One

Jack is one. ONE. That was fast.

Highlights of the day:
* Feeling much better, although an occasional ear tug here or there
* Wearing his new birthday outfit, checking out his new birthday wagon, reading a few birthday books, and playing with birthday bathtub toys.

birthday outfit and birthday wagon

* Visit to the St. Mary's NICU to bring cupcakes to the nurses.
* First cupcake: a carrot cake cupcake from DD's Cupcake Shoppe

mmmm....

At one year old, Jack can:

* clap

* wave

* walk along furniture

* stand (although he doesn't know he can do that yet - he has only done it when he wasn't paying attention so far)

* say: dog, dada, shoes, head, hi, fish

* drink through a straw

* "read" to himself

* turn pages of books being read to him (or that he reads to himself)

Favorite toys:

train, truck, turtle (anything he can push while he crawls)

Favorite books: 

Heads

Tails

Moo

(When we pull these books off the shelf, he squeals with happiness.)

Favorite way to bond with the dog:

Feed her veggie straws

Favorite activities:

* Playing

* Reading

* Snuggling while watching Play With Me Sesame

* Opening cabinets and drawers

* Splashing

Stinker

So, it's 9:17 PM on Thursday. Matt and I had a rare night out to dinner together with Miss Katie expertly holding down the fort. Jack was down for the night before we left... or so we thought. Maybe that lasted an hour? After waking every five minutes and taking at least as long to go back down several times, Katie checked in with us, defrosted milk, fed, rocked, etc. She's seriously a pro. Ultimately, there was not to be sleep. This is so unusual even for a bad night for Jack. We got the check since we were finished anyway (and a to-go side of something that is like hash browns and mac & cheese had a baby - for poor Katie - oh my yum!) and headed home. As we were brainstorming what could possibly be wrong with our poor, distraught boy, we received a text with this picture. Apparently someone didn't get the memo he was supposed to be sleeping and just really preferred playing instead. Stinker!

Note: So.... it turned out that Jack had double ear infections which we did not discover until late Friday night when he had a 102.4 fever in the middle of the night. Turns out he is pretty happy even when he is sick. He is still a stinker. :)

Week in review

It was a busy week and weekend - our new norm. Jack had lots of fun and, as always, we have the pictures and video to prove it!

Saying hello to our turtle friends at LMC!

Lunch with friends

Figuring out his sippy cup

I guess that works!

Any good weekend includes a trip around the carousel!

Checking out the turtle tracks after breakfast Sunday morning.

Still giving him a chance to self-feed. Still getting mixed results.

Mama? Dada!

I really think no caption is necessary here. This was actually video from earlier in the week. "Dada" is now pretty much officially the first word. There are some random ramblings that use similar sounds, but when Matt walked in Jack's room today to get him after his second nap, he was greeted with a clear and enthusiastic: "Dada!" :)

Sharing

Anyone who reads this blog likely knows that Sabra, our dog, does everything in her power to avoid narrow openings and a cluttered walking space. You also probably know that Jack is currently majoring in Clutter with a minor in Destruction of Books (aka "Reading"). Sabra is very tolerant of Jack but usually takes great effort to avoid his clutter and narrow spaces created by his play mat, toy bins, and bouncy seat in the family room. Except... where there are cereal snacks involved. Jack often eats his cereal puffs off of his tray in the bouncy seat. If something excites him before all the cereal is consumed, his bouncing bounces those snacks right on the ground. We take the approach that a few cereal snacks off the floor are good for Jack's immune system so he picks up those who have jumped ship during playtime. And this is when Sabra gets involved. She never interrupts him or begs - she's just riiiiight there in case he would ever like to share. Even just one. Even just one time. So far, no luck on the sharing front but she's certain it is just a matter of time.

#5

Mark it down folks - tooth #5 has just barely broken through (left of his top front teeth - clearly I'm up on my proper teeth names). I'll try to get a picture but I've had a heck of a time just getting a finger in there to confirm it is a tooth and not a piece of cereal puff stuck to his gum. :)

Happy chomping!

Farewell, Kahuna!

We hoped to see Kahuna, one of Jack's favorite turtles, get released this morning in Juno. Unfortunately, nap time coincided with the release so we took ourselves and the pup out to the beach this afternoon to wish Kahuna well wherever she is out in the Atlantic. Jack dressed for the occasion.

Follow Kahuna and the other Loggerhead Marinelife Center graduates online at http://www.marinelife.org/track.

Pool play date

Today, Lily Ana brought her mom, dad, Aunt Nikki (and Charlie!) over to play. There was swimming, there was crawling, there was giggling, there was grilling (by the grown ups), and a good time was had by all. :)

Choo choo

Papa took the week off to ring in Jack's first birthday month in style. Day 1 of Stay-cation with Papa? Train ride at Downtown at the Gardens.