Reading a Christmas Story

Last year we began the tradition of reading a Christmas story each night to Jack before bed. This is followed by going to the advent calendar for a treat. This year, it has been a really fun part of our bedtime routine with Baby Jack. As soon as we are done reading, Jack runs to find the treat in the calendar. He gets so excited and immediately begins chewing on the paper, but often spits out the treat because he really doesn't care for sweets. Because the calendar sits on a chest in our hallway, Jack often plays with it during the day, so we don't put the treat into it until just before we read the story. He always looks at us in amazement--as if to say, "Hey, this wasn't here earlier...I looked!"

Of all the Christmas books we read, Jack's favorite is clear: Room for a Little One (A Christmas Tale.) This particular book features animals in the manger and Jack just loves the dog and cat. In fact, he loves the cat so much, he ripped the page out with it's picture and walked around the house kissing and petting it. (I had to tape it back into the book.) Now we can only read the book up to that page and then Jack won't let us go any further.

On a side note, I just figured out how to edit video on our computer. I am so proud of me!

Wild 16 Month Old Boy

Jack turned 16 months old yesterday. He is so full of energy that we are just drained! In this picture, he was trying his best to take off his shirt, but took a wrong turn somewhere in the process. (Jack hates long sleeves!)

Here are some random Baby Jack facts:

• He does not slow down. At all. He is non-stop action.
• He loves books, but you have to read quickly, because he turns the pages very fast! He also likes to put his foot on the pages while you read. His current favorite is Mr. Brown Can Moo.
• He will only eat eggs if they have hot salsa on them. (Must have been all the spicy food I ate when I was pregnant and breast feeding!)
• He can unscrew caps. He can take the safety stops out of our outlets. He is getting very dangerous.
• He is obsessed with cats and dogs, but especially cats. We finally realized, he has been saying cat for awhile, it just sounds like "tee tee." (Kitty?) When he sees a dog, he says "ruff ruff." (Although that sounds more like a high pitched squeal.) He has a small stuffed cat he loves to play with more than anything. I put in between the rails of his crib after he goes to sleep and night and you can hear him playing with it when he wakes up and finds it in the morning.
• He is a good sleeper. 10-11 hours each night and at least a 2 hour nap each day. Although, he did wake up last night around 12:30am with a cough (he has a bit of a cold) and decided it was morning and didn't want to go back to bed. Stuart brought him into our bed about 1:30am. I know, bad idea, but he argued that Jack kept smiling at him, so he had to! (He is putty in Jack's little manipulative hands.) He then sat between us, wide awake, for another 30 minutes or more, alternately grabbing our noses and saying "nose, nose."

That's enough for now. More to come later. I'll try to do some Christmas posts soon.

First Picture with Santa

Jack took his first picture with Santa yesterday. (Yes, we tried one with all of the kids, but you know teenage girls are not always open to having their picture taken, so Jack was the only willing participant.) We didn't do this last year because we weren't trusting enough to pass off our baby to a strange man in a Santa suit.

Jack was great, running around, playing with everyone, talking up a storm, having a ball, until the second we put him on Santa's lap. That was the moment he became very quiet and even a little shy, which is shocking behavior for him. He was good, just not willing to look up or smile too much.

Mmmm

Don't come between a boy and his Cheetos!

Ready for My Picture

This is a first. Instead of running to take the camera from me, he stopped and smiled for a picture. Isn't he the cutest?

Singing Little Bunny Foo Foo

OK, this just cracks me up. As I mentioned, I've been singing Little Bunny Foo Foo with Jack. (Yes, I realize there are a handful of you out there who don't know the song, but it's not my fault you've been living under a rock!) Anyway, Jack is very funny about the song. He won't look at me when I do the song and acts uninterested, but he always stops what he is doing when we get to the part about bopping the field mice on the head and laughs because I bop him on the head. Lately, when I do the song, if I pause in the middle, he will help me finish it the way he wants. (Try to ignore my awful voice.)

