Baking Baby

After dinner tonight, I decided I was going to make some blueberry banana bread.  I also thought this would be an great opportunity for Jack to help out in the kitchen some since he is always so interested in what I'm doing and often tries to copy my actions.  While it did take quite a bit more time and effort to make the sweet treat, Jack truly enjoyed himself and I loved sharing that special time with my little boy.

mixing the dry ingredients (and covering my cleavage with a speech bubble)

mashing the banana

Mom!  I can do it by myself

smiling for the camera as we mix the wet ingredients

working hard to whisk with one hand and not stick the other in the batter

licking the oven hoping that it will be done soon!

 Unfortunately, Jack had to go to bed before the blueberry banana bread was done baking, but he did get to enjoy a slice for breakfast and he was very proud of his fine culinary skills!

TOMS

Yesterday was One Day Without Shoes, a day that set out to bring attention to the many people who walk around daily without shoes.  While the Mulleys did not walk around town without shoes yesterday (just seems dirty and dangerous-but we appreciate the message), we did go buy some new TOMS to support their mission and with the purchase of every pair of TOMS a child in need is also given a pair of shoes.  It's a wonderful organization that we are strong supporters of.  Jack got his first pair of TOMS and could not be any cuter in them.

this shot cracks me up because Jack's belly is sticking out so far

Jack's new shoes

Mommy and Jack's new shoes

16 Months

There was no doctors appointment this month so we don't have any updated stats for you, but Jack has certainly been doing a lot this past month.

This month, Jack:

• wears mostly 12 and 18 month clothing
• wears size 4 diapers during the day and size 5 overnight diapers
• wears 4.5W shoes
• has had a real boom with his receptive language and seems to understand everything
• says "yes", "mom-mom", "da-da", "uh-oh", "hi", "bye" and some semblance of "thank you"
• favorite foods include: pineapple, fluffer-nutter sandwiches, hot dogs, chocolate, black beans
• enjoys pretend cooking
• likes to type on the computer
• loves to snuggle his "lovies" 
• says "awww" when he sees something cute (i.e. a puppy or bunny)
• barks when the dogs bark or when we mention dogs
• loves to blow kisses and wave at whoever he passes
• tantrums when he doesn't get his way
• is still transitioning from two naps to one
• sleeps anywhere from 11.5 to 12.5 hours a night
• likes to sit in his chair and watch Super Why!
• can play independently for upwards of 30 minutes
• likes to help in the kitchen
• likes doing his chores
• really likes to feed the dogs their treats before we leave the house
• is fascinated with how things work
• can repeat simple tasks after you show him once
• at last count, has 16 teeth

Splash!

With the heat wave that we have been experiencing here in Raleigh, we went out and bought Jack a water table so that he could cool off outside.  One of his most favorite things to do is to sneak into the laundry room and splash in Scout and Molly's water dish.  He doesn't make it in there often, but when he does you would think he had won the lottery judging by his squeals of delight.

Of course, right after we bought the water table we got a cold spell for a couple days, but we are certain it's going to be a hot summer and we are ready for some splashing around.

Daddy putting the water table together

Jack is making sure Daddy did it correctly

Look at this water...wonder if I can play in it

How about just a little test splash

Look how big I can stretch

And of course, no big new toy post is complete without a video:

*WARNING: super white legs ahead*

Hippity Hoppity Easter's Here!

One of our neighborhood friends invited Jack and I to her church's Easter egg hunt at a local park and we were happy to take her up on her offer.  I threw placed Jack and his Easter basket in the car and off we headed to the mother of all Easter Egg hunts.  Unfortunately, I was only able to get one picture because Jack was so busy chasing down eggs, girls and pretty much anything shiny!

Then, last night, the Easter Bunny came to our house and left us some treats.  Jack was so cute when he got his Easter Basket.  It had some Lovies (stuffed animals) in it and he immediately started saying "awwww, awwww".  He couldn't wait to get his hands on them and start hugging them.  Then he saw his giant English Easter Egg and he started saying "mmmmm, mmmmm".  He couldn't wait to get a hold of the chocolate.

Next, he was excited to help open the package from Grandad and Nanna Lin.  They included lots of chocolates and a very sweet bunny for Jack.  He immediately had to give it a hug.  We are lucky to have such a loving little guy.  Could you imagine if he couldn't wait to get his hands on the stuffed animals so that he could wring their necks?!?

Cool Dude with his blinged out eggs

There's Goldfish in this egg!

Jack knows which chocolate is his

loving his bunny from Grandad and Nanna Lin

enjoying some chocolate

chocolate carnage

I hope the Easter Bunny was just as sweet to you as he was to us!

Aunt Kori Came to Visit!

Aunt Kori came home from Honduras for a week and we were so excited that we were able to see her.  We decided that we'd drive to Chapel Hill to see her and then we might just get to see some of our other favorite Browns while we were there.  When Jack and I first arrived we were greeted by the ever handsome Levi in the parking lot.  I got an amazing hug from him before he was off to the gym to work on his physique.

Then we went inside and got to see Kori and Geoff.  Jack was happy to see everyone and explore their house while Kori and I visited and caught up on each others' news.  Jack went in to Geoff's office to see if he could help him with anything and Geoff was happy to put him to work:

Don't mind the crack...he's not a plumber!

busy doing some research

 After Jack's workday finished up, he decided to do a little light reading on Kori's Kindle:

When he wasn't looking, Aunt Kori swooped in for a sneak-attack hug:

She even stole some kisses, discussed politics with him and just tried to get him to share his snacks:

We love you Aunt Kori and were so happy to see you, if only for a little while.  Continue to make us proud and remember how much we love you!

Beach Get-Away

A girl from my gym invited me (and Jack and Dave) to go to the beach with her.  Dave decided to stay home and get a break from me and Jack work, but Jack and I happily took Theresa up on her offer.  She has an absolutely beautiful vacation home in Emerald Isle, NC and we were thrilled to be included in a little fun in the sun time!  Theresa's 15 year old daughter was there as well as their good friends from Georgia and their four daughters(ranging from 8 year old twins to 16 years old).  Needless to say, Jack was in heaven with all the girls and all the attention that he got while we were there.  This was Jack's first time walking on the beach and he was fascinated.  He was happy as could be until he fell over and then he didn't know how to get up without getting his hands dirty.  Once I would help him up, he was up and running again.  It will be many many years before I can relax on the beach like I once did!

Theresa's beautiful home

Jack and I woke up before everyone else in the house in the morning so we would go out for a nice walk so as not to wake everyone else.  It was perfectly peaceful on the beach in the morning.  Jack was eager to do some walking himself, so I slipped his shoes right on top of his footie pajamas and let him get to moving.

Our shadows

Cruisin' the beach in his Jammers

The water was too cold to go swimming, but that didn't stop us from dipping on toes in and then running away.  Theresa's house has a pool, but unfortunately the filter was broken so it was cloudy and unavailable for use while we were there.  Jack let everyone know how disappointed he was with this turn of events by yelling at the pool for 20 minute stretches.  Theresa threatened to call the pool boy and let Jack talk to him so that he would know just how serious we were about playing in the pool!



*I had to put Jack's paci in his mouth while I filmed this because most of the people in the house were still sleeping and it helped to quiet his ranting...a little*

Taking in the view

Making sure the waves aren't going to get him

Jack ended up with a pretty high fever the last night we were there so I made the executive call to pack up and head back that night.  There was no use having a crappy night with him up and down not feeling well when we could get in the car and he could sleep in his own bed.  He slept the whole way home and went right to bed when we got there.

I can't thank Theresa enough for letting us crash her vacation for a couple days.  We had a great time!