Little Jack is ONE!

4 teeth, a cut on his nose from crawling off the couch and mouth covered in pumpkin bread.  The face of a happy 1-year-old!

Jack turned one on October 11th and it's taken me two weeks to sit down and properly write about this little boy who has made our lives even better than we imagined possible this time last year.

October 1, 2011.  Still 10 days to go!

I spent the week leading up to Jack's birthday reliving that same week a year ago--a week which started when I thought I was in labor, only to have everything stop.  We called Mum and Dad to camp out in Stamford and be on call should we need to rush off to the hospital.  Every morning, Mum, Dad and Jim would look at me with their faces saying, This could be the day! and every night, I'd go to bed thinking, How long can this baby stay inside me?!  We had a great week of long walks, delicious dinners and Downton Abbey.  Jack enjoyed it so much that he decided to stay put exactly one week past my due date.  On the night of October 10th, I went to bed and woke up at 2:30am to what were unmistakable contractions.  At 3:30, when I realized they weren't stopping, I woke Jim up (his hair had been properly cut days before, in anticipation that we might not have time during labor this time around!), we headed off to the hospital and Jack was born a couple of hours later.  It was quick (albeit not quite painless) and made up for that extra week of being pregnant.

One year later, we have this wonderful little boy.  That's really the only way to describe him.  He's such a boy!  He's got his chubby cheeks, he loves his food, loves cuddles, loves climbing all over Jim, loves "brrrrrooooming his cars" and loves throwing things.  He has developed his own personality and has established his own little place in our family.  Just like Lilly, Jack took his first real steps on his birthday, chasing some balloons.  He spent the next 10 days selectively walking and crawling, and then on Tuesday, he decided that walking was the way to go.  Jack can be found at any given time tottering around the house, both hands up in the air with a proud smile on his face before he crashes to a halt without warning.  I forgot how sweet a stage this is.  Every time Jack's little feet stomp up to me, I smile or clap and say "yaaaaay" (which inevitably distracts him and knocks him over) and give him a hug.  I know it's going to pass too quickly and he'll be chasing Lilly in no time.  Here's a little snippet of his first couple of days walking--almost a week ago. (You can change the setting to watch the video in HD, and watch it on a full screen on youtube if it's not big enough!)

It's also an incredibly perilous time.  Corners are an especially big obstacle at the moment, as are any objects on the ground.  He doesn't so much as glance at the ground so anything lying in his path poses danger.  This is made even more difficult given that aside from walking, Jack's favorite activity at the moment is taking every single toy in the house out.  He plays with some and tosses others, but it's easy to see how these two activities don't necessarily agree with each other.  I spent much of today clapping and cheering for Jack while darting around the house making sure that there was nothing in his way that would send him crashing to the ground.  I'm not ready for another trip to the emergency room just yet--and these hardwood floors are much less forgiving than the carpet in our previous house.

The first glance at his birthday balloons!

The balloons came everywhere with Jack, all day long!

Reading his birthday card from Gigi & Papa

Jack got his very own toolbox!

Cruising in his new car

In the past week, Jack has also acquired four, yes, that's right...four...new teeth!  In a week, he doubled the number of teeth in his mouth so he currently has eight little choppers.  I think at this point, teeth are just a formality.  Jack manages to eat everything without them anyway so I don't really know how they'll help but at the very least, they'll make his smile less jack-o-lanternish.

Jack is a happy little boy (especially now that those teeth have come in!) and has figured out things he can do that make everyone laugh.  He knows that when he grabs his bib at the table and waves it up and down, Lilly laughs.  Or when he drops his food on the ground and says, "uh oh," Lilly laughs.  He does these things over and over again!  He loves it when we sing songs and he tries to sing along with us with his "baaaa baaaaa's".  He's learned how to open and shut his hands and clap them when we sing "open, shut them, open, shut them, give a little clap, clap, clap" and grins whenever we sing that little song.  He flips through books, turning the pages and "reading," meaning that he makes "aaaaaaah" and "mamamama" noises while he turns the pages.  He waves to everyone, usually with a few seconds delay so that most people still miss his waves.  And boy, does this little guy love his Dad.  When he hears Jim's voice on the phone, his face lights up and he looks at the door that Jim walks through when he comes home from work.  I saw his longest stretch of walking last night when Jim came home and Jack walked all the way from the kitchen to the living room doors to give him a hug.  Completely and totally priceless.  When Jim is home, Jack likes to be playing with him or held by him at all times.  And when Jim leaves for work in the morning, Jack stands by the door waving for a good five minutes after Jim has gone.

Jack enjoyed opening his presents the morning after his party!

Very excited to have his own basketball hoop!

Covered in pumpkin bread and couldnt' be happier!

As I sit here writing this, I'm feeling the kicks of this next little baby, who I'm sure will have made his or her impact by this time next year.  I was 20 weeks pregnant on Tuesday, making me just over half way there.  I cannot believe how fast this pregnancy is flying by.  At my doctor's appointment this week, my doctor went through the usual routine and then said, "well, given how quick your labors are and now you have 2 little ones at home who need looking after when this baby is born, I'd love to induce you at 39 weeks."  After the initial shock, I started laughing.  I was not prepared to talk about this baby being born yet...let alone induction, which she knows I'm not really in favor of.  So we agreed to "think it over" as we always do, which means that she knows that she's put the idea out there and that I probably won't be taking her up on it, but I thanked her just the same and said that we could revisit the topic in three months or so.    

We celebrated Jack's birthday with our friends on Saturday, and I took a few pictures, although I stopped taking pictures early on so that I could enjoy spending time with everyone.  Here are a couple of highlights from the afternoon.

Lilly and Stella, waiting for a ride

Clark takes his lawn mower duties very seriously...

Oliver, just hanging out in the car

Sweet little Margaret who sat in her stroller and took it all in

Mel, Margot and Maureen

Peter and Daniel, cruising around with their dad.

Stella and her new sister, Emi

Birthday candles!

Not sure what to do with his cake

...so he smashed it up and started dropping it on the ground.

I don't know why we waited until the end of the party to try and get a picture of all the little ones.  Some had already gone home and the rest had no desire to sit for a picture...

...a video would have been much more entertaining.  Everyone was trying to make a break for it!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Jack!