Jack eating a chicken wing...and loving it

Jack roaring like a lion

Happy Birthday Jack!!

Dear Jack,


By the time you read this, you will probably know that your mama is a bit crazy and starts planning trips and parties months before they actually happen. True to form, I started planning your birthday party sometime around April. But the best laid plans, as they say, generally don't mean anything when you live with a toddler in a cursed house (I freestyled the second half of that saying a bit).

Waaaay back in February, the furnace in the (vacant) third floor unit in our building went out and as a result, we had a pipe burst in the building. Fast forward 6 months and many, many emails and phone calls later, and Dad finally settled our claim with the owner's insurance company and received a check for ALL the repair costs. We've lived in a construction zone before, so we had waited until we had that check in our hands before we started repairs - we didn't want to spend a dime more than the insurance company paid. But now your first birthday was only 3 weeks away, and we had a house full of people coming, and I decided that the walls had to be fixed and painted and our house beautiful again so your party could be absolutely perfect.

So on September 4 - yes, ten days before your party - the construction crew arrived to fix our house. I was sure they wouldn't meet our deadline and for the next few days imagined what would happen when 30 people showed up, and our walls still had wet plaster on them, and our guest room furniture was heaped in our family room, and no one would eat the food because there a fine coating of sawdust over it all.

In the midst of construction, you got a diaper rash that wouldn't go away. So Daddy took you to the doctor, and lo and behold, you didn't have a diaper rash - you had hand, foot, and mouth. It sounds worse than it is - in your case, it was a virus that looked a lot like a cold - but it is contagious, so a house full of people became a half house full of people, and I had a minor nervous breakdown because the party I had so careful planned looked to be falling apart.

But of course, you weren't going to remember your first birthday anyway, and Daddy calmed me down. Then, I was totally shocked pleasantly surprised when the construction crew packed up at 5pm on September 11. And Daddy and I were both thrilled that you started feeling better the same day, and you were back to your happy self by Thursday. The next three days were something of a mad rush to get the house put back together - which Daddy handled amazingly well considering I had a to do list as long as his arm and kept throwing tasks his way well after he wanted to be in bed. Family photos hung, birthday presents assembled, cakes made, decorations strung....well, you get the picture.

Long story short - my best laid plans turned out to be a little insane and Daddy and I were both as sleep deprived as we were the day you were born when the party started on Saturday morning. But all the craziness leading up to the party was forgotten as we settled in to enjoy some barbeque and cake with our little man.

It was a beautiful day, just like the day we brought you home from the hospital - sunny and warm and unexpected for the start of fall. You were a little shy at first, but your daddy and cousin Alice warmed you up to the crowd, and you got to eat your favorite food - baked beans! - before the cake came out. While you waited for your cake, you played with the balloons, and you loved them. They might have been the highlight of the party. And then we all sang happy birthday, which scared you a little, until you got your first taste of frosting - then all was forgotten and you dug into your cake and did your mama proud.

And the three of us had a GREAT time, which was the only thing that really mattered in the end. Even if there had been plaster on the walls, no decorations strung and no cake to eat, the most important thing was celebrating 365 days of the most amazing blessed God has given us - our baby boy.

Jack, we love you to the moon and back. Happy first birthday. We can't wait to celebrate a lifetime of them with you.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Click the photo to see the slideshow!

UPDATED: Sorry, I'm a dummy and put the wrong link with the photo, so if you clicked through you only saw one picture. Now when you click through you should a whole slideshow of cuteness!
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Ladies and gentleman - Jack McCoy's 1-year photos!

He slays me. <3

Click to see the rest of my pictures!

Ladies and gentleman - Jack McCoy's 1-year photos!
He slays me. <3

Click to see the rest of my pictures!

Yesterday we took Jack's first birthday photos. How did a year pass already? I've only seen a preview photo so far, but I love it. Look at that smile - he lights up everything around him! I can't wait to see the rest.

August has been a busy month! Lots of updates to look forward to - the state fair, our cousin Val's wedding, and soon to come...first birthday party!

But for right now, we will leave you will this piece of news....
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OUR BABY IS OFFICIALLY A TODDLER.

Jack has been working on his first steps for awhile. He really mastered his push toy:

Click for the video!

We've seen him take a few hesitant steps, and we've done a lot of walking while holding hands:

Click for the video!

And then tonight, out of the blue, Jack just walked across the room. Like he's been doing it all along.

Click for the video!

Our baby is a toddler.

Our little stair master!

Who needs a fancy push toy to learn how to walk when you've got boxes at home?

You only have to turn your back for a second for this to happen:

And that, friends, is how food pouches become finger paint.

Everywhere we go, Jack makes friends. Big kids seem to love sharing their big kid knowledge with little ones, and this weekend was no exception. We met a new friend, Cathy, at the park. Cathy was determined to help Jack swing and walk, and she showed him how to climb on the monkey bars. She also told us - "Wow, he is soooo white." Indeed, Cathy. Indeed.

Exploring the jungle gym with daddy

Cathy and friend teaching Jack about the monkey bars

Jack's attempt on the monkey bars

Cathy teaching us how to teach Jack to walk :)

Jack's current favorite place in our house is our freezer.

Yes, you read that right. As soon as he hears me open it to get out his dinner, he scoots right over and pulls up to look at the bounty inside. Crinkly bags! Cold ice cubes! The items available to feel are amazing to a 10 month old.

Totally worth the 3 degrees of electricity we lose when he comes to play.

Just look at how happy he is.

