Jack and Bella

Jack has lots of little friends around his age but none closer than Bella LaPine, who is just a week and a half younger. Bella's parents, Matt and Molly, are in our small group and we have loved sharing the adventure of being new parents with them. Jack and Bella play together at least once a week and they are hilarious together. Bella LOVES watching Jack and she just cracks up and smiles at him all the time, whereas Jack is not super interested in her...he just wants to play and explore. She's a social female and he's a determined, one track mind (always focused on toys and moving) male. He is all boy and she is all girl and we love watching them learn and play.

Bella: "Hey Jack, where are you going? Pay attention to me!"


Bella was squealing with delight watching Jack crawl around


Jack: "Hey Bella, give me that toy!"


Aren't these two the cutest?!

On the Move

It's official...we have a crawler at the Griffin house. Jack has been scooting and army crawling around the house for a while now and last week he figured out how to really crawl. He is getting faster and faster every day! Now that he can really move, Jack has been particularly interested in crawling to Lucky and his bed, yanking on lamp cords and anything plugged in, and looking out the front window. He has even figured out how to push up and stand to look out the window. I guess it's time to baby proof and start keeping the floors really clean since that's his favorite place to be these days!

This is how happy Jack is when his dad comes home from work every day. He was crawling to go see him!


Concentrating hard on trying to stand up with the help of the toy basket...


That's right, he wants to crawl all over Lucky's dog bed.


Thinking hard about where to go next...


Don't judge, we usually don't let him yank on cords, but I just had to take a picture of him in the act!


Trying to take a picture of him straight on while he's crawling is very difficult because he can move so fast!

Six Months Old!

Our happy little six month old!

This post is a little bit late, but better late than never...and this one is definitely a long one, mostly so I can remember what's going on at this milestone! Jack's half-birthday was on January 27th, and I really cannot believe that half a year has gone by with Jackson Cameron Griffin in our lives. The past six months have really flown by, and I'm sure the next six will go even faster. (I didn't feel like time was flying for the first few weeks when we never slept, but that all seems like ancient history because big boy has been sleeping for 11-12 hours a night since he was about 10 weeks old!) We had Jack's six month check up this week and he got five, yes five, shots. It wasn't pretty, but he survived and Dr. Moore said he is a healthy bay boy! (He also said he can tell we have a couple more teeth on the way, so I hope they poke through soon!) Here are his six month measurements:

Weight: 18 lbs, 7 oz (65%)

Height: 28 in (90%)

Head circumference: 17 1/4in (55%)

I have truly loved being a stay at home mom, although we have our good days and some rough days. My friend Mary Catherine gave me a great little quote about being at home with young children..."the days are long but the years are short..." I've thought of this so much over the past couple of months especially on days when Jack refuses to nap or on the day when I stepped in dog throw up after changing a diaper with poop all the way up the back and then getting spit up all over me and Jack as we're walking out the door in fresh clean clothes...yes, that was a long day. But when I think and reflect on the past six months I really feel like I blinked and Jack went from being a newborn to a very active six month old boy.

I emphasize active because that perfectly describes my six month old son. He is a very busy guy! One of Jack's new things these days is arching his back and sitting forward to get out of the car seat as soon as I put him in. The bumbo seat is not his friend. Being confined in any way is not at the top of Jack Griffin's list. He does however, love his high chair, playing on the floor, bouncing in his exersaucer, riding in the stroller, and laughing at Lucky. Jack has figured out how to move his body, so that is what he wants to do...all the time. He's a kicker, squirmer, and wiggler. He loves to scoot/crawl on his tummy, and he has even figured out how to push himself with his arms from a crawling position to a sitting position. This new skill has resulted in sitting in the splits a few times (which he hates), but nonetheless he loves to move. I have to figure out how to baby proof my house..what do I do with all our cords?!

Even though Jack is an active boy, he has a pretty laid back personality. He smiles and flirts with pretty much every who talks to him (unless they are talking really loud, sometimes he's scared of people with loud voices), and he can be flexible and happy in almost all situations and places. Jack loves being in a routine, and I have definitely worked to get him into a flexible schedule (I like to use the word flexible because I don't want Jack to be so dependent on a rigid schedule that he can't go with the flow). Most days look like this:

7:30-8ish: Wake up! Garrett gets Jack out of bed almost every morning, changes his diaper, talks a little, and then I feed him

8:30: Breakfast (usually some baby oatmeal and fruit)

9-10ish: Play time...we usually scoot on the floor and listen to Praise Baby or watch a little today show while I drink my coffee:)

10-12: Morning Nap-This is when I try to get some things done for myself and get organized

12: Bottle Feeding-Jack always gets a bottle at lunch time because we are usually running errands or meeting someone for lunch or something, so we usually start the bottle at home and finish it wherever we are (he fights the bottle big time, so it can be a little bit of a process)

12-2: Play time, errands, lunch

2-4: Afternoon nap, then feeding when he wakes up

4-8: Play time, afternoon walk, dinner time, daddy comes up, bath time, read books, and bed!

When I put Jack to bed every night, I take a few minutes and hold him on my shoulder or my chest after I feed him because he's usually conked out and there is nothing sweeter than holding a sleeping baby, feeling him breath, and thanking God for my little miracle. This is also the only time that Jack is still and cuddly! Lately as I've held him with his little body sprawled out all over me, I have been thinking about how in the world he got so big and became such a boy. Even though it's only been a few months, I don't want to take my time with my precious son for granted, so I thank God for my boy and pray that He would give me the grace and the patience and to be thankful even on the long days and that one day Jack would know God's amazing love for him and come to know his Savior

Peas Please!

We found a vegetable that our little guy loves...peas!  He has also been loving carrots lately, and he prefers the ones I boil and puree for him instead of baby food from a jar.  Even though it's a little more trouble to make some of my own baby food, I'm glad Jack likes fresh veggies! I realize that I have been posting lots of pictures of Jack with food all over his face, but this is the phase we're in these days, so here are some more...

Peas make me smile...

 I even giggle some when I eat peas...

Or I can just get into a full belly laugh I'm so happy to be eating my mommy's pureed peas!

Sweet Friends

Last weekend my sweet sister in law Jessica and my precious friend Amy Holland came by for a visit on their way through Dallas for a girls weekend.  They got in a little play time with Jack and Garrett was sweet to be on dad duty so I could get in some girl time with them!  If only I could see these two more often...Jack loves his Aunt Jessica and Amy!