Safety First!

Jack taking a nap today on the couch while watching Word World.

When we moved from Reno to Bend, the futon frame we had snapped in half during the move, so Kevin and I had been sleeping on a terrible futon mattress on the floor for a few months. To my delight, he surprised me with a new bed frame, mattress, and box spring! (He works for a company that not only does magazines but has a few radio stations, so he was able to do something called "trade" where he got a fantastic deal on a brand new bed by trading air time with the furniture store). Now that we are a few feet off the ground, Babycakes likes to sit on the bed, then scootch his way down. Then have us pick him back up, put him on the bed, and get back down. He exhausts me sometimes!

So, I remember when I was a kid, I used to love standing on my parent's bed. My mom and dad would tell me to sit down or I could get hurt. I remember thinking, "Pssh! I won't get hurt! They are so silly!" Well, this morning Jack was cuddling with me in our nice new bed and he decides he wants to play so he stood up and started walking around on it. I screamed, "JACK! NO! Get down before you hurt yourself!" And at that moment I realized, I am my parents. I know, I know, I'm very upset as well, folks. Who would have thought, right? Oh, and not only did I get all Ms. Safety with Jack, but I also put socks on him so his feet won't get cold. Look at me! What's happened? Socks? No jumping on the bed? I make me sick!

Sherman Tank

Jack roaring like a lion!

Last night when I picked Jack up from his cousin's house, he had gotten a second wind and wanted to play instead of go to sleep (it was around 9:30pm at this point). Kevin and I decided that since we didn't get to see much of him yesterday, we would play for a little while. Here is the results of playing with Mr. Jack. Enjoy!

My mom likes to refer to Jack as The Sherman Tank. He learned early on that the shortest distance between to points is a straight line. With that said, he doesn't believe in going around people or things when he wants to get somewhere; No, Jackaford believes he can just go right through them. He learned last night if he wants to get through Kevin, he'll have to go around.

Other fun things my tot enjoys doing is taking his toys, my shoes, my cell phone, the remote, whatever, and tossing it over the baby gate. Oh yes, how many times have I been missing something and I'm throwing couch cushions everywhere looking for it, only to find that Mr. Jack threw it down the hall? I'd say 17 times since June.

And here he is pushing his car in a circle. He could push that thing in a circle all day and not think twice about it. Round and round and round... he must get very dizzy.

But who needs fancy toys when you have pillows to throw off the couch? One of Jack's favorite games is to sit on the couch, be buried in pillows, and then throw them onto the floor! YAY!

I didn't get any pictures, but Jack spent about 7 hours at his cousin's last night. They have a cool fort in their living room that he just loves! We are going to build one here for him. His Aunt Jessica chased him there, then he'd pop his head out, laugh, go back in... it was very fun for everyone.

Pippa... Pizza... Playdate... I love the letter "P"!

My mom, Jack, and I are getting ready to go over to Will and Pippa's house for a play date. We are bringing pizza over for lunch. Granted they had pizza last night for dinner, but can you ever really have too much pizza? My answer to that is no, no you can't.

Poop Deck!

My little angel pie is so cute. Just when I think he can't get any cuter, he does something that just blows me away! Whether it's his smile, his Oreo covered face, or when he laughs at nothing, it just makes me want to *burst*. Seriously people, my child belongs on a Cheerio's box.

No real updates today. Just the usual eat, sleep, poop, pull hair, throw a spoon at the dog, eat some more, routine. I'm hoping we can take Jack to the pool tomorrow or perhaps the park. He's been pretty cooped up at the house with me this week and I would like to get him some fresh air.

One thing that is new with Jack is that he can climb on to the couch and the salad bowl (the "salad bowl" is the papasan chair we have. We pretend it is a salad bowl though.) He can get up and get off of it all on his own. He does fall once in a while, but I'm always there to pick him up and smother him with kisses and love. Everyone (Kevin, Aunt Jessica, Grandma Tutu, Amy, etc.) keeps telling me to stop babying him, but I can't help it. He's my baby and just so kissable! Every time I get into "smothering mothering" mode he pushes me away and says, "MOM! Stop embarrassing me!" Ok, he doesn't really say that, but he makes that face at me. So independent that boy is. When will he learn no matter how old he gets, he'll always be my baby and I'll always smother him with love!

Ways to Traumatize Your Child: Take Them to a Crazy Doctor

You know, it's never a good sign when the first thing your baby's new pediatrician says to you is, "Whoe... That's one big baby!" I wanted to be like, "Hey, thanks for the news flash, doc!" but I decided to behave myself. She did, however, tell me a million times how handsome he is and how she never sees children as good looking as him. What can I say? My eggs are amazing.

