words words words

I find this video from NPR/Radiolab completely relevant, as we are emerging into the realm of words with Jack. We are becoming very aware of what we say and how we say it.

For a few months now, Jack has been an excellent mimic of syllables and tone. We will be outside, and Blitz will be dragging his paws, trying to be outside longer. I'll say, "Blitz! Come. HERE!" Then Jack will say, "Ba! Ba. Ba!" He points at Blitz as he commands him to come here. I can't help but laugh.

His little language of jibberish is fleshing out into repeated words that are close to the real thing and repeated enough that we know what he's telling us. And Jack is even using a few real words now too, which is so exciting! In addition to 'dada' and 'mama' we've got a string of b-words: bird, ball, bowl, Blitz (more like Bit), and Bill. He also tries to say "tickle tickle" when he tickles you, but it adorably sounds like "tucka tucka."

The most exciting development in the word arena happened when we all were in the kitchen. When Jack is trying to tell us something and the process of elimination falls short, he gets frustrated. And rightly so. Who doesn't get frustrated when they aren't able to communicate clearly? I got down to his level and said, "Jack, I know you're frustrated because you want something. Could you try and use a word and tell us what you want instead of crying?" (I knew this was a total longshot, I mean I was speaking with a 15-month-old baby! Before I stood up, in an immediate response Jack, clear as a bell, said, "Water." We bursted with laughter and Dan said, "Oh! You want some water in a cup, buddy?" Jack, with a huge smile, nodded YES!

I just find language development so interesting! Before we moved to SF, I had started my Master's program in literacy and language development. It's so exciting to watch words connect with the things that surround kids every day, and for them to surprise us with how much they already know and understand.

I think you should watch this. I love homonyms.

the world gets bigger every day

With it being the end of the school year, we are moving across the country in two weeks, I am trying to figure out my job situation for the next year, etc., we find ourselves so busy these days. I love in the midst of such chaos, we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of moments that make us want to figure out how to slow down time.

For the first time, once being put in the grass, Jack crawled around and loved it. It took us rolling around and rubbing our hands in it to convince him. Once we did that, he rubbed his hands in it and started laughing. Like ridiculously adorable laughter that made people stop on the sidewalk and watch this baby discover warm grass for the first time. It just melted my heart. I truly love being this little guy's mom.

Jack in the grass


Dan in the grass




He's amazing us every single day. He's 9.5 months and crawling like crazy. Crazy speed crawling. It's fun to watch. He insists on feeding himself and LOVES to eat just about anything - hummus on toast and cheesy baby raviolis are his faves. He climbs on anything and everything. He loves seeing himself in the mirror. He loves jumping (bouncing, really) in his crib. He cruises as he stands, bracing himself on the couch or the entertainment stand. He plays with his trucks and trains, using them as skates for his hands as he crawls around super fast. He loves being outside, especially when it's sunny and the wind blows his hair back. He's just starting to wave to other people, he's been waving at himself in the mirror for awhile now. He loves bath time so much. When the water is running he stands outside the tub, holding the edge, standing and bouncing in anticipation. Oh, and the clapping. Everything I've listed thus far is punctuated with clapping. All clapping, all the time.

AND!!! Today he said his first word!!! Da-da! We were so excited! I was nursing him before bed, he suddenly grabbed my leg and stood up and started waving toward the door. He was babbling along, and I thought I heard Da-da somewhere in there. He said it again, and again. Then Dan came in, and Jack was clapping and bouncing all over the place. Dan got in the bed and Jack basically tackled him. It was as if he was celebrating that Daddy heard him call. He just kept saying it over and over. Da-da! Da-da! He was already up past his usual bedtime, and the boy could not fall asleep. He wanted to celebrate, I think.

We celebrate new things every day around here. I love it.

oh yeah, this one is getting cuter

I know we all thought it was not possible for Jack Jack to get cuter. But it's happening every day.



lots of crawling


lots of exploring


followed by lots of chillin'


I've tried to get him to slow down in the growing department, but it's a no go. He plans on growing up too fast.

7 months old...

Our little man is seven months old. Wow. You hear it time and time again that "kids grow up so fast," but watching it unfold right in front of my eyes makes it so real, and so completely true. February, while it was a short month, was a big one for JackJack, as we lovingly call him these days. It's hard to wrap my brain around the fact that he's already seven months old. After watching the Olympics we're trying to figure out what event to devote Jack's life to, seeing how we have to start very young for him to get an early edge on the competition. Skeleton, bobsled, and luge are out. Too scary. We're thinking hockey, nordic combined, or snowboarding. Hockey is really gaining momentum in popularity, nordic combined involves shooting (and he seems like he'd be a good shot), and snowboarding would really help his popularity among peers. It's hard to choose, but we'll keep you all updated as we weigh out the pros and cons for our top 3 picks.

