what a MESS!

It was a nice day outside today, so we decided to walk to a nearby grocery store to pick up a few things. Other than a few brisk gusts of wind, it was beautiful and sunny! While at the store I saw some baby macaroni and cheese (which claims to be much healthier than the kind I usually buy for myself) so I decided it would make a fun treat for lunch today. Well, as you can see, he enjoyed his mac and cheese A LOT! He even tried to share it with me...to which I said no thank you. We were doing pretty well in keeping the mess isolated to the tray, his bib, face and hands....

until the very end he decided to "talk to me" about his favorite subject...HATS (which involves patting his head...with messy saucy hands) It was then and there that it was decided that yes, today would in fact be a bath day for Jack....but how to get him up from the high chair without making the mess worse...do I clean up his hands first and pray that they don't get into the messy tray, or do I remove the tray first and pray that he doesn't touch his clothes with his hands...etc...you see my point. In the end, I still think it was worth the mess to see him enjoying a new food so much.

Christmas with the Pops and Bertie

Later on Christmas Day we went over to Pops and Bertie's house to have Christmas there. As if it weren't exciting enough that Auntie Hannah was home from Oregon, but POPS IS HOME!!!! He came home from the hospital earlier in the week! Praise GOD! It is so exciting to have him home and doing so well. We got to open presents and eat a yummy family meal. I honestly can't remember a Christmas when I have been more thankful for all our blessings. As you can see, we had a busy Christmas holiday, but it sure was fun!

Christmas with the Dudus

(It makes me feel better about all my different holiday entries when I see my friend Heather's blog...I think she may actually beat us (in numbers) with blogging about all the different events over the holidays. )

We went over to Granny Ruthie's house Christmas Eve, and as is tradition, the children under 18 got to open 1 gift. Jack got a cute book called "Let's Dance Pookie" (anyone related to me will know why that was special) and Poor Uncle Daniel's gift was....undies!!! He was a little bit bummed, he said "I only have a few more years left of getting to open a gift early...why did you let me open THAT one?!" :) the next days events made up for it though. Jack got some fun toys and we ate a yummy brunch. We are looking forward to having yet another Dudu Christmas in a few days when Auntie Raychie is back in town. :)

Christmas with the Fishers

I'm sad that we didn't get many pictures with the Fisher family Christmas. First we went to Ma Fisher's house and visited with her and ate some brunch with her and Papa John. This picture is Jack with (Great-Grand)Ma Fisher. Don't they look festive in their red shirts?

Then we went to Uncle Derrick's house and celebrated with the Korean side of the family. They are really fun! The food was delicious and we had fun playing dirty santa! Just was we were leaving Jack totally fell apart..but I'm so proud of him that he lasted as long as he did...and that he fell asleep in the car on the way to Nashville!

Jack and his Daddy

Bertie found some pictures of Daddy's first birthday. This is one of him eating breakfast on his birthday. Then I posed the one of Jack just a few days ago. You don't think they look alike do you? :) When I pulled these pictures of Josh out to show MY family, they all said "Wow, how did you get these pictues of Jack developed so quickly?" Then when I told them they are actually of Josh, you heard "Whoa, wow, no denying who his father is..." :) Cool, huh?

Jack and his Many Hats

As I may have said before, Jack has a thing for hats. It's definitely his favorite sign to say, and he loves playing with the different hats I've pulled out for him. The thing is...he only likes putting on the hats if it is HIS idea. I worked hard knitted him a really cute hat complete with ear flaps and a pom pom, and he REFUSES to keep it on. Very sad for me. What he doesn't know is that soon there will be velcro on the chin strap so it will be a bit harder to yank off....heehee. Here you can see Jack trying on his different hats and admiring himself in the mirror. He especially likes it when we stack several hats on our heads.

An exciting weekend!

