Happy Half Birthday!!

It's hard to believe that Jack has been here for six months!! The amazing half birthday was marked by getting his pictures taken and going out to celebrate Uncle Josh's REAL birthday at Nagasaki Inn. We were all so excited to see what Jack's reaction would be to watching the food being prepared, but there wasnt a lot of excitement. We waited anxiously for when they set the grill on fire thinking surely that would get a little reaction out of the guy, but nope - he didn't care one bit. At least it didn't scare him!! Anyway, we had a great time at dinner and Jack had a wonderful six month birthday. Lucky for him his check up wasn't on the actual day so he got to enjoy it!
The six month check up was on Friday and Jack did great. He was such a brave little guy! This time when he got the shots it was especially painful (for me) because he's so much more aware of what's going on and has developed the ability to reach out for me when he's upset so after the first one went in he started hysterically screaming and crying and reaching out for me, but there was one more left to go so I couldn't pick him up right away... Oy, it was not a fun day! But, on a positive note Jack is the picture of health! He is now 28 inches (or as John likes to say 2 foot four) tall and weighs in at 19lbs 7oz. We thought for sure he would be over 20lbs... I guess we need to do some tinkering with our scale at home!! He's in the 90th % in height and the 75th in weight so it appears he's on track to be tall and skinny just like his daddy!
Sat. Jack came with me to Stephanie's bridal shower and was such a trooper. He wasn't feeling well at all because of the shots (ran a temp all day) but he was all smiles and put on a great performance during the party. And when we got home he went right to bed so that John and I could celebrate our six year anniversary with a lovely dinner - and I do mean DINNER - as soon as we were done eating the poor kid was up and had the worst night of his life. We think it was a combination of being gone all day, feeling bad because of the shots, and possibly working on a tooth that just sent him over the edge...
Anyway, we pretty much took it easy the rest of the weekend. We've got a fun week ahead - John is going out of town tomorrow (that's not the fun part) so we're going out to dinner with Nan (that IS the fun part) since Poppy is also out of town and then on Friday Jack is getting his first nighttime babysitter while John and I go out to dinner to really celebrate our anniversary!
Check the photosite for some updated pictures!

Busy busy busy! On Thursday Jack went to visit his Great Great Aunts Cackie and Ruth. It was a great visit and Jack just thought they were hilarious - he had the best time hitting their ottoman and watching Aunt Ruth clap and play hand games! We also had lunch with Mary and Tim on Thursday - it was a lovely treat!
We took it easy on Friday because we were going out to dinner. Jack finally got to see what Brooklyn Pizza looks like - we've been several times, but it's always worked out that Jack has been asleep when we were there, but not this time! He had his dinner there and had a great time people watching!
Saturday Jack got to go to a very special lunch at Flag Fork Herb Farm to meet Hazel. Hazel was Gran's best friend so it was a real treat to get to see her and have Jack meet her. She commented that Jack looks like my grandfather. No one had really thought about that before the comment, but after hearing it - we see the connection!
Sunday we had a great time at the pool. Jack is really starting to enjoy the water and has figured out that splashing (both at the pool and during bath time) is just absolutely hilarious. It was super hot yesterday though so we didn't stay long. We got home in time for Jack's afternoon nap and then had Nan and Poppy over for dinner. It was a fantastic time!
On tap for the week ahead - Uncle Josh's b-day is on Wed., which also happens to be Jack's six month b-day so we're getting his pictures taken and then going to Josh's party that evening and then Friday Jack has his six month check-up (with shots)... check back next week for the latest stats!
Check the photo site for some updates pictures!

Yankie Doodle Dandy!

Jack's first 4th of July was a fantastic (long) day! We went up to Cincy to cousin Andy and Jen's for their little boy's (Drew) birthday party. Jack had a great time watching everyone play cornhole and getting to see all his cousins (we're not sure of the relation of my cousin's children to Jack... 1st cousin once removed, 2nd cousins... who knows??). We got to meet the newest edition to the Mikesell/Price family, Sarah. She's the cutest little thing! It's hard to believe that only three months ago Jack was that small! We timed the drive home with Jack's afternoon nap so that we could go straight over to Kathie and Tom's for a holiday cookout! A horrible storm came through and the poor men had a heck of a time getting the food grilled, but dining by candle light for a 4th of July cookout was quite a treat!
We took it easy the rest of last week and over the weekend - we'd done enough traveling and partying over John's five day weekend to last us for a while! We did make it to Woodland Park on Sat. for a picnic and a free Bluegrass concert. Jack had a ball people watching and listening to the music. He's really into clapping now (he doesn't clap yet, but loves to be clapped to) so after a performance when the entire crowd would start clapping Jack thought it was all for him! He would just smile and think it was the greatest thing!
He's making new sounds almost daily now... he's got mamamamamama down pat. No idea that he's talking about ME while he's saying it, but he's got the sound down for sure! He's also got this wonderful new sucking sound that is hilarious... he'll pucker up his lips and look just like a little old man with no teeth sucking on his gums!
He's also ready to MOVE. It drives him crazy he can't get to where he wants to be. He's attempting to pull up on everything (my pants, the coffee table...) all he wants to do is stand. And when he's on his belly he'll get up on his knees then push way up with his arms (knees down at this point) and just get so mad that he can't go. He is scooting backwards a little bit so we don't think it will be long before he's got it all figured out! Anyway... we're not quite sure we're ready for a mobile Jack... we thought he'd stay a baby for a while longer, but...
Speaking of no longer being a baby! Jack's new car seat came in! It's fantastic! He's so much more comfortable and getting him in and out is a breeze! YEAH!
Check the photo site for some updated pictures!

Long Weekend!!

Jack has had a wonderful week since our last post... John took Friday off to extend the Holiday Weekend into a five day weekend so we decided to go up to the Newport Aquarium Friday morning. As you can see from the picture on the left Jack was quite impressed with the fish. This was taken in one of the "tunnels" where the fish are swimming above your head as well as all around you so Jack was quite fascinated! Saturday we had the Uncles and some friends over to watch the World Cup game and had a little cookout afterwards. Jack wasn't quite sure about us all eating outside, but after a bit thought it was pretty interesting. We had a quiet day at home yesterday - unfortunately Jack didn't get to go to the airport to pick up his Nan and Poppy, but he's so glad they are back safely! We got back not to long ago from a trip to the pool and plan on sticking close to home for the rest of the day - tomorrow it's back up to the Cincy area to go to Drew's 2nd birthday party! We're all quite excited to meet the newest addition of the family (Mike and Melanie's little girl Sarah) and Jack is thrilled to not be the youngest person at the party!! Check the photo site for some updated pictures!!