Poolside on Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day at the neighborhood pool. What a great way to end a wonderfully long weekend. We loved having Daddy home with us one extra day. The pool was packed with kids and families and Jack was in the midst of it all. He spent most of his time in the baby pool or walking around begging for food. Thank goodness the food was set up inside the clubhouse...out of sight, out of mind, right?. But, as soon as someone passed by with a plate, Jack was itching to get out of the water and follow the goodies. Jack definitely has a ferocious appetite, especially if it's someone else's food. I would have to say the highlight of Jack's weekend was downing two slices of watermelon. He was so focused on getting every last piece of the sweet goodness that he didn't even care about the juice running down his chin and onto his swim clothes. He even started gnawing the rind and that's when I had to kindly remove it from his sticky fingers. From there it was to the pool for a little rinse down. Between bites and begging, Jack splashed and played with the other tots. Kind of like a big bath with friends, Jack was thinking. Daddy even took him for a wet tour of the big pool. Initially he wasn't too sure, but after a short while he was as happy as a fish in water. His favorite part...Daddy throwing him up into the air and letting him come down with a big splash. After becoming water logged, Jack wanted to show his stuff off to the neighbors. He cruised around the pool on two legs and beamed with pride. Of course, this meant Mommy had to follow close behind to avoid any spills. So long to the days of lounging poolside. But, honestly his new found mobility is much more fun! With bedtime nearing, we strolled home. With all of the soaking wet fun, we decided to forgo the bathtub in our night time ritual. We dried our little party goer off and he was off to a good nights sleep. Tomorrow is more pool fun...we start our swimming lessons with Sophia and Miller at a local indoor swim academy. More wet blogging to come...

Walkin' and a Ploppin'

Drum Roll Please!
Here is Jack's walking video debut....hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lucky 13

13 seems to be a lucky number around here. It's the date of my birthday, it was Jack's due date and his actual birth date, and now, at 13 months....Jack took his first steps! It happened early this evening at a neighbors house. We had strolled down for a cookout, never expecting such a significant milestone to occur. However, right in their kitchen, in front of all the neighbor's and kiddies, Jack took off on two feet. He would walk from the kitchen to the living room and take a plop. Then he was back up and trying it all over again. His cheeks were rosy red and he had a smile from ear to ear. He loved being on the move vertically and he beamed with pride. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera or video camera with me....ugh! I was so fearful if I ran home I would miss something. So, I will forever have to have the images sketched in my memory. But, I promise to get some footage this week of our little walker and plopper and post it on the blog soon. I couldn't resist sharing the news though...many of you know how I have been restlessly awaiting this day! Yea!! He did it!

Playdate and Pizza

Jack and I hosted an exciting play date today. We had a great time with all of our friends. Our guests included Heather and Meg, Allison and Ansley, Erica and Miller, Cristina and Sophia, Donna and Patterson, and the youngest of the bunch, Karen and Wesley Kate. We started the afternoon with pizza for lunch...much easier than cooking and the tots loved it! Jack actually had his first taste of this Italian delicacy and it would be safe to say he is sold on it. He used his baby sign language for 'more' and pointed to every ones plate all throughout lunch. Don't forget to eat your veggies too buddy! After munching, we headed down to the playroom for the fun. I love to see his playroom filled with wondering babies and toddlers. Today was no exception, toys were singing, balls were bouncing, and books were being read. All the while, little ones were making their way around the room...so much fun! In his second year of life, Jack has found it much harder to share his favorite things. Today was a good lesson in how to do so. After agonizing over his favorite book Sophia was reading, Jack finally settled for a different one. Oh, and don't forget the busy ball popper. As soon as Miller inched his way over to it, Jack was there to tell him it was his. We had to show Jack that two can play with so many balls popping. I have a feeling this a life lesson we are going to be working on for a while. However, Jack was in awe of a full playroom...so much more entertaining than just Mommy or Daddy. After all of the busy playing and attempted sharing, Jack and I walked our guests to the front door. Jack stood in the doorway wishing everyone a friendly "bye bye". He babbled some other baby language with it too, maybe it was something like... "Ill work on that sharing thing for next time". From there it was off to the crib for a well needed afternoon nap. Jack babbled himself to sleep recounting all of the excitement of a play date and pizza.

"Hey, wait a minute Miller, that's my busy ball popper!"

"If I can't have the busy ball popper to myself, I'll just run over it"

"See what you have to look forward to Patterson?...this foreign concept called sharing."

