Happy Birthday Miller

This weekend Jack helped Miller celebrate his First Birthday. It was great fun with an exciting baseball theme. The boys have been friends since birth, enjoying Gymboree, swim class, and play dates together. Jack was thrilled to join in on Miller's special day. The two played together until it was time for Miller to get "into" his yummy cake. Jack loved watching Miller's mess making skills. He got to see what he has to look forward to in 2 weeks. Thanks for having us Miller....it was a hit! Happy Birthday to you!

Here are a few pictures of the boys playing...

Here is Jack showing off his new "where is your head?" trick...

An Exceptional Easter Weekend

I have always liked Easter. It's a sign of spring, warm weather, bright colors. But most importantly, because of the true meaning behind it. However, this year I loved Easter. Jack seems to make every holiday just a little more wonderful. What did we ever do without him? We had a exceptional weekend celebrating with a packed agenda.

It all started on Saturday early afternoon when we attended Sophia's First Birthday party. It was great fun with bunny decor everywhere. The birthday girl was dressed to the nines in a beautiful dress and a giant smile. It is easy to see why Jack is so smitten with her. I think these two will be friends for a long while. Sophia even let Jack try on her pink bunny ears, which he wasn't so sure about. Regardless, we had a great time with bunny cupcakes, bunny goody baskets, and lots of playing. Jack was dressed to match the theme in his green gingham bunny suit...he was quite dashing, if I must say. Saturday didn't stop there though.

On the agenda for the late afternoon...the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. Assuming Jack would do very little hunting, Clay stated that it was just going to be a photo opportunity. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was wrong. Jack got right in the mix of the festivities, crawling around and grabbing eggs. They weren't too hard for the little ones to find, seeing as how they were laying on the top of the grass. Jack even put a couple in his new Easter basket and then received some assistance from a 4 year old boy...how neighborly! Once Jack reached his 12 egg capacity, he spent the rest of the hunt shaking eggs, then putting them in and out of his basket, pulling out Easter grass, and watching his fellow hunters run around. We stepped back and watched his curiosity go. He didn't even mind that we weren't by his side--he had all he needed right there. Of course, being his Mommy, I thought he was the cutest bunny there, I always do. But as I looked to my right, I saw another Mom video taping his Easter basket exploration. She told me, and I quote "he is the most adorable baby, look at him so content and curious with his basket and eggs, I couldn't help myself, I had to record him". She then told me how she and her mother in law loved babies and she was going to take the video to share with her. She even asked me if she could send the video into a cute baby contest. It is so fun to hear other admirers talk about Jack....it seems there is just something about a baby that makes everyone smile. After lots of Easter fun, we walked home in glorious 70 degree weather. Once arriving home, Jack played with his eggs a little longer, found a jelly bean in one and ate it...his first sweet mind you, I wasn't too thrilled about that and then he headed off to his nightly bedtime routine. Mommy and Daddy didn't follow too far behind him because another busy day awaited us. Sunday was just as exceptional as the day before. When Jack woke from his morning nap, we showed him what the Easter Bunny had brought him. His basket filled with goodies was enough to make his day. He pulled out the stuffed rabbit and squealed with glee. That was followed with a yellow duck, an Easter book, and bath toys. He didn't want to separate from his new loot so we packed it up and took it to afternoon Easter mass with us. With Jack's nap schedule the 12:15 mass seems to suit us best. It always feels that we get a late start to our day on Sundays, but Jack is well worth it. With a packed church Jack was in awe of all the smiling faces around him. He continually shared his bunny and duck with a young girl in front of us. Luckily, she amused him for the majority of the service. Mass was followed by a late afternoon lunch at a local French cafe. Jack really enjoyed having two lunches...one before mass and one after mass. With a full tummy we returned home for an afternoon Easter nap. All of that bunny business must have worn Jack out because he slept until 5:00! Upon waking he headed straight for his Easter basket and played the evening away.

What an exceptional weekend! We hope yours was just as special. Happy Easter to all!
(More pictures of Jack's Easter weekend in his 11 month album)

Mail Bliss

I love getting packages in the mail and I really love it when they are addressed to Jack Cibula. Seeing his name on mail always makes me smile. Today a package arrived at our front door at 2:47 pm for Jack. He was snoozing away, so I had to wait for him to wake up to open it. I could hardly stand it. I shook the box, stared at it, and wondered what could be inside for our baby boy. The return address let me know that it was from Grammy and Grampa in Florida...so thoughtful! Upon waking, I told Jack all about his surprise waiting for him in the kitchen. We hurried through a diaper change and down the stairs we went. "Come on, lets open it!", I was thinking. But, Jack had something completely different on his mind...his afternoon snack. Uh, hello Mommy, what was I thinking? Of course food always comes first. I anxiously awaited for him to finish his snack and then we were off to the brown box. As we were carefully cutting the packing tape, I noticed green Easter grass hanging out...it was then that I decided this was going to be an outside box. I can not stand cleaning up Easter grass and Jack is all about eating anything on the floor these days. Not to take any chances on a green grass mess we headed out to the back porch with the half opened box in hand. Jack quickly realized what all of the excitement was about when he spotted the fluffy white lamb peering out. He snatched it up, hugged it tight, and gave me a huge grin. Okay, time to get the camera. A little lamb loving and a few pictures later, we sifted through the grass to find a Peter Rabbit book and a wooden puzzle. Daddy arrived home from work right after our new discovery. Jack must have thought that was impeccable timing on Daddy's part because he shoved the book in his face about 5 times. Each time expecting Daddy to read it, silly voices and all. I think we might have a new favorite story. He shifted between the lamb, the puzzle and the book all the way till dinner time. What fun it is to share Easter with our little one and it's just begun. So, thank you Grammy and Grampa for a wonderful afternoon and kick off to Jack's first Easter weekend. The best part is more mail bliss to come...Grandma sent us an Easter package too...we can't wait to see what is inside!

Bye Bye Baby

It was a "bye bye" kind of day at our house. With all of the comings and goings Jack had a lot to say. It started in the AM with a peer out the window and a "byyyyye byyyye" to Cosby as he headed out to do his morning duty. Apparently Jack didn't understand that Cosby would be returning in a matter of minutes. The "bye bye" day continued as Abby, the nanny, left in the afternoon. Jack followed close on her heels as she headed for the front door, all the while chanting "byyyyye, byyyyye". He sat up along the way to add a wave or two and then was back to crawling mode to ensure she made a safe exit. I think he would have escorted her to the car, if I had let him. But, Jack didn't stop there. In the evening, he gave Daddy a round of "byyyyye, byyyyye's" as he left the playroom door. To make sure Daddy heard him properly, Jack followed him half way up the stairs repeating his word of the day. Now that I think about it, Mommy is the only one who didn't receive a farewell today...umph! Oh well, at least we can add "bye, bye" to his list of words with meaning. That's two for those of you counting. So in the words of baby Jack...."byyyye, byyyyye" for now.