Back to the bath

Well, I am happy to say that Jack is back to enjoying the bath. (Although that picture doesn't quite capture his exuberance.) He splashes around and kicks and seems surprised every time the water splashes up in his face. I'm so happy that he bounced back and is enjoying it again. My only problem is that now that he's sitting up like a big boy in the tub, I can't figure out how exactly to wash his hair. My method so far has just been to do it sitting up and he starts crying because the water drips down into his eyes. When I try to lean him back he cries some more. Any good advice? If not, I'll just continue my current method and endure the crying.

Photo Challenge Week 11 - In My House

I was on the road on Sunday so I didn't get to post this. So here's my "In My House"...

This picture isn't very clear but it's my favorite thing in the house. And possibly my most treasured possession. A collage of all the photobooth pictures from our wedding. It's so cool to walk in the door every day and see candid pics of all our guests having a great time.

Next week...Lens Flare.

Our First Thanksgiving

We spent our first family Thanksgiving up in the Cuyamaca mountains and it was a really great long weekend. The setting was picturesque, the weather was unseasonably warm, and Jack did well on the 3 plus hour car ride down.

We threw on Jack's best sweater and headed down the freeway. He was in pretty good spirits.

Everyone was excited to see him and once we were there we wanted to take Jack for a hike. We figured a nature lover like him would love to walk around the lake and all the trees. Not sure how he liked his new winter jacket but he made do.

The Thanksgiving feast rolled around and Jack really really enjoyed himself. I think I underestimated his love of eating. But it sure came out during dinner.

He ate and ate and ate. Sweet potatoes, green beans, creamed spinach, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and turkey. Oh, the turkey. His daddy loves turkey and apparently he inherited this trait. He ate so much turkey it was insane.

In fact, I'm convinced that he ate so much rich "adult" food that it upset his stomach. That night he slept the worst he's slept in 5 months. I think we got about 3 hours of sleep total. I think it was just the combo of the food, a pack n' play, and a strange drafty cabin room. Nonetheless it was brutal. Horrible. Of course he was charming and wonderful the next day. So I laid off the turkey and was sure the next night would be better. Guess what? It wasn't. John got a whopping total of one hour's sleep and I got about two. Man, we were exhausted. And grumpy. But somehow the little guy was happy. Smiley all day and took great naps. See how he can look like an angel?

Anyways, now that we're back home we're just hoping his sleep shakes out a bit. But back to our weekend of fun. My mom was nice enough to take a ton of pictures so why don't I just show you how much the little guy enjoyed his time.

Spending time with his Aunt Julie

Hiking with Grandpa

Playing with his cousin Hank

Trying to get his cousin Johnny's attention

Looking at the pretty fan with his Grandma

Practicing walking with daddy

Full after a Thanksgiving feast and reading a book

Discovering gravel rocks

He couldn't get enough of the rocks so daddy indulged him

Jack LOVED his great grandpa's funny faces

That is one happy kid.

Today Jack is...40 weeks old.

40 weeks old! Man, we are quickly approaching 52 weeks. Just insane. In some ways it's flying by...in others, man, killing time til his bedtime is rough when he's in a bad mood. But even with his odd whining this week, that beaming smile above keeps me sane.

I wrote this post before Thanksgiving so I'll have those pics later in the week. Ever since he got his cast off he's been super moody and just fussy. I don't know if it's actually the cast or if it's teething (his two top teeth came in) or if it's a 9 month growth spurt. All I know is that he is fighting sleep hard. He'll be exhausted and yet squirm and kick and cry when I try to get him to sleep. Ahh, more sleep talk. I just hope he gets over it soon.

In the meantime he's into everything. I have to watch him pretty carefully because he likes to explore.

After months and months of trying to teach him, I think he finally learned how to wave. Of course, he doesn't do it every time but I did manage to capture it on film.

Okay, sadly, I don't have many pics this week. Here are the rest...Enjoy!

had to include this...a beautiful Fall day in LA

One of my favorite pics

Five for Friday: Things I'm Thankful For

Obviously in honor of Thanksgiving...

