Happy Halloween (just in time for Thanksgiving)!

So better late than never, here are pictures from Halloween. Jack wore his costume to day care, and he was the only one who stayed in costume all day! I couldn't believe he still had it on when I went to pick him up. It was really just a fleece sweatsuit, so I can't blame him for wanting to wear it all day.

After work we threw Jack in the wagon and took him to a few friends' houses within our neighborhood. He didn't want to go up to any doors, but by the end he started to get the hang of letting people put candy in his pumpkin. We let him try his first candy bar, but all he did was lick the chocolate off without taking a bite, and he wasn't that interested in it. So Jeff and I figured we better just eat his candy so he didn't have to!

Other than Halloween, not much new around here. Jack continues to learn new words every day. He is also starting to show some hints of what he'll be like as a 2-year-old. He is testing his limits with Jeff and I. Sometimes it's adorable and other times, not so much. Overall though, it's really amazing to watch him learn new things each day. As the Christmas season begins, we're really looking forward to teaching him Christmas songs and watching him open presents on Christmas morning!

Splish splash

Bath time! Jack was very happy in the bath last night, so I grabbed a couple of pictures while he was cooperating with the camera.

Helper Jack

We have a third set of hands around the house now! Jack is our own little helper. He's been getting that way for a while, but this weekend he wanted to do everything we were doing--brushing our teeth, raking leaves, mowing the lawn, switching laundry, and cleaning vegetables. It is so fun to watch him watch us and try to copy what we're doing and what we're saying. He's learning new words all the time. This week his new word is "pumpkin." He's kind of afraid of the pumpkin on our front porch, and now that squirrels have eaten the front of the pumpkin, he says, "pumpkin, uh-oh" when he walks by.

I think I may have mentioned this in the last post, but it is getting very hard to get pictures of Jack these days. He either runs toward the camera so he can see what I'm taking a picture of or purposefully ignores me when I try to get his attention. Most of my pictures are turning out like this:

Or like this, where we bribe him with some food:

Jack has also gotten very good at riding his tricycle. After a week at home with Grandma and lots of practice on the riding toys at day care, he seems to have gotten the hang of it. Jeff and I can't believe how much better he is even in the last few weeks.

Speaking of a week at home with Grandma . . . Jack had a whole week of being spoiled by both Grandmas (who switched off halfway through our trip) when Jeff and I took a vacation a couple of weeks ago. Jeff presented at a conference for the American Society of Shoulder and Elbow Therapists, and I got to tag along (click on the link to go to his abstract). The conference was at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia (fancy, fancy!). We flew into Washington, D.C. and made a beautiful drive to the resort. The leaves were at the peak of changing colors. Then we had about 24 hours to spend in D.C. before flying home. We rented bikes and crammed in as much sight-seeing as possible. It would have been nice to have a bit more time, but we had a blast riding our bikes along the Mall, and we were antsy to get home and see Mr. Jack. Thank you Grandma Jane and Grandma Janet for taking such good care of our little man. It was a great trip for Jeff and I, and we are so glad we took the opportunity to get away!

Up next, Halloween! Stay tuned to see what costume Jack will be wearing this year.

Our little wordsmith

It's October already, although you wouldn't know it by the weather here in Denver. We've had a few cool days, but it's stayed pretty warm lately. We should enjoy the warm weather while it's here, I suppose, but I'm ready for some cooler temperatures. September went by in a flash, mostly trying to settle into a new routine with my new job. We started the month getting ready for football season. Jack helps Jeff hang our Hawkeye flag every week.

My cousin Bridgette and her husband Matt stayed with us while they went to a wedding in town, and we got to baby-sit Cooper, their black lab. Jack was in heaven!! I didn't get any pictures of them because they both moved too fast, but it was love at first sight for Jack. I have to admit it was fun to have a dog around, but we're not quite ready to add to the Fleming family.

Since I'm no longer working much on the weekends--okay, not working at all--we've been taking lots of trips to the park and the zoo. It's been fantastic and I feel like I have the chance to watch Jack grow up. Jack had his 18-month appointment and is in the 50th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight. He learns a new word every few days it seems, and he loves to repeat words back (even if his pronunciation is totally wrong!). Right now he'll touch something or hold something up and say, "hot." When we say, "It's not hot. It's okay," he'll say, "cold!" It's pretty adorable. He continues to be our serious little man, especially around others. He watches and thinks, and then when he's ready he'll let others see what a happy guy he is.

This last weekend we drove up to Estes Park to go for a nice drive and to see if we could spot any elk. There were quite a few out, and we even got pretty close to a couple of them. It was neat, but also a reminder that we're the ones invading their land, so we should let them have their space.