He is just so full of energy and personality. We see this more and more every day. Over the past month he's been sprouting his first tooth (bottom front right), which as of today is being joined by its neighbor. This past week he's been fighting off his first cold, which has been a battle for him. We've felt so terrible as he's terribly coughing and looking at us as if wondering, "Is this how life is going to be now??" Watching him experience everything for the first time makes one really appreciate life and truly see it with fresh eyes.


Check out those pearly whites poking through

He has quickly become a very mobile baby. He's got his army crawl down, so he can efficiently get across the room to whatever it is he probably shouldn't get into...shoes and steps are ever-so appealing for the little one. What really gets him moving is if he sees anything with a screen (i.e. laptops, iPhones, etc.) or a remote. We now have an old remote for him to enjoy, which he does very much. His favorite thing is to stand and bounce. It shocks people to see him do this...apparently a baby his age isn't normally doing this. He will crawl up to us on the couch, grab us, and stand up all by himself (while holding onto us, of course!). Dan loves to make obstacle courses of pillows and blankets for him to climb over, I think in an effort to slow Jack down...but that doesn't work.


Standing


obstacle course
His first month of solid foods has been a lot of fun. The boy loves his veggies, but fruit isn't too exciting yet. Pureed apples and bananas make him gag...hopefully that's not the case forever because he'll never be able to sing "I love to eat, eat eat apples and bananas" with a smile on his face. :)

I could really go on and on, we just love our little baby so much!

nasty cold and a new friend

Jack's newest friend. Meet Nutty Buddy. They became fast friends, are nap companions, exersaucer pals, and all-around chums. Nutty Buddy came at a time of need for Jack, as he met his newest enemy as well. The cold. There is nothing sadder than this little man's coughs and runny nose. He's got no clue what's hit him, he probably thinks this is how life is going to be now. Restless sleep, constant fussiness, and a cough that rattles his baby bones. Wish there was something I could do to really make it all go away, but this is just the first in a lifetime of colds. He remains a very happy camper between coughs and fits of sleep-deprived teething sniffly sadness.




you see that little tooth??

Happy Valentine's Day!

V-Day '10!

It's our first V-day with little Jack! Love this guy SO MUCH! I can't even express the love that radiates from my heart all because of this little dude!

I know Valentine's Day is a Hallmark holiday...blah, blah, blah. I think it's a great day to celebrate with the people you love. While trying to get a little man to nap, while Dan was at work today, I tried to whip this up. Neatness I get an F! It's pretty messy, but I think it's pretty cute.

venturing home

Well, Jack and I ventured off to Michigan for his first trip to the Midwest. I was antsy for the weeks leading up to our visit, but since I was making the trip with Jack without Dan, I was a bit nervous as to how we'd inevitably have to get from point A to point B. As I booked the flight, I tried to figure out when would be the best time to fly with a 3 month old baby. I ended up booking a red eye, which was quite the gamble. I figured he's usually sleeping soundly at that point in the night, so he'd do the same on a plane. He was asleep in teh airport as I carried him around. Once we boarded, the bright lights and noise of passengers loading quickly woke up the little guy. I was fine with this because I was going to wake him up to feed him as we took off to help with his ears popping. As every person walked down teh aisle I was assessing my potential seat neighbor.

Internal monologue:

Oh, she looks friendly. (Keeps walking.)
Please not him. Please not him. (Sits down three rows up.)
Eh, that lady looks angry. Please don't sit down. Please don't sit down. (The row behind me.)

An older lady sits next to me and immediately says, "So why do you have your baby on this flight?" A million things ran through my mind..."Because he can't fly by himself," or "Yeah, I would have left him at home by himself, but I think that's a bad move." I explained to her that he's a great sleeper and usually sound asleep at this time and he'd hopefully sleep the whole way. She looked at me quite skeptically and put her coat on backwards, covering her face with her hood. Okay. Sweet dreams, lady.

The plane didn't start rolling for such a long time! I fed him and he seemed to be done before we even took off. FAIL! I was imagining him screaming as we took off and his ears were popping, or myself trying to force feed him and him spitting up all over me and CoatFace sitting next to me. Turns out, Jack proved to be amazing and SLEPT FOR THE ENTIRE 3 hour 44 min flight! The flight attendants weren't very helpful though. I couldn't put down the tray because Jack was sound asleep on my lap. When it came time to get a complementary drink and bag o' pretzels the flight attendant basically threw them at me. I was juggling a sleeping baby, and trying to QUIETLY open what proved to be a child-proof package of pretzels. I imagined them tearing open and spilling all over the unhelpful CoatFace. I had to abort the mission and threw the unopened bag on the ground. Sacrifice, people. Once we landed I stopped sweating. I slept a little bit on the flight, but certainly looked like a frazzled mess when I stepped off that plane. As I put Jack in the Baby Bjorn carrier he spit up all over me, and smiled. Once we got to the baggage claim there were four people there. My mom, a guy that was on the flight, a security guy and Danny Glover. Hello Mr. Glover, I am a Frazzled Mess.

