Word Explosion!

So, I have thought a few times that Jack was having the much-anticipated "word explosion"... but I think tonight was the start of the real thing! Between the hours of 5 and 7 this evening, we heard him say not less than 5 new words: table, rooster, toothbrush, Coke, and dust. I think there were a few more that I've already forgotten... I feel like I can't keep up with all of his new developments these days. He's suddenly such a ... kid...! All the running and climbing and talking... and I think the biggest thing may be the two-piece PJ's. As he sat on the changing table tonight in his big boy PJ's, telling some sort of story to the "dus" (the fairy dust, AKA scented diaper pail powder that he LOVES to hold onto...), I wondered where this little boy has come from, and where my little baby has gone...

I love this little boy, though. He's pretty awesome.

First days of spring!

Spring has sprung here is Cleveland Heights, with temperatures in the 50's and Nat and I motivated to work out in the yard. Jack has discovered that the backyard is one of his favorite places in the universe. He has taken to running full-force around the yard, and is handling the bumpy terrain with more aplomb every day. These pictures (and videos) are from yesterday afternoon. Jack had a lovely tantrum when we came into the house from some errands, sobbing in the foyer for a good 15 minutes, extremely frustrated that we would not take him "ouw!" (out) to play. We finally resorted to negotiation-- eat lunch, then out to play, and got him through mealtime. He was a complete peach once we went outside, and happily played with sticks, chased the dog, and tried to climb trees for about an hour. We may just build him an enclosure and keep him out there for the season-- he's that much nicer when he's outside! :)







Today, we went and visited friends Aaron and Sarah, and met their one-month-old, Thomas. Jack was very interested in the baby, and very sweet to him, giving him pat-pats, and kissing his picture on the birth announcement he was given. Thomas is an adorable little guy, so small and soft! Had to share this picture of Nat with the two boys!



Here are a few cute ones from bathtime the other night..
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Finally, a bit of reflection on my New Year's Resolution of becoming more fit:

I have gotten back to running, finally. Saturday morning marked the 3rd week in a row of successfully getting out for a run one day on the weekend. Yesterday I did my old loop, out Somerton to Edgehill to Euclid Heights, head left and back up the big hill on Overlook, through the Lincoln-Washington neighborhood, and then hit Euclid Heights back home... about 3 miles, I imagine. I was pleased to find that I was able to run it just about as well-- at least, as continously-- as I had last summer before I took a bad-weather-hiatus from exercise. I have decided this works very well as a justification for my spinning class. I sometimes get pangs of mommy-guilt when I head off to spinning, leaving my young son who I only came home to about an hour before... but the classes are a good workout and a good chance for "me time." And, I really feel like it's paying off. I am not sure that I'm necessarily in better physical shape than when I started spinning, but I think I am in much better mental condition, at least regarding exercise. In spinning, you don't have the option to stop. You ride for 53 minutes; you don't get off the bike. Ann is there pushing us to use our time fully, to not cop out on the workout. Yesterday as I headed up the hill, half the run behind me, I noticed that I wasn't setting any "mim-goals" to get up the hill, as I had last year. It just wasn't an option to stop. So I didn't, and I ran (albeit rather slowly) all the way up. And it wasn't that bad and frankly, I felt rather good about myself. That makes the 50 dollars per 6-week class entirely worthwhile, I think.

Live wire...

Jack was really full of the proverbial P and V tonight. Recently he will have moments where he just gets caught up in the excitement of being alive and begins doing loops around the downstairs, giggling and running into things. Tonight was full of those moments. Nat and I sat on the couch laughing out loud for quite some time as Jack tore around the house, guffawing, saying "bye couch, bye door, bye book, bye dada, etc (Really, that is what he was saying, though to outside ears it may have sounded more like "die shosh, die do, die dook, die dada" It's a good thing we know what he means) He would wave at us and disappear, reappear and run past... He is hilarious when he runs, all big-belly and arms flapping every which way, a 27-pound bundle of enthusiasm. :)
Tonight he also learned how to sing "Happy Birthday." It was Melinda's birthday last week and we had a gift bag still out this weekend. Jack loves carrying around bags and was toting around this bag, putting things in the tissue paper and then digging them out. So I joined in the pretending and started singing Happy Birthday to him. He really got into it, and kept asking for more. By the 5th time through the song he was singing along: "ha--puh, ha-- puh, ha--puh..." etc. Too cute! After dinner, he kept up with the theme, by grabbing some our big pillar candles, bringing them to his mouth and "blowing' them out.

