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February 2nd, 2010 – With Great Freedom Comes Great Naps

February 2, 2010 by Mommy

Due to our little Jack Jack becoming more and more mobile his desire for exploration has become almost insatiable. As a result, any attempt at putting him in his baby jail was met with cries and grumpiness. So, Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to bust him out! Now, Jack has toys in the living room with access to his playroom, the hall, and the kitchen when Mommy or Daddy is around. We keep the rest of the house closed up for baby man’s safety. This is working out great for all involved. Jack is able to explore his baby proofed home which means he’s happier because he’s more active and able to explore. Mommy and Daddy are happier because Jack is happier. Plus, all this play time and activity wears our Little Man out. By the time nap time rolls around, Jack is signing “milk” as an indication that he’s ready to have his warmed bottle of milk, a story , and to go to sleep, but instead of only cat napping for 45 minutes, Jack is taking two, 2 hour naps! This was seriously surprising for Mommy and Daddy, but definitely not an unhappy surprise because after all Jack is getting plenty of activity followed by plenty of quality rest to recharge and Mommy and Daddy are able to regroup as well. And doesn’t he look like a happy little toddler?

*Picture of house without baby jail*

Last Week’s Haircut

As Mommy mentioned last week, Jack had his one year doctor’s visit last Monday and due to poor planning, he also had a haircut scheduled for 6 PM in the evening.  This being Jack’s third haircut in his entire life neither Daddy or I knew what we were in for.  Monkey Dooz, the first place Jack had his hair cut went out of business and the last place we went to, the woman who cut Jack’s hair was horrible with children.  So, this time around Mommy opted for the stylist who has cut my hair since I was in Junior High, Kim.

Not only was Kim incredibly awesome with Jack, but she was also extremely patient.  While Jack was sitting on my lap, each of us wearing our own cape, Daddy did his best to keep Jack distracted so he wouldn’t swat at the scissors.  For the first few minutes, Jack Jack was not a happy Little Man.  Partly due to the late hour in the evening and partly due to the strange activity, Jack did nothing by cry.  Fortunately, due in large part to Daddy’s quick toy changes and Kim’s quick styling, Jack eventually calmed down. The result? The first complete and even hair cut in his little life!

*Picture of Jack’s hair before*

*Picture of Jack’s hair after*

Quick Jack Facts

  • It’s nothing new to hear that Jack is in love with the water.  In fact, anyone who knows Mommy wouldn’t be surprised by this either.  Jack looks forward to his nightly romps in the tub.  So, much so, he has taken to standing by the tub in anticipation of his plunge as either Mommy or Daddy prepare his bath.

*55*

  • One of Jack’s favorite meals is peanut butter and jelly.  From the first time this old standard was introduced, Jack has been a PB&J man.  He doesn’t care if the fruit preserves are peach, strawberry, or mixed berry (the only three he’s had),he’s a happy diner if it’s on the menu.  Mommy thinks this is due in large part to the fun he has feeding himself this delectably sticky treat.

*84*

  • Tonight, Mommy, Daddy, and Jack were all playing in the living room.  While we were playing, Mommy and Daddy were also taking pictures of all the fun.  Since Daddy bought his new camera, Jack has loved it.  Jack loves flashing lights and the fun that accompanies picture taking.  However, while we were playing, Little Man reminded us just how clever he is.  In an attempt to appease the little guy, Daddy gave Jack the lens cap to his camera to play with, then, like he was a pro, Jack attempted to put the lens cap back where it belongs, on the camera!  He’s such a smart little boy.  It’s amazing the little things he observes that we don’t even give a second thought to.

*101*

  • Over the weekend the family took our every other week (though in reality it turns into weekly) trip to Costco for groceries.  It was a fun trip for Jack who was bouncing while in the shopping cart.  It was even more special because we happened to run into Oma while we were there.  Although because of the busy nature of the store Jack experienced a little bit of stranger anxiety. However, all was well and right with the world when we went to eat lunch.  Jack even had his first taste of frozen vanilla yogurt!  His reaction wasn’t exactly what we had expected. . .

*019*

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January 26th, 2010 – Being One is Fun . . .Sometimes.

January 26, 2010 by Mommy

You would think that after a big birthday bash, all of the fun and celebrations would be over with, after all, Jack did have his first cupcake, what more could a kid ask for? Well, unfortunately, not all of Jack’s loved ones could make it to his party, so the rest of his birthday week was spent continuing the celebration. Grandma and Grandpa Washington sent Jack Jack a darling little card and the thoughtful gift of a gift card to one of the best places in the world, Barnes and Noble. One of Little Man’s favorite times is story time, which aside from before naps and bedtime, is whenever he picks up a books and waves it at either Mommy or Daddy. He appears to be such a fan of reading that just today, while I was writing this post in his playroom, Jack began jibber-jabbering behind me. When I looked over, there was Jack, sitting on the floor with a book in his lap, jibber-jabbering and turning the pages. He seemed quite pleased with himself and Mommy must admit, it was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. So, needless to say, Jack was quite happy when he saw the book Daddy picked out for him at Barnes and Noble, The Day is Done, a Song Book by Peter Yarrow.

It’s a very lovely book with beautiful illustrations. Daddy is also quite thrilled to have something new in the rotation at bedtime. When Mommy is home for bedtime, I still enjoy reading from The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh. I almost have all of the voices down just right. Unfortunately, as of this past week, Mommy is only home in time for bedtime four nights a week. Mommy’s Spring semester has begun and as a result, from 6-9 PM on Monday’s, Thursdays, and Friday’s, Mommy has class, which means on those nights Mommy and Daddy pass each other in the garage with a kiss and off Mommy goes to school and off Daddy and Jack go for a “Guys’ Night In”.

Unfortunately for Daddy, Jack has been in a bit of grumpy mood when it comes to sleep these past few weeks, which has meant Jack has had a hard time going down for naps, but even worse, he was exceptionally uncooperative for bedtime. Listening to our little baby-man cry is tough enough, but to have to do it without the support of the other parent is especially difficult. Daddy is definitely a trooper for being able to pull through the experience with all of his hair still intact. Fortunately, Monday night went better than Thursday and Friday as Jack passed right out the moment his head hit the pillow. Having experienced these moments of victorious relief myself at naptime, Mommy is glad that Daddy was able to experience his much earned deep breath and easy evening.

This grumpiness and overall distemper is something that has been coming and going for the past few weeks. From Jack’s birthday to random moments leading up to today, Little Man has been testing the patience and resolve of Mommy and Daddy. Crying for 45 minutes solid or just yelling for an afternoon for no apparent reason, Jack has been a little more than difficult. To top it all off, his sleep schedule has been completely off the map. One night he’ll sleep through the night, but wake up 6:00 AM (something he has never done before) and another night he’ll wake up every other hour to yell. Sometimes he’ll go back to sleep on his own, other times he’ll cry for 20 minutes while Mommy tries to rock him back to sleep and then pass out like nothing ever happened. For 4 days, Jack’s rise and cry time were as follows: 6:30 AM, 6:00 AM, 5:45 AM, and 5:00 AM. He couldn’t decide what time he wanted to be his new time to wake up. To top it all off, he was waking us up with his yelling at all hours. Mommy and Daddy were beginning to have our doubts that we would ever have a peaceful night again. It was for these reasons that we were slightly worried that Jack might be in a bad mood when it was time for his Birthday Breakfast at IHOP with Grandad and Nana.

If we had any worries about Jack’s mood going south, they were quickly abated the moment Jack saw Nana and Grandad and the swinging IHOP kitchen door. For whatever reason, he was absolutely fascinated by the comings and goings of the wait staff. However, this fascination was quickly replaced when presented with yet another gift in celebration of his first year of life. Unlike Mommy’s Christmas wrap jobs, this gift wasn’t hermetically sealed making it far easier for Jack to just tear into the Sesame Street themed paper, but it did take a little bit of instruction by Grandad for Jack to get the hang of the idea. Once the mystery package was released from its Elmo printed confines, Jack was quite pleased with himself. Grandad and Nana had given Jack an ocean themed talking and singing top! Grandad had remembered how much fun Little Man had had on Christmas with Grandad’s German spinning top, so he picked out a similar, more age appropriate version. Jack loved it. Although we spared the restaurant patrons all the commotion associated with a toddler toy in the full on position, Jack was still able to spin the top by pushing down on it and this made his quite happy.

