Escape from the arctic

Well, February in Chicago with a baby = CABIN FEVER....so we decided another Florida trip was just what we needed. We went to Orlando for Valentines weekend and Pablo returned on Monday for work...I was booked on a flight to return Wednesday, but after Jackson did just as well there as he does at home sleeping (note: I did not say he slept "well" :)) I decided to stay the week in St Pete. Pablo came back on Friday and we spent another weekend in Orlando. It was a wonderful trip...spending so much time with family and in the sunshine was good for all of us. Jackson may have been born in the midwest...but no doubt he's a southern boy. He loves to be outside! Warning: this is a really long post with lots and lots of pictures...I couldn't help it. We just had such a great time!

(Random note here - we had a follow up with the pediatric surgeon yesterday and our chunker is just over 16lbs...that's a whole pound in 2 weeks...I've said it before and I'll say it again - preemie my foot! :))

Happy 1st Valentine's Day from Grandma! She spoiled him as usual with fun toys and wonderful books. It was fun to see him 'open' his present this time because now he actually plays with the tissue paper.

Grandma's big boy...all dressed and ready for the big barbeque

Jackson's latest favorite expression...fishy face! Bethany giving him a little superman lift.

Definitely the center of attention!

Family shot in the sun

Grandpa Walter sure knows how to get a smile!

Heading to St Pete!

Papa D with the kiddos

Kennedy & Jackson ready for one of many walks during the week. Oh how we miss our walks with Aunt Les and cousin Kennedy!

Hanging out on the hammock...Kennedy and her cousin "Ja-shun" are already good buds

Aunt Les with Jackson...maybe where he got those baby blues from? He loves to nuzzle...presses his little face right up against yours when you hold him...so sweet.

Uncle Brian did a lot of entertaining Jackson in the evenings when he is crankiest (Jackson, not Brian :))...thanks B!!

How sweet is this picture? Les & Kennedy played on the playground while Jackson and I kept walking around and around (mostly to keep him napping)...I looked up and saw this and couldn't resist capturing it. These two are certainly peas in a pod!

A far cry from what mealtime looks like at home!!

Back to Orlando again!

After just a few days away, Grandma already had 2 new toys...Jackson loved his bouncer. We couldn't get over what a big boy he was in it!

Daddy and son reunited after a whole 4 days apart...oh how they missed eachother! It's funny how seeing Jackson every day makes us not really realize how much he grows and changes. Pablo couldn't believe how much he grew, how much more hair he had and how much louder his cry sounded after a few days of peace and quiet...haha.

Jackson got to spend a lot of time with Uncle Carlos and Bethany this time...just hanging out here

Our visit with Aunt Lori was way too short, but oh so sweet.


Heading back home! Jackson has done so well on his 4 flights so far...we were a little nervous about this one because he doesn't sleep nearly as much as he did for our last trip. But he did great...slept a little, ate and played the whole time. Only a few minutes of crying (which, of course, seemed like an eternity to his mama at the time...but the fellow passengers commenting on how good our baby is made us swell with pride.)

Jackson's 4th Month

We can't believe our little man is 4 months old already! He has definitely found his voice and is cooing like crazy..he makes this one sound all the time that sounds like 'Whoa!'. It cracks us up. He loves to lay on his back and grab his toes...he also 'stands' on our laps with very minimal support...he'll be walking any day now :) We read books every day as we have since the beginning..but now he actually looks at the pages and smiles at them. He is figuring out his exersaucer quickly...we're looking forward to that being a nice distraction while we eat dinner! He gave us one 10 hour night recently and it was heaven! Other than that, sleep in general continues to be a challenge in our house, but as long as he keeps growing and smiling, we won't complain too much (well, I'm not making promises). I don't think any of the pictures here do justice to the color of his eyes, but they are a gorgeous dark blue...I know, I know, they could still change. But I'm hoping he ends up with his Mama J's (my mom) eyes...

All bundled up for a stroll out in the cold...

Such a flirt already...getting to know his buddy Merritt Risher

One of Jackson's many funny faces these days...oh how we love to blow bubbles!

Who would want to ride in a stroller when Daddy's chest is so much more comfy...

One of our favorite games...he loves to have his cheeks 'gobbled'..he squeals every time. Kind of a silly picture, I know...but what else do stay at home Moms do during the day than try to make their little ones laugh and capture it on film?? :)

The mess begins! At Jackson's 4 month check up, our pediatrician gave us the green light to try solids...I'm thinking he's pretty liberal, since unlike many of the books say, he said it was fine to try any fruits, veggies or cereals at this point. Man has this been fun...and messy :)

This was actually BEFORE the doc appt...we got a wild hair (or should I say Pablo finally convinced his ever-so-cautious-and-paranoid wife to give it a go) and gave him a little mushed up banana...he loved it!!

Sweet potatoes!

Rice cereal...although, this very happy face is deceiving..Daddy was just making him smile here...he isn't such a fan of the rice cereal.

