Week 65

June 2-8

Daddy FINALLY came home! They say "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and maybe that is true sometimes because ever since he got back we have been having SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I guess you can truly appreciate someone when you really know what it's like to not have them around. We missed him so much!! This is also why I haven't updated in awhile because we have just been on the go ever since he stepped foot in the door! :)

Ed got home last Sunday morning and I was on call for the hospital so we decided to enjoy our day and hope I didn't get called in. The first step to a fun family day...get BEACH CRUISERS!! Ed has been wanting to get them since we moved to the beach and now I am kicking myself for not listening to him.

They are so much fun!!!!!!!!

We ride them all the time! Definitely worth the money spent...and an added bonus it is healthy exercise OUTSIDE!!

I don't know if Jack was holding off on doing new things b/c Daddy wasn't here, but ever since he got home Jack has exploded with new tricks, words, etc. It is amazing how many things he learns every single day. He must be going through a brain growth spurt, because sometimes it seems like he does about 4 new things in a matter of hours.

The other day we were riding our bikes (which I'm pleased to say has become almost a daily routine now) and Jack pointed up at a bird flying and said, "Bard". I was like OMG Ed! He not only said the word "bird" but he applied the fact that he recognized what it was and pointed at it without being prompted. SO amazing! :)

We have a tradition of eating dinner together as a family. This was one thing we discussed even before we got married. We both agreed that this tradition was important for a number of reasons and it would remain one of our highest priorities. I personally feel like so many great things fall into place when a family comes together at the end of the day, shares their stories and feelings, and simply enjoys a meal together. Luckily we both seem to enjoy this tradition because it really hasn't been difficult to do. We have been doing it ever since we have lived together. I would say (quite proudly) we sit down and eat at the table 5-6 times a week.

So it was at the table that I noticed another one of Jack's new things. We always pray before dinner and I peaked through my closed eyes and noticed that Jack was praying too. He had his little hands clasped together, looking at me with this big grin on his face (he was so proud of himself!). It was so cute I could almost cry!

Other things he does...blows kisses, dances (hilarious!), jumps, throws trash away when I ask him. The other day we went shopping at Publix and he now helps me pick out produce and puts it in the bag. I grabbed some bananas and he was like, "nana, nana, nana." His chatter is pretty much non-stop now. I can practically see those synapses firing in his brain!!!

On another note...So Ed decided that he needed some new "everyday" type sneakers (he really did b/c his were super-worn out and I can't even remember how long he's had them). He decided he wanted to match Jack and he had always wanted to try the "Chuck Taylors" or "chuckies" as we like to call them in our house. He asked me if I thought they were comfortable and I replied that they must be b/c they've been around forever. We went to the mall to get some and they were buy one, get one 1/2 off. I figured..."what the heck," and went ahead and got a pair as well. Now we are officially dorky as a family, but I think it's cute. :)

Jack has been teething and much more uncomfortable than when he got his other 6 teeth. We couldn't figure out for the longest time where this tooth was coming from because it's not near the others...it's his incisor I think. Maybe he will get more teeth soon! :)

One last thing for this already long post...we gave Jack his first Oreo cookie! He LOVED it, of course. :)

"mmm...something new"

"hmm...let me see about this..."

"oh wow, that is good...wonder if I can fit the whole thing in my mouth"

"yeah I definitely approve!"

Week 64

May 26-Jun 4

At the beginning of this week we decided to go visit Daddy in GA! It seemed like a great idea at the time...but turned out to be a little bit of a disaster. Don't get me wrong, it was AWESOME to see Ed, but traveling with a 1 year old is not as much fun as one would think. Let me start at the beginning...

We left on Tuesday morning and started on I-95. On the way we stopped at IHOP to meet Rachel and her dad for breakfast. Jack got pancakes and had a great time hanging out with everyone. We got back in the car and set out towards Jacksonville. The plan was for Rachel to follow us and we were going to stop at Wolfson Children's Hospital (my old job) so she could check it out. She is going to move near Jax in the fall for nursing school so I figured I would help her out and try to get her a job in pediatrics since she loves it so much. I really miss that place...