Next week both Grandmas are taking overlapping trips out here to baby-sit Jack while Jeff and I take a trip. We'll be gone five days, which is the longest either of us has been away from him. Neither of us is looking forward to leaving him behind, but a vacation for just the two of us will be worth it, and Jack will get nice and spoiled while we're gone.

Happy October to all!

USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Last week the USA Pro Cycling Challenge came to Colorado. The top three finishers from the Tour de France were in it, as were most of the other top cyclists in the world. The final stage started in Golden and came into downtown Denver, where they did six laps. We braved the heat and were able to find a spot that wasn't too crowded. The best part was that the riders came by our spot twice in each lap, so we got to see them 12 times! Even if you know nothing about cycling, it was pretty cool to watch the cyclists fly by, as well as all of the support cars and the cameramen on the backs of motorcycles. The videos we took didn't really turn out since they fly past so fast, so instead here are a couple of pictures of Jack. He was a total trooper in the hot weather and had more fun with this dog than he did looking at the cyclists.

Thirsty

All's well in the Fleming household this month. I've been at my new job for two weeks, and it's great so far! It's going to be such a good fit, with new and interesting work every day. We had a little hiccup last week when, on my first day at the new job, Jack's day care called and asked us to come get him because he had pink eye! After staying home on Tuesday, Jack went back to day care on Wednesday. By Thursday night, he had a fever, so we went back to the doctor on Friday. Diagnosis: double ear infection! Poor guy. He was kind of a mess on Friday and Saturday, but by Sunday he was back to his happy self.

This weekend my dad is visiting, which is apparently just in time to see Jack's latest trick:

I swear we didn't teach him this! He saw me get a beer for Dad and apparently wanted to do the same. I'm thinking we'll need to put this skill to use.

Hiking

This weekend we took our first Jack with hike this summer. We had a hand-me-down hiking backpack that we've been anxious to try. Once Jeff got the straps adjusted so they were comfortable, it was a great hike. We only went about 2 miles to make sure that Jack did okay, and he did great! He almost fell asleep, and this weekend we're hoping to go on a bit longer journey.

Summer Vacation

Happy summer! We had a wonderful vacation to Iowa a couple of weeks ago filled with lots of family, friends, good food, drinking, and lots of hot weather. We started the first weekend with a haircut for Jack. He had the cutest curls in the back, but they were looking pretty mullet-y.

The finished product looked much, much better, and with the humid weather in Iowa we could see that he's still going to have some curl. He also looks much more grown-up. We definitely have a toddler on our hands now.

We helped celebrate Dave and Bev's new marriage and Dave's retirement with the whole Lenoch clan. Our attempts to get a great-grandchild picture were pretty funny, but this one turned out well.

Jack got to take his first boat ride and dip in the Res with our friends Jason and Tina. He wasn't so sure about the water, but loved standing up on the floor of the boat when it was going fast! Perhaps we should be worried about him liking the feel of the wind through his hair!

We also got to spend a day in Burlington with the Colgan family. Jack wasn't sure about what to think about Uncle Jim's puppies and had more fun playing with the puppies' toys than playing with the puppies themselves.

After our day in Burlington, we got to spend the rest of the week relaxing and doing not much of anything. We ended the week with a visit from Scott, AnnMarie, and Connor. Connor was definitely more interested in playing with Jack than the other way around, but in another year, they'll have a great time playing together!

Thank you to everyone that made our vacation so relaxing and fun. After the crazy June we had, it was the perfect way to celebrate Nike's trial victory and new job. As most of you know, Nike finished her job at Kennedy Childs & Fogg last week and starts at University of Colorado next week! She's very excited about the opportunity to be at a university and we are all excited about what should be more "life" in her work-life balance.

Smooches

Lots of things going on around here, but not enough time to write about them! Now that Nike is a little less busy at work, we'll have more time to add more pictures. Until then, here's a video we took a week or so ago.

Pool season!

We bought a blow-up pool for Jack this weekend. He was kind of skeptical at first, but warmed up pretty quick. I didn't get any pictures of him in it all the way, but this morning he played on the edge for a while. He likes to try to grab the water with his thumb and first finger and pinch it and then carry it somewhere. I see lots of sunny days on the patio in our future this summer!

