10 Months Old

Baby Jack turned 10 months old while we were in Canada. He is crazy active right now. On Friday, he started cruising around the house. He also began practice standing. He will start from a squatting position and slowing stand up with his arms wide; he can even hold it for a couple of seconds. He is so proud of himself.

He is chewing everything in site. I found him sleeping in his crib during his morning nap today with white specks all around his mouth and quickly discovered he had chewed the paint off the rail of his crib. (Note that he began chewing drywall off the window ledge in our bedroom a couple of weeks ago, so we should have expected this.) Today, Stuart installed some plastic railings and within minutes of completion, we found him working at it until he got his teeth under the plastic edge--pulling it right off of the wall!

He talks all the time, his favorite sound is "go" which he repeats all the time. "Mom" seems to be the only word with understanding behind it. Although, he doesn't associate it with me. He only says it when he is frustrated, mad, or wants something.

He is so loving. I get lots of hugs and kisses all the time. When he sees Stuart and I kiss, he has to crawl over and work his way into the mix! He doesn't want to be left out of the fun.

He loves his blanket (or my robe with the same fabric.) We try to limit it to bedtime, nap time, or when he is extremely upset. However, if he gets a glimpse of it, he has to have it. He laughs and buries his face in it. It is so cute.

He is exhausting me at the moment as I try to keep him out of trouble.

Canada Part II - Family Fun

We had a a wonderful time staying with Stuart's sister, Alicia. She has a beautiful garden and threw a wonderful party while we were there. You can see how green it is from some of the pictures we took in her back yard. Unfortunately, I didn't get any good shots of the flowers to post. They were unbelieveable. Jack loved crawling around and playing in the dirt. As an added surprise Stuart's brother, Marc, flew in while we were there. He was unable to make it to the wedding so it was the first time both Jack and I got to meet him.

The weather was beautiful. We took some wonderful walks and Jack even ate cherries from the trees in his Nanna's yard! All in all, it was a wonderful trip, but we were glad to get Jack back to familiar surroundings. Stuart's sister is the best hostess and really catered to our needs, but it is hard taking care of a baby when he is too distracted by everything being new to eat or sleep like he normally does. Below are some additional picture highlights of the trip:

Stuart, Alicia, and Marc. (Please note Stuart's lovely attire, plaid shorts and striped shirt. Boy, is this man a keeper, or what?)

The Allen family: Stuart, Marc, Grandad (Bryan,) Alicia, and Nanna (Shirley)

Jack going after Elizabeth and Emily. He just loved those little girls!

Cousins Darryl and Katrina.

Deanna enjoying the garden.

Uncle Frank was having fun.

Jack waking up his big sis Heather with a hug and kiss. She really is very good with her little brother.

Canada Part I - Graduation

I have lots to share about our Canada trip, but it is too much to summarize in one post, so I will break it up for you. Let's start with the best part. The reason for our trip up to Canada was to watch Karen graduate from the 8th grade. I know this will make me sound old, and I am already anticipating the mocking to come from my brother Jon, but 8th grade graduation was not a big deal when I was a kid. I believe they let us watch movies the last day of school and gave some sort of speech congratulating us about moving to the 9th grade, and that was it. Also, since we didn't change schools until the 10th grade, it seemed unnecessary. Flash forward many years (insert joke from Jon here) and 8th grade graduation is a production. Everyone is dressed up like it is prom night. OK, enough about that. Karen looked FABULOUS. Her mom helped her get dressed up for the event and Stuart and I were amazed at how grown up she suddenly looked overnight. Remember, she is only 13! After Karen's name was called, I spent the rest of the ceremony outside with Jack since I made him cry when I screamed after they called Karen's name. He got over it and spent the rest of the evening flirting with all of the pretty girls.

Having fun!

Future Super Model

Paparazzi Shots!

More to come in the next installment...

Quick Note from Canada...

