Dressing Himself

Well, sort of. Today (and once earlier in the week), Jack ripped off his socks (this is not the cool part--this happens everytime he figures out he is wearing socks) and then tried to put them back on. I didn't know what he was doing at first. He got all excited about his socks and kept squeezing them. Then he looked intently at his feet and placed one sock on top of his foot. He looked at it oddly then moved his foot and started again. He hasn't figured out the whole, find the opening and put your foot through thing but at least he's figured out where the sock is supposed to go and tried to make it happen. I wish he'd do the same thing for the contents of his diaper.

Also, he has really decided that he either 1) likes bananas a lot 2) likes saying the word "banana" alot (I mean, come on, who doesn't) or 3) likes bananas AND saying the word. He's been repeating "banana" for awhile, by saying "NANA!" Incidentally, this is also his word for "Nonny" (my mom) which is quite the compliment for the fruit yet quite the slight for my mother. Anyway, a couple of days ago, he looked over at the bowl on our kitchen table where the bananas are and said, "NANA!" I then gave him some and he ate almost the entire banana. It was his first time asking for something he wanted verbally. Today, while flipping through his book, there were bananas and he looked at me and said, "NANA" again. Boy is this kid going to be confused when my mom dresses up as a banana again this Halloween.

1st Birthday Party!!

Cake #1

Big cupcake decorated as a circus tent

The spread

Birthday lunch

Jack's birthday weekend was jammed packed and tons of fun. Nonny and Poppy came into town on Thursday and the fun didn't stop until school started the following Tuesday! On Friday, we spent the day finalizing all of the preparations for the party. We ordered balloons and started baking the cakes.

A few months ago I got suckered in by an commercial for Big Top cupcake, a baking pan that makes a huge, cake sized cupcake. The commercial had all of these cute ideas for decorating and if you ordered now, they would throw in free 3D animal cookie cutters AND the decorating ideas book. I was sold and so the idea to have a circus themed party was born. And thus began my first experience with being duped by a television product. The T.V. made the cupcake look the size of a small child. However, in reality, it was much smaller. In addition, the cake pan was slightly too big for one cake mix yet way too small for two. I did a practice run the week before to check it out and borrowed a cake pan in the shape of the number 1 as a backup plan.

So on Friday, it was time to bring my idea to life. And it worked out great! Except for the stupid animal cookies that did NOT easily assemble and become 3D. In fact, I threw them away to avoid having to wash them and store them! Yet I surprised myself with my decorating on the other cakes.

On Saturday morning, we woke up early to take Jack to his Kindermusik class, where he cried a lot and didn't like being with all the other kids until about five minutes before the end of the class. At 12:00 the guests arrived and the party was a success. Jack enjoyed his lasagna but didn't care much for opening presents and cried when I gave him his cake. He didn't eat any of it (it didn't help that he was ready for a nap at that point). Oh well, next year!

All in all it was a great birthday celebrated with family. I can't believe my little man is 1 year old but if each age keeps getting better (as has been the case thus far), we are in for one heck of a ride!

Jack's First Haircut

Jack got his first haircut on February 7th at Cool Cuts for Kids. Cool Cuts should be renamed--Cold Hard Cash from Parents. His minimal trimming cost $18! He thought it was interesting at first, especially being in a mini taxicab seat. But the hairdresser took a little too long for Jack's case and he kept pushing her hands away. She did a nice job except for buzzing him a little too high above the ear. But she had a difficult client. I was originally against the haircut, wanting to see how moppy Jack's hair could get and to see what his hair would do long. But Daddy was right. He looks great!

1st birthday portraits

Jack's first birthday portraits were taken at JC Penney. We couldn't believe that we actually got some good photos. He had MAJOR stranger anxiety and didn't like being photographed. Mommy and Nonny worked REALLY hard to get these smiles! It was especially embarassing since the back of the studio was all windows and opened up to the rest of the store, exposing all of our ridiculous antics to the public, But it was worth it for these shots!

Happy First Birthday, Jack!

Getting ready to head to the Shedd

Checking out the big aquarium in the middle of the Shedd

Underwater viewing is Jack's favorite!

Birthday boy back home after a big day!

The celebratory cupcake.

Jack turned the big 0-1 today and to celebrate, Mommy took the day off work to spend with her boy. The fact that I had Scholastic Bowl last night and didn't get home until just before he went to bed and that I have an all day Saturday tournament made the decision that much easier. Anyway, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium this morning and really, we couldn't have had more perfection with our planning skills.

We left after his breakfast and got downtown without any troubles. We got our tickets and took Jack all around, checking out different tanks of fish. We spent most of our time in the Oceanarium because that's the coolest part and because Jack loves underwater viewing! He enjoyed the dolphins, saying "Ohhhh" after I did each time when they swam by.

