Par-tay

Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for a little backyard birthday bash.  We had a wonderful time celebrating with our friends and family and lots and lots of food :) 

We played...



...and visited...

... and sang happy birthday...

... and blew out a single candle...

... and devoured a cupcake with some serious single-mindedness...

 ... and opened some lovely gifts (with a little assistance from our friends).

As usual when he is in a crowd, Jack sat back during his party and just soaked it all in. 



And also as usual, he made his presence known just as soon as the crowd disappeared. 

Thank you so much to all of our friends who came out to celebrate with us and to our family who helped us prepare, and helped us during the party, and helped us clean up- thank you, thank you!  It was a perfect day for our little man.



The First Year

About this time one year ago my parents and sister were leaving our hospital room, Rob was settling in on the couch "bed", and I was pulling the bassinet as close to the hospital bed as I could get it.  Of course, that wasn't close enough, and sweet baby Jack transitioned to my arms a few minutes later, spending the rest of the night there.  I didn't get much sleep that night, but it was because I was so over-the-moon, completely in love with this new little creature who had burst into our lives. 

A year later, I still haven't gotten much sleep, and I am still totally in love with our son.  Parenthood has been an interesting journey for us so far.  I feel like I was already somewhat familiar with the nuts and bolts of parenting by virtue of having so many friends walk this road before us.  What I have been surprised by is the sheer joy of it all.  Really.  It has absolutely been exhausting and frustrating and so difficult at times, but more than anything I am in awe at what a tremendous blessing Jack has been to our lives.  I love this Elizabeth Stone quote:

Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

And this week, as I've pondered my baby turning one, I've thought my heart might just explode.  I'm proud of the first year we've enjoyed together; I'm more thankful than I could have ever imagined for our little family; I'm quite intimidated by the wisdom that we will surely need in the future to parent this little boy; and I am already grieving the passing of this season and those that are to come. 

I'll make the effort to haul myself away from these late-night musings on the past and the future to capture a moment of the sweet now, the first birthday of my boy. 

Jack is at such a fun age.  He loves to be silly, to play games, to mimic us.  He loves to dance and loves to explore.  He adores Molly and loves to shower her with attention and affection- both verbal and (very) physical.  Still nothing can make him laugh or snap him out of a bad mood like seeing his beloved puppy. 

Jack is pulling up on everything.  He is becoming an adept cruiser, but he seems not to be in a hurry to walk anywhere.  He may surprise us soon, though.  I continue to find myself amazed at the changes a week can bring.  The little booger is also a destroyer.  Quite a few spots in our house are temporarily vacant- not pretty, but it is either that or put everything back in its place a hundred times a day.  Exhibit A (our recycling, which Jack empties for us every chance he gets):

Jack is a pretty good napper during the day.  Usually he has two naps that last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours.  Nighttime has been a bit more touch and go with all of our travel, and he is currently still getting up once and sometimes twice (twice!) a night to eat.  Life should be calmer the next couple of months, and we are hoping to make some serious headway in this area.  Momma is tired. 

Anything he lacks in the sleep department, he more than makes up for when it comes to eating.  Right now Jack is a great eater and has enjoyed almost all the healthy foods we've put in front of him.  And he really enjoyed the not-quite-so-healthy carrot cake birthday cupcake he was treated with tonight.  As in, he put the whole entire thing away- quickly. 

Jack is more and more interactive.  He chatters with us, the dog, and his toys all the time, though I haven't managed to pick out any words yet.  He loves to wave, blow kisses, clap, and stomp, and he is trying oh so hard to snap and whistle.  Those might take a bit longer. 

Jack is still growing, though his pace seems to have slowed considerably.  He has his eight front teeth and is already working on his first set of molars, which I just think is completely ridiculous.  My little baby shouldn't have molars, yet, right? 

He loves his momma and daddy, and he definitely has a preference for us, but he remains a fairly laid-back baby when it comes to being away from us.  He makes me laugh because he is not very generous with his smiles when strangers approach him when we are out, but I suppose there are worse things.  At least he is generous with us.

Jack, we could not be any happier to be your momma and daddy.  You have enriched our lives beyond what we ever hoped for, and we thank God for the blessing of you in our lives every day.  You bring so much joy and laughter to our house.  We have cherished this first year together, just as we will cherish those to come.  We pray that you will know how much we love you and how much God loves you.  Thank you for being you, little man. 

Eight Years

I'm a day late, but I wanted to make sure to include a quick post to commemorate our eighth anniversary! 

Here we are, eight years ago, mere babes:

It has been a wonderful journey so far, and, if possible, I feel even more blessed today than I did on that day to be married to Rob. 

We had a lovely, casual date last night.  It was wonderful to just have a yummy, relaxed dinner together in the midst of our hectic summer.  (Thanks, John and Lydia, for your babysitting services!)

And of course, I cannot let our anniversary pass without also wishing a happy birthday to my beautiful momma, the best mom and grandmother you could ever want.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

We had a very successful first outing to Turner Field today!  A rain delay allowed Jack to catch a decent nap in the car, our seats were pretty nice (and cheap!), and the Braves made us proud (Braves 11, Brewers 6).

 

Jack just quietly took the whole spectacle in (like a real fan, he couldn't be bothered to pose for the camera here). 

There is just something about being at the ballpark- I love it.  It is wholesome and American like apple pie, like the 4th of July.  The rowdy fans, the junk food, the chants and cheers.  I'm not sure exactly what Jack thought of it all, but I really enjoyed having him there with us.  Holding my chubby baby, hand on my heart, listening to the not-quite-on-key national anthem-- enough to bring a tear (or two) to my eyes. 