After opening his present, Little Man enjoyed a buttermilk pancake, apple juice, and a little bit of a spinach omelet, but, like all birthday parties, this one had to come to an end as well. However, it was clear by the look on the faces of Jack, Grandad, and Nana, that a good time was had by all.

After having a little pancake party, it was time for Jack to take his morning nap. Despite Mommy and Daddy’s best efforts, Jack awoke in his previously described grumpy mood. This was very trying on our patience as Mommy and Daddy had no idea what Jack needed . So, we did what we could and continued about our day. For Mommy, that meant finishing up meal plans and creating our shopping list and so we would be prepared for a jaunt to the grocery store in the afternoon. Eventually, the day came to a head while Mommy was making dinner along with two separate lasagnas, which would be frozen for meals over the coming weeks. With classes starting the following week, preparing meals in advance seemed the only feasible way to provide healthy and home cooked meals on nights when I would be dashing out the door. During all this hustle and bustle in the kitchen, Jack and I were watching the Golden Globes because despite Daddy’s general distaste for such affairs, Mommy finds the occasional award show to be fun and entertaining. Then, just as surprising as all of the fits that preceded it, Jack gave Mommy a big hug. For the first time, Mommy’s baby boy laid his head on my chest and held onto me. As soon as this moment registered, I began to cry. With all of the stress that accompanied Jack’s bad mood, this seemingly small show of affection coupled with a darling smile was enough to overwhelm my heart with love and wipe away all of the previous frustrations. Those are the moments that make everything worth it.

Often times, Mommy and Daddy do our best to just survive day by day, sometimes moment by moment. Some days are amazing and go like clockwork, full of scheduled naps, smiles during meal time, and lots of laughs while other days are full of flying food, hurling sippy cups, and an endless stream of whines and tears. Regardless of the temperament, life with Jack is never boring. Just when Mommy or Daddy thinks we’re about to reach our breaking point, just when things seem impossible, the seemingly impossible happens, Jack turns everything around with a smile or a laugh. Mommy once said that we don’t get report cards as parents. We’re never sure if we’re doing the right thing and while Jack is screaming mad it’s easy to wonder if we’re even good parents, but whenever we’re in doubt, all it takes is smile or a hug to remind us what is important – Jack.

Quick Jack Facts

Play time with Jack is an ever evolving activity. Just when we think we’ve seen it all, Jack surprises us. This past week has seen the following new playtime pursuits of our Little Man during all times of the day:

  • The other day, while Jack was playing in his play yard, I noticed that he had emptied out his little plastic yellow bin, that he usually uses to fill with a varying array of toys, was turned upside down, and he was standing on top of it like a mini step stool.
  • Jack has always enjoyed tossing toys and various objects outside of the area he occupies. Recently, he has used his new found talent of standing on “stools” as a means of furthering the distance in which these objects travel. In other words, Jack has turned into a veritable pitcher with quite the throwing arm.
  • Mommy and Daddy discovered one of the reasons behind Jack’s grumpiness is his desire to have free reign over the house. To help with this, Mommy and Daddy give Jack time to explore various parts of the house. During this time he will roam the halls, crawling to and fro wherever doors are not closed. This includes moving in and out of his playroom. However, this intense curiosity can pose its own problems. One of these problems is Jack’s desire to be a door stop. Without Mommy or Daddy realizing it, Jack will close his playroom door and plant himself in front of it making is rather difficult for us to open it back up. Jack can be heard on the other side, giggling.
  • Just as Jack’s curiosity is pervasive during playtime, it also rears its head during meal time. One of Jack’s favorite meal time activities is to take pieces of food, i.e. a cheerio, piece of broccoli, etc. and attempt to balance it somewhere. Jack will try to balance a cheerio atop his sippy cup, his own arm, and even Daddy’s arm.
  • Prior to going down for a nap, Mommy gave Jack a paci and put him in his crib, which is the typical routine. However, this time, Jack discovered a second paci was already in his bed. This caused a great deal of delight. Mommy stood and watched as Jack switched back and forth between the two pacis, pausing between each transition to smile with great glee and pride.
  • On Wednesday, January 20th, while Daddy was changing Jack’s diaper, Jack suddenly began clicking his tongue like had watched Mommy do several times before, but had failed to figure out the trick. Then, on this particular evening, everything just seemed to “click”.

This Tuesday was a very big day for Jack. He had his one year check up at the doctor’s office. He is definitely growing. He currently is in the 90th percentile for height and 97th percentile for weight. Unfortunately, with this particular check up also came four shots. This was especially difficult because Jack is getting to the age that he is able to register what is going and has a harder time getting over the shock of an injection. Of course it didn’t help any when the nurse accidently poked Jack in the eye with the thermometer as a result of him jerking his head as she attempted to put it in his ear. This caused quite a crying fit as well. However he was more than willing to let Mommy comfort him, which was a first as usually it was Daddy who has done the comforting after such ordeals. This would have been the end of Jack’s outings for the day, but due to poor planning on Mommy’s part, Jack also had his third haircut later that evening, but more on that next week.

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January 19th, 2009 – Someone’s Got a Birthday I Wonder Who. . . .

January 19, 2010 by Mommy

 

It is official! On January 13th, 2010 at 1:04 in the afternoon, Jackson Cooper turned one year old! Mommy and Daddy can hardly believe a full year has passed, but time flies when you’re sleep deprived and having fun. The morning of Jack’s birthday, he woke up early enough for Daddy to see him before he had to go to work. Daddy greeted him with a big smile while singing Happy Birthday. Jack was all smiles, but unfortunately, despite the day being all about him, Little Man was more than a little grumpy. This grumpiness was a bit of a carryover from the previous day.

Jack had been spending most of his play time in the living room while Mommy and Daddy prepared his playroom for him. A newly baby proofed and organized playroom with a few new toys was our birthday present to baby-man. As a result, Jack had been relegated to the living room play yard and a few of his favorite toys from Christmas for a little while as Mommy worked to get the room in tip top shape. With the Jack’s birthday the very next day, I was spending a great deal of time in and out of his playroom which translated into a great deal of time in and out of Jack’s sight. Due in part to his recent grumpy mood and to his recent desire to know where Mommy is at all times, this posed a bit of a problem resulting in Jack Jack not wanting to be in play yard without Mommy.

Fortunately, even in the face of an ever growing “To Do” list, one of Mommy’s favorite activities is sitting and playing her little boy. So, I would climb into the play yard and Jack and I would play any sort of game he was in the mood for, whether it be peek-a-boo or just putting blocks into baskets, Jack was thrilled that Mommy was sitting inside the “baby jail”. Eventually Jack would lose interest in whatever game we were playing and wander off to play by himself. It would be in these moments that I would announce nonchalantly that Mommy is going to be in the next room for a few minutes, but I’ll be back. So, in 5-10 minute increments, Mommy organized the playroom. This was easier and more fun once Daddy was able to assemble the toy bins and sorter we purchased.

Another reason for some of Jack’s grumpiness was that he was still recovering from his cold from the previous week as well as a rather irregular weekend. In preparation for the big Birthday bash, Mommy and Daddy took a trip with Jack to Zurchers to pick up some party supplies. Zurchers was a veritable birthday Mecca. You name the party theme and they had an aisle with its accompanying decorations. From luaus to safaris, this place was chalked full of themed balloons, streamers, banners, plates, napkins, and even life size cardboard cutouts. Mommy and Daddy walked up and down the aisles thinking about which party theme would be just right for a Little Man’s first birthday. At first we considered having a safari themed party, but upon seeing the “First Birthday” section, we ultimately decided that was the best way to go. Jack has tons of birthdays and birthday parties to look forward to in the future and we were sure that more than a few would involve animals, but this was the only birthday that could claim to be the first. So, we let Jack pick which items he wanted, Mommy and Daddy grabbed an “I’m 1 today!” ribbon for Jack to wear during his party and then we were off to get Jack home in time for a nap.

