Snowflakes that fall on your nose and eyelashes

What I wouldn't do for some snow right now. Every day on the news the weatherman talks about the number of consecutive days over 90 we have had. After thirty something (which was sometime last month) I started tuning him out.
Anyway, here's Jack's nose and eyelashes.

!!!!REMINDER!!!!

Head on over to our new blog-

http://web.mac.com/theaustinurbans

Once you're there, you can read about our day (click on "our day" at the top). Or, if you want to see this months photos, click on the "about us" tab to pull up this month's album.
Oh, and I set it up so that you can add comments- to the blog OR to the photos. So, go on folks, show me some love.

This little monkey

Jack likes buttons. Belly buttons, shirt buttons, buttons on the TV, the remote, anything. If it's something he can press- watch out.
So, bad news. Jack figured out that my camera has buttons. Well, that's not allllll bad news, but it means that by the time I plop him on one side of the room and then zip to the other to get that great shot, he's already right behind me. Rather, he's right in front of me- on my lap, trying to get to the buttons.
So, here's the best I've got, folks. And, for what it's worth, I still think he's the cutest thing ever- even in extreme close up.

Fingerpainting for Daddy

And as a bonus: Three new things about Jack (that you may or may not want to know)

1. He loves trash cans. Loves them. If we come to your house, hide it. When we went to his 1 year appt., I had my back turned to fill out some forms. I heard him behind me and when I turned around to see what he was up to, I found that he had pushed a stool up again the trash can and climbed up so that he could reach in.

2. Speaking of pushing stools around...Jack will use anything he can as a step stool. Yesterday, I was checking my email with Jack in the same room. I heard him banging on something. I looked over and he was standing up on the coffee table. Standing.on.the.coffee.table. Apparently, he had pushed the (full) laundry basket over to the table and used it to climb up there.
   

3. He has two new games. The first is throwing things down the stairs. If it’ll fit through the baby gate rails, you can put money on it flying down the stairs. My favorite was this morning when he threw a box of screws. It was fun to pick up. The other game is affectionately called “Stick my hand in the toilet before Mommy can flush it.” I won’t go into detail about that one, but I will say that he is allowing it to morph into a game called, “What can I throw into the toilet before Mommy has flushed?

BIG NEWS!!! BIG NEWS!!!

In a couple of weeks, we'll be ending this blog (boooooo). No wait, this is good news. We're moving to a new site.
It's a work in progress and in the meantime I'll be trying to maintain both. But, if you have us bookmarked (all three of you...) you should change it now. Everything that is on this site (as of today) will be on the new site, so you're not missing a thing if you never come here again.

http://web.mac.com/theaustinurbans

Leaf. It's what's for dinner.

Still cute. Still thinking that leaves are delish.

Happy Father's Day!!

To all the fathers...we hope you had a wonderful day!
Love,
Jack and his Daddy

More walkin' (it never gets old)

Jack took the bull by the horns today. He was walking all over the place! He's still a bit shaky but he has gotten to the point where he can start, stop and start again (rather than start, crash, start, crash).
We took him outside while dinner was cooking to record his walking for posterity.

Here he is getting ready. Walking takes determination and focus. Focus.



He's ready to go, as always, just waiting for the cue (he really doesn't turn on the charm until he knows the camera is on him).



Annndddd.....he's off (with grass in hand)!

Walking and Stair climbing

Confession: If I were more tech-savvy, we would have more tape of Jack walking. Instead (because I started recording when I thought I had stopped recording), we have about 5 minutes of my foot with me, Jon and Jack all laughing in the background. And, while that, I'm sure is entertaining for some, it ended up on the cutting room floor.
Without further delay...here's Jack walking. No need to cover your eyes or gasp...he is unharmed in this clip.

We're ready!

Jack got an email from his Papa yesterday, letting Jack know how excited he was to see him in a month for our annual mountain trip!
Well, we're ready (or close to it). Here's Jack in his costume- of course blurred b/c we don't want to ruin the surprise. PLEASE, if you know what it is, DO NOT post it in the comments.
Austin nesties- 100% credit goes to MrsRosie.

