4 Months or A Third of A Year! :)

I am four months old. Wow, can you believe it. Well, actually you probably can because my Mama is just now posting my update - 2 months later. She told me that she would get better at posting these and hasn't yet... Lucy said she did the same thing with her. I suppose I can forgive her though, she does seem to have a lot on her plate.

On my actual 3 month birthday, my first baby cousin was born. Mason Henry, he's pretty awesome if I do say so myself. He's still in the hospital and I haven't actually met him, but Mom says he's pretty cool. I posted in my last update that he was here and was early. I can't wait for him to blow that popsicle stand and play with me. Mom says that I could eat him because he's tiny... haha!!

I love my bottles and Mama has been kind enough to continue to supply her yummy milk. But, this month something is different... She's trying to get me to eat from a bowl, with a spoon, some sort of solid-y type soupy stuff... I'm not sure what to think of it. I spit it out and try to tell her this ain't a gonna happen. Nevertheless, she persists... (that's a 2017 political phrase for you right there... that's right, I watch the news) I do, however, like the things she calls bananas. We shall see how far this so-called solid food thing goes...

I love playing on my play mat, sitting in my bouncy seat, and ROLLING OVER! What the what? Yep, you heard me just fine, rolling. Both ways too. First I rolled belly to back for Daddy while Mama was at school and then I rolled back to belly for Mama! I have mad skills. I like sitting on my throne, too. It has a neat table thing with toys. I like toys, too. On my play mat there is a bird, squirrel, turtle, owl, and even me. I swat at them all the time. I am giving in to the parentals and giving them some signature Jack moves - smiling and laughing at them. They eat it up and I've got them right where I want them. Palm of my hand, eating right out of it. I am comfortably wearing 6 month size clothes, too. Ma says I'm a big ole boy. Eh, I don't know. I just know that I like eating, eating is my favorite. :)

This month I had my first "sick visit" to the dr. It was the day before Mom's birthday and Mom and Dad were going to leave me and Lu at the Farm. Well. I had other plans. Mom dropped me off and I pitched a royal fit. I mean, like I had never ever before. Mama came back to get me and we snuggled all night. That whole eating out of my hand, yeah I totally got it. :) Dad was upset with me and threatened to foil my plan. Mama didn't listen to him one bit. She defended me! What? I could totally get used to this. We woke up on Mama's birthday and she took me to the dr because I had been so inconsolable and pulling at my ear (see what I did there? when you pull at your ear they always think it's an ear infection...). There was nothing wrong with me - everything checked out perfectly normal as I knew it would. See their faces --------> Ha! At least I got what I wanted! ;)

Thanks for tuning in for the update. Mom will have months 5 and 6 by the end of this week. Also. Lu's 4 year birthday. She's got a lot to do!

On the Bob's tractor. I can't wait to drive it! 

A Jen Hatmaker Story

Jen Hatmaker just posted this to her Facebook account... So, so good and worth saving. :)

A few months ago, my girl Nichole Nordeman sent me a picture and a story. 

It's about female elephants. You know, as all good stories begin. See, in the wild, when a mama elephant is giving birth, all the other female elephants in the herd back around her in formation. They close ranks so that the delivering mama cannot even be seen in the middle. They stomp and kick up dirt and soil to throw attackers off the scent and basically act like a pack of badasses. 

They surround the mama and incoming baby in protection, sending a clear signal to predators that if they want to attack their friend while she is vulnerable, they'll have to get through 40 tons of female aggression first. 

When the baby elephant is delivered, the sister elephants do two things: they kick sand or dirt over the newborn to protect its fragile skin from the sun, and then they all start trumpeting, a female celebration of new life, of sisterhood, of something beautiful being born in a harsh, wild world despite enemies and attackers and predators and odds. 

Scientists tell us this: They normally take this formation in only two cases - under attack by predators like lions, or during the birth of a new elephant.