On Saturday we made our (almost) weekly trip into town. We got to see Auntie Hannah in from Portland. She is studying to be a Special Ed. Teacher. While we were "showing off" Jack's signing skills (btw, he may have learned a few new ones....dog and please...we'll see!) I was complaining about how my purpose for teaching him these signs is so he will make his needs known...yet the ones he does the most are just "conversational" ones like bath, dog, hat...I was hoping for "eat, drink, more, all done" etc. Well, Hannah worked her teacher magic and he's doing "MORE" again!!! yay! We got to hang out at the Cooper's and play with the Wii...my bowling skills are a bit rusty! Jack slept beautifully on a pallet in the floor..and beautifully in the car on the way back to Granny Ruthie's house, and then basically didn't sleep at all for the rest of the night! Finally after several hours of holding and rocking, putting him down to only sleep for 20 minutes, I got into bed with him beside me. I'm honestly not sure how parents can sleep in bed with their babies, because I didn't sleep at all. He's a little floppy fish and I'm a light sleeper...not a great combination. And AMAZINGLY, no one else in the whole house heard all the caterwauling...except mommie and daddy! Maybe someday Ill sleep that soundly again. We wonder if part of it may have been due to the NEW TOOTH that I discovered while feeding him his morning cereal...he opened his mouth up wide, and there it was on the bottom...that's 5! I will say though, that tooth looks like it's been in for a little while....I can't believe I missed it!
We spent the next morning with Mzee, Granny Ruthie and Daniel, and while playing around with Jack, he took his first steps!!! Now, albeit, they were quite wobbly, and we've not been able to successfully duplicate it...(I think it may have been more falling forward and moving his feet correctly so it LOOKED like walking...but I'm still claiming it...!!) It was VERY exciting. I think my heart stopped for a few seconds. It was so special that Daddy was right there too watching. I enjoy "reporting" to him each evening about the fun stuff that happens, but how wonderful that he was actually there!!!

Jack and Santa

We found Santa in Cookeville! Jack wasn't quite sure what to think of him. Mrs. Claus wasn't too scary, but once the photographer started singing songs, playing music and jumping around on his reindeer, Jack settled down. You'd think that with all the people in his life with facial hair, he wouldn't have a problem with the big white beard. I guess mustaches and goatees don't help with THAT much beard! He also got a candy cane, which daddy carefully shared with him, yum yum, and he discovered our (VERY HIGH UP) Christmas Tree. I officially found a "scrub brush" tree for $10 at a discount store. The rest of our decor is in storage, and I just can't get the gumption to go get it...only to have to monitor him to not bring it down on himself, os a table tree seemed like a good answer. Who knows, when we finally move out of here and into our "mansion" we might need multiple trees. :)

some big news...

check out Pops and Bertie's Blog...prayers are being answered. Christmas Miracles are happening!

destructo-baby

Well, he's reached a milestone...no, not walking yet, but a different milestone which I always thought was a fun one when working in the nursery. He absolutely positively cannot allow a tower or stack of anything to stay intact. Godzilla-baby must knock down or throw or scatter anything in his path! Today he was playing with some of his blocks, I was building, he was destroying, and he found out that if he hold onto a block and swings his arms just right, ZOOM...the block goes flying out of his hands. We had to practice this skill for a LOOONG time today. It was cute to watch him get excited about it, but I can already see visions of food and sippy cups flying through the air very soon! I was trying to tidy up a bit so that Bethany could come by for a visit, and any progress I might have made was spread throughout the living room by Hurricane Jack. I'm trying to work on his aim, so that when he's throwing things, he can be aiming for the basket or box they belong in...I know...good luck, right? :)

everyone (and everything) needs a HUG!

Jack's been giving "hugs" for a while now...mostly in the form of sweet cuddles where he lays his head down on a shoulder. I've even seen him give Maggie hugs (basically he just lays on top of her, most of the time she doesn't seem to mind!) and PJ, the toy that he sleeps with. Today was the first time I've ever seen him connect the word hug with the action, and it was so much fun! I caught him giving one of his Noah's ark toy animals a hug, so we had to go through all 10 of them with hugs...I had to give some of them hugs too. I think he may have given a few kisses in the form of opening up his mouth and basically licking them. Then Idecided to try it out on a few other things....so far he's given hugs to puzzle pieces...blocks....books....balls...hats....and bath toys...and of course Mommie and Maggie. It's so wonderful to see his sweet spirit coming out. We are still working kisses. He started biting things when I asked him to give them a kiss...not sure we want to encourage that...but at least he has the right body part, right? I'll try to get a picture of video up of this phenomena soon, but I'll be honest, it's so fun to watch, I don't want to miss anything by running to get the camera. I'm being a bit selfish, I know. :)

Baby Shower for Abby (and Baby Julia)

A group of us threw Abby a baby shower this past weekend. Abby is my brother John's wife. They are planting a church up in Fargo, ND so it was very special that she was able to fly down this weekend for the shower. I've never seen so much PINK in my life! The pictures I have here are of Abby opening the gift from Josh and Jack (a Cortland Finnegan poster, he plays for the Titans and went to Abby's alma mater, Samford) , the great grandmas (there were 5 at the shower!!) the grandmas, and the girls who threw the shower. What fun girl time!

