A Great Weekend with Family and Friends November 10, 2009

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.)

First Halloween! November 6, 2009

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

A tale of two Mondays… October 26, 2009

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

Snuggle time! October 18, 2009

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

A big night out. October 11, 2009

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

Who does Baby Jack look like? Part 1 October 10, 2009

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

A whole month already? October 9, 2009

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

First “real” bath October 3, 2009

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

3 Week Old Loses Umbilical Cord, Sees Maple Leaf… October 2, 2009

Dear Baby Jack,

On Tuesday we strapped you in to your papoose (one of those baby carriers a parent wears) and took you on your first family walk. Mommy had taken you on a walk a few days earlier, but I wasn’t there. On this day you were wide awake, and it was sunny and comfortable outside. We walked from our house down the gravel driveway to Grandma Mary’s. Along the way we stopped and Mommy showed you a Maple Leaf, a pine needle, and an Oak leaf. At Grandma Mary’s house we looked at a rock, that had a bug on it, and some small white flowers, and the only rose still in bloom on Grandma Mary’s rose bushes. You seemed to really be interested in the rose, and Daddy couldn’t tell if you could smell it as well, or if it was the color that fascinated you so. It was a fun walk that we are going to try and take you on more and more often.

On Wednesday you turned three weeks old! Also, your umbilical cord, which we were beginning to get frustrated with, finally decided to fall off! Now we can comfortably use the cloth diapers and cute little diaper covers we bought before you were born.

Love, Daddy

What’s in a name September 20, 2009

Dear Jack,

When Daddy and I found out you were a boy, we decided on your name that very day. We had several reasons for naming you Jack.

First off, we just really like the name. It works for a baby, a teenager, and an old man. A lot of names that are popular are so trendy it’s hard to imagine how they will age with their owners. We think Jack sounds like a fun guy who doesn’t take himself or anyone else too seriously.

Second, Daddy’s name is John. Jack is commonly used as a nickname for John. I really liked sort of naming you after your dad. Daddy didn’t want to name you John, but he liked Jack.

Third and most important, my grandfather’s name was Jack.

Mommy as a baby, with her Grandma Catherine and Grandpa Jack

Grandpa Jack (full name John Eugene Cornelious) liked to work with his hands. He worked at a foundry in Los Angeles, making molds. The foundry once helped famous abstract artist Constantin Brancusi make a big sculpture. But the place Grandpa Jack really loved to work was in his own garage. He had all kinds of tools most people don’t even know about! He once taught me how to use his lathe, which was a lot of fun. He used to make pictures with wood using a technique called intarsia. He made over nine copies of one particular pattern, of a cat on a tree branch! He made me a pair of dolphins. When I was about 10 years old, I started a tea cup collection. Grandpa Jack had me design a cabinet for my cups and he made exactly what I drew. He also built cedar chests for both Aunt Amy and me, a jewelry box for Aunt Amy, a gun case for Uncle Eric, and all kinds for other projects. He kept a photo album off all the things he built. Mommy started taking pictures of everything she sews because of Grandpa Jack’s album.

Mommy at age 3 with her Grandparents.

Grandpa Jack loved a good joke. He once told me the best cure for chiggers was to put alcohol and sand on them, so they’d get drunk and stone each other! He could tell a joke with such a straight face that you wouldn’t know until the very end, when he said the punchline, that he wasn’t telling you a true story. He had a big, hearty laugh and he didn’t mind laughing at his own jokes.

Mommy as a teenager with Grandpa Jack in Disneyland in 1998.

Grandpa Jack was a servant of God. He and Grandma Catherine went to church at Maywood Methodist in Maywood, CA, every Sunday. Grandpa Jack made the cross on the altar and was always on hand for minor repairs and projects around the church. He believed in giving of his time for others.

A onesie I made for you this week.

Grandpa Jack was the kind of guy women wanted to share a laugh with and men wanted to be like. He and Grandma Catherine were married on Halloween in 1948, after Grandpa Jack had served time in the Coast Guard in World War II. When Mommy and Daddy were about to get married, Grandpa Jack was sick so he and Grandma Catherine couldn’t come to the wedding. He died three days after the wedding, while Daddy and I were still on our honeymoon in Disney World. We didn’t find out until the next day, when we were waiting for the fireworks in the Magic Kingdom. I can’t imagine a better way to find out, since I used to spend my summers with my grandparents at their Southern California home, making frequent trips to Disneyland. They weren’t young, but my grandparents walked all over Disneyland with me and rode any ride I wanted. Grandpa Jack used to say Splash Mountain was boring!

Through your life, I’ll tell you more stories about your Great Grandpa Jack. I loved him very much. I still miss him and Grandma Catherine all the time. Your Grandma Mary and Great Uncle Fred will have to tell you more sometime. I love you so much and I wanted to give you a positive start in life with the solid name of a great man.

I know you’ll be your own person and I’ll love you through and through.

So, that’s why your name is Jack.

Love, Mommy