Big Open Mouth Kisses!

From blowing kisses to full-open-mouth-tongue-wet-messy-warm kisses... Jack runs the gamut, depending on his varying mood. This morning he was apparently in the mood to lick a camera.

As you've just seen, Jack is wearing just his fleece and a diaper. Every morning when he wakes up he has wet through the super-absorbent overnight diapers, the sheets and of course his jammies. What's with that? Is he releasing too many fluids? Actually this morning when I got him out of the crib, he was wet, but more importantly he has wedged his right leg in between 2 crib rails, all the way up to his thigh. He was acting like an animal caught in a trap. Finally I "un-wedged" his leg and we were off for our morning routine... which is a baba, 1 or 2 "Jack's Big Music Show", some toast and a rousing game of "I'm gonna get you" around the dining room table. Jack likes a routine. Routines are good.

Nosey Magoo

That's what I call Jack when he insists on raising the blinds in the family room to check out what the neighbors are doing.


Jack likes to know who's doing what and when. He's certainly interested in everyone else's lives. Even if you take him to a restaurant, you sometimes have to apologize for his staring. He gets this from his mother :)

Growth Spurt

I think Jack must be going through a growth spurt. How do I know? He's eating like a champ! He's been eating all of his lunch, all of his dinner and whatever else I hand to him. In fact last night the 3 of us went out to dinner (to celebrate our 8th anniverary) to a nearby Mexican restaurant. Jack ate all the blueberries and strawberries that I brought from home. He also ate my flour tortillas (that came with my fajitas), cheese, chips, chicken and sour cream. Then the waitress, seeing what a big eater he was, brought him over a churra (the cinnamon floury thing). He loved it! Jack ate from th moment we sat down to the moment we left. Stephen asked where our kid was and when was he coming back?
Tonight Jack and I went to Petco to pick up dog food for Chatty. It was like a trip to the zoo. First we checked out the ferrets (all sleeping in a lump), hamsters, parakeets, fish, turtles and a tortoise. The one that Jack seemed the most drawn to was the fancy hamster. Figures... he's a fancy kid. I almost bought him one. They're only $15, but then I thought it's like buying a hairy mouse. No thanks. No hairy mice are needed in the house. We have enough chipmunks running around outside, they'll suffice.

Lance Romance strikes again

Old Lance Romance strikes again. To my surprise, Stephen sent me a dozen roses today at work to mark our 8th wedding anniversary. I only hope Jack can inherit Stephen's thoughtfulness... if not, god help the girl who finally settles down with my son! Oh my god, can you imagine that one day Jack could be married? Holy moley! He's such a tiny little man, but even last night, Stephen and I were commenting how big he's gotten in just over a year. He was sleeping in his crib so peacefully. He fills up so much of the crib now.

Who needs toys?

Who needs toys when we have recyclables to play with? Yesterday Jack pulled the empty milk jug out of the receptacle and proceeded to carry it around with him during his afternoon jaunt on the driveway. (Those are bubbles on his shirt - from the bubble machine, not spilled milk or juice)



He also took some time to splash in any available puddles and chirp at the neighbors as they ventured outside as well.

Tonight after I picked Jack up at daycare, we went to dinner at Friendly's! We did this because Dad was out of town all day and I was looking to entertain him in some fashion. This definitely worked. His favorite part of the meal (other than the french fries of course) was chewing on each variety of straws that the nice waitress gave us for entertainment.
Now Jack is happily off in dream land, I am finishing up some work and Dad is almost home from a quick trip to Manhattan. Night Night.

Jack's Mentor

As we did our weekly chores around the house yesterday, Jack took a moment to sit and watch his mentor at work:


That's Stephen filling up the bird feeders while Jack waited patiently for him on the steps of the deck. I took the photo through the window as to not disturb the situation. He had to sit there for a good five minutes just watching his Dad do some work.

Also, check out Jack's new tee shirt. It says "Mr. Barky VonSchnauzer." That's what Stephen calls Jack, so I had the shirt made for Jack and we gave it to Stephen on Father's Day.

Right now Jack is sleeping. When he wakes up we're going to go to Home Depot and wander around for a while. Then if everyone behaves, I might take them out for an afternoon ice cream cone.

No Help Required

"I don't need no stinkin' mama to feed me. I can do it myself. Watch."
-Jack Robert Francomano

By the way, Mom never got that nasty stomach bug that I picked up at school and then gave to Dad. She was lucky.
I'm excited because my cousins from Seattle (Jake & Kyle) are coming to the East Coast next week. I think they're going to come to Boston for the day to play. Hopefully it will be a sunny day so I can bring them to the pool!
Gotta run, I'm going to go help Dad mow the lawn. Bye!

Let's Go Mets!

I'm back from the Big Apple and I got Jack a present. It's something his father has been wanting for Jack for a long, long time...


Ahhh... it's a Mets hat! Even though the owner made a mean and rotten mistake earlier this week, Stephen remains loyal to the boys in royal blue and orange.



After I got home from my tiny trip out of state, I got home to find a smilin' Jack ready to play with momma. In fact I even put him to bed tonight... a job normally reserved for dada.
Jack's new favorite thing to say, "tickle, tickle, tickle." He goes up to Chatty and wiggles his fingers at him saying that. It's very cute if I do say so myself.

2 down... 1 to go

And that 1... is me! Both Stephen and Jack have gotten the horrible stomach flu. I've been caring for them both. I'm totally freaking just waiting for the first wave of nausea to come over me. As of 9:15 tonight I'm still fine. Wish me luck.

No School

No school for Jack today... he still wasn't feeling 100%. In fact when I called the Y to let them know that Baby Jack wasn't going to be coming in, they told me 3 other infants had the same stomach bug.

