Week 55

Mar 24-30

Well the weather has FINALLY changed! It pretty much stays warm here all year round...when compared to everyone else, but it is now officially BEACH weather! We've gone a couple of times so far this week and it's not even over yet. Earlier Jack and I went on our usual morning run, as is our routine on my days off. I thought we should have some fun to reward ourselves so I put on his bathing suit and we headed towards the beach.

At first he was a little scared of the waves crashing, they were a bit rough that morning and were loud! He was happy sitting in my lap looking around at the seagulls and the other people walking along the water.

After awhile he got a little bit more brave and walked around while holding my hand. We had a nice relaxing time just the two of us.

A few days later it was still so nice outside and I was on-call for the hospital so we figured we should take advantage of the family time and make another trip to the beach. This time Daddy came with us so it was much more fun! :) I don't know if it was just more quiet that day, or the fact that both of us were with him, but Jack had no fear this time. He ran up and down the sand and chased the waves. He watched his shadow and chased that for awhile. It was so cute!

The whole time he had a huge grin on his face. We let him go and go until he was tuckered out and then we gathered all of our things and headed back home. He got to break in his new sea turtle beach outfit that Grandma and Grandpa Harvin got him for his birthday. Everyone thought he was so cute with his little hat and matching bathing suit. I can't believe he wore the hat the whole time. I think he was so distracted by everything going on he didn't even notice it.

It's so nice to finally take advantage of living a block from the beach! I hope we have a great summer playing and soaking up the Florida sun!! :)

Week 54

Mar 17-23

Now that I have finally finished the birthday blogging I wanted to write a blog about Jack's 1 year milestones. We had his 1 year official checkup last week with his new pediatrician. He is now 23 1/2 lbs (50th %) and 30 inches tall (50th %). A far cry from 8 lbs 14 oz and 19 inches at birth!! I can't believe how much growing happens in the first year. He's pretty lean and trim, but I feel like it is because he is CONSTANTLY busy. :) The kid gets a ton of exercise!!

Jack is now completely on whole milk. We prefer to buy the Horizon Organic Whole Milk plus DHA Omega 3 for brain development. The switch to eating organic is a process our family has been striving to achieve for a couple of years now. Jack has always eaten organic formula, yogurt, eggs, etc. We eat mostly organic meats and we buy the organic cage-free eggs. I can enjoy my scrambled eggs in the morning knowing that the chickens that hatched them were happy running around in the sunshine. :)

He eats "real" people food now. No more baby food!!! Favorites include macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, cereal, ice cream, yogurt, sandwiches, and crackers. Usually he just eats whatever we are eating. He likes grilled fish, broccoli "trees", meatloaf, and especially POTATOES!!

He has been walking for awhile now, he started the day after Christmas. He has now accomplished full fledged running and he is great at grass AND sand!

Words include mama, dada, baba (bottle), baby, lala, gaga, bye-bye, and BOO. He loves to play hide-and-seek, peek-a-boo, and "monster".

He still takes 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. He goes to bed around 6:30-7:00 pm and wakes up at 7:00 am. We are in the process of weaning him off his bottle. I'm trying to find a good cup I like for his milk. I would love for him to drink his milk cold because we are warming it up like the formula. I think if it comes out of something other than his bottle he will drink it cold.

He loves to play in his new playhouse! He likes when you bring toys outside and he will take them in and out of his house. He is almost able to climb up the toy by himself and go down the slide. He likes his ride on toys. He's getting good at scooting around in them instead of just sitting there.

His best friend is still Riley. He lives down the street and is about the same age. Jack loves to play with mom and dad. He also loves to play with Rachel, his babysitter. She comes on Friday mornings and on occasion other times if we need her.

His favorite animal is a dog. He loves Hope and plays with her all the time. He LOVES the zoo! I think his favorite part is the petting zoo because he can run wild and pet all the animals.

He has SIX teeth now!! Four on the top and two on the bottom. LOVES that he can really chew food!

That pretty much sums up his activity and milestones. He still has such a laid back personality. He wakes up happy and is always smiling and talking. When he does fall or trip he usually just gets up and shakes it off. He's a great little kid and we both feel like he is growing up way too fast!!!

Week 53-2

Mar 10-16

Jack's birthday party was a big hit! It all started Saturday morning when we woke up and put up decorations. I was so thankful because it was a BEAUTIFUL day outside. The two days prior to that morning we woke up to rain all day long. We were happy to have sunshine and warm weather! Once again, I could not have done it without the help of Cindy, Ryan, Amanda, Caroline, & Haley. They were absolutely amazing!!!!