Jack waiting for his pancakes...

It was so nice seeing everyone. I wish I could have seen my whole night crew. :( I miss everyone so much! I forgot how awesome the hospital was and how many neat things they offer kids. It is such a great place!! We walked around and then left the hospital after eating some lunch. I'm not even going to get into the part of the story where we missed our exit and got lost in a not very nice part of town...that was interesting. Only me.

Jack ordering room service at the hotel.

We said goodbye to Rachel and made our way up to GA to see Daddy! Jack hadn't seen him in over a week and I knew he was going to be excited. He was very well behaved (he had taken a 1 1/2 hour nap in the car on the way to Jax so the timing ended up being perfect). When we made it to the hotel Jack spent a little time exploring the room and hanging out with his Dad. We figured we would take a dip in the pool, have a little dinner, and then he would be tired out for bed.

Before we got there I asked Ed to call the front desk and see if they had cribs...they said they did. I figured it would be just fine but I brought the Pack 'n Play just in case. Well the crib the hotel offered was kind of a "mini crib"...that's the only way I can think to describe it. Jack barely could stretch from one end to the other. The "mattress" was this thin little plastic pad on top of a wooden bottom so it wasn't very comfortable.

That night was a nightmare.

Horrendous...

Every.

Two.

Hours.

Jack would wake up, realize he was in a strange place and start freaking out. He never wakes up once he goes down for the night. To make matters worse Ed had gone to work for the night since he was assigned to the night shift. It was just me and I tried EVERYTHING! Comforting him, rocking him, putting him in bed with me. It didn't matter...

I felt like I had a newborn again except it was worse. He woke up every 3-4 hours as a newborn, but not screaming. I would feed him and he would fall peacefully back to sleep.

Daddy and Jack looking at the giraffes!

It was one of the worst nights ever. Ed ended up getting off a little bit early (around 3 am) and so the next morning he decided to join us for out trip to the Jax zoo. As usual the zoo was great! I have loved that zoo ever since the first time I went years ago when we moved to GA. It was lots of fun! We met up with Rachel again and explored the zoo. We let Jack run around and burn off energy. We were there for almost 4 hours...he was EXHAUSTED!

We got back to the hotel and Daddy had to go to sleep b/c he would have to work again that night. I was still undecided about whether or not we were going to leave that day or stay one more night. I went ahead and had all of our stuff packed in the car just in case. The plan was for me to take Jack to my friend Sami's house and set up his Pack 'n Play in one of her guest rooms so he could take a nap.

No nap. Nothing. He would NOT sleep in that thing.

I had enough. I couldn't imagine spending another night in the hotel room so I just put him in the car and left. He took maybe a 1/2 hour nap in the car around 3:30 in the afternoon and that was ALL he slept for that day. I figured he would be FLIPPING OUT by the time we got home but he was fine. We made a little detour at the Outlets in St. Augustine b/c it was raining and safety comes first (and I saw a Crocs outlet). We got home, I fed him dinner, and he went straight to bed at like 6:30.

Maybe he will do a little better with traveling when he is a little older. I sure hope so!

Week 63

May 19-25

Even though Daddy is still gone all of this week Jack and decided to make the best of our time together and stay busy, busy, busy! Wednesday we made plans with a friend from my work. Her name is Angi and she works in the X-Ray department at the hospital. She also works the weekend shift so we have a ton in common because we understand the hardships of leaving our families all weekend and not always getting to do the fun things that most people do on a weekend. :) The sacrifices we Mommies make for our babies!! That could turn into a whole other post.

So we decided on a pool date for the kids. Angi has two girls Kiera and Mackenzie (who goes by Kenzie) and they are ADORABLE! Poor Jack had to go on a playdate with TWO girls! :) He was miserable as you can tell in the pictures. Haha! Kenzie and Jack are pretty much the same age so it was neat to see them interact with each other.

