7/21/2007
Dada has finally caught on! It took him a while but he did it. He finally understands that EVERYTHING is new to me. A crumpled piece of paper, a crack in the sidewalk, dried leaves, they are all in need of intense, prolonged and detailed investigation. Now that he gets that, we have a lot more fun out in the yard and pretty much eveywhere else as well :)
I'm starting to get the hang of this talking thing. I can say a few more things more clearly now. Mama, Dada, Buddy, Spider and Tuffy are all pretty clear and what I can't say clearly I just say anyway, practice makes perfect.
I got my first haircut. It was pretty easy and uneventful and Dada doesn't call me " dandelion head" anymore. At least people have stopped calling me "her". Other than that I could care less...
I'm pretty much off the bottle now. I have about 2oz of water in a bottle when I go to bed (so it doesn't spill) and that's about it. The rest of the time I'm drinking from a cup with a straw. The straw has got to be one of the worlds greatest inventions.
Now that some more teeth have come in I can eat anything. The only trick is I have to "chew, chew, chew" as Mama is constantly reminding me. There are very few things I won't eat. I love cheese, hotdogs, pork, beef, vegetables, fruit, fish, ice cream, cottage cheese, yogurt, just about everything :)
Mama got me my own TV station, Baby First TV, it's awesome. They have a ton of cool stuff on there and it's all for me! If you're under the age of three and you haven't seen it you need to check it out. Another cool channel is the XM Radio BPM channel. You should see me bust out the moves when thumping songs like Kat Deluna's Whine Up come on. Those Caribbean beats get me going every time ;)
Until next time,
Jack
6/9/2007
It's been a good month for me. A whole lot has happened, I've learned a few new things and had a great time doing it.
I went to my first wedding and man was it nuts. My uncle Mark married aunt Marlies. There were all these people and we all had to wear these funny clothes. They put me in something called a "tuxedo", it was awful. I put up with the thing around my neck for about 5 minutes and then it had to go. During the part where they all stood around and talked real serious I got kind of bored and tired and started yelling. That made uncle George take me somewhere else. What a bunch of losers, I was just trying to liven things up :( In the end I had a good time. I did some drinkin' (Diet Coke) and some dancin' too. Once the pictures are developed I'll post some here.
One of the things I've learned is how cool a swimming pool is. Dada and I have been swimming in the Washam's pool a few times in the last month and I love it. Mama bought me this cool floating chair so I can just hang out in the water and relax, very cool!
I've also learned to use a fork to eat. I love forking! I try to fork everything, food, plates, hands, cats, dogs, it's all good for forkin'! I will say I'm not sure I see the advantage to a fork over my fingers but It does make eating a bit more entertaining. That's because it takes a little work to stab stuff with a fork. Dada keeps trying to show me how to do it his way but I really hate that. He should just let me do things my way, I'm practically grown up. If I can master the fork and spoon I think I'll be ready to get my own place.
The other cool thing about using a fork is I get try all kinds of new forking foods. I have added peaches, fish sticks, peas, green beans, hot dogs and all kinds of other stuff to my repertoire.
Tuffy is turning out to be a very cool kitty. He and I play all the time. We play chase and hide-n-go-seek and sometimes buddy joins in too. Buddy is so cool because he realizes Tuffy and I are small so he plays really gently with us, not like he does with Zeus. Spider on the other hand is really funny. He acts like he doesn't want to play with me but I know it's all an act. I love chasing him, he makes that noise like a leaky balloon and then runs away.
A new trick I've learned is how to climb out of my crib. If they leave the rail down I can just work my leg up to it and then pull myself over. The other night Dada put me to bed and then didn't put the rail up. After I finished my bottle I climbed out and played for a while. I must have made too much noise because he came back, put me back in the crib and this time he put the rail up, LAME!
