Picnic at Valley Forge

When I was growing up we lived in an apartment so making trips to Valley Forge to play or for picnic was a fairly common occurrence. But we haven't been there in years and years so dad had the wonderful idea that we should go. We figured Jack would love it, lots of open space to run around.

It turned out to be a fabulous idea. Mom and dad brought the same blanket that we used all those years ago, we all brought pillows to sit and lay on and we had lots and lots of snacks (and sake and champagne). The only thing that I was mildly concerned about was how much Jack would want to run around and how much one of us would be jumping up to chase him. Turns out it never occurred to him to run far. Instead he just walked around gathering sticks.

Apparently my mother has been training him as cheap child labor and has taught him how to gather sticks and put them into a wood pile. I guess the training worked, there were so many sticks there (duh, it's the woods) and Jack can't stand a mess (that's my boy!) so he started gathering sticks and making his own wood pile.

Then it was time for some bubble fun. Jack LOVES bubbles so we were taking turns teaching him how to blow bubbles without putting his mouth on the bubble stick. I think the funniest part was when mom was sitting on the ground doing bubbles with him and Eric, Leah and dad all stood behind them pelting them with bubbles..... mom never knew!

We'll definitely have to do this again.

You mean I can COLOR in the bathtub?

Whoever thought to make "crayons" out of colored soap was a genius. Uncle Bruce bought these crayons for Jack for either his birthday or Christmas and I finally had the guts to break them out and let Jack give it a rip. Wow were they a hit! Mildly annoying to clean up, but definitely a hit!

But Mom, I'm SO tired

Jack was too cute last night. It was finally warm enough that they could go outside at daycare yesterday so Jack got to run around and play all afternoon. Then when we got home he wanted to go out again so Eric took him out and Jack just literally ran for 10 minutes solid. They came back in and Jack wanted to get a bunch of toys out but since the realtor was coming to take pictures we asked him to watch the movie Cars instead. So Eric and Jack snuggle in on the sofa, I’m getting dinner ready, the realtor shows up and when I look over at Eric and Jack, Jack is passed out cold! And I mean unconscious! I walked all over the house with Sheila to take the pictures and all that was left was the living room so I picked Jack up, he didn’t wake up. Carried him into the kitchen so that Sheila could take the pictures and he didn’t wake up. When she was finished I laid him back down on the sofa, he didn’t wake up. It was hysterical! After Sheila left and it was time to eat I told Eric to wake Jack up but all I hear is Eric laughing. Jack would NOT wake up so Eric started doing funny stuff to his face. You bet I ran for my camera. We’re such horrible parents!!!

It's going to be a girl!

Grace Sophia. Grace because we just knew she would be Grace (much like we knew Jack would be Jack) and Sophia after my paternal grandmother. Thank goodness we had a boy first and then a girl. Now she'll always have her big brother to watch out for her... whether she likes it or not!

Jack is starting to understand that mommy has a baby in her tummy and if you ask him where Gracie is he will come over to me, lift my shirt and point to my belly. He'll give Grace kisses through Mommy's belly and will holler in "Hi Gracie, it's Jack!" Hehehe.

He found an old teething ring of his in his sock drawer and we told him that he was a big boy and that teething ring is for babies. We asked him if he could give it to Gracie so he came over to me, lifted my shirt, layed the teething ring on my belly and pulled my shirt down again!!

He's going to be a great big brother. The way he watches over the things that are his I just know he'll watch over her and be very protective!!

The things a father must teach a son.

Doesn't every father have to teach their son how to stick a spoon to their nose?

Jack sure did make his best effort.

Say something!

So Jack discovered the fun of having someone tap on your back while your talking to make your voice warble. He was doing it with Eric and turned to me to do it. But he wasn't making any noises. So...

Mommy : "Jack, say something."

Jack : "Something."

I've got a stinking comedian on my hands.

I wear my sunglasses at night

I finally found a pair of sunglasses to fit Jack that don't have silly cartoon characters or animals or something else dopey on them! And, just like I knew he would, he loves them! He loves that he has his own pair of sunglasses to put on when Mommy and Daddy put theirs on. Thing is, the day I gave them to him he didn't want to take them off. Nevermind that we were inside and it was fast turning into evening!

Easter = lollipops

That's right. He didn't care about the Cars toys, he didn't care about the shirts, he didn't care about the coloring book. He wanted the lollipops. Oh, and don't let me forget the jelly beans. He's had one or two lollipops before (for haircuts) but this was his introduction to jelly beans and my goodness. It's a wonder I didn't have to peel him off the ceiling.... all before 7:00am.

The Easter Bunny

I took Jack to the mall, fully expecting him to have no interest it meeting the Easter Bunny, let alone having his picture taken. So we get to the mall and he's pushing his stroller around (forget about sitting in it anymore) and we pass where the Easter Bunny is so I pick him up to see over the other people. He was mesmerized! But I still didn't think he'd be interested so I told him that we could keep walking now. That's when he proclaims "NO! No Walk, See Easter Bunny!" So I said OK but we'll have to wait in line and you'll have to wait your turn. He said ok! I still didn't know how this was going to go because my kid has no patience. I can't remember a single thing that he's ever waited patiently for. But we get in line and he's a perfect angel. He stands still, moves up a little when I tell him, goes to smell the flowers in the display. At some point a lady gets in line behind us (she worked there) and tells us that we are the last people in line because the Bunny needs to take a break. Poor Bunny had been sitting up there since 10:00 am and it was now almost 4:30! So it's finally our turn and Jack runs up to the Bunny, runs back to me, smiles at the Bunny, waves at the Bunny. I had to finally tell him that if he wanted to sit with the Bunny he had to hurry up because the Bunny wanted to go on a break! So he finally walks up the the Bunny and gets up on his lap, decided he didn't want to be on his lap so slid down onto the bench next to the bunny and we got the funniest picture. Funny to me anyway because as excited as he was to meet the Bunny he is dead serious in the picture!

(picture to follow shortly)

More Easter pictures

Just because it's who I am, I must do my best to get my child to pose for pictures. Whether he's interested in participating or not.

Jack, where's the baby?

Jack actually seemed to pick up pretty quickly that mommy had a baby growing in her tummy. Maybe it's because I started showing so darn early! He'll give mommy's belly kisses and will show people where the baby is if you ask. Now, the trick will be to keep him so excited after his/her arrival!

Look Ma, no shirt

It was bound to happen. Jack figured out how to take his own shirt off. And I guess it didn't hurt that he was being a clown and trying to make Mommy and Daddy laugh by pulling it up over his head and running around the house.

Geez, he's so skinny! I swear we feed him!









My little GQ cover model...

Jack is going to be a big brother!

I can't believe that my little baby will be a big anything but sure enough he's going to be a big brother. Not sure what he's going to think about this either!

Thanksgiving 2007

I'm pretty sure this is the first time that he's sat down for a formal meal. I guess it was a good idea for us to start eating while he was still taking his nap and only bring him down when we were half way through!