in addition to my monthly updates, i'm going to try and provide more interim reports on your daily, weekly, bi-weekly, whenever doings...so here goes. funny weekend activity - lunging. to practice walking, daddy and i sat on the ground and put you between us - rather than take a couple of steps though, you found it much more amusing to just lunge for one of us, crumpling into a fit of laughter...oh well, steps will follow one of these days i'm sure - then we're really in for it.
we've also decided you are much more "miesmer" than murphy, you don't sit still...ever (well except for naptime)...you are on the go all of your waking hours - don't even like sitting in your highchair long enough to enjoy a nice meal...go, go, go, looking out the window, up the stairs, over to the basement to say hi to rosie, in and out of your house...phew, it's exhausting - but we know where you get it from, just look at mommy.
here's you and your friend sophie giving each other wagon rides this weekend - she's also a gal on the go...you two make a perfect pair.
author's note: i was getting bored with the old template so have spiced it up a little - hope you like it! don't forget to leave comments, jack likes to know who's reading about him.
wow - in just one month you will be one whole year old...time does fly. well, our decision to take you out of daycare has proved to be a good one. you've gone 6 weeks since your last ear infection and have had a little cold in the meantime which, for the first time did NOT move to your ears - hooray! we saw the ENT in january and he did not recommend tube surgery for you, but wants to see you back in after the winter - another HOORAY! we're hoping your good health continues through february and into the springtime.
january is the month of "da" - everything is "da" you point enthusiastically at photos, the dog, yourself and "DA!" - we promptly respond with naming whatever the item is for you so as not to totally confuse you by thinking the world is made up of "da!" you've also started waving, clapping and doing a funny little jig this month...bruce springsteen is still one of your favorites, with the wiggles a close second :-)
stairs are also a great source of amusement for you - up, up, up you go until someone pulls you back down on your belly. tiring, but good exercise! this month, you and i took a road trip to washington d.c. to visit aunt maureen, uncle josh and stanley - you had a great time, especially yanking on stanley's fur!
jack goes to washington
though technically a february event, the majority of the fun was in january with the Giants winning the superbowl. every game day you put on your lucky eli manning jersey to cheer on big blue...here's some pictures of you and daddy cheering for the Giants.
Giants vs. Tampa Bay
Giants vs. Dallas
Giants vs. Dallas again (we're missing Green Bay)
SuperBowl! (and yes, that is the same playoff beard on daddy....)
you have two lonely little bottom teeth - but i keep thinking the top ones are on their way in...i can see them just under your gums, but no actual top teeth yet. you're really getting to be a big boy - you drink one of your bottles out of a cup now and have started eating much more "big person" food - some of your current favorites are veggie sticks, teddy grahams and tortellini.only one more month until your first birthday - where does the time go?
The big 1-0! 10 months old, I can hardly believe it. Gone is the little cuddly baby and in his place is a rambunctious, happy, energetic almost toddler. Though you've had your fare share of ear infections this past month, the new year started off bright. To help with keeping you healthy, we've decided to take you out of daycare for the time being. Ms. Yvette was very sad to hear you are leaving, but daddy and I think it's the best thing for you in the end. You've got a great new babysitter, named Becca who comes to our house to watch you.
This month certainly has been a busy one! You say "mama", "dada" and lots of other "ba", "ga" and "ka" sounds. You're a pro crawler and as the video below shows, have started in on walking (with some help from your school bus). You're also really getting into table food, to the point where you tried to climb on top of your leapfrog table to get to the pretzel bowl!
We also celebrated your first Christmas - we had visits from everyone! Aunt maureen and uncle Josh came to visit on their way to CT; grandma, grandpa, aunt kris and uncle mike came on the 23rd and nana and pop-pop were here at the end of the week. Below are some photos and video of you enjoying your first Christmas.
reading with aunt Kris and uncle Mike
Merry Christmas!
We also made a trip to Maryland for you to meet your great-grandma miesmer (also knowns as Gee-Gee). We had a fun visit - despite the fact that you REFUSED to take a nap.
playing organ with Gee-Gee
reading with nana
happy 10 you to, happy 10 to you, happy 10 dear jack-jack, happy 10 to you!
hey little buddy - happy 9 months old! it's been quite a busy month for you. we celebrated your first thanksgiving at the chaneski's house (aunt lee-ann, uncle steve, laura and scott). you had a great time and enjoyed all of the food there was to eat.
happy thanksgiving! (pre-dinner)
happy thanksgiving! (post-dinner)
daddy and i continue to be amazed at how quickly your world moves. from your early crawling at the beginning of the month to now you are nearly cruising on the furniture. you pull yourself up with relative ease - a good and a bad thing - as you'll pull yourself up in your crib and haven't quite figured out how to get yourself back down yet! you also manage to get yourself stuck in a few sticky spots.
some of your favorite toys this month are your leap frog musical table, your walker with the plastic envelopes, your train and of course your wooden blocks are still a hit! you also love to read books with flaps for you to lift and explore - the "peekaboo" series being your favorite. here's some video of you doing one of mommy's favorite moves (all we need is the stayin' alive soundtrack!).
