9 Month Stats

Well, we had our 9 month well baby check-up today. Here are the important stats:

• Weight: 25 lb 5 oz (92%)
• Height: 31 inches (99+% -- off the charts!)
• Head: can't remember (96%)
• Teeth: 6

Luckily, Stuart met me at the doctor's for the visit since Jack was way to excited to be contained. It's nice that he loves the staff so much, but it was tiring as he did not want to sit still. As promised, I have included our 9 month photo shoot highlights.

Rapidly Learning New Tricks

The last week has been eventful with baby Jack. Just wanted to share some highlights. He turned 9 months old on Thursday and in the week prior decided it was time to learn many new tricks in advance of this milestone.

He can pull himself up to a standing position. (check out how tall this kid is...)

This ability has allowed him to finally reach that mobile above his crib. He was playing in the crib last week and suddenly, it got very quiet. Foolishly, I thought he had fallen asleep so I went to check on him. Nope, he had pulled the mobile down and was happily playing with it.

He has decided that the tub is a terrifying place to be, unless someone is in there with him. He still loves bathing in the sink and taking showers, but cries as if his heart is breaking if you try to put him in the tub by himself. He claws and climbs up on me in terror. He finally gave it a try when I got in with him, but still took awhile to be comfortable enough to sit on his own.

He can now crawl on his knees! He still loves the army crawl, but now has a new way to travel.

He has learned how to open drawers. (and, consequently, smash his little fingers in them.)

As a result of all of this new activity, we don't have 9 month pictures to post. We tried, but getting him to focus was not working. Now that he can climb down off of the chair we put him on, or crawl away, he just doesn't want to cooperate. We're going to try again this afternoon and hopefully will have something to share soon.

Check out his new favorite noise: the fake cough. He does it all the time now. Note, when he sees the camera, he has to try to climb up and attack his mom. Now you see our photo dilema.

Snake Charmer

Mother's Day

Just wanted to post a picture of the Mother's day gift I received from my husband. Stuart took one of my favorite pictures of Jack and did it up in a mosiac using a multitude of miniature pictures of him. I just love it! (NOTE: If you click on the picture, you can get a better view of all the mini-pics in it's composition.)

Teething Toys

Jack currently has 4 adorable teeth and has been working hard on getting the next 2. As a result, he is chewing on everything in site. Currently, he loves to chew on the strings from mom and dad's sweat pants or shorts. All of mine are stretched out and I walk around all day with them all wet and slimey from Jack. At least that is better than some of his other chew toys. He loves the metal tag on my coach wallet so I frequently let him chew on when I take him shopping because it keeps him quiet. Unfortunately, I noticed he has destroyed the leather trim on it. No one to blame but myself. So, I would rather indulge him in chewing on the drawstring than let him ruin anymore of my nice things.

As a side note, doesn't he have the best eyes? I know I am biased, but when he flashes those beautiful blues at me, I just melt.

Jack's First Tent

In preparation for a trip up to Canada, I have been working on what baby supplies we will need to care for Jack in a home that isn't equipped for an infant. I found this great baby tent on-line that travels easily and is enclosed so a crawling kid can't escape. It comes with it's own blow up air mattress and even has a sleeping bag for us to use when Jack is older. We thought this would be great because not only can we use for our upcoming trip, but it would be great for going to the beach, or even camping. (Sorry Laura, RVs and campers aren't really camping; it doesn't count as camping unless you are sleeping in a tent or under the stars...I know dad will agree with me!)
We were so excited about it, but Jack took a little longer to warm up to the idea. He was interested in the box when we received it Wednesday night, but the second I took it out, he became very upset. He cried when I unzipped it and wanted to get as far away from it as possible. (This was before I even put it together!) It took an hour before he was willing to get into the thing and even then, he didn't like the mattress at all, and refused to sit on it. He kept throwing himself out of the tent as fast as he could.
So, we have tried to ease him into the idea, leaving it out and gradually getting him used to it. We climb in there with him to help make him comfortable. Yesterday, he even ventured in on his own and seemed to like the idea. It looks like we'll make a camper out of him after all. (He would get that from his mom, not his dad. Stuart has Laura's same warped view of camping!)

Communication

Jack is beginning to chatter more. He's babbled for awhile, but always acts shy if we paid too much attention to it. However, he is becoming more vocal each day. He has mumbled "dada" quite a bit, although he doesn't yet associate it with his dad. Just this last weekend he started saying "ma." (About time!) He hasn't said it more than a handful of times, but he does seem to use it to specifically get my attention. Maybe I'm just reading more into it...but it is very cool!
(BTW, check out those teeth of his. Don't be concerned about the mess, it's only cottage cheese.)

