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.