December in Review

Ok, it's official, I've been slack with the blog this month. My excuse is that John G has experienced a fair bit of sleep regression the last few weeks (think going back to two hourly feeds at night) so when John's been having naps during the day, I've been napping too instead of updating the blog - so that's my excuse (just ignore my reading stats though, okay?). But anyway, as it's the last day of the year, it is time to step up and blog blog blog!

There is a lot to cover so take a deep breath and.....go!

We helped Grandma celebrate her 75th birthday this month. We rode out to Virginia to go to Cracker Barrell for dinner. Little John was jealous of our eating, and so we got him out of his seat and he enjoyed chewing on a spoon and sucking on my glass.

 

Then it was back home for some icecream cake and presents (we also got to listen to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional on the way home in the car - another advantage of being in the USA)!

This month we also went and got some family portraits done at the local Walmart. We are really happy with how they turned out. The best ones have been printed out for us to bring back home, but we got a couple of extra as 'online views' so here they are:

John absolutely loved getting his photo taken, and was smiling in EVERY photo - you pretty much couldn't get him to stop! The only downside of the photo's was that the next day or so afterwards John G caught a really bad cold - I couldn't help but think it was from the photo session, as he was put on a blanket for some photo's that looked like a lot of kids had been using it, and didn't look like it had been washed very much. Poor little guy had a really snotty nose and a little cough for about a week - I think I've mentioned it before but I absolutely HATE the aspirator, and I know little John doesn't enjoy it either. I did my best to help him out, and found that I could use the aspirator on him while nursing him with much less crying than any other way.

John (Dad) also managed to catch bronchitis for the 2nd time this trip shortly after little John's cold came on. Poor hubby, he only had about a day or so rest between the two bouts, and it has been a pretty miserable time for him.

Apart from some sleep deprivation for me, I've had a few stomach troubles while here. About a 2 years ago, I had stomach ulcers. Actually I had had them for a long time, but it took a while to get a correct diagnosis. After going through the anti-biotics to heal the ulcers, I had ongoing issues with acid reflux. I was on prescription medication for it, but when I fell pregnant with John G, I had to stop the prescription due to the potential impact it could have on my unborn baby. I had horrible heartburn and reflux during my pregnancy, but was amazed that after John was born the problem was gone. Seriously, gone. I thought that maybe I would never get it again, but, as my body has returned back to normal after giving birth, the stomach pain has returned, the same as when I had the ulcers.

So, after a couple of sleepness nights and significant pain, I went to a Dr here - it is funny to me the little differences of going to the Dr here versus in Australia, but anyway...long story short, because I am nursing, the Dr could not prescribe me any medication for ulcers or acid reflux. He did suggest I go get a blood test to check that it was pancreatitis (as this has the same symptoms as stomach ulcers). In the meantime I am just to take tums every 4 hours (before eating) and he gave me a prescription for pain killers for night if I need them. This seems to be working, although I have had some pain a couple of nights where I had been 'feeling better' and so skipped taking the tums through the day.

We had to go to the hospital for the blood test, which was a new thing for me to - you actually get admited in order to get the blood test, so I have a wrist ID to bring home for my book of remembrance, ha ha. The test came back negative, so that was good. Anyway, enough of my drama, it's not that big a deal and I feel much better now.

On some of the days were it has been good weather and not too cold, John G and I have gone for some walks around the neighbourhood. One day we saw several little squirrels (or sqwerls as I would pronounce it if I was American). I don't know why, but I find them soooo adorable, and so I had to stop and take some pictures. I also took some pictures of the beautiful scenery along the street.

Can you see the squirrel at the base of the tree?

This time the squirrel is more than half way up - defying gravity.

I've also been able to do a bit of reading while I've been here. I started by reading a John Grisham book, and then realised that John's parents have the full set of the Work and the Glory, and so I've been reading those. I'm currently about halfway through book 7 and really enjoying it. Even though the story is fictional, I find reading about the early saints very faith promoting and envigorating for my soul.

