Jack Attack II

Jack Attack I is here.

So what has my boy been learning lately?

Well, he is now a champion communicator.  He signs "all done" when he is done eating his food, or ready for a new activity.  I also think that he says "done" when he does it, because he has a very clear "doh" sound that he makes consistently as he signs. He has also started letting us know when he wants to eat by patting his open mouth with his hand when he feels ready for a nosh. 

His ever-growing word list:

ball

balloon

bottle (ba ba)

hello

bye-bye

Dada

Mama

thank you (You may find this one hard to believe, I do too.  But both my mom and Andy have noticed it too.  I choose to believe the best of my baby, so I will assume that what sounds like "thank you" is really meant to be thank you.)

He is also finding brilliant ways to get what he wants (usually without any tantrum involved... though we did have our first all-out tantrum yesterday as I ushered him away from the bathroom.  He was already on the cusp of needing a nap, so I kindly put him in bed to finish his screaming and, what do you know, he was asleep within just a few minutes!).  I carry snacks in my purse for when we are out and about.  One of Jack's favorites is the dehydrated strawberries from Trader Joe's.  I had given him some from my purse earlier in the day.  When we got home, I was putting away our purchases and I heard him rummaging in my bag.  I turned around and He had pulled out the package of strawberries and was walking toward me with them.  He said, "ah! ah!" and handed me the bag and then proceeded to sit on the floor and look up at me expectantly as if to say, "Mom, I would like some of these please.  I will sit here nicely and eat them."  I gave him some, and he did sit there nicely.  Just like that.  Genius boy!

I can see that his uncommon intellectual ability is going to cause problems though.  Saturday, he discovered my shoes.  As I was putting my make up on he began to carry my shoes, one at a time, and throw them into the bathtub.  I quickly shut the shoes up, but left out a slipper that he had grown especially fond of.

I'm not joking about the slipper.

It is black and very fuzzy.

He started carrying it around like a lovey

and giving it tight hugs.

He always remembers where he leaves it

and when he needs a little comfort he picks it

up and rubs it on his face.

True story.

Last night, he was in the bathroom with me again. He threw something in to the tub and wanted to get it back out.  My rule is that if he throws it in there, I don't give it back to him, so I just let it stay in there.  He stood at the side of the tub for a while, tried stretching his arms, stood on the tip-toes of one foot and strained for it.  He was far from reaching it, so do you know what he did?!  He found another slipper in the bathroom, next to the tub, and very purposefully stood on top of it, as if he knew that standing on something else would make him taller and more able to reach in the tub! Oh dear.  I think we'll have a climber on our hands!  

Jack is also making jokes, and loves to find things that make Andy and I laugh.

He plays well with others and doesn't mind hanging out with other adults. 

All in all, he is totally charming, ever delightful and such a joy. 

He is also extremely heavy.

25 pounds.

My right bicep is huge.

  So huge in fact that I flexed for Andy

 and he said, "holy cow!"

 Yes, I am proud of that.

Cheers to Jack!  A wonder among babies!