Photo Update

So, there are a lot of pictures that haven't been updated. Since Jack turned one and I stopped writing weekly posts I haven't been very good about updating. So, for my family, friends, and Jack-stalkers:

Enjoying his Noah's ark. We have three Noah's ark books and he loves playing with all the different animals.

Grammy and Papa stayed for a couple days after his birthday. We enjoyed spending time with them.

Scrunchy faces with Grammy. 

Playing with his birthday cars with Papa.

One-year-old... means time to start drinking Vitamin D milk! He has been slowly learning to drink it. As in, this week he's drank maybe 3 oz. total. I just keep a sippy cup in the fridge and take it out every so often throughout the day and offer it to him. When he eats in his highchair and I set it there with his food he'll pick it up and drink. It's progress, at least.

Boo Boo. Momma was moving the napkin holder and bonked Jack's eye with it. 

Another favorite birthday toy. We "lose" the balls often, but Jack loves them popping up and the wind blowing in his face! 

Daddy doesn't care for this toy because the music is pretty loud... but Jack sure likes it!

Jack and Momma on Easter. That hat didn't last long on his head, but at least I got a picture!

New baby gate. Turns out, sometimes you just need something super basic and inexpensive to do the trick! I tried to get a fancy smancy expensive one, but it didn't fit or work. So... walmart here we go!

Another birthday present. Now Jack has his own laptop to play with while Momma browses, blogs, and let's face it, stalks. 

When we've been going out to eat we've been ordering Jack his own kid's meal! He eats some of it and we save the rest for later. I didn't have any of his placemats in this pic, but I did sanitize the table!

Finally found a sippy cup that seems to suit Jack. We use some of the nozzle spouts still, but he really prefers the straws. We only get the ones that have the flip covers so we can cover them when he's not drinking.

Big boy carseat came! Recaro!

Jack's new baby friend who is also named Jackson! He is one month older than Jack and both their Daddies graduated from OCS in the same class. Love making new Army friends!

Good thing Jack learned to walk when he did! Both Jacks were chasing each other around the table at the library. Thankfully, the kids room has a door so we could shut it and not disturb the other guests.

Sleeper baby. He often has a foot and sometimes a hand through the bars of his crib. He hasn't yet gotten them stuck though. He has spent two more nights (a total of three in his lifetime) in his crib! This is SUCH progress for us. He still wakes up and wants to snuggle or be fed (nursed), but we're just taking it one step at a time. He generally does stay in his crib until 4:30ish anyways. That's when Daddy gets up to leave for work. So Momma typically brings him back to bed with her. The past couple nights Jack has been sick so he's spent the night with Momma.

I started letting Jack try utensils! He knows he's supposed to use the fork to get food and then put it in his mouth, but he hasn't yet been able to spear any food. He tries for a bit then holds the fork in one hand and picks up the food in the other!

He was a little more successful with his spoon. I just resigned myself to having to clean up the floor, highchair, and baby. It's good to teach him these skills and worth the mess... right?

Jack continues to not like being messy. He was loving feeding himself the yogurt, until he missed and it ended up on his face. he tried to wipe it off and it got in his hair, around his eyes, all over. He was NOT happy then! Silly baby.

So, we have had some successes as far as Jack learning to drink more water and milk and nurse less often and sleeping in his own crib. But as he had a cold a week and a half ago and now has a nasty cough, I want to nurse him more often so that he can regain his health. But, we're really in no rush. The only reason I'm even bothering to try to wean him is because we're hopeful for baby number 2 and I know nursing can hinder that. But, I'm perfectly content letting Jack take his time acclimating himself to his new beverages.

Jack has also been learning to spend more time in the nursery. He go to church nursery on Sunday mornings during service and during Momma's Bible study on Tuesdays. He is beginning to learn that other kids are fun, but he still prefers being with Momma. It is heartbreaking to see him cry when I first drop him off and pick him up. But I know he stops and plays in the middle.

Jack has really taken off with his walking. He can go pretty fast, but when he tries to run he often loses track of which foot goes where and trips himself. But no accidents with walking yet! It is so adorable watching him walk over to the gate when he hears the front door open! He goes to the gate and smiles and jabbers to Daddy as he comes up the stairs!

That's another exciting development, Jack not only remembers Matt now, but he loves him and loves to play with him. He follows him around the house and if Matt goes upstairs without Jack, Jack will hold onto the gate and yell at DaDa until he comes back down. He'll start getting fussy even if I'm sitting on the couch in the same room! It is very exciting that he has developed such an attachment with Matt.

This past weekend we went to Oklahoma City for the day. It was such a fun family day and so nice to just be able to be together. We plan to go back this Saturday also.