Halloween Costume Party and Playgroup

Yesterday was Jack's Halloween Costume Party and Playgroup. The little ones were so cute in their costumes and it looked like a zoo with all the different animals (dragon, giraffe, floppy bunny, butterfly, and of course Yoda).

Watching DoodleBops

Jack rarely sits down long enough to read a book or watch television but every once in a while he climbs inside his inner tube to watch DoodleBops or Backyardigans (mostly because both of them have signing and dancing in them). In order to get super comfy, he decided to pull his socks off !

Halloween Party at the Zoo

On Saturday we went to Lincoln Park Zoo's Halloween Spooktacular and Jack wore his Halloween costume. He is a dragon :)


At first Jack really liked his costume and wanted us to take his picture (he actually loves to get his picture taken and tries to say "cheese")
After a few minutes, though, he didn't like the hat any more and wanted to run around without it!

A Visit from the Grandparents

Jack's Grandpa Ed and Grandma Pam came to visit this weekend and Jack had so much fun! Of course they spoiled him rotten and when they left Jack cried :( They must have used some magic on Jack because they somehow managed to get him to sit still on the couch for longer than 10 seconds!

Learned a New Trick!

Jack discovered last week that he could remove his clothing whenever he wants. For some reason, this gave him great pleasure and made him VERY excited!

Pumpkin Patch

Here is our little "Jack"-o-lantern!Yesterday was our big adventure to Indiana to go to County Line Orchard. Mommy and Daddy have gone to this pumpkin patch for the past 5 years and were so excited to take Jack back this year. Look at how different Jack looks from one year ago!

This year Jack was big enough to ride the "Moo Choo" with Mommy and he LOVED it! We rode around the farm and through the apple orchards.

County Line Orchard also has an awesome kids farm and Jack was so amazed by all of the animals. He thought the goats were pretty interesting until one of them tried to eat oats out his hand. For some reason that made him cry :(

Jack thought the rooster was fascinating and kept wanting to stick his fingers inside the chicken coop.

Daddy and Jack "drove" the big tractor, which Jack thought was so cool!

The kids farm also had "Peter the Pumpkin-Eating Dinosaur".

Mommy and Daddy were so excited for Jack to pick out his pumpkin. First he got a picture with his face inside a pumpkin. Then Mommy and Daddy let him loose to pick out a pumpkin. He was soooo excited and immediately picked up the perfect pumpkin! He was not interested in any other ones and just carried his new "toy" around the pumpkin patch.

When we got home, Jack was still so excited about his pumpkin. He put it inside a box and then crawled inside with it!

After dinner, Jack got a special treat...an apple cider donut!!

Jack's Playgroup

Jack hosted a playgroup today and was so excited to share his toys with all of his friends. He loved having all the kids over to play and Milo loved all the attention he got too!

Helping Daddy

Jack thinks that the refrigerator is fantastic and makes a bee line for it whenever someone opens the door. Yesterday Daddy decided to clean out the fridge and Jack decided to help.

Jack's First Haircut

Mommy and Daddy finally got over their fear of cutting Jack's hair and yesterday the whole family made the trip to Snippets. Snippets is a very cool kids hair salon where the little ones get to sit in cars and airplanes and watch cartoons, all while getting their hair cut. Jack didn't seem to mind the haircut at all and in fact, he loved it when the stylists started tickling his face with the brush.

Before....

During...

After!

UVA Homecoming

Jack experienced his first UVA homecoming this past weekend and he had so much fun. Mommy and Daddy definitely think they have a Wahoo in the making!

Jack got to hang out with Mommy's sorority sisters and loved playing with the champagne corks.

He also loved Jayne's yard because there was tons of space to run around and get thrown around!

Our friends from Chicago Matt and Meghan came to Virginia with us and we had so much fun together. Uncle Matt LOVES to play with Jack, especially if it involves chasing each other or playing hide and seek.

Before coming back to Chicago, we got a family picture in front of the Rotunda.

Grown-up pajamas

For his birthday, Jack was given "grown up" pajamas. He looks so funny when he wears them because he looks like he is 40 years old!

When left alone with Daddy...

This past weekend, Uncle Dwayne and Aunt Tricia came to Chicago for a visit. On Saturday afternoon, Daddy volunteered to take care of Jack while Mommy, Dwayne and Trish went to see "Wicked." Apparently Jack wanted to give Daddy his afternoon's worth, so he set out to be as mischievous as possible. He decided to take a shortened nap and then decided to play in the lazy susan cabinet (one of 2 cabinets that don't have childproof locks because nothing will fit on them). While Daddy wasn't looking, Jack pulled out the baking soda and poured it all over the kitchen floor then played in it. Daddy did a great job of capturing the action...
What he didn't capture after this, however, was when Jack decided to pull the gallon of olive oil out of the cabinet and pour HALF of it on himself and the kitchen! Mommy can only imagine how entertaining that must have been!!!!

Lemons!

Jack has always liked fresh fruit. In fact, when Mommy was pregnant with him, it was the only thing she craved. Jack eats fruit with every meal and always wants it for a snack. Bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, watermelon, kiwi...you name it, he loves it. Apparently though, he loves ALL fruit. When we were in NYC, we went to an italian restaurant with Mark and Sarah and Chris ordered a tuna appetizer that came with half of a lemon. While the adults were engaged in conversation, Jack reached over to Daddy's plate, took the lemon, and started chowing down. We all sat in disbelief as he proceeded to eat the whole thing, including the rind! We eventually took it away from him, much to his protests, because we figured it can't be that good for a little tummy to eat half of a lemon!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Its been a while since we've updated the blog, but thats because we have been busy with Mommy's week-long birthday celebration. Mommy had a grown-up birthday party first, but the pictures from that party aren't necessarily appropriate for this page! For her birthday, Daddy also surprised Mommy with a last minute and very quick trip to NYC! While we were only there for 2 short days, it gave us the opportunity to catch up with Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah.

On his first trip the Big Apple, Jack also got to visit FAO Schwartz. He absolutely loved it! Jack's latest obsession are dogs so Mommy bought him two stuffed doggies which he repeatedly hugged and kissed saying, "hhhhhigh doggy". Jack also ran all over the store exploring everything. What a great place for a 13 month old.

Our trip to NYC also included a visit from mommy's friend Brianne. Mommy and Brianne have been friends since they were 7!