Tantrums

I call Jack my little "Sour Patch Kid" because first he is sour and then he is sweet. He will smack you in the face and then give you a kiss right away. Or he will hit the dog with the bat and then kiss them. It is so funny...painful, but funny.
He has now started to throw some tantrums. Gabe and I call it the "wet noodle" when he just wants to collapse on the floor when you pick him up from something he wants to do. Now he has started to cry and I think this is really weird, but he shoves his fingers down his throat like he is trying to make himself throw up. This seems to be my afternoon treat when I pick him up from the babysitter. (on a good note, at least he likes the babysitter so much he doesn't want to leave!)
I had gotten the camera out today because I feel it has been a while since I captured some pictures of him playing and I was lucky enough to catch a tantrum on film! Here is how it progressed...

Jack tried to get his shoes off the counter. I wouldn't get them for him...(shoes mean go outside and play)

This picture makes me laugh every time!

I still won't get the shoes...we are having a standoff.

A few minutes later he has moved on and it my normal boy again.

And now he is a fireman.

***Disclaimer--the bruise above his left eye is from Thursday (the day I posted was Sunday). He bumped his head at the park on the playground when he was with the babysitter. We are not abusing him but we are considering making him wear a helmet 24/7...remember he has the head of a 2 year old, that sucker makes him a little off balance! :)

15 Months!

It's been a few weeks...but Jack is currently 15 months old. I'm not a fan of talking in months but I can't quite say a year and a half yet. Jack recently went to the doctor for his check up and shots so I have a few of his current stats:  Weight: 29.11 lbs (99%),  Height: 33 inches (95%), and head was in the 100%. The nurse who measured his head said he had the head of a 2 year old. Nice....
Jack is still full of energy and is as crazy as every. He has a few battle wounds each week because he is so busy, but he is a tough guy and it doesn't seem to phase him. I keep telling Gabe I hope he doesn't get the adrenaline gene my cousin Tanner has...I don't think I could deal with that. (Tanner was in the Special Forces in the Army and is currently a jump instructor in Yuma. He recently completed his 1000 jump!)
Jack has expanded his vocabulary a little. Along with the usual mommy, daddy, dog, door, nana, hi, bye...he is also saying "night night" when he knows it's time for bed. He can also point out his nose, ear, mouth, toes, and just learned his tongue. He has also gotten pretty good at waving and he blows a few kisses occasionally.
Jack's favorite toys are still balls. Any type of ball--soccer ball, baseball, football, tennis ball. He also still loves his bat and wants to hit anything in sight with it. We have to tell him not to hit the dogs (and us) but he can hit everything else.
Jack has started eating his meals with a fork. This seems to keep him entertained and he is willing to eat anything as long as he can stab it. The funny part is watching him try to stab the food and get frustrated and pick it up with his other hand and shove it in his mouth. This kid should be able to eat a steak dinner with the amount of teeth he has! The doctor said he was working on cutting his last tooth before his 2 year molars! 16 teeth! Geez!!! I am ready for a break in teething.
Las weekend I took Jack for his 2nd haircut. This kid has a head of hair! He had a really sweet rat tail growing that was unacceptable. He was a trooper when he sat on my lap and let the lady use the clippers around his ears and on the back of his head. He looks like such a big boy when he is all cleaned up!
We had to move Jack up a size in diapers...the big guy is now wearing size 5! I can't believe how fast he moves through these sizes! He is still wearing size 2T clothes and with the warmer weather coming I have to go through his shorts and t-shirts and clean out his closet. Luckily for us we have gotten alot of hand me down clothing so we don't have to go shopping just yet! :)
All in all, Jack is so fun to be around. He constantly makes me laugh and keeps me on my toes.

The Boy, his bat, tent, and dog...

Jack has become obsessed with his football tent he got for Christmas. All we have to do is set up the tent in the living room and he is occupied for hours. Roxy has now gotten involved in the action. (God forbid she be left out of anything!)  It cracks me up to watch both Jack and Roxy sitting in the tent together.
Jack has always been a fan of his bat, but he has now figured out how to hit things with his bat. He walks up to the dogs and smacks them as hard as he can with the bat. Of course he thinks it's hilarious and laughs every time he does it but I don't want him to be "that" kid who beats up other kids or be a weirdo who abuses animals so I have to grab the bat from him. The poor dogs take a beating before I can grab it though! :(
Jack has also started to string his babbling words together to form sentences. It is so funny because it sounds like he is speaking another language. He is such a vocal kid. Once he figures out how to really talk this kid is never going to shut up!

Chilling in the tent

Looking at them from abover

Roxy giving Jack a kiss inside the tent.