December is also Christmas time - yipee! And as the song says 'it's the most wonderful time of the year'. Funny story about that actually, John and I watched a bit of the Christmas concert at the Rockafeller Centre on TV. I don't know what the group is called, but they had this 'boy band' sing it's the most wonderful time of the year. They looked ridiculous as most pop stars do (they were definitely car carrying members of the hair club for me) but what was really  more amusing is that they were foreign and so had accents and when they sang 'marshmallows for toasting' it sounded hilarious (more like marzmellow for tosting)...John and I have been mimicking them all Christmas season long. Little John has of course been fascinated by the Christmas tree, often rolling himself over to it so he could stare at the lights (and try and grab the ornaments) - as Grandma Keaton keeps telling me, next year is going to be great fun with the tree. We might have to take Terry and Ann's strategy and only decorate the top half of the tree.

John received an early Christmas present from Grandma, a jolly jumper! He seems to enjoy it, but is probably a little small for it yet. We stuff him in with towels at the moment to help him sit up straight in it. It's fun to watch him bounce and turn himself around in it.

We travelled up to Raleigh for the Keaton family Christmas which was fun. It is a lot of driving in one day with a little one, but John did fairly well. We did have to stop on the way home to nurse him, but other than that the travelling was fairly uneventful, just a little tiring is all. It was nice to be at Brenda's and see all the family. Their dog seemed very interested in John, and John wasn't scared of him at all, which was surprising for me. I did ok around him seeing that I have a phobia of dogs - he seems to be a fairly placid dog which helped alot. Lunch of course was delicious with lots of food to try (I really loved the baked brie) and Addy had suggested a cookie exchange so we came home with brownies, choc peppermint kiss cookies, date balls, some other sort of choc nut tropical slice thingo (sorry Brenda, can't remember what they are called) and Uncle Terry's favourite brittle (I've been waiting 2 years to get some more of that stuff).

One of the cool things we received as a present from the family was a DVD with a lot of the Keaton Christmases from when John, Brenda, Terry and Paula were children. As I never new John as a child or teenager, it was especially exciting for me to see those video's. I always wonder how much our little John is going to look like his Daddy growing up.

We were also able to go to the Stake's Christmas program here in Elizabeth City. I loved it, as I really enjoy music and their program had tonnes of it. I especially enjoyed the variaton they did on 'Oh Holy Night'.

The neighbours on the street are pretty serious about their Christmas lights. They started going up straight after thanksgiving and for a while there, every day when we went past they had put more and more lights up. I finally managed to go and take some photo's of their lights while we were out on Christmas Eve, the pictures don't really do it justice, but you might be able to get a small idea of what the street is like.

1. The Horns

The Horn's neighbours on one side.

The Horn's neighbours on the other side.

The three houses together.

We took John to visit Santa for the first time. Given how great he went in our family portraits, I was expecting a happy smiley baby for his Santa photo. Not so. Santa's 'helpers' were not the friendliest people and rattled some bells right in John's face, he was startled more than interested and this resulted in the following photo:

I thought that they could get a better picture, so I asked them to take another one, but John had decided he wasn't startled after all, he was downright scared. His lower lip began to tremble, he frowned and then started crying, so that was an end to that. The first photo wasn't that bad after all, I just wish we could have got one of him smiling.

We had real Christmas here in Elizabeth City with John's parents, and his Aunt Elenor. It was a laid back affair, I think we ate about 3pm-ish and we opened presents afterwards. That is one of the beauty's of John being so little - he had no idea what was going on so he wasn't up at the crack of dawn demanding we get up to open presents. I wonder if even next year he will really know what is going on.

John and I had travelled up to Virigina before Christmas to do some shopping for presents. I think that was one of the funnest things about Christmas, buying presents for our little one and then seeing him playing with those presents afterwards. He wasn't so sure about opening presents, and I think got a little scared of the sound of the ripping paper at some times.

His first ball - thanks Santa!

A muso in the making - thanks Grandma!