But after yesterday's barf-o-rama all over me in the family room, Jack hasn't thrown up again. So i tried to work from home today with Jack recuperating. Guess which one didn't happen: yes, that's right... work. I probably got about 2 hours worth of work done today. The problem is I am super busy at work right now. In public relations, it's all about billable hours. Your boss (the managing director) likes you to be 100% billable... and right now I think I'm at about 110%. If I'm not, it must just feel like it.

Jack has added more words to his vocabulary: they include bye bye, night night and gitty (kitty). By the way, all Jack talked about today was his father. Boy he loves him! I had changed my screen saver to a picture of Jack with Stephen and he kept pointing to it all day and screaming DaDa. It's okay, it's not like I grew the whole kid and then gave birth to him or anything.

I just signed us up for a milk delivery from Crescent Ridge farm in Sharon, MA. The milk comes in pretty glass bottles. I figure I'm buying the organic stuff any way, we might as well support a local company and use recyclable glass bottles instead of plastic.

Happy Father's Day!

So today was Stephen's 2nd Father's day. Grandpa Tractor and Grandma Rose came here for the weekend to help celebrate and have a good time with Jack. Well, Jack knows how to ruin a good time and decided Saturday afternoon (after a fun trip to the pool) was a good time to get a stomach bug!
After our high falutin dinner at TGI Friday's, we came home and put the Jackster to bed. About 3 hours later the vomiting ensued. So from 11pm to 2 am Jack was either crying, vomiting or just chilling out. We must have changed the sheets in his crib a half dozen times. When Jack got up this morning I really thought the bug was going to be out of his system and he'd be ready to rock and roll. Wrong again. For awhile he seemed chipper and energetic...



Then we had a nice baba and then promptly threw it up all over the floor in the hallway. From there we tried to rebound and open Father's Day gifts... Jack helped Stephen open his shirt and jig-thingy for making holes for adjustable shelves...

Then it was time to hang on and harass the men-folk in the house... (the last 2 are my favorites...) before taking a nap...

On the move...

Mornings with Jack are always, shall we say... hectic. Whether we're from running back and forth between the kitchen and the family room or playing "I'm gonna get you" around the dining room table... I certainly get my early workout with Baby Man. This morning (he woke up a tad bit wet) he ran around in his sweatshirt, socks and a diaper... he was in no mood to allow pants to be put on him. Then we played with the wooden spoon. Jack likes the noise it makes when he whacks it on the ceramic tile or on the leather cubes.

He ran around with the spoon in one hand and a graham cracker in the other...

Took a tumble... in the tub

So this morning as Stephen was letting the shower water heat up... Jack decided to reach into the tub and try and play with the water. As Stephen walked away for a nano second and right after I said, "Make sure he doesn't fall in, remember Baby Man is top heavy" what do you think happened?
Yes, that's right, he fell in... head first. I quickly scooped him out of the tub, he was just partly wet and more scared than anything else. We then wrapped him in a towel and counted our blessings that nothing worse happened to the little dude. Note to self: no more playing with the faucet.

Tonight after Stephen got home from work he decided to vacuum out the car... yes, this made Jack extremely happy. "What does a vacuum say?" "Vmmmmmmm...." is Jack's response.

Panama Jack nevers runs out of energy

Now I know why as we get older we feel more tired: because you use all your energy when you're young.This is Jack's "Jimmy Buffet" outfit... or as we like to call him: Panama Jack. He is constantly running around the house, the yard or wherever he is... it's all a big playground to him. He is also always on the lookout for a big kid to play with him. Our next door neighbors, Harper (7) and Piper (4) are always outside playing... Jack is attracted to them like a moth to a flame. He will just stand there and stare for a bit, then he starts his yelling to try and get their attention and then if that doesn't work he just runs right in... no fear, no hesitation... ready to play.

We've created a monster...

So now Jack loves to clean... especially vacuuming!





Stephen is thrilled now that he has someone in the house that enjoys cleaning as much as he does!

What Jack Doesn't Like...

As promised, here is a list of what Jack doesn't like (it's a shorter list, he's a likable guy):

• Diaper changes
• Getting his nails trimmed
• Haircuts
• Watching reality tv
• Being told no
• Walking on wet grass
• Getting his feet touched
• Pooping

What Jack Likes...

Jack likes a lot of things... but these are some of his favorites:

• Chatiemac - affectionately known as "D"
• Screaming and chasing after the cat
• Ba Ba's (also called Ma Ma's)
  
• Da Da
  
• Splashy Time
• Lemonade
  
• Tap Dancing
• Jack's Big Music Show
• Having his shoes put on
• Those hard baby toasts
• Yogurt
• Cold pizza
• Being tickled
• Playing "I'm gonna get you"
• Flipping through our wedding album
• Pointing to lights
• Mr. Bun Bun (his striped stuffed bunny)
• Playing with the coasters in the family room
• Closing doors
• Picking lint off the floor
• Brushing his teeth
• Fluoride drops
  

Coming tomorrow... Jack's dislikes.

The Clean Machine

Like father like son... it's official: Jack likes to clean. If you give him a paper towel he immediately gets down to the ground and begins wiping the floor back and forth.
These are pictures of Jack after he basically ripped the dry mop out of Grammy's hands so he could try...



Notice the nice form, the nice chunky thighs and the nice technique. He definitely has a future in cleaning. I'm so proud.

Corn!

Today's new food was corn on the cob. I thought for sure Jack was going to have a hard time and end up ditching the cob on the floor. Again he proved me wrong at lunch time.

For a while he had the wrong end in his mouth and was just chomping on the ends...

Then I got smart and broke the cob in half so he'd have 4 ends to suck on...

He ended up eating the whole thing, but it did take about a half hour and it was quite messy. I'm glad I hadn't gotten him dressed yet...