17 Months, Snow & Fun!

Jack turned 17 months old on Monday. He's growing up so fast!! He is really starting to talk a lot now. He says a lot of words and repeats a lot of what we say! He's going through a fun phase where he hits and pulls hair when he doesn't get his way. We're working on righting that ship ASAP! He also has decided that about 50% of the time, he's going to completely revolt against diaper changes, so that has become a two-adult task a lot of the time. Other than those things, he is absolutely perfect. He is quite a charmer, always smiling and flirting with people in stores and restaurants. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He plays great with his friends, especially Addi, who we have been spending a lot of time with.

He loves day care these days and I have to fight him to put his coat on when it's time to leave. He does the same thing when we leave Grandma & Grandpa's house on Mondays and Fridays. It's a bit of a bruise to Mom's ego that he never wants to go home with me, BUT I am so grateful that he is in such good hands while we work!!

We celebrated our day off on MLK day with a trip to Creation Station at the Museum of Transportation. Melissa and Addi went with us, and we had a lot of fun! That place is great for kids their age - LOTS of fun stuff to play with.
We also got about 10" of snow Wednesday night/Thursday, which led to an unexpected day at home for Mommy. Here's a picture of Jack demonstrating how deep the snow was - where did his legs go??I had to put him in the snow for him to play in it - not sure what to think yet.



Today we finger painted with pudding - another fun idea from my friend Alison. Her daughter Giana is 2 days older than Jack so we like to compare ideas. Jack loved it and especially loved eating the "paint."Jack's friend Addi got a new computer for Christmas and he loves it so we used some Toys 'R Us rewards coupons and got him his own - hopefully he'll keep his little hands off our laptop now (not likely!!).

Play Dough

Last night we celebrated Jason's birthday by having family and some friends over. There were LOTS of kiddos (Jack, Mia, Lily, Addison, Reghan and Cameron and Zachary (Reghan's cousins). Everyone played great together and it's nights like these that we LOVE our segregated toy room (formerly our hearth room).

Here are Mia, Lily, Jack and Reghan (and Chrissy) eating dinner. Jack loves to say "cheese" every time you bring out the camera these days.
Today we made some play dough (thanks for the idea, Alison!), and it was a big hit! I bet we played with it for 45 minutes - not too shabby for a toddler of (almost) 17 months. We discovered that Jack can say "circle," though it sounds more like "gircle." Love it!

This video is a little belated, but we let him play with the new water table Grandma & Grandpa got him for Christmas for a few minutes. It's now in the basement awaiting warmer weather so we can play with it outside, but I think he's going to really enjoy it (if Mommy's smart enough to put warm water in it instead of cold!!).

NYE and Play Dates Galore

Every year I have the week between Christmas and New Year's off of work, and it is heavenly! Jack and I had a few play dates, and Jason and I started tackling the basement project (new shelves, getting rid of stuff and just general organization). The time off went by way too quickly, as it always does, but it was nice.

Here's a summary of the play dates in photos.

We had Addi over on December 26th and played with all of Jack's new toys from Christmas.
Then Monday our friend Caroline came over to play. Doesn't she look like such a peanut next to him? She's 9 months old to his 16 months, but they had fun together (and so did their mommies).
Tuesday Jack's cousins Mia and Lily came by for a brief visit.
And Wednesday we went over to play with Ella and Maci.
Fun week!! And to top it off we had a BIG play date at Addi's house on New Year's Eve!

Addi & Reghan:Ava, Jack and Addi (who knew the booster seat would be such a hit??):
Miss Reghan holding on to daddy Darrin's leg
Jack & Addi:
Reghan & Jack engrossed in Addi's laptop:
Ava, Jack and Tyler - toys everywhere!!Jack & Sloan (again, with the laptop):
Also, here's Jack's play room all put together with his new table/chairs, train table and our new cubby organizer. Just need to hang his white board on the wall and we'll be all set!