We made him!

**Photo heavy post

Feeling sentimental (well, more so than normal).  I have been thinking a lot about my relationship with Jack and all that we have experienced and been through together. Sitting in the dark tonight, rocking my baby boy before bed, I just couldn't help but think how amazing it is that we created him! Sometimes I can't believe how blessed we have been and I thank God everyday for the life he has given me.

If you had told me when I was 15 and met Jack for the first time, that I would end up marrying him, I would have looked at you like you were crazy.  I mean, it is rare to end up with your first love, and I am one of those lucky people.  The past (almost) 13 years have been incredible.  We have done a lot of growing and learning over those years and I couldn't be happier to have had Jack by my side throughout that time.  He is my best friend.  We have had so many adventures together, parenthood being the best of all, and I can't wait to see what our future has in store.  There are a lot of photos below, but I had a hard time picking my favorites from recent years. I intend on digging out some of those high school pictures soon, but that was before digital cameras were everywhere so that will require some hunting and scanning :) 


A little trip down memory lane.

           San Diego Padres Game

Elephant stay in Thailand

 

 

                                                         James Bond Island- Thailand

 First Home Purchase! September 2009

 Disney Food and Wine Festival- 2010

Turks and Caicos 2011

 

The start our biggest adventureso far!

8 Months

 

Height: 28.5 inches

Weight: 20 lbs, 12 oz. as of August 8th

Clothes: 6-9 month, 9 month

 

 

 

EATING

 Mealtime is a favorite for Baby Jack.  Since our last update Jack has had spinach, broccoli, pears, prunes, apples, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn and yogurt. I have also given him tiny pieces of cheese and pancakes to chew on.  He is now eating 3 solid meals a day. I am working on my comfort level with giving him finger foods because choking scares me, but he seems to do really well with chewing and loves getting to eat what mama and dad are eating.  Yogurt was not a hit at first and he would gag and shudder with every bite, but now he is starting to really like it. 

 

PLAY and MOBILITY
I am joining these together this month since the two go hand in hand for our little man.  He is crawling EVERYWHERE and pulling up on everything.  On July 14th we officially graduated from a caterpillar crawl to a full-on crawl on all fours.  He roams from room to room in the house and loves that we follow him.  Having an audience is still one of his favorite things and he always looks to make sure someone is watching him.  Jack loves to sit in the kitchen (his favorite room of the house) and bang the dog bowls together.  He also loves pulling up on the entertainment center in the living room and has figured out how to turn the Blu-ray player on and off and has even gotten it to open a few times.  Just a few days ago he discovered that he can see out of the window if he stands up so he hangs there and watches the neighborhood.  Pools and anything involving water are also a big hit.  I bought a splash pad for him that is really shallow and has little sprinklers on the outside. He loves spending time in there.

 

 

 TEETHING

We officially have a 3rd bottom tooth!  The 4th top tooth is going to be in any day now.  Poor guy has been working on getting that one through for a few weeks now but I can see it through his gum and we are expecting it to break through any day now.  Hopefully sooner than later because he hasn't been sleeping much. 

Other updates!
 "dada" is the new word in our house!  Jack now says both and it is adorable.  He has become such a talker. He babbles all day long and we love it.
This month Jack has started giving more and more big sloppy kisses!  He even leaned over at daycare and planted a huge smooch on the cheek of a little girl in his class :) 

I left the boys for the weekend this month to go to NYC for a few days with some girlfriends.  I had a wonderful time but missed my Jacks so much.  I was so happy to get home to them.

Jack has the funniest facial expressions.  He totally notices when they are amusing to people too and will do them over and over again to get everyone laughing.  He is a ham.

Jack went to his 2nd baseball game this month (Richmond Flying Squirrels). 

We graduated to big boy car seats!

Jack has started waving more and more and it is adorable.  Sometimes he opens and closes his little hand and other times he flaps his whole arm. 

