Dear Jack,
I wanted to tell you about something else. Your mommy made you an incredibly cute shirt for your first Thanksgiving!
Look! It’s your hand as a turkey! You have the smartest, most creative, beautiful mommy ever. She loves you so much, and does such a great job taking care of you and Daddy. I don’t want you to ever forget all that she does for you, and to help Daddy always remember to be thankful for her.
Love, Daddy
Dear Jack,
Wow! What an intense month! It feels like you just had your 2 month check up, and now you’re just a couple short weeks from turning 3 months old! That check up went great. You weighed 12lbs, and 24″ long! You are growing so fast! We’re pretty sure you’ve started teething in the past two weeks as well.
This past week was Thanksgiving, and we have done a lot of traveling! We divided Thanksgiving Day between two different houses. First at Grandma Mickey’s house we were celebrating with Aunt Misty and all of step-Granddad Gus’s children. You got to see your cousin Jackson, who also visited you at the hospital after you were born! 
His mother, Christy, kept taking photos of you with her cell phone and commenting on how photogenic you are.
After that we went to Aunt Amy’s house, where we celebrated with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Charles, your cousins Colton and Charlie, Uncle Eric, and Aunt Amy’s in-laws, the Jernigans. There was a lot of good food and football on the tv, and you were definitely the star of the show.
Everyone is so happy to share this first Thanksgiving with you!
The next day was a big important shopping day at Mommy’s bookstore. After work we met up with our friends Tony and Coty who were visiting from Chicago. Tony was in Daddy and Mommy’s wedding, and Daddy was in Tony and Coty’s.
We all went up to Uncle Jason’s house after that for a party. You had a great time. Daddy carried you around in your papoose, and you were talking and smiling and cooing at everyone. You really enjoyed watching all of the adults talking, and they all loved seeing how cute you were! We spent the night at Uncle Jason’s and then the next morning we got up early and headed to Kentucky for Thanksgiving with Grandma Mickey’s family.
We all gathered to eat at Great Uncle Jamie’s house, and this was the first time a lot of Daddy’s cousins had gotten to meet you. You got to meet all of their kids, like cousins Coop, Brynn, and Trey. 
You also got to meet your great Grandfather Jimmy, who your dad hadn’t seen in almost 12 years.
It was a great time, and you are so loved!
This Sunday was the big Christmas parade in downtown Dickson. Grandma Mary, Aunt Amy, and Colton and Charlie were all there to help in the store and watch the parade.
Papa Hill came to visit and see you at your very first parade. It was a blast. We got so many great photos of you with everyone over the past week, some are here! Others here!
I can only hope that your first Christmas is as exciting and wonderful as this Thanksgiving has been. We are so thankful for you, Jack, and we love you more and more every day.
Love, Daddy
Dear Jack,
Here’s a little message I wrote to you on Sunday morning:
“I’ve been looking forward to today for as long as I’ve known we were going to have you. Today is the day of your baptism. This is a very important day for everyone in our family. You’re already part of the family of God, because God already loves you, and today is a celebration of that. During the service, Daddy and I will promise to raise you to know that you will always be loved because you aren’t just our child, you’re God’s child. Grandpa Charles and Grandma Mary made the same promise about me when I was a baby–and in the same church, too. In addition to what we’ll promise in church today, I promise to raise you in a house that believes in the love of Christ. Everyone is equal. I promise to always try to be open with you and for you.”
And, Jack, we had a beautiful day! The service was wonderful and you woke up just before it was time for us to go to the altar with you. Pastor Ken performed your baptism with water he got in the Jordan River, where Jesus was baptized. You cried out a bit when he put the water on your head, but then you calmed down. Colton and Charlie lit a candle on the altar that we can light every year to remember your place in God’s family.
After church, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Phy’s house for a party. So many people were there to show how much they love you and our family.
Remember how I mentioned that I was baptized in the same church? Look at these pictures:
Then
Now
The next day, we went to the Carnton Plantation in Franklin with your great uncle Fred and great aunt Patricia, who are visiting from Montana. Daddy carried you around in your papoose all day!
Grandma Mickey knows a lot about the Civil War, so maybe someday we can go back with her when you’re old enough to do more than just look cute in hats.
We’ve had a great couple of days–times I know I’ll always remember.
Love, Mommy
(More pictures of the baptism and party are here. More pictures at Carnton Plantation are here.)
Dear Jack,
You’ve officially celebrated your first holiday and it was Daddy’s favorite–Halloween! For part of the day, we dressed you as a skeleton and you were a jack-o-lantern the rest of the day. Since it was a Saturday, my bookstore was open, so you, Daddy and I all spent the day there. Lots of people oohed and ahhed over you in your cute costumes!
The next day, you got to meet our good friends Anna, Adam, and Henry, who have just moved to Tennessee! Mommy and Daddy are very excited to have them so close.
Henry kept calling you “cute baby.” We hadn’t seen Henry since just after he was born and he’s grown so much. Next to him, you looked even smaller! I can’t wait for you two to get to know each other.
Every day I wake up loving you more and every day it feels like you wake up cuter! This week, you’ve started to coo A LOT. Daddy and I just sit and listen to you, like you’re telling us a story, and I think you are.
