Daily photos of the cutest baby boy ever!
There are 440 pictures I have taken over the last month with full intention to post - and I will get to that this week, I promise - but today I have exciting news.
After months of intense practice, Jack is ready to debut his newest skill. 
Oh wait....turns out I can fence him in! We decided to purchase a few new items for Jack today: a play yard/baby cage and a blue pool, which I filled with (200) balls. Jack really liked being in his new play area for about 5 minutes. After he realized that he could not get out, he became rather agitated. Ball pit to the rescue - he was quickly distracted by the new toys and was happy for at least another 5 minutes. This new set up may take a little getting used to!
Jack has developed a sixth sense where the dishwasher is concerned. Even if he's playing in the other room with the most fascinating toy ever (today this role was played by a small jar of sprinkles), as soon as he hears the dishwasher being opened he races into the kitchen. He prefers the unloading process rather than loading. Here, he can be seen assisting Daddy. Note that the aforementioned jar of sprinkles has been cast aside, due to the allure of the fork. Items he is allowed to play with pale in comparison to items he is not. Sorry, sprinkles.
Jack has devloped the habit of walking around with his sippy cup in his mouth. He doesn't really mind if it is full or empty, he just likes to carry it with him. He tried walking around with an empty plastic bowl earlier. Unfortunately, he fell face down onto the bowl and got a bit of a bloody lip. He needed lots of hugs and kisses, but has made a full recovery. I'm guessing that from now on, he will stick to the sippy cup!
I'm not really sure what's going on here, but his expression made me laugh. The video game controller he is holding has become his favorite toy. He carries it around with him while walking around, while jumping in his Johnny Jump Up and even while sitting in his high chair, waiting for his food to be ready. It's also the first toy he goes for in the morning after waking up for the day. It's quite amusing to watch him walk around with the cord dragging behind him. It's like a high tech version of Linus and his security blanket!
We have begun the bedtime battles. Or, rather, the bedtime battles continue. Jack will sleep in his crib, it is true, but getting him to sleep has become a challenge. Two nights ago, he was awake until almost 3 am (no, really) refusing to sleep. Last night I decided I'd had enough of his nightly shenanigans and put him in his crib at 9 o'clock. He did cry and fuss (loudly) for nearly 20 minutes, but I won. He slept all night and woke up in a great mood that's lasted all day. We'll be doing that 9 pm bedtime thing again. Tonight, as a matter of fact. And then again tomorrow :)
After eating dinner, Jack still needed a little something, so we made some sweet potato fries. Not content to leave them in the bowl, he spread them out on the table for close investigation. He started out eating them individually, but then remembered how much he likes the fries, so he jammed as much in his mouth as possible. I think his days of dainty, virtually mess-free eating are over!
Of all the toys we've acquired lately, the activity table still reigns supreme as Jack's favorite. (With the exception of the spatula, of course!) Unfortunately, the batteries are slowly dying and the table now vacillates between a high pitched moaning sound and this strange sort of clicking noise. We really need to replace the batteries - Jack spends a lot of time trying to get the toy to sing at him. At least the bowl in the middle is still a great place to put his snacks. He loves to stand at the table and eat his cheerios. It works well, because he is less likely to throw the cereal all over the floor. More in his mouth and less on the floor makes us both happy!
I am pleased to announce that Jack is now the proud owner of an activity table. He loves it. Other than crawling to play with a piece of paper for a few minutes, he has been playing with his new toy all afternoon. Success! Now that we have even less space (due to toy overload), I am going to focus on building up Jack's fall/winter wardrobe, rather than acquiring any new toys. Especially noisy ones. We have quite the symphony in our living room now!
