happy halloween!!

i know that i blew the costume surprise when i posted earlier this week, but can i just say that he is the cutest monkey! it totally suits his personality!! we picked up mike from the train and walked downtown "in costume." jack was a huge hit and he loooooved to walk around...he got tired at the end and since he is hating the stroller right now, up on dad's shoulders he went!

is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?!

this morning there was some serious construction outside our building, it actually woke jack up--always fun. however, i showed him where the noise(jack hammer) was coming from and he was riveted...he must have climbed up on his chair like 10 times today to watch outside. it was really cute! he's such a boy:)

but then later on he got into the diaper bag...ahem...

"here ma, it's empty!" gee thanks;)

halloween fun...

we headed to my mom's group today for a halloween party. it was about as hectic as you would imagine it to be with 9 kids under the age of 3! we could barely get 1/2 of them to sit still for a picture as you can see....

*note that all the kids have something in their hand to get them to sit still!

and then there was one;) apparently the camera case is just that interesting!?

and i guess you could say that jack had his first kiss as well...i was unable to get it on camera unfortunately, but one of the little girls crawled right up to jack and gave him a kiss! it was too cute...he had no idea what to do and kind of just gave her the stare down. remind me to tell him that story in about 20 years!

and here's a pic from this morning, pre-run...it was wicked cold out! doesn't he look so handsome:) of course i caught him as he was trying to grab the camera from me!

so long swings...hello pavement:)

at least that is jack's school of thought these days. i have to admit it is so fun to watch him discover everything, but it was also nice to simply push him in the swings!


so for fun i decided to put jack's halloween costume on from last year, i mean who doesn't hang out on a sunday morning dressed up like a pumpkin!? funny thing is that when i took it off of him, he handed it back to me to put it back on him!
we took jack to muscoot farm today in somers. he had a lot of fun walking around and checking out the animals...

he absolutely loves dogs...he went crazy for these 3 dogs (who were in costume by the way!)...

jack and dad on the "boo walk"

jack...wait for it...

is sleeping through the night!!!!! apparently we needed to go on vacation for a week in order to get him to drop the last feeding?! in all honesty, i'm not holding my breath it'll last, but i am so amazed and proud of him. it has been a long, albeit, sleepless road so forgive me for gloating:)

on another note, he is fully walking, and it is so funny to watch. he has the drunken sailor swagger and it makes me laugh every time he comes bounding towards me.

so as mentioned above, mike and i went on vacation last week to napa. it was the hardest thing i have had to do as a parent thus far. jack did very well, and even managed to not miss the nursing. well that was short-lived...alas old habits die hard, and dropped feedings are no longer dropped!? i think he is afraid i'm going to leave because he has been quite clingy since we got back. i feel so horrible about it and have no plans to leave him again any time soon. remind me of this when the next round of teething sets in;)

below is a hilarious video from this afternoon...



*note the sock in his mouth...he took his socks off and walked around with them in his mouth for a good hour after dinner tonight.

12 month stats

we headed to the dr. for jack's big 12 month appointment on monday, and all is well! he definitely had a growth spurt, which allows me to breath a sigh of relief as i was beginning to think i was going nuts...all his pants were getting too short! he's in the 90% for height, 50-75% for both weight & head circumference.

in regards to the normal 12 month questions...we'll be staying away from honey, nuts & shellfish, but all else is fair game! he'll still stay rear-facing in the car seat as the dr. suggested until at least 18 months--i'm kinda glad the dr. said it, because i had been reading the new literature that suggested that anyhow and his affirmation made it an easier decision for me. he's hitting all his milestones at the right pace, and everything looks great!

i'm still on the fence about the chicken pox vaccine, and delaying his MMR, but he did get a flu shot. so far no real reaction, but he is extremely fussy today....hopefully it is short-lived!

here are some more pictures from his birthday. i created a slideshow, but am having trouble uploading it, so these will have to suffice for the time being!

the goats at the farm...don't they look amused!

uncle greg gave jack this cool fire engine

jack and cousin ben

opening presents...

jack and maddie attacking the toys!

doesn't he look like he should be either a politician or "mr." america!?

the cake progression....uh, what is this?

no, seriously, what is this?

hmm..not bad

oh, i've never had this before;)

"did he just say that?!"

sugar coma...enough said

"you gotta try this!"

ok, i'm done!

jack and his grandparents

happy 1st birthday!!!!!

all i can say is WOW...time really does fly by. i cannot believe my little guy is a year old. all day saturday i kept thinking about where we were in the "labor" process at certain times during the day...i remember feeling like that whole process was so surreal. i found more inner-strength than i ever knew i had, and in the end i was given the most perfect gift.

my wish for you on your first birthday, jack, is that you always follow your dreams and realize that you can accomplish anything that you are truly passionate about. i love you with all of my heart!

so in honor of the little guy's 1st birthday, i thought it only fitting that i show "then & now" pictures, hard to believe he was ever that small!

he's finally here! about 2 hours old.

getting ready to leave the hospital

loving being the center of attention...ya'll are singing for me!?

mmmm...cake:)

push walker?

apparently anything that isn't nailed down in our house has now become a push walker...

he pushed his table all the way into the bathroom, this kid loves the bathroom!?

i bring the table back to the living room, and a couple seconds later this is what i find--he was soooo excited and giddy!

on another note, he took 10 steps last night!!! his motivation:


he loves this freaking duck! when he first got it he cried, now not a day goes by where i don't hear it playing over and over again!?

here are a couple cute pics from the past week. he has become such a little boy:)

fleeing the scene of the crime;)