We had a surprise party for Mama's 40th birthday. It was very cool. We really surprised Mama. a bunch of people from Dallas, my Tia's and my Abuelos from Miami snuck into town on Saturday morning and then spent the whole day cooking at the Washams. When we got there it was all just like Miami. Mama cried but she didn't seem mad or sad, it was weird. But I did get to spend the rest of the weekend with my family from Miami which was a lot of fun :)
I've moved on from taking two naps a day. That's for babys. Now I just take one, usually in the afternoon for an hour to an 1 1/2hrs. It gives me a lot more time to keep Mama busy, which is good, we don't want her to get bored ;)
Catch ya later,
Jack
5/11/2007
Wow! It's been while since I've posted anything here but man have I been busy. Since my last post I've truly mastered walking and running as well as started on talking. I can say mama, dada, tickle-tickle (Mama: he usually say this when he tickles our feet), nummy (Mama:indicating hunger), bubba (Ed:Buddy the Great Dane) and cookie.
I had my first birthday party. It was alot of fun. Actually I had two of them. One in Houston with the Sheppard half of the family and one in Dallas with the Washams. We took lots of pictures so check them out, they have their own folder.
The other thing I've learned is that curly blond hair and a megawatt smile sure can drag in the women! I'm picking up chicks everywhere I go. All I have to do is smile and wave and they have to come talk to me, it's like I'm a chick magnet. If I'm doing this good at 13 months, imagine how many girlfriends I'll have at 15 years :)
I got a new toy this month, Abuelo and Abuela sent me a new motorcycles rocker that I've been riding. It's one sweet bike! Dada took some pictures of me riding it but he missed the best one. It was of me standing up on the seat with no hands. It's was like he got all distracted when I did that and missed the shot. I don't know what his problem was, I wasn't gonna fall or anything. I'll see if I can get him to post some pictures on the site soon.
I'm also proud to say I'm off the bottle! I'ts been a couple of weeks but I think I've kicked the bottle habit for good. Now I'm just a bedtime drinker, the rest of the time I use a sippy cup.
I also got a new kitty cat. The Washam's found him in the middle of the street and took him home but they are allergic to cats so they gave him to me. He's so cool, he's only 6 weeks old but he can already run and jump and climb. He likes me to pet him and hug him but I have to be really gentle because he's so small, even for me.
I have been eating alot more food lately - not that stuff that comes in jars, the real thing, just like Mama and Dada eat, WOW it's some good stuff. The bad part is that I only have my front teeth and it's really hard for me to get those chunks of food broken down so I can swallow them. I wonder if that's the reason Mama is constantly lookin' around in my mouth while I'm trying to eat?
We do have problems some times, Mama doesn't seem to understand when I'm full so I have to slap the spoon away to make my point. She seems to think that is some kind of problem and gets really angry about it. But hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do...
We'll thats about all the time I have for now, time for bed but I'll try to post more often from now on.
3/1/2007
It's been quite a while since I've posted an update here because I just keep getting busier and busier. I now have 6 teeth fully exposed, 3 on top and 3 on bottom and I've been testing them out on everything. I bit my daddy the other day and he just about jumped out of his skin, that must mean they work pretty well :)
Two weeks ago I got some new shoes. These things are really tough to get around in at first. I kept tripping over the toes. Now that I've had a chance to get used to them I realize how cool they are. I can run around outside in the grass and it doesn't hurt my feet! Momma and Daddy make fun of me, they claim I look like a crab when I run sideways but I don't care, I get where I'm going and that’s what counts.
As for clothes, I've outgrown the 12 month stuff I had and I'm moving into the 18 month size stuff now. Thank God they figured that out, those clothes were getting pretty darn tight on me.
We made a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Houston last weekend. On that trip we learned that I don't sleep well on the road. I did have good time though. I got to play with the new puppy, Gus. He was a lot of fun to chase around.
If you've been checking the photos section of the site you probably noticed that daddy got off his butt and posted some new pics of me running around. I'm looking pretty good even if I say so myself. Momma says she's not going to cut my hair for while so you can expect that beehive hairdo I have to get even bigger.