Most nights after work Bryan goes out to water the plants, because we forget to do it in the morning. And by we, I mean Bryan, and by Bryan, I mean I'm too lazy to water the plants so Bryan knows he has to do it or they will die. Sometimes Jack goes out with him. Last night Jack was too busy playing to go outside, so Bryan went on his own. When Jack looked out the door and saw Daddy outside, he went over to wait for him.

Adorable.

Also, the decision to get the half glass / half screen storm door is already paying off.

We took Jack to the local kiddie pool this weekend for some splash time. He takes after his mama and seems to really enjoy the water! He was playing with some big kids and didn't even mind when they splashed him (not on purpose) and water got in his face. And he was so cute in his swim suit and sun hat :)

 

Click to see the video!

Last week Jack welcomed a new cousin to the family - Miss Matilda (Tilly) Grace Naughagle! She was born on June 27. She's beautiful and a bit hefty for a newborn at 9 lbs 6 oz. 

To give the new mama and daddy some time to get to know their peanut, we invited Cousin Alice to stay with us for a few days, and we promised to return her to Auntie Mere and Uncle Joel at the Muenich Family 4th of July BBQ. I got to spend a whole lady day with Alice, getting our nails done, visiting American Girl and shopping at H&M, and then Jack, Alice and I spent the next day together at the park and the nature museum. Alice is a great cousin to Jack, and they loved hanging out together.

At the 4th of July BBQ, Jack discovered a new, amazing food - corn on the cob! He was gobbling up kernels of corn and then just grabbed the whole cob off my plate and started chewing on the end. It was delicious!

Click to see the video!

That night, we left Jack with a sitter and Bryan and I headed out on the Mosination with his cousin Melissa and fiance Matt and some friends to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier.

The next afternoon, we met Matt and Melissa at the park to play with Jack a bit before they returned home to Iowa. Jack was pretty taken with this cousin, too :)

The weather hasn't been cooperating much for boating this year, and we've been out of town on the good weekends, so this past weekend was the first time we managed to get out on the lake as a family.

That's right - Jack's first boat cruise!

He was a champ - he was so interested in everything going on, but when I put him down for his nap, he slept like...well, he slept like a baby :) Which gave mama and daddy some time to enjoy the sunshine and the view.

There's nothing like summer on Lake Michigan!

Bryan and Jack with Joe & JJ

P.S. - Yes, Dad, Jack has a coast guard approved life vest with all the bells and whistles. We didn't make him wear it while the boat was stationary, but we will once he starts walking and tries to climb all over the boat on his own (we've seen this firsthand with JJ). Your grandson is in good hands.

We have traveled out of town 4 of the last 5 weekends, and I’m wiped out. The bad news about traveling with Jack is that babies need a lot of stuff. His clothes take up approximately 1 square foot of real estate in our luggage – his toys, diapers, travel bed, car seat, stroller, nebulizer, my diaper bag and my pump take up basically the rest of our luggage allowance / trunk space. So Bryan gets to pack one backpack of clothing, while I look like I’m moving my entire household overseas for the foreseeable future. Additionally, the stuff Jack needs to travel on the weekend is basically the same stuff he needs during the week, so unlike Bryan and I, who used to leave suitcases unpacked for weeks at a time, Jack requires laundry and unpacking and sorting right away. His pincer grip is coming along quite nicely, but his motor skills in general haven’t quite advanced to a place where he can do any of these things on his own, so mommy has been unpacking and repacking every week for 4 of the last 5 weeks, and frankly she’s had enough for the summer.

The good news is that Jack is a dream to travel with. He will sleep anywhere. He will eat anything. We can leave him with babysitters he doesn’t know. He also does extremely well on airplanes. Our experiences flying so far have gone something like this:
Enter airplane. See new people. Smile. Make cute cooing noises.
Look out airplane window. See new places! Smile! Make cute cooing noises!
Plane begins to taxi. Start eating. Sigh. Pass out for remainder of flight.

This is basically how I used to fly (minus the cute cooing noises). This is still how Bryan flies (minus liking other people at the airport). I sincerely hope Jack takes after his daddy in this regard, since I’ve developed a somewhat overwhelming fear of flying (which to be fair, is less a fear of flying and more a fear of the plane no longer flying while at 30,000 feet, but whatever).

So all in all, this bodes well for our future, because Bryan and I like to travel. And while I’ve had enough of the packing and unpacking, we’ve loved getting to see friends and family, and I doubt we will ever have enough of that, so hopefully Jack will continue to be a happy traveler far into the future.

And at 9 months old he has now been to 5 of the 50 states, which ain’t bad. I’m rooting for Hawaii for his next stop.

So anyway - here are the pics from our mini vacation in Denver two weekends ago. Enjoy!

Jack is testing a new possible profession - soccer star.

Check out that hair. Check out that throw in! He's destined to be a goalie.

Click to see the video!

Jack had a surprise for me when I picked him up from school yesterday:

 

See anything different? No? Look closer......

That's right! Jack's first tooth peeked through his gumline yesterday! (Yes, it is really hard to see  basically invisible in that picture, but I promise you it is there.) We didn't even know he was teething, which just reinforces my belief that he is the easiest baby ever.

Also - how much does our baby look like his daddy?

Bryan and his Mini Me

It's like Bryan's DNA cloned itself in the womb, instead of merging with mine. My baby inherited none of my genetic material. I have approximately 1 million photos of Bryan looking EXACTLY like Jack in that picture. I just haven't posted any of them in a public place, so this is the best I could find on Facebook on short notice.