"Okay, okay, Sophia can have my favorite book but, ONLY because she is girl."

Luckily Wesley Kate is still too young to play with any of Jack's favorites. She got to watch the moral lessons from her Mommy's lap.

"Oh now I get it...Ansley puts a ball in, then it's my turn. This sharing thing may not be so bad after all!"

Mother's Day

My second Mother's Day was absolutely wonderful! Especially compared to last year when Jack was less than a month old and crying nonstop. Last year we ended up eating "brunch" last minute at a very noisy burger joint. We thought the noisy atmosphere was a perfect choice to drown out Jack's wailing. Luckily he didn't wake up to test out our theory. Looking back, we should have just enjoyed the day at home. But then again, I think I was itching to get out of the house like a real person at that point. Anyway, that is all over with now and this Mother's Day proved to be much more peaceful. It started with sleeping in--my favorite thing to do. That could have been my gift in its self and I would have been thrilled. But, Clay and Jack decided I deserved more and surprised me with an one hour massage. Yea! That will be perfect for my ailing back that has been caused by toting a 24lb baby around. We spent the rest of the afternoon as we normally do on Sunday...mass and then lunch. Lots of Sundays we end up having a quick lunch do to Jack's nap time nearing. But today we took a chance, since it was Mother's Day after all. We enjoyed lunch outdoors, nothing too special, just sandwiches. I didn't need anything too fancy anyway. I was just happy to have my two favorite boys with me. You see, Clay almost had to play in a tennis tournament today. Luckily after about 5 wins, he finally lost yesterday (no offense hubby), which meant he got to spend Mother's Day with us. Who plans a tennis tournament finals on Mother's Day weekend anyway? No need to waste time pondering that concern anymore, thankfully it didn't become a reality. So needless to say, I was happy eating anywhere! But, that's not even the best part. After lunch we took a quick walk over to Stride Rite since we were so close. It had to be super speedy because Jack was overdo for a nap by this point. I just wanted to make sure his shoes still fit, they were beginning to look a little snug. I had taken him in to the store about 3 weeks ago only to be disappointed to hear that his feet hadn't grown and his shoes still fit just fine. But, today was Mother's Day and I was in for the best gift ever. After a quick measure...Jack's feet had grown! Yes, a whole size and a half... and in just three weeks! The sales clerk told us it can happen almost overnight. Well, it wasn't quite overnight, it was actually 21 nights to be exact, but I was thrilled. We bought Jack a new pair of shoes and now we can say his feet are officially average size. This Mommy is going to get a good night's sleep tonight! So, to all you fantastic Mommies out there, I hope your Mother's Day was just as wonderful! Happy mother's Day from our family to yours.

Birthday Pictures

You may be wondering where I have been lately...it's been a whole week since I last posted. Well, here is your answer. I have been looking at Jack's First Birthday pictures from HD Portraits also known as Heather Dahlby. Yes, I must have looked at them a hundred times, reliving that special day. She actually took about 250 pictures, but only edited her favorites. And those are the 65 that you will see in his Birthday album. The pictures include shots of the guests, decorations, cake eating, and lots of playing. There is even a shot of clingy Jack grabbing on to my pants leg...Mommy did not have permission to be out his sight on this momentous day! If you were there, I can almost guarantee there is an adorable shot of your little one too. I asked Heather to take lots of photos of Jack's friends. We don't ever want to forget who came to share in the joy of turning one. To view the pictures, just click on the "Jack's First Birthday" album to the left of the post <------. Then either click each individual picture or hit "slide show". Even more exciting, if you want to order one, click "order prints" on the top. I'm assuming you will be ordering the adorable pictures of your guest. Enjoy! And thank you to all who celebrated with us and we missed those who couldn't.

A Really Wet Rhyme

Water Baby

Written for Grandma Margie

It started with a birthday present Grandma bought

A blue sand and water table is what Jack got

Splish, Splash, Splish, Splash...Splash, Splash, Splash

Jack was soaking wet in less than a flash

His hair, clothes, and shoes were dripping wet

But was Jack having fun? Oh, you bet!

Off with his clothes--it just took a while

All Jack was wearing was a diaper and a smile

Turning the wheels to the left and the boats to the right

Just watching Jack's water play was quite a sight

After a little more splashing and a little more sun

Jack's outdoor water game was finally done

Inside we went to get all warm and dry

Tomorrow we will give water fun another try