Jack-O-Lantern

So, it has occured to us that there are enough "Jack" costume possibilities to supply us with excellent costumes until Jack is well into high school. We'll list a few to give you the idea:
Jack-in-the-Box
Jack and the Beanstalk
One Eyed Jack (from a deck of cards)
Jack Sparrow
Jack-of-all-trades
LumberJack
Jack Rabbit
Oh, and I almost forgot...Jack Bauer, of course!

We're taking suggestions too, if you think of any, please do share.
This year, we went with Jack-O-Lantern.






Not every day you see a walking pumpkin...


This was our Trick-or-Treating group:

Five little Indians from the Fuchs, Jaguar/Barbie girl McKenna, The Thomas boys as Buzz Lightyear and Darth Vader, and the Morningstar boys as, well, we're not exactly sure what they were (but they were good ones!). Also, one skeleton, not sure where he came from, actually.

Darth Pumpkin



The older kids proceeded around the neighborhood at a run (their speed would make any Powell boy proud). Jack, however, was toted along regally in a little red wagon and toddled his little way up the sidewalks of four houses.




He collected one package of Cracker Jacks (another great costume idea!)
one kit kat (his mom ate it)
one crunch bar, and one hundred grand.

He thought it was the most wonderful thing to have a crinkly shiny piece of candy in each hand and happily waved them about with all his might as we proceeded down the street.

First Snow Experience

We took a long weekend in Breckenridge (Thank you Gigi!!!) and bundled Jack up for his first snow play experience.

Jack, as usual, took the new experience very seriously...




We didn't have an actual sled, so we had to get creative with what was in the car...









2nd attempt...with Jack's growing concern showing on his face...




Another crash (not pictured), a face plant and....
Total Breakdown...


Feeling a little better back in the condo...


Full Recovery!!

Jack-O-Lantern

More to come...

Eric and Crystal in Utah

Eric and Crystal (Jim's brother and sister) came to visit us in mid October. We tried to pack as much fun as possible into the two full days they had in the Rocky Mountains...

First goal was to get Crystal a rock from the Rocky Mountains (this is an actual hobby called "rockhounding"). We went to Sundance and found that the lift to the top was closed for the season, but still enjoyed roaming around the base area.







Second stop was Hee Haw's Corn Maze for a contest in navigational skills.


Before the race began...


Inside the maze is a giant hay bale slide:

Jack, as he watched the crazy slide antics:






Once out of the maze, Jack and Crystal played in the "Corn-Box":


Jack felt compelled to shove as many kernels as possible in his mouth, despite repeated attempts to persuade him against the idea.




Events Not pictured: Jim and Crystal in a Dance, Dance, Revolution show down at the the nicklecade. (Guess who won?? ...it wasn't Crystal...) Jack forcing through his first upper tooth! Lots of wee morning hours required for that one!

Finally, the morning they had to leave, Eric and Crystal awoke to a winter wonderland...


Come back soon!!

The Mug

they say laughter adds 8 years to your life....we will be living for a long time...

Something Old

Jack, wearing the "Texas Togs" overalls that his Grandpa wore as a toddler. Timeless.

Fall

Moab

Jack and Kristen tagged along on the high school/middle school trip to Moab...40 teenagers plus Jim and the leaders. We stayed in a pop up camper with heat, so it wasn't "real" camping...but it was as close as I'd like to get with a ten month old. Moab is 3 hours from our house, and upon arrival we joined the group for the hike to Delicate Arch...very cool. Jack road in his purple backpack (on loan from parents of a girl...we just tell him that purple is for royalty).




The next day Jack was a bonus item on the Where in Moab scavenger hunt. He dressed up in his dinosaur/prehistoric frog costume (not sure which) and hung out on main street. Most groups figured out that he was the 2.5 foot tall green dinosaur they were looking for.

Little Drummer Boy

WALKING!

After playing outside in the spectacular fall weather...


...Jack decided it was time to WALK!...he casually walked from the small table in his room to a laundry basket, like it was no big deal. Then he did it some more for the camera! Here you go:

JHP Update

The Track Star...(thank you Hampden cousins for the cosy tracksuit)


On Your Mark, Get Set...


Everything goes in the mouth....here he is sampling a leaf.


JACK FACTS

Standing: He is getting braver each day and will stand without holding onto anything for as long as 10 seconds, but then he usually plops down on his bottom. He is so close to walking alone, he has been trying to make some short walks between chairs or toys, and so far no real steps. He is a super confident and quick walker when he is holding onto someone else, or even just one finger. He loves to walk around and would keep us going all day if we let him.

