3 Ways to Drive a Car

Dear Jack

Precious Jackson William,

I cannot begin to express how much you have changed my life in the last year. You are an amazing gift & I love you with every fiber of my being. The best part of my day every day is when you hug me tight before I put you down for bed. You are such an amazing little boy. I call you Wild Man, Baby Boy, Sugar Bear, Silly Boy, Little Jack Man, Jack Jack... You've got a lot of names, & plenty of personality to go with them!

I love how you wrinkle up you nose & smile, showing off your new top teeth. I love how you laugh in delight when you think something is funny, or because other people are laughing, or for no apparent reason at all. I love watching you explore & learn as you play with your toys or crawl around the house. I love your sense of humor & your sense of rhythm. I love when you dance & when you sing. I love that you love music, your daddy, & your dog. I love that you can be my silly little wild man one minute & crawl into my arms to cuddle the next. God knew what he was doing when He created you, Precious One, & I praise Him that He chose me to be your Mommy. You are an indescribable gift & I love you more than you will ever know.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Love,

Mommy

Before & After

11 Months Old!

It's been pretty crazy lately, and Jack is changing so quickly, but here's a quick summary of the last month or so.

• a LOT of cruising & standing
• He cruises really fast around the couch & really wants to walk. He often gets frustrated when he falls.
• He took 2 steps on his own!!! :)
• I was trying to wash dirt off his legs when I realized it was really bruises on his little knees & shins! Poor little crawling man!
• Communication breakthrough! He asks for "more" (using baby sign language) unprompted pretty regularly & he will go find objects when you ask him to (puppy dog, bottle/milk)
• Makes his opinion known! Loudly.
• Is eating more & more real food! He finally got past the the gagging & eats crackers, chicken, potatoes, peas, carrots, apples, beans, cheese, corn, bread, muffins, etc.
• Feeds himself his bottle & now likes to attempt this while standing up - another balancing act in itself
• Met Sis & Julia & LOVED playing with them both
• Same words as before, but will sometimes get lucky when he repeats something we say to him (Julia, Irish)
• Favorite word at the moment: Lucy (pretty much any animal/picture of an animal = Lucy) Also says Lucy when he hears a dog bark
• Lucy is also his favorite playmate. He throws her ball & pets her, but has trouble being gentle when he gets excited. Lucy is super patient with him & has learned how to avoid him when she's not in the mood for his feisty games
• He LOVES to explore & follow me around the house. I love this! He's my little buddy!
• He's really into opening & closing doors
• 4 teeth
• 21 lbs.
• He will be one year old in less than a month! Eek! :)

My First Baseball Game

Howdy! Jack here, again. Mom said something about "laundry"...whatever that is, so I'm taking care of the blog today. So, during mission trip we got to meet up with my cousins & go to my first ever baseball game. I had so much fun! There was sooooo much to look at, and people were doing a lot of one of my favorite things: clapping. Naturally, I had to join them. Mommy kept taking pictures of Daddy & me. Some turned out kinda silly... and some were sweet (one of Mommy's words, not mine). I made it through the first 5 innings before I got too tired, but hey, it was waaaay past my bedtime, so I think I did pretty great! Speaking of tired, it's nap time. Later, Peeps! -Jack

Noodles

Jack was a part of our church's Vacation Bible School this year! He missed the end because he got a cold, but he had fun while he was there! Each night he brought home a little craft he "made" including a paper surf board with his little footprints on it. He also brought home an ornament with sand inside & stickers of the nativity scene on the outside. Our sweet children's director even specially made him a shirt since the official shirt didn't come in his size. It was so sweet & really warmed my heart that she went above & beyond to include little Jack. The whole experience reminded me how blessed we are to belong to a church who believes even the youngest ones can learn about Jesus' love. I didn't get a great picture of him, but here's one that shows off his cute shirt! (I had to hold on to him since he was standing on a chair!) Thanks again to Lesa & the whole children's council, our church family, & all Jack's sweet teachers & helpers!