Ok, so Tuesday was Jack's 12 month doctor's appointment. He's 13 months old though, so we're a month late. Whatever, no big deal. Of course I forget his shot records and social security number and am just completely unprepared altogether. I thought this was going to be a 10 minute appointment where she checks him over, weighs him, and pronounces him a well baby. Wrong! I felt like I was being interigated by the FBI! She had about a million questions for me about my family history. After all of those, she gets into his biological father's family history. Here's how it played out:

Doc: "Do you know if the biological father has diabetes in his family?"

Me: "Uhhhh...."

Doc: "Cancer?"

Me: "Ummmmm....."

Doc: "Asthma?"

Me: "Uhhhhhhh.... Oh! He has acid reflux!"

Probably not the answer she was looking for as she gave me the ol' deer in the headlights look. I then quickly said with my head down low, "I'll ask Jack's grandmother." Big mistake! Because that brought on an entire new conversation:

Doc: "Oh, so you are speaking to Jack's other family?"

Me: "Oh yeah! They're great! They really love Jack a lot."

Doc: "And you are ok with them seeing Jack?"

Me: "Uhhh, yeah?"

Doc: "Most single mothers don't allow the other family to see the child."

Me: "Well, I just figure since everyone loves Jack, he should be able to see them."

Why am I justifying to her why people who love Jack should be able to spend time with him? That really irritated me. I know I can be really petty sometimes, but come on, I'm not that terrible of a person. She asked all about how they interacted with him and stuff. I don't know, it was just really weird.

Then she starts asking about Kevin. Now, if you thought I was sensitive about my feelings for the Lynch family, I'm a real softy when it comes to my sweetheart.

Doc: "How does your fiance treat Jack?"

Me: "Like his own"

Doc: "Hmmm...."

Me: "What?"

Doc: "It's rare to find a man to step in like that and be the father figure to a child."

Ok, that's true, but the way she said it is what really bothered me. It was like she thought I was making Kevin up. I may live in fantasy island most of the time, but Kevin exists!!!

So, after that whole song and dance of justifying the people that are in my son's life, we got into Jack's health. He is 32" long, and 28 pounds, 14 ounces. I think the scales I've been putting him on must have been off as I had estimated him at 32 pounds. The doctor was very impressed that he can walk, run, put objects into holes, sit up on his own, etc. She said he was doing very well socially, as well. Her only concern was he can only say one word. She said most babies can say 6 words at this age. Well, Jack is not like most babies! So, Kevin has been working very hard with Jack by reading to him more and talking more to him about the objects he's playing with. Dog... Hat... Ball... Lego... Are we sure we want to teach this boy how to talk? We'll see how it goes, but I'm in no rush for that tot to start speaking his mind.

She also told me that Jack can not be a vegetarian at this age. Tofu, dairy, and soy are no enough protein for him. She said the whole milk he drinks is why he is so chubby, and that he needs to have meat in his diet. I was not happy with that, and argued with her. However, she is the doctor so I have decided to allow fish and poultry into his diet. Since I've incorporated meat into his diet, it's all he wants (that and Oreo's). I am not a happy mommy right now.

Oh, and while we there, the doctor said that Jack's circumcision had healed a little wrong. The next thing I know, Jack was purple and not breathing. That's because he was crying. She said, "I don't tell the parents I'm about to do that because they panic and then the child panics." Do what? I didn't see her do anything! All I knew was my baby wasn't breathing because he was so pissed off. I said, "What did you do!?" and she told me she had to tear the foreskin on his penis. What the &*%$! Who the hell does that? This doctor came highly recommended to me. She is so popular that her next available appointment isn't until February. Are you kidding me? You tear my son's penis, judge Jack's family, judge my fiance, and tell me repeatedly how fat my kid is. I am finding a new doctor. On a happy note, Jack's penis has healed from the trauma and he is ok now. Nothing has fallen off, thank goodness!

Alright, I'm calm. Now, lets see, other updates... Grandma Tutu is in town! She'll be staying with us for a few weeks which I am stoked about. FREE BABYSITTING! I get to pick up a few days shifts at work, go out with my friends, and even have a date with Kevin. Sigh, the joys of grandmas!

Today Jack has a play date with Nathan and Noah. We are all going to the park and having a picnic. Our goal is to get all three boys exhausted as us moms are going out tonight and want them to behave for their babysitters. My guy is an angel pie, I need not to worry about him.

It's My Party, and I'll Cry if I Want To...

Have you ever seen a 1 year old cry at his own birthday cake? I have, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning...

