Jack, 11 Months

Holy Guacamole people. It's almost like someone said "SHAZAM" and Jack was 11 months old. I mean, seriously... how have we had him for almost a year already? I get hives when I start to think about how fast time is moving now. I get on this train of thought that goes a little something like this "wow. Jack is 11 months old. Holy cow, that's crazy... Next month, he'll be ONE. That's even more crazy.... Sheesh, this year went by really fast. I can't believe I get only four more of those fast years before he's in kindergarten.... so sad. Before I know it he'll be getting baptized, then going to scouts and getting the priesthood, high school, dances, seminary, driver's license....". Before I know it, in my head Jack, has already moved out and is on his own. At this point I have to take deep breaths, IN and OUT, IN and OUT just to calm myself down a little bit. It's all going by way too fast...

Here's what Jack has been up to this month:

Sometimes I sing that song " Na, na, na, na. Na, na, na, na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye..." to Jack. You know the one I mean right? Sometimes I switch out the"Na" and "Da" and Jack sings along. He says the right syllable when I switch them too. Of course it's not in time, but he thinks he's singing too and its soo darling.

Jack dances by bouncing up and down when he hears music.

Jack, never to be left out of a joke, has decided that if anyone chuckles, laughs, of giggles in his presence, that he too will laugh... but only with the most adorable nose scrunching, big open mouth laugh he can muster. If anyone wants to feel like their jokes are REALLY funny I suggest you hang around Jack for a while. He'll make you feel really good about your jokes, and yourself.

Speaking of confidence booster, he LOVES to web cam with all of his grandparents so much that he claps when he sees their faces.

Jack is a chatter box these days. He babbles while he is playing with his toys, while he is going to sleep and waking up, and he'll even hold a conversation with you. Ask him a question and he'll babble of an answer and wait for a reply before babbling off again. It's uber cute. He's trying harder and harder to actually imitate real words. For example, his buddy Ethan is really good about saying "Help, please" when he needs assistance. A few weeks ago I was putting Jack down at night and he was having none of it. Between cries he was yelling something that sounded like "HELP MEEEEEE". So sad, but funny how he picks things up like that. Needless to say, that he did not have to go to sleep after he kept saying that. It was too heartbreaking to leave him in his crib yelling for help...

He loves the song Bingo because of the clapping hands part when you spell the dogs name. He claps along with us when we sing it, and lately I've even heard him trying to make a noise that sounds like Bingo.

Jack is pretty much over his stranger danger phase, but he's still pretty attached to me in new situations.

Jack refuses to eat dinner unless we are all sitting down at the table together.

He became really interested in learning how to use a spoon this month, so we we're working on that... which means lots of messes under his highchair.

Jack loves to click his tongue. He does it when he hears any clicking noise, including the blinker in our car.

Jack is mastering the pincer grasp and loves to pick up little pieces of food and feed himself.

Jack can throw a ball (sort of). I'm pretty sure he learned how from watching his buddies Ethan and Daniel.

Jack got TWO new teeth this month. The first of these new teeth was the top left incisor. For the first little while I thought it was his canine because I didn't have any reference point. MAN OH MAN! That little tooth threw us off for a week! Jack was so fussy and screechy and would wake up like four times a night. Now he's back to his old self again. His top middle tooth on the left side also came through this month too. He didn't make a big deal at all about that one for some reason. Now it looks like his top right incisor will be coming in any day. He kind of looks like he got punched in a bar fight because he looks like he is missing some teeth. He's our little snaggle tooth. Look closely and you can see them...

Speaking of teeth... he GRINDS his teeth. It is SO loud that I can hear it and it makes my blood curdle. If anyone has suggestions on what I can do to stop it PUH-LEASE let me know.

Jack loves to give high fives, swing at the park, bury his face in my hair (and put it in his mouth), to hold the broom, find little bottles or pens to hold onto, and dogs.

When Jack sees something across the room that he is excited about he breathes really loudly and quickly. It's like he's experiencing pure joy that can't be contained.

The other day, I made butter from scratch and showed Jack how to take his finger stick it in the cream and lick it. Now all he wants to do is scoop up food with his pointer finger and feed me or Gordy. Jack is a really good share-er.

Just in the past few days Jack has been standing on his own for a few seconds at a time. This is HUGE for us because usually he always squats down as soon as we let go of him. I wonder if he'll be walking by his first birthday...?

This month was not the easiest photo shoot we've had. The older Jack gets, the more interested he is in moving around and exploring, and I foolishly tried to take the pictures without the help of Gordy. You'll also notice lots of pictures of him sticking his tongue out... he's teething so I didn't get his normal smiley self... oh well, such is life.