On one of the coldest days of the year...

Jack figured out how to take his pants off, all by himself!



I'm not at all sure what the motivation was, but it certainly wasn't the heat!

Happy snack time!

For all of my talk about not sleeping, Jack took a 3.5 hour nap today and woke up so happy! Yah for long naps and snack time!

11 months old

We're getting really close to the one year mark! Just one more (short) month! He's growing so fast, although, so far, we're still pretty close to on-track with the clothes sizes. Some of his 6-12 month pants and overalls are too short but some are still a little long and many are just right. His little feet are still too small for all of his great new 12-18 month shoes he got for Christmas!



He got 4 more teeth this month and didn't enjoy the process one bit! And neither did we! :)! He has no interest in teething rings but will chew on anything else he can find!



He looks so much older with a mouth full of teeth (don't mind the banana!)...



And just in case you can't see them...the 4 on top are new! The bottom ones are quite crooked...we hope the top ones won't be as bad!



Teeth meant more adventurous eating and the preference for everything to be in stick form so that he could bite off what he wanted. Banana sticks and waffle sticks for breakfast...YUM!



The other big story this month has been sleep...or the lack thereof. He used to be such a great sleeper but this month that all seemed to change. I assume most of it is related to teething and being sick. It's hard for him to suck his thumb when he can't breathe well through his nose, so he can't self-soothe very well. He's very good (and quick) at standing so if he wakes up or isn't asleep when you put him down, he just stands up and screams and beats on the crib railing. It's not all that conducive to him falling back to sleep without some intervention! My wish for him to want to be rocked came true, but now it seems like he can't get to sleep unless I rock him for a very long time which, while enjoyable, isn't always ideal. Sometimes the only option is to snuggle up on the couch with him. And don't get me wrong, when there's time for that, I LOVE IT...



He is fascinated by the computer, despite all efforts to steer him away from it. We are trying to teach some boundaries and he seems to understand the word "no" in that he stops what he's doing and looks at you, and sometimes will even shake his head "no." But it usually doesn't last long and he's right back to doing whatever it was he was told not to do.



He's really into playing at this stage. Such a busy body. Our living room looks like this all day...



His love for books continues as well. If left to play in his room, he goes straight for the books. He never tires of turning the pages and pointing at the pictures.






His language seems to be developing in addition to his expressions.





He copies our verbal tones and patterns. We even heard him say "ah-choo" a few times the other day in response to all of the sneezing Kenny and I have been doing! He waves goodbye and gets so excited when Daddy gets home from work or Gramps stops by to say hi during the day!

Despite the lack of sleep and cold and ear infections and everything else, he had plenty of giggles and smiles to go around this month...



I so am thankful to be home at the moment and able to hold on to this last month of baby time before we move into the big toddler world...it's all going way too fast!!

Super Bowl Sunday

We had a great time watching the Super Bowl with the Pearsons! We were pulling for Arizona and hated that they lost it in the last seconds.

Jack had a lot of fun playing in the big spinny chair!





He helped himself to the amazing food spread...and who could blame him? It was all so yummy!



He ate dinner in his own seat right in front of the tv...



and had such a good time (as usual) playing with Aunt Audrey!




He had so much fun in fact that he refused to go to bed, so we had to leave early and watch the end here at home by ourselves. Our apologies to all the other guests that had to listen to him cry at the end, but thanks for having us Eddie and Audrey!!

These are the days of our lives...

Jack and I have had a great week, even if he was dealing with ear infections in both ears! It's been a lot of fun watching him figure things out. It really does seem like he figures something new out every day and it's neat to get to see that in real time.

He's pretty determined to try out the steps....



and really likes to keep tabs on the snack inventory...



We've watched a fair amount of Sesame Street and Blues Clues but Jack enjoys playing with the remote more than watching TV.



The computer cord has been inspected time and time again...



and he's picked out his favorite bibs for the week!



We are both so ready for Spring that he pulls his socks off as soon as I get them on him in hopes it will get here sooner!



He's enjoying keeping up with the latest in the world of ESPN the Magazine too...oh the things he just never had time for when he had to go to school 8 or 9 hours a day!



He serenades me with music from time to time...



and of course, he's constantly trying to call Mary Alex to see if she can come play...summer can't come soon enough!! "Mommy, she didn't answer. I'll keep trying!"



Hope you guys have had a good week too! We can't wait for Daddy to get home today and start the weekend!!

