Jack Lives Here

We’ve made it to a year! Seems like just yesterday that Jack our brand new, no-sleepin’, tiny little guy. The time has flown by and Jack is a wonderful energetic/crazy, sweet and fun little guy. He’s taking steps all by himself now and can walk across the room to his mommy, daddy or dog. He talks a little but mostly it’s grunts and non-sensical words.

Here’s some beautiful one year old photos taken by our friend Deanna. We should have video from his birthday party up soon (i.e. before he turns 2)

Here’s a new video of Jack as he works on his climbing skills. He’s not going to take on Half-Dome yet…

It’s Jack’s First Christmas! Check out the video of the exciting day… yes, it was a White Christmas here in Portland (and we don’t just mean due to dog fur)! We hope you all had an awesome Christmas… time to eat!

and baby’s first casualty.  Jack’s very excited about being able to “stand” and cruise around his crib and the coffee table, however the coffee table proved to be un-baby-safe when Jack’s feet slipped out from under him and he cut the inside of his lip on the coffee table.  He cried for a few minutes and then was over it, but it took Mom & Dad a little longer to get over it!  We’re going shopping for something soft and padded today.  I’m sure it’s just the first of many bang-ups, but it’s sure upsetting.  We went to see Santa yesterday and Jack was a model baby, with no cry-cry’s.

Little Sharkie had a great Halloween!  He loved his costume and was a great trick or treater.  We all went out to Sherwood to hang out with the Russell crew– there were tons of really well decorated houses and it was super kid friendly.   We’re taking recommendations for next years costume but it’s gonna be hard to top the Sharkie.

Jack’s first official word is “Hi”.  He’s actually been saying it for about a month now, but some people (Dan & Caitlin) were unconvinced that it was more than babbling until yesterday when Jack said “hi” to both of them on separate occasions.   Won’t be long before he adds “No”, “Gimme” and “I hate naps” to his repertoire.

Apparently Jack has something he would like to say to you all, since he is frantically clawing at the keyboard, so here it is:

ghmmn65t54gye4bh vddddddd5cm, k. GUVG Y  CDGVNJMBY H RET GVYGH ZBZ
He is a freakin’ genius!!!  Such a profound view of the world.

Time flies when you’re having fun.  In the last few weeks Jack’s developed all sort of new skills and had tons of new experiences.  The biggest development is his new tooth, which he is putting to good use biting EVERYTHING.  If he can’t put it in his mouth then he’s not interested in it.  He’s beginning to eat baby food and seems to love it all, except rice cereal, which actually tastes like cardboard.  He’s making lots of new sounds, sitting up, and gets super excited when a car or bike passes us.  All these new developments are so cool, but at the same time sad, since they mean our little baby it growing up!  Luckily we’ve got a few more years ’till he’s off to college.

We’re so excited that Jack is getting some playmates!  Congratulations to friends Danielle and Pat just gave birth to a baby boy, Corbin.  More congratulations to friends with babies on the way, Ashleigh & Brian, Scott & Lise and Jayn & Higgins - it’ll be awesome to have friends for Jack and friends for us to commiserate with!

Labor Day is right around the corner, and that means football season is right around the corner! Jack is so excited about his first football season, it is all he can… well, talk about. Ok, drool about, but he’s still really really excited. He kind of gives away who is taking #1, in his fantasy draft in this video. Rumor on the street is he’s taking his mom as his quarterback. She’s got a pretty good arm, especially from picking Jack up.