Johnny Walker, Texas Ranger

Jack's loves walking around the kitchen these days.

Our German son was not raised on a farm...

Updates: We think Jack speaks German. We don't know how it happened. The kid can't say "mama" to save his life, but "Ich trinke mein Bier, indem ich lederhosen halte," (I drink my beer while wearing lederhosen) just rolls off his tongue. At least, that what we think he's saying. He also loves to shut doors. Whenever he enters a room, the first thing he does is shut the door behind him. He could play with doors for days! When he crawls up the stairs, he zips around the corner so that he can shut the gate before daddy gets through- what a trickster. When I'm in the bathroom, he'll wait just outside the door (the tapping isn't distracting AT ALL) so that he can shut the door when I'm finished.
Finally, Jack's taking steps! He made it to the double digits yesterday- twelve (consecutive) steps. Mind you, they were about 2 cm each, but it still counts! We're trying to get it on tape, but Jack loooves the video camera and if he's trying to get somewhere fast, he's all about the crawl. So, I have about 30 minutes of crawling video now.
I haven't taken any pictures of Jack, but I found this one while cleaning out computer space and it made me giggle. Look at that chub.

There's no title.

I made the mistake of taking a nap today. I never really woke up, so I can't think of anything for this title. So, there ya go.

It'll keep the Dr. away

Photo with the photo wall

Lyndsay was encouraging me to take pictures with Jack from further back, to incorporate him into the setting. That way, when we're looking back at these in 20 years, we can say, "Hey, I remember that- couch/ table/ blanket, etc."

She gave me the specific suggestion of getting a picture of him in front of the photowall- so, here he is! I thought about printing out a picture for the frame that doesn't have one- but I think this picture will go there, so it'll be cool that it's missing. KWIM (Tom& Mary, that means "know what I mean?")

Oh- I should add- this was a practice version of what will be the real thing. I know that one of the frames is crooked and there's a glare on the upper left side. Any other suggestions are welcome!

Can I just tell you...

....how much I love this belly? I also love how shocked he is to see a bus with a face.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

First of all....what?!? No comments about Jack's boo boo? Don't worry- I won't tell him. But, for those of you who were concerned, he's doing fine. He has a bit of a bruise, but he's working hard on adding some more to make the one on his head look smaller.

So, the family headed up to the DC area to celebrate Jack's big 0-1. Here's the photo of the day- Jack first taste of cake. He's such a gentleman with his little bites.


Here ya go, Polly. This one's for you! He didn't really get messy. We gave him a cupcake (rather than a whole cake) and he was really more about the cake part vs. the frosting (clearly, he didn't get that from me- I was eating the stuff out of the piping bags).

Check it out...

Last night, as I was getting dinner ready, I saw this out the kitchen window. Jon said it was a sign that he should go play golf. Whatev.

Jack's first big boy boo-boo

I know, I know- you were expecting to see some birthday photos. They're coming- don't you worry. But, we hit a new milestone today. Carnage. Big time. In fact, the faint hearted may want to close this website and come back another day.
Jack smacked his head on the door frame tonight. It was loud- so was he. Poor fellow. It actually feels a lot worse than it looks. This is him, pre-Ibuprofen.


Did you see it? It's that cut on his forehead that I'm talking about. We're expecting a goose egg in the morning. Stay tuned. Poor sweetie.

Up he goes

Jack has been going up the stairs for a while now. I just haven't had the guts to stand back and take a picture while he does it.



I think he got confused when I wasn't right behind him.



***I'll have you know, I was at f/2.8. So, that counts for one part of my homework. I was too afraid to back it up :)

Assignment 1: turn it down and back it up.

If you've seen that extra prance in my step, it's because I'm excited. A local photographer, specializing in children's/ family photography, has taken me on as a mentee. Seriously, so cool. There are three of us and today we met at my house. We talked, the kid played, we took pictures; life was good.
Lyndsay gave me two (major) pointers to get started. Dial down my f/stop (I'm going to work w. 2.8 this week) and back up to get more of the surroundings in the photo...basically, enough of the face shots, MC!!! So, be on the look out. I'm gonna turn it down and back it up!

