Summer catch up

I can't believe that Jack just celebrated his 10 month birthday! We are already starting to talk about what to do for Halloween. Some of the top ideas are the Wizard of Oz crew (Mommy-Dorothy; Dad-Tin Man; Jack-Scarecrow; Lily-Cowardly Lion) or a three ring circus (Mommy-ring leader; Dad-lion tamer; Lily-lion; Jack- strong man)...should be fun.

Jack's girlfriend, Ava, turned 1 at the end of July (he likes older chicks). Here is his "OMG! What is on my head?!" picture:


It was a pool party and Jack LOVES the water!

We have had a busy summer. Lots of milestones for Jack. He is sitting on his own and can get to standing. He says Mama and almost says ball. He likes to feed Mommy and Daddy with his spoon. He is cruising around holding onto furniture. Oh, and he waves...primarily at Lily. :)

He is also mostly sleeping through the night. He usually wakes up sometime between 4:30 and 6:30 for an early morning snack, but then goes back to sleep until about 7:15.

Mommy was riding with in the backseat with the little man to keep him from fussing and was goofing around and starting doing the "Wuz uuuuup!" and now Jack likes to go "uuuuuuuh!" Very cute, but it just makes me realize what a little sponge he has become:

Jack also has 51/2 teeth now. One is on its way in, making Jack a cranky little snot at times.

But I still love him dearly...

Oh, and in case you have noticed that Jack always seems to be sporting the same green and white striped outfit, it is because we have it in multiple sizes. There is a fire truck on the front. Need I say more.

Back in the beginning of August Grandma Charlotte came to visit and these are our pictures from Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. They have a great children's section that Jack will grow into shortly.

We are getting psyched for the fall! I can't wait for cooler weather. We are going to take a family vacation somewhere in the Charlottesville area in October and are planning on going to the UVA vs UNC game. Monkey's first real Hoo experience!!

Jack Attack!

JACK IN THE BOX

JACK GETTING READY FOR THE BOAT

JACK AND CAROLINE IN THE KIDDIE CABIN CRUISER

BATHTIME IN THE SINK WITH THE BATH GIRAFFE




CUTE OLDER PICTURE FROM FIRST SOLID EATING AROUND EASTER



Things are going very well with the little man. He is definitely the apple of momma's eye. He currently weigh about 23 pounds and is about 29 inches long. Hard to believe that he fit in my tummy not all that long ago. :) We think he is getting pretty close to saying his first words with a sneaky idea that it is going to be "Mama." He has been able to say mamamama almost since birth, but now he seems to be more emphatic about it for whatever that is worth.

We think that he is also going to skip crawling and go straight to walking. He can walk behind something or "cruise" along the edge of furniture - with Mommy or Daddy as a spotter still. Really cute. I think that he is too roly poly to get to a sitting position on his own; however, once he is there, he can sit just fine.

Anyhoo, I promise that I will put some video clips on here as soon as I read the instructions on how to get them off of my video camera.

The Ferberization of Jack

Well, we finally decided that it is time for Jack to start being able to sleep without the Mommy crutch. We tried some of the "No Cry Sleep Solutions" with no real success. We started the Ferber method and it really seems to be paying off quickly. He seems to be better equipt to put himself to sleep. Yea!!! The next step to ween off the middle of the night feeding. The other night, he actually slept from 7:45 to 5:15. I was thrilled.

Visit to Charleston

We went to Charleston (Jack's first big long car ride) in the middle of June and had a wonderful time. Jack's Godparents, Mandi and Jason were kind enough to let us take over their home while they were in California. We surprised Jack's Grandma Charlotte, who was also visiting Charleston that weekend. It was SOOOO hot the entirety of our stay. At one point we had to strip Jack down to his diaper. He did great, though.

We spent the first morning at Folly Beach where we sat on the beach and Jack went for a dip with Dan. We hid in the shade of the fishing pier. It was very nice. We had to leave because there were closing the beach due to a storm coming with waterspouts. We were ready to go by then anyway.

We went to the Charleston Aquarium and had breakfast with the otters. That was great. I love otters and they were very active while we were there. They were swimming around with their fishy ice blocks and we got some cute video.

We went swinging at the swings on the pier at the Downtown Waterfront Park. Jack really enjoyed the shade and the breeze down there on the water. What a great place!

We also met up with Katie, Ben and Andrew. We had lunch together at 82 Queen. Yummy!

I sat in the back with him on the ride home and he seemed to enjoy that. Mommy can be such a clown!

Miserable Tooth

Poor little man cut his first tooth (bottom front left) the weekend and since then has been absolutely miserable. Sleeping seems to be impossible (for all of us) currently. I just wish that I could hold him all night. I think that he would prefer that as well. It is always the worst at night. I guess he has nothing else to do but dwell on the discomfort. *sigh*

Pictures from the Baptism

Blessed Baby

Jack got baptized on May 4th. He, and all of the other babies scheduled for baptism, were so good! I think only one cried during the actual baptism. When his turn came to be baptized, Jack just looked at Dan and me as if to ask, "What is this guy doing? Is this OK?" He is so expressionate.

We practically had to stuff him into his baptism outfit. But once he was in, he was adorable! I don't have any pictures of his baptism on my camera, but I am anxiously awaiting copies from friends who were taking pictures that day.

These are from today. Jack and I just hung out most of the day, including swinging on the back deck eating Cheerios. The faster and higher the swing, the better for our little dare devil. Lily provided the clean up...

It has been a while since I have posted anything, so here is a quick Jack update. Jack is almost 7 months old now. He is doing wonderfully. He weighs just over 20 pounds and is about 27 1/2 inches long. He is laughing, razzing and being all kinds of cute. Today he actually flipped over from his back to his tummy for the first time. Actually, he got his foot stuck in his crib when he did it. I rescued him. We also took Jack swimming at the pool for the first time - completely did not phase the little man. Fat definitely floats.

The only person who can seem to put Jack to sleep NO MATTER WHAT appears to be my dad. It is the weirdest thing. I don't know how he does it. He must be a baby whisperer.

Here are some pictures from our time at the beach around Memorial Day:

This was Jack's first trip to the beach. Sleeping was an issue, but he seemed to love being outside so much. He went for a ride on the boat, too. All was lovely, except the life jacket. He hated it. We took it off whenever we were not underway. As you can see, he is quite the little captain. Look out seagulls!!