After decorating we all got ready and waited for our first guests. The food was pretty much all done so we just had to set it out when we were ready to eat. :) I recommend this for parties. We went for a "traditional" birthday party theme. I chose blue and green as the colors and made everything match up. For decorations we did traditional streamers and balloons and then added a customized birthday banner made up of pictures from every month since he was born. It was really fun to put them all up and actually visualize how he has changed.

For the cake table I had decorated picture frames and filled one with a newborn picture and the other with a 1 year old picture. Ed's mom had brought pictures of him at his 1st birthday party and I quickly made a "frame" for it to place next to Jack's 1st birthday picture. I also put his "Birthday Boy" hat to complete the scene.

The middle table had snacks, cups, plates, napkins, bowls, etc all in blue and green. We had a present table to the side and I hung up "Happy Birthday" banners. We were ready for a PARTY!!!

As soon as people started arriving Jack started to get excited. He realized people kept coming through the door so he started waiting and looking for the next person to come so he could greet them. It was very cute. :) He also did a great job of walking around and mingling with everyone at the party.

Once everyone got to the house we went ahead and served all the food. As people were eating we noticed Jack was getting a little sleepy so we went ahead and started on presents. He got SO MANY neat things!! Clothes, toys, etc. Everyone was so generous and he LOVED everything!!! He hardly knows what to do with himself now. He is a very lucky kid. Here are some shots of opening presents...

Since he was already cranky we figured we should go ahead with the cake so he could go down for a nap. At first he wasn't happy about getting in his high chair, until I slipped a taste of frosting in his mouth. He perked right up! We sang happy birthday and he dug into his GINORMOUS cake. He did a significant amount of damage, eventually we cut him off because we were worried he might get sick. For everyone else I made what I call "cuppie-cakes." They are always a huge hit. It is basically a cupcake inside of an ice cream cone with icing. Yummy!

That pretty much sums up the party! It was an incredible day. I hope everyone who came had a great time. Thank you for coming! Thank you for Jack's presents! Thank you for celebrating such a momentous occasion for our family!!!! We are so blessed to have such amazing friends and family!! I feel like this is the longest blog ever...

THE END!

Week 53

Mar 10-16

I decided to break up this post into 2 posts due to the ridiculous amount of pictures. Jack didn't just have a birthday party, but a birthday week of fun. I guess it is all part of being the 1st kid. My grandma always told me when I was little, "first is the best!" because she was the oldest of 4 kids and so was I.

The party week started with Crystal coming down to visit. It was quite the treat because I hadn't seen her since last May when we did the March of Dimes walk together with Jack. It was awesome of her to come all the way down from Palm Coast, FL.

She came bearing gifts for Jack's birthday so he fell in love with her. Here are some cute pictures I got of the two of them together. After they played for a bit, Crystal and I got the opportunity to go out for a rare "adult" lunch together. I took her out to this really great Thai food restaurant down on A1A in Indian Harbour Beach. We had a great time catching up and eating delicious food. :)

The next day was Wednesday and I had to work since I was taking off the weekend. Luckily, Ed had taken a couple of days off so he was able to pick up his mom (Grandma) from the airport. It was strange working a Wednesday, but I didn't mind because I knew when the day was over it was time to have fun!

Thursday Uncle Ryan (Ed's brother) and Auntie Amanda (his wife) were driving down from Lexington, SC and then Friday Aunt Caroline (my sister) and her friend Haley (Pictionary champion) were driving down from Columbia, SC. Little Jack is quite the popular guy. He is lucky to have such loving family members who take the time out to drive down for his little birthday party. :)

Thursday March 11th was Jack's actual birthday and Ed insisted we have a "party" for him. We thought it was a good idea to let him practice his cake smashing skills and then he could open presents from family in a more intimate setting. I made him a mini-cake that was absolutely pathetic and we had our nice little party. Jack loves cake! I'm really not surprised at all.

The next day was Friday. Thank goodness I had the help of all of these people! We got everything ready...baked, cooked, peeled (eggs/potatoes), chopped, frosted, etc. It was quite the whirlwind of activity in the kitchen. Everyone took turns entertaining Jack the king.

He was quite happy because he had some new toys to play with. Ed made potato salad and deviled eggs. I baked the cuppie cakes and Jack's cake, made frosting with my trusty mixer (thank goodness for that thing!!), and made Jack's smash cake with the help of my MIL, Amanda, Caroline, and Hailey!

The next day would be Saturday...the PARTY! I will leave that to my next post...