If you have a chance, check her out:

www.lifeinmotionphotography.com

Operation: Get out of the house

I've been having issues taking picture of Jack recently. Either he's trying to grab the camera or crawl away as fast as he can. A photographer friend of mine showed me how, if you get down on the floor in front of the door, he'll come racing towards you. You should have seen Jack and I. He'd race to the door, me clicking away. I'd pick him up (he's confused at this point as to why he's not already outside), take him to the end of the hall and repeat. Oh, and we did go outside when we were done. And it was hot. H.O.T.

Speaking of toes...

I love his, too.

Toes

Jack loves 'em. He loves his own, he loves his momma's, he loves his daddy's. Show him some toes and he'll try to play with them. Fortuately, he's give up biting them for the most part; although, I do catch him chewing on his own while he's in his car seat.

So, here's Jack, looking cute.



But, here's what he's really doing (please note the toes):

Outside.

In a diaper.
On a chair.
Eating grass.

Life doesn't get any better than this.






Checking out the grassy goodness below.

A cap and a leaf

That's all it takes to keep this little guy happy. Oh, his new favorite game is called "don't look at the camera."

Jack, the superhero

Our son is amazing. Would you believe that this little boy can go from this:




...to this:




...to this:



in less than 2.5 seconds with absolutely nothing in his surroundings changing?!?

It's true. The kid is amazing.

Let's get back to the Jack we know and love.

Rooaaaaar!

Just a quick snapshot I got of Jack the other day while he was taking his lion for a walk.

Poor Jack

His world now ends at the bottom stair.

My days are numbered

Jack can really get around now. While he's definitely not to a full walk, he is crusing like it's going out of style. So, what does that mean to the Urbans?
1. The baby gate is up.
2. nothing is on the tables.
3. Every picture I take looks like this:

The whole fam...

Of course I didn't take this one. I can't type the photographer's name, because my n key is broken and I can't do a capital n. You can visit her site (www.ameliaclairephoto.carbonmade.com). And as soon as my n key is working again, I'll post her name!

In the grass

Believe it or not, Jack only ate one blade!

You can make it, Jack!

All those late night and early mornings are starting to catch up with him!


(no coffee was consumed by Jack...don't worry).

Who looks more tough?

Here's Jack with the Sheriff from the Bluebonnet Festival.

More Bluebonnets

Now, with a tree!

Getting Caught

It's clear now that Jack understands, "No." He also tends to be sneaky these days. He'll turn around to see if anyone sees him when he crawls out of the room. Or, if he's playing with something new (in this case, a different window), he'll check to make sure he's not going to get caught. Little did he know I was behind him the whole time!

Burnet Bluebonnet Festival

So, every year, Burnet (the Bluebonnet Capital of the world...or something like that) has a festival compete with a parade, rides, music and crafts. The highlight is riding the train out there. It takes 2 hours, but it's a lot of fun to see the sights on the way. I'll keep posting pictures in here as I edit them. For now, here's Papa and Jack riding the rails.



After about an hour and a half, Jack needed to stretch his legs. Here he is crawling down the aisle.

Video Time!

So, Jack clucks now. Like a chicken. If he's not doing anything and you cluck at him, he'll cluck back at you- over and over and over again. Have a look:

Show off...

Every where we go, Jack's showin' off his new teeth. He has a constant smile on his face. Be on the lookout for a top tooth, looks like it's going to come through sometime soon!



Here's Jack with his friend, Abby. They were playing, "This Little Piggy."

The bluebonnets are blooming!

'Cause that's what you do when you have two teeth...

These photos started out as a joke. I told Jon (on numerous occasions) that, as soon as Jack got some teeth, I was going to take pictures of him eating corn on the cob. Well, the joke was on me. That kid LOVES corn on the cob. It took him just a second to figure out what to do with it, but once it hit those teeth and the deliciousness that is corn on the cob hit his tongue, he was hooked for life. I managed to get a ton of pictures; he was too busy eating corn to crawl away!



We eat corn outside down in these here parts...
(Really, it was in case he dropped it. This way, I wouldn't have to mop the floor.)


That's a rough, tough, corn eatin' machine right there.