May - 15 months

5-1-14 - Happy May Day!  Maybe next year he'll be a little quicker ;-)

5-3-14 - Lunch while shopping is way more entertaining with this kid...

Getting so big :-/

5-4-14 - Henry had his 1st communion today...he sure is becoming quite a young man :)

This little stinker on the other hand is becoming quite the turd.  Right in the middle of Henry's reading he decided it was the perfect time to let us know there would be no sitting quietly.  After a few trips to the back of the church, Kiel ended up taking him to the car so everyone else could pay attention to the ceremony...good thing he's cute.

After a quick stop at home, we headed to Henry's for lunch and cake.

And this happened...

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of Jase coasting across the yard on HAB's gator lol  Grandpa Gregg set him on it and off he went!  I don't even think he knew his foot was on the pedal controlling the gas.  You can tell he wasn't going very fast (battery was almost dead), but it was perfect for him and absolutely hysterical!!  I guess it's time to get the Raptor he got from Grammy & Papa for Christmas out of the basement!

5-5-14 - Our morning started with one of those dreaded 5am phone calls that makes your stomach turn before you even say hello.  It was my dad telling me his baby brother, my Uncle Jeff (53), had died in his sleep early that morning.  Obituary  Even as I write this (17 days later), it still feels like I dreamt the whole thing.  My Grandpa's passing last September still seems so fresh, so losing the baby of the family (#11 of 11) was shocking to say the least.

Photo from Jeff's facebook page

I laid there til my alarm went off thinking about swimming in their pool with my cousins...probably early 90's.  The balcony on the 2nd story of their house that looked down into the living room and how it seemed so fancy! lol  His Donald Duck voice he used whenever there was a kid present. And all the stories my dad has told me about Jeff when he was younger.  He was the youngest and he acted like it.  He was always getting into trouble and fights, wrecking cars, and begging my dad to cover for him when he was underage.  They were the last ones in the house together so of course they were close and when Cindy was still living in Riverside, they spent a lot of time with Jeff and Darcy going to games and races and having cocktails :) 

"Jeff lived hard and died easy." - Aunt Rita.  Amen.

The day Jase was born, my dad sent me a text just moments after Dr. Ingram broke my water that said, "Tell them to stop.  Today is Jeff's birthday."  Little late for that...guess it was just meant to be :)

All the men in our family strive to be someone's "favorite uncle" so it was only appropriate for Jeff to give the new baby that now shared his birthday this gift...

April 15, 2013 - 2 months old

I didn't think Jase would ever wear the White Sox shirt Jeff & Darcy gave him, but the White Sox played the Cubs the day of Jeff's wake...it was the perfect time.   

My dad had just talked to him the night before about a family friend that is sick and the new deck he and Darcy were putting on the house.  Darcy said he was tired so he went to bed early and just never woke up.  It was his daughter's birthday, the day before my Grandpa's birthday and his wake (3 days later) was on my dad's birthday.  It was an emotional week.

With a family as large as ours, we should count our blessings everyday for as many years as we've all had together already.  Life is short.  Hug your babies and your parents and your siblings and your everyone you've ever loved every chance you get...you just never know.

I'm not sure I have the faith to be able to selflessly embrace the saying "it's all part of His plan" but I do have hope that our loss became insignificant compared to his gain when he made it home and saw all those smiling faces waiting for him.

Thanks for being you Uncle Jeff.
Rest in peace.

Photo from Jeff's facebook page

  

5-6-14 - Jase was RUNNING to play with his friends at daycare before I even got his coat all the way off this morning...a much better drop off!  And then around lunchtime, I got a text from Kyra that said, "We've got a biter he's tried to bite two kids today if they're in his way lol"  Super.

5-7-14 - Parenting...we're doing it right.

5-8-14 - While we didn't really celebrate, Grandpa turned 57 today!  I think Jase made the day a little easier, showing off his attachment to my dad by hugging him and yelling "GRANDPA" every 2 minutes while we were at the wake.  Kids can be great distractions.
 

At dinner on the way home from the wake

5-9-14 - Traffic delayed the graveside service held for Jeff (being late is SO not a Russell thing ;)), but it turned out to be a beautiful day and my Uncle Bob did a great job celebrating Jeff's life.  We headed home to grill out and enjoy the sunshine...
 

5-10-14 - Jase's first trip to the zoo!  It went much better than the trip to the aquarium lol  But I do have to say the Bloomington zoo is a little disappointing.  It's about perfect for Jase since he's still taking 2 naps and gets antsy in the stroller, but I guess I was just expecting more animals rather than mostly spiders and birds.

