Jack, 10 Months

Well, Jack is TEN months old today. I feel like his birthday is right around the corner...

Jack had his nine month appointment (which was really more like his almost ten month old appointment because of traveling, etc.). Here are his stats:

Head: between the 75th-90th percentile (very brainy)

Height: 28 in., 25th percentile

Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz, 4th percentile (Yay! FINALLY back on the charts after surgery!)

Here is what Jack as been up to these days:

He started crawling, like truly crawling on his hands and knees and everything the day after I did his 9 month posting. So he has been crawling for a month now, and he is very good at it and very fast. Which means, now he is into EVERYTHING.

Jack loves to sit on his knees. Lately, he has been doing a lot of clapping and bouncing on his knees and grinning because he knows it's cute.

He loves to play with keys, and I hate when he gets his hands on them. They make me too nervous.

He loves to ring our doorbell (with some help from mom). Every time we leave the house, or come home he reaches for the doorbell. It's his ritual now.

Jack is now pointing at things he wants. Super helpful to me, because it cuts down on the whining. Not to mention, its really cute.

Jack is more interested in what we are eating than his baby food. This is nice because we can put him in his chair with small bits of food and he can feed himself, but not so nice because he is also learning about object permanence and ends up throwing pretty much everything on the floor. He refuses to resume eating until he have picked up the dropped object.

Jack pulls himself up on furniture and cruises around the house by clinging onto anything he can wrap his hands around (dishwasher, refrigerator, coffee table, couches....).

We have been having a difficult time keeping Jack away from power cords and outlets. I'm beginning to think he is seriously magnetically attracted to them or something.

Jack is now in a convertible car seat, and I am happy to report that Jack is doing MUCH better on car rides. It would still be a stretch to say he likes the car seat, but at least now it seems he can handle it.

This month, Jack has really started talking A LOT. It's really cute to listen to him babble to himself.

Jack also had a cardiologist appointment (which went great) and and eye appointment (which took way too long, but also went great). Apparently, Jack has perfect vision. We'll see how long that lasts...

This month, Jack blew out of his diaper and pooped all over the carpet. It was disgusting. He had some of it on his chin, so we aren't 100% sure he didn't eat it... That was an adventure. Luckily, with a little soapy water, antibacterial spray, and a LOT of scrubbing I was able to clean it all up. Whew!

Jack loves to go to the park and swing. He does the cutest giggle and squeal.

Jack is in the separation anxiety phase, so he gets really upset when I walk into another room, or when Gordy leaves to go to school. This is challenging but also really sweet to know he loves us and is worried when we leave.

Jack learned how to play peek-a boo. Whenever he gets his hands on a towel or blanket he'll cover his face while I say "peeeeek-aaaaaa" and then uncover when I say "Boo". He is getting so old. I think it's crazy that he is already learning games.

He loves to stand by our front screen door and talk as the wind blows in his face.

Jack still loves cheesing for the camera. He is so fun to take pictures of.

The cutest thing Jack started doing this month is giving hugs and kisses. He'll grab your hair with both hands and pull himself up to your face and just suction on with a wide open slobbery mouth. More often though, he'll throw his arms around your neck and snuggle in. It makes my heart melt every time.

This month has been so fun. Jack got to meet his Uncle Stevey and his Great Grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Strate, for the first time. He also got to fly to Utah and see lots of family and friends (he did very well on the flights, even the other passengers said so).

Every month with Jack just keeps getting more and more fun, even though he keeps getting more and more challenging. Every night, I thank Heavenly Father for sending such a ray of sunshine to our family. Every day with him is truly a blessing.

Stevey's Homecoming and Aspen Grove

We were so lucky to have had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to fly out to Utah for Stevey's homecoming. It was so fun to get to Utah the day before and see all of the excitement and preparation for Stevey's return. Once Stevey was back, it was like he had never left. He is still his same old silly self. What a fun guy he is to be around too.

All of Jack's cousins that could be at the airport dressed in coordinating outfits. It was really fun to watch Stevey hug his mom and dad and to introduce him to TWO new nephews, Stone and Jack. It was a really special and nostalgic moment for Gordy because these two brothers served in the very same mission.

Everything went so well with Stevey's homecoming and he gave the BEST homecoming talk to a packed church. Stevey and Gordy even sung a special musical number, Praise to the Man, in Portuguese.

We had a few days after Stevey came home and the festivities calmed down to just hang out. Gordy had some interviews in SLC, so I took the opportunity to see some of my friends down in Provo. I really wish that I had pulled out my camera to document seeing my friends, but sadly, I didn't. I was able to visit Aleksi at her cute little house that has the most amazing view. The next day I was able to go have sushi with Whitney and Shanti and meet baby Jillian for the first time.

She is just a petite little thing, and oh so, so cute. I was even able to meet up with my old roommate Casey, who has just finished serving a mission, at Cafe Rio. Here, Jack is trying Cafe Rio for the first time. He loved it, as you can tell. Such fun times!

Finally the day arrived for our family reunion at Aspen Grove. Aspen Grove is a family camp that is owned and run by BYU. It was such a neat vacation. They had activities for every age group from rope courses and tennis matches for adults, all the way down to babysitters for babies under one year old.

The staff seriously thought of everything. There were even jars of baby food in the mess hall for Jack! All of our nieces and nephews had such a fun time with their leaders and the other kids in their age groups.

And the staff came up with the best activities for the entire family to do together. Seriously, it SUCH a good time!

We were sad to leave, but alas, Gordy had already missed the first week of school, so we had to return to Bloomington... I hope that at least once more in my lifetime we can go to Aspen Grove as a family.