On Friday Jack and I went over to visit Elissa and Jake. Elissa and I went out to lunch while Jake and Jack played with the exersaucer. (Jenna was there with them, in case you were thinking we just left them home with the dogs. She is a brave woman watching a 7 month and a 15 month old baby at the same time.)

I can't believe how big Jake has gotten – here he is smiling:















and looking at Jack stand up:















The funny thing about these boys is that they will be in the same kindergarten class in 2010. Right now they look so different, but I suppose when they are five things will be different.

Later that day Jack practiced some more walking (You can see how skeptical Guido is of the entire endeavor:)
























































































Yesterday we headed downtown to the Matsuri festival. I knew nothing about this event but figured we should enjoy the weather while we can still stand to go outside. Jack likes to walk around and look at people, so it was a perfect day for him. He even wore a hat:























Here you can see how crowded it was:

















It was also a bit warm, so Jack drank lots of water:















and even offered me some:















Then we went to look at the fountains at the Arizona Center:















Joe came and met us there while Jack tried to explain to him the calming effects of running water:















We have a typical week this week. Not too much excitement over here, other than more walking.

The hunger strike is officially over. For dinner tonight, Jack ate 1.5 zucchini, .5 pears, 1 pancake with peanut butter, and – shock of the century – nearly an entire chicken breast. He was shoving food in his mouth as if he had been denied sustenance for weeks. Oh, and he was using his fork. See?



















And here is the chicken, along with him stuffing it in his mouth:















I don’t know if he’s entirely convinced about the fork, because sometimes he would just hold it in one hand and eat with the other.


















Overall, it was a successful meal















And in even more exciting news, I can officially say Jack is walking. I found him more than once today walking across a room on his own. It’s tough to photograph, but here are two shots:














































This last one is my favorite because you can really see how excited he gets when he figures out to walk instead of crawl. He is quite cautious, and still crawls a good part of the time, but he is getting up on his own and walking which I was beginning to think would never happen.

Jack went to visit his grandparents on Sunday, and as always he had a wonderful time. He spent some time in the yard at his great-grandparent’s house where he admired some flowers:















carried around ceramic yard animals:











































and opened and closed the screen door:















Opening and closing things is his new favorite pasttime.

Monday was a holiday, so we went to visit our friend Sherry who is a teacher and had the day off. Jack had a great time exploring a new house and finding all the breakable items within baby reach. I forgot to take pictures, probably because I was constantly scampering after him.

Jack has eight teeth left to come in, and I have a feeling they are all about to make an appearance. I can’t imagine the pain of four eye teeth and four molars breaking through at the same time, but it must be difficult. He isn’t eating much and he’s getting up early in the morning, so hopefully they will all break through in the next couple of weeks.

Jack is also walking a tiny bit more – just a few steps here and there. But yesterday he was walking along holding my hand when he saw my dad sitting around the corner. He let go of me, walked about five steps and said “Gran-pa”.

Today it’s off to the library for baby time, then playgroup this afternoon!

Jack is just about to be 15 months old. He doesn't walk, talk, dress himself, speak Spanish, or grow hair.

We started going to a playgroup once a week with various kids in the neighborhood. Sophia, who is 1.5 months older than Jack, can run, dance, sing, and talk. Her favorite word is caballo. Oh, yeah, and she knows sign language.

He does, however, have just about all his teeth. And he's getting hair. See?















He was so funny in the bath tonight, despite that fact that he got up at five a.m. and only napped for 30 minutes all day long.















I don't care what those other kids can do. When I asked him where the letter T was, he picked up the T out of the tub and said "T" in his loud little Jack voice. It brought tears to my eyes.

I can see how parents get wrapped up in the one-upmanship that comes with having a kid. I watch the other children and try very hard not to compare Jack to them, but it is difficult. The worst thing is that this entire group is made up of girls, and apparently girls mature more quickly than boys. Go figure.

So I guess what I'm saying is this. I can spend a day worrying that Jack isn't social enough, refuses to walk, and sometimes hits other kids. But he looks at me and it all goes away:















He is the smartest most wonderful baby in the
world.

I may not have said that about him yesterday. I took him to get his pictures taken for Valentine's Day. I had a cute outfit including hat and shoes. He had a great nap. It should have been the perfect photo session. Instead, he clung to me as if I were about to dip him into a vat of boiling oil. He threw the hat across the room, and kicked the shoes off his feet. These pictures actually don't look too bad. But by the end of the photo shoot I was bruised and beaten.

