38 Weeks

38 Weeks! 

This is one of my favorite outfits. I make sure Jack wears a different outfit for each of his weekly pictures. I can't believe this one hasn't been featured yet! The sleeves are attached and I just love baby dinosaurs. I love that I have complete control over Jack's outfits now. Before I know it, he'll be wanting to dress himself. I want to encourage his independence, so I'll let him choose his own outfits as long as he's fully dressed. Sigh- just letting the control freak part of me have a mini-meltdown. But it's ok, I don't have to worry about that for at least another year!

Jack wears mostly 9 month sized clothes. I brought out some of his 12 month items so we can get good use out of them, but they're still a bit big. I've put away all of his 6 month clothes, except his GapBaby items... which are 6-12 months? Seriously, I think most babies are quite a bit bigger when they are 12 months old than when they were 6 months old. That's a bit of a large gap isn't it? Of course, Jack has been wearing those items since he turned 5 months and is still fitting in them with space to spare... so maybe Gap is on to something. 

Jack's hair has been growing in nicely. The top continues to grow longer than the rest, but at least he has hair all around his head now. I thought I would keep the sides short and let the mohawk grow, but I am excited for him to get some bieber hair! Well, maybe I won't let his get quite that long. Hmmm, I guess I am talking about old school bieber hair, not his current claymation elf whippy-do style. (how is it possible that bieber has only been around for a handful of years, but there is already an "old school bieber" classification?)

I love this little smirk. He has learned to clamp his mouth shut when he doesn't want me to give him food or snacks. He also loves making the "Mmmmm" sound.

 This week Jack tried a whole bunch of new "foods". He loves cheesy puff curls. He can chew them up and put his little toofer to good use. It keeps him occupied for longer since he typically bites it into three pieces before finishing the curl. He has had a little lick of frozen yogurt and ice cream before, but he now recognizes when I have a drumstick. When he notices I have one he immediately stops whatever he's doing, crawls over to me, pulls himself up on my leg, and opens his mouth like a little baby bird! I give him a lick and he smacks his little lips. Thankfully, he still likes his baby food so I haven't spoiled him with sweets. He also had his first taste of baby juice. I opted for white grape juice, one of my favorites. I first put about 1/8 juice and the rest water in his sippy cup, but he didn't seem to want anything to do with it. Each day I added a little more juice to the mix to try to get him interested. He still doesn't seem to want the juice, but we're working on it. He will take a few gulps from his sippy cup per day, but then he is finished. He much prefers to nurse- which I don't mind!

This picture was when he tried his first cheese puff.

Jack has been learning so so much. He is one busy little boy. He loves looking at picture books and when Momma reads to him. For Christmas he got this Little People book that has little doors to open. Each page has a different subject and you open the doors to see the answers. Unfortunately, Jack is just a little too young to care for this book properly. He has already pulled off two of the little doors when he tried to suck on them. Oh well, we'll save the rest of the book for when he's a older. He loves animal books especially. I give him picture books to flip through on his own. We read a lot of Curious George, Frances, and Christopher Churchmouse books.

Jack loves loves music. We have these little snowmen that play music and dance and when I take him over to them he starts kicking his legs in excitement. When I'm watching TV and a commercial with music comes on he looks up at it and begins clapping with the music. That's the other thing he's learned: clapping. He has been mimicking clapping for a few weeks now, but he claps on his own at appropriate times. The only downside, sometimes his clapping and signing "more" get mixed up and if Momma doesn't realize he's asking for "more" he gets a little frustrated. But we're working on it. He is one smart little baby! Jack also loves shadows. When he sees one he focuses on it and tries to grab it. Good thing his shadow can't fly away like Peter Pan's! 

Remember when I said Jack has been a busy little boy? Well, not only can he now pull himself up against the furniture, but also he walks all the way around said furniture. He goes all the way around the coffee table, transfers over to the couch, walks the length of it, and then sometimes even transfers on over to the baby gate. He is getting pretty sturdy. He learned how to sit back down without help from standing too. He gets a little wobbly and hesitates before plopping down, but it's nice that he can work it out on his own. Sometimes he still feels "trapped" and I have to go help him to sit down. He can also balance with only one hand holding onto something. He can bend over to pick things up when he's standing with only one handhold. I think we'll have a walker before his one year birthday. Just yesterday Jack balanced on his own two different times for about 15 seconds. Momma was so impressed! 

Jack gets into everything! He's such a fast little crawler. If there is just one teeny tiny fuzzy on the floor, he will spot it from across the room, crawl over to it, pick it up with his thumb and forefinger (I still can't get over how good his fine motor skill are), and try to put it in his mouth before I can even walk over to the fuzzy! He is speedy knees!He hasn't actually swallowed too many things he finds on the floor (that I know of), but there was a small piece of ribbon that I found in his diaper. He also discovered that there is water in the toilet. I try to stop him from pulling himself up on the toilet in general, but he's just so fast! He loves splashing in the bath so he thought that splashing in the toilet was a fun game too.

Try as I might, Jack just will not sleep in his crib. In the New Year one of my resolutions is to develop a more steady schedule for Jack (since he will be old enough for some learning opportunities) and for him to sleep in his own bed. He just loves being near me. Case in point: 

 Jack has been sleeping longer, which has been so nice. He still goes to bed late (between 10-11 normally) and doesn't wake up for the day until around 9:30-11, but he still eats at least once and sometimes wants his diaper changed. He generally waits until 7 to eat though. So that gives me a little longer of a stretch to sleep at one time. 

Jack's current favorite toys are his crocheted light saber, his rings, a frog ball that makes noise, and his little people nativity animals. He will dig through his toys to find those toys. He has a lot of toys... but he does play with them all! So I don't feel too bad about the amount we have. Each serves it's own purpose. 

I tried the TV babysitter this week. He watched Little Einsteins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Doc McStuffins (which I didn't know was a girls show). He would watch intently (see below) for the first 5 minutes... then decide he wanted Momma to play with him. I guess it's a good thing that he won't be addicted to TV.

Yesterday we went to Elwell to visit Jack's Great-Grandma. We went to her church service with her. My little man looked so handsome in his vest and bowtie. The bowtie was a birthday present for Momma and is from J.Crew's crewcuts collection. It can be adjusted so he should be able to wear it for a good long while yet. So adorable. 

Jack did so well during the service. He sat in the pew and let Papa and Momma hold him. He didn't make too much noise and ate his puffs and cheese curls. We went out to lunch and he behaved well there too. We spent the afternoon at Great-Grandma's house and he played with some of his second cousins. So much fun having babies around!

He is more aware of himself now. One example, this morning he was standing up by balancing on his bumbo seat. He must have twisted one of his ankles funny because he sat down, looked at me with a scrunched up face, held his ankle and began wimpering. I had noticed that as he stood up his ankle was turning funny and he must have turned it just a little too far. I was surprised that he grabbed his ankle though. Very aware of where his owie was. He also has been wiping his own nose. He is getting another tooth, I think, because he has been drooling a lot and his nose has been runny. I am glad he is wiping his nose- now if only he would learn to use a tissue instead of his shirt sleeve, Momma's pant leg, Momma's face... 

I am so blessed. I love being able to stay home with my baby. He has made me realize so much more about myself. While he does not define my personhood, he adds so much to it. I am so happy I get to spend all day, every day with this face: