Mommy Style

We celebrated Karen's 31st birthday on Thursday 'mommy style'...that is a play date and lunch. Cristina and Sophia hosted with a yummy lunch and lots of wet fun in their backyard. Before heading to the pool, the mommies munched on chicken Caesar salad, pasta, and fruit while the toddlers did their thing. Which included some sharing practice, chasing the dog, opening every cabinet in the kitchen, and very loud squealing matches. This was all accomplished in between bites of a 'lunch on the go'. No time to eat when there is playing to be done. Sophia, Miller, Wesley Kate, and Jack were relieved when lunch was over because that meant swim time. Outdoors was full of more fun. In and out of the pool seemed to be the toddler game of choice. This game can also be translated as "mommy chases me around the pool". When they weren't running around the pool, Miller seemed to enjoy driving the toy car around the edge, Sophia showed off her aquatic skills, Jack learned to dump water on himself (he was aiming for his head), and Wesley Kate observed these mobile little ones with an intense stare. I would have to say that Karen had it the easiest. Rightfully so, it was her birthday celebration after all. We actually tried to pose the kiddos for a photo around the pool...ha!, that was the joke of the day...can you guess which picture it is? Yes, the one with all of the mommy legs. It was in an effort to situate the little swimmers and then run. Obviously it didn't work. However, I think we still got some cute shots of the fun.

Jack At One

So we had Jack's "walking" pictures taken recently. I held off as long as I could, considering a pending move. Then I decided I just couldn't risk missing this stage of his life. So Lisa Russo offered to hold our pictures for us until we eventually sell and move. That way I could figure out wall space, decorating, Jack's new room etc. before I place an order. Because at this point, who knows where I'm going to put the pictures I have now, much less the new ones. When I initially viewed the slideshow, I was slightly disappointed. NOTHING against Lisa, she is fabulous. It was her subject. We did the session in the early am before the heat and at the time Jack was still a slave to his morning nap. So once we finally got Jack fed, dressed and to the location, he was only about 40 minutes short of nap time. Lisa had to work fast. Not too mention, Jack is not always a morning person and depending on the scenery and the people it can take him a few minutes to warm up (not usually, but on ocassion). By the time he got settled in his new environment pure exhaustion had already set in. So his usual big blue eyes were small and glazed over. And his smiles were few and far between. Clay and I did everything short of standing on our heads to make that kiddo smile. Of course, Daddy was able to get the real grins out of him. But, I think if Jack could have talked, he would have said, "enough already, take me to my bed and my lovey". And did I mention that during the week of the session, Jack had begun practicing a new face that resembled a scrunched up scowl? You'll see it in the slide show and know exactly what I'm talking about. Which,by the way, is the last time I've seen it. I guess practice makes perfect...good timing on that one Jack! And lastly, I must mention that he is a toddler on the move, which I'm sure makes it a challenge to photograph. But, the good news is we got some great family shots, which is something I can never get. And after watching it a zillion times, I actually started falling in love with the many facial expressions. With out further ado, I present...Jack at One the Slideshow. Enjoy!
Beware the slideshow takes about 3 minutes to upload the first time you view it. You can see the status of the upload by scrolling down and watching the bar.

Jack At One the Slideshow

What's Been Going On

It's been almost a week since I last posted, so I thought I would fill everyone in on what's been going on at The Cibula household. Nothing too exciting, but since so many people have been asking about the house I'll start with that. It's been a whole week with no showings. This whole 'house for sale' thing has been very hit or miss. Some weeks we've had as many as 4 showings and then this week nothing. How odd. However, we've come close to getting an offer twice now. But, close doesn't count. One couple came by 3 times just to decide the deck was too high for their little ones, which by the way are 5 year old triplets. The other couple wanted to pick out the new roof that we are having put on the house, so we said, 'sure, with an offer'. Unfortunately, we just found out today that the deal on their current house selling fell through, so now they have to look in a lower price range. Such a bummer! But, the good news is everyone who has looked at the house has loved it. It just seems to be the lack of a backyard that is holding us up. With that feedback, we had the backyard minimally landscaped with a wooded area, a wood chipped area for a play set, and a very small patch of grass. Nothing too fancy. However, we've only had 1 showing since that completion and it was the "too high deck" people. We are still holding out faith and know that the right buyers will come eventually. Say some prayers for us, please.

