baby | my husband and support systems

the caption for the above photo is as follows:
in july 2013, jon started growing something - and so did i! i grew a baby for nine months, and he grew a moustache! in celebration of jackson's arrival - he finally shaved it off. i guess it was good luck as little j has all ten fingers and ten toes...and a little moustache of his own apparently!

i have been incredibly lucky over the past five weeks. i always knew my husband would make an excellent father, i just didn't know the extent of it. while "being a mother" and taking care of a teeny tiny baby feels so new to me (of course it does!), jonathan seems to be an old pro. while watching him i could swear he has done it all before. and the funniest part is that i'm the one who did the endless reading, googling and product research. but jon is so natural - at all of it.

the other night he was feeding jackson a bottle and the little guy kept falling asleep. so after a few tries, he got up and went to change him. when he came back i said "how did you know to do that? the books i read suggest changing the baby's diaper if he's falling asleep because that almost always wakes him up. but how did you know to do that?" and he said "i just did."
well okay then.

jon also taught me how to diaper, how to open and close the stroller, how to strap the sniff into the car seat and even memorized all the tips and tricks for breastfeeding (and gently reminds me of them when i get frustrated). 

but it's more than that - it's his whole attitude. through all the crying and fussing, he is so patient/calm/zen/understanding...use whatever word you like, i've yet to see him flip his lid. plus he works all day and then comes home and plays/changes/feeds the baby. he even lets me sleep whenever i can.

when jackson and i are home together all day, i definitely take a page from jon's play book. and like jon, the page says "he's just a little baby, he's just crying to try and tell us what he wants. he's not trying to frustrate us on purpose."

my mother has also been amazing. which is great because one of the reasons we moved back to ontario was to be closer to our families when we started a family. my mum is a neo natal nurse and takes care of premies at her job. so it's awesome to be able to ask her anything about babies. she's also super relaxed about it all and often talks me down when i start to worry about something. every week she has been bringing us food or allowing us time to sleep or go out while she watches jack. and don't get me started on all the cute baby clothes!

i'm very lucky and want to give major props to all the single mothers out there. it's definitely important to have a support system.

one sweet thing: after spending time with the baby, jon and i have noticed something. when he comes home from work he says "hi sniff! hi schmoo mama!" and i say:

"my god your head is big."

and now jon is noticing it too. we stare at jackson so much that when we look up at each other, we can't help but notice how large each other's noggins are. like...kind of grossly, annoyingly humongous!