Jack: 12 months

Hey Girl, I just turned 1.

Oh my dear sweet little Jack-a-Bub...all grown up.  I don't even know what to say or what to write about that captures the amount of love I have for this little man and how much of a proud mamma I am.  As we transition out of baby-hood and in to toddler-hood, I find myself a little sad.  It sounds so dramatic, but it's like Im mourning the loss of my little baby, whose about to grow up.  There are little traits of Jack's personality that have me realize he is growing out of being a baby, but then there are those moments when he tucks both of his arms under his belly and nestles in to your shoulder when we cuddle that totally have me thinking (and wishing) he'll be a baby forever.  It's no surprise I that I have always loved the newborn and baby-hood stages; however, I am hoping that for my own sanity, that I also love the new stages of Jack that are just around the corner.

Here are some random silly pics of Jack lately....he's such a character!

Jack's favorite yoga pose

One of his favorite faces to make when trying to get us to laugh

LOVES showing off how big he is

Jack has taken a liking to the princess towel after bath time...who can blame him, he looks adorbs in it!

Yup...Jack in the Box never gets old

Jack is super in to books these days...at least that is what I tell myself

So here are Jack's stats at one year old.  Head=18.25in, weight=24 lb 6oz, height= 2ft 6in.  Big boy! Developments in the past month have included a dramatically more speedy crawl, curiosity and climbing of the stairs (watch out!), more verbal babble, waving hello and goodbye, increased preference to snuggle (LOVE it!), increase ability to hold attention/focus and engage in independent play, evidence of words in the horizon (hi, da-deeee, mamamama, etc) and hard work and efforts in standing and cruising around furniture or other obstacles.  Things that remained consistent include his charming personality, his "cool" and calm nature, his ability to sleep wonderfully, his desire to eat ALL.THE.TIME, his willingness to eat anything we offer, his curiosity and desire to be around his sister and others, and his flexibility or ability to adapt.  Obviously, another thing that has remained the same has been our extreme love and adoration of Jack.  He is so charming, sweet, relaxed, cautious, cuddly, curious and simply such a joy to be around.  I hate to jinx it now (since we all know how Mia started it and how she is "these days")....but Jack has seriously been such a easy baby and we have VERY few moments, days or memories that really have us thinking otherwise.   Thank.You.Jack!

In his 12th month....

Juuuuust getting used to standing up and figuring out how to "get down"

Thankfully, this skill has improved a lot over the past month :)

His favorite "wooden hot dog toy" from the Melissa and Doug collection :)

Mia helping out during bath time...we call this the "flower shower"

Nate on the left, Jack on the right.  The similarities are there for sure; however, I think we could get a WAY better side by side pretty soon....we'll just use this one for now :)

This is the "First Year" video of Jack....well done, Nate.  Enjoy.

Here are some pics form his birthday at day care as well as our place:

Each kid, every year, gets their own birthday crown.  Mia "helped" Jack makes his this year.

His victory celebration after having chocolate frosting angle food cake.

Sporting his camo vest on his pimped out ATV compliments of auntie Maddy and uncle Erik...

he LOVES this thing!

Bwwwaaaahahahahaha!  Turning 1 is apparently very hilarious to Jack :)



To be honest, this past month (and more) have been blurry, busy and "not normal" in terms of our typical routine. As such, this 1 year blog post is clearly overdue and void of a lot of conrete information.   At the end of the day, I am simply not a blogger.  I want to rid myself of the feeling like I "have to" write about trips, food, my kids, etc and just simply do it when it feels right.  I love looking back and using this space for documentation purposes but I certainly don't anticipate me "blogging" very much from here on out.  Ta-ta for now.

Jack: 11 Months

(Sorry this is late but I just got back form a weekend away in Vegas and have not had energy to do much in terms of finding wonderfully edited pictures...so here's whatcha get)

Happy New Year everyone!  These past couple of weeks have been bonkers and I am only now beginning to feel somewhat rested and "back to normal"...just in time for a super short work week followed by a weekend away from kids and responsibility in VEGAS!  I figured I needed to get a move on with Jack's 11 month post before it got "too late".

