ANDREA MARK JACK: December 2007

On December 14th Jack turned 8 months old. He's now rolling over both ways and realizing that he can move his body towards whatever it is that is holding his attention, whether that's a book, a toy, Parchita, or the Christmas tree. Not crawling yet, but we're in no rush--once he turns that corner there will be no stopping him! He's also eating not just cereal now, but peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes too. Jack is quite a verbal baby much of the time, and communicates through grunts, giggles, whines, spitting noises, and plenty of sounds that may at some point turn into words. We're starting to use some baby sign language, and once his little hands are capable of using them too, hopefully frustrations will be eased. For the most part, Jack is sleeping through the night, which thrills us to no end. Before going to bed at night, he loves to read books or take a bath. Yellow ducks always make him smile, and he loves to play with his rubber ducky in the tub! Napping is not quite as easy as nighttime, since Jack fights it in some very creative ways, like swatting at his own ears. We suppose he just has too much fun playing with us and his babysitters Jeanay and Amanda, who are truly wonderful.

Last week, Jack was a trooper throughout our trip to Denver and his surgery at Children's Hospital. Jack recovered quickly and is just fine. No long term issues, just glad to have it done. Nothing to worry about, we promise! The positive of the trip was that Crested Butte friends (Kara and her family) coincidentally were in town too the night before, and we all went out for pizza as the snowstorm arrived.

Saturday we fly to Boston for the Delorey family Christmas. We have a whole week there and can't wait to experience Jack's first Christmas (although we suspect we will hardly see him with so many people who are going to want to hold him!). We'll also get up to Vermont for a night to spend a little time with Julie and her family. After the New Year back in Colorado, my mom will fly out from their new home in North Carolina to spend two weeks with us. Then we're off to Florida with my dad to introduce little Jack to his Great Grandparents Ray and Carolyn Smith. February will take us to Chicago with my mom for a Hood family reunion, where Jack will also get to meet his Great Grandmother Margaret Hood. Just before that on our anniversary weekend, we'll head up to the mountains to Devil's Thumb Ranch for a long weekend with my good friend Emily, who'll be coming in from Atlanta with her fiance (a change of status just two days old!). We plan to do some serious cross country skiing and relaxing by the fire. So much to look forward too!