Lots of Updates

Where should I begin...how about with our recent outings?

A couple weeks ago, Jack, Grandma and I checked out a few of the area playgrounds. It was a lot of fun, and Jack loves exploring and climbing on everything. When your child learns to walk, people say "watch out, now he'll be getting into everything!" I feel like we got to that point when he started crawling, but the walking to me is a relief. I no longer have to worry about him crawling on yucky public floors or scraping his fragile little knees on rough surfaces - now we can go to playgrounds and wherever we want, and he can toddle around. I much prefer this stage!

Playing with Grandma:Peek-a-boo!
One of his favorite pastimes:
Grandma, Grandpa, Jason and I took Jack to his first carnival a couple weekends ago. It was the annual church picnic at my grade school, which was one of the big highlights of our year growing up. For some reason, it didn't seem quite as big of a deal now that I'm in my 30s. Jack did get to go on two rides though: the big slide and the carousel. I'm told he had a look of shock while we were going down the slide. He did great on the carousel, but that's old news to him now since he's been on about 3 carousels already. After the rides, he just got to walk around a little in his adorable Puma track suit. It was a good time.

That's Jack & Mommy at the top:

Grandma & I also took Jack to Grant's Farm that weekend so Daddy and his friends could watch opening day of football. It was a lot of fun and Jack did great despite being long overdue for his nap. We fed the goats, and boy, those things are aggressive! I had this sweet image in my head of Jack holding the bottle while the goat fed from it, but that's not quite how it went. Instead two goats were duking it out over the one bottle I held while jumping up on my legs. It was all I could do to keep Jack out of the skirmish. Phew - it was a little stressful! BUT, other than that, it was a great afternoon, and an outing we're sure to repeat many times.

Riding the tram:
Jack and a little horse:Feeding the goats:
Those crazy things! Notice the paw prints on my shorts:
Here Jack is modeling the new snow pants and snow boots I got super cheap at Once Upon a Child - he's all set for winter!
And demonstrating how he will make snow angels when the time comes:
Here's Jack getting ready to cheer our Tigers to victory last weekend. He has on shorts that were Aunt Kelly's and mine when we were little. It's very clear they are from the 70s and were likely made for girls - they're technically a size or two too big for him, but yet are quite snug! Jason has forbidden me from putting them on Jack again. Good thing I took this picture!
A day care update: Jack is doing awesome in his new toddler class at day care. Drop offs are getting easier and easier - he didn't even cry the last few times! One day this week, he took such a long nap (3 hrs, 15 min) that they had to wake him up for snack time. One mishap this week though - Jack had his first run-in with a bully. He was playing with a push toy in the common area and a little guy from another class decided to bite Jack on the arm to get the toy from him. His teacher said Jack was absolutely hysterical when it happened (rightfully so!), but calmed down after some cuddling and ice pack application. This was Wednesday and he STILL has bite marks on his arm. Poor baby. I'm sure this won't be the last incident, but you just hate to hear that your little guy was in pain!

And last but not least, Jack has mastered his throwing skills and now has moved on to kicking. I think we have a budding soccer star on our hands:

BFFs

Here are some recent pictures of Jack and his b.f.f., Addi, watching a video.

And a cute video of them playing.

So fun watching them together!!

Toddler!

Jack has officially transitioned to the toddler classroom at day care. He's now in a classroom with 1-2 year olds with new teachers, one nap/day (he had already transitioned to that at school), routines and the biggest change in my book....sleeping on a cot!! My big boy! He's doing really well. The first few days were a little rough - the kids generally transition over a week, but since Jack is only officially there for two days (Wednesdays are considered "back-up care"), he only had two days to transition. Day 1 he went to the Comets room for one hour. And he cried for one hour. Not a great start! Day 2 was much better, and he cried a little, played a little and cried some more. He ate lunch with the Comets and even took a nice long nap there.

Then his first official day came (last Tuesday) where I had to drop him off at the new classroom. Meltdown city! And Jack was not the only one crying, I hate to admit (though are you really surprised??). He did OK, and they figured out giving him his pacifier (which he is completely weaned from at home - doesn't even sleep with one) and his lovey made him more comfortable. Whatever it takes (though they are already given it to him less and less, which is great)!