My uncle George just got back from Afghanistan and I'm really looking forward to meeting him in the next month or so. We'll probably be making another trip to Houston for that.
L8ter ;) 1/12/2007
It’s a new year and I’ve been real busy over the holidays. We went and hung out with Grandma and Grandpa Sheppard and all my uncles as well as Suzy, Katie, Michael, Loretta and Marlies for Christmas. It was cool, there was pretty good stuff to eat and there were lots of people to entertain me. They gave me some cool new toys to play with and I got to run around in my car smashing up stuff and terrorizing the cats. I love cats.
The weird white things in my mouth are apparently called “teeth”. The two I was growing have come in as well as one more so I have two on top in the front and one on the bottom. Daddy has posted some pictures so you guys can check them out. They itch like crazy but they are lots of fun to drag on things and for getting Momma’s attention. The best part is I will apparently be getting a whole bunch more!
I mentioned in my last post that I had started working on standing and crawling, well, those days are over my friends. I have mastered the crawl and moved on to walking and running. I have to admit I haven’t really gotten the hang of running but it won’t be long. Once I can run I will definitely be getting my hands on Spider, that cat thinks he is sooo slick, have I got a surprise for him J
I finally had to give up on the plan to break out of the night time lockup. It turns out that they knew what I was planning and they ruin it by keeping me up until I get real tired, feeding me a bunch of food and then waiting for me to fall asleep before they lock me up.
I just got back from my 9 month checkup and here are the stats for those of you keeping track:
Weight: 24.7lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 29.7” (90th percentile)
Head: 18.75” (95th percentile)
I’ll try to post more often but a baby’s life is pretty busy.
P.S. There is new video posted as well and more on the way. 12/17/2006It's been a while since I've posted here but I've been really busy. Over the past month or so a lot has happened. I've traveled to Miami, stood in the ocean for the first time, have two teeth coming in, had my picture taken with Santa, mastered crawling and I can stand for as long as I want without any support. I think that's a pretty good stretch of ground to cover in a little over a month. Now for some details.
While I was in Miami I got to experience my first Thanksgiving, it was a lot of fun. We had a ton of good food and lots of people. Momma gave me this giant chunk of meat on a stick, man was it good. I wish I could have that every day.
While we were there we went around and met a ton of people. I don't think I'll remember 'em all but it sure was a good time. The weird thing was they all sounded funny, not at all like momma and daddy sound.
We went to this place that looked like a giant bathtub and I got a chance to step in it. Momma said it was the Atlantic Ocean. It's was a bit cold but it was also a lot more interesting than my bathtub. The water came and went like someone was pushing it back and forth. When I stood in the water there was this weird green stuff that got on my feet and when I picked them up they had this sticky rough stuff all over them. I'm not too opposed to stuff on my feet but I was glad Daddy took me to a place that had clean water and washed my feet off.
While we were in Miami my Tia Margie fed me some stuff called Malanga that Abuelo and Abuela made, it was OK but I really like squash better. A little while after that I waved to Tia Margie and Rita, they seemed to like that a lot. I'm not really sure why they think flapping your hands is so cool but whatever makes 'em happy...
On the way back from Miami I met some other small people and we had a good time playing between the seats. When we got back home we had to wait for my rolling chair to unload from the plane. While we waited one of the big people there made fun of Daddy 'cause he was trying to find a place to sit me down. Daddy let her hold me for a few minutes and I made her have to sit down :) Daddy says I'm like holding a sack of wet cement, I think that's a good thing...
Once we got back home I really started working on getting around under my own power. I have mastered getting around on my hands and knees and I'm working on getting around like the big people. I got this new device that lets me sit in the seat and push myself around. It's very cool. I can get around the whole house and even outside!
