Jack's Big Boy Room

I have seriously neglected this blog for the past year, but since we will soon be welcoming Baby Morgan #2, I decided that I need to give a few updates before he (yes, he!) arrives.  We have decided to keep the nursery the same once little brother arrives, so I have been working on creating a big boy room for Jack that will really grow with him.  I decided to merge Jack's love of dinosaurs with the scholarly interests of his parents (science for me, american history for Phillip) into a "Geek Chic" room that will easily incorporate other interests as they develop.

I have a few more accessories to get to fill out the shelves (I'm looking for a globe, a microscope, and an obscure presidential bust), and I need to hang some wall baskets, but it is pretty much done.

Jack is still sleeping in the nursery for now, but he loves to play in his big boy room!

Jack: One Year

Age: 12 months - Wow, that went fast!

Weight: 24 pounds

Length: 31 inches 

Size: still squeezing into some 12-18 month stuff, especially pants.  18-24 month pants are too long, but he wears bigger shirts.

Hair: His hair is starting to get a little unruly.  Mommy is *hoping* that this is just a stage that will lead to real curls!

Teeth:  "H" is here!  6 teeth total.

Sleeping: Jack's sleeping is pretty consistent.  He is falling asleep much easier, but he does wake up WAY too early for Mommy & Daddy - around 5:00, but if Mommy feeds him in bed, he'll often fall back asleep snuggling her.

Eating: Jack's favorite food is turkey sausage (breakfast links).  He also really likes green beans, pad thai, veggie burgers, and he ate his first crab on his birthday!

Movement: We have steps!  He still crawls most everywhere, because he is much faster that way, but he will take several steps in a row now.

Milestones: Jack had a really great birthday party with most of his favorite people there (he missed hi Uncle Zach).  He also made his first painting, it is hanging in room 8 at Mommy's office.

Favorite Toys/Activities: He now really likes to play with blocks.  He loves banging them together to make noises and also knocking down all of Daddy's big towers.  Books are still his favorite thing to play with, especially his "My Little Animal Book"

Dislikes:  When Mommy leaves him at daycare.  He doesn't always cry, but he often whines and lunges toward her.

Words & Sounds: "Doggie" is a new word this month

Jack: Eleven Months

Age: 11 months

Weight: 23 pounds

Length: 30 inches (10 more inches and he can ride Space Mountain!)

Size: 12-18 month clothes are getting tighter, he is wearing a few 18-24 month things

Hair: The sides and back of his hair are starting to get a little curl in them!  They flip out a little bit, which makes mommy happy.

Teeth:  One more top tooth this month (makes 5 total) - "G"

Sleeping: Sleeping has improved considerably this month.  He is sleeping all night most nights, but he does still wake up around 5:45 or 6:00 in the morning.

Eating: Some new foods include: chicken sausage, tomatoes, plums, hamburger, summer squash, & broccoli

Movement: Jack it this.close to walking.  He can stand up all by himself in the middle of the room (without pulling up on anything).  He will also let go of the furniture and stand for 10-15 seconds without falling.  

Milestones: First Fourth of July!  He was asleep before the fireworks, but he did enjoy spending the day with his Morgan cousins at Uncle Jeff & Aunt Rita's house.

Jack also lost another great-grandma this month.  Grandma Bonnie passed away on July 8th after struggling with failing health for several months.  Jack spent the day with her a few days before she passed and she really enjoyed seeing her "Little Jack."

Favorite Toys/Activities: He now likes rolling balls across the floor to a partner.  We bought a play tunnel at our neighbor's garage sale and he likes to crawl all the way through it, especially if LuLu goes in before him.  He has started giving high fives, clapping, and rolling his hands over each other (in patty cake - roll 'em up).  His new favorite game is "get daddy," where he and mommy crawl across the floor to tickle and climb on daddy.  Making daddy laugh is his favorite thing ever!

Dislikes:  When Mommy takes her time changing her clothes after work - He likes to nurse as soon as he sees her, so she has to sneak around the house so he doesn't see her!

Words & Sounds: Jack now will mimic you if you make simple noises.  If someone listened to us in the car, they would hear an echo of "UH" - "uh", "DA" - "da"  He also now says "Da-Da" pretty consistently.  No Ma-Ma yet :(

Jack: Ten Months

Age: 10 months

Weight: 22 pounds

Length: no idea

Size: still in 12-18 months

Hair: I think that *maybe* he is finally past the mullet-y stage and almost to surfer-dude hair - almost.

Teeth:  We have two new teeth!!  He now has his "two front teeth" (E & F), which he has discovered make a really loud noise when he grinds them against his lower teeth.

Sleeping: He is finally sleeping better - whew!  He is no longer eating at night, which means that Daddy can go in to comfort him if he wakes up - so Mommy can finally sleep again!

Eating: Jack is almost completely off os "baby food" now.  Most places we go, he can eat something from our plates.  He has tried too many new things to count this month, but a few favorites are: cheese quesadilla (El Reparo!), scrambled eggs, pancakes, pulled pork, watermelon, and spaghetti.

Movement: He's a crawler!  As soon as Jack's ears were straightened around, he became so much more mobile (we think the constant fluid in his ears was throwing off his balance).  He is now crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything!  He has a new walker that he uses to cruise around the house - so we've have to baby proof very quickly.  He is also pointing at things and smiling or squealing.

Milestones: Lots of milestones this month.  

