Happy Halloween

My little lion cub's 1st Halloween :)

Jack is 11 months

Wow! One month away until Jack turns 1. Jack is growing fast! He is a master of the stairs; he'll quickly crawl to the top of the stairs, turn around and slide down them one at a time on his belly & knees. And he's so good and climbing them too. So up and down, down and up! He loves them. When on a couch, Jack turns correctly to slide himself off the couch. On our bed Jack will crawl to the edge, turn around and slide his legs off the bed, hanging and slide himself off. But, no walking yet. Just pulling himself to a standing position and walking along couches, etc. I know it will be here soon. 

Jack also has 4 teeth. The front top 2 are almost all the way in. The bottom front two are working their way in, about a mm showing! But super cute!

A couple days ago, Jack looked at me and said mama. Coincidence? Mama and dada are still his favorite words :)

Jack's favorite food? Everything! Chicken, turkey, steak, fruit! This past week, Jack was introduced to mozzarella and Parmesan- loves them both! It's fun to give our good eater food. He still uses his pointer finger to 'stab' his food, use his pinchers to pick it up and place the morsel in his mouth :) so fun!

Next big thing? Planning his 1st birthday party :)

Happy 30th Birthday Brandon

This weekend and today we celebrated Brandon's 30th birthday with friends and family. Poker with friends on Friday made us realize we need more game nights in our lives. Saturday, we had about 30 relatives over to help toast Brandon. Sunday, Brandon got to sleep in, watch the Hawks win with an amazing comeback. Finally, Monday was a day to hang out. Just the 3 of us! And to celebrate his 30th, Brandon got to open 30 gifts from Jack and me. One of which was Fischer's Scone Mix, which were promptly made and eaten while warm with butter and seedless raspberry jam. Happy Birthday Brandon! Love you!! 

P.S. Jack has a little chomper peeking through on the bottom front left. This makes 3! And, Jack crawls up the stairs very quickly...and when going down the stairs, turns around at the top, and slides down correctly on his stomach, one stair at a time. jack has also learned to turn around and get off the couch by sliding feet first on his stomach! What a fast learner!!!!

Little Chompers are Here!

Today, Jack got his first little chompers! Upper front 2 teeth, about a mm of each tooth have made it through the gums! So exciting! Can't wait until his teeth show when he smiles. Such a big boy!!! Love him so :)

Here he is living it up at Starbucks today! Had a first taste of a bagel and smear too!

Jack is 10 months

Happy 9 months

Chicago & Boston 2013

With Jack's 5th flight, we safely made it to Boston (Brandon lost his luggage going into Chicago, me into Boston...but both were safely delivered the next day!) 

Chicago, or Chi-town, is amazing! You have a smaller NYC-esque city next to this gorgeous crystal blue ginormous lake, Lake Michigan. There are miles of lake front parks, complete with sandy beaches next to the tallest skyscrapers in America! I didn't want to leave. Although I heard the weather in the winter can leave much to be desired! In one city, the temp can span over 100 degrees during the year! Crazy. And it's not named the Windy City for nothing, added to the winter temps, brrrrrrrrrr :)

So we had a great 4 nights in the city. Explored downtown a lot: saw the silver bean, went up the Sears' (now Willis') Tower to look at the view from 104 stories high, took a 90 minute architecture boat tour of the skyscrapers along the Chicago River, saw the waterfront, ate at some great restaurants (including buying some deep dish pizza), celebrated Adam & Krista's wedding and Tom & Christine's 1st anniversary. 

I just spent my first full day at my Grandparents' cottage on the Boston Harbor water! Jack has taken 2 full naps, as I type this he has been sound asleep on my chest for almost 2 hours. With 4 full days in Chicago and a fun day chasing crabs in Boston, he is worn out!! But, he is a great traveler. He knows that good boys get to travel and have fun!! And he never cried once on the planes...just had many admirers ogle over him :) 

Can't wait to show him Natasket Beach tomorrow.