Sounding Off

Jack added a new consonant sound to his repertoire today: Ba! He is now saying da, na, addy and ba. He will yell these "words", as well as whisper them. Usually it's the yelling - he is quite loud these days!

Caught You Being...

...naughty. You can just see it in his eyes! Most likely, he was contemplating a raid of the kitchen cupboards or another attack on the kleenex box. Not that he does those things regularly, or anything. I'm just guessing here :)

Christmas Eve

Happy Holidays! We celebrated with family tonight, enjoying the company of lots of aunts, uncles and cousins. Jack had fun opening gifts - he was way more into the unwrapping this time around. The toy truck he received was definitely his favorite present, and he had lots of fun pushing it around the house. After playing with his new toys and charming all the relatives, Jack returned home to rest up for Christmas. He will need his sleep, as there are more gifts to open and more snacks to eat!

Jack in Action!

Jack and Cassady were playing a game where she would toss a beach ball to the other side of the room. Then, they would both crawl really fast to go get it. Jack loves this game. He is quite good at it too. He only went the wrong way a few times. He got distracted. It happens!

Wordless Wednesday

Crawling: The Motion Picture

All Eyes On Me!

Jack is all about testing his boundaries these days. If he can crawl there, he has to check it out. He really gets around, this little guy. He also likes attention. A lot. Anytime he does something, like press a button on a toy to make noise, for example, he will turn to one of us with a huge smile. He likes to make sure that we are aware of each and every accomplishment. He doesn't have to worry. Of course we are always watching him!

Jack & the Big Flood

Wow. What a day! We had a giant flood in our apartment (hooray for leaking/geyser-esque toilets) and it was a huge mess. Our complex moved us to their "corporate apartment" for a few days while they clean up the mess. Jack loves it here! He has had so much fun crawling around & exploring the place. Leave it to Jack to find the silver lining in all the mess :)

The Poser

Of all Jack's poses, this one is by far my favorite. We call it the GQ. He typically uses this move mid-crawl when he is distracted by something (usually a toy, Cheerio or electrical cord) and has to stop to check it out. If he decides that the item in question is worth investigating, he will then pull himself up to a sitting position. He isn't technically crawling, since he hasn't coordinated his arm & leg movements yet, but he can sure get around. Over the last few days he has gotten very fast - we spend most of the day chasing him down. I don't think that is going to change anytime soon :)

Please excuse the mess behind him. He really likes to get all his toys out & scatter them all over the room. Is he too young to learn the "Clean Up Game"?!?

The Lowdown

At eight months and 1 week old, here's what Jack is up to. He likes to clap, make noises and chew on his sippy cup. He does this really cool series of movements that look like yoga poses - and yes, we have named them. He has "The GQ", "The Triangle" and The Sun Salutation, (okay, so that one isn't made up) to name a few of his favorite and most popular. He has mastered getting into a crawl position from a sitting position, and just yesterday he figured out how to sit up from laying down. He will army crawl/scooch/roll from across a room to get to the following items: any electronic device, a stray Cheerio (he can seriously spot those from an amazing distance) and any type of cord (although Daddy's computer cord and the Wii seem to be his favorites). He has also mastered being seriously cute and getting lots of hugs and kisses. It's a tough life, but he seems to be getting by :)

Catch Him If You Can

Jack is thisclose to crawling. He gets up on his hands & knees now, and will rock back and forth before collapsing back down into the carpet. He uses a combination of scooches (generally backwards) and rolls (usually to the left) to get around for the time being. I think it's only a matter of time before he will be on the go. I'd better finish up the baby-proofing!


Could he look any more like his Daddy? Jack is quickly becoming a mini-me :)

Army Crawl

Jack took his first scooches toward mobility today. Naturally, the first time he did it, I didn't have the camera ready. And of course, his second attempt was not nearly as glorious as the first. At any rate, it's clearly time to baby-proof the living room, and either get some baby gates to block off the other parts of the house, or baby-proof that too. (With Cassady's room, it'll probably be much easier to just go with the gates!)