We now have 4 full days as a Comet under our belt and each day has gotten better and better. Today he didn't even cry when I dropped him off. He's sleeping like a champ on his cot - 2.5 to 3 hour naps each day - and has brought home artwork a few days already (photos below). Consistent with the Clouds (infant) room, we get a sheet each day telling us when he napped, what he ate and when his diapers were changed. Every day his teacher, Ms. Jill, makes fun little comments on his paper to tell us what he did and how the day went. Here are some examples:

Today: "No tears at drop off! Yeh! We played with shape sorters and play dough! Perfect day! Jack loves to dance!! So cute!"

Tuesday: "We had flashlight fun! Excellent day back! Lots of hugs & kisses from Jack - cute"

I love it!

Here are his masterpieces:

Bingo dobber artwork
Pasta glued to construction paper
Isn't our toddler crafty??

And here he is sleeping on his cot (I received this picture in the middle of the day from his teacher on his first full day - it made my day! I love technology!):

One Year Pictures

We had Jack's 1 year pictures taken a few weeks ago and just got the CD of the proofs. He was uncooperative to say the least, so I was satisfied with the pictures given the challenging subject!
This one was supposed to look like the following one of our friends Steve, Kate & Zoey, but as I said Jack was being rather uncooperative.







The photos were taken by Amy at Won't Break the Bank Photos.

First Birthday!!

Our little baby is one year old!! His birthday was Tuesday, and we took off work to spend the day with him. We had great weather (well, great for St. Louis in August - about 88 degrees), so we took him on his first trip to the zoo! We saw lots of animals and Jack seemed to really enjoy himself.

Elephants:
Carousel ride:
How old is Jack?
Phew! The Zoo is exhausting!Tuesday night our families came over for pizza and ice cream cake. We sang happy birthday to Jack and then let the fun begin...


THEN, we had his big birthday bash on Saturday. We had about 40 adults and 20 kiddos in our average-sized house. Luckily the thunderstorms that were in the forecast stayed away, so we were able to utilize our patio with the help of some tents and some super strong fans (it was close to 90 degrees again). We did a Cardinals theme: the invitations looked like baseball tickets, a lot of us wore our Cardinals gear and we served ballpark food (brats, hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, peanuts, Cracker Jack). It was a good time!

Jack in his new Chucks:
Baseball smash cake:
Yum!
Our family:Carrying my messy man to the bathtub:

Here are a few of the gifts Jack received - he is one lucky guy!!

New wagon from Grandma & Grandpa:
Mia & Lily trying out his new ball pit:
One of the 3 Bubble Mowers Jack received (that's what happens when your daddy is a lawn jockey!):
Cozy Coupe:
Grill, complete with chef's hat (please ignore the naked bottom - we're battling yet another case of diaper rash):
Baseball tee:
Had to throw this picture in - just looking cute wearing Aunt Kelly's watch:

Surgery

Jack had surgery this morning to get tubes in his ears. I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm glad it's over! I tossed and turned all night thinking about it - for some reason I thought we were going to accidentally give him water this morning even though he couldn't have food or drink after midnight.

He was quite a trooper when we arrived at 6:15 am and talked to two nurses and the anesthesiologist. Then our doctor was running late, so our poor hungry guy started getting a little impatient. Luckily, some genius hospital worker decided they should keep a wagon in the pre-op area, so he had fun taking rides.

The doctor finally came at 7:15 and they took him away. We all cried! At 7:25 the doctor came out and told us everything went fine and a couple minutes later we could hear our very angry guy crying. They waited about five minutes before coming to get us, and when we got to him he was still pretty mad. He cried for the next 30 minutes or so, but by the time we got out to the car, he was doing much better.

He took a short nap when he got home and I'd say he's back to about 90% now. He'll be good as new in no time and hopefully ear infection-free!

Play Date

Jack had a play date last night with Addison and Reghan. Other than a few temper tantrums (this is new this week, and Mommy and Daddy do not enjoy them), we had a nice time. Melissa had some jumbo crayons and a jumbo coloring book for them to play with. I was so excited for Jack's first time coloring, but turns out he'd rather eat the crayons than color with them. Maybe next time...
Jack showing off his new shoes (and still walking with arms up)
Sharing a popsicle with Daddy the other day

A Night at the Clayton House

Our weeknights are pretty much all the same. Jack and I get home, we all eat dinner, usually take a bath, then we all play until bedtime. Last night I took a couple videos of playtime.

Jack loves his stuffed animals:

Getting tickled is SO much fun: