Today Jack is...45 weeks old.

45 weeks old! Man, that is dangerously close to one year old. We had such a jam-packed week. Obviously I have a lot of Christmas pictures but I'm saving them for a Christmas post. (I promise I'll get to it soon.) So this post will be full non-Xmas photos. In the pic above, Jack is playing with John's amp, one of his favorite toys.

This week the little guy has been so amazing. So cute and full of smiles and laughter. He is having a ton of fun with his daddy who is off from work. One night we spent 45 minutes, just the three of us, playing with the kitchen door. Jack is so amused by the act of closing and opening the door and playing peekaboo. We laughed and laughed and he furiously crawled back and forth opening and closing. He was so proud of himself.

Pretty good standing, right? He also stands all day and pushes around everything he can move.

He's also become obsessed with our broom which he loves to play with outside.

And now, more pics from the week! Though these pics are all from our first family trip to the zoo yesterday. What a fun time!

Tried to put the little guy in the stroller but he cried his head off after two minutes so into daddy's arms he went.

He loved every waterfall we encountered

Making friends with the monitor lizard

He pretty much waved hi to everything. Here he is waving hi to the giraffes.

And waving hi to the other kids (who couldn't have cared less).

Getting very very tired at the end of the visit...

And asleep by the time we reached the exit.

Christmas at Travel Town

Last week Jack took his Grammy and Pop-pop (and mom) to nearby Griffith Park Travel Town to visit take a train ride to Santa. Before we left, I decked out the little guy in his best winter outfit.

Once we got there we had to wait in line for a little while which was okay with Jack. He got to watch all of the little kids running around like crazy men (boys) and got to play with Pop-Pop.

The little guy was amazed by all of the lights. He loved them!

Did I mention that he is adorable when he's amazed?

We boarded the train that was decorated with lights and set off on our Christmas journey. There were lights and Christmas carols and neat decorations.

After the train ride he met an elf and he was a little wary of him.

We took another turn around the place and saw all the lights and then called it a night. I think it was a pretty successful trip. Perhaps a new Christmas tradition?

Date night/morning

Well, John and I are off to the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa for the night. It was my Christmas present to John but, obviously, it's a lovely present for myself as well. We're lucky that we have grandparents in town to watch Jack so we can get away. We are hoping for a solid 9 hours of sleep, though after 10 months of conditioning our bodies to wake up every few hours, I'm not sure it'll happen. I'll report back soon. And of course I'll try to do some Christmas posts later this week. We had such a great first Xmas with the boy!

Today Jack is...44 weeks old.

Okay, so technically he's not 44 weeks old today but I am a little behind with this post. So here are some pictures from his 44th week (before Christmas).

It was a full week because Jack's Grammy and Pop-Pop arrived from Pennsylvania. He was overjoyed that he had people to entertain him besides boring old mom. There was a lot of crawling, some sliding, and some rocking.

There was also a date with his favorite girlfriend, Violet. They seemed to have some good times playing piano and hiding under the kitchen island.

Daddy started his Christmas vacation a little early and got some quality time with the boy. Jack seems super interested in John's guitar every time he plays...I think he has high hopes for a musician son.

In development news, he is moving all over the place still. Getting good at his walker and can cruise all over as long as there is something to hold onto. He seems to understand a lot of what I'm saying, even if he still doesn't talk to us. He has taken an interest in brushing his teeth which is really cute. Not sure how much good he's actually doing but it sure is cute.

And now, more pics from the week!

Photo Challenge Week 15 - Tradition

The Christmas Caroling Truck in Toluca Lake on Christmas Eve
(more on that later)

Next week... Old and New

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm sorry I've been neglecting the blog. Just having fun with family and the boy. I'll resume posting soon and catch up on his weekly birthday post and the Sunday photo challenge.

:)

Sunny LA

I'm so happy that we live in a place where it is 65 degrees Christmas week. Just because Jack is so in love with the outdoors. We played on his swing yesterday and he loved it. Clearly he missed his swinging sessions that he used to have every day during the summer.

10 Month Doctor's Visit!

Jack had his 10 month check up and it seems that he's doing fairly well. He's growing and his physical development is totally on track. The only issue I brought up to the doctor is his speech. You see, Jack doesn't love babbling. In fact, he's never uttered a consonant sound (ma, pa, da, ba, etc.) and typically that happens between 6 and 9 months. Of course, as first time parents, John and I are stressing about it. But, while the doctor said it was out of the norm for him not to be saying those things, she wasn't too worried. She was happy that his receptive communication skills seemed to be coming along. Meaning that he is starting to understand a lot of what I'm saying like "turn the page", "put your arm in", "let's go to the bath", etc. She said that even if he is speech delayed you can't do speech therapy until 18 months. But she sent me off saying, "if you makes you feel better, I didn't start talking until I was two years old. And then I talked in full sentences." So my theory is that Jack just loves sitting back and observing people and one day he'll open his mouth and say something sarcastic and witty and wonderfully genius. :)

And, lest I forget, here are his stats:

Weight: 18 pounds, 14 ounces (15th percentile)
Height: 28.75 inches (50th percentile)

10 Months Old!

Another month, another squirmy photo session. I had to made sure he didn't do a nosedive off the couch as he continually tried to crawl away. That and eat the paper. But, damn, he's cute.