We'll miss you Madison!

It's a very sad day for the O'Donnell family and everyone else who had the chance to know Madison. He passed away peacefully last night, for which we are all very grateful. We send our love and lots of hugs to Dan, Stephanie, Emory, Ellie & Kelsey. You guys provided Madison with the most wonderful life that a dog could ever wish for...

So it begins...

Today marks the first day of this next phase of life where Jack and I spend our days at home together! Here's our self-portrait from a few days ago...forgive my post-gym look!



It was so hard leaving work and saying goodbye to my family there. I had the pleasure of working with so many amazing people throughout my 8.5 years there and I really hope that I haven't seen the last of them. Surprisingly, it was almost as hard to leave Jack's Tuckaway family, even though we've only known them 7.5 short months.



I never thought I'd be a fan of daycare. And honestly, this one wasn't even my first choice of daycares. But I also never imagined that any daycare could be so full of love. His teachers were amazing and loved him to pieces. They taught him so many things that I'm not sure I would have ever thought to teach him. Kenny took Jack to school most mornings but on the occasion that I took him, I always worried that he'd fuss or not want me to leave but instead, his eyes always lit up when he saw Miss Gay and he willingly went into her arms. That alone was worth every penny we spent. I'll miss everyone there and I know that Jack will miss Miss Krystle and Miss Gay and all the other great teachers, but will also miss his friends. It was so fun to show up in the afternoons and sneak into the room and see him playing with his friends before he saw me. It was a wonderful experience for him all the way around and I am so thankful for that. I am excited to be home with him and look forward to all the fun we'll have but I know that when the time comes for him to go back to school I'll be thrilled to send him back to Tuckaway.

Miss Gay got Jack this balloon on his last day and he's had the best time with it...



I can only hope that the rest of our days at home will be as enjoyable as this one has been so far. Jack slept until 7, then we had breakfast together, played for a bit, did a little laundry and then I got to rock him to sleep. That beats stressful work meetings any day! Let's just hope I don't get too used to this...

Friends!

Saturday night we had a bunch of old friends over for dinner and fun. Some of these girls I've been friends with for more than 15 years and while we're obviously older and wiser, it's still so much fun to have them all (with a few key pieces missing :(!!) in the same room.



Somehow Dianne escaped being in this picture :(!

It is a lot of fun watching the next generation play - and I love that I'm not the only one with a baby in the mix now (even if she does provide some serious competition for Jack in the "cutest baby" category)!



It was impossible to get a picture of the two of them this time...unless this counts...



I don't have any idea why, but Jack cries whenever Mary Alex gets close to him. It's strange since he was in daycare with 15 other kids around all the time. Mary Alex is so calm and gentle with him too that I have no idea what he's so concerned about. Hopefully he'll grow out of it soon!

Thanks guys for all the laughs - it was a lot of fun and I wish we could do it more often!!

Way to go HOKIES!

Way to beat Wake Forest!!

Listen up!

He's imitating our sounds and words now - it's so much fun! He's been getting breathing treatments regularly for a few days in which I hold him on my lap in the rocker and we look at books while he's breathing in the medicine. It takes 5-6 minutes and so we go through a few books each time. He kept dropping them on the floor when he was done with one and ready for another and I would say "uh-oh" each time. After a few books, he started dropping them on purpose and saying it himself! I didn't have the camera with me then but now he will often say it on cue! It's not perfect (we have to work on the "oh"), but it's the beginning of it all... (and yes, we have sound!)

Jack has a couple of messages...

Sorry we're a few days late Patti - we thought it was today!!




And to Uncle Harold...



Love you guys!

The boys are sick

I am so thankful we made it through the holidays without colds, but the time has come! Jack and Kenny are both sick now. The pediatrician suspects RSV rather than a regular old cold, but insists for most healthy kids, RSV is no worse than a regular old cold. We hope she's right! So far, so good. A runny nose, cough, and a little fever don't keep Jack down! Look how red his little nose is! He's also getting 4-5 teeth all at once which isn't helping things!



It's really hard to get pictures these days. If he sees the camera, he comes straight for it, so most come out looking something like this...



But sometimes you can sneak up on him! He loves looking at books these days, especially ones like this one with things to touch or feel or do on each page.





It's COLD outside (teens this morning) so we're going to stay in and read books and get everyone better this weekend! Hope you all are well and that you have a great (LONG) weekend!