Despite our best efforts, more shopping for the party was still needed come Sunday afternoon. Mommy was planning on making the birthday cupcakes, but the appetizers we were going to be serving needed to be store bought. Between Mommy and Daddy there is only so much energy and time and neither of us had enough of either to hand make hours ‘devours. This was a job for . . . COSTCO! So, like a heard of dirty turtles, we were off to Costco. After much debate, we decided on mini quiches and wide array of Mexican cantina appetizers. All were easily baked in the oven and capable of being kept warm on our warming tray that Daddy bought for Thanksgiving. Jack was quite the little sport. He maintained a happy disposition the entire shopping trip. In fact, lately, when he is put in a shopping cart, he begins to bounce with excitement and starts to smile from ear to ear as he gazes at all of the interesting sites the world outside has to offer. He was even content to eat a few Cheerios and play with his container of bits while Mommy and Daddy grabbed a quick bite to eat before we left Costco.

So, with a house to make ready for company, decorations to hangs, cupcakes to bake and decorate, a playroom to finish, and the rest of the everyday items consistently on Mommy’s “To Do” list to accomplish, by Monday night Mommy was in full mission mode. To ensure that things would run smoothly the day of the party (this phrase makes Mommy laugh in retrospect), I did a practice run with the cupcakes. Mommy and Daddy decided it would be best if the first birthday cake was made with as healthy of ingredients as possible and made at home so there would be no worries about what was actually in the cake or how much. An article in the November 2009 Parents magazine listed a few cupcake recipes that were healthy and cute. This article also included a recipe for Banana Chocolate Monkey-Face cupcakes. This was the recipe we decided on. The cupcakes themselves were made with real bananas and the recipe called for mini chocolate chips, but in an effort to keep things simple, it was decided that Jack’s cupcake wouldn’t have any chocolate chips. So, when the batter hit the mixing bowl, there would be one batch of cupcakes with chocolate chips and one without. However, when the cupcakes emerged from the oven Mommy realized something went wrong. Most of the cupcakes had collapsed in on themselves. I didn’t worry too much. I assumed I would have enough time the next day to make another batch and chalked the demise of the cupcakes, after careful analysis and tasting by Daddy, to overfull cupcake cups.

To begin with, Mommy felt a little rushed, but felt there was still plenty of time for all to be accomplished. Prior to his first nap, Jack Jack was in a good mood with only little bursts of grumpiness here and there. He spent the morning attending to his own kitchen while Mommy prepped the big kitchen for cupcakes.

Again, thinking Jack was in a good mood and there was plenty of time before the 6 o’clock party, during Jack’s morning nap, Mommy took the time to eat breakfast and relax, both things I was unable to do the year prior. As it would turn out, between Jack’s mood swings and above average diaper changes, it took a little over 5 hours to complete a 20 minute cupcake recipe. These cupcakes, which would later be named, Kamikaze Cupcakes because of their eagerness to self destruct, would total 36 with only 13 turning out to look like cupcakes. I didn’t let this get me down though. It was Jack’s birthday during his lunch, right at 1:04 PM, Mommy and Daddy (via speaker phone) sang Happy Birthday to our little boy.

During lunch time, while Jack was enjoying his Cheerios and juice, Mommy decked the place out in party decorations. If Jack had been grumpy before you wouldn’t have known it to look at his face upon seeing streamers hanging from the ceiling and multicolored centerpieces announcing a first birthday.

 

However, as his afternoon nap time approached, Jack grew more and more cranky. So after a little bit of playing, a bottle, and story time, Jack went to sleep and Mommy went back to work. Seeing my deflating cupcakes Mommy must admit I began to feel a little deflated myself, but I remembered something Daddy told me when I was pregnant with Jack Jack. I had a mini meltdown over 3 ruined batches of Snickerdoodle cookies and all I could think of was “how can I be a good Mommy if I can’t bake cookies?”

Daddy said that just me wanting to be able to be a good Mommy and putting in the effort to make the cookies was what made me a good Mommy. At the end of the day, not everyone can be Martha Stewart and quite frankly we’re all blessed that’s the case. So, I told Daddy to pick up a “just in case” replacement cake on his way home and I began to decorate my remaining 13 monkey cupcakes. Fortunately, with a little help from Daddy when he arrived home, they turned out just right.

 

The party wasn’t set to start until 6:00 PM, but Oma showed up a little early so she could get a little bit of one on one time with the Birthday Boy. This worked out really well because Mommy and Daddy were running around like chickens attempting to get everything ready for the rest of the guests. Aunt Ali and Cousin Carson weren’t able to attend because Carson has a pretty bad cold, but JaNae and Kiera were more than happy to attend as was Eileen. However, in the mean time, Jack showed Oma his cruising skills as his donned his “It’s Fun to Be 1″ hat and played Babaloo on our recycling can.

 

For his birthday dinner, before his guests arrived, Jack ate some spinach quiche. This quickly became a favorite. It had all of his favorite foods, egg, cheese, bread, and we snuck some veggies in there for good measure. After dinner, Jack changed into his birthday outfit. It was a brown and green hooded sweatshirt with monkeys all over it and the pants had a monkey on the butt. This outfit was more than appropriate as it matches his birthday cupcakes and gave us the opportunity to call him “monkey butt” for the evening.

Oma wasn’t able to stay very long as she wasn’t feeling very well, but once the other guests arrived it was time to party down! Kiera was very excited to see “Baby Jack”. She walked up to him and quietly in a higher pitched voice than usual began to say “Hi little guy. Hi Baby Jack” and pat him on the shoulder and arm. It was really too cute for words.

Of course it wouldn’t be a visit from JaNae and Kiera without a more than generous outpouring of toys. Jack certainly doesn’t mind being the keeper of Kiera’s toys until she has a little brother or sister just like Kiera doesn’t mind showing Jack how all of her fun toys work. That ended up being a two way street as Jack was more than happy to show Kiera how his toys worked.

Eventually it was time for presents and cake. Mommy helped Jack open up his presents, JaNae took photos, and Daddy recorded the entire event. Needless to say, Jack’s first birthday was well documented.

Jack received some very cute clothes from Oma, Grandpa, and JaNae and Kiera while Eileen didn’t disappoint with a fantastically fun movie for us to watch as a family Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Eileen always has impeccable taste when it comes to fun family flicks.

 

 

 

Then it was finally time to unveil the playroom that Mommy and Daddy had been working on for over a week. Mommy and Daddy had considered wrapping the individual items, like the toy organizer, the bouncing zebra, and the musical table, but as time ran short we thought it best to just shut the door and do a grandiose “Voila!” unveiling. He was more than a little excited, but we weren’t sure if it was because of the all the changes in the playroom or because he finally had access to his much missed baby den. Regardless, he was all about the play time upon being set loose on the room.

This room is always evolving to meet Jack’s ever changing needs. One of the most noticeable changes is the relocation of the floor mat to the wall. Mommy thought it would fun to put on the wall to offer up color, but also make the floor a little easier for Jack to walk on.

Daddy added the stuffed animal chain so Jack can have access to all of his stuffed animals for play. We added the toy organizer to sort all of his little items. His exer-saucer has officially been converted into a useable walk-around activity table and we added the zebra and the musical table.

 

Jack loved the table that Kiera let him borrow so much we had to get him one focused on music and colors also. The Zebra was something that Mommy found that looked like a lot of fun for baby man. He loved his jumper-roo and exer-saucer so much I thought he would like something else he could jump up and down on.

After a little bit of time to play, it was time for Jack’s birthday cake. So, we all headed into the kitchen where Jack had his very own, specially made for Jack, banana and chocolate monkey cupcake, along with a cake that Daddy picked up at the grocery store in case all of the cupcakes turned into Kamikaze Cupcakes. It was only a generic white cake so Mommy had to pipe “Happy Birthday Jack” on the top of the cake. If I had any notions of ever being a cake decorator, this simple task changed my mind. With the cupcakes actually being very yummy, Daddy took the large cake to his office for his coworkers to eat. So, it worked out all the way around.

Jack certainly knew it was time for something to happen and he was more than ready to get the show on the road. So, we put him in his high chair (we had removed it’s cover just in case he decided to go crazy with the cake) and we pinned on his birthday boy ribbon.

Mommy and Daddy also took this opportunity to get a quick family photo taken. With just the three of us, sometimes it’s tough to get a picture without the set and dash camera timer. We’re always happy when the three of us can make into the frame together.

 

The evening finally culminated in the much anticipated lighting of the first birthday candle, the singing of Happy Birthday, and promptly followed by Mommy blowing it out before Jack put it out with his finger.

