Smiles and Playtime!

Jackson and I have been trying to implement the Babywise program with little Jax. We read the book before he was born and our church has classes based on it (we weren't able to take the class). It was really important to both of us that we get him on a good schedule, especially where sleep was concerned, seeing as how I will be working nights and Jackson will be taking care of him while I'm gone. Jax has been a happy baby, but in the past 2 weeks he's gotten fussy, especially in the morning time. Somehow we had abandoned his schedule and gotten him out of taking a consistent nap in the morning, which was leading to one overly tired, fussy boy. After talking to a friend of mine last night who has been successful with Babywise, we were able to pinpoint the problem and I woke up this morning with a new determination to get it right. It took about 20 minutes of back and forth but Jax finally fell asleep and took a good 2 hour nap. Let me tell you, the results were worth the fight! He woke up so happy, which was so encouraging. It was like we had our sweet, happy baby back. We were getting ready to head to my 6 week check up and had him loaded in his carseat when Daddy started making funning noises and music beats. I've never seen the baby so smiley. He LOVED it! This went on for about 5 minutes, and it made my day. Here are a few pictures.




The past two days he's started smiling so much, which I absolutely love! Needless to say, we will be sticking with our morning nap and routine from here on out.

So today was Jax's first playdate with friends. The NICU where I work has had a baby boom in the past several months (I think there have been 7 or 8 of us that are pregnant or have delivered in the past several months. Which means I have some sweet friends who are first time mommies with cute little babies. Katie was kind enough to invite us over to her house today so Jax and I headed over there. We were joined by Kara and Bode (4 months), Jenn and Cooper (6 months), Andrea and Paige (who is one week younger than Jax), and Maggie, Katie's little girl who is 3 months.
It was so wonderful to get together with friends who've all been going through similar things and get helpful advice and tips. It's also nice just to get out of the house! I loved seeing all the babies together and all the different stages they're in. It makes me excited to see how Jax will develop over the next several months. Jax definitely enjoyed being around the ladies :)
Katie's house looked like a nursery with all of us there!

Here are Jax and Paige. I think it's hilarious that they are only a week a part, were the exact same weight at birth, and now he is SO much bigger!

I have the feeling he'll be giving the same look when he's 16 and I'm chaperoning his prom. Ha!!

Trying to hold hands with Paige. At least he's subtle.
Our wonderful hostess Maggie:

Sweet Paige

Kara loving on Jax. So sweet.

Then he moved on to Maggie. He certainly was making his rounds with the ladies..

I love his smile in this picture, although it looks like he just caught Maggie with a right hook!

Here he is with the two girls

All the little ones lined up. Are they not adorable!

I'm so thankful that God has given me these girls to spend time with and be around. It definitely helps to know you're not alone in the insanity! Hopefully today will be just the first of many more fun days Jax will spend with his new friends!