These two are from Jack's first "real" major snowfall...he was very excited about it when inside and in the comfort of our big cozy bed...not so much when he was bundled up and outside in the cold :)

Top and bottom pics from a pizza/party night with friends...Jack absolutely LOVES music and is already a major groupie...his pure joy is contagious

Jack's first day of school.  Not really...but I imagine he'll wear something similar in a few years and it makes me so proud and excited

The past month of Jack's life can be summed up with three major "firsts": crawling, Christmas and the "pull to a stand" move. (He also got another tooth (total=6) and saw his first "real"major snowfall....but those weren't THAT big of a deal I guess.) Jack had been trying out the old inchworm and army crawl moves for a few days and was getting frustrated by his lack of progress in spite of his effort. Before I could really notice, he put his body in to first gear and transitioned pretty quickly in to full on crawling (on both hands and knees without dragging his belly or another funky variations). Then, before I got to catch my breath or do back flips to celebrate his long awaited milestone of crawling...he moved right in to playing more on his knees, pulling up on things and working to stand up on his own. Our dear sweet little Jack who was so content just sitting, laying and rolling is now showing off his curious side. It's funny because it's like out of no where he KNOWS what he should and should not get in to...always now going toward chords, iphones (and the like), the stairs and Mia's paints unless we put them on her table. His most favorite of places is UNDER anything...table, chairs, xmas trees, coffee tables, etc. He LOVES to crawl under our dining room table and weave in and out and around the many chairs surrounding it...it is so funny to watch and see him think he's hiding or getting away with something...um dude...we see you.



"Some" evidence that he is crawling...haven't taken the time to catch in on video just yet but trust me...it's happening and happening fast

a bit of more evidence

 exhibit C: standing on legs (pic courtesy of Mia)

Jack and Mia continue to be two peas in a pod.  Jack is absolutely in love with her and is always wanting to do what she's doing, be where's she is and just watches her with fascination.  Without fail, she can make him smile and laugh.  In general, she tolerates him and seems to enjoy his company with the only exception being when he goes after the iPad and tries to press buttons or touch it causing her beloved Dora episodes to pause.  

Mia is a huge helper at dinner for Jack...it's nice that he allows people to feed him even though he's "so over it by now"

Lovin the ability to give 2-for-1 baths, they love it too!

We also now try to shorten the "bedtime routine" by combining some book and story time for the kids...

Mia seems to like this more than Jack :)

Yup, I think we have a lot of these pics of Mia's choke-hold on Jack...she means well :)

Jack has been very expressive this month and is really continuing to develop some skills of communication...verbal and non-verbal.  He is SUPER in to clapping and doing the whole "Soooooo big" thing, which cracks me up!  I seriously could sit here all day and ask him to clap and as him how big he is and I would be entertained for hours :)  He also is now waving hello and goodbye and trying hard to mimic sounds we make...it's like he just turned in to a little person all of a sudden.  It's also funny to see him start to understand the word No...he doesn't like that word.  Jack has been SUCH a chill baby that whenever he cries or whines...it's like "what on earth is wrong with him?!"....but now it's usually because we have told him No....with regard to where he goes, what he puts in his mouth, what he touches, etc.  

NYE night at a friend's house

It might not look like it, but Jack in the bucket was NOT meant to be a method of restricting his roaming...I think the kids were playing hide and seek or something :)

Then of course we had to see how many kids could fit in the bucket.

I die every time I look at Jack's expression..."Jigga what?  I KNOW you didn't just take that toy blow dryer from my sista!"

I'm sure I will have more pics from Xmas and the holidays when we (Nate) puts together a video or slide show for Jack's first year...but for now, we'll call it a day.  This month was great, fast and somewhat blurry.  But no matter what, I continue to fall in love with Jack and am so smitten.