We've been a bit busy here so I haven't had a minute on the computer before now. We are heading back home to the heat tomorrow evening. Things are going well and there is just too much to tell right now. I will say that the trip up went better than expected. Jack was hysterical. My dad drove us to the airport. Thanks dad. (I think he has been my airport ride for more trips than I can possibly count over the past 10+ years.) Jack made fast friends will all of the other kids in the airport. He just flirted with everyone he saw. We met a nice Indian couple at the gate when Jack decided to try to pull the scarf off the the head of the pregnant woman sitting behind us. He was fascinated with the beautiful henna designs on her hands and tried to suck them off. Luckily she was understanding.

Once on board, the real fun began. Jack fell asleep during take-off making the first hour and half of the flight nice. After that, he filled the plane with his happy squeals of delight. There was only one unused seat on the plane and we were lucky to get that! (I think it helped that I took the aisle seat and Stuart took the window. For some reason, no one wanted to take the seat in between us, either that or they assumed we bought a seat for Jack.) Jack loved the woman sitting behind Stuart. He kept laughing and grabbing for her. He finally climbed over the seat and into her arms. No exaggeration! He wrapped his arms around her neck and wouldn't let go. He hugged her and gave her big sloppy kisses. It was hysterical! We really appreciated her patience. We sat at the back of the plane and every person who passed was stopped by Jack as he grabbed for them while laughing out loud. We were totally prepared to try and calm an upset baby, but there is just no way to contain a happy one. As we left everyone commented on the happy noises coming from the back of the plane.

He then slept through most of the car ride here. We were exhausted when we arrived! Anyway, I will have details and tons of pics from the trip once we return. (If you are trying to reach me, my cell doesn't work for some reason.) More to come. In the meantime, try to imagine a cute picture of Jack smiling and we will supply the real thing in the next post.

Technical Difficulties

OK you bloggers out there, I know it has been awhile. We have had some computer difficulties. Not only did this cut me off from the blogging world, but since I keep most of my address book on-line, I was without ability to call and catch up with some of you. So sorry! Luckily, Stuart was able to save all of my files before he re-installed all of our operating programs. Yea! We had literally thousands of pics. The back-up process alone took a couple of days. However, not everything is back to normal (I still can't run video,) but I haven't had time to set everything up again as we are getting ready for our next adventure.

Today we head out to Canada. Jack's sister Karen is graduating from the 8th grade and we will be spending a week up north. We were up late last night packing and I thought I would drop everyone a quick note before Jack and Stuart wake up and all hell breaks loose. Jack even has his very own passport! This is our first big trip with him and I am a bit nervous. I think the plane ride will be fine. It is the two hour drive to Stuart's sister once we hit the ground that I think will be more challenging. Also, I am not looking forward to a week without our arsenal of baby stuff!

Anyway, I will post more when we get back. I have a lot to catch up on and can't wait to read all of your blogs to find out what I have missed. (Just thought you should know we are still alive and kicking Sheri!) Here are some Jack photos to hold you over till we return next week.

Aren't I cute?

Helping Dad assemble new shelves.

What do you mean I'm too big for this toy?

Look how big I am now?

Talking Baby

Jack just loves the sound of his own voice now!

Gotta Love that Face

Try to ignore the fact that in every picture of Jack, you can see our messy house in the background.

Dad's First Kiss

Jack has been giving me some great kisses. Sometimes on command, sometimes just because. He often grabs my face with both hands and plants a big wet one on me. However, he has not done this with Stuart. Last night was his first ever kiss for dad, but it did take some coaxing. Each time we told him to kiss his dad, he shook his head no. It was so funny. Finally, he relented and gave his dad a big wet kiss. Forgive the multiple video, but we wanted to give you an idea of what we went through last night.

2 crazy boys

Jack just goes crazy when Stuart comes home after work. He doesn't even have to see his dad; once he hears the front door open, he knows who is home and wants nothing more to do with his mom. I just love it.