Monday, March 8, 2010

Jack Attack

I can't believe that Jack is already 6 months old! Well, obviously I believe it, since it happened, but it is just crazy! He is such a joyful easygoing little guy. He is mostly sitting on his own these days. A few tips and crashes every now and then. I've noticed an exponential relationship... the longer he sits on his own the more often he falls. The first few minutes he is steady and strong and then he must be getting tired or lazy or whatever because he'll start tipping over more frequently. I'll prop him up and he soon falls again, then I'll help him up and pretty soon he is tipping over almost immediately after I help him up! He loves playing with a little piano we have. He gets pretty stinkin' excited. He can roll around all over the place. He is sleeping 11-12 hours straight each night. What a champ! And boy oh boy do we love that. He started shaking his head no this week. Seriously? Seriously. How do they know "No" so early? Example: I'll be feeding him and all of a sudden he'll stop eating, move his head back and start shaking his head. If I try to keep feeding him he is totally disinterested. It's like he's telling me, "Mom, I just told you no, I don't want anymore. I'm full. Please stop."

He is still being attacked by his sister on a daily basis. They are all love attacks, but attacks nonetheless. Annabelle loves to try and make her brother laugh. Half of the time she is successful. The other half of the time I think her method is not his style. It involves getting all up in his grill and making loud noises. His expression is usually one of worry rather than joy.

Other random facts about Jack:
- He likes putting all sorts of things in his mouth... toys, stuffed animals, blankets, my fingers, the drawstring on my sweatshirt, oh and the other day he put a stick in his mouth.
- He regularly takes 2 naps a day and sometimes a quick little catnap in the evening.
- He still likes to screech like a pterodactyl every now and then.
- As long as someone is holding him or looking at him he is usually pretty content.
- He loves his exer-saucer. I'm loving and taking advantage of these days that he doesn't mind being in it all the time. I know one day, in the not too distant future, that he will realize he can moved around on his own and that being constrained in this contraption will no longer be enjoyable for him.
- He has a seriously bad case of cradle cap. I've tried a few different tricks of the trade but nothing has made it go away. Sometimes it will leave, but within a few days it is back. If it had a voice, it would be the Terminator voice saying the classic line "I'll be back." And I know it will make good on its promise. Not that I want it to.

Well, in the middle of typing this post he woke up and Annabelle's quiet time came to an end, so there is not much more I can say. Jack is in his beloved exer-saucer at the moment but his happiness may be short-lived since it is getting pretty close to feeding time.

And in my best Schwarzenegger impersonation: "I'll be back." Hopefully sooner rather than later.


Finally getting around to the solid foods

They say you can start feeding your kids solid foods between 4 and 6 months. So of course with Annabelle I was so excited that I started her on them a few days before she turned 4 months. I just couldn't hold back my patience any longer, I was too excited! With Jack, I waited until he was almost 6 months. It is still within the range but it just seemed like too much to try and start a couple months ago. He definitely seemed ready since he was clawing at my food, bowl, plate, and utensils whenever I was eating. He took to it immediately. I don't know how babies can stomach eating the rice cereal, but I suppose anything that isn't just a liquid seems like the coolest thing in the world to them! He has liked the peas and squash I've given him too. Next in the lineup... carrots!

He's got some mad cup-flipping and balancing skills and he seems totally unimpressed with his own talent. Or maybe he's just concentrating.

This was taken the very first time he ate the rice cereal. See... he loved it!

A little R&R

My parents were out of town last week and said we could stay at their house for a little rest and relaxation if we wanted. So we did. We spent the morning at Point Defiance where we went on the five-mile drive through the woods and explored all over Owen Beach. AB loves to explore so she was throwing rocks, climbing around, playing in the sand and running after daddy. I think she was having so much fun exploring she didn't really notice that I took a bajillion pictures of her. Haha! The one of her above totally reminds me of a senior portrait.

Here she told me she was playing kitchen. Maybe she was making sand cookies or sprinkling spices over a hunk of meat. Who knows?!

Somebody had built a nifty fort out of driftwood and branches.

Oh I just love this picture. Trev giving his sleeping boy a kiss on the forehead. Of course Jack fell asleep just a few minutes before we got back to the car. Who needs real naps?


Baker

Thursday, March 4, 2010