His Aunt Charlotte does!!

My trip got off to an auspicious start when I got on the plane and had the whole row to myself.  I quickly learned that if you want to sleep, it’s the only way to fly. 🙂  Once I got to John and Caroline’s new flat, I immediately fell in love with Jack.  What’s not to love about this face?!

Jack is smiling a lot and loves to have conversations with you.  He giggles and gurgles, awaits your response and then squeals in delight.  At one point, I could have sworn he said “hi” to me.  Caroline and John are skeptical…

Caroline and I enjoyed lounging around together and going on walks with Jack.  At night, I tried to give the Jobes a taste of home.  We made pizza one night and mac and cheese and burgers the next.

Our biggest outing was brunch at Ffiona’s on Sunday morning.  Jack is becoming a natural at brunch–again, he slept through the meal and we didn’t hear a peep.

Speaking of peeps, I tried to keep up the owl theme Caroline and I instigated since her pregnancy:

Since the Jobes wanted to be surprised by the gender of their baby, Caroline and I decided an owl was a good unisex motif for clothes and toys.  Obviously, Jack thinks it’s a hoot 😉 (I promise that’s my last owl pun).  We are a little afraid that Jack’s occasional nocturnal sleeping habits might be an unintended side-effect of all this owl time though…

I’m very sad to leave John, Caroline and Jack.  Caroline and John are both amazing parents and it was great to see them both in their new element.  I can’t wait to watch Jack grow up.  Doesn’t he look well on his way in his new cardigan??

xoxo

Aunt Charlotte

Just like the groundhog we are *starting* to crawl out of our hole…but it has been so nice and cozy in our hole thanks to our wonderful families who have come and taken such great care of us. My mom always said it is nice to have a big family and let me tell you…yes it is…the more people to come help the better! John realized today that this is our first full weekend alone since November 25th…but alone is overrated..Charlotte comes Thursday:)

This is one of John’s favorite pictures which pretty much sums it up…there is nothing like a mother and I just happen to have the best!

**Circle of life…my mom feeding me…me feeding Jack:) Thank goodness she is coming back in March–nobody has fed me since she left!

Jack turned 2 months today (yes, 2 whole freaking months) so to celebrate we took him to our favorite little spot…brunch at Ffionas! Jack did marvelously (meaning he slept) and we had a yummy little breakfast just like old times until we remembered he was coming home with us.

A couple of milestones:

* John changed a diaper in the men’s bathroom. Upon leaving he quickly said–Jack definitely needs a bath when we get home–do you know how many clueless dads have changed their babies on that and made a mess.

* I breastfed in public–John said I might as well have been sitting in the middle of the produce aisle–apparently I didn’t pick the most inconspicuous place but thanks to Susan I had my hooter hider. Of course, I had an old man sitting next to me giving me pointers the entire time…really sir?!?!?!

* Jack has already become quite the ladies man–see below:

* And most importantly, Jack is officially an American citizen! We were excited to go to the US Embassy thinking they might greet us with cokes and chex mix but no such luck–it was just like the DMV which I guess did give us a little taste of home in a way and made us appreciate London;)

2 Month Stats

Weight: 12 lbs 9 ounces

Length: they don’t do that here

Head: 99th percentile!! **Funny story–so when we were at the doctor she looked at both of us to figure out where the big head came from…John way too quickly chimed in “oh, her family has huge heads”–geez John tell us how you really feel. Well–guess who actually had the big head…

Big thanks to my family and Grandma Sue Sue for coming to visit….that’s right Johnny the pressure is on….it means so much to us that you met Jack. Thanks everyone for all the wonderful emails and phone calls–if I am not in my cozy hole I promise to answer!

We arrived in London last Saturday and could not wait to meet baby Jack….and see Caroline and John of course! 🙂 This week has been amazing. It was our first time spending multiple days in a row with a baby, and boy do we have a whole new appreciation for what it takes to care for one. Jack is sweet and snuggly, and he smiles when Caroline stretches his arms above his head and asks him “how big is Jack? So big!” she says. He loves it.

Stephen’s favorite thing about Jack is his soft skin and how fast he can kick his legs. Margot’s favorite thing is the way his little head (or big apparently!) smells and that he looks at us with lovey eyes and expressive eyebrows. We love you, too, Jack!

We learned that constant loud noises soothe Jack, so much so, that when we were watching him for a few minutes and he started getting a bit fussy,  Stephen quickly took him to the kitchen and turned the fan on to calm him down. It is amazing! Caroline’s new best friend is a sound machine… the white noise puts Jack into a deep sleep. Yay for more Mommy time!

We left the Jobe trio for three days and had a wonderful Parisian adventure. I’ll start by saying this….IT WAS COLD! Wear two hats and double up on gloves kinda cold. Cold. But that didn’t alter any of our plans!

It made us wish we were back here:

Thanks to Matt and Susan we had some great meals and some expensive drinks!! 30 euros each to be exact at Hemingway Bar at the Ritz hotel. But look how pretty :).

We visited the Eiffel Towel at night, the Rodin museum (we quickly realized that Rodin loved his women naked, curvy, and in strange poses), Notre Dame, Musee de L’Orangerie, and the Luxembourg palace.