He also loves to shake his head, but I'm not sure if he is using it to say "no". He often shakes his head back and forth before going to sleep, as if he is fighting it to the last second. Hope this isn't a sign of a rebellious streak we have to look forward to with Jack.

Hysterical

We are fully aware that we contribute to any bedtime issues by encouraging his hysteria at night. Oh, but it is worth every second of sleep lost...

Destructo Baby

We have had some recent requests to post some longer videos of Jack, so we will oblige. However, don't expect this to be a regular posting as they take too long to load! Anyway, this is one that I love as it shows Jack tackling some of his toys. He loves to rip things apart! If you listen closely, you can even hear him babble a little.

So Many Reasons to Love Jack

OK, my last post listed my frustrations, so I thought I would call out a few of the best things about our little Jack.

1. He wakes up happy. The second he sees you from his crib, he breaks into a large grin and burrows his head in the bed and looks up again to smile and squeal in delight.
2. Every morning, we (usually Stuart) get him up and bring him into our bed for our morning cuddle. He is so cute. He has to be able to touch both his parents at the same time, reaching out his arms in both directions and continually looking back and forth to make sure we are both there and acknowledging him. He also loves to make a tent of our blanket to watch the light shine through it.
3. He is such a little flirt. Yesterday we went to his dermatologist and saw a nurse he hadn't met before then. The second she walked in the room, he reached for her and practically jumped into her arms.
4. He loves the sound of his voice, but gets shy if you pay too much attention to his babble or try to get the camera out to film it.
5. He has to experience everything through his feet. He rolls to his back and holds his toys with his feet as he plays with them.
6. He LOVES that ASPCA commercial. You know, the one with Sarah McLachlan's melancholy song playing in the background as they show all these sad looking cats and dogs? Jack stops everything and just stares at the TV when it comes on. He will crawl from across the room to be able to see it. The funny thing is he has no interest in TV otherwise. I have tried various PBS programs and he could care less about them, but this commercial stops him in his tracks. I need to record it and play it on a loop for him!
7. He loves going on trips. He is pretty good with the car seat, loves his stroller, and loves being outside! It really makes getting errands done so much easier.
8. Bedtime is hysterically funny. He goes into this frantically happy mode about 30 minutes before bed. He screams, growls, and crawls all over us; he can barely contain his excitement. I try to calm his with his nightly story, but it is comical as he alternates between laughing hysterically at what I am reading to desperately grabbing for the book or for me.
9. He gives great hugs and kisses. He will hug both his parents, but will only kiss his mom right now. He grabs my face with his hands and gives me a big open mouth kiss (although we are working on coaching him that kisses do not include teeth!)

I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

Strong Willed Baby

Jack is starting to assert his independence. It was cute at first, but now it's just exhausting. His new ways of letting us know he is in charge include, ramming his walker into you until you pick him up, arching his back when you try to sit him in his high chair, and screaming when you try to change his clothes or get him dressed (he prefers nakedness.) He is also getting picky about his eating. He does ok at lunch, but dinner is not the same. He doesn't like most anything at dinner time, even if he'll eat it earlier in the day. Sometimes it's just carrots for dinner. He wants to hold his bottle, but not drink from it. He is just facinated with the nipple and plays with it and squirts it all over the place.

BTW, can someone please tell me how to get a boy to stop grabbing his balls during a diaper change?! Seriously. We aren't just talking touching, but grabbing, pulling, and hitting them! Messy diaper changes can get really gross now.

He is very fast at the army crawl now. He gets on his knees and rocks back and forth and can even crawl backwards, but sticks to the belly scoot when he wants to go forward. Within seconds he is across the room or down the hall. He has decided his toys are no longer entertaining enough and prefers to find shoes, rugs, and anything dangerous to play with instead.


It's a good thing this kid is so cute!

Thanks Aunt Marcy

My sister-in-law, Marcy, has been so generous in sharing baby items for little Jack. She continually sends over items as Jack grows into new stages of life (when she is in the country that is!) She has sent so much stuff, including baby clothes, pool toys, and even baby proofing house items. We even have some cool gear like baby carriers and cart covers from Marcy. Jack just wanted to take a moment to say Thanks Aunt Marcy.