In other news...we are having teeth trouble around here. And this time it's not Jack. I actually started feeling a little tooth discomfort at the beginning of the week. By Thursday it was unbearable. If you can believe this , I have a wisdom tooth coming in. I thought I had the bottom 2 taken out when I was in college. Apparently it was only 1 on the bottom because my jaw on the left side is throbbing. (I never claimed to have a great memory.) The oral surgeon wanted me to have it taken out today and I actually considered it. However, we are throwing a couple's baby shower for a friend in the neighborhood on Saturday. When I told the nurse this, she said, and I quote..."you might be alright by then, just don't talk a lot". With that advice, I decided to postpone the surgery until late Monday. I have one painful weekend ahead of me. Poor Clay had to rearrange his work schedule so he can take me and pick me up and we had to find a sitter for Jack on Monday. Now, the question is what am I going to do about Tuesday, not being able to talk and downing pain meds? Anyone want a toddler on Tuesday?

Other than those two cheerful tidbits (ha!), Jack is doing great. I'm still trying to figure out his napping issues, but that is a whole other post in it's self. I'll update you all soon, in hopes of soliciting some advice. He is still busy, happy, and eating me out of house and home. Speaking of eating, I ordered Jack some of those Snacktraps. Possibly one of the best toddler inventions yet (Thanks Allison for introducing me). It took him a while to get the hang of it. His hand occasionally got stuck in the trap and he would moan and shake his trapped hand around until I could rescue him. But, with food being the motivation, he figured out the trick to getting the food out without trapping his hand in no time. So, on that note, here are some pics of Jack sporting his new food gadget. After all what is a post without pictures? Happy weekend to you all!

15 Months and Going

It's time for a little Jack update. I've decided since his first birthday to take every three months to celebrate him in detail. This means I will do it again at 18 months, then 21 months, then 2 years old, you get the picture....no more monthly b'day celebrations blog style. I figured baby #2 (which does not exist at this point) will have a hard act to follow with all of the documentation that I've done for Jack. So, therefore I'm slowing down on his monthly updates and monthly albums. It will make me feel better considering I want everything to be as even as possible for my little ones. This being my 100th post it only seems fitting to celebrate my favorite little man. So, on to Jack...

Jack is no longer walking, he is running. He makes laps through the house, in the yard, and in any public place that his two feet hit the ground. And to think I ever worried about losing my baby weight...ha! He does still have a cautious side to him. When he reaches a step or bump in the sidewalk, he stops, holds his hand up for assistance, and then takes off again. I appreciate his hesitation as it has prevented any major spills so far. Unless, you count the one at the park with the wood chips implanted in his head. But, at least no broken bones and no goose eggs, and I say that knowing the day will come, I'm sure. Another example of his cautious side...he has to watch 15 kids go down the tunnel at the park before he is ready to give it a try. Maybe he's going to be a thinker instead of a doer? I must admit though, he is quite a busy body. No standing still...just go, go, going. But, mainly with activities he is familiar with, like his toys, books, and eating.

Of his toys, he loves anything with wheels. Cars, trucks, buses, vans, bikes, they are all "vrooms vrooms" to him and he is fascinated. We continue to tell him the name instead of the sounds of these vehicles in hopes that he will use the words...still waiting though. He still loves his books. All of his favorite books have animals in them. Again, he points out the animals and makes the sounds for them. His animals of choice are ducks, dogs, and monkeys. Quite a selection there, huh? He doesn't mind the pages with pictures of food on them either. If it's something really tasty, he'll point to it and say, "mmmmm". That is usually followed by a trip to the pantry or fridge pleading for a snack.

