Just over the last few days Jay has taken multiple steps on his own. More often than not I think that he forgets what he is doing and takes them without even thinking. He is usually “walking” towards one of the animals or to get a phone or other electronic device he shouldn’t have. Occasionally, he will take a few steps to either me or Jamie; which I love- it’s great to have him walk to you!
Last weekend when he was playing with Piper I accidentally got a few of those steps on tape. Yippee for cool accidents :-) He was super excited to be playing with Piper, although I am not sure that Piper thinks it was too great since he just hands her the toy but he LOVED it. The first clip (towards the end) shows him taking a few steps, the second shows just a few more before Piper gets too excited to let him take anymore and in the last clip he is too excited to walk at all- it’s still adorable though. Enjoy!
p.s. sorry for the background laughing in the video, just can’t help myself!
Jay really loved seeing himself and Piper playing on the camera after it had been video taped. He heard the voices from across the room after I started playing it back, crawled up into my lap and watched fascinated until he had seen all of them.
I know I have already posted today, however; I couldn’t miss posting this one too!
How exactly did this happen? Where does all the time go? I am allowed to say this, I promise you, it’s my right as a Mother of a one year old. Seriously, I am pretty sure I blinked and the whole year passed us by. That being said, we have had the most amazing year and I wouldn’t change one bit of it (that goes for those low points and sleepless nights too).
Stats: (not official ones, we don’t go to the Dr for another week but here’s what Jamie and I got this morning…)
Weight: 20.5 lbs – Daddy will be turning his car seat around now!
Height: 28.5 inches
Teeth: 7- that 8th one is really holding out on us!
Things of note:
* Jay has taken a few steps on his own but isn’t walking yet. His balance is great and he is full on cruising but he just isn’t ready to walk yet. Right now he knows he can get anywhere he wants- and fast- by crawling so he isn’t in a real hurry.
*Most mornings and after most naps he is super excited to see us (Jamie or me) when we come to get him from his crib. He all but does circles in his crib out of excitement and usually looks around his crib for something to point to or show us- a paci, stuffed animal, a real animal that has followed me in the room.
*He is pretty shy. He hardly goes more than two feet away from me or Jamie when we are around a group of new people and he will rest his head on my shoulder when someone he doesn’t really know talks to him while we are out. If we are home however or around people that we know we can’t get the kiddo to stop jabbering. Sometimes it is so loud that we have to yell to be heard over him.
*He isn’t really talking yet although, we are pretty sure that he says Mama, Dada, kitty and possibly Bella. It’s just so hard to tell how deliberate each of those are.
*He is super curious about everything still. He points at the birds and the airplanes and is constantly saying “ooh” when we are outside. He loves to look at things and will all but crawl out of my arms and over my shoulder to take a look at something. He also will flatten himself out to peer under things. It really is adorable to see him smooshed up on the ground with his face pressed to the carpet and his booty in the air looking at or for something.
Likes:
*Blueberries!!! They are by far his favorite food right now. Jay knows the bowl that we keep them in gets excited and starts clapping as soon as he sees it come out of the fridge. Kiwi makes for a close second, he has an extra stomach for fruit and can’t get enough of it. As for eating, he is still a good eater and has added mullet dip, homemade yogurt, apples, french fries and cauliflower to his long list of likes.
*Balloons!!! He has a huge thing for balloons right now; honestly, we can’t even get into the check-out lane at publix before he is eyeing the balloons, pointing at them and then looking expectantly at the cashier. He is happy as a clam as soon as he gets one (he doesn’t care what color either) and can play with it for days. They only go away when I get sick of it and toss it while he’s napping- seriously- he had on in the bath one night since it was just easier not to fight it.
*He still loves the bath, he splashes around and would probably stay in there until he was super pruny and cold if we would let him.
*Playing with your toys. Jay has a corner in the family room that houses a good portion of his toys. He will go to town most afternoons there; taking everything out and tossing things over his shoulders. So far he really likes the drum sticks and egg shakers from his music set and his alligator pull toy best. He also loves the bbq tongs, mini loaf pans and measuring spoons from the kitchen and a basket full of old DVD’s and pens from in the office- none of these are exactly toys but we don’t care, we’re just fostering creativity here.
*Crawling in and around things. Jay loves to play in Piper’s crate and the laundry basket. He also loves to crawl around and through the legs on the dinning room and kitchen tables. If you add a balloon or alligator pull toy to drag behind him into the mix we have one happy, happy child!
*Peek-a-boo is still a favorite game and hide and seek has started to become fun as well. Although, I must say that Jay isn’t a stellar hider just yet.
Dislikes:
*Sitting still for anything! Getting his diaper changed, getting dressed, waiting for his juice before nap time. I have gotten really talented at quick diaper changes and putting diapers on a standing child after baths. We also have left a pile of things by the changing table to help distract him for just a few seconds while we change him.
More pictures because I can…
my shoot helpers consulting with Jaysharing- he will pass things that he likes to you now instead of just showing you them
relaxing a little bit...standinglove that smile!such a big boy and not easy to do on the squishy bedlooking for Piper after the shoot
We sure are sorry that Daddy had to head back into the office today. It has been so nice having him home the last few days (he worked from home Friday and Tuesday and had Monday off). Here’s hoping that Saturday will hurry up and come soon so we can play again!
playing at the parkjust hanging- honestly Jay really doesn't mind this :-)a little after nap time gamingsharing his duplo with Daddy
We have child locks on all of the really important cabinets now. This is something that has been on our list for quite some time and for one reason or another we just haven’t been able to check it off. But yesterday, while Jamie was off from work, he (along with his terribly cute helper) was able to put a few on. Yahoo, yahoo, yahoo!!