See, I can open presents by myself!

Daddy reading John the book he gave him for Christmas

Look who was a good boy this year....no coal for our little John Geoffrey.

5 months old!

Well, it's time for another update. And as always, I simply cannot believe how much our little one is growing and learning.



Our growing boy: 1 month - 4 months - 5 months
(and yes, I wish I had gotten a newborn, 2 month and 3 month pictures on this mat too, but I was a bit slow on the uptake on how awesome comparison pictures would be).

Over the last month, John has had to deal with a lot of change. He went on his first flight and went back in time when he entered a new country (the USA is 15.5 hours behind Australia). He's had to deal with a totally new environment where nothing is familiar except for mummy, daddy and a few toys and blankets. He's had to get used to sleeping in a portacot which is *a lot* roomier than his tiny little bassinet at home, and get used to not sleeping right next to mummy. He's had to deal with being in a new house, which comes with all different types of noises, and get used to central heating. He's had to meet and get used to new relatives (which love him to bits, so that one's not a biggy), and experience the difference of looking out when riding in the pram instead of facing mum, riding in a different car, feeding in different positions and places, new nappies, new clothes, new bath etc etc. It's a lot of change for such a little one, and so all things considered he's adapting pretty well.

Besides the big trip and change in time zone for John, here are a few more milestones for his 5 month update:

• He's crawling! Not. Got ya, didn't I?  No, he's not crawling yet, but he sure wants to. When he's on his tummy he often lifts his bottom in the air in an attempt to move. He can play with toys that are out in front of him when he is on his tummy. And when you sit across the room and call to him to come to you when he's on his tummy he kicks his legs and arms like crazy. It's the cutest thing ever, and he gets most excited when Daddy calls out to him. He will even push himself along on his tummy if you put your hands on the soles of his feet.

• Last month, John G had just started to learn how to roll. Now you cannot stop him. He rolls onto his back and then back onto his tummy constantly, and can move a full 360 degrees around his playmat using a combination of rolls, half rolls and by lifting his feet to his head to change direction. And he tries his best to roll off the mat, succeeding quite often! He's a real squirmy worm and you have to keep an eye on him. He loves being on his tummy and lifting his head high to see the world around him. So high that his arms are completely stretched. He has really strong neck and back muscles! He is also starting to get abs, and he does little mini crunches when he's lying on my lap and I'm getting ready to nurse. It's hilarious.

• He can't sit up yet, but he still tries. We play a game where he lies down in between my legs, facing me, and I count one, two, three, and then use his arms to pull him into an upright position. He really enjoys it (when he is not tired - when he is tired he hates it). He can sit for a second or two unsupported, but he's not quite there yet. He'll often sag right down so his head is near his toes if I put him in a sitting position and let him go.

• He still loves trying to put things in his mouth. Fingers, toys, teething rings, clothes, my fingers, washcloths, blankets...anything...he even will not let me put the dummy in, he has to do it himself. It takes him a little while but he can eventually get it in. If I do put it in he will take it out immediately and try to reinsert it himself. He's getting better at his hand and eye co-ordination.

• He is starting to chew on things, I'm not sure if he's teething or not (his gums aren't red or anything) but he does love his teething rings. He will also chew on a facewasher when I'm changing him.

• He can reaches his toes and is fascinated by them. He even tries to chew on the toes of his onesies. And if his socks or clothes are off he will stare at his feet and pull on them.

• He has gone up a clothes size from 000 to 00 and I'm noticing that even the 00's are getting a little snug around his legs and bottom.

• He has started waking for night feeds again :( this one has been hard to get used to, especially when jet lagged, but he is still a happy boy and goes straight back to sleep after his night feeds, so all in all it's not too bad.

• He is very interested in what my hands are doing. If he's fussing on his playmat, I just have to clap my hands a few times and he starts grinning from ear to ear. After nursing we sometimes lie there and I make differents shapes with my hands and he'll reach up and grab them and turn them over or just stare at them. He's also interested in when I take a drink. If he's on my lap and I reach for my glass to take a drink he'll swat it or try and stop me from getting it to my mouth. He doesn't do that when I eat food, only when I'm drinking.

