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!

First Thanksgiving and other firsts

Thanksgiving week started off with some excitement when we picked Jack up from day care on Tuesday to find that he was crawling! He had been up on all fours all weekend, rocking back and forth, but he hadn't started moving. By the time we picked him up Tuesday afternoon, he was cruising. No videos yet, but we'll post them soon.

We drove back to Iowa on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Jack slept during the entire drive Tuesday night and did pretty well on Wednesday morning. On Thursday morning, we celebrated Thanksmas (or Christgiving, if you prefer) with Nike's parents. Jack got to open his first presents. He wasn't particularly excited about the toys or the wrapping paper until we got the toy unwrapped and in front of him.

We celebrated regular Thanksgiving later on Thursday afternoon with the Lenoch clan.

Jack was kind of fussy Thursday afternoon, and by Friday morning, we figured out why: he was getting his first tooth! It hasn't made its way completely out yet, but there's definitely something poking through. We spent Friday with the Flemings, and Grandma Jane and Grandpa Randy got to spend time with both of their grandsons.

A reluctant giraffe

We received a hand-me-down giraffe costume for Jack, so we figured we ought to put him in it at least once. We dressed him up for costume day at day care, and we felt like the parents in The Christmas Story making their kids put on the bunny suits. Thankfully, he tolerated it pretty well.

We also went to a "pumpkin patch" at a neighborhood church. We didn't make it until the day before Halloween, so the only ones left were scary ones with warts. Maybe next year we'll get the obligatory cute-baby-sitting-next-to-a-pile-of-pumpkins picture.

We're back!

After a very, very busy October and November, we're finally catching our breath before the holidays get into full swing. We didn't take many photos or videos, but here are a few posts with what we do have.

Two sets of grandmas and grandpas

Jeff's grandparents and parents came for a quick visit this weekend. I had my firm retreat for work on Friday night in Estes Park, so on Saturday morning Jeff, Randy, Bob, and Shirley came up to meet me. We ate lunch at Mary's Lake Lodge and then drove around Rocky Mountain National Park to see the fall leaves. We didn't see any elk, but it was still beautiful.

Jack is getting so much closer to crawling. He was wiggling on his belly the other day, almost doing an army crawl. It's so much fun to watch him learn how to use his body and figure out how to move. Sunday was rainy and cold. It was disappointing for our visitors from Iowa who always have this weather, but Jeff and I loved it. We made our first batch of chili of the winter and even fired up the fireplace upstairs. Perfect!

Videos!

The time has come when Jeff and I have stopped leaving Jack alone for more than a few minutes, as this next video shows. We've started using couch cushions to create a barrier around the living room rug so he can't go very far. Once he starts crawling, we'll have to figure something else out because he'll be able to move the pillows pretty easily.

In this next video you can see Jack's obsession with tags. He loves to put everything into his mouth, but tags are definitely his favorite.

There's nothing exciting in these next two videos, other than just watching Jack be Jack, which is exciting to his proud Mom and Dad. Have we mentioned how much we love being parents? Every day we thank God for this wonderful blessing He's bestowed upon us.

p.s. This next video is blurry. I'm not good at getting it focused before the video starts, and then once it starts, it won't correct. I'll get better.