SNOW!

Maybe since I'm not teaching anymore, so I don't watch for snow like I used to, but I have been surprised by snow much more often since moving here. I've seen more snow this season so far, than we would get in a whole winter back in Nashville. Jack got to go out and feel the snow earlier today, and he didn't think it was all that amazing. But he did like looking at it!

He turns 1...AGAIN!

We finally got to celebrate Jack's birthday with the Dudugjian side of the family...they were sick last week. It worked out well though, since Abby was in town for the baby shower (more on that later) Jack really enjoyed this party, even though it was WAAAAAY past his bedtime. He got a Noah's ark toy from Mzee and Granny Ruthie and some fun toy cars from John and Abby. I TRIED to be healthy again and made him carrot cake cup cakes...it has vegetables, right, that's healthy! :) I wish I could've gotten a better picture of him playing with the box, he kept squishing his face into the clear cover of the box, but my camera has such a delay I had a hard time catching the cutest ones. :)

First birthday Party, Part 2...

We went up to the hospital to party with Pops and Bertie. Jack got to enjoy his fruit pizza cookies again, and he got a Leap Frog musical ride on toy! How fun (and it doesn't have an OFF switch!!! :) He also got a baseball toy from Uncle Kyle and Jenna. He looks like such a big boy on his little leap frog toy. I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!

First Birthday Party!

Here are a few pictures and videos from Jack's (First) first birthday party. There were 2 more to come in the next week or so...you can also visit Auntie Raychie's blog for some cute videos and pictures. He got a purple dinosaur (no, not Barney!) from Rachel and Jeff, a Jacket from Joy and Aaron, and a JAY CUTLER jersey from Mimi and Papa John (I CAN"T BELIEVE we didnt' get a picture of him wearing it with our camera!) That was Daddy's favorite present! We enjoyed Fruit pizza cookies (I TRIED to be healthy (ish)) and it was such a blessing to have so many people there to celebrate Jacks first year. Derrick and Bridget couldn't come to the party, but later they gave Jack his FIRST remote control car!! It is REALLY fun, although, Maggie's not sure what to think about it now!!

First Haircut

I figured that since Saturday is his 1st birthday, it's time for Jack to get his 1st haircut. He hadn't yet reached the stage of needing and "I'm a Boy" shirt (like his daddy had to wear...more on that later) but it was getting to the baby mullet stage. We have a beauty school just around the corner from our house, and I've been pretty pleased about the haircuts I've gotten there (and you CAN'T beat the prices...both of our haircuts only cost $15 total!!!!!) He sat very patiently while I got my hair cut and styled (I waiting until Friday so I could have "sassy hair" for a Christmas Party that night) Then it was Jack's turn. I was a little nervous about how he would do, and while he was a teensy bit wiggly, he didn't fuss at all, just whined a little bit when I had to hold his head still while she used the clippers. I'm VERY impressed with how well she did on the back of his hair as much as he was looking back and forth trying to get a look at what she was doing. I didn't tell Daddy that we were getting a haircut since every time I could bring it up, he would say "Why would he need a haircut, I didn't get one until I was 2 or 3" (It's true, my preppy husband had long hair as a child, he and his dad had a contest to see who's hair got the longest...he really did have a shirt saying "I'm a BOY") I think that most people agree that the haircut looks pretty good, even if it does make him look so much more grown-up. I know 1 may be a bit early for a "big boy" haircut, but this child has a LOT of hair!