Love you,
Mommy
Dear Baby Jack,
I had intended on writing you about all the excitement of last Monday, a lot closer to the actual day. Now another Monday has come and gone, also very exciting as well, and now I am forced to talk about both!
Last Monday we took you to see your first Zombie movie! That’s right, at 4:15 Monday evening, we all went and saw Zombieland at the Great Escape theatre in Clarksville. We were three of the six people in the audience, so it was a great time to see it with a baby. It was actually the second time we have taken you to the movie theatre. Mommy read that it was a good idea to get out to a movie or two while you were still a very young infant. You wouldn’t be able to really see or remember anything about it, and you’d be too young to really talk or fuss much during the film. In fact, you slept right through it. The movie theatre was still very loud, so Mommy and Daddy held our hands over your ears, just in case. We all had a great time.
This Monday, we were visited by Daddy’s father, Papa Hill. This is the first time he has gotten to see you in person since you were born!
You are almost a totally changed baby since then! Mommy and Daddy were taking advantage of a rare day off with no freelance work or other obligations to clean the house, so it was a nice treat to have someone to sit and hold you for a few hours. You were awake when he first arrived, and so you guys had some good play time, and then you fell asleep in his lap for a long time.
Papa Hill’s name is Wessley, just like your middle name! While you were sleeping he would tickle your chin and rub your cheeks and you would crack a big smile!
Love, Daddy
Dear Jack,
Well, little dude, I think we’re all finally getting used to each other. Either we’re getting more sleep or I’m getting used to having less than before. I’ve stopped feeling like you’re a fragile china doll and started enjoying how cuddly you are. Oh, how we snuggle! It’s the best!
When you’re upset and cranky, I just hold you close and you calm right down…sometimes. Other times, you must just feel like screaming because nothing I do gets you to stop. You never stay fussy too long and you’re mostly super sweet, so I’m okay with that.
I know you won’t remember these times we’re having, so I want to remember them twice as well.
Love, Mommy
Dear Baby Jack,
Today we all slept in and hung out around the house. It was a good time, and you got to hang out in the bed with Mommy and Daddy and play. In the evening Mommy’s family and us all went to see your cousin Colton play football. The seasons are changing and the weather was pretty chilly, so we got you all bundled up before we left!
To make sure you were warm, Mommy helped put you in your papoose and Daddy carried you around under his coat.
There were some people in the crowd who were wondering why Daddy’s belly looked so big and funny, and why he kept walking around rubbing it!
At the ball game we were joined by Grandma Mary, Grandpa Charles, cousin Charlie, cousin Charlie and Colton’s grandfather Malcolm, and of course Aunt Amy and Colton!
Colton’s team didn’t win, but they played a good game and he got to start every offensive series. It was your first football game and it was a lot of fun.
This is a drawng cousin Colton made for you a few days ago:
You are so lucky to be in such a big loving family!
Love, Daddy
Dear Baby Jack,
Since you’ve been born, everyone has taken turns guessing who you look most like. Is it Mommy or Daddy? Is it someone in Mommy’s family or Daddy’s family? Mommy and Daddy have started looking at our own baby photos to try and figure it out. As it turns out, we’re beginning to think you look a lot like both of us, especially as a newborn.
This is Daddy as a baby, Mommy and I think you look a lot like me as a newborn, especially your chin and cheeks. We think you have Mommy’s eyes and nose though!
Here is baby Daddy and his mom, Grandma Mickey.
I really like this one, because the photo of me as a baby with my dad, looks so much like the photo of me and you. I wish I had a sweet hat like that on at the time though.
Mommy will put up some pictures of herself as a newborn soon so you can see those too.
Love, Daddy
Dear Jack,
You’re a month old today! I can hardly believe it. The time has passed so quickly! You’re changing and getting bigger and stronger all the time. I took you back to see Dr. Martin on Monday (Oct. 5) and you weigh 9 pounds, 13 ounces already and are a whole inch longer. You’re starting to stay awake longer during the day and sleep longer during the night, both of which make Daddy and I very happy.
Here are some of the big news headlines from your first month:
-Top movies this month were “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” and “Zombieland.”
-Patrick Swayze died.
-People clamored to get vaccinated for the Swine Flu.
-The war in Afghanistan began its ninth year.
-NASA bombed the moon, looking for water.
-President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
You’re coming into the world at a crazy time, but I think we all do. I hope not every month of your life goes by so fast though!
I love you!
Mommy
Dear Jack,
On Thursday, you, Daddy,and I went on a huge shopping trip. We bought you a big swing (which happens to also be the first thing we ever picked out for you–before we even knew you were a boy), a play yard for the bookstore, and a tub that looks like a whale! Up until now, since your umbilical cord was still attached, we’ve only been able to give you sponge baths. Last night, Daddy and I gave you your first real bath!
It was a learning experience for all of us. You pooped in the tub and when Daddy picked you up, you peed on him! He moved and then you peed on me, but not as much as you did on your daddy. By the end of your bath, you were wrapped in a towel and Daddy and I were in our underwear! Sometimes it seems like you’re much smarter than we are.
We’re having so much fun with you!
Love, Mommy