This past weekend Jack started dancing (well, his version of dancing).  Whenever certain songs play on his toys he bounces up and down, shaking and smiling with the music.  I haven't been able to catch it on video yet because he stops the second I pull out the camera but I will keep trying.

 

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday

Last night before bed I sat and watched videos on my iphone of the past 7 months.  It is bittersweet watching my tiny newborn change so much in such a short period of time.  Here is one from when Jack was less than 3 months old.

 

 

 

 

 

On the move!

Jack has us running all over the place these days!  Now that he has learned that there is more to our house than his play area in the living room he is constantly crawling all over the house checking everything out.  His favorite place to play is the kitchen.  He thinks it is hilarious to bang the dog bowls on the floor and make a ton of noise.  Between the crawling and him pulling up on everything, we have our hands full and it is so much fun.  I can't believe how quickly he is growing.  I wouldn't be surprised if he started walking before a year.  This child seems to like to do everything a little ahead of the curve. 

 

SLEEP!

So we moved Jack to his crib a while back but sleep has been kind of rocky.  He was waking up once or twice a night and we were all exhausted.  Well, I am not trying to jinx anything, but we seem to be breaking that habit, finally!  Two nights ago Jack slept almost 7 hours in his crib without needing us, and last night, 10 hours.  10 WHOLE HOURS!!!!  We fed him a bottle at  about 8:30 PM and I went into his room at 7:00 AM this morning and had to actually wake him up for the day.  I was up a good amount because I couldn't get over the fact that he hadn't screamed for us, but it was still the best night of sleep I have had in a while.  I am so glad he is starting to get the hang of sleeping alone. I know it is best for him and us to all be well rested :)

7 Month Update!

Another month has passed! 

STATS

Height: was 28.25 inches at 6 months...we don't have a new number for him.

Weight: 20 lbs as of July 3rd

Clothes: 6-9 month, 9 month

 

 

 

EATING

We have been trying a lot of new foods in our house and jack is loving most of them!  So far he has had butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas (hates them!), avocado, apples, mangoes, peaches, nectarines, bananas.  Next up on our list to try are green beans, yogurt and spinach!  Meal time is his favorite :)  He is now eating 2 solid meals a day.  He has also had puffs and cheerios and is getting pretty good at grabbing them and feeding himself. 

PLAY

Jack love love loves his dogs! They have become a huge source of entertainment in our house. He watches them and smiles constantly when they are around. I have a feeling he will be terrorizing them in no time ;) We installed a swing on a tree branch in the front yard a couple of weeks ago and it is definitely one of Jack's favorite things.  We try and go outside for a little while every evening and he loves being out there.  He is also loving anything that makes noise or lights up and if something doesn't make noise, he just bangs two toys together to make noise himself.  It is hilarious to him and us.  He loves having an audience.

 

MOBILITY

Crawling is happening!  He has a funny little hop he does once he is up on all fours but it has proven to be an effective way to get where he wants and there is no stopping him when he wants something.

 

TEETHING

3 top teeth are officially in!  The 4th seems to be taking a little longer.  Last week we had a couple of rough nights because he was obviously very uncomfortable while they were breaking through but as soon as they did, he was happy as a clam.  He has a gap between his two front teeth that melts me! 

Other updates!
"mama" is a common word heard in our house!  He is also working on other syllables and likes to yell :)
We stopped using the infant bath tub and now Jack just sits in the big bath tub for baths.  He LOVES it so much.  Even after I have drained the water out each night, he continues to play with his bath toys and tries to splash around. 
The pool is also a favorite!  Pop and Gam got an above ground pool last weekend just for baby!  He loves it and it has also been quite a treat for all of us adults as well. 
Sleep is getting much better and Jack has learned to love his crib.  He still wakes up once or twice a night but quickly settles back to sleep and most mornings I have to wake him up to get him ready for daycare. Hoping we have only one wake up a night on the horizon.

 

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