There is a splash park and playground right across from the zoo so we ventured over there when we were done and Kiel said to me, "I'm not ready for him to go play with those other kids.  They're going to knock him down and be mean to him."  Jase was crabby and tired so we didn't get a chance to find out, but it made me smile to hear his concern for our little man <3

 

5-11-14 - Happy Mother's day!!!

5-12-14 - This kid's personality is really starting to come out.  He walks around the house pointing at things he's not supposed to touch shaking his head and saying "No No" and then touching them :-/

5-15-14 -  We should have had Jase's 15 month well check on Monday the 5th, but our dr went home sick so we rescheduled for the 7th only to have to reschedule due to an emergency with the physician's assistant's family.  Third times a charm!

As you can see from the stats above, Jase is still BIG!  98% for height @ 33.5" and 84% for weight @ 25.9 lbs.  He really leveled off in the weight department since becoming mobile, but is still progressing well so no concern.  Not pictured is his head circumference which not surprisingly is in the 98% as well HA HA!

Dr suggested we give the vitamin another shot (he didn't take well to it when he was a newborn) because his toenails are very brittle and have a white line through them like he's lacking some time of nutrient.  He has ingrown toenails just like Kiel & me so his feet have always been something I keep an eye on and I figured she was going to suggest that.  We'll give it a try!

He checked out great in his gross motor skills along with vocabulary and eating habits.  The nurse came in and gave him his 15 mo shots and the kid didn't even wince...until she put the band-aid on.  Note to self:  Jase does NOT think band-aids are cool yet. 

The day after I got the biting text from Kyra, I walked in the door for pick up and Bevin promptly informed me that Jase bit her & Mallory who was still SOBBING in the corner.  I know from experience how sharp those little teeth are so I.felt.horrible.  He has been better at home about it, but he still nicks my arm or shoulder every now and then.  I think he has formed a terrible habit of biting his blankie (which I used to think was so cute) and is actually trying to bite clothing and ends up getting skin.  We don't let him get away with it and have seen that bottom lip many times from scolding him, but this phase seems to be holding strong.  Fingers crossed he never draws any blood.

Half way through May already?!?!?!?

2nd VCUG in the next update...prayers are appreciated for little man's kidneys...and wiener!

-Nicole   

April Part II - 14 months

Some Jase facts I've jotted down over the past month...

Obsessed with french fries - any kind

Mostly out of convenience, but also because he eats them really well breakfast is almost always waffles or pancakes with some kind of fruit or yogurt.  I think it's fair to say kid eats WAY too much syrup.

Since he is such a good eater, it's almost easier to list what he doesn't like right now...
Mac n Cheese  (whhhhhat?!)
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (but likes peanut butter out of the jar, thanks daddy)
hot dogs
cheese by itself
eggs

Shakes head and says no a LOT.  "Jase are you a good boy?" "na!"

Can point out his and your eyes, nose, and belly button.  He knows his ears and toes too, but won't point to them on command.

Still loves Mickey Mouse, Despicable Me, and almost anything on the Disney Channel

Remember when I used to write about laying Jase on the changing table and he would instantly be happy?  Long gone are those days.  Unless of course...you hand him a golf ball.

His new favorite place is the front porch.  I cleaned it up and made a play area for him for some different scenery now that it's nice, but also for my sanity as the clutter in the living room keeps growing.  I think he would spend all his time out there if we would let him. 

He's in 18-24 mo shirts (some 2T depending on the brand) and 12-18 mo pants.  We need to get this kid some junk in his trunk and longer legs.  He's ALL torso!  He's in size 4 diapers - will get back to you on height and weight next week at his 15 mo check up.

Can say:
Dada
Mama
Tractor
Quack Quack
Woof Woof
Car ***favorite word***
Truck
Grandpa
Cracker
Kyra
Go
No
I swear he said banana once
Bye Bye
Ya - mostly a coincidence I think, but always in the correct context!
Pah...Pah - no idea what this means but he says it constantly...please? balloon? light?  NO IDEA!

It cracks me up when we are doing things like putting on his coat and his muscle memory kicks in.  I love when he's not even paying attention to me, but puts his foot in the air for me to put his shoe on or automatically switches whatever he's holding to the other hand so I can get his other sleeve on.  One night, I asked him if he would take his pants off so he could take a bath and he started pulling at the butt of his jeans...ya, he gets it.

