Our Little Inchworm

Yes, Jack has achieved the great milestone of crawling. Officially, he's been inching along for about two weeks now (it looked like he was doing the worm).

At first, the going was tough, since most of the time he ended up stuck somewhere.

But soon he got the hang of it and is quite proud of his skills. Now, he's highly mobile and continues to gain speed. It's amazing how rapidly a little person's world expands as they discover shelves, cupboards and all sorts of new areas to explore (Jack crawled over and happily emptied the bottom bookshelf in the living room today). No longer is Jack dependent on where mommy and daddy strategically place him...he can get places all by himself! That is, if he wants to do so...

Jack is also efficient. He does not crawl unless there is a good reason (e.g., a specific toy, household object, wants mommy) and prefers to move only until he reaches his goal—then he often sits up. For example, he stops crawling when he can touch me with the very edges of his fingertips, then looks at me as if to say, "Mom, come on! I made it this far—now pick me up! Hey...stop moving backwards!!" :)

He makes some pretty cute faces when he crawls.

Soooo tired! Crawling is such hard work...

Mom? Can I please be done?

I WILL crawl!

In other news, Matt and I decided to build a bookshelf in our nook during the few days he had off from school (ok, Matt did most of the work, but I helped!). Jack loved to "help" us and was most intrigued by the power sander and the vacuum cleaner. And a random hanger. Who needs baby toys?

I have to say, I'm always amazed by my husband's abilities and hidden talents!

It's been hot this summer, so on several occasions, I put the bathtub outside for some impromptu swimming...I know, I know, a little redneck, but it worked! We had a blast and stayed cool. I promise that next summer we'll get him a real baby pool! :)

Loving the zoo and his stroller.

Helping with laundry...(notice his red shirt flying through the air!).

Chillin' in the boppy.

Jack's favorite book for a long time has been The Life of a Car. (He LOVES cars.) Well, as of today, the car book got replaced by the fire engine book. We usually read 20-30 minutes of stories several times a day, repeating the stacks of books in the living room, nursery, and our bedroom. Today, after every book, Jack would pick up the fire engine book and hand it to me to read to him. I lost count of the number of times we read the fire engine book. I have it memorized after only one day! At one point during the day he also crawled over to the fire engine book and entertained himself for a long time...

Oh, yes, this is how it goes...

Reading ME the story...he had it memorized too...

So, there you have it. A not-so-short update. :)