This was Jack's first time in a big swimming pool since last summer and oh what a difference! I will post a picture of last summer to compare the two because it is amazing! I wasn't worried about Jack not liking the big pool because he definitely likes the bath and his kid pool...and the ocean. I was more worried about him liking it so much that he is fearless. He has no qualms about putting his face in the water, gulping it all in. I started getting nervous about him drinking too much pool water and drowning in his sleep later (yes, this is really possible). When he was out of the pool I pretty much followed him around because I could totally see him diving in without thinking twice.

We are definitely going to have to work on baby swim lessons" to at least teach him how to hold his breath when going under and the basic kicking. Luckily some of my nursing friends are experts on this and I have a little bit of lifeguard/swim lesson background. I'm sure Jack will be just fine...it's just the matter of finding the time to work on it consistently.

At one point we got out of the pool for a snack break and Jack was all over Kenzie. He kept trying to kiss her, help her with her cup, etc. There are a couple of pictures where she has her hand behind his back like she's hugging him. We had an AWESOME time and thank Angi for inviting us!!

On another note Jack has definitely been working on expanding his vocabulary. He walks around talking all day long in his own little language but he also has a few definite words that are associated with objects. His latest additions are: "dadi" for dog; "nana" for banana; "beep-beep"; "wooowooo" for a siren noise on a firetruck; and of course his other usuals: "mama", "dada", "bye-bye", "baby", "bah", "ba-ba", and "lala." I've also noticed a couple of times that he sings. It's the cutest thing. :)

Jack eats pretty much all foods that we eat. He LOVES macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, fruit cheerios, chicken pot pie, veggies, and of course ice cream. :)

He is caught up on shots according to my personal shots record. I am getting them one at a time, although I received a letter from stupid Tri-Care the other day pretty much telling me that Jack was due for a bunch of shots and they said in a sugar coated way that he was probably going to die from measles or some other childhood illness if I didn't get him immunized right away. I am tempted to write them back and tell them that according to the CDC Immunization schedule the MMR can be given anywhere from 12-18 months and in fact states in the footnotes that 12 months is the MINIMUM age it is to be given. Hmmm. Then I'm going to wait until 18 months and they can kiss my you know what. :) So there. I am going to stick to my schedule that I made. It spreads them all out and they are still never technically "late" because they are within the ranges suggested by the CDC. At 12 months they can get up to 8 immunizations. Forget that!

Okay I'm finished with my rant. I hope everyone has a great week! We are going to go visit Daddy tomorrow so we are VERY excited! Jack can't wait to go swimming in the hotel pool. He also wants to visit our friends Sammie and Troy and their new puppy Daisy! Can't wait!

Week 62

May 12-18

***Before I start, the pictures dispersed throughout this post are from a trip to the zoo.

So as most of you know, Ed is gone for a little while. Of course I can't really talk about it much on the computer, but lets just say Jack and I are on our own for a bit. One good thing out of the deal is my mom (Mimi) and sister Caroline drove down from SC to visit for the weekend and help me out with watching Jack while I went to work.

Of course, my luck the days I had family here to help I was called off and I didn't end up going in at all the whole three days until Sunday at 3:00 pm...after they had left to drive home. OF COURSE! Oh well, I just ended up taking Jack to work with me even though it was horrible for his little schedule. By the time I got everything together and got there it was almost 4:00 so I figured 3 hours of boredom wouldn't hurt him. Luckily I work on PEDIATRICS so there were plenty of toys and activities for him to look at. It definitely wasn't ideal....but what do they expect when I'm called off 4 shifts in a row??? I can't keep a babysitter dangling for 12 hours at a time. Enough about that...

Back to my mom and sister coming into town. They got here Thursday night after Jack had already gone to bed...but they got to see him first thing when he woke up Friday morning. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nice being on call and getting to spend time with them. We ended up having a lot of fun. Friday we went swimming in the backyard, cooked dinner together, had a few drinks (after 7:oo pm when I wasn't on call anymore), and talked on the back porch for a few hours.

