Week 50

February 17-23

Jack decided that he likes to walk backwards! Ed says that he did it all over the living room the other day. I personally, have never witnessed this phenomenon, but I am told he has been doing it.

He has really started studying things and he tries to "figure things out." It is fascinating to watch. He likes to know how things work. I think it is a great quality to have.

On another note, at this age we were starting to have sleep issues. A few weeks ago we were putting Jack to bed anywhere from 7:30-8:00. Occasionally he would stay up until 8:30. Normally, he wakes up at 7:00 am no matter what time he goes to bed the night before.

All of a sudden Jack started waking up at 4:00-4:30 am. He wasn't upset, wasn't crying. We would wake up to: "lalala, mamamamama, babababababa," on the monitor. Within seconds you hear the squeak, squeak of the mattress as Jack is jumping up and down. We were both over it. After a few nights of this we had enough. I consulted my trusty sleep book and sure enough it said that around 10-12 months if babies suddenly start to wake up in the middle of the night it means they are sleep deprived. The solution...put him to bed earlier. Jack's new bedtime is 7:00 pm. We will see what happens. It says if they are still waking up, go as early as 6:00 pm for a bedtime. I will keep you guys posted.

Jack's new thing is "helping" you do everything. He loves to open/shut doors and push buttons. When we make his bottle he likes to open and close the microwave door. Whenever I do laundry I let him help me put small things in and he will open and shut the doors. He LOVES to push the button to close the garage door. I started letting him do that so that he would understand cause and effect.

Week 49

Feb 10-16

Happy Valentine's Day! Let me digress first and start with the rest of the week. Grandma & Grandpa Bullock came back from their cruise so of course they stopped by to see Jack again. Their puppy Scarlet spent the week with us, and Hope LOVED having an extra friend around. They brought Jack a little present when they stopped in.

For Valentine's Day I worked since it fell on a Sunday. We have an agreement that we don't get each other big presents like we used to. Usually we have a nice dinner together at home and we talk about why we love each other and what we are grateful for. I got Ed some small presents...a box of his favorite Girl Scout Cookies, a card, and his favorite car scent....the little Yankee Candle car jar's in Apple. Of course Jack got Daddy a card too. After work I came home and Ed had an INCREDIBLE dinner prepared with candles all over the living room. Jack had gone to bed so we had an uninterrupted dinner. He got a bottle of my favorite wine and even chocolate gnash for dessert. It was sooo good! I was happy with that.

As usual...Ed out-gifted me. After dinner he looked over and says, "are you ready for your real present?" I was floored. I truly thought dinner was enough. So he led me upstairs and in the guest room he had set up a "sewing table/area" up for me. He had bought a table, measuring pad/cutting grid, drawers for storage, extra accessories, and my little sewing machine sitting there. It was so SWEET! I am so excited! He said it was really a gift for him too so he doesn't have to look at my sewing machine on the coffee table. I think he is the best husband in the world. I can't wait to make new projects.

Here are some pictures of Jack in his little Valentine's Day pajamas. They are super-cute!

Video

In the past week or two, Jack has progressed from "babbling" to "talking". It's almost like he's speaking in complete sentences...but in his own little baby language. I love listening to him, he inflects on things and makes funny faces as he does this. A far cry from the old "baba", "Mama", "Dada", "Lala", "bye-bye" that he was saying awhile back. He still uses some of these phrases, but now he has other words it seems. Here is a cute video!

Week 48

Feb 3-9

These pictures are from an impromptu "photo session" Jack and I had. I just plopped him in the grass in our front yard and started shooting. He was very well behaved because he started playing with the blades of grass and inspecting them. He even tried to eat some at one point. I just let him go and took pictures. He made a few hilarious faces and I kind of got a glimpse of his new teeth.

Jack has a few more talents to show off this week. He learned how to drink through a straw! Let me backtrack. Grandma and Grandpa Bullock were driving through last weekend to leave for their cruise. We were fortunate to have them stop in for the night and spend some time with us. They took us to dinner at the Chart House (Harvin LOVES the Chart House!) and Jack came along. While we were waiting, Harvin let Jack take a drink out of his ginger ale. Jack figured out how to suck it out of the straw, and was in heaven! I bought him some new cups with straws and he has been using them ever since!

Jack also had his top 2 teeth poke through the gums this week. We had definitely been noticing an increase in the drool coming out of his mouth, so we were expecting something to happen soon. They will be visible soon enough, they just need to grow down a little more. Hopefully it will be soon so he can chew more foods!!

Check out that drool! :)

Week 47

Jan 27-Feb 2

Hello all! Those of you who are around Jack know that he has pretty much always been a talker. For a long time he has been saying the typical "ba-ba, ma-ma, da-da, la-la," sounds. Well now he officially has some "words" that he says. These words include: Mama, Dada, Bye-Bye, and "Mooooo!" :) One of his favorite toys is his farm and his first official animal noise is the cow. Here is a picture of him playing with his farm.

Jack pretty much plays farm every single day so I am thinking that he will come up with more animal sounds in the next few weeks. I really love this particular farm (it is Fisher Price Little People) except for the cow and the horse. The cow is brown and white, and looks kind of like a horse. The horse is also brown (confusing) and kind of looks like a camel. I am almost tempted to write a letter to Fisher Price letting them know that their animals are not up to par. I don't want to be rude. He still LOVE, LOVE, LOVES his farm!! :)

He is so very proud of his cow sound that he does it...all the time...EVERYWHERE! The other day we were in Publix and an old-ish lady walked by, smiling at Jack. He looks at her, smiles...and goes, "MOOOOOOO!!!" She was kind of offended, I think. Jack can be my new weapon against old people. In a subtle, cute kind of way. :) Muwahahahaha!!

Other than that I can't think of many more remarkable accomplishments for the week. Oh, I have been trying to teach Jack a handful of body parts. He definitely can tell me where my nose is, and sometimes my ears. We will keep working on it.