We ate two dozen macaroons, enjoyed sweet and savory crepes to warm up, and shopped on Champs de Elysee. We said a lot of “merci beaucoup’s, bonsoir’s, bonjour’s” and smiled a lot, it was so much fun!

We are so sad to leave, Caroline and John have been amazing hosts. Next time we see Jack, he will be 4 months old, and SO MUCH BIGGER!

P.S. Sussy thinks that Jack has Stephen’s finger toes…..what do you think?

BREAKING JACK NEWS: The smile is coming, the smile is coming!

Yep, you heard it and saw it (check out the adorableness above) here first. This shouldn’t come as a surprise – the JollyJobe blog spreads breaking news with the likes of CNN and TMZ!

We (Uncle Matt and Aunt Suze) just returned from our first post-Jack trip to London and are pleased to report that all is well in Jobe-land. Caroline and John are rocking parenthood. Something else that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

In addition to the smile, some more milestones from our trip:

John and Matt christened the charcoal grill at the new place. Note to future visitors: request sausages!

Jack ramped up his “A” time. Note to infant newbies: “A” is for activity.

Thanks to Jack’s mid-sleep wind (not pictured), Uncle Matt is starting to believe what Aunt Suze has been telling him for years: That he passes gas in his sleep! Note to blog readers: Aunt Suze DOES NOT :-).

Welcome to the family, Jack. We’re so happy you’re here!

This has been an exciting 10 days.

The day I arrived Jack had been circumcised.

Unlike the US, baby boys are not circumcised at birth.

Each day there was the inspection of the plastic ring.

Was it still on?  When would it fall off?

As anticipated the plastic ring fell off on day five.

No picture, but will say it looks great.

When I arrived the Jobes lived at 27  Campden Grove.

Five days later they would move to 16 Campden Hill Gardens.  This was an ordeal with a four week old baby.

The movers were great.  They packed everything  (John and Caroline had packed all the duffles with clothes).  John moved those in a taxi so Caroline and I could start unpacking at the new flat.   The movers came to the new flat after lunch and moved everything in.  With their help all the boxes were unpacked before they left and taken away. It was a bit of a mess but 24 hours later was neat and tidy.  We had a gourmet dinner of pizza the first night in the new flat.

I learned to do the wash in the first flat.  You really have to experience how long it takes to do a load of laundry from wash through dry in one machine to appreciate our washers and dryers.  The new flat is fabulous.  The best item is a separate washer and dryer.  At least you can have one load washing and one drying.  The interesting fact about the dryer is it collects the water and has to be emptied after every dry cycle.

I didn’t do much sightseeing. We walked to Kensington Gardens and strolled by Kensington Palace. I saw part of Hyde Park and walked through Holland Park and Notting Hill. I also visited Whole Foods several times. I went to the Cupcake Shop and walked by Windsor Castle.  So this is not the palace.

The best part of the trip is getting to know Jack.  I think he looks like a little English baby. He is the most adorable baby.

He continues to eat, pee, and poop and smile.. He is not perfect.  He does cry sometimes.

Sleep has improved and he sleeps 5 hrs at night(most of the time).Jack turned one month old while I was here.

He has gained weight and he keeps his eyes open longer this week. Did I mention they are blue? He is tracking black and white pictures. His spent a few minutes on his activity mat yesterday.  Caroline and I attempted the tummy tub bath yesterday without John’s help.  We did it. But I think he missed his Daddy.

He loves to be held and we all love to hold him.

He is an angel. It has been fantastic staying with Caroline and John.  They are great parents. I am going to miss them when I leave.  It has been a great trip.

*John and me at The Uxbridge Arms for a pint before my farewell dinner–John was dying to see the inside of a pub again.

Love to all,

Sue

(Grandma Sue Sue)

I leave tomorrow to return to the “original’ Jack or as we have decided to call him “Papa Jack”.  It has been a wonderful few weeks with Caroline, John and baby Jack and I am sad to leave.

I am going to ramble here but I will try to be somewhat organized.

The few early days in London were great because I was able to learn to navigate to my local hotspots; Blanche in the morning for croissants or scones…lunchtime to Menoo for sandwiches and in the afternoon to Marks and Spencers or Whole Foods for supplies for dinner.  Shopping for dinner taught me that while people worry that their eyes are bigger than their stomach, I learned that my hands could not hold what my stomach craved. The walk home to the “flat” was not long, but the bags cut into my soft uncallused hands!  As an aside, the croissants were light as air…

* Baked Brie celebrating JTJ VI (notice the VI above)…Caroline has been craving this for 9 months

John Thomas Jobe VI arrived on December 12^th after a long day of labor and suffering (at least for me and John… and of course Caroline).  The decision to have the c-section came at about 8pm and the baby was born within 10 minutes.  John was able to be in the delivery room and Caroline was alert and comfortable. During the c-section, Caroline’s obstetrician did not reveal the sex of the baby and instead held the baby aloft so that the joyful parents could discover for themselves that “It’s a Boy” !

