So long Thanksgiving...hello Jack's 1st birthday

Sorry for the delay on updates! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving...Jack's Gran and Pa and Big Gran and Big Pa had a wonderful time with us over the holiday and we were so happy to have them here. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the focus is on Jack's first birthday which is quickly approaching. Let's see....new going ons with Jack include- more walking (between items like the couch and table), trying to talk- Jack has said Da-da a couple of times but that's about it, being very expressive, lifting large objects (picture those log lifter competitions) and his first model shoot! Yesterday, Jack was selected along with three other babies for a State Farm ad- he is finally earning his keep! It was fun but we won't find out if he was the big winner for a little bit...we'll keep you posted. Here is a video of Jack "dancing". He does this whenever he hears music- it is too cute...enjoy.

Updates...

So, lots has happened in the last week...Jack took his first step, two actually! He has been working really hard on it for awhile now so it was pretty exciting. We also took a trip back to Ohio for Jack's Godmother's 30th birthday party which was fun and got to see our family. Jack had a good time with his cousins and Gran and Pa! We also stopped by and saw Big Gran and Big Pa on our way home. Today we went to get Christmas pictures taken which was fun- it took a lot longer than expected but the pictures are so cute (see above). We are really excited to stay home for Thanksgiving, this is a rare event for any holiday so we are so happy to host Gran and Pa and Big Gran and Pa here for the holiday.

Gran and Pa came to see me...

and celebrate their anniversary! While they were here over the weekend, we had lots of fun. We went out to dinner and we had a great time at the Shedd Aquarium. Then we went shopping and got some really cute Christmas outfits for Jack which you will see soon...

We went to the Nature Center near our house and since the weather was so nice, we had a picnic outside. Jack enjoyed himself a lot in the toddler room, where they had a stage for puppet shows. Jack put on a show himself (sans puppets) and had a great time. We also got to see the bees being fed their sugar water. Apparently there is a huge deer population here but we didn't walk the trails enough to see anything- hopefully next time!

Jookie Photo

Check out this link: http://www.jookiephoto.com/Galleries/HweenCostumeContest2008/
This is Jack's professional halloween picture from the neighborhood halloween party...too cute! He is the bottom right corner picture and he is showing all of his teeth :-)

Playgroup Halloween and Jack's Balancing Act

We had our playgroup Halloween party today...there were so many cute costumes. In a super crazy coincidence Jack and the other Jack in the group (who is a bit older) had the exact same costume...I am sure you can find them in the line-up (middle). Jack has been walking all over the place with his push and ride and also the other toy in the video below. His big thing now is "no hands!". He loves to let go and will balance for a minute and then sit down. It is really cute.

Jack "Walking"

Jack likes to use his toy as a walker and goes back and forth in the condo- he is a big boy! He is so proud of himself too, it is really cute.