A Day in the Life

We have the potential to lose internet for who knows how long (we're trying to switch from phone-based to non-phone-based DSL, and I'm not counting on AT&T to get anything done on the time frame they say they will, given their previous incompetence), so I figured I'd better get a post in first.

So here's a video diary of a day in Jack's life--pieced together from several days, but an accurate representation nonetheless.

Jack wakes up at around 7 a.m. and makes sweet chirping noises in his crib until Ben or I pick him up and bring him into our bed for a cuddle.

Then Jack tells us that he wants food, so we go downstairs for breakfast together.

He then quickly tells us that he wants more.  And that he wants milk.  But he's still a little confused about the milk sign meaning milk from a cup and not milk from me--we're working on it.  He also occasionally tells us he's done by signing "all done" but more often he does so by trying to climb out of his highchair.

After helping Daddy put on his socks (and putting on some himself), Jack waves bye-bye at the garage door and we head back inside to play a little or listen to some music.  The conductor-type move that he does early in the video below is Jack's made up sign for music.  The dog is a birthday present from my Grandma and has become one of Jack's favorites.
Morning nap time still comes pretty early (around 9), but it's starting to get shorter and later.  It's down to about an hour now, which barely gives me time to get a workout and shower in, a luxury I'm going to really miss when the morning nap fades away!  When he gets up, we have a small morning snack.  Jack normally isn't really dressed until after his mid-morning snack so that we avoid getting food all over his nice play clothes.

After nap time, Jack helps me with a few chores around the house.  Every time I open the dryer,

 Jack now removes the lint filter, hands it to me, waits for me to clean it, and then attempts to put it back in, which he's getting much better at.  I'm now a little wary of letting Jack keep the lint filter out, since we spent weekend before last trying to fish out a toy he had dropped down the dryer.  He's an excellent sweeper.  I took two sections out of a Swiffer,

 and Jack takes it everywhere with him.  He also continues to love the vacuum, although I'm using it less around him because I don't want it to give him a stuffy nose.  Jack also helps unload the dishwasher by handing me small dinner plates and silverware.  

Then we either play around the house or go on an adventure to the grocery store or Target.  Jack's starting to get very used to his carseat, something I had worried about since he had never really been in one while we lived in London.

By around 12:30, Jack's ready for lunch, and at 1:30 for his afternoon nap, which generally lasts until 3 or 3:30, depending on when he actually goes to sleep.

In the late afternoon we check the mail, go swimming (we're taking lessons this month!) or walk to the park.

Dinner comes early, around 5:30, usually before Ben gets home.  But by 6:30 bath time Ben's almost always home now (hooray!).  Then it's a couple of stories (Little Bunny's Bedtime or Good Morning, Good Night, then always Goodnight Moon) and singing the lullaby that Ben wrote for Jack before he was born.  Jack usually throws his binky and one or more of his toys out of his crib one or more times and makes tons of sweet coos before falling asleep around 7.

I love our little life.

Love a Mommy

Jack's cue to hug his teddy bear or other stuffed animal is "Love a (teddy, duckie, doggie, etc.)."  He takes the animal to his left shoulder, hugs it, and pats it on the back a few times with both hands, fingers extended.  It's really adorable.

So today Jack was playing in Mommy and Daddy's room while I was folding clothes, and he was really getting very pleased with himself at being able to step on and off an under-the-bed container that I had pulled out.  So I decided he needed a hug.  But when I held my arms out, instead of just standing there accepting my hug, Jack hugged me back.  I mean really squeezed me on my back and patted my shoulders!  It was the first time he's ever given a hug.  And it was incredible.  He topped it off with an unsolicited, wide open-mouthed kiss.  He's the sweetest baby ever. 

This video is totally unrelated but was part of another project I'm working on, and it was too cute not to share.  Jack's become a total chatterbox.  Oh, and this is not representative of his stair descending abilities.  Generally he's very good at it, especially for a boy who wasn't exposed to stairs really at all until less than two months ago.  Although we tried to get him to do the scoot down the stairs one at a time on his belly method (the only safe way for babies to go down stairs, as far as I'm concerned), Jack has now taken to sitting on each step individually, then standing on the lower step.  It's not quite like the scoot on the bottom method some babies use--Jack's is a very deliberate and carefully plotted maneuver.  At any rate, I present 13 month old Jack in a morning video.