Yesterday was Jack's birthday (duh!). I got up around 7:30am and finished cleaning the house, followed by picking up balloons, and sending Kevin to get Port of Subs (which I was very disappointed in their food. It wasn't as good as it usually is). Ok, 11:00am comes, which is party time, and no one is here except for Kevin, Jack, Jess, and me, but we all live here!! Oh, but my dad was actually early, so Bob-like of him, I love it. Ok, I'm like, totally panicking that no one (not saying my immediate family is no one, but no one was here!) is here, but after about 10 minutes, the English party shows up. This includes my brother Nick, Pippa, Will, and of course Laura my sister-in-law, who is from England. Behind them is Laura's sister, Becca, and her boyfriend, Mort, who came all the way from England to see Jack! Actually, they happen to be in town the weekend his party was going down, but they still came to a one year olds birthday party in America and that's pretty awesome if you ask me.

After they show up, the Albertsons Party arrives (I work with them at Albertsons, hence the name). That included my friend Amy, her little boys Nathan and Noah, her husband Bobby, and my other friend Antoinette from work. Nate and Noah were such good boys; I was really pleased to see them so well behaved.

Then comes the Lynch clan. Oh my goodness, have you seen Lisa's new car? It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It's a Honda Element and now I want one. You can hose out the inside of it even! Ok, Lisa's new car is for another time, but dang, it's awesome. Ok, so the Lynch clan (ooh, that sounds kinda bad now that I'm reading it over. "Lynch clan", like we're going to a hanging or something. How Western cowboy of me!) arrives, consisting of Jay, Lisa, and their daughter Stevi. I know I only saw them a month ago, but Lisa has lost like, 10 pounds and looks even hotter then she did before (is that possible?) and Stevi is growing up so fast! Like, I met her 2 years ago and she was just a kid, now I see her and she's more mature then most adults I know. She's also taller then me and we wear (or I like to pretend) the same size so I'm hoping to invade her closet one of these days. She's 11, by the way. But her clothes are so cute!

So, the party was a huge success. There was so much food, and all the kids and babies did were eat Cheetos! I should have just bought Cheetos and skipped everything else because that was a huge hit! I got the idea from my friend Kari to buy them and wow, she is one smart cookie. So, we all ate food, mingled, played football outside, and opened presents (I was way more excited then Jack was! I mean, I got to open them and Kevin and I spent last night playing with all of them while Jack was at Juniper pool with the Lynchs!). My favorite part though was when the cake came out. We brought it to him and all sang, and he burst into tears! Lisa was holding him and trying to soothe him but all he could do is cry! I felt so bad but I couldn't stop laughing! He's such a sweetie pie!

Before everyone left, they all wrote a special note to Jack for his scrap book that I'm making. All of his cards and messages are going in it along with pictures so that next year at his party, everyone can look at it and see what he was like when he was 1. Thank you, Target, for having adorable yet expensive ideas that mothers just can't resist.

The party ended up lasting until 2pm. Jack then went swimming at the pool with the Lynch family, followed by a lovely Mexican dinner. I have to tell you this one thing though. Before they went to the pool, they went to the store to buy Jack some water wings. The only color that was left was pink. So when they came over, I asked where the water wings were, and they said they didn't buy them because they only had pink left. I was like, "So?" And they were like, "They were pink!" Ok, it was a lot funnier when I was standing there. My sister will appreciate my humor.

I am so happy with how the entire day turned out, and so grateful for everyone who came. It means so much to me, you have no idea. And thank you to everyone who sent Jack text messages, sang him Happy Birthday on the phone, myspace.com messages/comments, and for all of his gifts! He may not know how much he's loved, but I know and believe me, I won't forget it. 

Now to get back to reality. I'm working 29 hours this week (which is a lot as I usually only work half that amount) and have a lot of leftovers to consume! 

One, Two, Cha Cha Cha!

August 8th, 2008: Opening day for the Olympic games. This day was chosen by the Chinese because the number eight is lucky, hence the Olympics starting on 08/08/08. 

My Aunt Linda has been saying for a few months now, "Chris, that boy will be walking before he's one! I guarantee it!" I kept telling her to stop teasing me, but low and behold, on the lucky day of 08/08/08, Jack took his very first steps! 

We were at my brother's house playing with Will & Pippa. Will, being such an advanced tot, has already started taking his first steps. After my mom told me that, Jack stood up, took a step, looked down, looked up, took a second step, looked at me, smiled, and then a third step! And at step number three he got a little top heavy and fell. But he was ok and happy that he made it so far! I am so proud of my little (and by little I mean 29 pounds) man! 

Now that he is beginning to walk, this parenting thing is going to get easier, right? Wait, why are you all laughing at me?

These are the actual shots from Jack's first steps!