• He gets more and more talkative everyday. He will turn his head almost immediately if he hears Daddy talking to him and he has started to play with Dad's facial hair when they are having cuddles too.

• He no longer is wrapped for sleeping - I actually can't remember when we stopped doing this, but he sleeps just fine unwrapped.

NC adventures to date

Can you believe that we have already been in NC for almost 2 weeks! I feel like we have done a lot of sleeping and resting, trying to get over the jet lag and all, but we have managed to do a few things while we have been here:

• We got our eat on. Yep, we haven't even been here 2 weeks and we've eaten Bojangles 3 times. Yum! And even though John G can't eat it yet, I'm sure he enjoyed being there watching us eat! Hubby has also enjoyed having his Diet Dr Pepper and eating sausage pizza (which he claimed was all he was going to eat and drink while we were here).

• Played with new toys and got completely spoilt. When we arrived John G had new toys and clothes waiting thanks to Grandma Keaton. And Grandma has bought him even more toys and clothes since we've been here. He absolutely loves this monkey. When you pull it's tail it plays a lullaby. This particular day I had John on the bed and the monkey was doing it's thing. He was mesmorised by it and was just staring at it. Next thing I know his eyes were closed and he was fast asleep!



We bought this particular toy with us, but we hadn't used it in Adelaide yet. It's a sesame street pram tie. The baby Big Bird squeaks when you squeeze, and cookie monster and elmo rattle. He loves this one too, especially in the car. If he's not staring at cookie monsters googly eyes, he has some part of the toy in his mouth.



You can't tell from this picture but he was trying to play with these two toys and the facewasher all at once. Clip Clop (the horse on the left) has a handle which he has actually hooked over his arm (all by himself), he was holding the monkey in the other hand (don't worry, I was watching him and took the tags off straight after this) and the washcloth was in his mouth. He was happy as Larry.

• Enjoyed our new surroundings. Grandma and Grandpa Keaton's house has some nice big windows which means its really easy for John G to see outside. We have been trying to go out for walks when it is not too cold, but on the days it is, I try and let John see outside for at least some part of the day. He likes to look at the leaves falling from the trees and watch the wind in the branches. It is also my attempt at trying to help him with his jet lag, as apparently sunshine helps get the circadian rhythems back to normal (as well as give you a natural booster thanks to Vitamin D). 

• Spent time with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa can make John G laugh by trilling his tongue, and Grandma gives John lots of smootchy smootchies.

• Enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Keaton Clan. John's brother's and sisters and most of their kids came to Grandma and Grandpa's house for thanksgiving. There were more people there than at a Fitton Family dinner (which is saying something). It was fun to meet some of them that I hadn't met before and introduce them to John G. Of course everyone commented on how beautiful he is, and there was a tonne of delicious food which we enjoyed eating. I even made a pavlova to add some Australian flavor to the day.

• Travelled to Raleigh for John G's cousin's wedding reception. He had actually been married in Salt Lake the week before, but they had a 2nd reception in NC the week after which we were able to attend.

Sleeping in the car on the way - this sweet picture belies the 20 minute crying/screaming session we endured at the end of the trip. Poor little guy was overdue for a feed by an hour and a half and had a very wet, very heavy nappy.

The happy couple, Keaton & Lillian, cutting what is arguably the most delicious cake ever (I'm sure some of the frosting inside was peanut butter flavoured). John's niece Ashton (Keaton's sister) made this amazing creation. You can check our her dessert blog here.

John's sister Paula and her oldest son Hayden.

John G with his Great Aunt Linda.

Daddy, John G and Grandma Keaton.

Me and my beautiful boy!