By this point in the day, Mommy was thoroughly exhausted, although it didn’t even compare to how tired I was the day my darling little boy was born or how tired I would be for the next few months. However, in thinking back to the day he was born Daddy and I had no idea what was in store for us. We couldn’t even begin to fathom what the next 365 days would hold. From the toll the sleepless nights would take on us physically and emotionally to the overwhelming love and joy we felt with each passing day as our little Blurpy the Turtle grew and changed before our very eyes. No one could have prepared us for the swelling of our hearts. No words can express how much life changes and no words can describe the endless depths of emotions that come with having such a precious little person in your life. This year’s journey, ending with a candle on a cake, seems like such a simple way to celebrate something so truly amazing and anything, but simple. However, as Daddy and I have learned over the course of the past year, it’s the simple little moments, like a flash of a smile or giggle, or a candle on a cake that are our little rewards for a job well done and life well lived. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many cupcakes deflate on you, as long as you try. After all, you only need one cupcake any how.

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An open letter to my son on his first birthday

January 13, 2010 by Daddy

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Click here

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January 12th, 2010 – The Last Week of Being a Baby

January 13, 2010 by Mommy

Today is the last day of our little Jack’s infancy.  Although technically, today Jack is 52 weeks old, tomorrow, January 13th at 1:04 in the afternoon Mommy’s little firecracker will turn 1 year old.  He will officially leave behind him the title of Baby and cruise towards the title of Toddler.  Where all of the time went, I have no idea.  Thankfully we have Tuesdays with Jack to help remember all of those little moments that would have otherwise drifted off into the ether.  In the throws of sleep deprivation and learning to be a parent, what was once a sound mind and body capable of great feats and remembering inane details and bits of trivia is quickly reduced to a glob of emotions, exhaustion, and struggling to determine if it’s 3:00 in the morning or in the afternoon because at some point, time turned around on you, but you’re not sure when.  So, even when our memories fail us, Mommy and Daddy still have a week by week accounting of our time spent with our little love.

This week has been full of growing and changing just like any other week, but unfortunately this week’s growing was also accompanied by a cold.  Poor little Jack has been   coughing and sniffling for the better part of a week, but it appears that he is on the mend.  To aid in his recovery and to make him feel a little more comfortable we added a humidifier and a Vick’s Vapors night light to his bedroom.  Also, thanks to the advice on SaintAlsKids.com, Mommy has increased baby man’s fluids and since he is practically one, we’ve been giving him teaspoons of honey to help with his cough.

All of this seems to have helped as he appears to be on the mend, but his illness has definitely taken a toll on his sleep schedule.  One night he would be up until 9:30 unable to stay asleep while over the weekend aside from a few tantrums he slept fine.  He even slept until 10:00 AM on Saturday!  As of tonight he appears to be settling back down into a normal sleeping routine.

Part of Jack’s pre-sleep routine includes story time which is probably Mommy and Daddy’s favorite part of the routine.  Sometimes Daddy will read a story and sometimes Mommy will read.  Lately, before naps I will read Goodnight Moon and What Snowmen Do at Night or one of the Sesame Street book club books.  At night, before bed, while Daddy is feeding Jack, I’ve been reading from the collected stories of Winnie the Pooh.  Mommy is still working out all of the right voices, but it is certainly a great deal of fun.

Mommy likes to read to Jack even when it’s not time to go to sleep.  Jack’s favorite book is his touch and feel book he received from Oma for Easter.  Inside of it are various animals doing various things, but the fun part is that each page has something neat to touch.  For example, the Bunny page has a patch of fur on the bunny so that Jack can feel the bunny.  Jack’s favorite page in the book is the baby Raccoon page.  On this particular page, it is explained that the baby raccoon is learning how to sit on a wooden post.  The raccoon appears to be holding on to a fence post with his face pressed against the top of the post.  The middle portion of the post is the area that is designed to be felt.  It is a grey ridged area of rippled cardboard.  Yesterday, while reading this book with Jack, he put his mouth down on the post just like the baby raccoon.  He would point to the raccoon and then mimic him.  It was just too adorable.

Little Man hasn’t let his floundering sleep schedule and sniffling nose keep him from enjoying and exploring his toys. Recently, Jack has started taking his blocks and other toys and flying them around in the air while making what can only be described as rocket ship noises.  Mommy and Daddy are fairly sure that Jack is unaware of what a rocket ship is, but this type of playing is the first time we’ve noticed him pretending; taking another object and pretending it is something other than it is.  He is such a smart and imaginative little boy.  We can hardly wait for him to be able to tell us what he is thinking.

Fortunately, like his appetite for playing, Jack’s appetite at meal time hasn’t diminished much while he’s been sick.  However, to make meal time a little easier, Daddy bought some puréed baby food that would be easier to swallow in case his throat was bothering him.  Another awesome purchase Daddy made were bottle tops for regular bottled water.  At first this seemed a little unnecessary as Jack tends to drink water out of a sippy cup, but as it turns out, it is the most ingenious baby accessory we’ve used in quite a while.  Jack is able to drink water whenever he wants and we don’t have to worry about him spilling it on himself.  Jack also feels especially proud because he’s drinking from a water bottle like Mommy and Daddy.

Jack’s sense of pride was especially prevalent when he figured out how his cup holder on his highchair tray worked. Usually Jack will just wield his cup around wildly until Mommy or Daddy takes it or he throws it on the ground.  Either way there is usually juice or water all over his tray or the floor.  This week, instead of wielding his cup around, the cup managed to find its rightful place in the cup holder.  Upon its landing, Jack looked at me completely surprised that his cup actually had a place, upright, and that it was currently there.  This look of surprise changed to one of pride upon his purposefully repeating this action.  This led to Mommy introducing Jack to the high-five.  We’re still working on both the continued use of the cup holder over the floor and the mastery of high-five, but improvements have been made in both areas.

It’s hard to believe that almost a year ago Daddy was having to “finger feed” Jack 2 mL of milk at a time and now, our little Blurpy is drinking cups and more or less feeding himself.  Yes, time does fly.  I can only imagine the emotions that will rush over me when I realize that Jack is fully grown.  He’s still in diapers and already I’m weeping because he’s so much bigger than the baby who emerged a year ago tomorrow. I say it’s only been a year, but what a wonderful year it’s been.  Today may mark the last day of Jack being a baby according to the calendar, but he will always be our baby.

Quick Jack Facts

The other day, while Jack was climbing Mommy like a jungle gym, in attempt to distract him from yanking all of my hair out in an attempt to climb even further I began to click my tongue.  He stopped what he was doing and began to stare at my mouth and my tongue.  He began to giggle and stare even more intently at my mouth.  Then, while trying to imitate me, he began to stick his tongue in and out of his mouth, but he realized that he wasn’t quite doing what I was doing because he wasn’t making any noise.  Then, almost as a compromise, he began to blow raspberries with his tongue instead.  It was all together, too cute.

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January 5th, 2009 – A New Year, a New Decade, and the Fiesta Bowl!

January 5, 2010 by Mommy

This week Little Man, like the rest of the world ushered in a new year and a new decade, and in just 8 days, he will usher in his first birthday.  Mommy could spend this entire post talking about how quickly this past year has gone by and how neither Daddy nor I can believe the date on the calendar or how big our Little Man is, but alas, that’s for next week.  This week we’re focusing on fun, family, and football!

Compared to last week, compared even to Christmas weekend, New Years was very quiet.  Mommy spent most of the week cleaning and organizing while Jack spent most of the week playing and learning new skills. Unlike Christmas, yummy new foods and a playroom back into commission a side; Jack didn’t even notice the global milestone.  He was far more interested in his new kitchen play set he received for Christmas from Oma and Grandpa Turner.  More specifically, Jack has been thoroughly entertained by the oversized light switch on his play kitchen.

Baby Crack

For New Years Eve, Aunt Ali joined us! With movies, games, and yummy munchies the grown ups had a lot of fun together.  Of course midnight is a little past Jack’s bedtime so he missed the official start to the New Year, but Mommy and Daddy were sure to mark the moment while he snoozed.  Aunt Ali can be seen in the background hiding from camera flashes and Carson Daly.  In a few years Jack will be old enough to ring in the New Year properly, but in the mean time we’re happy to help out.

