Double digits!

Jack turned 10 months old on the 17th, so he is officially into the double digits :)  This past month brought a lot of changes.  We are officially babyproofed because he can crawl like a mad man, he had his first haircut (done by Mommy with Daddy's help), and he said his first word- "dada".  He also celebrated his first 4th of July and got a second tooth.  He is currently working on 4 more!

10 month growth pic!  Notice the drool- this is pretty much how he looks all the time :)

Jack has been crawling for little while now, but he has become quite fast lately, making for some close saves on the edge of the bed, at the toilet, and at the top of the stairs.  This quickness prompted Jon and I to go into babyproofing overdrive and we are now safe for Jack to crawl wherever.  He is also pulling up on everything, so we think standing and walking are not too far behind!

With his kitchen toys.  He has his own cabinet in the kitchen now!

He always picks out his own toys now :)

Doesn't he look like a little boy in this picture?  I can hardly stand it!

A couple of weeks ago, Jon convinced me that Jack was in need of a trim, so I finally gave in and we cut his hair.  He was an amazing "client" and with some wonderful entertainment by Dad, the whole process only took 30 minutes.  We didn't cut too much, but Jack had started batting at his ears like a dog because the hair was tickling him.  I think he is much more comfortable now.  I didn't cry, although, he does look a little too much like a little boy  :)

Before haircut

After haircut.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but there is a difference.

"Dada" had the privilege of being Jack's first word and he crawls around quite often looking for Jon and then yelling "dada" when he finds him.  It is quite adorable.  Also, Jon is often greeted with "dada" when he gets him up in the morning or after a nap.

Jack and Dada at the park on July 4th!

Teething has been taking up a lot of everyone's energy around here lately.  Jack is working on the other two bottom teeth and the top two, making for some understandably fussy days. We are hoping to see the teeth soon!

Jack is still a big eater and trying lots of foods.  He is starting meat now and so far likes both tofu (I know, not technically a meat) and chicken.  He also loves Daddy's favorite comfort food- macaroni and cheese.  It is becoming a little difficult to feed him from a spoon as he only wants to feed himself, but he usually cooperates in the end :)  He still loves bananas more than anything, but cherries are a close second.

This is the variety of food I made him a week ago.  A lot of work, but he is so worth it!

We have taken him to the neighborhood pool several times and he LOVES the water (just like Daddy) and takes swimming very seriously.  He likes to be held horizontally and then "swim" to Mommy or Daddy.  He actually does kick his legs a little with a very serious expression on his face and only smiles when he reaches his destination.  We do splash a little too, which is adorable!

Jon's business is going well and they have been working hard on marketing this past month.  As for me, I am just enjoying every moment I get to spend with Jack watching him grow and change and learn.  He is such a joy and we feel so blessed to be his parents!

How we spent our 4th of July!

Ready to play video games like Daddy!

Almost nine months

We have our 9 month (can you believe it?) check-up on Thursday, so we will have real stats, as opposed to estimations, to share.  Jack has been keeping us busy with crawling everywhere and getting into almost everything.  It is so great to see him explore and learn.  His favorite game is chasing his ball as he rolls it across the floor- it amuses him greatly assume because the smile never leaves his face!  Jack is also eating lots of food with his hands these days including banana, peas and mangoes.  I don't think I 'll have much baby food to make once we go through our current stockpile.  Here are some pictures from the last few days!

I love listening to Daddy play guitar!

Blueberry face

Focusing on making a basket

How many puffs can I fit in my mouth?

Nap hair!

Ready for the splash park (where I mostly played in the dirt)!

Jack gets the camera!

Picture post!

This is the best growth pic I could take.  It is very difficult trying to get him to sit still these days.  He quite enjoys launching himself off this chair (or the sofa, bed, whatever is high). Needless to say he is on the floor a lot these days.  We are starting the baby proofing process, slowly but surely.  Next step is to buy gates for the stairs!  I have no idea what his stats were at 8 months.  I am guessing around 28-29 inches and approx. 20 lbs. but getting him to sit still for the pics was hard enough- I didn't even attempt weight and measurement!

8 months and growing!

Jack turned 8 months old today and we absolutely can't believe it!  He is such a joy everyday and I feel so lucky that my job is to care for him (well, him and Jon and the house...).  Here is a list of his latest likes and dislikes.

Likes: in addition to the food previously listed- butternut squash with cinnamon, kiwi, pear, mango; dogs (to be explained further, trying to crawl- he drags himself very effectively though, still putting everything in his mouth, grape flavored medicine- we give him Tylenol/Motrin for teething and he gets ecstatic over the grape flavor, flipping and flying around with Daddy, swinging and being outside, jumping up and down, dancing to the radio, taking a bath

Dislikes: getting out of the bath, green beans- it's official now, being away from Mommy- yes, we have entered this phase, getting his diaper changed, being told he can't play with something- like an electrical cord or cell phone

So, we are still teething with no teeth yet appearing.  His poor little gums are red and swollen, but still not even a tooth bud.  These last couple of days have been pretty rough with him waking up crying form every nap and in the morning, so maybe this will be the worst of it.  One can hope...  We got him the Sophie giraffe that so many recommended and he does love to chew on it!  He has still been sleeping great, so that is a blessing for both him and us.

I went to a Mom's gathering at church last Friday and tried him in the nursery for the first time.  He did eat, sleep, and play a little, but they said he cried pretty hard off and on.  One lady told me to never go anywhere without his Tigger because it did calm him down.  While I was very sad that he was so unhappy, I do like that he is so attached to a comfort item.  We did not try the nursery on Sunday, partly because Mommy couldn't take it and partly because Jack wouldn't even let Jon hold him that morning.  He has become very attached to me these past couple of days.

Over Mother's Day weekend I made a BIG batch of baby food.  I am hoping it is enough to feed him for a little over a month.  It came out to about 100 2 oz. servings.  He eats about 2 or 2.5 servings a day.  It may last a little longer, since sometimes he eats bananas or kiwis instead of fruit from the freezer.  It was a lot of work, but I am very happy I did it.  It gives him far more variety throughout the weeks than he was getting.  I made sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, cauliflower, pears, applesauce, peas, green beans, mangos, summer squash- I think that is it.  Some of it he hasn't tried yet, I was just making ahead.

The dog.  We went over to a family's house from church last night for small group.  They have a very nice and baby-friendly dog, Nemo.  Jack LOVED Nemo.  Their little girl, Claire, LOVES Nemo as well.  They spent about five minutes laughing at Nemo back and forth.  Jack petted/grabbed Nemo (who took this all in stride) and laughed the whole time.  It was great to see him laugh that much, especially since he had not been too happy throughout the day.  I can't wait to see if he does it again next week.

Here is a little bit of the "Nemo" show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMW80xdZaCo

I will post his stats and growth pics a little later today (I haven't done any of that, yet)!