• Made Black Friday* purchases. We waited til the end of the day when we knew the 'crazy' shoppers would be gone. I purchased a new handbag (50% off baby) and John bought a new router for his Dad. I was really happy as I'd been looking for a new handbag at home for weeks and hadn't found anything I liked. The bag is big enough that I can put John G's change mat, a few nappies and wipes so that I don't have to tote around a handbag and a diaper bag.

• Been to church twice. It is super weird not having anything to do (I'm usually pretty busy at church on Sundays thanks to my calling). Apparently in the Elizabeth City ward prams have been banned from the chapel as they were taking up too much space. Luckily John's parents have a capsule (which we use in the car) so John comes into church in that. I am enjoying the comfy rocking recliner in their mother's room - much nicer than the tiny plastic uncomfortable chairs in the one at home...not that I should complain, we are lucky to even have a mother's room at the chapel. I have to admit, I do miss the advocacy for breastfeeding which I have been taking for granted in Australia. So far we have not found any shopping places that have mother's room or places to sit and feed (no even in the international airport in Dallas).

• Took Daddy to the Doctors (poor hubby has bronchitis again).

• Continued to be cute.

In fact, John G is so cute that when we went to the Doctors with Daddy the receptionist said that he was so cute it made her want to have a baby of her own...now that is cute!!!!

* Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. On this day, most major retailers open extremely early and offer promotional sales to kick off the holiday shopping season, similar to Boxing Day sales in many Commonwealth Nations. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many non-retail employers also observe this day as a holiday along with Thanksgiving, giving their employees the day off, thereby increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005,^[1] although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,^[2] have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time .
The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.^[4][5] Use of the term started before 1961 and began to see broader use outside Philadelphia around 1975. Later an alternative explanation began to be offered: that "Black Friday" indicates the point at which retailers begin to turn a profit, or are "in the black".^[4][6]
Black Friday shopping is known for attracting aggressive crowds, with annual reports of assaults, shootings, and throngs of people trampling on other shoppers in an attempt to get the best deal on a product before supplies run out.- Thanks Wikipedia!

Up, Up and Away!

This last week our little John Geoffrey became an international traveller. That's right, we took the long trip from Adelaide, Australia to North Carolina, USA. Oh, don't worry, it's only three flights, over 30 travelling hours and a 15.5 hour time zone difference with a four and a half month old in tow...no biggy (yeah right).

John at the Dallas Fortworth Airport with his first passport stamp.

When we first booked the flights I felt nothing but confidence that John Geoffrey would be ok on the flights (my secret plan was to nurse at any sign of fussiness). However, as the time approached for us to leave I did feel more and more apprehensive, especially when I thought of how awkward it was going to be to nurse in those tiny plane seats. It also didn't help that he had a really fussy week before we left, or that I felt physically exhausted from running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to do everything before going.

Waiting for take-off at Adelaide airport

Hanging out with Daddy on the aeroplane

For our flight for Sydney (just under 2 hours) he nursed for take-off, and then pretty much slept the entire time. I didn't try to change his nappy on board, and then promptly forgot about it once we landed. Big mistake. And I'll tell you why - for those of you who know Sydney airport, you will know that there are 3 terminals, and while it's just a short walk between the Domestic terminals, the International terminal is not really in walking distance - especially with three suitcases, 2 carry-ons, a lap-top and a baby. We had actually flown to Sydney on a Jetstar flight, but our remaining travel was with Qantas. Somehow we needed to find our way to the International terminal and recheck ourselves and our bags in. I knew there had to be some sort of Qantas transfer bus, but didn't know where to find it and hence we found ourselves walking up and down the domestic terminal trying to follow signs that didn't make sense. It was truly frustrating and probably the most stressed John and I felt on the whole trip. Finally we had the bright idea to ask the Qantas lady at the baggage area, who told us we could go to the other domestic terminal and check in for our international flight there, they would take our bags and let us transfer to the international terminal on their bus after going through security again. Yipee! However, by this time we had wasted about an hour, add that to the two hour flight, and the time it took to get from home to the airport and John Geoffrey hadn't had his nappy changed in probably 4-5 hours, and he decided to let me know about it, because as we walked to the other domestic terminal I suddenly felt very warm and very wet all down the front of my top. Yep. John Geoffrey had pee'd through his nappy and it was running all down his leg and all onto me. Thank goodness I had followed a friends advice and packed a spare t-shirt in my carry-on - I just wasn't expecting to have to use it so soon!

