24 December 2011

Santa Claus

Jack got to see Santa two times this holiday season and he loved him both times!

The first time, we went and had brunch with him in Chapel Hill.  We ate brunch and then waited for our turn on Santa's lap.  When he saw Jack, he said, "Jack, I didn't see much of you last year.  You were very small when I came to your house!"  Jack happily went to the jolly old man and smiled and giggled as he sat in his lap.

Jack and Santa enjoying each others company

The beautiful tree at brunch

One of the many elves that helped decorate the tree

Head Ball Elf

Daddy and Jack in front of the tree
Santa also made a quick stop in our neighborhood on Christmas eve.  Once we set up and lit the luminaries in front of our house we headed out on a stroll through the neighborhood to see the decorated houses and get one last chance to sit on Santa's lap and make any final requests.

Luminaries set up in the neighborhood

Santa reading everyone a story

Jack and Santa getting one last snuggle
I'm glad that Jack is such a easy going little guy and isn't frightened of the jolliest man on earth.  He has certainly been a good boy and we are excited to see how Santa rewards him.

21 December 2011

Playing in the Park

One of the local parks has been renovated and Jack has had a couple play dates there lately.

First, we went with Jack's girlfriend, Ellis, and her mom and brother.

Jack and Ellis enjoyed a romantic boat ride.  Captain Jack was very laid back and enjoyed himself while Ellis was apparently on a Booze Cruise and went a little wild!

Jack sitting back while Ellis stands up to maneuver the boat

So happy on the water

Ellis steers two wheels while Jack is mesmerized by the wake

weeeeeeee
After Jack and Ellis docked their boat, we headed over to the train station for a train ride.

We're ready to leave the station already!

Jack enjoying a little snack on the ride
Finally, we ended our adventure on the carousel.  Jack rode on the giraffe and was a little hesitant at first, but as soon as we started moving he was in heaven!  He was smiling, laughing and waving at anyone that would look his way!

Whoa, we are really high up!

Jack looking stoic
We had so much fun with Ellis and her people that we went back again with Drake and his people.  That trip to the park involved:

Swinging recklessly

Swinging and hollering

riding the train

admiring the landscape with Daddy

going on a really fast carousel ride

walking

 and boating
We are looking forward to many more trips to the park!

18 December 2011

Pitter Patter

Jack officially walking!


17 December 2011

A Case of the Leaky Eye

Jack has had a leaky eye pretty much all of his life.  As it turns out, he has a blocked tear duct and that usually corrects itself by about nine months of age.  Jack, be the exceptional overacheiver, did not have a self-correcting blocked duct so we had to go see an ophthalmologist and he scheduled us for a quick surgery in the hospital.  The first date that they recommended was December 9.  We politely declined that date and scheduled it for a week later on December 16.

That morning, Dave and I woke up around 4:30 and then got Jack up and were out the door by 5 o'clock.  Jack was to not eat or drink anything after midnight so it was really helpful that they surgery was scheduled for 7:15.

Jack was as happy as can be and did lots of walking around the waiting room as we waited to get called back.

Doing some of his very best walking

Clearly, the blue chair goes over here...

Who put these chairs in the wrong place?

And, the reds go over here...
Once we got called back, we had to strip Jack down to his diaper and put him in a tiny hospital gown.

In his gown
We did everything we could to entertain Jack, but all he wanted to do was get down and walk around.  I ended up doing many a lap around the pre-op area while Jack entertained all of the hospital staff and most of the patients with his squeals and giggling.  We would stop our laps only briefly to speak with the anesthesiologist, doctor and nurses when they stopped in.

Does the camera case make you happy?

What if we hide it in the big purple bag?

Jack and his doctor
One of the nurses came over and said she would take Jack back to the operating room and would hold him until he was sedated.  Jack, being the friendly kid he is, practically threw himself into her arms and off they went.  Dave and I headed back to the waiting room to wait to hear from the doctor.  I was a wreck.  The thought of my sweet little baby going under anesthesia was so hard for me.

