Books

Jack finally loves books. Ever since Jack was born, we have read to him as part of his bedtime routine and at least once throughout the day but it always has seemed like a chore. Jack is usually restless during book time and trys to shut the book as we read it. I have often thought "why am I doing this" but I know how important it is too read to your child. Just lately Jack has been going into his bedroom, picking out a book and then lays on the couch as he reads it to himself. We think it is very cute. Finally, our hard work is paying off.

Messy, messy!

Every time I turn my head it seems like Jack is destroying something. I know it could be a lot worse but he loves to empty out cupboards, drawers, cabinets, baskets or anything else he can get his hands on. Sometimes I simply don't care because I am too lazy, tired, or I just have fun watching him. My mom keeps reminding me that "a child's play is a child's work." This statement seems to be true. He works so hard at destroying and appears very proud and satisfied with the end result. He woke up super early one morning so as I laid on the couch to get some rest this is what he was busy doing. I need to remember to always close everything. He took out all my perfectly organized shoes and shirts that were folded above my shoes.

What has this little man been up too?

1. He blabs and blabs about everything in his own cute little language. But the thing that makes it so darn cute is that he holds up his left hand up with the palm facing the sky as he chats away. I have no idea where he got it from (maybe Shawn.....:)) but it makes everything that much more important.
2. As he chats away he makes some seriously funny facial expressions. Eyes get big and wide, then they scrunch up, the serious face, then the fake laugh face, too funny!
3. The "more" sign. He has approximated it but it is really cute how he does it.
4. He is starting to really talk, it is fun to see what words he picks up every day. He just combined 2-words the other day.
5. He always yells GG (Grandma Gray) when he wants his own way.
6. Walking, he is walking all around (finally!). He still seems wobbly but somehow he manages to walk everywhere. He falls a lot but just gets up, no big deal to him.
7. Shawn does the bed time routine and then calls me in to say a prayer together and after the prayer, Jack holds his arms up to give me a hug goodnight. Because Jack is sitting on Shawn's lap it turns into a big family hug. I know--totally cheesy but Jack loves it and secretly I love it. It is so precious.
8. I love Jack's dancing, laughing, giggling, and clapping at everything that Shawn and I do (especially after I sing a song to him, he claps and when Shawn throws the ball into a container, he claps).
9. I just love to see what the next day holds.
10. He still is not sleeping well, go figure. Last night he woke up at 12pm and cried until 3:30am. I went into his bed room twice and laid him back down and said "night, night" but it did not help. Our poor neighbors were stomping but there was nothing I could do that would stop him from crying except for getting him out of his crib, but I was not about to go down that road again so I let him cry. Finally, around 3:30am I went in his bedroom and said "Jack lay down and go to sleep" he looked at me and started chatting away. It was like he was telling me, "look mom, I am sorry for screaming at the top of my lungs for the past 3 1/2 hours but I really need to get out of my crib and play, can't you just let me." He told me what was up for about 5mins then I laid him down on his crib and he fell asleep. The little stinker! He is the most frustrating sleeper. I really don't get it.

Flour, flour and more flour!

On Sunday after dinner we really wanted to play a game of Ticket to Ride, the only problem was Jack. If we are playing a game he thinks he should be playing too and it ends up as a disaster. So I thought, how could we possibly entertain him for an hour while we play.....um....maybe some flour in a bowl with some measuring cups, etc to play with. Well, he loved it and after playing for about 45 mins, we turned around to look at him and this is what we saw (pics below). We were laughing so hard. He was having a blast. Flour was everywhere but we did not care because we were able to play our cherished game. The clean up was totally worth it, especially because I won:) After about an hour he was done and told us. We plopped him in the bath, cleaned up the kitchen and it was like no mess had ever happened. Flour might just be my new best friend!


All done!

First ou-wee

So Jack is starting to want to stand up in the bath tub. I am constantly telling him to sit down and not to stand up. Well, of course Jack stood up, reached for something and slipped and hit his face against the side of the bath tub. He nicked the top of his eye brow. It was bleeding a lot but once we cleaned it up, it really was not that bad. Hopefully, he will learn not to stand up in the bath tub. It took Jack several slammed fingers in our drawers before he figured out how to shut the drawer without getting his fingers caught. But now (for good or for bad) he can open and close drawers without hurting himself.

Here is his first ou-wee that required a bandaid.

Jack and his favorite things...

After dinner we give Jack a bath and then he played for a little while before we put him to bed. I went into his bedroom and this is how I found him. I don't know where he finds his binkies. Shawn and I are always trying to find them when we put him down for bedtime. Jack seems to stash them away somewhere and gets them when we are not looking. So funny. He is only supposed to have his binky when he goes to bed or is in the car. Also, my friend sent us this cute bag as part of a birthday gift bag for those who attended her son's birthday party. Since we live in different states she was kind enough to send us a gift bag to make us feel included in their party celebration. Jack loves this bag. Every day he finds it and puts it around his neck and then crawls along his merry way. Too cute!

Auto Show

If there is one thing that you need to do while living in the Detroit area it is going to the annual auto show. That is according to Shawn. Truth be told, if we were living here next year I would have had Shawn go with his guy friends so that they could ooh and ahhh together. I am just not that into cars but it was neat to go. One of those: did it once-check off the list-don't need to do it again excursions. It was pretty crowded and Jack was tired and cranky so we had to leave early. The drive to Detroit was very interesting. There are so many abandoned houses, it is crazy. There are some big houses that are just empty, one after another. I really wanted to go drive around the neighborhood but I think it would have been too scary. It is sad what has happened to Detroit.

I love the Volvo SUV.
Shawn was loving this car.
They had all these mini cars. I am not sure what they were for exactly but they were so cute! I would love a little city made out of these cars. They just seem so friendly. There was a mail truck, police car, golf cart, and little cars for normal people. So adorable. I want one.