August!!

Can't believe its been so long since I've posted... or that it is getting so close to the end of summer already! Sigh.
We have just enjoyed a lovely visit from my dad and Anna. My dad was with us from the 23rd and Anna joined him on the 25th, straight from Brazil. Most of our time was spent-- you guessed it-- watching the resident baby with rapt attention. :) Jack adored his grandparents and really liked having double the adults around to cheer him on. We had some nice outings together: We spent an afternoon at the lake and Starbucks with my dad, Anna and I got a couple of shopping trips in, we had a great dinner in Little Italy and enjoyed a tour of Lakeview Cemetery. We also went down to Strasburg for a visit with the family there (see pics above). They prepared a veritable feast for us and we relaxed in Diana's backyard for the entire afternoon. Jack loved playing with his cousins-- Emma was a real "little mommy" and spent a lot of time taking care of him. He acted like such a big boy, standing next to the slide, playing ball, watching the big kids. We also may have found Corydon a boyfriend-- a neighbor of Linda's has a lovely black and white boy and the owner is very keen to breed them. We shall see if we're up for puppies! :)

Jackster continues to turn into a little boy at a great rate. Here are some of his recent accomplishments and cute moments, in convenient list form.
* Today he pulled up to stand on 2 different pieces of furniture and actually took a couple of sideways steps to move along the chair. I can't believe it-- non-stander-mouse is actually standing! We are in trouble now...
*Speaking of trouble-- little man is learning how to have a fit when we take away a toy he wanted. We have to be very careful to replace the thing we are taking with something of equal or greater interest, or we get the high pitched wail. And god forbid we move him away from something or try to keep him from crawling somewhere. He is getting quite the temper...
* He is, all of a sudden, really trying to imitate words. He is looking right at our mouths when we talk (sometimes) and then he'll approximate the vowel sound of the word. He is really cute when he does this to "sing along" with the diaper time song.
* Sometimes, it really does sound like he's saying a word... but its always just a one-time thing so I can't be sure. Some things I've "heard" recently: piggy, one, dog, get down, hi dad...
* I AM fairly certain he is saying "hi" now. Though (like waving) he will only say it spontaneously and won't repeat it when we ask-- but it is right on, a very quick little "hi"-- and adorable!
*Today he also learned to pant like a dog when I say or show him a picture of a "doggy". Again, adorable.
*He is giving very satisfying hugs at bedtime and today he gave a hug to his turtle from Brazil and his puppy dog toy. He also gave me a nice kiss (no pucker, just a lot of wet mouth --:)--) on my request the other night.