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.

Snow day

How is it February already? We've been busy around here, but Jack and I have an unexpected break today. The high in Denver today is -2 (with wind chills in the negative 20s and 30s), so day care is closed. But since it's Denver, it'll be back in the 40s tomorrow. Thank goodness!


We had a busy couple of weeks around here. Another round of colds and sinus infections made its way through our house. Jack has been off and on with a runny nose, cough, and fever for the past week or two, and Jeff and I are both on antibiotics for sinus infections. Two weekends ago I spent a few days in Manitou Springs, Colorado for a leadership training program through the Colorado Bar Association. It was a great honor to be selected, and after our first retreat, I'm excited for the months to come.


When I got back from my retreat on Saturday, we took Jack to the National Western Stock Show. He was pretty unimpressed, but it'll be fun to take him when he's old enough to look at the cows and horses.

Last weekend was our 5th wedding anniversary! What a wonderful 5 years it's been too--moving to Colorado, finding great jobs, buying our first house, and having Jack. We are very blessed! Grandpa Steve and Grandma Janet came out to watch Jack so Jeff and I could take a mini-vacation to the mountains. I skied for the first time in two years and survived! My legs came back pretty quickly, and we had a great time. We went on a sleigh ride (cheesy, but fun) and had a fancy dinner at the Ski Tip Lodge in Keystone. Best dinner we've ever had, hands down. We're not foodies, but after that dinner, we sort of understand the obsession.


Jack was sick while we were away, but perked up by the time we came home so Grandma and Grandpa could enjoy his normal happy self before they left.

Moving and exploring

It was a pretty uneventful weekend around here. Jack is moving and exploring all over the place. He is standing all the time against the couch, against the footstool, with his walker, but not making any moves beyond that yet. His top two front teeth are really coming in now, so his smile looks so different. He's also starting to talk more--his babbling is starting to sound more like he's trying to make words. With all of this exploring, it also seems to mean he's less interested in sleep. We think Jack may be on the verge of giving up his morning nap, but his afternoon nap hasn't gotten any longer, and he's staying up later than usual. We're hoping it's just a phase while he's busy learning instead of transitioning to less sleep. We're not ready for that! All in all, we couldn't be having more fun watching our little guy grow and learn.

Happy New Year!

Jeff and I welcomed 2011 as I'm sure many other first-year parents did: in bed. We managed to stay awake until about 10, and then we just couldn't make it any longer. Jack has been teething the past few days, which means his sleep schedule was completely unpredictable. One of Jack's top front teeth has come in, and the other one should be poking through any time now. His side top ones are also about to break through. Today he seemed to be back to normal, and we're hoping that going back to day care tomorrow will also help him get back in a routine. As much as we've loved having so many visitors (and taking so much time off!) the past couple of weeks, it'll be good for all of us to settle into a routine again. Here's to a happy, healthy, and productive new year!

This video is from yesterday. Jeff found Jack trying to climb onto his piano to get to the other push toy behind it, and then also to get toys that were on top of the radiator. It was pretty funny.

Merry Christmas!

Merrry Christmas! We hope all of you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. This blog is serving as a stand-in for our Christmas cards this year. When it came to Christmas, we adopted a rule of "if you don't want to do it, don't." Picking out the perfect pictures and getting everything ready to go for Christmas cards was too much for me this year, so these pictures will just have to do! Jeff also decided that he was applying that rule to putting up Christmas lights, but within a few days he changed his mind and we had lights up.


We were lucky enough to have Nike's cousin Kacie visit for about 10 days to help out with Jack while his day care was closed. Unfortunately, Jack brought a stomach bug home from day care. He was sick for almost a week (including an ER visit on Christmas Day), and Jeff and Kacie both got hit for a couple of days. We went to Winter Park with plans to ski on Christmas Eve, but since everyone was sick, James was the only one who made it to the mountain.

We didn't buy Jack many gifts for Christmas since he got so much when we were home for Thanksgiving. And with his birthday in just two months, we'll be buying him even more.

The video below is from Christmas Eve morning. Jack loves to blow bubbles, and he was on a roll.

This is the one big toy we bought Jack for Christmas. The video is blurry, but you can still see how good he is at moving. Only a week and a half later, he's moving even faster. He doesn't know how to turn though, so he can only go so far as the next piece of furniture--that'll have to be the next step he takes.

getting ready for Christmas

We're in the Christmas spirit at the Fleming household! Grandma Jane visited a couple of weeks ago so Mom and Dad could have a night out for Nike's firm's Christmas party. We put up the tree, decorations, and lights and cleaned the house like it's never been cleaned. We got so much done and were so grateful to have her out here. We did have some fun while she was here--we got all bundled up to see the Denver Zoo's Zoo Lights. It was great! It was cold, but so much fun to walk around to see the lights.

I took the video below to show how good Jack's been standing up. He stands up at the footstool playing with his toys for 10 or 15 minutes at a time. It's so fun to watch him concentrate so hard on grabbing a toy that he has his eye on.

And this next video I took because I just had to get the sound of those giggles on video. Jeff had finished dishes and was just throwing the dish towel over his head, and Jack just couldn't stop laughing. That's a sound that will never get old!

Crawling

I finally took a few minutes to get some crawling video of Jack. It's not the greatest, but it'll do for now. We spent Friday night and Saturday in Fort Collins visiting Jeff's college roommate Brad. He's the athletic trainer for Fresno State, and they were playing at Colorado State. Jack loved his first basketball game! He was clapping along with the band and when the crowd clapped. It was so fun to take him to the first of many college basketball games. Unfortunately Fresno State lost, but it was fun to see Brad and have an excuse to get out of town for a night. Next weekend, Grandma Jane comes to visit!