Thanksgiving Fun

Jax in his favorite monkey hat

Just stretching...

Mom and Dad gave Jax this Triceratops when he was born. He already has started to ride it...with his parents help.

Jax's favorite pose... does he look like a Raptor ready to attack to anyone else? Maybe it is just the red eyes...

So, it has been a little while since our last blog... Jaxon has been keeping us extra busy lately because he has grown into his, "I Don't Want To Be Put Down Even If You Have To Use The Bathroom" phase. The past few weeks I have literally had only about 30 minutes a day to myself. I'll admit, it has been a little frustrating to not be able to put on my pants without my baby shedding tears (that's right! He has developed tears!! It is so sad to see, but we are excited for this latest development.) However, whenever I pick him up again he actually makes a "Ahh," sound that just melts my heart. It is fun to know that he likes spending time with us. :)

We just got back from our Thanksgiving trip down to Shelley to see the grandparents. We stayed with Chad's mom and my parents also came up to spend a few days. The weekend was all about Jaxon, as it should have been, and everyone had a great time fawning over our little boy. It was perfect for him because with four eager grandparents, he literally did not get put down once. Chad said that he was having Jaxon withdrawls because he had so little time to hold him. Jax did a great job with the drive and cried for maybe 40 minutes of the entire 20 hour drive. He is such a sweet baby, and was the smash hit of Thanksgiving. To quote one of my favorite children's books, Where the Wild Things Are, we want to "Eat him up, we love him so!"

Cute Baby Picture of the Week

Jaxon's favorite sucking device... Dad's thumb. Look how light his hair has gotten!

Ahh, sleeping like a baby... Jax fights so hard to not fall asleep, but when he finally does, he is out for the count...

Best Birthday Gift Ever...

Chad and Elder Header putting up the shelf... and paying homage to Hitler...?
Chad putting away the goods...

Birthdays have always been a time of joy and excitement for me. Although my birthday is still 5 months away, I have never been more excited to celebrate... That's right- mom and dad gave us a food storage "Shelf-Reliance" shelf for our birthdays (Chad's birthday is in a week and a half). The Shelf-Reliance system is AWESOME. It stores hundreds of cans and works like the soup cans in the grocery store which rotate themselves once you take the first can out so the oldest can is always the one you use first. Brilliant I tell you!

Chad and I were so excited while we put together our beloved Shelf-Reliance until the thought occurred to us that we were gushing over a food storage aide... were we really that OLD to be excited over something so practical? The sad truth is, "Yes." It is funny how priorities change over the years. There was once a day when the typical things that I got really excited about were pretty hair clips or new shoes. Today however, it is the everyday practical stuff that I never had interest in before that really gets my heart beating. Last week I almost wet my pants when I learned that JoAnne's fabric was have a huge sale on thread.... I guess it is a sad but almost inevitable truth that at some point you have to grow up a little bit and desire things you actually need... I'm just worried because I'm only in my mid-twenties... what is the rest of my life going to be like?

10 days old

After Jaxon's first bath

Jaxon has reached ten days old already! And he has changed so much in that short time. It took him a few days to learn how to eat and a few more to sleep in his bassinette for more than a few minutes. By day six Megan and I were up to 2-3 hours of sleep at a time, by working as a team. Now he's beginning to work himself up before bed, needing to be rocked and calmed. He's waking up less at night, sleeping a bit less during the day, and starting to make brief moments of eye contact with us. We've only taken him out of the house 3 times: to the doctor for his circumcision, to Braydon's baptism, and to our friends the Dollahites (they just had a baby, too). Jaxon is very sweet-natured and a natural cuddler. After he gets full on milk, he just kind of collapses over onto whoever is holding him. Dad's favorite time is holding Jaxon on his chest while he sleeps. He's had two baths. And he's only gotten really angry once, when the nurse performed the big c. He was NOT a happy baby for a few minutes. But he's healthy and well and we are completely enamored by this new little world-rocking center of the Anderson universe. Here's some more pictures for everyone to enjoy.

In addition, THANK you so much to those who have sent gifts, brought meals, called to check on us, or sent letters. It is so wonderful to feel the support of loved ones during this time of celebration (and exhaustion). The biggest thanks go to Megan's parents, who are finally grandparents (they've been old for a really long time), for staying with us a week, helping out, and getting to know this sweet little boy.

Dad's favorite time

Somehow even funny-looking babies are sweet-looking...

Dad's off to church. This is Jaxon's Mr. Roar outfit.

Halloween

Jaxon's glow-in-the-dark skeleton costume and pumpkin hat, as provided by GG and Pops.

Grandma O with Jaxon, Branson, and Braydon

Grandma O's first few mintues with Jaxon

Cousin Braydon

ROAR!Dad's first time using the Moby.

Jaxon's first nap in his little swing thing.

Sweet little boy.

Another bath photo

Our good friends the Coopers in their first visit with Jaxon. That is their son Michael. We want them to play together, but we'll have to refer to them as Jaxon and Michael, not Michael and Jaxon...

Proud Pops

Another picture of Jaxon napping

Baby Nicknames

When Megan and I were dating, we would often call each other crazy nicknames like "Megs" and "Chadders." I know, we like to live dangerously. But the day we got married, with no seeming effort, we lost our names and started calling each other babe, honey, sweetheart, and other cootie-filled terms. It's a rare occasion when I hear my wife call me Chad. It's kind of weird, actually, when that does happen.

So now that Jaxon is 9 days old, we have been calling him all sorts of cutesy names. Megan uses all these darling sobriquets like Honey-Bear (as in "oh, honey bear, don't cry") and Cuddle-Bug (as in "he's such a cuddle-bug!"). My nicknames for him are much cooler. For example, before eats, he does the rooting and sucking reflex stuff and I simply have to call him suck-face. I mean, his face is sucking and there is nothing there! It's not as mean as it sounds. Try it. "Oh, are you hungry little suck-face?" See, it's cute! Megan and her mom do not really approve. I also enjoy the name Mr. Roar. He has a little hat with a lion that says "ROAR!" on it, and that becomes his nickname when he wears the hat. Another that Megan and I agree on is Little Pteradactyl, cause he sounds like one when he gives us his high-pitched screech.

So to summarize: Honey-Bear, Cuddle-Bug, Suck-Face, Mr. Roar, and Little Pteradactyl. Do you have a favorite? Should we continue to expand the list, or just stick to what we've got?

Loving being a parent, Chad