Watkins Mill: First Camping Trip of 2012
We went on our inaugural 2012 camping trip recently. Last year we had an immobile, young baby with us (Brian called him a blob), but this year we had a full-on mobile toddler! We wanted to take a camping trip before the big Camp Bacon Spring Pork Spectacular (our annual camping get-together to celebrate friends and all things pork) to make sure Jack would do okay and basically test out the waters.
For the most part, the trip was fun, but there were a few not-so-fun moments. All of those not-so-fun moments occurred Friday night when Brian was by himself with Jack at the campsite. The normal camping routine is for Brian to take the day off and set up camp while Jack goes to daycare and I go to work. Once camp is set up, Brian relaxes for a while and then picks up Jack (I work until 10:30 P.M.). After a long day of daycare, sometimes Jack can be a little bit cranky, and this night was no exception, except now we had thrown him out of his routine and taken him camping. This combination didn't make the evening very relaxing for either Brian or Jack. Jack had a very hard time sleeping, and in the end, he woke up for good at 3 A.M. crying and screaming. Since we only live 30 minutes away and I didn't want angry camping neighbors in the morning, Jack and I headed home.
After catching a few zzzz's we returned to the camp at 9 A.M. Saturday. Saturday was MUCH better and Jack was in a great mood. We ate breakfast, took a long walk, hit up the playground, ate lunch and all took a nice loooong nap. We woke up, played outside for a while, and then cooked up a yummy dinner of chicken fajitad. Our friends came out to the campsite for a walk around the lake- they did all 3.75 miles and we headed back early to get Jack in bed. Jack went to sleep much easier, and stayed asleep while we enjoyed the best part of camping- a nice, warm campfire. After our friends left, Brian and I continued our tradition of snacking in the camper while watching a movie before bedtime. Jack was sound asleep at this point, so I don't think he even made a peep when we were in the camper.
That night it got cold (we brought an electric heater, but it couldn't really keep up), so Jack woke up and we brought him into bed with us and he did great and slept until 7:30 A.M.! That's like sleeping in for us these days.
We had plans to cook breakfast at the campsite, but as usual, we just decided to start packing and head on home. While camping was fun for the most part, I think we were ready to get home. I think, even though one night was rough, camping later in May is going to be fine. Jack just needed a little time to warm up to camping!
Jack is 15 Months Old
A lot of fun things have happened in the last two months. I've grown up a lot, and I think when I last updated you I was just learning to walk, but now it's easy peasy and I can almost break out into a run.
We had our St. Patrick's Day Parade at daycare and I got to participate since I am all grown up now. I wore a special St. Patrick's Day t-shirt and I got wheeled around in a giant laundry basket with my friends. I am the kid looking at the camera in this picture:
I went to visit Grammy Anderson in Emporia and got to watch their St. Patrick's Day parade downtown.
I spent the night with Gran-nan and Grandpa Long while Mommy and Daddy went to a Radiohead concert. It was a lot of fun, but I woke up in the middle of the night and started crying because I forgot where I was and missed Mommy and Daddy. But Gran-nan did an awesome job of cuddling with me throughout the night making me feel better.
I've been talking up a storm lately. I've learned a bunch of words besides Mama and Dada- some that everyone can understand and some that probably only Mama and Dada can understand. My favorite words are car, ball, dog, bye-bye, uh-oh, cat, bear, beer (bet you can't guess who taught me that one!), cookie and fruit. In this picture, not only am I wearing a jacket that Uncle Matt got me in Morocco, but I am telling Mama that I have a car in my hand:
I love being outside! The weather has been so nice so we've been spending a lot of time taking walks and going to the park. I still don't really like to touch the grass, but I'll get over it if it means I get to play outside! Penguin Park is a really cool playground near my house that we've been to a few times- going down the slide is my favorite.
Mama got a new car- a Subaru Impreza Sport Limited. It's really cool and gets good gas mileage for an all-wheel-drive car. It looks even cooler than this picture shows because they got the windows tinted, which I love because the sun doesn't get in my eyes anymore!
I don't think Mama and Dada have done a lot of projects. I did help them put in new mulch around the landscaping and I watched Dada put new speakers in Mama's car. And when I woke up from a nap one day the deck was stained- Mama said she'd been needing to do that since before I was born! I guess I am more fun than doing housework!
I've also caught a few nasty bugs this last month. I got pinkeye, another ear infection (now that I have tubes I just have to get drops put in my ears) and then hand, foot and mouth disease. When I thought I was all better I got a fever and ended up going to Children's Mercy Urgent Care and got diagnosed with early pneumonia (I guess it was just beginning to show up in my lungs). I had to take some antibiotics and do a couple of breathing treatments, but now I feel much better. Let's hope it stays that way for a while!
The Easter bunny came to my house on Easter Sunday. He brought me a basket filled with Elmo goodies-books, crayons, pjs, and a DVD. He also hid a few eggs for me, but they were pretty easy to find- next year he will have to do much better! Gran-nan and Grandpa Long and GG (Great Grandma Long) came over for the afternoon and brought me some more Easter treats too. I think my favorite present was the rake.
Last weekend I was supposed to spend the night at Grammy Anderson's, but because they were predicting crazy tornadic weather, she decided to come to our house. Mama and Dada still got to go out to dinner, and I still got to have a blast with Grammy. I can't wait until I get to spend the night at her house.
I also had to go to the doctor, again. This time it was just for a well visit and I only had to get one shot, so that was good. Here are my stats:
Length-31.25 inches (54%)
Weight- 24.8 pounds (54%)
Head Circumference- 19 inches (80%)
This upcoming weekend we are going camping at Watkin's Mill. It should be fun. We went camping a few times last year, but I was just a little baby that couldn't do much more that sit in a bumbo. This time I will be able to run around like a wild man. I will keep you updated!
