Our Little Guy is 1!

This past Monday was Jack's first birthday. I can't believe it's been a whole year since we met this sweet, sweet new baby:

It feels like the time has flown by but that we've known him forever at the same time.

Even though it felt like just another day for Jack, we had a great time on his birthday. My parents were in town to celebrate with us, and Jack loved having more people around to play with him. He and my dad spent a lot of time playing with blocks. Grandpa built them up, and Jack tore them down :).

My mom and Jack got some good snuggle time in each morning while I got to sleep in a little bit.

After Jack's morning nap, we opened presents since that is the peak of his mood and activity level during the day. He did a great job tearing the paper!

Jack really enjoyed all of his gifts, and we made sure to hide the last one before opening the next one so that he could focus on each individual gift.

Jonathan and I bought Jack the Howdy Cow. It's an inflatable cow that you can bounce on. He's a little young for it, but kids up to age 6 are supposed to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Right now he pushes it over and sits on it trying to bounce even though his feet don't touch the ground.

After gifts we headed out to the beach so Jack could utilize his new walking skills in the sand. It was a little chilly, but he had a great time with his dad running out towards the water and splashing in the shallow part of the waves.

Jack is not even kind of afraid of the water. When you put him down, he was off! He looks a little bit like baby Frankenstein walking with his arms out :).

I ordered cupcakes for his birthday dessert. They were super cute, and the little medalion is made out of white chocolate.

Jack was not a huge fan of the cupcake. He tried a few bites, but he wasn't that interested.

He did munch on the white chocolate a little bit, though.

Even though Jack didn't want his cupcake, his mother is a cupcake fiend so I made sure to eat both of ours!

All the excitement and people in the house got Jack revved up, so he stayed up later than normal. We got one last family photo before the little man went to bed.

In the background is his new solar system mobile from Jonathan's friend, Chris.

The day after Jack's birthday we went to the doctor for his 1-year appointment. Here are the updated stats:

Height: 30.5 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 22 lbs., 10 oz. (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.1 inches (50th percentile)

It's amazing how he has almost tripled his weight in only one year!!

Recent Milestones:

Jack took his first steps on 11/8/11 and was officially walking on 11/9/11

He feeds himself food sometimes (yogurt bites, baby mum mums, etc.), but he also still likes to be fed and eat out of fruit and veggie puree packets

Jack says "hi, bye, doggy, Izzy, and dada"
He mimics pretty much everything that we do and our tone when we say words

He also mimics Izzy by growling when she growls

Jack dances to us singing, cds, commercials, and any other time he hears music

He is constantly pointing at things (trees, lights, fans, trucks, and buses are the top objects he points at)

Major Interests:

Jack could pretty much spend his entire day at the park playing in the sand, climbing, and coming down the slides

He loves the beach, and he flaps his arms when the waves come up to him

Jack's favorite book is 'Snuggle Puppy' by Sandra Boynton

Jack likes classic rock, Sandra Boynton storybook cds, and Baby Einstein classical music cds

His favorite shows to watch while I drink coffee and wake up are Little Einstein and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
He eats Baby Mum Mum Veggie sticks like they're going out of style

His favorite food is yogurt, both regular and frozen

Jack is super loving and stops in the middle of activities and walking to give hugs before continuing on with what he is doing

He loves shutting himself in our closet and going through our bathroom drawers

I think that covers all the major stuff. For those who don't get to see Jack all of the time, it's just a glimpse into who he is :).

Playing Catch Up- Halloween

I'm a little behind on posting, but I wanted to share some Halloween pictures of our cute little monkey.

Overall, we are not a huge Halloween-celebrating family, but we still wanted to get Jack into costume for his first Halloween. We had the best intentions this year to carve a pumpkin. We went to a pumpkin patch at Mariners Church to pick one out, but this is as far as we got with it:

It's more of a fun toy for Jack...haha. Oh well, maybe next year when Jack is a little bit more interested in pumpkin carving.

Jayne and Zack (my sister-in-law and newest brother-in-law), came out to visit us right before Halloweeen. Jayne captured this fun photo :). Jack looks less than amused.

On Halloween my Stroller Strides class had a play date after the workout where the kids dressed up in their costumes and trick-or-treated to all the strollers in a circle. Everyone brought little treats for the kids and moms. Jack had a great time, and he tolerated the costume really well even though it was a little warm outside. All the kids were so cute, and it was a great way to get toddler/baby friendly treats and stickers.

Instead of going door-to-door, we decided to go get frozen yogurt and just walk around the neighborhood to see all the older kids in their costumes. We still got our fill of candy on top of our frozen yogurt. Plus, Jack loves frozen yogurt, and he can't do much with the candy.

It actually turned out to be a great, relaxing night for the family. We're looking forward to next year when Jack will be running around the neighborhood screaming trick-or-treat at people.