New Word

Jack has started to say a word I dislike more than "da da"...he has learned how to say "no". Why can't he learn yes you might ask??? Well, I'm sure he has learned "no" from the million times we say it to him a day! This kid is into EVERYTHING and has no fear. He falls and laughs and tries it again. His newest activity is climbing and balancing on everything. He loves to stand on Gabe when he is laying on the ground (whether he is on his stomach or back) and he tries to stand on every toy he owns. Yes, even the balls he tries to stand on. We always tell him, "Jack, no-no" so now he is doing that back to us. Awesome... what's even worse is that his "no" isn't in his normal tone of voice. It's a very whiny "no" and he draws the word out. He says it all the time now for no reason. All I do is call his name and he says, "nooo". Awesome... Gabe has found humor in Jack's new word by using it against me. "Hey Jack, do you like mom's shoes"..."noooo". Thanks Gabe!
He has also learned the proper motion for signaling a touchdown. When Gabe yells out "touchdown" Jack holds both hands over his head and smiles. It is so cute. I guess we watch alot of football because if you ask Jack where the football is he immediately looks and points at the TV first. Whoopsie...guess that was bound to happen since I did win my fantasy football league. :)
Jack is also in the process of cutting more teeth. This kid will have a mouthful of teeth in the next couple months. He currently has 4 molars, 6 of his front top teeth, and 5 of his bottom front teeth (he is working on adding the 6th shortly). I will be so happy when he is done with these teeth! Poor guy!

Jack playing with his slide he got from Santa this year. I didn't mention that he prefers to walk up the slide part...

I had to bring this empty box from his room because he was obsessed with standing on it.

He's so proud of himself.

Touchdown!!

Goodbye 2011

Wow, what a year! This year has just flown by! 2011 was a pretty good year...we had many firsts with Jack: first time sleeping through the night, teeth, crawling, swimming, words, going to the beach, walking, running, haircut, Halloween, and of course his first birthday! Jack has developed the best little personality. He loves to talk and ask his version of questions (pointing while saying "that"). He also loves to laugh and give kisses. He is sleeping longer through the night at this point. We put him down around 8 pm and he sleeps in until 7:30 am. It is so nice to wake up, make coffee, and feed the dogs before Jack gets up.  :)
Gabe and I have had a great year as well. Gabe is still working for the Mariners and loves his job. The chaos of spring training will start up before we know it, but it is so nice to have him off work from October-January. I am still teaching and coaching at Centennial. I am getting ready to start another season of boys volleyball in February so my life will become super crazy too.
We are so thankful to have such great friends around us. We went on a great trip to Michigan this year and are looking forward to heading to Vegas with the crew at the end of January. We celebrated new year's eve at the Putz house again this year. Each year this party gets bigger and better! We had a blast...maybe too much fun because Gabe and I were not ourselves today... :(
Thanks for being good to us 2011---it's time to see what 2012 holds for us!!
Some favorite pictures from the year...

Christmas 2011

Ahhh...Christmas has come and gone! This year was a whirlwind leading up to the big event because I had school until December 23rd. It is nice to start the break with so much time off after Christmas.
It was so fun to see Jack take in all the Christmas festivities this year. He was obsessed with the lights and decorations everywhere. He also knows how to point out Santa and snowmen. We broke down this year and bought a Christmas tree (haven't had one since 08) and maybe next year we will put some ornaments on it. Hey--babysteps here guys! I'm excited for next year when Jack understands the concept of Christmas a little more and actually wants to open some of his presents.
Santa was far too good to us this year. He must have lost his "naughty" list. :)  Jack got way too many toys and clothes and Gabe and I didn't do too bad either.
The normal Christmas traditions had to be shaken up this year...my nephew Connor was diagnosed with strep and croup on the 23rd and we didn't want to expose Jack to that so Gabe and Jack stayed home while I dropped presents off at my mom's house. It was fun seeing everyone, but I wish we could have all been together. After I came home we headed over to Gabe's Aunt's house. It was a fun, loud time just like normal! We had great food and Gabe got to play Santa for the 2nd year in a row. It is so funny to watch the little kids get so excited when he walks in. We also tried to get a picture of Jack with him but that didn't work out too well...apparently Jack is scared of mascots and Santa! Ha ha!
It's nice to sit back, look at pictures, and reflect on how lucky we are.  :)

Jack with Nana BEFORE Santa

Jack isn't a fan of Santa...even when he looks and sounds familiar

Jack loves this crate! All he wanted to do was sit in it!

We had to bring the presents to Jack in the crate.

He loves his Sparky pillow pet!

Trying to figure out how he can rip this tree down.

Anticipating the presents.

Presents weren't exciting--lets play!

Jack loves looking at himself in mirrors

Jack is definitely my child--he loves this rocking horse!

This was the ONLY family picture I got!!! Ugh!!