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.