He fascinates me everyday with the new things he does. His new talent is opening doors, closing himself out while saying, "bye bye mama". Luckily he hasn't escaped too far yet. He has just recently begun climbing on his riding toys and trying to scootch around. He gets frustrated at the fact he can only make it about a foot away....his legs just aren't quite long enough yet. Another of Jack's tricks includes going to the pantry, pulling out the tupperware container of dog treats, while repeating "woof, woof". He has actually managed to open it a couple of times...this is Cosby's little piece of heaven in a chaotic household. But of all his new talents, the one that always puts a smile on my face is his singing. His two tunes...Row, Row Your Boat and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. We sing the boat song in rounds with me starting and Jack joining in right on cue. His version sounds like this..."wo, wo, wo, wo wo". He has actually begun to add some merrily's and boat's in there on occasion. And as for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, he gets his hands going to make the star and hums along. I always tell him, 'he has the most beautiful singing voice I have ever heard' and his face lights up and he continues on.

As for language development, we are progressing. Even though I can't understand everything he is saying, he always makes it very clear what he wants. He has a language all his own with pauses and change in tone. He's speaking in complete sentences, just a foregin languge to me. He does have a handful of "words" that are clear and have true meaning. Some of them are the sounds, but I think that should count, right? Here are a few...

woof woof= dog

ki=kitty cat

fuuh=flower (usually followed by an exaggerated sniff)

bye bye= bye bye

I=hi

ello=hello

quu quu=duck

ooh ooh=monkey (that's suppose to be a monkey sound)

moooo=cow

uveee=lovey

obee=Cosby

ni ni=night night

vroom vroom= car or anything with wheels

sheeze=cheeze

mama=mommy

dada=daddy

e=elephant

oh oh oh=go, go go

uh oh=uh oh

He is still a fabulous sleeper. Although, I think we are starting a transition phase. We are getting close to that time when one nap is all he will need. He still loves his crib and his sleep, so it will be interesting to see when that downsize actually comes. But, I do feel something is going on. He goes down for his morning nap like clockwork at 9:30 am and snoozes for almost 2 hours. But, his afternoon nap time is becoming the funny one. He wants to go to his crib and doesn't put up a complaint, but when he gets in there, he has recently begun talking to himself for about an hour. When he does finally fall into a deep slumber it can last up to two hours again. We've actually had to wake him lately at the 2 hour mark to avoid messing up bedtime. I'm a very confused Mommy right now when it comes to naps. I've started pulling out all of my sleeping bibles to see what is going on. From what I can gather, I'm going to have to help him drop that am nap before he tries to drop the afternoon nap on me. I guess we'll start working on that in the next couple of couple of weeks. At least he is sleeping though. Night time is still 12 hours...7:30pm to 7:30 am. And he always wakes up with a smile. I love that morning smile, it makes getting up well worth it for me.

Eating is still one of his favorite activities. I think he and I eat similar sized portions! I guess, when you are always on the go, you need those calories. I keep waiting for his appetite to slow down...no signs of that yet. His favorite food is watermelon. Give him a slice of watermelon on the back deck and he thinks he is in heaven. The trick is getting the rind away from him once he's finished-very challenging! Other than that he loves all fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, string cheese, bread, applesauce, yogurt, steamed veggies, and all of the other toddler staples. Not a big fan of meat though. I've started giving him veggie nuggets and that seems to do the protein trick.

Naturally, this leads me into the physical aspect of Jack. I'm not exactly sure how much he weighs, but he is huge. I would have to guess about 27lbs and that is only a guess. However, it kills my back to carry him. Thank goodness he is a walker now. He has a stocky frame, similar to a football player. I'm guessing he won't stay like this because there is no one on either side of our families built like him. It all remains to be seen though. He has definitley put on an inch or two since his 12 month update. Again, I'm not sure exactly how tall he is, I just know he can't walk under the kitchen table anymore. Or even close for that matter! When I buy him clothes these days, I usually go for the 2T's. Occasionally they are slightly big, but usually after a washing we are good to go with a little room to grow. Other than that, the only other major change is he's actually starting to show signs of getting hair. YEA! And it is white blonde. He looks exaclty like his Daddy's babies pictures. I think that makes him a pretty lucky toddler.

I know I've said this about about other phases of his life, but this is truly one of my favorites. His little personality is blossoming everyday and it is so fun to watch. He keeps me on my toes with his go, go going and I love it!

Photography is not my speciality, especially when it comes to a toddler on the move. So enjoy the action shots of my little one and keep in mind I was chasing him all the while (not to mention the lighting was horrible).