We were both surprised to make it quite as long as we did-- 6 innings!  In truth, little Jack was hanging in there just fine.  His parents were a little nervous, though, about the July heat and the head colds that all three of us seem to be fighting, and we decided to call it a day once we were sure that our team had it all under control.  Thanks for a super fun day, Rob-- great idea! 

Growing

It is so fun to watch the little man explore and learn and experiment (and develop preferences) and gain courage and confidence.  He is into everything and seems to have a never-ending fascination with all of the things he shouldn't: telephones, dog food, electrical cords. 

He sees what he wants and goes for it, even in the bathtub and even under water.  I'm not sure if you can see it, but this picture highlights Jack's first bathtub booboo, a minor forehead bump that slowed him down not at all. 

For a few weeks now Jack has enjoyed when we stand him up to hang on to something.  Here he is gazing out the office window, delighted with the new vantage point:

And as of yesterday, my baby is officially pulling up!  He is so proud of himself (as are his momma and daddy).

Of course, it doesn't always end well, but I guess that is just part of the learning process.

And finally, in another milestone, my little man received his first passport in the mail today.  Watch out, world!

Sleepover

This past Monday night we had a sleepover (on a school night! what fun!).  My dear, dear friend, Dori and her beautiful little girl Audrey drove over for a quick visit.  It was so nice to spend time with them both.  I have been so busy with work the past several months, and summer is slipping through our fingers.  Having friends over was a lovely pause.  Thank you, Dori and Audrey, for trekking over here to hang out (and on your birthday week!).  We loved it and will return the favor soon.  Happy birthday, friend!

As usual, I didn't get any mama-pictures, just baby pictures-- cute, yes, but I would like to capture the mamas for posterity also.

Darling!  Jack even got some sugar.

And I just had to include this hysterical picture.  Audrey is irresistible, and it looks like she has the withering glare to fend off unwanted suitors perfected already :-)

Surprise!

I've finally managed to go back and publish posts about a few of the fun things that I neglected to document this spring.  I have more left to do, but there are three or four new posts under March and April now.  Click on those months on the sidebar to access the new posts.  More to come...

(Just curious... did anyone think that I had something more exciting than new blog posts up my sleeve?)

Nine

My baby is nine months old.  He has now experienced life on the outside longer than he did on the inside, which I think is a pretty significant milestone.  He is growing and learning and making his personality and preferences known.  And it is a joy to watch it all unfold.  A little run-down:

Jack has been eating baby food since six months.  I thought that would be a short-lived phase and that we would quickly progress to finger foods.  Despite his four teeth, though, he doesn't appear to be in any hurry, and until yesterday treated anything solid entering his mouth as an offensive trespasser.  We seemed to have turned a corner, though, and small bits of food and the sippy cup are at least beginning to warrant a second glance.  Either way, he clearly is getting the calories he needs.  The twelve month pajamas I bought a month ago have been worn a grand total of three times and are now ready to be packed away in favor of something a bit roomier. 

As so many people promised would happen, we have suddenly found ourselves in somewhat dependable routine.  Jack naps every morning and afternoon for 1-2 hours, usually without any tears.  He sleeps from around 7pm-7am, waking up to quickly nurse once sometime between 4 and 5am.  I suspect that with a few nights' effort we could probably drop that feeding, but, in truth, I'm not sure that I'm quite ready.  I'll push nostalgia aside and give it a go soon, but for now, I'll just enjoy cuddling with my little man in the wee hours.   

Since about five months, Jack has been making slow, steady progress in terms of mobility.  He began rolling over dependably at five months, scooting around at six months, army-crawling somewhere around seven and a half months, and going from crawling back to sitting a bit after eight months.  At this point, Jack is still an army-crawler, but the little speed demon gets where he needs to go and, of course, manages to get into everything that he shouldn't.  He loves to climb on us and is beginning to try to pull up on things (!).  He is persistent and he is an adventurer, showing no fear as he crawls off the edges of furniture with an unwavering faith that he'll make it safely to the ground.

Jack absolutely has a best friend, and her name is Molly.  If he is in a foul mood, she is the only sure-fire cure.  The mere sight of Molly usually elicits squeals of delight and occasionally causes silly giggles.  Jack has begun stealing Molly's bone whenever he gets the chance (gross, I know-- oh well).  She patiently allows it, and then just takes it right back.  Jack watches closely as we play fetch with Molly, and now he tries to wave her toy pheasant around for her as well.  Precious.

Jack has such a sweet, fun personality.  He is usually in a good mood, and he laughs a lot.  He loves to be tickled and enjoys silly little games.  Unless you catch him at just the right moment, he hates having his diaper changed and hates getting dressed even more.  Car rides are a toss-up; sometimes he has a great time talking to himself back there and other times you would think the car seat was dragging him straight to hell.  He generally gets a little irritated when he is left alone to play or deposited into the exersaucer/jump-a-roo/other baby-containing device, but after a few moments, he usually manages to distract himself and have fun.  He has just begun to show a preference for mommy, but we haven't experienced any major separation anxiety yet.  Thankfully, he loves to be worn, and Rob and I both wear him in carriers regularly.   I love it and will miss it so when this time is gone. 

He has discovered the camera and seems to turn on the charm when he sees it.  Sometimes I look at him and already see his little five-year old self smiling back at me.

  
Jack, you are our delight.  You are a curious, observant, sweet little boy, and there is no one with whom your dad and I would rather spend time.  We love you more than we could ever begin to describe.