His favorite so far...pears!

The 4 month photo shoot wasn't nearly as successful as last months...I tried 2 different days, pulling out all the stops to get a smile..and while I got a few, I failed to catch one on film. Our big boy was 15lbs 1oz and 25" long...in the 50th percentile for both. He's growing so fast and certainly keeping us on our toes!

Jackson's Hospital Visit

Jackson was scheduled to have hernia surgery, along with a few other procedures his urologist wanted to do, on Tuesday 1/20. Well, he awoke Monday clearly in pain and bleeding a little...our doctor told us to get to the ER. Not a fun thing to hear... Turns out part of his intestine had become 'stuck' in the hernia and required emergency surgery. They initially told us they were going to have to do a bowel resection (remove the part of the intestine that was stuck), but thankfully, it hadn't been stuck long enough to be compromised, so the surgery was much less complex than we feared. They repaired hernias on both sides, as well as the umbilical hernia (the giant belly button). His surgeon was just wonderful and he received great care at Children's Memorial here in Chicago. I stayed with him, holding him all night long Monday night and after he proved to the nurses that he was, in fact, starving and could take down a full feeding, they discharged us Tuesday night. We are so thankful that the surgery was a success, that it was less invasive than it could have been, for the wonderful folks at Children's and for those smiles that are back in full effect on our sweet boys chubby face :) Thank you to all of you who kept us in your prayers and for all the emails, texts and calls. Baby Jackson is on the mend!



Just hanging out in his hospital bed...They had to put a big cast type thing over the IV in his foot, because our little soccer all-star kept trying to kick it off...
















Spending a little QT with Daddy

Just 3 days post surgery...looking pretty good, huh? :)

Georgia's visit

My dear friend Georgia was Jackson's first non-family visitor (although, really, she is family)...it was so good for me to get to spend time with my buddy and Jackson fell in love with his "Aunt GG" immediately :) Unfortunately, both Pablo and I caught a stomach bug while she was here so we weren't much fun, but she was a lifesaver taking such good care of our boy while we were under the weather. We miss you Georgia!!

Month 3

Month 3 was jam packed! Jackson continued to grow and smile every day and had TWO very first Christmases.



The Wilbanks clan came up to chilly Chicago in mid-December to celebrate the season a little early. We had such a ball doing fun holiday things in the city and just being together.

We spent Christmas at home, just the three of us. It was very low-key (although I'd never use the words 'relaxing' or 'quiet' with a 2 month old around!) and so nice to have our first Christmas together as a family.

The best gift of all...

Then we decided at the last minute to get out of the sub-zero weather and head south...we spent the week between Christmas and New Years in Florida, both in St Pete and Orlando. Although we learned quickly that travelling with a little one is MUCH different and a bit of a challenge, we so enjoyed spending time with our families and getting a little 'adult' time together.

Pablo and I used to be such frequent travelers, we had it down to a science. Ha...as noted, travelling with a baby is very different...

Thankfully, this is how Jackson looked for most of the travel day (when he wasn't eating)

Jackson loves time with his Papa D

Kissy party with cousin Kennedy and Aunt Leslie

Family walk in the park in December..novel concept for us Chicagoans

Off to Orlando...

We took a walk in the 80 degree weather...heaven. The stroller usually lulls our boy right to sleep, but I think he was so confused by the warm sunshine, he stayed awake and looked around the whole time.

Time to open LOTS of presents from Grandma, Grandpa Walter and Uncle Carlos

So happy with Grandma...

We had a wonderful trip, but were also happy to be home just in time for Jackson's 3 month birthday, which also happened to be the day of the National Championship game...GO GATORS!!

And just a few days before his 3 month birthday, he surprised us (and himself) by rolling over! Oh, and we had an unplanned trip to the pediatrician, so we got his weight...a whopping 13lbs 5oz! We are loving life with our chunky boy :)

Back to the beginning

Since we are just now getting our act together on this blog thing, and our little one is almost 3 months old...we'll just do a quick 'catch-up' post on the last couple of months...

Wednesday, October 8, 2008....At just 35.5 weeks pregnant, my water broke...SURPRISE! Our precious Jackson Pablo was delivered just 2.5 hours later via emergency c-section at a whopping 6lbs, 3oz and 19.25" long. Preemie my foot! He was healthy enough to come right with us to our room, where we spent the next 4 days recovering and getting to know our little man.

The first month brought lots of blessings, new challenges and not much sleep :) Jackson got back up to his birth weight by 2 weeks and was up to 7lbs 11oz by his 1 month check up. A couple of our favorite shots from Jackson's first month:

In month 2, we figured out that it really is possible to live on just a few hours of sleep. Parenthood is such a gift, but also one of life's biggest challenges...that's for sure! At 2 months Jackson was 11lbs...wowza! Such a wonderful affirmation to us as his parents to know he is thriving. This month Jackson finally got his first real bath, smiled for the first time and enjoyed his first Thanksgiving with the Melgarejos here in Chicago.