Jack is 13 Months
Well, I am really 13.5 months by now but who's counting. I also told you that I wouldn't be updating every month, but a few big things have happened since I turned one. The most exciting thing is that I started walking! I started off with taking a few wobbly steps between Mommy and Daddy and I just kept getting braver and braver, and now I don't crawl at all! Walking is so much faster and I can get into so many more things.
I also switched to the 1-2 year old room at daycare. We only take one nap a day, sleep on cots, and sit at tables without high chairs! I feel like such a big boy. We go outside every day, but the giant playground kind of scares me. There are all these kids running around screaming so I get a little overwhelmed, but once I find a Cozy Coupe to play with, things are better.
Hmmm, what else. Oh, I really, really, really love music. Mommy and I listen to music every morning when we eat breakfast and my favorite DVDs are the Laurie Berkner Band. I will stop everything to dance! I also love to hear Grandpa Long play the ukulele and sometimes I try to play too.
I don't think much else happened this last month. Mommy and Daddy had people over to watch the Super Bowl (I didn't care too much about the game, but I got to see my friend AJ), Grammy Anderson visited, as well as Gran-Nan and Grandpa Long. Soon I am going to get to spend the night at Gran-Nan and Grandpa Long's while Mommy and Daddy go to a concert, and we are planning a trip to visit Grammy Anderson in Emporia. It should be fun!
I will leave you with a video of me watching my favorite DVD:
If you want to see more of my 13 month pictures, go here.
Jack’s Bathroom Mirror Frame
Back in December of 2010 I blogged about finishing the guest bathroom remodel. Well, it wasn't exactly 100% complete. We didn't like the large mirror taking up the whole wall and knew we wanted to change that by either purchasing a smaller mirror or framing the one we had to give it a more finished looked. We bought a few different mirrors but none of them really fit the space. In the end we purchased some custom trim, painted it white, and then sat on the project for an entire year (due to the arrival of Mr. Jack).
Well, it's finally done! We actually bought a smaller mirror to frame instead of trying to attach the trim to the giant one we already had.
Brian, of course, executed the frame-making. Here he is using biscuits to join the mitered pieces together:
Here is the frame all put together. Brian also added heavy-duty L-brackets to secure the joints since it would be holding a huge mirror on the wall.
Brian used some wall mirror brackets to attach the mirror to the frame and then used heavy-duty fasteners and wall hangers to hang it on the wall.
And here it is in the 100% finished bathroom:
We love it and can't wait to do something like that in the master bath (if we ever get to it!).
Jack is One Year Old
I made it! The last month of my first year of life was awesome! There is so much to talk about as there was a lot to celebrate.
The month started off with a trip to Nebraska to celebrate the Keller Kristmas with Mommy's aunts, uncles, cousins, and Grandpa. I don't have any pictures of the event, but it was Mommy's turn at the bird ceremony so she had to tell the story of how Gandalf, the bird statue, brought us good luck throughout the year. The tradition of the lucky bird started many years ago and each year Gandalf is passed on to another family. Daddy helped Mommy with her presentation by creating pictures with Gandalf in them that represented what we did all year. Here is an example- me when I was one month old and Gandalf turning his backside to the camera because he was jealous of me getting my picture taken:
It was really fun to meet everyone, open presents, and eat a lot of good food.
Next up was Christmas Eve in Emporia with Grammy, Aunt Heather, and Cousin Taylor. Grammy cooked an awesome dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, crawfish gumbo, corn casserole, and other stuff I can't remember right now. Then it was present time! I made a haul! I think my favorite was the Cozy Coupe. Who can resist a Cozy Coupe. I also got drums, a rocking dog, Sponge Bob pajamas, Tickle Me Elmo, balls and puzzles.
Our next Christmas celebration was with Grandpa and Gran-nan Long, Great Grandma Long, Uncle Matt and Leigh. Again, I got a ton of presents! My Uncle Matt and Leigh got me this awesome jacket- dashiki I think? I also got a ball popper toy that I LOVE to dance to. It goes crazy and balls go everywhere!
For New Year's I got to spend the night at Grandpa and Gran-nan Long's. I had a lot of fun and fell asleep waaay before midnight. Mommy and Daddy tried to have a nice dinner out but I heard it was terrible. They said they still had fun with their friends. I think they stayed up until 2 A.M.! I don't know how they did it!
This last weekend was my birthday. My Mom and Dad threw me an Elmo party. Elmo is my favorite! My Grandmas, Grandpa, and Great Grandma came over to help me celebrate. Daddy made my favorite lunch- spaghetti, and Mom made Elmo cupcakes and my very own mini cake. I wasn't sure about the cake at first (it was bright yellow after all), but Daddy stuck a bite in my mouth and I was hooked. I think I am officially partied out for the year!
I did have to go to the doctor for my one year appointment. It wasn't bad except for having to get FOUR shots that hurt really bad! The doctor says everything is going well. I haven't quite started walking yet, but I have taken a few steps between Mom and Dad all on my own, so I am getting there. Crawling is just so much faster! Here are my most recent stats:
Weight- 22.2 lbs (42nd %)
Height- 29.5 inches (48th %)
Head Circumference- 18.75 inches (83%) (my head is finally catching up to Daddy's!)
Well, I think that's it for my first year. It was a lot of fun and I have learned a lot. I know Mom and Dad have had a lot of fun, but I know there were times that were really hard, and tiring, and I am proud of Mommy for making it the whole year feeding me herself. I am sure this next year will be just as fun and full of many new adventures.
I won't keep bothering you every month, but I will be sure to update you whenever something exciting happens. Maybe Mommy and Daddy will be able to do something other than work and take care of me! I hear they have a few projects in the works and may even have a small one completed. Stay tuned!