My Top 5 Things I'm Thankful for:

5. a Starbucks in walking distance - I know that's ridiculous. But the fact that I can take Jack for a walk and get a hot cup of coffee each morning really makes every day so much better.

4. Blogging - I'm thankful that I get to keep an online journal and photo album of Jack's life (without all the actual work of a real baby book.) I'm happy that relatives near and far can keep up with the little guy and that my friends and fellow moms can chime in and give me advice and encouragement.

3. DVR/Tivo - Seriously. The ability to digitally record television has changed my life. After a long (sometimes very trying) day with Jack, all I want to do is unwind on the couch in front of some entertaining TV. Thanks to my DVR, I never miss any of the shows I want to watch. Sure, you could see this as a negative but, truly, I watch so little TV these days that I am ecstatic to be able to keep up with the few shows I really love. And to be able to skip every commercial ever.

2. Our house - I love our house. Always have. But now that we have Jack I am so so grateful that we have space for him and his baby gear. And most of all I'm grateful that we have a nice big backyard. What would our little nature lover have done if we were stuck in an apartment?

1. My family - I could have really just made this number 1 thru 5 but that would be so boring and so sappy. But I am extremely thankful for the health of my parents, siblings, relatives and, most of all, my boys - John and Jack.

How about you?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Jack is super excited about his first Thanksgiving with all of his relatives. We'll have pictures of the big day next week but, until then, have a great day!

Free at last!

Well, it's off. RIP baby cast. And let me tell you, that thing smelled. Like death. Thank goodness it's finally off.

He was in good spirits in the doctor's office, making his new scrunched up funny face.

Maybe he knew he was going to get his cast off. Or maybe he was just excited that daddy decided to go to work late so he could be there with him. He did look pretty cute though. Waiting on the exam table.

But then the assistant came in to saw off the cast and the machine made a pretty loud noise. He wasn't that into it.

And then, suddenly, it was off. And he was like, "what's that?"

Then, "Oh!"

He seemed okay all day yesterday. He immediately was sitting, army crawling, kneeling, etc. He still army crawled by only pushing off on his good foot but that's okay. He was walking with me and standing at the coffee table just fine. But, there is one sad effect. I was so excited about our nighttime routine because he could finally take a bath. This is the kid who used to love baths and jumped in the pool every summer. So it broke my heart when I set him in the bath and he had a meltdown. Screaming, crying, kicking. I took him out obviously and he wanted nothing to do with that tub. No matter what I did. And I obviously know he'll get over it. I'm just hoping it doesn't last too long.

At least he's back on his two adorable little baby feet.

Goodbye baby gear

Well, Jack has pretty much outgrown most of his baby gear. We've packed away his co-sleeper, his swing, etc. His bouncy seat should be packed up as well but he just loves the darn thing. He uses it as his own personal jungle gym. He uses it to stand up, climbs over it, and kneels in front of it. Unfortunately a lot of the time he'll also slip and do a face plant. So this morning John plopped him in the seat for a first time in a while and he sat straight up and studied the little moving bubbles and fish. And when I say studied I mean STUDIED. He was about an inch away from it and couldn't take his eyes off of it. So cute.

Fall Cleaning

I had a very productive weekend and took advantage of some very lovely daddy and son time. While they played, I cleaned out my closet and, man, doesn't that always make you feel good? Lighter somehow. Jack really enjoyed climbing on top the mountain of hangers that piled up on our bed. And John was nice enough to watch the boy all afternoon yesterday while I read "The Hunger Games". I've had the book for months but hadn't had a chance to start it. After much prodding by friends who declared it "AMAZING", I decided to crack it open. 400 pages and 3 hours later I emailed my friends to tell them they were right. It was quite a good read. And a fast one. Now I can't wait for the movie next year. (Though I'm not sure about some of the casting....)

Hope you got a lot done this weekend too!