18 month "official update"

I realized I've been a very lax blogger and have not yet reported Jack's official 18 months stats, from his doctor visit a couple weeks ago...

He is a slightly taller than average, pretty average sized kiddo...
Height: 34 inches, 85%
Weight: 27 pounds, 50%
Head: Some random number of centimeters, 50%

All was well, and the doctor even pronounced him "perfect." So there you have it.

We have also gotten Jack's 18 month photos done. I've included a few for your viewing pleasure...

Finally, our other news is that we have gotten a "new" family car! We purchased a 2001 Subaru Legacy Outback, leather seats and all the bells and whistles. It has 94,000 miles but is in very nice shape and we got a pretty good deal. I am excited to have a car in which we can pack both the Bugaboo and the pack-n-play, simultaneously. Not to mention 4 doors. Hallelujah. We'll be keeping the Civic, as our commuting car (can't beat 40mpg), and we are trading the truck in. Nat will theoretically be selling the BMW (we'll see about that...). We pick the car up tomorrow. Very exciting!

cucumbers

A near-miracle happened this evening: Jack consumed approximately 6 bites of a real, live vegetable. We convinced him to taste a cucumber slice and then held our breath as he continued to munch away on 3 slices altogether. Some bites were pushed back out, but I do believe our son willingly ate an unadulterated vegetable for the first time in months. There may be hope yet...

In other news, Jack also learned how to differentiate between Daddy's dice and counting stones, and spent quite some time pointing to each item, saying "dice, dice, stoe, dice, stoe, dice...etc" He also had a bath in the big tub, at his request. It's been a nice night...

Playground fun...

Today the weather warmed up above 25 degrees and Jack and I went to the Coventry playground to celebrate when I got home from work. It becomes so very clear what a big boy he's becoming, when we go to the 'big boy playground!' He is charging around confidently, running up the ramps-- and he has discovered the fun of slides. Something wonderful about the Coventry playground is that all of the slides are nice and wide-- plenty of room for a mommy and a baby to go down side by side, with a dog following behind. We must have made quite a picture, laughing our way down the great big slide that way. We spent about an hour outside and came back home with very pink noses... delightful way to spend some time with little man.

Jack is becoming the master of the "one-word commentary." Its amazing the way he can convey so much meaning with just a single, well-chosen word, particularly when many of his words sound rather the same as one another. He is so intentional in his speech. Those single words are considered seriously and the uttered with careful meaning-- requests, comments, discussions, queries... its quite something. I think he is moving just slightly toward the elusive two word commentary, though. Tonight, after he had finished not-really-eating his supper, he used his one-word commentary to ask to get down (dow?). I informed him that I would like him to stay in his high chair and try to actually take a bite or two of food. So he looked at me, with a combination of concern and deep caring, reached out his arm and patted me, and said "MA-ma." (beat) "dow." So there we had it. Two words which conveyed, with absolute clarity, "Mom, I hear what you are saying and I don't mean to argue here, but I think I am actually done eating and I really AM ready to get down. Can you help me out?" I had to give in when he asked like that!: :)
Here are some new words recently (it's a given that he does not necessarily pronounce the words as written. Generally all /b/ sounds are pronounced as /d/ and most words have either a beginning or an ending consonant, but not both. An * by the word, though, means he's got it spot-on)
park, Mike, dice *, Thomas (for his Thomas the tank engine videos), book (he signs this too), flush, top* (he loves taking off and replacing his sippy cup lids), milk, stairs*, chair*, ball, horse, cow, oink (for pig), van (he confuses this with bus sometimes), DVD, SUV