Happy New Year!

The next morning, while Daddy slept in (midnight is a little past his bedtime too), Mommy made special New Years pancakes.  Jack didn’t get any syrup with his, but enjoyed them none the less.  I think he also enjoyed Aunt Ali’s breakfast company as she makes silly faces and has a tendency to talk to babies in a very high pitched tone.

Nom, nom, nom

Once Daddy was up and about, Jack was ecstatic to see him!  Usually if Jack doesn’t see Daddy first thing when he wakes up, he thinks he won’t see Daddy until the end of the day when he arrives home from work.  So, when Daddy emerged before Jack’s first nap of the day, Little Man was happily surprised.  Daddy was equally happy to have the day off and to share it with the family.

Daddy and baby-man

Just as the morning had brought a pancake into the menu, the afternoon brought with it Jack’s first experience with peanut butter and jelly.  Now that Jack Jack is almost a year old, he can have a piece of bread with a thin layer of peanut butter and real fruit jelly, which is exactly what he had for lunch. Baby Man thoroughly enjoyed it!  So much so that Mommy and Daddy learned a very important lesson, only give Jack a few pieces at a time because if given the opportunity, Jack will put as many pieces as he can in his little chipmunk cheeks.

Yummy, but dry

So much cheesy goodness

Where as Friday was a day spent happily in pjs as we lazed about as a family, the only appropriate way to spend the first day of a New Year in Mommy’s opinion, Saturday was spent at our favorite family retail outlet, Costco.  Since before Christmas, Mommy had been sending Daddy to the grocery store to pick up a few things here and there, but we hadn’t actually been grocery shopping because it was the holidays.  So, as one would expect, the New Year didn’t just bring a new decade, it also brought with it an empty fridge.  However, learning from previous experiences, Mommy and Daddy broke up our shopping into two days.  Saturday was when we did our bulk shopping at Costco and Sunday Mommy sent Daddy to Fred Meyer as there was a great deal around the house that needed attention.

Monday, once again Daddy went back to work leaving Jack and Mommy to our own devices and with the playroom now in working order, which meant it was time for the two of us to have some “free range” fun.  So, Jack Jack roamed free in his room while Mommy took pictures.  Interestingly enough, despite all of the new toys laying about the room, the first thing Jack gravitated for were his stacking rings.  He eventually grabbed two of them and made his way over to my chair where I was snapping away.

The Little Boy Blue Series

Innocent

Inquisitive

Shy

Mischievous

Just a cute close-up

Once he grew bored of Mommy’s camera and the flashing light, he made his way over to his table, which was once his exer-saucer.  We spent most of the day just playing about in this room.  I think he’s happy to have a room in which he can have free reign again.  Plus, he had the opportunity to rediscover some of his other toys and books he may have forgotten about.

Still likes this old thing

After a day full of playing in his playroom, Jack was ready for a Fiesta and he was in luck because Monday night was the Fiesta Bowl.  At 6 PM Boise State played TCU and the whole family was dressed for the occasion.

Ready for the game

Jack hasn’t watched too many football games this season, especially of the winning variety.  With the lackluster records of Mommy’s and Daddy’s teams, the Chiefs and Seahawks, I think if the game would have ended before Jack’s bedtime he would have been confused by all the smiles and celebrating.  Especially since the game was such a nail biter. But of course, the Broncos pulled out a win in the end and as for the Seahawks and the Chiefs, there’s always next season.  Hopefully by the time Jack understands football, one of the teams will be a winner.  At the moment, we’re still undecided who he will be a fan of, which leaves all future Christmas card pictures up in the air.

Nailbiter

Today has brought with is a new first.  Jack had his first “booboo”.  While Mommy was working on compiling the photos for the Christmas extravaganza post, Jack was playing in front of me in the Theatre.  I had brought in a few of his toys including his crawl through tunnel.  However, given that he doesn’t usually play in the Theatre, he was more interested in exploring.  First he was quite impressed with his ability to sort through his Disney DVDs.  He especially liked holding one up and giving it to me.  Then he was all about cruising around the room.  Although the entertainment cabinet in the Theatre has cushioned baby proof corners Mommy still didn’t like the idea of him cruising near such a hard piece of furniture.  Furthermore, Jack discovered how to turn off the TV and considering it takes a full 90 seconds to turn off and then another 90 seconds to turn completely back on, this was also a bit of a problem.

Unfortunately, Mommy was unable to grab Jack before he lost his balance and whacked his little noggin on the vertical corner of the cabinet.  This would have only scared him if he had hit the cushioned corner, but neither Mommy nor Daddy thought it would be necessary to cushion the vertical as well.  So, Mommy’s little baby man has a little vertical line on the right side of his forehead.

Fortunately, in the end, he was more scared than hurt and after about a minute of crying while Mommy attempted to cuddle and kiss the pain and fear away, he was back to laughing and was more interested in trying to eat the bag of frozen corn I grabbed quickly to put on his head, than allowing me to hold it to his head.  Daddy took the news surprisingly well when I called him to tell him what had happened and to ask his advice.  He simply said that “I’m trying not to react too much as he’s a little boy and we’re just going to have to get used to bumps, bruises, and scrapes.”  This is definitely the sort of thing that mommies don’t get used to, at least this mommy can’t imagine getting used to it, but since Jack is rather mobile a far quicker than I ever could have imagined, Mommy is just going to have to not be so surprised.

Our Little Man is growing up and that means all sorts of things will be happening and changing that we’ll have to get used to and come to terms with, but for the time being, Mommy can still call her Jack a baby.  He isn’t officially a toddler until the 13th and I’m going to take advantage of every day leading up to it to relish and enjoy our baby.

Quick Jack Facts

Jack is growing more and more self sufficient.  Most of this self sufficiency is making itself known during meal time.  Jack has been quite insistent on feeding himself in recent weeks, but it’s only been this past week that he’s attempted and been very stubborn about trying to feed himself with a spoon.  So, with a lot of wipes and a camera in hand, meal time has become an exercise in self sufficiency.

I can feed myself now

Although he is still getting the hang of using a spoon, Jack seems to have mastered the bottle, just in time to give it up!  This is a skill he usually only shows off for Daddy as I think he still enjoys being “babied” by Mommy, but it’s a skill he possesses none the less.

Play time is always a fun time with Jack.  Both Mommy and Daddy enjoy crawling into Jack’s play space and sharing in his discoveries and fun.  Just tonight, after Daddy arrived home, he jumped right into play time with his little buddy.  Sometimes Jack will climb on Daddy or he’ll show him different toys or show off some new skill he has been working on.  Tonight, he let Daddy show him something new, stacking blocks, and together Jack discovered a new source of enjoyment, knocking down Daddy’s tower of blocks.  This game repeated for several minutes.  Like one heck of a team, Daddy would set ‘em up and Jack would knock ‘em down.  Mommy just loves watching her boys at play.

Stack em up

Knock em down

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December 29th, 2009 – Jack’s First Christmas!

January 5, 2010 by Mommy

At 50 weeks old, Jack’s week couldn’t have been more of a doozy if it had been his 52nd week, also known as his first birthday.  The week of Christmas was full of family, excitement, family traditions, and new experiences.  In addition to the family festivities that revolve around Baby’s First Christmas, there were of course, Little Man’s little every day happenings that add up to one fun filled adventure after another.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ....

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care ...

Jack’s latest and greatest learning activity is pointing.  Jack loves to point at objects whether it is Daddy’s nose or Pippi’s tail or an illustration in a book, Jack is all about letting his fingers do the talking.  This talent came in especially handy on Wednesday, the day before Christmas Eve.  As a fun ramp up to the holidays, we decided to drive out to Hidden Springs after Daddy came home to look at Christmas lights.  We listened to the holiday musical stylings of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin while Baby Man, all snug as a bug in his puppy adorned footy pjs gazed out the window in awe, pointing at various colorful light displays.

