Life with a picky eater....

Let me preface all of this with...this was not the first attempt at green beans and grilled cheese. In fact, he's happily eaten grilled cheese before. He ate lots of green beans as a baby...no problem. This is what we deal with on a daily basis (as I'm sure have many others).

I set down the plate in front of a hungry Jack. I knew we were in trouble when he didn't immediately start picking anything up. We tried to get him to take a few bites. This didn't go over so well, as you can see......

When we tried to hand him the green beans, he'd take them. Fool us into believing he was going to try them. But, alas, here is where they ended up......

This left a whole plate of unfinished food (which might I add, that I'd made one whole plate, dropped it on the floor, and had to make a whole second plate before any of Jack's shanannigans)....

So we moved on to Plan B (yes, we still have a plan B because Jack does need to eat since his growth has been on the slow side). So we move on to mashed potatoes laced with microscopic tidbits of chicken (since he doesn't like meat I try to sneak it in).....

The results this time speak for themselves...

After scarfing down some yogurt as well....we once again have a happy boy! This picture is a little blurry, but you can see his big gap-toothed smile....

R-O-T-T-E-N!!!!!!

Straight Up

Jack's hair has gotten thick enough that I blowdry it now after baths. I wouldn't say he loves it, but he doesn't hate it (he does try to get out of it by cuddling and sucking his thumb, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do). Anyway, I always loved baby hair that stood straight up. I find it adorable. Jack's hair is way too fine for that kind of nonsense, though....but its fun to try!!!!

To the Zoo and Back...

Below are the pictures from our little trip to the zoo last Sunday. Jack seemed fairly intrigued by the animals (and for this reason, you don't really get to see his face too much because he's always staring in the opposite direction). Since its only a few minutes away and it gives us a great outside place to take Jack, we decided to buy a membership in hopes of going fairly often.

He wouldn't look away from the giraffes.

Cows are everywhere...and yet, we could hardly get him to leave.

Not too sure about the tortoise (god forbid you call it a 'turtle')

(Snacks--we don't leave home without them)

Not to be confused with a loon, these are mallard ducks. Ha ha Granny. Jack loves DUCKS--its one of the only few words he can say.

Trying to get this picture was impossible (i.e. Jack wouldn't cooperate)...but the shark tank at the Indianapolis Zoo is pretty awesome. Not many places you can go to (safely) touch live sharks as they swim around a few feet away.

Granny's House

We spent this past Saturday and Sunday at Bob's Mom's house. Jack was on the go from the second we got there til the minute we left. Thankfully, he slept the entire way home because he certainly never took a nap. Here are some of the pictures from the short little trip.

Battle Scars...

Jack has had a couple mishaps the last two days. Yesterday, he fell at the mall and busted his lip (although it was back to normal within a couple hours). Today, he tripped and hit the windowsill and cut open his forehead. I was working and got a slightly distraught phone call from Bob (since he's usually the calm one, this did not help me). I had him send me a couple pictures at work to make an official assessment of the situation. It didn't appear to require much...just a little pressure and some cleaning up. Jack acts none the worse for the wear. Although, I almost couldn't handle not being home. I wanted to rush home and scoop him up...more for me than for him I know.

I have to stay over tomorrow after work for an inservice, and I won't get to see him before he goes to bed--which means that I won't see him until Monday morning. I'm struggling with that one. Thankfully, he granted me a good cuddle session before I laid him down (he's doing this cuddling thing a lot more lately...especially before naps and bedtime...I know he's probably trying to stall, but he's never been cuddly before, so his tactics are totally effective).

Anyway, I think Jack's going to be sporting his gash and swollen/bruised forehead for awhile!!

My favorites...

We spent this weekend at my parents' house. The weather outside was beautiful. Jack absolutely loved playing on the tractor again. He wasn't too fond of touching the grass with his hands...but eventually adjusted. My dad bought an awesome new camera, and I had a blast taking pictures with it. I can't wait to get one of my own! I now have hundreds of photos of Jack, and I have to figure out what to do with them. These are two of my (many) favorites.

Pictures from the weekend...

Little extra update...

I forgot to post about Jack's new stats from his 12 month appointment.

Weight: 19lbs 8oz (5th percentile)
Length: 28.5 inches (10th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 inches (not even 5th percentile)

Basically, what this all amounts to is......one smaller than average boy!! It kind of looks like Jack lost weight, but truly the last time he got weighed was with all his clothes on...they really like to only use the well-baby visits for trending. At 9 months, he was 19lbs even...so he's gained 0.5lbs. His head and length though have increased since the last time they were measured. I certainly would feel better if he was following along the growth curve, but genetics and a crazy activity level are working against him. The pediatrician isn't concerned at all, so we'll just keep moving forward and see what he does in the next few months!

Today, we got to visit with Jace, Laura, and Greta for a little bit. She's growing up quick! Jack was fairly interested in Greta until he discovered the new linking block set they'd brought for him...he wouldn't let go of them until we pried them out of his hands before bed. Thanks, Uncle Jace, Aunt Laura, and Greta!! Anything that keeps him entertained is fabulous in my book.

Jack and I have a low-key day tomorrow (i.e. pajamas and maybe a good long nap together), and then its back to work as usual (these 4 days off were nice though after last weeks busier schedule).

Exploring at home...

Alternatively titled: Getting into everything I'm not supposed to

A Rare Treat

We rarely go OUT to dinner. We just don't have one of those kids that goes with the flow. He pretty much sets the current...and if we choose to go against, its not usually pretty. The last week has not been a pleasant one for us. It has almost seemed like Jack entered the terrible twos instead of merely turning one. He's been rather difficult. Our schedules were off. Trying to wean him from the bottle. He'd just gotten over being sick. He got shots. He has 2 teeth that are breaking through the surface as we speak. Not his fault--but it hasn't made it any easier. So far our life with a toddler has made us really miss what life was like with a baby.

Today, though, he was in much better spirits after a couple days at home (and after mommy discovered teething tablets--they actually have a warning on the box that your kid may fall asleep after taking--is that a bad thing?). So, anyway, we braved dinner after the haircut and it went quite well....as long as we kept the snacks coming. Stop the steady flow of puffs and crunchies and things get hairy real fast. But we had a nice time, and it was great to go to a rare dinner out as a family.