As we were waiting for the pictures to print, I took him out to the play area. I expected him to just grab a hold of my leg and demand to be lifted. Nope. Wrong again. He took off, crawled around, played with other kids, acted like I wasn't even there. Given his behavior in the photo studio this was completely baffling to me.

Just look how far away he is:















and again:















At least the pictures came out ok.

Today we went up to my dad's office for a short visit. There Jack came across a new toy. Traffic signal bolts.















Not every young man can say he owns a bolt that is larger and heavier than some small mammals. He is a lucky guy.

Yesterday afternoon, Jack was whisked away by my mother in the middle of the afternoon. She took him overnight just for the fun of it and I think everyone benefited. Jack was treated like a little king, Joe and I got a small break from the constant energy required to raise a toddfant, and my parents got to see how much fun a 14 month old can be as long as he is leaving 24 hours later.

Jack was as busy as ever. My dad was trying to send me the following pictures and he remarked "I just sat down and he was already down the hall!" Yes. I am familiar with this small challenge. I can only imagine what it will be like when he actually can walk.

One of his favorite activities at their house is turning the water on in the bathtub.















and he will even stand up on his little toes to try and reach the stream of water.


























He also likes to sit on the bathroom counter.


























He had a wonderful time and when I arrived back to pick him up, he looked at me like "oh, you?" He wasn't even really that interested in seeing me, and I think he would have been just as happy to stay.

One thing that struck me this week is how much Jack will mimic what we are doing. Waving is the main example, but he also will start rubbing his hands together when I am putting Purell on my hands after changing his diaper, and the most recent copycat behavior is to act like he's carrying a purse. He's started picking up anything with a handle, putting it over his arm, and waving at me as if he were going to run errands. See for yourself:
















He even went over by the door, ready to leave:


















We don't have many plans this week, but we may start a new Mommy and Me Yoga class on Friday. Other than that it's just a typical week – Baby Time at the library, playgroup, and a little Sesame Street thrown in for good measure. I've started practicing the letter of the day with him and I swear he's starting to figure them out. Oh, and Friday we're going to visit Elissa and her baby Jake, who just turned 6 months if you can believe it!

On Saturday Jack went to hang out with his grandparents and they took him to visit the ducks. He is fascinated by birds – all kinds of birds. He will even wave to the pigeons in our front yard.

Here he is pointing out the ducks:















and waving to them:















He also loves waterfalls, so this park was heaven to him:


























You can see how happy he is, just in general:


























He loves to visit his grandparents, and he loves their dog Blondi. He even climbed in her cage:















and closed the door:















I could really use a small Jack cage around here sometimes – he is just into everything possible right now. We ordered a gate to keep him out of the kitchen since his favorite thing to do is look in the cupboards.

On Sunday we went to a Superbowl party at Travis's house. There was not much football watching, but Jack had fun playing outside. First he tested the beer:















he really liked the Guiness:















but Anchor Steam wasn’t bad either:















once he checked the label he was ready for a taste:















(no, he didn't drink any beer.) He settled on some ice, which I'm sure was very clean:





























He also spent some quality time with Uncle Travis by the fire pit:





























It was a fun weekend – he was very tired both nights which is always good for us. Bedtime is easier when he crashes in the car on the way home!

Jack finally has a new wagon. We’ve had it in the box since Christmas, and I finally got around to putting it together for him. On Wednesday he decided to take it for a spin on the way to our new playgroup.



















Yes, that is a cupholder, and yes, he put the sippy cup in there all on his own.

As we went further in the ride he began to sneeze:















but otherwise seemed pleasant enough.
















I thought it was just allergies, but it turned out to be a small cold. His third this year. Now Joe has it and I’m afraid I’m going to get it.

Yesterday we took a trip to Cost Plus to buy me a new teapot. For some reason I am constantly breaking the lids to my teapots. Jack would not sit in the normal baby seat – he wasn’t in the best of moods in the first place and he doesn’t like to be buckled in. So I put him in the main cart and he was much happier.















After that we met up with my parents. Jack sat on Grandpa’s lap and drove his car:















He also changed the radio station:















and posed a little in case some cute young girl toddlers happened to be checking him out:
















Today was music class at the zoo. Here you can see the class going on with Julie and Mac in the background:
















And here’s Jack off by himself having a small snack:


























Jack is not the most social of butterflies, and one full hour of music and camaraderie with other tots can be a little much. He’s also still adjusting to no morning nap, and some days it’s more difficult than others!

Jack is going to visit Grandma Gloria and Grandpa Tom tomorrow! I’m sure he’ll have lots of stories to share when he gets back.