My Little Tooth Brusher

In the month that's gone by since my last blog, Jack has acquired a multitude of new skills. He still doesn't walk or manage any sort of truly meaningful communication (he prefers to rely on the old grunt and point, reserving the threat of nuclear screaming if mommy doesn't get it right away), but he is fully capable of climbing up on Anna's bathroom stool and brushing his teeth. Go figure.

Jack At One Year

I'm admittedly somewhat behind in posting a blog about Jack turning a year old (Jan 4). So it goes with the second child... especially a handful of a second child like Jack. At one year old, Jack still does not sleep through the night. He's not up for long or every night, but most nights he does pop up to say hi at least once or twice. To be honest, before I had Jack, I was on my BabyWise mommy high and looked down on just about everyone who couldn't get their baby to sleep through the night by eight weeks. Now, I no longer judge. I've learned that Anna was (and is) a (wonderful) sleeping freak of nature who could literally dose right through a fireworks display in her own room. Her sleeping through the night at six weeks had nothing to do with me or my fancy little mommy book. And likewise, I'm gonna go ahead and say that Jack's refusal to sleep also has little or nothing to do with me and my mothering skills. It's just luck of the draw. The other thing that's been keeping us busy is concern about Jack's refusal to walk. I'm sure it will all amount to nothing, but the pediatrician recommended some X-rays and and ultrasound on his hips. Poor Jack man goes for the US tomorrow morning. Trying to get the pediatrician, the pediatric radiologist (we've found there aren't many of these!), and the health insurance company coordinated has been time consuming and down right frustrating. Why are these things so complicated!? And so, for these reasons, plus the fact that Jack's birthday comes a lousy 11 day after Christmas and totally got lost in the mix, I am just now blogging about my sweet boy. About a week after Jack's actual birthday, we invited our immediate family over for a little Sunday afternoon party. Unfortunately, Jack had a fever of 103 for his big do, so it wasn't all that much fun for him -- you'll see he's burrowing into my chest, showing absolutely no interest in the cleverly decorated monkey cupcakes Anna & I made for him in photo #3. In typical Jack style, the fever turned out to be not a single, but a double ear infection and ultimately ended with him breaking out in a full body allergic rash from the antibiotic. Go Jack! Disaster-prone-ness aside, Jack is a big healthy guy, weighing 24 lbs at his one year appointment. He just learned how to climb up onto chairs, which is just another clutch move in Jack's "give mommy a heart attack" arsenal. A couple weeks ago he learned how to climb up into our turntable cabinet and spin himself around to the back(photo 5). At first he thought it was cool and then quickly decided it was not cool at all. (Is it wrong that I let him flail around in there for an extra 11 seconds while I grabbed my camera?). But while he's all rough and tumble boyishness, he's also ultra mommy attached which is endearing. I love how he cuddles all up into my shoulder and makes his little "awwwwww" noise which is Jack for "I love you and I want to snuggle". My boy.

Wrapping Up 2010

As I'm sure was the case in many households across the US this year, Toy Story dominated the Heebner family Christmas. As you can see by the expression on Jack's face, he is completely mesmerized by Woody. He's also got a major man crush on Buzz Lightyear... and now Anna's gotten in on the action with a Jessie doll. We even ended our Christmas Day by curling up on the couch and watching Toy Story 3 as a family. In other news, Jack got lots of toys he can throw, punch, smash, and otherwise destroy which is pretty much his main pass time these days. It's hard to believe that this was Jack's FIRST Christmas. This time last year I was pulling just about every trick in the book to try to deliver him before the new year... to no avail. He'll turn one on January 4th. I still can't believe a whole year has gone by. I had money on him walking by Christmas, but he shows absolutely no interest in the pedestrian arts. He's quite content with his speed crawling. He has redeemed himself, however, by mastering three words: Anna, Mama, and Dada (in that order). I think this is sort of backwards for a boy (don't they usually walk early and talk late?), but I'm secretly thankful because I imagine the number of destructive acts per day will increase exponentially once he's up on two legs. Meanwhile, Anna continues to be her thoughtful girl self, regularly taking it into her own hands to care for Jack (wiping his nose, reinserting pacifiers) and to teach him the ways of the world ("Jack, this is called an efelent on your sheets." (read: elephant). Anna was super busy at preschool this year, making enough Christmas parephenalia to overflow two underbed storage containers... but my favorite project was the wood block Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus pictured above. Anna quickly replaced the petite plastic Mary, Joseph and Jesus that came as part of our nativity set with these clunkers and really, who was I to argue? So anyways, I think that's about enough blabbing. I'll end with a couple pictures from the snow day yesterday. It took us 20 minutes to get all bundled up and then poor little chapped Jack only lasted seven minutes in the whipping wind. The upside is that they both napped for four hours, so I guess it paid off.

Jack Around The House

Jack has two new favorite pastimes. The first is opening up my (pathetically stocked) make up drawer and tossing all of the contents on the floor or into the sink above. Had Anna pulled something like this back in the day, I would have been all over her, but frankly, any time Jack's not crying, I pretty much let him do whatever he wants. Much to Jack's chagrin, Anna often gets in on the action and tries to "make up him" while he's playing, as pictured.

Jack's second new activity is hiding in his outhouse. This cardboard beauty was initially intended for Anna, but Jack has now claimed it at his own. Sometimes he's just in and out for a quick game of smash-the-house/peek-a-boo, but he also uses it to take care of his serious business which has led Josh's dad to correctly assert that we now have a 3.5 bath house. We'll be cutting the crescent moon in the front door shortly.

11 Months (Side by Side)

Pathetically, we still have at least six or seven moving boxes that we haven't unpacked. It's been almost a full year since we started the moving process... and yet. Happily, however, I finally dug out the old hard drive that has all of our pre-2010 photos on it, so I could FINALLY put photos of Anna & Jack side by side. Here they are at 11 months. I think they could almost pass for twins if it weren't for Anna's (still) wildly oversized noggin.

And now for a video of Jack's latest "go crazy" move:

Happy Halloween Jack!

As usual, Halloween was a sugar-fueled whirlwind. This video (especially the end) pretty much sums it up.

Down On The Farm

This past weekend, we finally got a chance to visit my family in Delaware. Living in Rhode Island for the past four years made it more or less impossible to get down to the farm for any stretch of time, but now that we're just two hours north, we're thinking of making it a monthly event. Since Sugar Hill Farm holds a special place in my heart, I was really looking forward to sharing it with Anna and it did not dissapoint. Anna was completely in love with the whole deal. The house in the middle of the woods. The snacks. All the animals. The pond. The dirt. The Trail Gator. And most of all, getting to ride Snickers the donkey. As it turns out, I think Josh is just about ready to pack his bags and move down to the farm too. His list of loves is a bit different. Guns. A knife show. Multiple fried chicken-laden events. Snickers the donkey. So, if you see a sale sign in our front yard, you'll know what happened.