Jackson's first real bath.

Jackson endured his first bath last week. He actually does pretty well, despite what the pictures say. He likes the warm water so we might have to schedule a Hawaii vacation to make him smile. Autumn might smile also. Even when we gave him a sponge bath after his birth, he reacted positive to the warm water.

He is starting to outgrow some of his first outfits. At this rate, his shirts cost about $8 per use.

Lots of work, late nights and a baby who likes to eat.

Less than a month ago, Autumn and I were prepared and ready to have our first child. A few weeks later, we are still nursing our wounds and learning daily about the joys of parenting. Jackson loves to eat. The last 3-days, he has been on a pretty accurate two hour feeding schedule. Sometimes he chooses to take a nap in between. Sometimes he chooses to stay in the one place that has a constant flow of heaven. Autumn is trying to juggle between being a nurturing mom and the lady that she use to be, that took care of everything. She is learning a new level of patience that is greater than the one she learned by living with me. It has been hard.

Work has been busy and great. Lots of fun projects and my support at work has been amazing. I feel very blessed to work with the people I do.

Jackson is growing. I am guessing he is up to 9lbs, 8oz. He is a little tank already. Some would call him a dump truck. His hair is filling in and turning red. Looks like we are going to have a mini firecracker. Right now it is all about the same things. He eats, sleeps, poops, eats, gets a bath, stares at Maggie, stares at mom, eats, poops and definitely is not afraid to enjoy a good cry. He played kickball with us the other day. He needs to work on his hand-eye coordination. We have tried to go out to dinner a couple of times. He does okay, but he prefers to be in our arms.

All is well as the first month is about to pass by. Thanks to all of you who have been here to lend a hand.

Autumn, Eric, Jackson and Maggie

family photos

Here is the link to our family photos. You might have to copy it into your browser.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31425566@N07

New Parents.

Jackson is now officially 12 days old. Everyday we learn a little more than we knew the last day about parenting. It is the toughest job that I have ever been involved in, but the most rewarding at the same time. To see this little baby that was created by you and your best friend makes you melt. There isn't anyone else in this world that I would want to share this journey with other than Eric. He is what has kept me sane during this process. Jackson has brought a new level of love to our relationship. He has opened our eyes to a whole new life and I am so excited about the upcoming journey.

We made it past the 100 hr mark.

Jackson has been alive for 107 hours. He was a pain in the butt last night. He slept in his crib for a couple of hours on two occasions however. But the feeding and diaper change while he was awake was pretty frustrating. I changed his diaper twice yesterday and had him soil them again after zipping up his outfit. Doesn't he know those diapers cost money?

We took Jackson on his first walk to the park Yesterday. Mags appreciated this as she got to play with her ball. We also made a trip out to lunch after a doctors appointment.

Jackson meets Maggie

Autumn and Jackson were released from the hospital yesterday around 1 pm. The doctors were monitoring Jackson's blood sugar levels and Mom's iron levels. We were starting to get cabin fever. Kaiser did a great job through the whole pregnancy, not just the labor. We had several nurses and mid-wives that had their eyes on us the whole time. It really made things easier knowing that.

While in the hospital we were learning how to take care of Jackson. It was trying at best. I had several moments of "Oh, that is my kid crying". I have probably said this a million times already, but there is no reading material that helps you understand the commitment to having a baby. Before Autumn went in labor, I thought we were going to be great parents, instantly. It has been amazing and frustrating and Jackson is only 60 hours old. Cant wait to see where today takes us in this journey.

As I was saying, we got to bring Jackson home to Maggie. My mother and Grandma were kind enough to help us out with her. If you know Autumn and I, you probably know how important Maggie (our dog) is to us. We have talked about this coming home moment for about 6 months now. We wondered how Maggie would accept or not accept Jackson. Maggie came through. She smelled him for about 1 minute straight, and that gave him a bunch of licks on his hands. A couple of hours later, Autumn was sitting with Jackson on the floor and Maggie layed her head on Jackson's stomach like she would do to us. That was awesome.

Last night was the best so far. Jackson is eating wonderfully and Autumn's boobs, I mean milk, has arrived. Autumn is feeding, Dad is changing diapers and putting him down to sleep. He gets a little fussy sleeping in his crib at night, but nothing we cant handle. I feel lucky to get the sleep we have gotten so far, but i am still tired

we have a ton of pictures already. I will try to get Autumn to update her Flickr account in case you want to see more.