Right after we got back from Miami I started getting a pain in my mouth. I have been rubbing on it and it's getting better but I don't really want people looking in my mouth. Daddy keeps trying to look in there but I just pull my lips down so he can't see what's going on. When I look in the mirror above my bed I can see a weird white thing poking out under my top lip, I think that's what daddy is looking for.
A few days ago we went to some place with a ton of people and they made me sit with some funny looking guy in a red suit while they all laughed at me. I played along but I really don't get what these idiots were up to. Later that day we went to Becky, Michael and Garion's house for a while. While I was there I got to practice getting around on my feet. I was able to get a few steps before I hit the floor, I gotta work on that some more.
My Abuelos bought me this cool chair that rocks back and forth. I can't wait till I can hang on well enough to ride on that for a while.
Word on the street is that we are heading out again in a few days for "Christmas", whatever, I just hope they have good stuff to eat :)
Till next time,
Chuckles 11/10/2006Over the last week I have been studying my hands and working on my motor skills and last night was the culmination of many hours hard work. I was able to scale the walls of my nighttime jail cell. That was merely phase one of my bold plan to escape into the wider world and sample some of the delight I have seen from afar. When Daddy came in this morning he caught me just as I was working out how to move from hanging on the railing of the cell to climbing over. The biggest problem I’m having is they put me in a prison uniform each night and that makes it really hard to climb, it’s just too slippery. If they would leave my feet exposed I’m almost positive I could get over the wall.
Buddy is so cool, he always wants to share with me. He drops cookie crumbs for me on the rug but Mom and Dad always seem to intercept them before I can get a taste. But this morning I got a taste of Buddy’s rawhide, he had gnawed off the end and hid it in my toys so when mom and dad weren’t looking I snatched it up and got a taste. I really don't understand what he and Zeus see in that stuff, carrots are much better.
Back to work on the plan... Jack
10/30/2006Today I discovered that you can rock yourself back and forth on your arms and move under your own power. Yes ladies and gentlemen you heard me right, I CAN TRAVEL UNDER MY OWN POWER! This is just awesome, it's opened up a whole new world of things for me to explore. It also means I don’t need the big people to carry me around so much. I can just commando crawl around on the floor and explore. This seems to be a huge relief for them, I don’t understand why though… Who wouldn’t want to carry me all day?
In my travels yesterday I found this long black string and by pulling on it I almost made the thing with the shiny screen that momma is always poking at jump off the table and fall down to where I was. Unfortunately she caught it before it made it all the way off the table. I bet it would have made some cool sounds when it hit the floor :)
I also noticed that I can actually control all the fingers on both of my hands independently. Yep, that's correct, I can actually close all the fingers on one hand while holding my wrist with the other hand. This makes studying my fingers a whole lot easier. I spent a while studying my hand from all angles. I know there is more to be learned there but it’s gonna take some more work to figure it out.
Jack 10/21/2006Over the last couple of weeks I've been working on my grip. So far I can open and close my hand really well, fast too. While I haven't really figured how to do the opposable thumb I can certainly see the value in it. So far I can't really pick things up so much as scrabble my fingers on top of them until something catches, definitely not the best way to go :(
I've also learned that my hand can make a cool flapping motion. I cannot describe to you the joy of flapping a piece of toast against your forehead and feeling the crumbs rain down into your eyes, I LOVE IT!
While I was visiting my at grandparents weekend before last and I learned to hold my own bottle. I have to say that I find that a pretty unrewarding experience. It's much easier to just sit back and have the big people hold it for me.
As a final note, I am in the process of scheduling a Halloween photo shoot so expect some new pictures to be posted soon! 10/14/2006Hi All!
My name is Jack Sheppard and I'm an almost 7 month old boy from Lewisville Texas. I decided to start this blog to keep my many admiring fans apprised of my progress as I grow and learn about the world around me. Because I don't really have good motor control yet it takes a while to type these up but I'll try to do it a often as possible.
Jack |
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