Happy Xmas lights baby-man

After about an hour of driving around and soaking up the holiday spirit like never before, it was time to head home send Jack off to the Land of Nod.  He would need his rest because Christmas Eve marked beginning of what would prove to be a very stimulating, exciting, and long holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve day was very special.  Daddy had the day off from work!  So, we spent the morning together as a family, like any other day, but after breakfast, we piled into the car and headed off to JaNae and Kiera’s house.  We had picked out a very special gift for Kiera for Christmas, which was a Disney Princess purse with all of the appropriate accessories.  JaNae and Michael, Kiera’s parents, received an original Star Wars movie poster from the 20th anniversary re-release into theatres.  They have a movie theatre like we do in our home so it was a very appropriate gift.  JaNae called Christmas day to tell us all how much they loved their gifts.  Kiera had spent the whole day riding around on her new tricycle with her Princess Purse hanging from the handle bars.

Wheee

After Jack’s nap, it was play time.  So, Mommy and Jack played while Daddy documented the day on video.  This was very fortuitous because as we were playing, Jack stood without holding onto anything for the very first time!  He had been maneuvering around his play yard, an activity he has become very adept at, and then, all of sudden, as if it were no big deal, he just let go of the sides.  After a moment he grabbed back on with one hand, but stood he did all by himself.

Later that day, Mommy made even more Christmas cookies.  I had made two dozen just two days before, but they were for Daddy to take to work so I made more so we could have some for Santa and his little elf.  After the cookies were baked, Jack, Mommy, and Daddy all sat down together to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.  Afterwards, it was time for dinner, but before dinner, it was time for the traditional opening of one Christmas gift each.  Jack opened up a pair of puppy pjs, Daddy opened up a pair of green plaid pjs, and Mommy opened up a Boise State hoodie.  After opening up presents, it was time for dinner.  Jack ate a jar of his Turkey Dinner and Mommy and Daddy waited to order a pizza.

Hi Dad - gimme that yogurt

Hi Mom - got any milk?

After eating, Jack changed into his cozy puppy pjs.  We posed for a few pictures and read his My First Christmas Board Book.  Jack spent some time exploring the Christmas tree and discovering some of the fun things about the holiday, such as Christmas Bows! Then it was time to settle in for a warm winter’s sleep.

I like this Christmas stuff!

See my Christmas book?

Tastes like Christmas

Disco Christmas Baby

Once Jack was snuggled in tight, Mommy and Daddy snuggled and watched our annual Christmas Eve movie, Love Actually. We enjoyed the peace and quiet before the rush of holiday activities that were to come the next morning.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started off much like any other morning.  Jack woke up singing in his crib and Mommy and Daddy went in to say “Good morning”, but due to the special occasion, of course we included “Merry Christmas”.  While Daddy took a shower and got dressed, Mommy changed Jack into his Christmas pjs that Oma had given him the month before so he would be both comfy and festive.  Then Mommy got dressed herself.  Then, Jack played in his play yard while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed our morning coffee and Coffee Pound Cake from Costco.

Christmas Morning Studies

Finally, it was time for opening of the stockings.  Since Jack is still little, Mommy had to help him.  While Mommy was helping Jack with his stocking from Santa, Daddy was taking pictures, and there was a tripod set up in the corner to record the whole event. We didn’t want to miss a moment of Jack Jack’s first Christmas.

What's in that sock Mommy?

How did that get there?

Jack opened a lot of gifts.  I’m sure Mommy and Daddy went a little over board, but we really couldn’t help ourselves.  Last year we were more excited about Jack’s arrival than we were about Christmas and this year, it was like having Christmas for the very first time because Jack was experiencing it for the first time.  To top it off, Jack is finally at an age where he really enjoys book and playing.  So, on Christmas morning, Jack opened up:

Stocking

  • Bath toys:
  • A fish that scoops up water through its mouth and then drips out of its fins
  • A set of small toys that spit water, a blue octopus, a multi colored fish, a red crab, and a green sea turtle.
  • Banana flavored bits
  • 2 color changing Gerber sippy cups

What's in here?

Under the Tree

  • A hand carved Tweety puzzle box from Abuela and Grandpa Washington.
  • V-Tech Discovery Nursery Farm and an Alligator on wheels from Grandma Cavanagh and Aunt Jentry
  • 2 striped fleece pullovers
  • 4 books: Goodnight Moon, What Snowmen Do at Night, Baby Night Night, and Runaway Bunny (with a special inscription from Mommy and Daddy)
  • Bath toy corner caddy
  • Fisher Price ball popper
  • Baby Einstein Animal Crawl Through Tunnel
  • An elephant for his Safari scene
  • Parents Busy School Activity Cube (Which was Jack’s big gift)

Who is this for?

I'll take this off and put it over here

Deep concentration

Holy moly!

After breakfast and a belated morning nap, Jack was roaring to play with his Christmas spoils.

Smiley Happy Christmas

The afternoon ended on a very good note with a call to Grandma Cavanagh, Aunt Jentry, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Blair.  For Christmas they received a DVD with a photo montage set to Jack’s favorite song Fireflies by Owl City, and about an hour of cute video footage of Jack from the past few months.  They were all headed to movie theatre at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Blair’s retirement home to watch it on the “big screen”.  They couldn’t wait to see their favorite little red head in action.

Christmas Evening: Grandad and Nana’s House

After Jack’s afternoon nap, for which he didn’t rise from until early evening, we packed up and headed off to Grandad and Nana’s house.  After a short mini meltdown due in part to a dirty diaper and stranger anxiety, Jack was all about showing off just how cute he is to all who would look.  While Mommy and Daddy ate Christmas dinner of turkey, ham, stuffed mushrooms, and green beans, Jack ate a yummy Christmas Spaghetti dinner with a fine spattering of Cheerios thrown in for good measure and apple juice to wash it all down.

After dinner, it was time to open gifts.  Nana and Grandad gave Jack a Fisher Price Cookie Jar, alphabet blocks, a musical caterpillar on wheels, and a lion finger puppet board book.  Jack had so much fun playing with treasures.  He especially loved the cookie because as we all know; one of Little Man’s favorite activities is to put little things in bigger things.  So the cookie jar was right up his  alley.

Christmas with Daddy

Christmas Cookies

Christmas with the Wilson's

Christmas with Grandad

Unfortunately, due to the late hour and Jack’s quickly approaching bed time, we couldn’t stay and play for too long, but needless to say, Jack’s first Christmas was certainly memorable and with festivities awaiting the next morning Oma’s house, it most certainly wasn’t over yet.

Oma and Grandpa’s House

Bright and early for Christmas part 3, Mommy and Daddy headed out to Oma’s house with Baby Jack in tow.  Of course Jack was wearing the adorable and quite festive Christmas sweater that Oma had given him for just this occasion.

Cutest little Christmas sweater ever

When we arrived, Oma, Grandpa, Aunt Ali, Cousin Carson, Aunt Shawna, and Aunt Miranda were all there.  Cousin Carson was very excited to see Jack, but despite Jack’s styling example, Carson refused to wear his Christmas sweater.  After a quick breakfast, we all headed up stairs to begin the Christmas activities.  Oma was more than generous with the goodies she and Grandpa had picked out for Jack.  His stocking had not only contained a darling Winnie the Pooh Christmas mug and a Mickey and Minnie Christmas plate, but a large green stuffed frog in the style of a sock monkey.

The best part about Christmas is family; the wonderful feeling of togetherness and sharing in the laughter and joy of the season.  This was best captured when Jack and Carson began playing “cars” together.  Jack doesn’t have any cars that he can play with yet because he is too young, but while crawling around on the floor with his cousin, they began to play with Carson’s stocking stuffers, cars.  Jack sat next to Carson, holding two cars up in the air.  He didn’t understand what he held in his hands were mini representations of what we drive in to get to Oma’s house, but he did understand that they were fun.  He also understood how much Carson enjoyed them.  So, very much in Jack fashion, he kept giving the cars back to Carson and smiling and very much in Carson fashion, Carson showed Jack how they drove around on the floor and then would hand them back with a very proud smile.

Playing with cars

It only made sense to Carson, that while Jack was eating his breakfast in his highchair, he would be very entertained by and interested to see his latest moving and noise making car courtesy of Aunt Danielle.  Unfortunately, Jack was a little disturbed by having tires squealing on Cheerios.

Cars and Cheerios don't mix

By this time, the rest of us would have been more than happy to ship the car back to Aunt Danielle, who was in Arizona on Air National Guard duty, as the car seemed to be a constant noise maker in the hands of its two year old owner. At the very least, while we were attempting to play “Hide the Car from Carson”, we all wished Aunt Danielle had chosen a less loud toy, like the one Little Man received: peek-a-boo stacking blocks.

