Meet the Fullers

So...Jack is just over a month old now, which means we didn't have a lot of time for blogging. We're going to play catchup now and do some back postings (see below). Part of the issue was that John had a very elegant but rather time consuming slideshow-creation process he was using; we've just found PictoBrowser that does virtually the same thing in about two minutes-much better for busy parents!

Read on for an update on what Jack's been doing...

Jack went to his first 4th of July BBQ! And wore his special bib just for the occasion, thanks to my parents' neighbors across the street. We took Jack over to visit his buddy Karthik at Chris and Anita's house, and Danielle and Richard brought Liam as well. It was a nice afternoon-hot but not too hot. Jack slept in his sling on Daddy for most of it. We didn't make it to fireworks this year but maybe next year...

Today Danielle, Anita and I took the boys to the zoo. Karthik and Jack were there for the first time. The Brookfield Zoo is about 10 minutes from our house, so I predict we'll be spending a lot of time there in future. And that's a good plan, as going to the zoo is a lot different when you go with a baby (or three). We bundled everything into the car (that took a while), then we had to get us organized (buying water for Danielle and Anita, getting cash for me), then we walked a little. Then one of the boys needed a diaper change. Walk a bit. Then we (the mothers) needed to go to the bathroom, then the boys needed to eat, then they needed diaper changes...it was all we could do to see about five different animals before we had to go.

Luckily, Danielle and Anita have memberships (and kindly took Jack and I as a guest), so since that lets them go as many times as they like it means you can go for a couple of hours and not feel badly when you don't see much. I think a membership is in order for the Fullers next summer! Hopefully by then Jack won't sleep through the whole thing...

John's mom and dad and his aunt and uncle stopped by for a short visit on the way home from their annual vacation in Door County-it was a lovely afternoon! We got to introduce Jack to his Great Aunt and Uncle and of course he got some time with Grandpa Jack and Grammy Rose. They brought Jack a Wilson's Ice Cream parlor t-shirt from Door County that is sized right to fit next year and camouflage ice cream stains. I got a really nice berry colander (and Jack got another onesie as well). Also, Grammy brought baby photos of her and Grandpa Jack-the family resemblance for little Jack is clear! We'll scan it soon and post a comparison.

This week marked some exciting changes in Jack. He's six weeks old now, and starting to smile!

The day after Baby/Daddy day, I had my six week check up with my OB/GYN. We took Jack with to reintroduce him to Dr. Chen, who delivered him. John has always been amused by the fact that my doctor is in the Playboy building on Lake Shore Drive, so we figured as an extension of Baby/Daddy day we'd take a photo of Jack outside the Playboy building. It's like a trip to Mecca for the breastfed baby!

Jack showing off his new skillz...one sure fire way to get him to smile is to touch his nose and say "Beep!"

A few snaps of Jack in week 8...week 8 didn't have so many pictures, but it did have a lot of appointments.

Feeling like they've been away for too long, Grandma and Grandpa Stewart came for an afternoon visit. We couldn't have had a more beautiful day for it. The weather was perfect and we took the opportunity to sit outside and barbecue pork chops. A wonderful day all around.

Jack continues to amaze us with how fast babies change...

On Sunday John's parents came for lunch and a visit...and brought lunch for us-Gondola sandwiches from Peoria! They also brought us some shady plants for our garden and helped John plant them, and of course had some cuddles with Jack. We showed them Jack's tricks (smiling, cooing, sitting in the Bumbo seat, looking at his friend Star and hitting the toys to turn on the music) and they thought he'd grown a lot since they saw him three weeks ago. We also scanned pics of Rosie as a baby and Jack as a baby and will post those soon.