Picture post!

Here are some pictures of our life lately!

Here is Jack sitting in his highchair wearing his "big boy" shoes.  He is not walking quite yet, but we are wearing shoes a few minutes here and there to get him used to it.  He is not a fan of shoes :)

The next few are from Jack's friend Matthew's 1st birthday party which we attended this past weekend!  Happy Birthday Matthew!

This is Jack and Claire (who will be 1 in less than a week) working together to push the chair across the room!

This is Jack and Wesley (who will be on in one month) standing on the birthday boy:)  No worries, we rescued Matthew after taking pictures!

You might recall a similar picture from Jack's party, however, it is surprising how they sat a little more still one month ago!  They change so fast!

Jack and Mommy- Jack's face is covered with chocolate cupcake!

Hanging out in his favorite place-outside!  Although, he prefers to not be strapped into the stroller :)

Helping Mommy unload the dishes!

The big 1!

Jack turned one September 17 and while it came a little too fast, we are so excited to see what the next year brings.  He has been such a joy and brought us so many smiles and laughs that I know this next year will bring even more happiness!  We had a monkey themed birthday party for him and invited three of his friends who are also very close to turning one!

Here are some things Jack has been up to lately:

• He LOVES to play peekaboo.  If we sit down with our back to him and pretend not to see him, he "sneaks" up on us and peeks around.  I say "sneaks" because he is laughing the entire time and usually climbing up on us to look over our shoulders.
• He is not walking yet, but cruising and standing up pretty well.  I am excited for him to walk, even though I hear it is more work to keep him out of trouble :)
• He is still a great eater most of the time.  He'll try anything at least a few times before outright refusing to open his mouth.
• Jack loves to stack things and he can stack four blocks on top of each other.  He was very proud of himself and so were Jon and I!
• His other favorite pastime is putting things into other things, like his sippy cup into his bowl of food or his bread into my water cup.  Needless to say he ADORES his stacking cups.
• He is not a fan of the stroller- we are going to have to do something about this....
• He still goes to bed by 6:30pm and hasn't been waking up until almost 7 lately- it's been so nice!  And he still takes two naps.
• We are now on whole milk, which he LOVES and only using sippy cups now- it's great!
• He says "dada" often, "mama" frequently and "cracker" when he sees a cracker.  I am looking forward to vocabulary expansion.
• We still have our playgroup on Tuesdays and we just started Gymboree on Wednesdays, so he has a very busy social calendar :)
• Tigger his still his best pal and sleeps with him every night, though I often find Tigger outside the crib in the morning- I have no idea when he gets heaved over the side.
• Finally, his one year stats: 23.4 lbs (55%) 30in (though I am pretty sure this is incorrect) (50%) and his head was 85th percentile, but I don't remember the measurement.

One last thing, we are definitely seeing his little sense of humor.  He loves to share his food with us- sometimes this is nice, sometimes the food has already been in his mouth and that is not so nice.  So, he will often lean forward with his hand out and put the food in our mouths.  He will do this a few times per meal unless it is something he really LOVES, then we are lucky if we get one bite.  Often, when it is something he loves he will reach his hand out to share and then snatch it away into his mouth right as we are about to get our bite!  He then laughs (as do we).

Birthday Pics

Here are pics from the birthday party (monkey themed due to his love of bananas).  I am working on a 12 month update post in small chunks because it is a long one!

Opening presents with Mommy

This is the monkey shirt he wore to his party!

The party spread with his little cake.

Monkey cupcakes!

 Jack's giant monkey balloon!  Ignore the Burger King ad on the television. :)

This is him eating his first taste of peanut butter, which he loves!

 Jack and his party guests, all of whom will be one within the next couple of months.  From left to right:  Wesley, Jack, Claire and Matthew.  This is them with their party favors, which consisted of a bucket, a balloon, bubbles, banana, and little stuffed monkeys.

 Jack had no idea what to do with the cake.  He cried when everyone started looking at him waiting for him to smash the cake.  He eventually took some bites when Jon fed it to him, but he mostly ate blueberries and some bagel.  Jon did the most damage to the cake :)

Pictures and Vids are up!

Hey Y'all!

I've been bad about updating the picasa site, but go check out the new pictures and videos we posted.
-Jon

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!