Playing in the kitchen

Here's Jack in the kitchen with me, playing with some of his favorite "toys." He often sticks his tongue out when he's playing, and I got a picture with some tongue here before he could totally suck it back in.


Jack's also decided that he really likes the refrigerator. I don't know what it is with this kid and kissing things. At least right now it's just books and household appliances.

Jack's discovering more and more how much he enjoys his newfound freedom with crawling. Before he began crawling, when I'd get home from work he'd start crying for me to hold him as soon as he saw me. Now he just smiles at me and immediately goes back to playing on the floor. The crying starts if we try to pick him up and take him away from what he's doing. It should be REAL interesting to see how he does on the 2+ hour plane ride we're going to be on in a couple weeks when we go visit Grandma and Grandpa Nold in Florida!

Reading

Jack is becoming increasingly interested in his books. In addition to turning the pages for us when we read to him, he also "reads" by himself. Here are a couple clips of him reading one of his favorite books--you can't see it too well, but it's a Georgia bulldog counting book shaped liked a football helmet. The second clip was not very successful in showing him reading, but it's entertaining for other reasons, as you'll see!

Big boats

Yesterday we were looking for something entertaining to do that didn't involve going outside in the frigid cold, so we decided to go to the annual Chicago Boat Show. Jack was really good, though he was more interested in looking up at the ceiling lights than the boats. But once we went onto a couple of the boats, he was a little more excited. Here are a couple pictures of him reliving his first experience "driving" a boat this summer.


Some of the boats at the show were ridiculously huge. Actually, I guess those were technically yachts. We tried to go on one of the biggest ones, but they only let people on it who had made an appointment beforehand. Oh well. Probably better that Jack didn't see it and get the idea that it's something he should have.

Here to wrap things up is a short clip of Jack from the other night while we were eating dinner. For some reason, he was really excited and kept flapping his arms. What a funny kid.

Crawling!

Jack's finally crawling! He made some basic crawling movements earlier this week, but today he really seems to be getting the hang of it and is actually realizing that he can make himself go places. Here are a couple clips of him from this morning. In the first video he doesn't crawl for long, but he does show off his favorite sit and roll move. I'm sure in a couple more days we'll have some much better videos of him crawling.






Looks like the easy days are coming to an end! Jack's really going to keep us on our toes now.

Good morning

I went in and took a picture as Jack was starting to stir this morning. As usual, he'd moved from the middle of the crib and wedged himself into one of the corners.

Here's a good stretch!


And here's my happy boy. Jack's always in such a good mood when he wakes up in the morning--definitely makes it hard to leave for work!


We had a relaxing day today. Other than a trip to the grocery store, we just relaxed and stayed inside out of the cold and snow. I just put Jack to bed, and he did something new. Usually when I read him his bedtime story, he slaps at the pages. But tonight, I noticed he was paying more attention and being more careful with his movements. I thought he might be trying to turn the pages, so I'd help him get started, and sure enough he turned every page for me! He even knew enough to wait for me to finish reading before starting to turn the next page.

Happy birthday to Grandpa Fields tomorrow!

10 Months Old!

Hey there, it's me Jack. I'm 10 months old today. Mom took some pictures to show how funny my hair can look sometimes. I have some long hair over my ears that Dad twists out so I look like Pippi Longstocking, whoever that is.



Mom tried real hard the other night to get my hair to lay flat, but it just wouldn't. She finally gave up and just took these pictures instead. Personally, I don't mind if my hair looks weird--I'm just glad that I actually have some hair now.



Let's see, what cool things can I tell you about now that I'm 10 months old? Everyone always asks if I'm crawling yet, and I'm not. But I can move around pretty good; I sit up from laying down, and I can scoot backwards all the way across the living room floor. Sometimes Mom says I look like an inchworm.

I think I've decided that I'll just skip crawling--it's so lame and predictable anyway. Anyone can crawl. What I can do requires some serious skills. I'm sure you'd be very impressed with the way I can get where I want to go with my complex routine of sitting up, turning, reaching forward, going back on my stomach, scooting around on my belly a little, and then maybe sitting up again. If there's a toy, or especially Louie's tail, within my sight I will find a way to get to it.

I also like to throw a little yoga into the mix. Hey, with my hectic life I've got to make time to connect with my inner self. I do a sweet downward dog pose--my hands and feet are on the ground, and my butt is poked up way high in the air.

I'm also learning that I like food more and more. I've even decided that mashed potatoes aren't disgusting. I'm way over baby food, so now what I like is regular food like Mom and Dad eat. Tonight I had some mac and cheese, corn, and sweet potatoes. Then they even let me have my favorite--popsicle! I don't get to eat popsicles all the time, but Mom said tonight I could because my lip was a little puffy from when I slipped and banged my mouth on the floor when we were playing.

I also don't have any teeth yet, but I'm pretty sure they're coming soon. Maybe next month I'll finally be able to give you a smile with some teeth.

Wedding weekend

Grandma and Grandpa Nold came over Friday night to babysit Jack while Andy and I went to the rehearsal dinner for our friends' Courtney and DJ's wedding. Grandma got Jack this cool new pig toy, though I think we all got a bigger kick out of it than Jack did.


Andy and me before going to the rehearsal dinner


The wedding was Saturday night, and it was amazing. The ceremony was in a beautiful old church (Old St. Pat's), and then the reception was at the Swissotel. Both places still had their Christmas decorations up, which were so pretty. For part of the reception, we were up on the penthouse level of the hotel, so we had a spectacular view of the city and Lake Michigan.

The reception was great, with a fantastic band, and everyone had a blast. We had so much fun, in fact, that I forgot to take pictures! But I do at least have these two; the first is me and Jack before I left for the wedding, and the second was taken at the reception.


DJ and Courtney really are that tall, and Andy and I really are that short.

Andy and I reminisced while we were at the reception--that location is actually where we spent a couple Valentines Days, and more importantly, is where we got engaged. Andy proposed to me in the Palm restaurant, which is located in the hotel. We also stayed in one of the fancy hotel suites afterward that night. We hadn't been there since, so it was fun to go back.

Congratulations again DJ and Courtney! We hope you're having a blast in St. Lucia right now while we're freezing our butts off.