Christmas with Mommy and Blocks

Fun, family, and presents, there were certainly a great deal of all three.  If Mommy and Daddy had thought that we had spoiled Jack, we most certainly forgot about the spoiling prerogatives of a grandparent.  In fact, the spoiling prerogative of the whole family were in full swing on this particular day leaving Mommy and Daddy with double the packages to open, although by the end of the day, I think Jack was beginning to get the hang of tearing into packages.

Hairy Daddy

From the Fisher Price Kitchen and Family Room electronic learning crawl through, to the Fisher Price pull phone, and the walker/scooter Mommy and Daddy knew they had their work cut out for them when it came not only to loading the car, but eventually rearranging the playroom and play space in the living room to accommodate Jack’s new toys.

Fortunately, most of the toys had a home/farm theme making it easier to decide what goes where.  The red Fisher Price tractor from Aunt Ali and Cousin Carson eventually made its way into the playroom while the home themed items currently live in the living room’s play area.  However, not all the gifts Jack received were toys.  Oma and Grandpa Turner also gave Jack a framed and matted print of Michelangelo’s “touching the hand of God” (which is in a very prominent place in the living room) and a blue track suit. Although, the material gifts were very much appreciated and are most certainly enjoyed, the best gift that day was the fun we all had being together as a family.

Jack and Carson with Aunt Alison

Hugging boys

Jack and Carson with Oma

Jack and Oma

After all the fun and festivities, the day ended, like most days, with a bath.  The only difference being, Jack had his new bath toys to explore and play with.

Bath time is fun time

The rest of the holiday weekend would have gladly been spent at home, lounging lazily about and enjoying one another’s company.  Unfortunately, when either Mommy or Daddy begins a project, we have a hard time resting until that project is finished and the project for the weekend was the assembly of our home theatre; this particular weekend that meant two trips to Costco when we had originally planned to avoid this holiday retail trap.

Another trip - YAY!!

Thanks Dad

Although Costco can be beyond chaotic on the best of days, it appeared as if most people shared in our original plan and stayed home.  This made our unplanned family outing all the more enjoyable.  It even provided an occasion for Jack to wear his new track suit!  The only that would have made the trip even better is if our purchase of Vizio Sound Bar had actually fit in the trunk of our Honda Accord.  Unfortunately, it didn’t.  So, thankfully, Mommy is small and was able to fit in the back while the sound bar took my place in the front seat and then some.  Jack didn’t seem to mind.  In fact, he seemed quite happy to have Mommy as a travel companion.  After a quick trip over to Grandad and Nana’s to pick up a fruit basket Mommy had forgotten about on Christmas, we were headed back home.

So, while Daddy assembled the Threatre a couple of times, Mommy packed away all of the Christmas decorations.  Jack had it pretty easy as his only task was to enjoy all of his loot.

The arrival of Monday not only marked the return to work for Daddy, but the beginning of organizational projects around the house for Mommy.  With all of the Christmas decorations packed securely away until next year, it was time to do some serious deep cleaning of the house and room making for the various additions that were acquired over the holidays.  This task primarily included the overhaul of the playroom.

Since Jack began crawling, he hasn’t spent any time in his playroom because it needed to be baby proofed.  His row of three bookshelves that kept all of his toys organized and neat looked great and was incredibly functional when he didn’t have the ability to pull them down on top of himself, but have since transformed into nothing short of a hazard.  So, before Jack could enjoy his playroom and some of his new toys, Mommy had to rework the room to make is safe and fun, but for the time being, his living room place space would have to suffice.  This was just fine with Jack, especially after Daddy assembled his Kitchen that Oma and Grandpa Turner gave him for Christmas.

First posted picture with new camera

Loving all the new stuff

So much fun, so little time

Mommy mentioned earlier that two trips were made to Costco after the holidays.  Well, the second trip took place today.  Monday night, when Mommy and Daddy were settling in after Jack had gone to bed, we became aware that the sound bar we had purchased over the weekend wasn’t working.  As a result, we needed to exchange it for a new one.  So, Mommy made sure Jack was all bundled up and ready to head off to Costco for an odd weekday trip out of the house.

All bundled up

Cozy hat

It was definitely a very eventful and fun filled week.  Mommy and Daddy can hardly believe we survived such a whirlwind of activity, but couldn’t have had any more fun.  Parents had always said, before we had Jack, that having a child allows you to relive the best parts of your childhood and there was never a truer example of that than Christmas.  The holidays season can seem so overwhelming, but with the addition of little Jack in our lives, Mommy and Daddy are already counting down the days to Jack’s second Christmas because as magical as this first Christmas was, we know they will only get better.

Fun Photo Extras

For Christmas Mommy received a new “point and shoot” camera.  So, just like before I have been taking pictures like mad, only now they’re of a better quality.  Here are just a few of my favorites. . .

Mommy's view all day long

He sure loves his toes

Aaaahhh - chooooooo

Eating like a big boy

Happy Highchair Boy

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Good things come to those who wait

January 4, 2010 by Daddy

We have noticed a large increase in traffic lately and assume it is Jack’s many fans looking for Christmas and New Years updates.  We know that we missed our first Tuesday post after 50 consecutive weeks, but with the holidays and all we decided to do a double post on January 5th that would cover Christmas, New Years and all the events leading up to the big birthday post that will follow shortly.  So please know that all is well, and there will be a very large post going up tomorrow evening, chock full of great photos and stories of the little man’s first Christmas.

Until then …. :)

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December 22nd, 2009 – The Week Before Christmas and Jack’s All Night Dance Parties

December 22, 2009 by Mommy

Jack’s first Christmas is only a few days away and although Jack, at 49 weeks old, is too young to be too excited about the upcoming holiday, the anticipation is most certainly growing for Mommy and Daddy.  Despite the fact that we’re adults, that old fluttery feeling that children experience around this time of the year is definitely resonating with both of us, not because of any gifts we will be receiving, but because this is the first Christmas for Jack.  Christmas is one of our favorite holidays, after all our wedding did have a Christmas theme, and more than any other holiday, we have been looking forward to making Christmas exceptionally special for our Little Man.  It is this desire to kick off a life of Christmases on a very positive note that Mommy and Daddy have been working over time to make things special and this week was no exception.

Over the course of the past week Jack, Mommy, and Daddy have made Christmas cookies, played with wrapping paper, went Christmas shopping, watched Christmas movies, and read Christmas stories.  Throw in a wonky ever changing sleep schedule and a visit from Grandma Cavanagh and Aunt Jentry and there is a recipe for one heck of a busy week lacking in sleep if Mommy ever heard of one.

For whatever reason, Jack’s sleeping schedule has been slowly devolving from a schedule into seemingly random chaos involving all night dance parties. At first, Jack was getting up later in the morning, around 9 AM.  This later rise time resulted in a later morning nap, which triggered in a domino effect.  Eventually Jack’s bed time was pushed back to 8:00 PM from 7:00 PM and perhaps, as a result of these changes in schedule, Jack began rising every few hours in the middle of the night to stand up and dance in his crib.

These little dance sessions wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that Jack, perhaps inspired by his own bouncing, throws his paci out of his crib which then results in cries for Mommy or Daddy to come retrieve it.  This wouldn’t be too much of a problem either, if this weren’t a constantly recurring event (every few hours).  To top it all off, Jack woke up last week at 4:30 completely convinced it was morning and time for everyone to be awake.  The zenith of this experience was on Saturday.

Saturday, Mommy, Daddy, and Jack had a few items for Jack and few small Christmas gifts to pick up at Babies R Us.  This was a rather challenging task considering Jack’s late nap schedule.  To top it off, his morning nap, which he didn’t go down for until noon, lasted for two hours.  So by the time we finished picking up a new Diaper Genie Elite II (Mommy broke the first one), an extension for Jack’s “Baby Jail”, some bath items, and a Christmas gift for Kiera, it was time for Jack to eat dinner.  Unfortunately, we were still out and about and sans high chair.  As a result, Jack ate food purchased inside the store, from his car seat in the parking lot of Baja Fresh while Daddy picked up dinner for the two of us.  By the time we arrived home, it was time for Jack to go to bed.  Despite the oddness of this schedule and having had only one nap the whole day, Jack managed to catch up on some much needed sleep and didn’t even fuss once upon going down for bed.

Little baby jail

Bigger baby jail

As exciting as Saturday would prove to be, Friday was equally as eventful.  Jack rose late in the morning and despite his lazy day attitude he became all a buzz as he watched Mommy zoom around the house getting things in order for the impending arrival of his aunt and his grandma.  Part of this zooming around also included the wrapping of Daddy’s Christmas presents.  Jack loved all of the bows and pretty paper and I’m more than certain he will have a fantastic time ripping into his gifts come Christmas morning.  Having received all the packages I was expecting, Mommy was quite surprised to receive a very special delivery from Daddy!  He had a bouquet of white Daisies delivered to Mommy along with a big Mylar balloon in the shape of a heart that said “I Love You”.  Although this was delivered to Mommy, I have a suspicion that the balloon was more for Jack’s enjoyment given his love of all things shiny and that float.  Mommy and Jack are extremely lucky to have such a wonder Hubby/Daddy in our lives.

Later that evening, Grandma Cavanagh and Aunt Jentry arrived just in time to see Jack eat his dinner, have a little play time, and to go to bed.  Unfortunately they weren’t in town for very long, so after this brief Friday evening visit, they stopped by on Sunday to drop off Jack’s Christmas present before leaving town.

Quick Jack Facts

  • When you ask Jack how big he is, he will put is arms high above his head as if to say “SO BIG”.

SO BIG!!!

  • Sunday night before bed, Jack watched Disney’s Prep and Landing, his first Christmas themed movie.  He sat on Mommy’s lap, cuddling, with Daddy near by and he became more than just a little excited when he saw the reindeer.
  • One of Jack’s favorite things to do when he’s eating is to try to balance a piece of food on the top of his sippy cup.  He thinks it’s just wonderful when he accomplishes this, typically with Cheerios.
  • Sunday afternoon, Jack watched Mommy make Christmas tree Christmas cookies.  He hasn’t tasted one yet, but if he’s anything like Daddy, he will love them.
  • Jack is now drinking a combination of formula and whole milk bottles to transition him off of formula by his first birthday.  So far, so good.
  • Tuesday night, while Daddy was playing Jack, Jack started to climb Daddy and with his mouth wide open, he planted his first “kiss” on him.  Before bed, after reading a little bit of My First Board Book with Jack, he did the same thing to Mommy.  Then he tried to eat my glasses.  Both the kissing and the attempted eating of Mommy’s glasses are very much Jack moves.
  • Jack has gotten into the habit of wanting to cuddle after his afternoon nap.  This is quite wonderful as he’s never been too much of a cuddler.  I think it helps him transition from sleeping to play time.

Cuddly Morning

Special Daddy Photos

As part of Daddy’s Christmas gift this year and as part of our ongoing effort to make sure Jack is the most photographed and highly documented child out there, Daddy purchased a very nice camera.  With this new camera Daddy is constantly taking some very awesome pictures of Jack which may or may not have anything to do with this week’s post.  So, to ensure this beautiful photos of the cutest little boy in the world are seen, they will be displayed here, in the “Special Daddy Photos” section.  Enjoy even more pictures of our beautiful boy who, almost a year later, still remains the heart of our hearts.

Bathtime is fun now

Splishy Splashy

Getting dry .... ROAR

After bath toes

Too cute for words - see all them teef?

Our little boy

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December 15th, 2009 – Our Little Comedian, Christmas Lights, and Food Mashing

December 16, 2009 by Mommy

On Sunday, Jack turned 11 months old, which means he is 48 weeks old today.  The funniest thing about having a baby is watching their personality emerge and Jack is nothing if not an emerging ball of personality.  He has always been a cheerful and happy little guy, but in recent weeks he is all about making other people smile and laugh.  Since he discovered that it makes Mommy giggle, Jack takes every opportunity to put his rings in his mouth like a little puppy.  Once he sees my smile and hears me laugh, he starts to shake his head and smile, with the rings still in place.  He is such a little comedian.

Woof

Jack’s comedic sensibilities aren’t the only skills he’s been working on; imitation is the new game he likes to play.  On Wednesday, Little Man began to clap because other people were clapping.  During meal times, as I wipe down his tray in between courses, Jack will take a wipe and begin to copy me.  He starts to giggle because he thinks it is fantastic fun.  Here’s hoping he grows up thinking cleaning is fun. It appears as if the odds may actually be in my favor on that one as on more than one occasion, I’ve looked over at Jack in his “baby jail” and he will be putting his toys in his basket or stacking them on top of his over turned basket.  Needless to say this is all together too cute for words.

Friday was yet another big day for out Little Man; he bid a fond farewell to his little duck tub and hello to the world of bathing in a full size tub.  The first time we attempted this, Jack was more than a little overwhelmed and began to cry.  This time, he was excited to be surrounded by so many bubbles and so much water.  He was splashing around and doing his very best to out smart Daddy who was leading this aquatic adventure.  Jack not only had fun in the tub, but he ended up clean as well.

Captain Jack with his captain hat

It’s quite a fortunate thing that Jack enjoys taking baths as his eating habits result in the need for a fair amount of hosing off. Since discovering his hair, Jack is quite fond of mashing bits of food into the side of his head.  This isn’t such a problem when all he has in his hand is a cheerio, but with the addition of cut up bananas, bits of muffins, and mashed potatoes, it’s any wonder he doesn’t have a mini buffet atop his head.

Messy man

The problem of being a messy eater has only increased with Jack’s growing desire to feed himself everything.  There have been meals in which Jack won’t even be bothered with anything offered on a spoon.  If it isn’t something he can grab and put in his mouth himself, it’s a no go.  So, Mommy and Daddy have been experimenting with different foods that Jack can easily feed himself as well as having some nutritional value.  This meant that on Sunday, Jack ate a little bit of scrambled eggs and blueberry muffin that Daddy mad for Breakfast.  He most certainly enjoyed both.  Monday night, Jack also enjoyed eating his first family meal; he ate Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes like Mommy and Daddy.

Messy-Man

Saturday night was a very special night for Little Man.  After dinner and after Daddy had replaced the tires and brakes on the care for safe winter travel, Mommy, Daddy, and Jack went for a pajama clad drive through the snow to look at Christmas lights.  This was Jack’s first time riding forward facing in his car seat so he was able to actually see the lights.  Although there were a lot of pretty Christmas lights, Jack seemed more inclined to enjoy the passing headlights.  While we were driving around, we were also playing traditional Christmas music.  Jack was “singing” in the backseat to the likes of Bing Crosby and Dean Martin.  It was so much fun!  Mommy and Daddy decided we’ll have to do it again this weekend.

Looking at lights was GREAT!

Saturday was also the day that Mommy wrapped a few of Jack’s Christmas gifts and placed them under the tree.  It is definitely nice to have something other than kitties under the tree, though currently they’re snuggled up next to gifts. Mommy has caught Jack staring at all of the “pretties” on the tree and under it a few times.  He will most certainly have a fun time as the holidays quickly approach.  Lots of Christmas songs, movies, and family fun time are sure to make little Apple Jack’s first Christmas a fantastic one.

Quick Jack Facts

  • Wednesday December 9th, Started clapping when other people clap.
  • Current sleeping habits: As of this past week, Jack has become extremely attached to the little blue “My First Teddy” that Grandad and Nana gave him in the hospital when he was born.  It plays Braum’s Lullabye when it’s wound up.  Jack likes to have it playing and placed near his head.  Occasionally he will grab it and pull it close and lay his head on it, so very cute. He also likes to have his fuzzy green Pooh blanket snuggled close so he can hold on to it as well.
  • Thursday, December 10th, while daddy was feeding him dinner, Jack out of now where bit Daddy’s finger!  He didn’t mean any harm, but so as not to encourage him, Mommy and Daddy had to do the near impossible and not laugh.  When Jack heard us both say “No, no, Jack”, he became rather upset and started to cry.  It seems that Jack has inherited Mommy’s desire to people please.
  • Tuesday, December 15th, Jack grabbed his sippy cup up off his tray and began to use it by himself!  He didn’t even pour any on his tray or bib, just straight into his mouth.  He’s getting the hang of this hand eye coordination involving liquids.

Sippy goodness

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