Anyway, after a change of clothes for me and bub, checking in our luggage and transferring to the international airport we were free to enjoy the beauty of the customs line, more security checks, a quick bite to eat, before all three of us being bomb tested (who knew people travelling with babies were so suspicious!) and then pushing ahead in the boarding line to get priority as people travelling with infants (yes, we were the first ones on board).

Cutest little jet-setter ever!

On the way to Sydney

Asleep about 5 minutes later.

Now this flight, Sydney to Dallas, was the one I was most dreading - 15 hours of straight flying - of which John Geoffrey slept at least 11 hours of. Turns out he is a good traveller! We were actually lucky enough to get a bassinet seat for this flight, which means John had somewhere to lay and play and lay and sleep on the flight. Saving our arms, laps and sanity. You actually cannot book a bassinet seat before flying, you can only request it, and then they give priority to the youngest children when you book in. There were hardly any children on our flight and John was by far the youngest, so we were pretty much a shoo-in.

John only cried badly once on the flight, and that was the first time he woke up in the bassinet after a small nap. After a bit of a cuddle he settled right down. I managed to get a pretty decent sleep on the flight myself and was feeling pretty good by the time we got to Dallas.

Getting through Customs and security again was pretty easy, although again we were selected for bomb testing because we were travelling with an infant.

I have to say, I was really impressed with Dallas. Normally when I come to the US I go through LAX and I was determined not to have to go there again this trip - that place is awful - long queues, rude workers, undergrown tunnels, huge delays, dirty terminals. Dallas on the other hand was clean, quick and friendly. As an example, while we were waiting to go through security there, there was an older woman ahead of us who only had her internet print out of her booking with her, instead of her ticket (she needed to go check in and get a boarding pass printed at one of the automatic kiosks). The lady who was checking ID etc, was so nice to her, and explained the situation to her, called over another airport worker who then actually took the lady over to the kiosk, helped her check in and then took her straight through security so she wouldn't have to queue again. It was so nice to see that there are still people out there willing to help others, they could have so easily been dismissive of her.

We had a fairly long layover at Dallas, and so we had plenty of time to look around, get something to eat and have some play time for John Geoffrey.

Within hours of arriving in the USA I celebrate with pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, coleslaw, waffle fries and root beer (courtesy of Dickey's BBQ Pit at the Dallas Fortworth Airport). Oh yeah.

 

I don't know what it is, but John Geoffrey doesn't really like it when I eat. Eating at the Dallas airport was no exception - he pretty much screamed and carried on like a pork chop. I think he was well and truly over travelling by that time, and was a little worn out by it all. John and I took turns in holding him while the other one ate, and once I had finished I took him for a little walk to calm him down and he fell asleep. Poor little guy.

He didn't much like the flight from Dallas to Norfolk, Virginia either (about 3 hours). He alternated between sleeping and crying for the most part of the flight. Not even nursing would settle him down. I think the air pressure was really getting to him for the landing and I felt bad for him. We did our best to help him, and a few people at the back of the plane mentioned to me that he was so well behaved and they didn't hear him, so that was good (we sure could hear him though).

It was such a relief to know we could nearly stop travelling after getting of that flight - there was only the car ride home which would take about an hour.

John's parents met us at the airport to take us home, and it was so lovely to see them. Grandma Keaton got to hold John Geoffrey for the first time and of course he put on the charm as always :)

And so, we are here, and it feels really good! It is hard to have family on the other side of the world, and not to see them all the time, so I'm so thankful we have this opportunity to spend a good deal of time with John's parents, and to catch up with the rest of the Keaton clan while we are here. As Brenda said on instagram "Let the good times roll!"