JAB blab

A YEAR?!?! Has it really been a year? That seems impossible. A friend of ours recently commented that the first year goes by quickly, although the individual days go by slowly. I can second that. However, with the advent of sleeping through the night (GO JACK!) and actual naps (WHOO HOO!) the days are remarkabley easier.

We’ve been celebrating Jack’s birthday going on two weeks now, and this morning was no exception with the opening of gifts that have recently arrived in the mail. Jack was an eager participant in the paper tearing.

Although too early to really get the birthday concept, he seems to have grasped the idea of presents. I believe Jack has adopted the UPS man as his new best friend. Too many primo gifts to comment on in this space, but we’ll be in touch with you to offer our individual thanks soon!

However, I must report this: As a combination birthday/early Christmas present Jack is now the proud owner of a three month passport to our new favorite place Studio Grow! We went there yesterday to check it out and brought his nanny share friend, Max, with us today.

Studio Grow is one of many indoor play centers opening up here in the Bay Area. It’s a hot new trend with slight variations…some host adult and kid friendly cafes with better than your average indoor play area while others, like Studio Grow, are more of a large indoor playground with bonuses.

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I like this place so much, that I must now offer you my unsolicited testimonial (feel free to skip if you dan’t care about such matters):

Studio Grow doesn’t have a cafe, but they do have a room where you can eat if your bring your lunch AND they have ample play space because they are housed in a big warehouse so even on icky weather days like today we didn’t feel cramped or overstimulated. (Notice the “we” which really means me. Jack is usually fine.) This is just ONE of the rooms:

They have spaces for non-crawlers but the bulk of their stuff is geared towards crawlers through around age 6. The space is well thought out and promotes both cognitive and physical development with areas for imaginative play, physical rompiness as well as nooks for reading, art, geeky math like conceptualizing games (bias noted), and plain old fun with water.
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All in all, it rocks. Man, it’s ridiculous what excites me these days. Anyhow, like I said, Jack has a pass which means he can get three buddies in FREE! So, if you live in the area and want a play date, we are always up for it.

And, yes, Jack fell down and scraped off almost all of the skin on his wee little button nose. The fall was actually last Friday. It’s really looking much better.

Friday:

Yesterday:

Hmmmm. Don’t know if you can tell that it’s any better. You’ll just have to trust me.

And, yes, new photos are up! Addicts…the whole lot of you! Geeze!

Jack is a walking newbie. He embarks on his small journeys (three, four, five steps!) multiple times a day always with a slightly uncertain smile on his face. I find it rather amusing to watch and though I was secretly hoping he would put this off for a while, it is impossible not to encourage him. I made a bet with Kieran that it wouldn’t happen until after his birthday. I guess I lost.

Baby or Ewok?

Bun in the oven?

Jack: “Oscar, it’s more fun to be the motor. You get to say ‘Vroooom!’”

Yep, you guessed it, the photos are up. Miscellaneous pictures are here and Baby Dedication pictures are here.

This past Sunday we had Jack “dedicated” at our church. We are members of the First Unitarian Church of Oakland and the dedication ceremony is basically an introduction/welcoming of members’ children. It also serves as a time for family, friends, and members of the congregation to symbolically commit to helping to raise the children being dedicated. It takes a village!

The children are blessed with all of the elements: water, fire (by candle),

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earth (a smudge of dirt on the bottom of their shoe), and air (soft blowing of the breath), as well as beauty (symbolized by a flower selected by the family). This is what we put in the program:

Jackson Paul Cothran
Parents: Tiffany Cothran & Kieran Ringgenberg
Godparents: Cassie Beck & Kent Nicholson
Acknowledgements: A special thanks to all of our friends here today for their constant support and love.

Jack loves his “kikis” (kitties), his walker, yogurt, and all things electronic. He has a winning smile and a groovy little dance. Like his daddy, he enjoys nature. His sense of drama is from his mama. Though sometimes shy with strangers, he can be quite the little charmer. He is happiest when he, Mama and Daddy are all playing together.

Some of our closest local friends were in attendance to celebrate with us and since it was so close to his upcoming birthday, we decided to roll it all into one with a small party following the service.

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Jack was in great spirits all day and had a fantastic time! Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting were a hit. Other than missing some of our closest friends and family, it was the perfect way to celebrate the year of the Jackalope. 

**Published before it was actually finished so have added some at the end.

SO Jack seems to be picking up on the sign language thing. He is definitely using his “finished” sign when he deems his meal to be over. He’s even applied it to story time before bed on a couple of occasions. I think he thought if he told me ”finished” that he would get to play. It was a rude awakening when I plopped him into bed instead. I doubt we’ll be seeing ”finished” with that scenario in the future again! 

This morning he picked up the “more” sign. It was very interesting to watch it click with him. We were eating one of his favorites–toasted whole wheat english muffin with cream cheese and jelly–and I was doing my dog and pony signing show:

Jack reaches towards desired yumminess and screams, “Aaaarg uuugh ooogh.”

Mama signing “more” ever so preciseley, “You want more? More? More toast?”

Jack, eyes fixated on yumminess, not looking at Mama’s hands, screams and reaches again.

Mama holds up desired yumminess, “More?”

Jack takes yumminess, deposits in mouth, reaches and screams again, “Aaaarg uuugh ooogh eeeeek.” 

Mama repeats signs and wonders to herself if he is ever going to catch on.

Suddenly Jack sees Mama’s hands? Ding! Quizzical look on his face. He stares intently as she repeats sign again saying, “You want more? More? More toast?”

Jack looks at Mama’s face, looks at her hands, looks at her face and slowly makes the sign for more. Mama whoops with joy and passes yumminess to him…beaming look of triumph on both of their faces.

Ladies and gentleman it was “more, more, more” after that. Very exciting stuff. Of course, then he wanted to see what would happen if he threw in a “finished.” I knew he couldn’t possibly be done but didn’t want to confuse him so we started the end of the meal routine (roll chair to sink, wipe off tray, hands, face, etc). Suddenly “more” was back in play, then “finished” again.

On our morning stroll Jack was eating second breakfasts. He slyly dropped his melba toast (the kid likes his carbs). Not wanting to be a litter bug, I picked it up as we walked by. Good thing I did because lo and behold a minute later I see Jack signing for more. Now generally speaking, I don’t want to encourage the dropping of food out of the stroller onto the sidewalk in order to save it for later, but just for today in an effort to reinforce the new trick I handed him the melba toast invoking the three second rule in my head. 

**Following his first nap this morning we headed out in the car for a couple of errands and then lunch. At one point Jack apparently decided he had had enough of the car seat because I noticed him frantically signing “finished.”

“Sorry, kiddo, we’ve still got a little ways to go,” I said in response.

He grumbled a little but settled back in, seemingly content with the fact that I had at least acknowledged him. Now I am not such a fool as to believe that a few signs will magically make all tantrums disappear, but I can already say it is at least helping to curb what used to be some very frustrating moments for both of us. Pretty cool.

Oh, and surprisingly enough before his second nap today, he gave me the finished sign while I was reading to him. He was also squirming around and trying to get down to play. I gave him a choice…book or nap…which prompted the finish sign again. Into the crib he went and after only five minutes of protest screaming he was asleep. SCORE!