sign language

over the past several months I've been trying off and on to teach Jack some sign language. I've been fascinated by sign since childhood. I almost went to a college in east TN that offered sign as a foreign language (for that very reason) and I've looked into community ed. classes, but have never taken any classes as of yet. I worked with an autisitic child in college who used some signs to communicate, and I baby sat for a little girl who was taught a lot of signs from her SLP mommy. These various sources are where I've picked up most of my signing knowledge.
As you have seen on our previous postings, I was able to get Jack to do his version of the sign "more" for several months. Then, over the course of a long weekend, it's like he just forgot how to do it (or just became VERY unmotivated and stubborn...) but he's made up for it in other ways. He's learned "all done" (which I think is technically "all gone" but we're using for our own purposes to mean he's finished with whatever he's doing, usually at mealtime) he also has learned "hat" which is totally adorable. He's even seen hats hanging on a rack in a store and starts patting his head to say "hat." He thinks that my sunglasses and hoodies are hats too, which is pretty cute. Just within the past few days he's started signing "eat/drink" (basically the same sign at this point). It's just fascinating to see him really listening and watching and thinking about what I'm showing him, and then to see him turn around and use it is just awesome!I'm working on teaching him bath, dog, book, help, cereal, and cheese and whatever others aren't too hard at this point. I'd love to teach him mommy, daddy and baby too. I'm getting a lot of the instructions from some great baby sign/signing time/baby einstein videos. It's just so much fun to see the "wheels turning" in his head and to see how quickly he is learning. You can almost see the realization and relief on his face when we "understand" each other through the signs. maybe I'll get some video proof up here, but until then, you'll just have to trust me. :)

"watching" football

I was in the bedroom checking email. When I came around the corner, this is what I saw on the big comfy chair in our living room. I thought it was pretty cute! Father and son watching football "through their eyelids"

Thanksgiving with the Dudugjians

On Friday We had quite a feast at Mzee and Granny Ruthie's house. It was fun to hang out with everybody and visit. Jack and Mzee and Uncle Daniel enjoyed zooming around the house with Jack in a plastic tote (like you saw with the diaper box in an earlier video). On Saturday Jack tagged along with Mommie, Raychie, Granny Ruthie and "Super" Granny Franny on a girls day to a craft show and the Lebanon outlet malls. The picture is of Rachel playing with Jack at the craft show. He's "walking" on her feet. I would include the video, but like a doofus, I took it sideways, and I don't know how to rotate videos. Just believe me that it's really cute. :)

Although the holiday time is a busy time with a lot of time on the road, I am so thankful that we live nearby so much family and that we get to see (almost) everyone. We don't have to pick and choose who we see on which holiday, which makes all the time on the road worth it (at least to me!)

Thanksgiving with the Coopers

Late Thursday we arrived at Pops and Bertie's house. After a rough night (he woke up 5 times! thankfully he went back to sleep quickly after the initial fussing...) he was cute and active that next morning. Here are some videos of the fun we had in our jammies that morning. Look at him walking with his push toy. Who knows how long he's been able to do it, I was always too nervous to let him go with it, envisioning a big ol face plant, but Daddy was brave enough to let him go, and look at him!! You've seen pictures of him gnawing on his rhino...well this time he's got rhino's friend hippo in his mouth. The other video involves him chewing on a toy football. Not sure if he doesn't like the taste or the texture, but he did it several times where he would try to taste it, make that face, and then try to taste it again. It made us all laugh. I also included a picture of bath time at Bertie's just because I love the expression of his she caught in the picture.

We had a nice visit with Bertie, but because both Jack and I have been a bit under the weather lately, we decided NOT to go see Pops. He's been having some complications with his heart and his immune system was down, so we didn't even want to risk Jack's runny nose. Please keep Pops and Bertie in your prayers. There are issues creeping up concerning insurance wanting him out of this hospital before we feel he is ready. As Bertie keeps saying though, the Lord has worked it all out so far, no reason He would stop now.

Thanksgiving with the Fishers

We did our annual visit to Shoney's this year for the Fisher Thanksgiving. Our table was much less crowded this year due to recent family events and distance, but we still had lots of fun. After we finished at the restaurant we went to Auntie Raychie's house to hang out and watch the Titans beat the pants off the Detroit Lions. After the game Jack had fun listening to Daddy and Uncle Jeff play the guitar. At one point I was called in there and he was dancing to the music. Maybe, just maybe he'll have better dancing skills than his parents...which honestly wouldn't take much! :) I love the picture Rachel took of Jack "enjoying" her fall themed decorations. He just HAD to taste that acorn squash! We had a fun time, and towards the end of the evening we went to Mimi's family gathering and got to hang out for a little while with the Korean side of the family. Jack got to meet Baby Isabella (her parents decided to give her a good solid Korean name, right? :) and play with her and some other little cousins and hang out in a baby walker for a while. He's never been in one before, and therefore he could only figure out how to roll backwards in the thing. We are so thankful to be able to see our families on Thanksgiving!