It is almost the end of 2013 and I am finally getting around to writing a 12-month update for Jack.  I just noticed I missed an 11-month update.  C’est la vie! Luckily, we had a trips to Kansas City, Effingham, and Rossville in the last few weeks so lots of people were able to see the updates in person. 

Height and weight:  Over 24 lbs and 31.5 inches (88% for weight and 94% for height!  He jumped on both growth curves this appointment!)  He has come along way from the little peanut he was the first couple of months.

Food:  Jack is a voracious eater!  There are very few things he won’t eat, but his favorites are avocados, bananas, raspberries, clementine oranges, broccoli, string cheese, cottage cheese, peas, oatmeal, salmon and most fish, bbq sauce (Baby was born in Kansas City.  What else can I say?) 

Teeth:  8 baby teeth, and two molars just popped up after Christmas, explaining the drooling and clinginess.

Party tricks:  Signing “hungry,” “more” and “music.”  Clapping, waving, blowing kisses, spinning in circles and dancing to music, singing into the tuberware, peek-a-boo.  Pointing to dada’s nose. 

Words:  dada, momma, woof woof, and that are the only ones that he say consistently with meaning. 

Likes:  Turning on electronics, cell phones, music (especially toddler radio on Pandora), reading books and turning the pages, anything outside (snow was a hit!), bathtime, running in circles around the kitchen, being chased, the park, the kites hanging from his bedroom ceiling, brushing his teeth (but having him drop his toothbrush is difficult), food time, wrestling and playing around, throwing balls.

Dislikes:  diaper changes, getting separated from mama, going down for naps, waiting for food, carrots.

In addition to finals and lots of travel, we also had a couple of rounds of stomach bugs at our house.  Poor Jack hasn’t even had a first birthday party OR birthday cake yet! I’m sure we will catch up on celebrating in 2014…and I’ll try to post an adorable video of Jack dancing soon!

Happy New Year!  Thanks for reading along over the past year with us.

We’re in the double digits, folks!  Jack celebrated his 10-month birthday with his first train ride, his first time in Chicago, and his first time marathon spectating. 

He is such a funny little person.  I seriously have a blast playing with him and watching him play.  In the last month he has started loving big pictures books.  When I ask him if he wants a book, he whips his head around to where his books are and gets excited.  He has favorites and has his preferred reading style.  The first look (of the day) through a book is a quick pass-through, the second time involves touching and the third time gets more attention with lots of touching and pointing and the occasional licking. 

Jack’s stepping/walking is coming along, and he takes a max of about 14 steps on his own, but loves to cruise along the furniture.  My favorite part of this month?  He kisses!  Big, wet, open mouth kisses to mommy, daddy and his favorite stuffed animal, Monster.  He also wrestles with his stuffed animals and plays “basketball”…such a little bundle of energy.  He is still a great little eater, although he has slowed down some in the last couple of weeks. What a little turkey! Bath time is hilarious!  He understand “all done” and if he stands up in the tub we ask him if he’s all done and he sits down as quickly as he can.  He loves the bath!

Matt’s parents are coming to visit this weekend.  I’m looking forward to them seeing his dancing and clapping to music.  Even if your weekend is not full of dancing, I hope its filled with fun.  Have a great one!

9 months!  Almost as long on the outside as on the inside.  I know I sound like a broken record but each new phase just keeps getting better.  Jack is so action-packed.  He has to be on the go all the time, except for first thing in the morning.  He really likes to cuddle and wake up slowly.  And don’t try to rush him!  He’ll let you know he isn’t ready to get moving yet.  

He toddles around the house really well.  He still has his half human half monkey crawl but it is fast. He also scales the walls and cruises along the furniture.  He can hold his standing on his own for about half a minute and gets so excited that he claps.

He still loves baths and laughing.  He recently is really into books, especially the touch and feel kind.  He looks around for them at bedtime and loves to settle into one of our laps to follow along and help turn the pages.  He loves light switches and smiles at the Dr. Suess cover in his bedroom (thanks Aunt Tina!) as he turns it off and on…and off and on…Speaking of smiling he smiles and talks to the baby on the water jug, his Pixar bath toys from Uncle Mark, and some of his stuffed animals.  It just cracks me up.

The house is mostly baby-proofed.  Anything that isn’t really a toy like dirty shoes and door stops are especially appealing.

He must be in the middle of a growth spurt.  He fell asleep at dinner this week, which is not like our champion eater.  He is quite the eater and hasn’t met a vegetable he doesn’t like.  Fruit is still just so-so for him.  And cheese is the first food he reaches for on his tray.
And just for fun- quick look at 1 month compared to his current 9 months:We went for a hike/walk near the Celery Bogs on Cattail Trail with Jack yesterday, and a couple asked us how old Jack is before telling us their “baby” is 28.  Time is going fast, he is growing up, but this little guys will always be our baby.

