Summer Fun

This past weekend we decided to take Jordan to the Palm Beach Zoo for the first time.  It was a cloudy day and the zoo was nice and shaded throughout, so we were able to enjoy it without melting in this July heat.  Jordan enjoyed seeing the river otters, who definitely put on a show for him, and he squealed for 10 minutes around the tiger and peacocks, prompting some fellow zoo visitors to comment on how happy of a baby he was!  He also saw a brown bear, which he smiled about because one of his favorite books is Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  It was cool to see him recognize different animals!

Just saw brown bear!

My monkey with the monkeys

Look at his face in the reflection...so cute!

After checking out all of the animals, we took Jordan to play in the zoo's water fountains.  It was full of kids running in and out to cool off, so he loved to watch them and to stick his face in the fountain.  In fact, after swim class every day, he loves to play in the big pool, which has a sprinkler that he can stick his hands in.

This week has also seen some new developments for Jordy:  he now says "Hi Da-da" very clearly and is almost saying "Ma-ma" (comes out more like "Na-da").  He can pull up on furniture if he is sitting in someone's lap and he has also started to cruise for short distances on the coffee table and ottoman!  Believe or not, he's still not crawling but he gets all around the floor by rolling and pushing backwards.  He loves to pick up books and have us read to him...he gets the biggest smile on his face at bedtime whenever we pull out Good Night Moon or Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

Happy 10 Month Birthday!

Today Jordan turned 10 months old!  He really is becoming a "big boy" right before our eyes!  He loves to stand up, holding onto furniture and us, and he rolls all around like a crazy man!  He's not crawling yet, but he is definitely on the move and we are thinking he'll either be crawling or "cruising" along the furniture anytime now.  

We had a nice, relaxing weekend as a family.  We took Jordan to the neighborhood pool a few times and then decided to buy him his own baby pool for cooling off on these hot July days.  We picked up a fun baby pool with a shade and a sprinkler, which he thinks is hilarious.  The first time he was in the baby pool, he squealed almost the entire time.  Enjoy the video of him playing on our back patio!

Why can't I grab this water??

I love my pool!  All smiles!

Look closely, you can see my tooth!

Happy Fourth of July!

Mommy and Jordan spent a few nights alone last week, as Daddy drove up for a job fair in South Carolina.  Jordan was on his best behavior and slept so well for his naps and during the night.  Since early last week, he has been trying to "drop" his morning nap and tends to pass out right after swim lesson....and when he does, he take a 2 1/2 hour nap, so we're not complaining!

Silly time, just Mommy and Jordan!

I love to read with Daddy!

On Sunday, Jordan went to his first birthday party.  It was for our friend Sara's son Michael.  He turned 2 and had his party at the Little Gym, which is such a fun place for kids.  Jordan was definitely the youngest party guest, but he had so much fun playing with the balls, watching the bubble machine (which prompted a dance session in Mommy's arms!), and bouncing on the air trampoline.  There were kids everywhere and he was in heaven watching all of them!  It was a fun morning and we look forward to going back there with him again.

At the Little Gym

On Monday, we celebrated the Fourth at home in Florida as a family, with the addition of Uncle Josh.  It had been a rainy weekend but the rain held out for the afternoon so we headed to the beach.  The lifeguards were driving up and down the beach on their ATVs and blowing their whistles a ton (it was rough in the ocean) and Jordan liked watching them.  On the way home, we stopped by the pool and spent time there, too.  We are so lucky to have a little guy who loves the outdoors, beach, and pool as much as we do!

s

So patriotic!

My own private firework show!

Sadly, the fireworks shows are too late for our little guy, but we did light a few sparklers and firework fountains in the backyard for him.  He wasn't scared at all and did his happy dance for us!  And to top things off, he didn't even budge that night during the real fireworks show at FAU, which we watched from our street.  Happy 4th of July!

Swim lessons!

So, big boy Jordan just finished his second week of swim/rescue lessons.  He is doing so great, according to his instructors, and can float on his own for quite a bit of time!  He actually started learning to bring himself face-up when rolled in the water (which, when falling in, most babies drown from being face-down!).  He did awesome and although you can't see it in these videos, was smiling and waving bye-bye to his instructors Kristy and Deborah when we were all done.

Just a warning, he does cry during most of the work here!  You can see that his instructor's hands are underneath him, not touching, when he's floating on his back.  Enjoy!  We are so proud of him!