Firstly, Jack had his first surgery this month.  After 5 ear infections in 4 months, his pediatrician referred us to an ENT to consider ear tubes.  After looking at Jack's ears Dr. Stevens decided to fit him in as his very next patient (after the weekend) - they were that bad!  His surgery was first thing in the morning (since we couldn't feed him before), and he was only away from us for about 20 minutes.  They put in "T-tubes", a kind of tube that should stay in longer, due to Daddy's history of ear problems and Mommy's history of tonsil problems.  We immediately noticed a change in him - he was much more mobile, vocal, and generally more happy.  Dr. Stevens said that the fluid in his ears has gunked up "like rubber cement" and actually clogged up his suction tip - the first words out of his mouth when he came back in to see us were "well, we did the right thing there."  

Later in the month, Jack lost his Great-Grandma Morgan.  She became ill fairly quickly, so it is still a shock to us that she is gone.  Just a few weeks before she passed away, Jack's second cousin Will was born, and Grandma Joanna was so happy to have another great-grandchild (that makes 9 with one more on the way - no, not Mommy!)

During Jack's first overnight (a whole weeks worth of overnights!) away from Daddy (he is still in Canada fishing with both grandpas - we miss you!), he swam in the big pool at grandma's and went on his first fair ride, though he wasn't a big fan of the carousel.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Jack really likes swinging in his swing at grandma's house, especially when you act like his is kicking you and knocking you over.  He also loves peekaboo and when Mommy smells his stinky feet and falls over.

Dislikes: Being too hot (he gets grumpy and super sweaty), sitting still, and prickly grass.

Words & Sounds:  We are fairly certain that he have out first word!  He will now look at LuLu and squeal "Oooo-Looo" - he also does this to other dogs as well, so we think that he must think that all dogs are "Oooo-Lus"


(yes, I posted this month late as well - I had it all typed up on his "month birthday," but I forgot to post it.  I promise to get his 11 month post posted more quickly)

Jack: Nine Months

Sorry that this is almost a month late - I thought that I had already done it - oops!

Age: 9 months

Weight: 21 lbs

Length: I dunno

Size: 12-18 months - solidly.

Hair: Mommy is really considering trimming Jack's hair over his ears.

Teeth:  No new teeth this month

Sleeping: Jack has struggled with ear infections this month, so his sleep has suffered.  He has been waking up several times each night, but since Mommy can never tell if he is in pain, she is a little more patient with him.

Eating: He has started eating a lot more table food.  Wheat bread with almond butter, fresh mozzarella cheese and macaroni and cheese have become favorites.

Movement: He is now moving forward, but I wouldn't quite call it "crawling" yet.  He is pulling up in his crib as well, so maybe he'll walk before he crawls!

Milestones: Jack had his first trip to the park - he loved the swing and seemed to not hate the slide with Grandpa.  He is now pulling up to stand on his own.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Jack LOVES swimming in his crabby pool at the cottage.  He spent almost two hours in there over Memorial Day weekend.  He also loves books, and will lunge out of his rocking chair to get to his bookshelves.  He turns the pages if you are reading too slowly, though!

Dislikes: Waiting on his food.  Mommy often has to give him an "appetizer" (mum-mums or puffs) to keep him from screaming while she heats up his food.

Words & Sounds:  He has started squealing loudly and flapping his arms for more food.

Jack: Eight Months

Age: 8 months

Weight: 19.5 pounds

Length: 27.75 inches

Size: 12-18 months in most things

Hair: His hair is starting to get really long over his ears and a little mullet-y in the back!

Teeth:  No new teeth this month

Sleeping: He has greatly improved in sleeping in the past week.  He is sleeping in his own room in his crib all night.  Sometimes he wakes up once to eat, but recently he hasn't been doing that every night.

Eating: Jack loves eating now!  His favorite purees are peas, pears, mango, sweet potato and applesauce.  He is now eating some more solid stuff as well.  Mum-mums and whole wheat bread are his favorites, along with puffs, black olives, and chicken.

Movement: He wants to crawl so badly, but he can't quite get the hang of it.  He rocks back & forth, but can't coordinate his arms & legs at the same time, so he falls on his face!

Milestones: First Easter & ANOTHER Ear Infection (the 3rd in 3.5 months!) along with our first ruptured ear drum.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Jack loves his new crocheted animals that Grandma Marla had made for him - Mr. Crabby is his favorite.  He has also discovered that he can feed LuLu from his high chair.  He will lean completely over and put pieces of bread and puffs right in her mouth.  Mommy is thrilled.

Dislikes: Being away from Mommy (he is particularly bad about this in the morning while Mommy is getting ready to go to work), wind, being away from Miss Annette (he is happy with someone else as long as she is in the room), not being able to crawl.

Words & Sounds:  Jack & Daddy like to smack their lips at each other (it makes a pretty cool popping noise), and he is super babbley.

Jack: Seven Months

Age: 7 months

Weight: 19 pounds

Length: 27.25 inches

Size: He can squeeze into a few 6-12 month things, but he's mainly wearing 12-18 month stuff

Hair: still getting longer

Teeth:  We have teeth!  Two, to be exact (O & P for all my dental nerds)

Sleeping: He has been waking up to eat a couple times a night again, who knows when he'll be consistent.  Probably when he goes to college.

Eating: He has finally gotten the hang of eating baby food.  Momma has had fun making him all kinds of yummy homemade food.  Here's what he's enjoyed so far: avocado, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peas, green beans, banana, mango & pears.  He is now eating one cube of food at daycare and one or two in the evening.

Movement: Jack has started scooting backwards across his room, but he gets stuck when he hits a wall!

Milestones: Two new teeth.  Another ear infection.  

Favorite Toys/Activities: We got a new couch, and Jack loves sitting in the corner of it with his basket of toys.  He really likes his shape sorter that Lynn & Ann got for him!

Dislikes: Amoxicillin, face-planting while sitting, being away from Mommy.

Words & Sounds:  He is pretty vocal these days, lots of babbling and squealing!