Of course I had to get to bed at a decent time just in case I had to work the next morning...but once again I was put on call. Saturday we decided to be adventuresome and go to the zoo. My mom really wanted to see Jack's reaction to the animals. We took two cars just in case I got the call and I had my phone with me at every moment set on high. I'm liking the Blackberry b/c one of the features is you can personalize the ringer AND the volume for certain calls. I make the hospital this obnoxious ringtone and set it for the loudest setting so I am sure to hear it. :)

We had a nice time at the zoo. It wasn't too crowded and although it was hot, there was a nice breeze blowing that made it tolerable. Jack loved it. We went to the "Paws-On" kids area, but of course the water part was closed for a short period of time for cleaning. Something must have happened because I've never seen it randomly closed for cleaning in the middle of the day...especially on a Saturday when it's usually busy. We decided we were hot and tired so we went ahead home so Jack could go down for a nap.

That afternoon my mom and I went out again to hit up the sale at Old Navy while Caroline babysat Jack. My mom bought me 2 pairs of shorts and a dress. I can't wait to wear them! On our way home we picked up some Chinese and had a lovely dinner. The next morning I was on call again and they had to leave around 9:00 am for their drive home. It was very sad! It gets pretty boring being home without Ed. Jack and I definitely have fun and hang out, but it's mostly the same thing every day. We can't wait until Daddy comes home!!!

Now the weekend is over and I have my 4 days off. I am thinking we will be spending much time in the backyard pool and maybe a trip to the beach. :) One awesome tradition that us Navy wives have started is picking a night to cook dinner and having everyone over. It's awesome because you only have to cook 1 night a week and then the other days you just show up at everyone else's houses and get a nice dinner! LOVE IT! Last night we had Jessa and Riley over. I made a chicken noodle casserole that was Deee-lish! I also made some veggies and crescent rolls. Surprisingly, Jack ate the mixed veggies like they were candy. I will definitely have to make those again.

Tonight we are going over to Andrea's house for spaghetti! I will try to remember to bring my camera and get some pictures!

A few new things this week...Jack has decided to learn how to climb up onto chairs and the couch. We now have to remember to push the chairs in after we stand up so that he can't get onto them. He also has developed this occasional attitude. I'm not sure if it is because Daddy is gone and he is mad or just doesn't understand...or if it is just because he is getting a little older. He used to just do what we told him to without thinking twice about it. Now it's as if he realizes that he knows he has his own mind and decides that he wants to do what he wants to do.

When you tell him no he will throw a fit because he didn't get his way. When I say fit I mean he will cry for like 10 seconds and throw himself on the floor. I just say something like "it's okay to be frustrated, but you have to listen to Mommy," and then I walk away. He quickly realizes I'm not paying him one bit of attention, pulls himself together, and usually will come over and give me a hug. That's pretty much the extent of his misbehavior up to this point. If only it could stay this way forever. :)

Week 61

May 5-11

I'm going to call this post "farewell to the curlies!" Yes, we finally chopped off those curls. Maybe instead I should call it "farewell to Jacqueline" since I can no longer refer to Jack as a girl.

The last picture of his baby curls.

For the first haircut experience we decided to take Jack to "Snip-It's," a hair cutting shop just for kids. They cater everything to kids from a TV that plays a little cartoon he can watch to bubbles for distraction.

Big boy sitting in the chair.

I was pleasantly surprised that he was so well-behaved. I thought the whole experience might freak him out a little bit. Even when she put on the cape he was fine. He definitely LOVED the bubbles and focused on popping them more than what the lady was doing to his hair.

Bubbles!

More bubbles.

Being very patient.

Looks like such a big boy!

All done! Picture with Mommy.

Picture with Daddy!

Side view of the end result. The lady put gel in his hair. :)

Watching the rain.

Front view of the "faux hawk".