Making Coffee: Jack thinks it is his special duty to assist his dad with the coffee each morning. He actually takes it as a personal offense if Jim runs the coffee grinder without him. Jim will carry Jack while he gets out the coffee beans, grinds them (Jack puts his hand on the little grinder to help) and pours water into the coffeemaker. Lately Jack has gotten more and more interested in actually helping with the beans and managed to get several into his mouth yesterday morning. Starting early...

The Vacuum: Jack LOVES the vacuum. He loves it when it is off, but he ADORES it when it is running. He will chase it around the floor, so it gets to be quite challenging to actually vacuum without running into his little hands or feet. The front of the vacuum blows out a steady stream of air, and Jack loves to get his face right in front of it so that his hair stands up in the breeze.

The Lawnmower: Jack also adores the lawnmower and just watching it is not enough, he wants to be on it, or at least carried by Jim while it is going. This is a double bonus, because he loves being on Jim's shoulders. This is a mixed blessing for Jim, because Jack likes to hold on to his ears, or worse...his hair. See below, as he gives his dad's hair a good yank.

Jim feeling much better with a hat to protect his tender folicles.


Simple Pleasures: Jack seems to find the most enjoyment in the simplest of pursuits. He loves his little blue shaker (see video "PreWalking") and will shake that thing all over the house. He will crawl all over, under and through obstacles, all while keeping the shaker tight in his fist. He'll stop crawling, sit up, look at you, and shake it AT you with all his might. He also loves paper. Any kind of paper. He will tear apart a magazine and will carry around a portion of a page, all over the house, for 45 minutes. Crawl a little, wave the paper in the air, crawl a little more, wave the paper. Toilet paper and Tissues are also a big hit. He likes to rip the tissues into tiny pieces and put them in his mouth and then deposit them all around. Jim is very proud of his early efforts at spit balls. Really, we don't let him do this very often...mainly when Jim is in charge of "watching" Jack...
Jack and Kristen and the little blue shaker:



Playing the guitar: Big moment yesterday. While Jim was playing the guitar, Jack pulled the pick out of his hand and for the first time DID NOT PUT IT IN HIS MOUTH. Instead he used it to "strum" on the strings. MONUMENTAL.

He had a check up on September 20th and is still 75% for height and 10-25% for weight (just over 19 pounds) at 9.5 months. He is really a happy guy, but it is still a challenge to get him to laugh and once you do, he probably won't laugh again at the same thing. He loves being outside and around groups of people. He's very observant and in any new place will be totally distracted while he tries to take in every single detail.

Jack's first Rocking Chair experience:


Close Up:

Pre-walking

Two Videos

Saturday In the Park: Just a little taste of mundane life at the Powell house.


Sideways Jack. Sorry! Again! But he's cute even sideways...

Really folks, if anyone can help me with rotating this video...it comes off of my digitial camera as an MPG file and even if I edit it in Quicktime (I can't edit an MPG file in IMovie and maintain any sound. Wierd.) and rotate the file, when I save it and upload it, it is back to being sideways.

The many faces of Jack

Here are a few of our recent favorite shots, and a video:


The college recruiting process has already begun. What do you have to offer east coasters??




Shame, shame, shame...



Jack's really into music these days...or, really onto it...we call this "Guitar Surfing"
Don't worry, Will, its the old guitar...






Oh, and a little video for you: Jack getting his groove on
(but be forewarned, it is a subtle little groove, and you could miss it if you don't watch closely.)


Lastly, a few of Jack with family members--lest you start to thinking this blog is called the "Jacks of Utah." So...yes he still has his parents out here. Oh, and his grandma "Khaki" came out for a few days to visit.

Jack and his Kaki

Kristen's mom, Kathy, came to visit for almost a week! Hooray! What fun for everyone, especially for Jack who had her entire attention and devotion the whole time. They worked a lot on waving goodbye and hello, and Jack will now hoist his hand up beside his head and leave it there for extended periods of time (think of raising your hand to ask a question in class).

Other recent Jack news:

Roseola. Super high fever, super clingy, cranky baby, and then a lovely blotchy red rash all over. Glad that's over and we can move on to other excitement such as...

A Tooth! Sometime between 1:30 and 2 AM last Tuesday, Jack popped a tiny lower left tooth. We think the right one may follow soon!

Almost walking. We've got some video, we'll try to compile a short collection for you. He cruises around holding onto furniture or hands, and today he followed Jim around the yard pushing a little walker/scooter for balance.

Groupies. The boy has groupies. Every Sunday at church, approximately 14 girls between the ages of 6 and 13 hover around Jack from the time we arrive to the time we depart. They work with him in the nursery, follow us in a little adoring swarm when we pick him up, and fall over each other for the chance to hold him or walk him around the foyer after the service. We occasionally feed him lunch in the foyer, and they'll all gather around to watch and commentate on the whole process. They buy him presents. Seriously. Its great, really, but we are a little concerned about the long term implications...