Oh Jack.  

He often looses his neck in many pictures...partly because of his poses and funny expressions ...but mostly because of his triple chin fat rolls :)



Jack: 10 Months

I swear to GAWWWWD! I could eat this kid alive he is so scrumptious!

I am getting sad that it is closer and closer to Jack's 1st birthday.  It means that he's closer and closer to not being my baby anymore, the stage I absolutely love.  I know part of my role as a mom is to be proud and excited and support my kids getting older, more independent and all of that crap...but lately there is a big part of me that wants so badly to hold on to this chunk of a baby stage where he basically can do no wrong in my eyes.  To be honest, a lot of this "wanting to keep Jack a smiling chunky perfect baby forever" is the fact that we are 100% done having kids.  Although this is a decision we both made and have put in to action (snip snip), I think it is inevitable that there will be some doubt and wonder after making a choice like that.  I'm sure I'll move on and get over it soon enough, especially when our group of friends are no longer having newborns.  There is something just exciting (for me) about being around pregnant people, growing bellies, newborns, etc....but maybe thats because its happening to them and not me :)  Eh, who knows....I guess I better just have fun these last few months of baby-hood and do the whole "enjoy it while it lasts" thing :)

Here are some funny random pics of Jack..."in costume":

Fairy: he likes playing with his wand...ha!

Chef: he's really no help at all in kitchen just yet but looks cute playing the role anyway

 

Curly: "Why I oughta"

Elmer Fudd: got stuck in the swing hunting for wabbits.....not really, but dont know what else to say about Elmer Fudd

Eskimo: ready for winter...although we may have another mild year again :)

Clark Kent OR Grandpa Karl (since those are his glasses): looking stylish in his button up and overalls for Thanksgiving

"Jack in the Box" at Thanksgiving: This kept him contained in one area and prevented him from rolling, sliding and spinning around on the floor and ending up under the dining room table

I say this every month, but time sure does fly by.  I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating Halloween and dressing the kids up as Mickey and Minnie...and here we are now trying to organize our holiday plans over Xmas.  Jack continues to excel in the areas of cuteness, eating (mostly), and sleep.  We are introducing more and more finger foods to Jack's meals, but also being cautious and midful of choking risks...which can scare me at times.  He is doing MUCH better grabbing at food and bringing it to his mouth, but has a habit of doing it over and over again without always chewing everything up...so we have to give him bits at a time to avoid gagging or choking.  Regarding sleep, Jack normally busts out two good naps a day and sleeps through the night 7pm-7am.  WE.ARE.SO.LUCKY!

Thankful for nights with Nana Terese, who picks up the kids from day care, helps with dinner and bedtime when I work late every Tuesday night

 

Jack is "pretty much the same" this month with two noticeable exceptions: his verbal outbursts/babbling and the wide range of hilarious facial expressions he has. He does a lot of random babbling, squealing and legit screaming with excitement...and even some animal-like grunting at times...it's all so funny and I must get it on film as evidence (I'll add that to the to do list).  His facial expressions are also to die for.  Of course, facial expressions are hard to capture but we got this one recently and almost pissed ourselves:



Grrrrrr

Our friend Megan called this perfectly....he looks like the little old man, Carl, from the movie Up!!

 





So I know I've said this before, but this time I am "REALLY trying not to freak out" with the mobility development that is NOT happening with my little Bubbers. He is straight up 10 months old and still can not really stand up and can not crawl...forward. I chalk it up to laziness, fat rolls on his body and the fact that it isn't necessary at this point for him to have this skill to get what he wants (ie: someone will bring him what he wants, he can slide and pivot on the floors, and he can for real ROLL himself over and over to get something her wants, hehe). Everyone reminds me to enjoy this time when he can't move too fast and in too many directions, but my emotional and irrational mind is already made up that I should somehow be a bit worried. On a scale of 1-10 I am at about a 6 for being worried...but if we are still talking about his lack of movement in 2 more months, I imagine my worry scale will be closer to 9 or 10 :) Other than that one concern, Jack is awesome...simply perfect.

