Ciancio Family: January 2012

Minus the videos I just posted its been a while since I have posted to the blog. So what have we been up to? Well, I have been purging, organizing and cleaning the house. We have so much stuff and it has really made a build up in the house, I am starting to feel cramped! So, I have started by cleaning out clothes. Thanks to Pinterest, I found a new way to fold and put away my clothes that holds more per drawer and will stay more organized. Small step, but we need to start somewhere. Fortunately, Jack is a big helper :) He enjoys putting his stuff away and likes to help with other chores. He fills the washer for me with dirty clothes and helps me empty the dishwasher. Since I now have softball everyday after school I have been getting meals ready the night before or making them in the crock pot that way I can spend the evening with Jack and not cooking. Since he goes to bed so early, I can get the next night's dinner together and it's not too late at night.

Jack has also developed a nightly routine that he loves. Around 7:15 we ask him if he is ready to brush his teeth. He says "teef" and runs to the gate. We go up stairs brush his teeth and wash his face and hands. He then goes in his room and we get his PJ's on or "jam-jams" as he calls them. If he is really tired we turn on his music and turtle (it shines stars and the moon on the ceiling), we get hugs and kisses and exchange "ove yous" and put him to bed. If he is not as tired we will read a story before putting him down. He favorite lately has been "Pretzel." If you are not familiar with the story it is about a dachshund who grows to be the longest dachshund in the world. Pretzel is in love with Greta (who Jack calls Pudgy), she however does not like him until he saves her one day. Then I will rock him and put him to bed.

Other things Jack enjoys are the "Alpha-da-bet" he can recognize quite a few letters and he knows where most of them go in the song. He can also count to 10, he tells us that he wants more of something using sign language, loves to color, play catch and play with his cars. His favorite drink is still milk, his favorite food...well probably fruit and chicken. He loves just about every fruit we have given him, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, melon, peaches, oranges (Mandarin, he doesn't like the skin on other oranges), bananas, cherries, grapes, and apples. Jack enjoys going to the grocery store and pointing out all the stuff he knows. We are also using his love of marshmallow to work on potty training. We aren't pushing it, but if he sits on his potty we give him a marshmallow, if he ever goes on the potty we will give him 2 marshmallows. Recently we asked Jack what he wanted for his birthday dinner and he replied "candy" when we said you can't have candy he said "cake" then "cookies" and "cupcakes" not sure where he even learned these things since he doesn't get them at home (well he gets cookies, but they are Fig Newtons). He is a stinker!
Here are some more pictures of Jack, mostly from around Christmas.

Not super clear, but funny nonetheless