Nearly a year ago, Colin and I decided to move forward with our plan to go to the Michael Franti concert despite the fact our world had been turned upside-down by the premature arrival of Jackson. I had been out of the hospital for only one day after enduring six days of bed rest, an emergency C-section, and four days of recovery, but I was determined to do something "normal". Plus, we always love Franti shows; he brings such positivity and light to our town with his uplifting music. It really is a special show.
Needless to say, it was an emotional night for us. For starters, I was in a lot of pain (having been cut in half to deliver baby Jackson) and had forgot my pain medication at the Ronald McDonald house, which was pretty out of the way on our way to the show. Even worse, it felt so unnatural to know that Jackson was not with me anymore; he was all alone in the NICU and it was very difficult to not feel guilty to be out and about without him. After all, he should've been at the show in utero. For some reason, it seemed like every pregnant woman and families with a new baby in Bend were at the show. We were surrounded with what we should've had.
We were so glad we went to show despite the difficulties we faced. It was such an uplifting experience to be out with our friends and listen to such wonderful music. Sure, we cried a little and I felt like hell, but we made the very best of it. It was nice to be somewhat "normal" for a few hours after the ordeal we had faced and it gave us some gas to continue to be strong for our little boy.
Last year I highlighted "The Sound of Sunshine" as the song that meant the most to us. It was so positive and uplifting; it really meant a lot to us.
A sweet, teary moment.
This year, we got to take our amazing little miracle with us. It was Jackson's first concert. We wanted to be responsible parents so we ordered him some Baby Banz, the little earphones that protect young ears at loud events. However, our little stinker would not wear them long enough for us to even snap a photo. We settled for his hat with the ear flaps. Warmth and ear protection (?)!
It was an amazing show. We got to hear all of our favorite fun and uplifting Franti songs, but this time we had Jackson with us. All was right in the world. We had come full circle. There we were, celebrating a beautiful summer evening in Bend with our friends and our little family.
This year, the song that meant most to us was "Life Is Better With You". I think the reasoning is pretty obvious, but here is the video in case you are not familiar. Enjoy.
People are so generous with their enthusiasm, anecdotes, and advice when it comes to parenting. From my understanding, some people find this irritating. Personally, I appreciate all the information that I can get. Now that I am a parent I understand why people are so excited to talk about parenting. Our children consume all of our spare time and commandeer our lives. This may sound extreme, but it is so true. Now that school is out, I plan every day according to the needs of Jackson. For example, last weekend was super-busy. My plan for Monday was to ensure Jackson had two solid naps in his crib. If that mean we stayed home all day to make that happen, so be it. Fortunately, he seemed up for a few errands so we managed to get out of the house.
To clarify, I am not complaining. This is by far the best job in the world. I am not saying I could quit working and be a stay at home mom, but I sure do appreciate that my job allows me long breaks to play this role a few times a year. Yay summer!
Since I have become a mom, strangers I encounter have been so friendly. It reminds me of when I was pregnant with a broken leg. I am not one for attention, but it is nice when it is positive, supportive attention. Apparently, I have joined an exclusive club and you must procreate to be part of it. It is so much fun doing everyday things now, because I have my fun little buddy with me. I find myself having conversations with complete strangers everywhere I go. I admit it, the proud mommy feelings that well up inside of me when strangers ogle Jackson are downright addictive.
"I know, he has so much personality!"
"Yup, two teeth already!"
"He desires anything that is not a designated toy, so can we keep this menu?"
"He is 10 and a half months."
The most common piece of information people share is their favorite age. Most people that have shared this information agree that 10 months was their favorite age. I finally get why!
This little person changes every day. Every day it is a new sound, new skill, new game, new fascination, or a new face. One day, he starts waving. The next he is obsessed with making motorboat sounds. He is such a joy and so full of surprises, I am excited to wake up every day and see what he is going to do next. When I watch him run around in his walker, I swear I am as excited as he is. It is so much fun experiencing life through his eyes.
Jackson has been pretty mobile in his own way for a while. He has been able to get where he wants to go, just not in the conventional way. For a while it was the army crawl that ended in a stretched out reach for the object he desired. Once he figured out how to push up on his bootie from his tummy, he started to roll where he wanted to go and sit up when he reached his destination. Lately, he has been pulling up on everything and getting really strong standing on his own. He has mastered pulling up on his stand and play table, which he loves, so his legs are pretty steady at this point. I have suspected that he may skip crawling completely and go straight to walking considering he can get pretty far on his feet if he has some fingers to cling to.
Then the fateful evening came. Colin had been gone quite a bit due to a work trip and some golf tournaments. He came home one evening and decided he was going to see Jackson crawl for the first time, and he did! Armed with my phone set on video and his phone as the bait, we watched and waited. Jackson crawled for the first time and it was caught on video. Hooray!
At this point, it is hard to say what age is my favorite. By four months in to this adventure (the age when babies tend to "wake up" and start to have some personality) it seemed like every age was my favorite. Now that Jackson is on the brink of eleven months, I can say that his tenth month was a pretty spectacular month. We'll see if I look back and agree with all those generous people. Perhaps I will become a ten month advocate myself one day! For now, I am going to enjoy every day with my fun, smiley, surprising, and increasingly mischievous little buddy.