you and daddy love to spend time playing guitar and you even sing with him sometimes. one of your new favorite games (not ours) is to spit while you eat, spit while you play. daddy decided it would be fun to have a spitting contest with you over this past weekend...
on the not-so-good front is your inability to nap at daycare, you just love being awake and playing with your friends so much that you just refuse to nap! it's frustrating for me and daddy because then you are very tired at night when we get home. hopefully you'll get it figured out soon and starting taking better naps.
only 3 more months until you turn one-year old! i can hardly believe it, daddy and i were looking at video of little tiny baby jack this week and can't believe how big you've gotten.
well, as luck would have it (we are murphy's i shouldn't be surprised) you started teething like crazy this past sunday, which coincided with changing the clocks back. all week you've been waking up around 5A and i thought it was just due to the time change. in fact, we let you cry for an hour on wednesday morning hoping you would go back to sleep! bad mommy, your gums hurt! you popped a tooth this morning and daycare called to tell me about it. i tried to get a picture, but no luck - so we'll just publish this post as is! yeah for teeth!
happy 8 month birthday little buddy! another month has flown by i can't believe you'll be one year old in only 4 months. we had a very busy, but fun month, highlights include: attending the first phillies playoff game since 1993 (they lost - but we had fun!); spending the weekend with nana - your first overnight away from mommy and daddy, you two had fun though, taking long walks and you even talked her into buying you lots of new toys and new clothes; your first halloween - you made a very adorable yoda...
visits with grandma and grandpa and aunt kris and uncle mike; and your latest "trick" - crawling - yes, you mastered the fine art of movement - look out world. in just two days you went from tentative, tippy crawls, to pretty smooth (and faster) crawling. time to start baby-proofing.
on the illness front - you spent most of the month on antibiotics to try and clear up your ear infections once and for all and it seems to have worked! at your doctor's appointment at the end of october your ears were all clear - hooray! daddy and i weren't too excited about the possibility of ear tubes for you at such a young age.
mealtime is one of your favorites, you're well into stage 2 pureed foods now and have started trying table food, you've had carrots, cheese, turkey and your favorite - french fries! (you went out to dinner with me and daddy and had your first french fry and loved it) - here's video of you and daddy having mealtime fun.
you're still my little cuddle bug at nighttime - though lately it's as though i'm putting you through chinese water torture just to get you in your pajamas- what's up with that?! but my favorite time of day is still just after you finished your bedtime bottle and cuddle in for sleep. speaking of sleep, keep up the good work - 12-13 hours straight every night! daddy and i thank you.
the coming months are only going to be filled with more wonderful new things to learn and explore - we're ready - bring it on!
lots of love to you little boy and happy 8 month birthday.
hey there little man - happy belated 7 month birthday! each month seems to go by faster and faster, before we know it you'll be one year old. during the past month you have mastered the fine art of sitting up - started doing it early in September but we still had to keep some pillows nearby, now we can just sit you down anywhere and you rarely topple over.
happy 7 month birthday!
You've also started to practice crawling by getting up on all fours and rocking. Unfortunately, most of your practice takes place when you are supposed to be sleeping...speaking of sleeping, you are the best nighttime sleeper (knock on wood). You go to bed at 6:45 and rarely do we hear from you until 7A the next morning - keep it up, mommy and daddy love getting the extra ZZZZZZZs. And when you do wake up you are all smiles and giggles - it's great!
here's some daytime crawling practice...you didn't get very far, but decent effort. (blogger's note - i apologize for the length of this video, haven't edited it down yet)
Over the past month you've become quite a babbling baby - one of your favorites is "dadadadada..." we now need to work on "mamamamama..." Uncle Josh, Aunt Maureen and Stanley came to visit you in September and we spent time with the Murphy's at Donna's engagement party and Megan's birthday party.
hello Stanley
Our new favorite activity is to stop off at daddy's office on the way home at night. You get so excited and start laughing and smiling when we get there. I know it makes his day (and mine too to see you so happy). You're mastering the fine are of finger foods, picking up your cheerios and puffs with ease, but don't really like to eat them yet as once they get in your mouth you usually spit them out. You are a cookie monster though! Even putting the cookie on your head, silly boy.
cookie monster!
and i know i've said it before, but your laugh is totally infectious, just check out this video to see what i mean...
I can't believe it's been more than half a year since you were born - sometimes it feels like only yesterday that you were the tiny little 7 lb 10 oz peanut we brought home all snuggly and wearing hats in the house (it was cold!) - then i look at how big your getting, your awesome personality, the time we spend "talking" and realize just how long it's been and how fast the time has gone. fortunately for me, though they are fewer and farther between, some nights after your bedtime bottle you still like to cuddle into my shoulder and fall asleep. we always spend a little extra time rocking on those very special nights.
"faster sophie, faster!"
"where to m'lady?"