Wow! What a crazy month. Since the 7 Month Update, we sold and moved out of our house in Kansas City (more on that later), I finished work, and we moved to West Lafayette, Indiana. Lots of changes for this little guy in terms of his routine, but lots of good things too. He has already gotten lots of grandparents time with both sets of grandparents. He is such a lucky little boy to be loved so much.

Since the last Jack update he has been pulling up on everything. He loves to practice his standing and is a little daredevil. He tries standing with one hand and then no hands. So far, I have counted about 10 seconds of solid standing on his own time. Unfortunately this has meant lots of tumbles, and his first black eye at day care. He walks a little on his own while holding on to things.

Crawling is fine. He has some strange methods…almost like a monkey with one knee down and the other leg in a half walk…I’m not describing it well but it is funny. He can get to anything he really wants quickly with crawling (dirty shoes, bolts, jewelry) but is mostly interested in standing.

Food is going really well. Jack is a TANK! He is doing mostly purees with some self feeding. He loves orange food (sweet potatoes, squash and carrots), avocados, peas, broccoli, oatmeal and cheerios. Still not a big fruit guy.

He still loves songs and singing, seeing people laughing and making silly faces, playing peek-a-boo, and bath time. He is not a fan of having his diaper changed, clothes changed, or the end of a meal before he is ready. He is funny and sweet, and a little crazy at times. How did I ever get so lucky??

Two days ago, on the 12^th, Jack turned 7 months old.  In what feels like the blink of an eye he is now officially closer to the one year mark than he is a newborn.  Boy! Does it really feel like it this week.  In the past 5 or so days he has been breaking out all kinds of tricks including: waving to Matt before leaving to go on a stroller run, feeding himself a fourth of a banana, sitting up in his crib to wait for us to come get him, and half-way pulling himself to standing in a laundry basket.  He is getting much faster at the army crawling and is working on incorporating his knees.  He officially outgrew the laundry basket from the previous monthly photos, plus he doesn’t lay down very long these days.  He is BUSY!

He is such a funny and happy boy.  He babbles quite a bit now – sometimes very high pitched sounding and sometimes he sounds so much like a gremlin its frightening.  He has had two bottom teeth since just after he turned three months and now two top teeth have broken through.  He consistently goes to bed and down for naps while awake and usually pretty calm.  I love our bedtime routine of nursing or a bottle with lots of songs before Matt and I put him in bed, kiss him and tell him we love him and leave.  Watching Jack rub his head after we leave to finalize his own bedtime routine cracks me up.

Likes: Bath time, kisses, music and singing (Itsy Bitsy Spider can make any meltdown disappear), his highchair and eating (he had salmon for the first time last night and loved it), swimming pools

Dislikes:  Getting dressed, seeing Mommy or Daddy leave the room, waiting for his morning oatmeal Check him out standing up with his toy!  You’ll notice my hand in the background nervously waiting for him to fall.  He is amazingly strong!

I thought I would miss him being a “baby” but every month brings so many great new adventures.  So happy to have this little boy in my life!

6 months ago we welcomed this little man into our lives. And in such a short amount of time he has made our lives so much more full.

(Matt with his new “Jack Pack”)

I think the biggest change this month is that Jack really feels like a kid now.  Whether it is how much older he looks in his clothes or how he “talks” to us like a kid, Matt and I look at each other and ask where our baby went.  And I have a feeling I am going to say this every month but this has been my favorite so far.  Jack is just so much fun that I can’t believe I got so lucky.

I don’t think I realized before becoming a parent how babies’ little personalities really appear early.  He certainly lets us know when he thinks we are funny.  He also is not hesitant to let us know what he doesn’t like.  Right now the big offenders on his list include:  diaper changes, putting on clothes, and having morning snuggle time cut short.

His likes this month include:  bath time (still loves kicking around), chewing on tags and his shirt, silly faces and funny voices, and  this toy from Grandma and Grandpa

Last week he and a little friend worked on passing a ball back and forth.  I love to see his interactions with other little people.  This weekend he cracked up as another friend’s dog kept running by him.  I think it melted Matt’s heart a little.  Maybe a dog (or two) will be in our future?

Sitting is going really well.  His only recognizable word right now is baa-baa (directed at nothing in particular), and he rolls all over the place.  He still only has the two bottom teeth.

We have our 6 month doctor appointment this week so we will get his height and weight stats then.  I feel like he had a big growth spurt in the last couple of weeks though, so I’m pretty interested to see where he falls.  We bought some baby cereals over the weekend and plan to start those soon.

Quick comparison of the past monthly shots:I feel like Matt and I have changed a lot over 6 months too…probably in ways that are too deep for me to think about today.  But seeing how silly Matt has become (no one can make Jack laugh like Matt) makes me understand why so many friends said they fell even deeper in love with their husbands after children.

Thanks for sharing in the past half year.  I’m sure the next half year will be full of lots of adventures.