents and babies that are going through what Jackson went through, and I know there are worse situations than ours! Our other good news about Jackson is that Dr. Wood could not hear his heart murmur. This doesn't necessarily mean that the hole has completely healed, but it is great sign that it is getting smaller! We will go to see the cardiologist at the first part of May and hopefully find out that the VSD has closed. That was fantastic news! Dr. Wood has also told us that we can stop treating Jackson like the boy in the bubble! So within reason we can take him places...hence the title of the post! We burst the bubble by taking him to a soccer game. I'm happy to say he didn't come home with any rare diseases! I'm thankful for Dr. King and Dr. Wood's advice because it kept him healthy these first four months, but I am thankful for the lift of restrictions that kept us away from doing fun things as a family.

The last month has been really FUN hard work! Jackson is laughing and smiling now, which are incredible rewards for it all! He has dropped all of his night time feedings, and we are now doing 4, 8 ounce bottles with rice cereal every day. We are going to start solid foods over spring break....that'll be fun! He is showing more interest in toys especially the ones that make a crackling noise, but he is most interested in his own feet and hands. Tonight after his bath, he actually managed to get his big toe into his mouth! His favorite books at night are the Hungry Caterpillar and Moo, Baa, LA LA LA. His favorite songs at night are Jesus Loves Me, a song from O Brother Where Art Thou that I don't know the title of, and Skinamarinkydinkydink.....the latter drives Jack crazy, but it always gets a smile out of Jackson. I love his night time routine. We take a bath, then have some face/towel time, then change into a clean diaper and pjs, and then my favorite part of every night.....we rock in the nursery and I read him books and we sing. Then he gets his bottle, swaddle, frog music, fan, humidifier (wow that's a lot of stuff!) and he is asleep in seconds! Down without a peep! He has been keeping us up and down a good bit at night for the pacifier, so Jack and I can't wait for the day that he develops the hand eye coordination to put his own pacifier back in his mouth. So here are some recent photos from his last couple of weeks! We love this little guy so much! I have never known love so deep and complete, and to think that this is only a fraction of how much God loves me, Jack, and Jackson.

Jackson's first turn in the Johnny Jump Up. He liked it for about 10 seconds......

Jackson and I go walking just about every afternoon as long as the weather is good! I'm about to toot my own horn here, but I am only 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight! Toot Toot! However, I am learning that even though I may be back down to my original weight, things are different places now....