Jack Micah

I am writing blog posts about each of our kids in honor of their upcoming 2nd birthday, so this post is dedicated to Jack.

When Jack was one week old, I wrote this in a blog post:

"Jack: You don't cry as much as your sisters and you are definitely a bit more relaxed than them.  You are content just laying in your isolette even if you are awake.  You are a good eater as, like your sister Alexis, you have quickly increased the quantity of milk you eat.  Your favorite thing right now is your tiger blanket. Although you don't weigh much more than your sisters, you certainly have a bigger appearance as your fingers and toes are larger.  You are strong and steady and we love you so much!"

In some ways this description of Jack is consistent with his personality now, but in other ways he has changed. Jack is generally the first awake from the afternoon nap and although I really enjoy being alone during nap time because it is my chance to work on things around the house, for the most part Jack is content entertaining himself or "helping" me with things. When his sisters are around, though, Jack is much more on edge and I think this is because there is always someone around trying to steal toys or get in his personal space. Unfortunately, when Jack gets frustrated with his sisters his first reaction seems to be to bite them. I can usually see when it's about to happen, but it's hard to stop him in the moment. I'm hoping the biting phase will end once Jack figures out he can tell his sisters "no." 

Although he had the highest birth weight (by a few ounces), he is now smaller than both of his sisters by over 1/2 a pound and two inches. I'm sure this is due to him being a picky eater and it will all change once they hit their teenage years. Here are some of Jack's traits at almost 2-years-old:

• Overall he is a mommy's boy, but if one of the grandmas are around he is a "grandma's boy."
• These days he does seem to be a bit sensitive as he cries pretty easily and has a lot of mini tantrums, but I think this is just a phase.
• He is really nice to his sisters and loves to randomly give them hugs and kisses.
• He mimics everything we say.
• He gets super silly and runs in circles laughing.
• He loves to play with the water table.
• He can spend hours looking at and sorting objects such as cards to a matching game or Micah's old "Boxcar Children" books that happen to be in his closet.
• He is super curious and loves to inspect things and figure out how they work. One day he spent 20 minutes with a riding car flipped upside down and he kept spinning the wheels to figure out how they worked and looking at the axle.
• He loves dogs.
• He is fascinated by bikes, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, and other things that go.
• He can be very focused and can spend a good chunk of time building towers or doing some other focused activity, as long as his sisters don't bother him.
• He tends to be a very picky eater, and it's really hard to get him to try new things. Fruit is the only thing we are sure he will eat at every meal. He also seems to eat more at breakfast than lunch or dinner.
• He loves his gummy vitamins and every day he walks up to the counter where we keep them and says "vitamin" or something similar to that word.
• He enjoys singing and tries to sing along to the kid CD's that we play in the car. I love hearing his sweet voice "sing along" and someday he'll learn all of the words.
• He loves to explore, especially when we are outdoors at climbing areas.
• He is still sucking his thumb occasionally, even though we have tried to break the habit. We have been forgetting to put bandaids on his thumbs quite often at nap and bedtime, so most of the thumb sucking is our fault, but he has been great about not sucking it during the day.
• He is generally the last awake in the morning and the first awake at nap time.

Here are photos of Jack from the day he was born through now:

A couple of hours after he was born on 6/7/13

A couple of weeks old 

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months (smiling!)

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

13 months

14 months

15 months

16 months

17 months

18 months

19 months

20 months

21 months

22 months

23 months

(almost) 24 months

Over the last two years Jack has grown from a tiny 3 lb 3 oz baby to a toddler who is becoming an amazing little boy. We look forward to the years to come with our Jackie!