Happy Fathers Day Bill!

Today is Fathers Day, and I wanted to say a little bit about Jack's stay at home Daddy, Bill.

Bill gave up his professional career to be a stay at home Dad for as long as needed to make sure that Jack gets the best possible start in his new family. I see outstanding progress as a result, and I wanted to thank you Bill for doing this for our family, and for Jackson. You are an amazing Father & I am proud to call you my husband.

Now, if I can just talk you into adopting #2....Jack needs a little brother or sister!!!

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad (Grandpa Tony), and Bills Dad (Papa Bill) too! We miss you & love you both very much!

Back from our travels..

Last week we set out on a whirlwind tour of the South. Michelle is in Atlanta on business, so Jack and I drove down to meet her last Thursday. The reason for the trip (other than to see Mommy!) was because Michelle's brother was getting married in Destin, FL. So, Friday morning the three of us hopped back in the car and drove down to the beach.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, and we want to wish Uncle Mark and Aunt Petia many congratulations as they start their married life together. It was also great to see Grandpa Tony, Grandma Sherri, Great-Grandma Louise, Uncle Matthew, and Uncle McCoy! Jack loved playing on the beach with everyone and thanks to everyone for the toys and things you spoiled him with! We appreciate everything and it was great to see everyone!

After a fishing trip for Michelle, her brothers and Dad, we set out towards Atlanta again on Sunday night.

Monday morning Jack and I took off for Knoxville to visit with Nana, Papa and Uncle Jim for the evening. Papa took Jack to his first ever baseball game that night! Jack liked the mascots and the ice cream the best. Guess he gets that from Mommy!

Tuesday morning Jack and I got back in the car and headed back home to VA. We drove over 2,170 miles during the week and Jack was a real trooper for most of it. He had his moments in the car where he was not a happy camper, but I did too! That was a long trip!

Anyway, we are getting back into the routine of things back at home now. Sorry we couldn't post pictures from the wedding weekend yet, our camera is having issues. The picture above is of Jack playing with the hockey goal Nana and Papa gave him as an early birthday present. He gets so excited when he scores a goal! He actually kicked a soccer ball into it this morning, so with that one goal, he has already scored more goals than most countries involved in the World Cup!

We will work on the camera issues and post pictures of the trip as soon as we can!

Daddy & Son Zoo Trip

Bill and Jack had a field trip to the zoo today and they had a really nice time. It was part of the Infant & Toddler Program that we have Jack involved with locally.

Jack is also still involved in Speech Therapy every week and Bill takes him on regular Daddy/Son field trips to the beach, park, mall, etc.

Today is our Wedding Anniversary as well. Happy Anniversary! I love you. Thanks for being such a great stay at home Daddy to our little guy.

Roomies!

Jack has taken a very important step in the bonding and attachment process in recent weeks. He has learned that Mamma and Daddy will come running whenever he cries. This is the ultimate Catch-22. We are so happy that he has taken this step in his development, but at the same time it's a little tough getting up several times during the night to go reassure him that we are there for him. Not helping matters is the fact that he has at least 85 painful molars coming in (that is a rough estimate based on the amount of trouble the teeth seem to be giving him). We have him on a steady diet of non-recalled medicines and Oragels for his teething issues.

Anyway, all of this has led to the perfect storm of a lot of restless nights in the Curran household. Jack has only slept through the night two or three times over the last three weeks, which means Mommy and Daddy have only slept through the night two or three times over the last three weeks. We are to the point now that I am sleeping on the floor in his room just so that when he wakes up every couple of hours he knows I am there and goes right back to sleep. This seems like a better option than getting up and going in his room every couple of hours like we had been doing when this started. We are probably going down a slippery slope with my habit of sleeping in his room, but it is kind of a "pick your poison" type situation. Do we never get more than a couple hours of interrupted sleep at a time by me not sleeping in his room, or do we risk a habit forming practice of me sleeping in his room? Basically what it boils down to is that his teething issue is making the little guy a shade cranky during the days ("a shade cranky" is like saying the Titanic had a "minor water issue"). So, we are basically taking the stance that we all need as much sleep as possible during the nights so that we have the energy (and patience) to have decent days.

Having a roommate is not so bad. We throw water balloons out of our window at unsuspecting co-eds, sneak a keg in past the RA (Mommy) on the weekends and we even have our rivals mascot goat tied up in the closet. Actually, I think I just described a bad episode of the Brady Bunch. That's what sleep deprivation, a lack of energy/patience and an increasingly sore back will do to a Daddy!

When we are not dealing with these issues, we are taking trips to the beach, taking walks around the neighborhood and just enjoying life as is. While it's my nature to complain about the sleepless nights, we know that this is a step in the adoption process that is welcomed even if it's a little tough. We are proud of the little guy for bonding with us to the point that he sees us as always going to be there for him.