This is what we do, girls. When our sisters are vulnerable, when they are giving birth to new life, new ideas, new ministries, new spaces, when they are under attack, when they need their people to surround them so they can create, deliver, heal, recover...we get in formation. We close ranks and literally have each others' backs. You want to mess with our sis? Come through us first. Good luck. 

And when delivery comes, when new life makes its entrance, when healing finally begins, when the night has passed and our sister is ready to rise back up, we sound our trumpets because we saw it through together. We celebrate! We cheer! We raise our glasses and give thanks. 

I have this picture saved in three different places and in a frame. (I also have an elephant ring given to me and my girlfriends - it tells me: never alone.) Maybe you need this too. If you are closing ranks around a vulnerable sister, or if your girls have you surrounded while you are tender, this is how we do it. 

There is no community like a community of women.

One Quarter of A Year - 3 Months

So, yeah... Mom is pitiful at posting my monthly updates. Gracious. I don't know what I'm going to do with her. I mean, I guess I'll have to keep her but maybe we could think of something that would get her to post these things on time... I'll be thinking about it.

Anyway, I'm 3 months old. That's pretty old. My Aunt Wendy and cousin Lauraline were still visiting when I turned 3 months old. The next day I went to meet my Aunt Janice, Uncle Pete, and Aunt B in Greenville. Aunt B is my Grandmother Glenda's twin sister and Aunt Janice is their older sister (Uncle Pete is her husband). It was a good trip. Mom thought that maybe I could do long distance travels, that was until we started home from Greenville. Ha! I made them stop in Prattville so I could stretch my legs and get my belly full. And really, BPS has these amazing chairs that are sooooo comfy so why not hang out there for an hour or so? It was great to meet Dad's family. I think they really liked me. And Mom subconsciously dressed me in their favorite team's colors - orange and blue! They really liked that.

Next up was my silly Auntie Mo-Mo and Auntie Mae-Mae's birthday. I got all gussied up and painted the town red. I know we were celebrating their birthday but really, I was the star that night. Everybody wanted to hold me and take my picture. Face it, the baby will always be the one everyone is interested in. :) And look at my Mom and Tay-Tay! They are the best. I sure do love them. Especially my Momma. When Daddy is home with me I cry until he shows me the video of Momma talking to me and then I'm all better. ;) Con-artist skills.

You know who else is really awesome? My sister, Lucy. I love watching her and listening to her talk. She has started climbing in my bed when I wake up and playing and talking to me. I love it when she does that. She is so silly and makes the best faces and noises. Speaking of faces... I'm making some hilarious faces now, too.

       

 The weather has been getting nicer, so we've been playing outside more when Mom and Sister get home. I like being outside. It's nice and warm and this strange furry thing always comes up to inspect me. They call it Calvin. And they always remind him that he's outside because he pooped on the bed. I'm going to test this theory out - poop on bed and get to live outside. Sounds like a winner to me. I really like the swing on the play set, it's just right for me to lay there and allow people to push me back and forth. Sister will sometimes join in the fun. I love looking up into the trees and sunlight. Also. I think Mom likes taking my picture there. She's a goon.

Some things I have loved this past month are baths, milk, hanging out with Dad, Nana, Mo-Mo, Tay-Tay, and Mrs. Lisa during the day (Mom tried to take me to school with her one day and she just couldn't do it. She says in August when she goes back that I can go with her then. Something about me being too little or her just not being ready for me to be in school... who knows?), my sister, people talking and laughing with me, and sleep.

Things I don't like - poop, tee-tee, and people not feeding me when I'm hungry. Oh, and long car trips. They are the worst.

 

On my 3 Month Birthday my baby cousin was born, Mason Henry. He is 6 weeks too early and has had some issues because he was born early. Keep him in your prayers! I'm excited for all our shenanigans that we will get into. We are going to be more like brothers instead of cousins, especially with us being only 3 months apart. Watch out, world - Jack and Mason are here.