Just Like Dad

This may not amuse anyone other than myself, but I'm going to share it anyway. The other night Stuart was on the phone and Baby Jack imitated his dad. Jack walked around the house with a cell phone, copying his dad, keeping the phone to his ear and chatting away for about 20 minutes. It was so cute.

New Words

Yesterday, Jack learned to say some new things. He can now say "nose" and when you ask, he can sound like a dog, "ruff ruff." We were thrilled and kept making him perform last night.

I can't wait until he can say something useful, like drink, more, again, hungry, etc.

HELP!

Seriously, there is nothing this kid won't get into.

Christmas Lights

Jack had a blast helping Stuart hang the outside Christmas lights yesterday. I was exhausted after chasing him when he got into trouble. Nothing too bad, he just:

1. continually ran down the street
2. chased after every car that passed,
3. tried to tip over the neighbor's trash bins
4. climbed the ladder
5. ate the rocks in the yard
6. repeatedly unplugged the lights
   

Don't pay any attention to his Halloween shirt with all of the bats. I know that season has passed, but the shirt still fits him and I got it for only $1. I know, I am cheap.

A Night Out

Look closely at this picture. You might not recognize us without Jack, but that is actually Stuart and I, out for an afternoon, without our baby boy. We needed it! We spent Saturday at a Christmas party while Jack enjoyed some quality time with Grammie and Papa.

I didn't take many pics and it was a small gathering, but here is Stuart with our friends Sharon and Kathy.

The best part is, we came to pick up Jack and found him fast asleep in papa's arms. What could be better?

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Last week I got a song stuck in my head. Well, actually, it was part of a song...I couldn't remember how it ended. I hate when that happens. The song was Little Bunny Foo Foo. Don't ask me why; all I can say is I spend the better part of my days with a toddler, so my brain is a little warped. Anyway, I asked Stuart how the song ended. He looked at me like I was nuts (a common thing for him to do.) He thought I was making it up. I tried to convince him it was a real song, which he didn't believe. He told me it must be "some Mormon thing" that no one else knew. I tried to convince him, but to no avail. (He's as stubborn as I am.) So, I went to Wikipedia to resolve our dispute. Wikipedia is our "go to" conflict resolution tool, so we use it frequently. Sure enough, there was a reference for the song and it even included all of the words! Yea! The song was even featured once on South Park, so that helped convince him it wasn't some obscure "Mormon thing." Anyway, I have been singing it to Jack ever since, and he loves it!

My question to all of you is, are you familiar with the song? Use the voting tool on the blog to cast your vote. (It's not enough to be right in this house, you have to really rub it in!)

Who is My Mom?

Jack says very few words at this point. We are limited to: mom, dada, eye, hi, no, and sometimes go. The one he says most often is mom. This used to be reserved just for me, but over the last couple of weeks, he has been calling almost every woman he meets, "mom." He even calls his dad, "mom" from time to time. We are working to help him identify who is who. Sorry for the dim lights in the video, but if you listen, he is starting to get the hang of it.

Shoe Problems

Jack has always loved shoes. When he was younger, he would chew on his dad's shoes. (Gross, I know.) Over the weekend, I found him trying to put his foot into a pair of my high heels. I thought I would help him out by putting his feet into a pair of my flats. He really liked them. (Try to ignore my bras on the floor; I hadn't cleaned our bedroom.)

Unfortunately, when he couldn't keep them on, he got a little frustrated.

I worry about how he reacts when he is frustrated. Stuart thinks I should let it go. In his opinion, "we won the baby lottery" with Jack. Since Jack is so happy, a good sleeper, and not at all difficult, Stuart thinks this is a minor challenge. As I said before, the kid is determined.

Phone Calls

While Stuart was away in China, he called and spoke to Jack on the phone once or twice each day. (Don't ask us about the phone bill...it was ugly!) Ever since, Jack loves to walk around and talk on the phone. He doesn't always use a phone, sometimes it is something similar in size. He just babbles away.