Afternoons With Jack Henry

***Disclaimer:  Jack Henry is the best and happiest baby on the planet.  I am sorry to my other two and to the other billions of babies that have walked that earth, but it’s true.  He is.  So it is in no way an act of major complaining or woe-is-me type of thing on my part.  This is just slice-of-life reporting, and that is all.

I have almost no complaints about Jack Henry.  Almost.

When Jack Henry first came home from the hospital, it seemed he slept for days.  I did too.  That first week home is one big blur in my memory.  We were both majorly sleep-deprived from our week in the NICU, and I think Jack Henry was so relived and finally comfortable to be free from tubes, lights and needles that he had no choice but to sleep and sleep and sleep.

But then he discovered his surroundings, and he liked them, and he didn’t want to miss out on anything, so he stayed awake.  All. Of. The. Time.  He still did pretty well at night, and eventually he started sleeping through pretty early on, but during the day, he never shut his eyes.  He watched every move we made.  We took to calling him “Geico.”

See the resemblance to our Cap’n?

He did this for months.  He wasn’t fussy.  He didn’t cry much.  He just stayed awake as long as he could hold his eyes open, which was until about 8:00pm, and then he’d pass out.  The next day he’d wake up around 5 or 6:00am, and we’d start the whole process again.

Over the past couple of months, he has started sleeping more during the day.  I can almost always get him to take a morning nap, and he naps in the afternoon about 60-70% of the time.

On the days he doesn’t nap, afternoons are the roughest.  The Cap’n is exhausted, but fighting it big time.  He doesn’t want to be put down, but one tires easily just holding him constantly.

Last Sunday afternoon found me in one of these situations.  I was alone with him.  The kids had been invited to swim at the neighbors, and Big D was…well, now that I think about it, I can’t remember where he was.  Eventually, Jack Henry and I ended up on my bed.

That’s a weird pacifier, isn’t it?  Jack Henry will only take a specific brand of pacifier, and I discovered they have a line with little animals attached to them. At first I thought it was cute, but now I think it makes him look like a little like leopard seal with a dead penguin hanging from his jaws.

Sunday afternoon was really hitting me by now, and my eyelids were starting to droop….but not Jack Henry’s.  He was wide awake and enjoying his photo shoot.

Here he’s showing me his supermodel-brooding-bored look.

Next, he thought he’d try a different angle with his “di-di.”  (Our name for the pacifier.  Annaleigh coined it back in the day.)

And finally, a view of his little bald spot.  Oh yes, Sunday afternoon around here was just hoppin’!

Eventually, he rolled over to his tummy, and I was so bored by this point that I decided to video tape a little session with the Cap’n and share it with you.  Now, you can spend four minutes with us, you lucky thing you.  Keep in mind that the following went on for four hours, which is perhaps what this four minutes may seem like to you.  Feel free to bang your head against the wall when this over.

Okay, who wants to babysit?  Please arrive at 2:00pm sharp, and don’t forget your RockStar energy drink.  Three of them.