Caroline spent the next 4 days in the hospital.  John had a bed in the room also…I went home to the flat.  At night the midwives took the baby for a while so that they could sleep. The days in the hospital were great for a first time mother (and father) It gave them a chance to learn about breastfeeding, how to change a “nappy” after a “wee’ , how to hold the baby to get the “wind” out and how to do a “top and tail” (bathing).

Friday the mother and baby were discharged and we all piled into a cab for the drive home. Luckily we had a very understanding cab driver as we had to figure out for the first time, how to install the 5-point safety harness system into the backseat of a London cab.

We are home now and have to report:

Baby Jack has caused some worries:

He slept too much

He slept too little

He nursed too long

He didn’t nurse enough

He slept thru feedings

He never slept

He lost weight and then gained it back in time for his weigh-in by the visiting midwife on Christmas Eve…a lot of pressure there but a Joyful Christmas for all!

Baby Jack has had some firsts:

First baby to require 3 adults to change his “nappy”

First baby to have hiccups in utero and out.

First baby to have more than 10 bowel movements in a day.

First baby to develop teenage acne at 2 weeks

First baby to smile and recognize my face (that was a test to see if you were continuing to read)

First bath in Tummy Tub (I was suspicious of this, but I am a convert)… it was pleasant.(see photo) and not one bit of crying though it did take 3 adults..and about a 30 minute safety set-up.

Baby Jack will be far away from us for a while but so he wouldn’t forget us, Charlotte created an ABC picture book of our family to share with him.  I am going to include several photos of the pages of the book.

It is wonderful.

Thank you Charlotte.

I also wanted to thank Matt and Susan for flying Papa Jack to London to meet his grandson. Papa Jack deserves a lot of praise and thanks for being in charge of Christmas in Newport News … and he could not have done it without the help of Susan and Matt…Matt even set up the trains for the first time in about 15 years.

Thank you Stephen, Margot, Gregg and Charlotte for helping to create a memorable celebration. I can’t wait to see the tree tomorrow.

Happy New Year to All,

Love,

Susan (Sussy)

WE ARE AWAKE

(JACK WAS TOO EXCITED TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT)

AND WANTED TO BE THE FIRST TO SAY…

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !!

LOVE CAROLINE, JOHN, JACK AND SUSAN

PS…pictures of the happy family are coming soon…we just have to shower first!

JACK IN A PICTURE:

Ok, ok, if you insist….here is another;)

Oh gosh…we can’t stop!

JACK SUMMED UP IN ONE WORD: Scrumptious!

MOST FREQUENT COMMENT MADE BY A STRANGER ABOUT JACK: Wow…look at all that hair! Then they usually look at John and say oh we see where he gets it! 2nd most frequent comment is…wow that is a big boy! Then they look at me and say oh we see where he gets it…just kidding:)

THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED FROM JACK: Jack has really given us a good intro into British culture…a few fun “Britishisms”:  Nappy=Diaper; Wee=Pee; Wind=Gas, Top n’ Tail=sponge bath; Cotton Wool=what we use instead of wipes (think cotton balls and water); Pram=Stroller; Cot=Crib. We are on a roll…pretty soon my yalls will be replaced by my mates:)

JACK’S MOST IMPRESSIVE TALENT: It takes all 3 of us, Team Jack as we call ourselves, to change a nappy…think Nascar pit crew….one person is on leg duty, one wiping with cotton balls of course and one person who is supposed to be protecting the rest of us from a wild spraying anteater…no names mentioned but someone has been failing at their job–we have been soaked with wee multiple times;)

***PS: It would take a 4th person to get a picture of us changing him…any volunteers?!?!

JOHN’S FAVORITE THING ABOUT JACK: Jack loves to hold John’s finger and John just can’t get enough of that….awww:)

SUSSY’S FAVORITE THING ABOUT JACK: His soft skin. We have found her multiple times with her cheek up to his…

CAROLINE’S FAVORITE THING ABOUT JACK: EVERYTHING! I just can’t believe he is here and is really ours….I can’t stop staring at him…except when I fall asleep holding him apparently;)

We are so excited to have our little prince home! Thanks everyone for all the love and support. Congrats to Adam for winning the pool….a rocket is coming your way:)

Momma Bear “Sussy” has landed! She came equipped with all the essentials: brownies, chocolate chip cookies, a “how to have a baby book”, maracas, and of course her Kanye West sunglasses;)

**Confession: I can tell we are related–I too had maracas, Kanye West sunglasses and a sequin bow-tie in my hospital bag…just thought that might bring a smile to my face or else the maracas will come in handy to smack John with:)

My mom has been cooking up a storm and John has been quite the happy camper–he joked that this might be the first time he comes home from work to an already cooked meal…hey I believe in teamwork what can I say;)

It appears my mom has brought some good luck with her–John got a MUCH desired iPhone and we *think* we found an AMAZING new flat….more details to come once we sign the paperwork! Still chugging along and feeling great–I told Mr. Wiggles now that we have a home for him/her he can come play so hopefully he is a good listener;) Thanks everyone for all the sweet messages–will keep everyone posted!