About 20 minutes later, the doctor was in the waiting room telling us that everything went well and that Jack was in Recovery I and in about 10 more minutes someone would come get us when he was in Recover II.  When they finally called us back, Jack was laying in bed flirting with all of the nurses and drinking a bottle of apple juice.  They said they were surprised that he never cried at all.  I jumped right into the bed with him for some much needed snuggles (much needed by me...not necessarily him).

Snuggle time
On the way home, we stopped for some breakfast and then went home for some naps.  When he woke up from his nap, he was no worse for the wear and you would have never known that he had surgery earlier that day.  Jack was such a champ and we are so thankful for everyone prayers!

11 December 2011

Year One Re-cap

The week before Jack's birthday, I worked on a little slideshow of his first year. The "little" slide show ended up being around 14 minutes so I couldn't upload it to Youtube. We made it into a DVD so that we could play it at the birthday party since so many people that were at the party were in the slideshow.

I asked Claire's dad, Chris, if he knew anything about Vimeo (another video sharing site). He said they use it for work, but that's all he knew. A few hours later, Chris let me know that Vimeo had different upload limits than Youtube. Because of Chris' investigative work, his daughter is moving up in the chain of Jack's girlfriends. Way to go, Papa!

I know not everyone is interested in dedicating 14 minutes of their life to a slideshow about Jack, but I do know the people who live far away will love it!

Without further ado, here is Jack's slide show.
Jack's One Year Slide Show from Elizabeth Mulley on Vimeo.

Birthday Party Recap

We survived Jack's first birthday party yesterday and we had a great time!

Here are a few of the details so you can feel like you were there if you happen to live far away...

Here's the invite that we sent out (important info edited out)
Birthday wreath that I made (guess how many balloons?)

balloons adorning the mailbox

52 weeks of Jack

The big birthday cake
Jack opened about a million presents with the help of his cousins and friends.  He loved everything he got and was a little overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. 

Testing out his new fire truck

Mila helping open a gift from the Browns

Jack modeling one of his hats from Renee

Madison and Mila helping open a present

Madison checking out the trucks from Auntie Nida

Mila showing Jack what she brought him

Jack checking out his pull along puppy

Ooohh, a zoo train
After opening presents, it was time to eat some cake.  Jack doesn't really like to get his hands messy so he wasn't super interested in touching the cake, but he was happy to have his parents feed it to him.  If any was hanging out of his mouth, he quickly crammed it in with his entire hand.

Listening to the fabulous singing

Daddy helping Jack with some cake

Jack enjoying being fed
After cake, Jack played with some of his friends and his new toys.

Jack testing out his "Jack in the Box"
We were all exhausted after the whirlwind day but we are so thankful for all of our amazing family and friends who came to celebrate with us from near and far.  Jack is truly the luckiest (and most loved) boy in the world.

10 December 2011

One Year

Well, folks.  We made it to a year.  Jack is officially 12 months old!  Wow, it's hard to believe that just a year ago I was in the hospital loving on my tiny little baby who didn't really do much besides sleep, eat and poop.


We head to the doctor Monday morning so I'll check back in with his stats after that appointment.

In the mean time, I'll fill you in on all the things Jack has been doing.

This month, Jack:

  • wears size 3 diapers
  • wears some 9 month clothes, but mostly 12 month
  • eats 3 meals and 2 snacks a day
  • eats pretty much everything...but loves berries, pancakes and waffles 
  • loves to feed himself and really doesn't like to be fed
  • stands without holding on...until he realizes he doing it
  • can walk across the room, but not consistently
  • hasn't met a stranger and loves everyone
  • says Mama and Dada (when he wants to and not necessarily when we do)
  • naps twice a day (anywhere from 1.5-3 hours each)
  • sleeps 12 hours a night without a peep
  • wakes up happy and babbling
  • shakes his head when you say "no"
  • loves to play peek-a-boo
  • scribbles with crayons
  • makes his wants know with gestures
  • gives big wet sloppy kisses that often involve lips, tongue and teeth
  • puts objects in a container
  • stoops/bends over from a standing position (inconsistently)
  • when given a brush, he will brush his hair
  • is honestly (and unbiasedly) the best baby I have ever met!