Christmas Day

We all had a wonderful Christmas day full of presents, family, and really good food. Jack really got the hang of opening presents and truly enjoyed all of his presents. The toy chest is going out on the porch. We really could use two or three of those things to fit all the toys Jack has now. Luckily the toys he got today will provide fun for him for many years. It was a lot of fun to see Christmas through the eyes of a child, Jack is so much fun to have around.

Outside Fun!

Jack had a great time on our coldest day of the year this week. He couldn't get enough of playing in the garage, riding his dump truck, and checking out the Christmas lights. He also played in the leaves that have accumulated with all the blustery days in our yard.

Remote Controls

One night Jack managed to get ahold of three of the remote controls. The result was a hilarious journey from the living room to the kitchen. He dropped each one several times but finally managed to make it to the kitchen holding all three. He was so proud of himself!

Family Time

We enjoyed spending time with Karen, Gail, George and Eileen. Jack did great on his first long trip away. I have a feeling the portable DVD player had something to do with the success of the car ride. We can't wait to have Christmas come around so we can spend more time with our family.

Playing in the leaves

Jack is used to the smaller leaves we have around our house, so it was great to see that Aunt Gail had enormous leaves all around her backyard. Jack loves to crinkle the leaves and then tear them apart. He also enjoyed it when we threw a bunch of leaves into the air and let them fall all over him. Jack tried to drag all the leaves around him into his lap.

Balloon and Bench

On our visit to Atlanta Jack got to see the bench that his Aunt Gail had bought for him. To help keep track of him in her big house I got a Thanksgiving Balloon. He loves balloons and carried it around with him most of the time. Otherwise we attached it to the back of his pants.

Jack reading a bedtime story...

Jack really loves to look through books and study the pictures. He has gotten the hang of turning each page one at a time. Jack will go through each of his board books on the top of his bookshelf every day and look through it. Here is Jack and Kevin finishing up our nightly routine of bath, book, bottle, bed.

Daddy Dino

Kevin decided to crawl into the dinosaur on the porch one night. Jack thought this was great and quickly crawled into the dinosaur to play with his Daddy. When he realized he was going to get tickled, Jack tried a quick get away.

Sadie

When Jack heard Sadie barking the other day he went to the porch as fast as he could. He watched her for the longest time as she walked around her backyard. When we go to visit her, she licks his toes. Jack sure does like Sadie!

Halloween

Jack and Maddy had a fantastic time on Halloween night. First the grown-ups carved pumpkins while Jack and Maddy cheered us on. Kevin was the judge and chose Chuck's scary pumpkin over the others. Then the kids got dressed up into their costumes. Maddy was a robot space girl and Jack was Batman. He did a fantastic job of keeping his bat hat on and they both did a great job of going door to door and accepting their candy. As usual we were quite busy handing out candy at our house. Brynn roasted the pumpkin seeds for us and we enjoyed a pizza dinner.

I see you!

Jack loves his dinosaur play tent! I caught him in action as he played with his What A Burger train set. This was on that cold weekend we had a few weeks ago so he is bundled up in sweats and Cookie Monster socks.

Earlier that day we enjoyed a cart ride around the yard as we hung spider web and ghosts all around the yard for Halloween. I can't wait to take my little Batman around the neighborhood for tricks and treats!

Grandparents Johnson visit

We got a surprise call on Sunday to go meet Grandpaw and Grandmaw Johnson. We met at Downtown Disney and Jack quickly showed off his walking skills. After quickly deciding the dinosaur restaurant was not the best choice due to its lifelike scary dinos, we settled on McDonald's.
After lunch we browsed the shops and Jack received smiles from everyone walking by as they watched him walk. He received a surprise present of a stuffed Woody and Bullseye from the toy store there! He showed off his cuddling skills in his appreciation.


MOM and DAD,
Send me pictures so I can post them!

New Things

Jack got his first pair of sneakers last week. I thought the laceless kind would be easier to slide on and off but now I am not so sure. I think we tried on every pair at Target! Jack loves his new leopard that Grandma Flavin got him when she visited Animal Kingdom.

By the way, both of these pictures coincide with Jack taking his first steps! He really is doing well and looks like a little Frankenstein with how he sticks his arms out in front of him.

Disney 10K

A good time was had by all at the Disney "Race for the Taste" on Sunday. It is a 10K race where at the end you get to visit taste stations of food from around the world. I "made" my friends Brynn and Jonathan and sister Karen do this race with me. We had a great time during the race and got our encouragement from the various DJ's around the course and uplifting environment that is Disney. After we finished eating all the good food we spent the day enjoying the rides and countries in Epcot. Soarin' was an amazing experience and don't even get me started on the burritos in the cantina in Mexico!

Happy Birthday Baby Jack!

The house was bursting at the seams with all the people wanting to celebrate Jack's 1st birthday. We had a hot dog lunch and everyone brought a side dish to add to the feast. Jack had a great time playing with all his new and old friends and he quickly got the hang of opening and playing with his new presents. The cake was a blast to make but we had even more fun watching Jack enjoy his first chocolate and vanilla cupcakes.