I mean seriously...

 ...could he BE any cuter?

Nope...can't get cuter than this (says his unbiased mom)

 

Speaking of fat rolls on his body...this is him bustin' out of 12 month jammies when he was barely 10 months old.

 

One last pic to gear up for the busy holidays...

Mia, her baby Kayla, Santa (aka Mike from the bank) and Jack

 

...See ya next month/year!

Jack: 9 months

Oh my dear sweet little baby Jack.  Another month has vanished before my very eyes and here we are already in November...and a few days late...my bad.  Again, my apologies for the fuzzy or out of focus pictures but I have other things in life to worry about :)

Complete with his "fire safety" sticker he got from day care for "F-week" in which they learned about fire, fish, frogs and other 4 letter F words :)

I promise he is not grumpy in this pic...he's most likely grinding his teeth :)



 Weekend morning snuggle time...some of my favorite moments with Jack

Hard to see but Jack got two more teeth this month!



Not a whole lot is different for Jack this month.  He continues to be a happy, relaxed and chill baby; however, there were several times this month that he was somewhat "out of sorts".  He had a quick in and out illness this month and was reported to have "projectile vomited 3 times" at day care one day.  But during that "bug", he was also cutting his top two center teeth and going through what I think was yet another growth spurt.  Speaking of...here are Jack's 9 month stats:  Length=29in (65%), Head=17.5in (42%), Weight=22lbs (76%)....up from 6 month stats at 38%!  The doctor had no real concerns about Jack's development and assured us we have nothing to be worried about regarding my mommy concerns about his verbal or motor development (not yet crawling, not yet standing, not yet mastered the pincer grasp, not quite "talking" with things like bababa/dadada/mammamama).  One thing that really DOES seem to be developing lately is his interest, love and curiosity with his sister.  Jack LOVES Mia and she is basically the only one that can make him laugh without fail...they are like two peas in a pod.

This makes me smile and laugh and cry all in one!!!

Role reversal here...Mia is pretending to be the baby and assign Jack the role of "rocking" her I guess

Awwww, can't WAIT to see them grow up together

 Both equally interested in story time

Loving them some Menards while mom and dad decided to take on some kitchen updating and 

"floor ripping up"

Jack got to experience his first Halloween and was a PERFECT age for it: not concerned with candy, full of smiles and happy to just sit still and be entertained by the big kids.  We had a busy Halloween week complete with two friend and family parties and trick-or-treating (Jack skipped that one and stayed home with Nana and Papa).  I'm a sucker for costumes and love seeing kids all dressed up and cute.

 I mean seriously...does it GET any cuter than this?!

Forcing life long memories...for the parents

But still...these kids are so adorable!

Jack continues to be an exemplary sleeper and has been consistently sleeping through the night, without requiring any of our attention, since our trip to Disney world early last month...thank you sweet baby Jesus...we win again!  On an average day, Jack will take two 1-2 hour naps and sleep from 7pm to 6:30-7am.  Yes, I know...we are very lucky.  As evidenced by the double chin and jump in weight, Jack continues to be a generally good eater as well.  He has 3 meals a day in between bottles and he typically scarfs them down.  He usually has a fruit and rice cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, veggie/fruit and a meat for lunch and various combos for dinners.  About 85% of his food is still pureed; however, we are trying to introduce more "finger food" to encourage chewing and the pincer grasp.  He has been successful with tofu (sprinkled with cheerio crumbs), squash, teething biscuits, etc.

exploring a gorgeous fall day 

 look what I got mom, a leaf!

I love love love tickling his neck with zerberts!!!

 Hog pile on mom!!!

Similar to last month, and really the last 9 months of our lives....we have simply fallen in love our baby boy.  We are so lucky to have an amazing baby complete with cautious curiosity, genuine smiles and a "chill" demeanor that brings happiness to many.  I love you my bubbers!