I really feel like he's becoming less of a crawler-learning-to-walk and more of a full time walker.  He doesn't rely on something sturdy to stand up as much as he did just a few days ago so he's more likely to just get up and walk to you rather than crawling now.  A friend of ours said to us at dinner tonight that it's weird to see him stumbling around learning to walk because he's so big it makes him look older.  I have been thinking this for weeks lol.  And it's really made me conscious of "babying" him.  I'm suddenly very aware of how often I carry him around the house and how accustomed to that he's become.  I also think I'm so blown away every time he does something new because it took him so long to walk.  Almost like, in my mind, walking is the first step to becoming a big boy and now that he's done it all these new feats are like a domino effect.  Baby steps for both of us :)

On to pictures & videos!

4-17-14 - Random trip to Walmart = an early Easter present?

(video)

It's turkey season!!!!!!!!!!  Gobble Gobble

4-18-14 - Random trip to the golf course...

4-19-14 - Nicole & Trina turn 30 this month - Happy Birthday Month Ladies!!!  #dirty30 #blessed

So we dropped Jase off at Aunt Shilo's for a sleepover and headed to St. Charles for some adult time.  I love when it works out for us to get together...it's always a great time with these ladies!

-

 

4-20-14 - Happy Easter!

But I love coming home to my boy even more!  J & Hayden kept him more than entertained so I'm sure he didn't even miss us, but I missed him!  We had a little photo shoot followed by an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids in the backyard...

There's an on going theme with Easter Egg Hunts and Jase...

After the egg hunt was over we got cleaned up and ventured to Hudson where Kiel's cousin Trevor lives and had ANOTHER egg hunt lol  Great food, great weather, great people...a beautiful Easter Sunday!

4-22-14 - He makes us laugh every.single.day. (video)

(video)

4-23-14 Want to know what doesn't make me laugh?  When my kid cries at drop off in the morning.  I'm about 99% sure Jase started going to Kyras exactly 1 year and 1 day ago and today was the first time he's actually cried and reached for me when I left.  I'm so glad you love me buddy, but let's not do that anymore.

4-24-14 - Bevin & Aden Spring Program - I failed to get any pictures of the twins, but WOW what a difference!  Amy said they both cried before the program, but there were no tears during and that is a HUGE improvement from just the Christmas Program a few months ago.  Yay for progress!

4-25-14 - The St Mary's Draw Down was tonight so I picked up the twins from daycare and Henry joined us after baseball practice.  We headed to the park and hit the slide 90790879 times...(video)

I thought I was going to puke every time he got to the top, hit his head on the bar and looked over the side, but after just one time of Bevin helping him, he figured it out on his own and became an independent slider wanting to do it again and again and again...

 And before I took an exhausted Henry, Aden, & Bevin home, we had a dance party to the end of Despicable Me 2 in the living room...naturally.  (video)

Hello, my name is Nicole and I take too many videos of my child.  "Hi, Nicole"

4-26-14 - I got to golf today!  Amy took Jase to Matt's family Easter so Kiel & I could golf with a group of friends for a 30th birthday.  Could have been a little warmer, but it was a great time!

4-27-14 - Easter at the Farm....this kid should be a pro at egg hunts!  He does NOT appreciate the grass and was more interested in hugging the dogs than hunting for eggs so he only manged to get about 4.   Kiel got some great pictures!

After we got home, he proved to be my child by finding a piece of chocolate and quietly eating it in the dinning room while I changed my clothes.  So disappointed I didn't get a pic of his chocolate covered face, but we were too busy trying to stop him from painting the carpet brown and laughing to grab a camera.

Practicing for his modeling days...point those toes!

Took me 2 days to find the cup he hid in there...full of milk.

There's really no more questioning it....Jase isn't just walking, he's running most places.  There are still lots of spills, but he's got this :)

4-30-14 - So I mentioned last Wednesday that Jase cried at drop off.  Ya, that's happened every day since.  Most days it was just a sad wine while reaching for me as I try to sneak out the door without him hearing my heart rip in two, but today it was full blown crocodile tears, pouty lip, red face reaching for me as I inch towards the door.  I cannot get his sad little face out of my head.  WORST MORNING EVER!  Let's blame it on his allergies making him tired and call it a phase! 

We wrapped up April 2014 with some time with Grandma Farm and a few cocktails at Grandma Pam's retirement party while daddy put Jase to bed....on to May flowers!

-Nicole