Dizzy dizzy

Not much happening here this past month. The weather is finally starting to clear up and let us get outside. While I've been busy with work, Jeff and Jack have taken great trips to the zoo and children's museum. Two weekends ago we got a great visit from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Randy. Jeff and I had tickets to the U2 concert, which was incredible! Grandma Janet comes this weekend to help out and see Jack's latest tricks. Jack is as happy as ever. He is so much fun! He's not saying many words, but is starting to get better at repeating sounds back to you. He can also point to his belly and his toes. His favorite thing to do is dance and listen to music. He knows what the ipod and tv do, and if neither is on, says "ma, ma" for "more" until we turn some music on. The video below is from last weekend. I can't remember if there was music on in the other room or not, but all of a sudden Jeff and I were talking about something, and we look down, and Jack is turning in circles, making himself dizzy. It was pretty hilarious.

Happy Spring!

As I took these most recent pictures and videos off our camera, I realized we hardly took any pictures this month. Probably because we spent a good part of the month sick again! Jack got the flu in mid-April, and Grandma Jane came to the rescue to help us out. Luckily Jeff and I stayed well, and Jack recovered pretty quickly. Grandma Jane got to see plenty of happy and healthy Jack before she went home. (Of course I didn't get any good pictures, so the pictures below are just pictures of us hanging out.)

For Easter, Grandma Janet, Grandpa Steve, and Uncle James came to visit. We didn't let Jack have any of our candy for Easter, but as you'll see in the video below, he loved the plastic eggs he could use as rattles.

Jack is signing "all done," and now he can say it too. He uses sign language for "more," and not only uses it when he wants more food, but also for other things that he wants. Today he wanted to be picked up, and he used "more." It's so much fun to watch him try to find ways to communicate what he wants.

This other video is Jack with a sippy cup. Day care wants us to transition him away from the bottle, so all of last weekend, we kept putting it in front of him, and he wanted nothing to do with it. Then when Jeff and I were in the other room later at night, Jack got in the drawer with all of his dishes and pulled a sippy cup out. We looked over and he was putting it up to his mouth. We quickly put some juice in one cup and some water in another, and he spent the rest of the night carrying around his two sippy cups! It was a good reminder to Jeff and I that sometimes we need to let him do things at his own pace.



A couple more videos

I had trouble getting the last couple of "B" roll videos to upload on that last post, so here goes again. Enjoy!

Jack's walking!

Jack is walking! The two videos below show what Jack looked like last weekend. He was taking one or two steps between Jeff and I, but that was about it. The first video also shows Jack "dancing." Grandma Jane bought Jack a "Wheels on the Bus" book, and although he knows the motions, he prefers to just dance when he hears the music in the book.

This next video shows Jack this weekend--quite a difference, huh? When we picked him up at day care on Tuesday, his teacher said, "he's walking," and sure enough, he was. We think a couple days with his walking friends at day care was enough to give him the courage to do it on his own.

The rest of these videos are just Jack hanging out with us. Nothing too exciting, but we thought the diehard Jack fans out there would appreciate some "B" roll.

Jack is 1 (two weeks ago)!

So I know that it's actually been two weeks since Jack turned 1, but close enough. Since Jack's birthday was on a Tuesday, we didn't do much. I left work early, and Jeff and I ran with the jogging stroller to day care to pick him up. On the way home, we stopped at the park by our house for a quick ride on the swings and slide. Then we finished the day with ravioli for dinner--one of Jack's favorites. Here are a few pictures I took on Jack's birthday morning while he helped me unload the dishwasher.

In case you're wondering, Jack at one year old is about the same as Jack at other stages: happy! He is such a happy baby. He is great at entertaining himself and playing by himself. He pulls himself up to standing on everything and cruises by moving up and down the couch and between pieces of furniture. We think he's ready to walk, but doesn't know that he can do it yet. He's taken a step or two at a time, but then sits himself down. It's just a confidence issue at this point. His babbling is starting to sound more like real words now and sometimes we can even get him to copy what we're saying. He uses sign language to say "all done," "bottle," and "more." And he loves to cuddle and give hugs, both to us and his stuffed animals.

A few other notes . . .

We celebrated Jack's birthday a week early when Grandma Jane and Grandpa Randy came to town in late February. They bought Jack a red wagon, which he loves! Since we keep it on the front porch, not a day goes by when Jack doesn't try to get us to take him outside and go for a walk or take him in the wagon.

Grandma Janet also came to vist last weekend. No new pictures, but we had a great time just playing all weekend.

Two new videos below. The first is of Jack eating an apple, which is kind of long, but we thought it was so funny. Jeff was putting apples away in the fridge after going to the store, and Jack picked one up and just started going to town. It was the first time he had ever done that, and we got a kick out of it.

The next video I took this morning while we were reading the Sunday paper. Jack decided to help out with the ads.