AND WE WERE IN MICHIGAN! GREAT LAKES, GREAT TIMES AHEAD!

Our visit was packed full of cuddles, ooohs and aaaaahs, watching Jack roll from his tummy to his back for the first time, lots of family and friends, his first shopping session with me and Nana, gifts from Auntie Elanor, watching football with Poppy, MANY photo sessions, and Skype sessions with Daddy all the way in Milan. The time flew by so quickly. I loved all the helpful hands, people falling all over each other flighting to change his diaper, waiting at the bedroom door to see how beautiful and happy he is the moment he wakes up, going to visit everyone at their work...All the while, the weather was gorgeous! Seriously beautiful fall November weather in Michigan. I was reminded how much in love with Michigan I am. He got to meet my best friend Michelle, but the pics are on her camera! It was just so much fun introducing him to so many people that mean so much to me! I wish there had been enough time for him to meet everyone, but knocking on doors with a baby is pretty difficult to tackle between naps!

the oooohs and aaaaahs


morning cuddles with Poppy


nice to meet you, Wally Gator


cuddling with his Auntie


meeting Dayna and my Aunt Cindy

loves getting rocked to sleep with Nana


The flight back to Michigan was another success story for The Amazing Flyer Jack Wyatt! Although I did peek at the text my seat neighbor sent after asking the flight attendant if it was a full flight. It read: Sitting next to a lady and her baby. Fuck my life. She didn't really talk to me until there was an hour left of the flight and Jack had been asleep for 3 hours. Suddenly she was my best friend and telling me her life story. She said she and her boyfriend were planning on getting married and now she wanted a baby. Jack is the Ambassador of Babies, convincing unwilling women everywhere that having a baby is good idea.

SO, we landed in SF where Dan was waiting to pick us up. After 10 days without seeing Daddy, the reunion was pretty adorable!

I am counting down the days until our Christmas Michigan visit!

apple crisp success!

So I found a few recipes for apple crisp that I liked. I used them as a guide and put my own twist on it...Results, a serious success! I love making food - the results are are always so satisfying. (Well, most of the time!) And this time I got to use my new peeling/coring/slicing toy. Fun!


Perfect Apple Crisp



Ingredients:

Approx. 8 thinly sliced apples (I used Golden Delicious)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup Bisquick baking mix
3/4 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 stick (1/4 lb.) butter, melted
cinnamon (will be sprinkled on top)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix apples, brown sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Arrange in a shallow baking dish.

3. Mix Bisquick, sugar, baking powder, oats and salt. Add egg and mix.

4. Evenly crumble mixture over apples.

5. Drizzle melted butter over topping and sprinkle with cinnamon evenly over everything.

5. Bake for 35 minutes.

6. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream. (Breyer's Vanilla is most definitely the best!)



Meanwhile, Jack Wyatt is beginning to enjoy tummy time!

first day of jeans!

Jack wore jeans for the first time today, and I must say he looks rather adorable!



Oh! And I just found this Swedish kids' clothing company called Polarn O. Pyret. Very excited about the Wind Helmet and the Outdoor Booties we'll be receiving in the mail soon!

Happy 2 Months!

Jack Wyatt is 2 months today...as a present he has to get shots! :-/

UPDATE:

Jack, once again, proves he is one tough cookie. He totally flirted with our pediatrician. It was adorable to see him smile and coo and be so active with a stranger. So far, Dan and I are the only ones who've seen Jack's lively side. Everyone thinks he's quite the serious baby because he always furrows his brow as he;s taking in new things. Turns out, Jack is in the 95th percentile for his weight, meaning he weighs more than 95% of all babies his age. haha And he's in the 75th percentile for his height. Jack the bear of a baby!

The check-up proved to be nothing but good things - he's a healthy happy baby, which is so nice to hear. Then...it was onto the shots! I was SO NERVOUS! I made Dan hold him. He had to get three shots. He cried when the first one went in, and when the last one was finished he stopped crying. Amazing. I had braced for the impact of a fussy baby for the night. I was getting ready for no sleep and making plans to console an uncomfortable baby. He fell asleep in the car and had a great night sleep. Totally normal. Such a relief!

Here's to reaching many more milestones and a happy and healthy baby!