My knees (which have until now been holding them closed while little hands try to get in) and my sanity thank them both!
check out Jamie's serious face in this one- love it!!
Every year when everyone is together (which is usually only at the holidays) Jamie’s family takes a cousin picture. Last year they (the Moms and Dads/ Aunts and Uncles) made every cousin a book with all of the pictures- it was so cool to see everyone grow up from year to year. And also pretty darn funny to see some of the clothing (a lot of it was from the 80’s and early 90’s). This year Jay (since he is a cousin too) was included in the picture. I can’t wait to see this picture continue to grow as the family continues to grow!
some other group shots that I (or others) took that day…
the Perreault kids plus me and JayCooper kidsConstant Family shotMary Beth and SeanMary Beth and MichaelMimi and her girlsJamie and his sisters
We took so many pictures over the holidays and I have been steadily trying to play catch up. I have finally sorted through all of our holiday ones so here they are…
Sit back, relax and stay awhile :-)
Jay and Mommy playing ball with PiperDaddy and Jay playing four square (they made a good team) at the Holly/Holly Birthday partyYAHA playing four square- one of my two favorites from the game picsa Mimi victory dance- my other favoriteMary Playing a solo at the annual Sing-a-longI can't remember what song this was- maybe Josh would?Aunt Nancy getting the Sing-a-long quilt, it was beautifulChristmas Eve- the bows were so much fun!beautiful tree- spoiled familySanta came- Jay must have been good this year!proof that Santa was here- reindeer tracks in our family room!Christmas morning
playing with his new pull toyPerreault Family picture- 2010Jay's first Christmas walk aroundthe parade...dancing to holiday tunes with YAHA and Mary BethScott and FrannieDaddy with a sleepy boy after his napGrandmom and Jay opening presentsunwrapping time!annual holiday pictureannual goofy picture of Scott and Frannie (or at least annual for Scott)Grandmom and Jay by the treetrying to get a group shota little better this time
okay, this isn’t exactly wordless but… honestly this makes my heart melt a little! The other morning Jamie got out his sax (which he hasn’t played in quite some time) and played tons of children’s songs for Jay. Jay stood there in amazement watching him- sweet Daddy, sweet Boy…
If you noticed Nan’s comment on the last post she mentioned outtakes from our shoot- so Nan because I love ya (and I meant to put these up with the last post) here they are!
While we were taking pictures Jay was sitting on Jamie’s shoulders and while he was up there he spit up a little. Normally this wouldn’t nearly be as funny; however, it took the spit up a good 15 minutes to seep through Jamie’s hair (it’s wild and sticks up a bunch) and reach his scalp. When he finally realized we had almost finished taking pictures (so it was in his hair in most of the pictures) and I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to help him clean it off.
what's even funnier now is how nonchalant Jay seems to be during all of this
Oh and because I love these of Nan and her fellas, I will share them too… isn’t she great and her boys are pretty superb too!
beautiful, just beautiful!one of the many reasons I love this girlthe knights
I love, love, love sending (as well as getting) holiday cards each year and I get so excited to start sending them out. This year Jamie, Jay and I met up with Nan, Jeremy and Leyton to get family photos for the cards- I took theirs, she took ours and man-o-man do I love how they turned out!! I am super, duper lucky to have a wonderful and talented friend, Nan, who is willing to put up with my crazy ideas (trespassing in an orange grove to get family photos done) and then design my holiday card each year. She is amazing, trust me, and I love everything that she has ever done for me and she’s done a lot.
Since, I sent them the week before Christmas and I am assuming everyone has already gotten them; I am going to post a few more from that day that didn’t make it on to the card but are too good not to share…
a picture of the ginormous pile of cards that we sent before they were dropped off a the post office- we send close to 80 each year
great one of my guysprecious, just preciousone, two, three- wee!! probably my favorite from the day
2010 has been a blessed and wonderful year for us. However, I am super excited to see all that 2011 has in store for us! Happy New Year Everyone!
January- We waited around, finished up last minute baby preparations and welcomed James Vickers Perreault Jr to our family.
February- We celebrated Valentines Day with our little love bug, enjoyed the Olympics, cuddled a lot and didn’t get much sleep.
March- We had visitors from Cananda (Great Grandma and Great Auntie Deb) and Asheville (Aunt Nicole), we spent a lot of time outside enjoying the weather and Daddy went back to work part time.
April- We celebrated Jay’s first Easter and Earth Day and we started sleeping through the night frequently.
May- We celebrated our first Mother’s Day, Jay laughed and rolled over for the first time, he met some more of his cousins (Mary Beth and Sean) and we took our first swim.
June- We celebrated our first Father’s Day, Jay started sitting up on his own and eating solid foods and we had another visit from Aunt Nicole.
July- We celebrated Canada Day, the Fourth of July, Jay’s baptism and Mom’s 28th birthday.
August- We sat in grass for the first time without a blanket, we enjoyed some really nice afternoons outside and we started scooting around on our belly.
September- We started going to the Library Storytime, planted our first garden, played at the park in the swings a lot, began crawling and we took our first trip to Terra Ceia.
October- Our little Jay Bird got his first set of wings, we ate our fill for Canadian Thanksgiving and we celebrated Daddy’s 30th birthday.
November- We (Jamie and I) celebrated 5 years of knowing each other, we hung out in the hammock a whole lot and we cruised to the Bahamas and Key West.
December- We decorated our house for the holidays, we (Kristen) baked a ton and we celebrated the holidays with tons of family.
the perreault family 