Afterwards, we went to watch the live show and though Jack was getting super tired, having forgone his morning nap in the car in favor of babbling the whole ride down, he was really attentive and liked the show. We then went to the cafe for Jack's favorite part of the day--eating in a restaurant! He loved his grilled cheese and I didn't even push him too hard to eat his veggies and fruits. Aren't all eating rules suspended on your birthday anyway?

Jack was getting really tired so we went to the Wild Reef exhibit just before heading home. Even though he was exhausted, he didn't fuss or cry the entire time! He fell asleep about a minute and a half after his seatbelt was buckled and slept the whole way home. Mommy made mac and cheese for dinner for Jack for hte first time and after that he got a cupcake, which he had no interest in. I took a bite and determined that the kid had good taste--it was the worst cupcake ever! Hopefully he will be more excited about his cake at his birthday party next year. Hopefully he will also start smiling for pictures then too! Lately, he squints everytime a picture is taken because he sees the little orange light that goes off before each picture!

Anyway, I can't believe my little man is already 1! It doesn't seem so long but I feel like I have known him forever. He is simply the most wonderful boy and we are so unbelievably lucky!

Happy birthday, Jackie Bear! We love you!

Big Saturday

Jack had his first Kindermusik class today. He's in a class with four other babies--a 10 month old little girl, 6 month old twins and a mystery baby who wasn't there today. He was definitely interested in the class but he didn't really embrace it as he had at the trial class. He was so serious the whole time. Maybe it was because he's older now and takes longer to warm up to strange situations, maybe it was because the room was about 100 degrees, maybe it was because they relocated us to a room that wasn't very cozy, or maybe it was that the 10 month old little girl scared the onesie off him! She was an adorable little VERY friendly baby who immediately tried to engage Jack. Jack isn't used to other kids since he is with adults all the time and he usually is the initiator once he warms up to the idea. From the second we walked through the door, this little girl was trying to make a new friend. And her forwardness was a little intimidating for Jack. I think that later in life, Jack will appreciate a girl who knows what she wants and is confident, but at just under one year, it was a little much.

In addition to waving, grunting at him, and taking his toys, she crawled right up to him and tried to kiss him. She missed and wound up kissing his chest but it was enough to send him wide eyed crawling into my arms. It wasn't until the very end of class that he decided he wanted to chat with her a bit. Maybe he was just playing hard to get. Hopefully he'll relax a little more at next week's session.

After some breakfast and a nap, we headed to Grandma's to celebrate her birthday with the family. And Jack had to deal with another girl who was very forward--his cousin, Sierra. Sierra is 3 and is at that bossy, non-sharing stage. And the worst part was that she didn't want to share JACK'S toys. Her parents didn't bring any toys to play with so she immediately wanted Jack's. But she wouldn't let him play with any of his own toys. Or she would tell him how she wanted him to play with them. "Don't touch that!" "You can't have it!" Jack sat there looking at her as she ripped his blocks out of his hands and stole his radio away. When she finally threw his favorite ball to him, he decided that he had no interest in throwing it back, as he usually does. He took it all like a champ even though he was shocked it was happening and growing more and more tired by the minute, due to the goofy schedule today, and then he just broke. After she took something away, he just looked up at me and started to cry. It was like, "Mommy, I'm sick and tired of all these girls telling me what to do." And though I hugged him tight and consoled him, I thought, "Sweetie, you better get used to it!"

Walking the Walk and Talking the Talk

Jack still thinks that it way more efficient to crawl from place to place. But he does like to stand and cruise along the furniture. He also occassionally enjoys walking between Paul and I. We just figure, when he's ready, he'll start walking more. And we also know that he seems to do things in a matter of a day's time. One day it seems like it will be awhile before he masters a task and the next, he's a pro. Yesterday, I had been gone all day and got home at 7:30 pm, just before bed time. Jack was excited to see me and we were having a lot of fun playing. Maybe it was because he was craving Mommy attention or maybe it was because he wanted to cheer me up because I had missed him all day or maybe it was just because he wanted to see if he could do it. But he let go of the coffee table and marched a good 10 steps across the room into my arms.

He's also trying to talk more and imitating a lot. He can imitate: Mommy (Mom-Mom), Daddy (Da-da-da-da-da), Nonny (Na-na), Banana (a-na-na), Grandma (Grrrr), Book (Buh) and Ball (buh). But it is hard to tell if he has a first word. I think that the first one is actually "book" because he will pull his books out of his shelf and begin saying "buh" on his own. I usually have to ask him to say the others. I thought I would be more brokenhearted if he didn't say "Mommy" first but "book" is a pretty good substitute. I realize that "book" doesn't feed him or comfort him when he's crying or give him baths and sing to him. But we do read a lot together and I love that he loves books!