Happy Halloween!

Just dropped Jack off at the Y - dressed as a skeleton bee. A skeleton bee? Yes, he has his skeleton outfit on underneath his bee costume. Then when the bee costume gets too hot he can take that off and still be a skeleton. Genius!

Taco Night!

It was taco night at Casa de Francomano tonight. Yum. I love tacos. I could eat a million of them. Since Jack likes to eat what we eat... and how we eat it... I decided to make him a mini-taco. I showed him how to eat it... and he tried his best.


He ended up picking the taco apart and eating the meat, cheese and lettuce separately. And he took big chunks of the corn shell.

Then later tonight, I decided to harass Jack with his Halloween costume early. Check it out: don't you think he's one adorable bumble bee? (fyi - he will have black pants and tee shirt on underneath on Friday)




He liked pulling on the antennas. I wonder how long the costume will last at school? Not long I'm betting.

Vrooom.... Vrooom!

This is how Jack helps Stephen when he vacuums. He rides it. Backwards. Yes, I know he needs a haircut. He looks like a wildman.

Small accident at school today

So today when I called the Y today to check on Jack, they told me there had been a little accident. Immediately I got concerned. Turns out he was trying to stand on a toy and ended up falling and hitting his face on it. The result? He tore his frenulum. His what-u-lum? His frenulum. That's the little piece of skin that attaches your upper lip to your gum. Ouch. Apparently it bled a fair amount until he started sucking on an ice pop they gave him to numb the pain. So now when Jack eats he can only use his back teeth - good thing he has some. No tart foods, no acidic foods... at least for a few days. The pediatrician says this is a typical injury and they don't do anything to repair it (stitches?). It tends to heal very quickly... we shall see.

Here is a picture of Jack from over the weekend (during the healthy hours) when he was contemplating a career with Poland Spring.



"Now where do I start?"


Nudie-Bagoodie!
Here's a picture of Jack "half in the bag!"


We're starting Jack early on the eye-hand coordination.

Jack is Back... I hope.

So Jack has been sick since last Wednesday (see Petco post)... but I think he's finally kicked whatever he had.
As I write this there is a spider crawling across the family room floor. I'm not going to kill it. He's going behind the tv, good, stay there.
Anyway, Jack went to school today, actually ate some lunch and was back to his old self. Phew. Having a sick kid stinks. I think it was the 2 vaccines he got that made him ill (flu and chicken pox).

I just made some apple crisp. Yum.
Stephen is at the Patriots game. Cold.
And Jack is sleeping. Yeah.

Happy Birthday Aunt Donna.

Enjoying the Fall...

Jack enjoys walking through big piles of leaves... as illustrated below:

Sleeping...

like a German tourist. He is sleeping with socks and sandals on. Oh boy...


Jack had his 18 month check-up this morning. He got the flu and chicken pox vaccines. He did a great job - performing all his tricks for the physician - during the visit. From "twinkle twinkle" to pointing to his (and the doc's) belly button. He certainly knows when to turn it on...

And then he turned it on again at Petco tonight... but not in a good way. We were having a fine ol' time on our way to get dog food when "whammo" - Jack pitched a major fit in the middle of the store. I, the mean mom, wouldn't buy him "cat freshening spray" he got all mad at me and ran away from me and then threw himself on the floor. So I picked him up, paid for the dog food and went out to the car. Right... the fit wasn't over yet. When I tried to buckle him into the car seat - Jack arched his back and made it nearly impossible for me get him in the seat. So I let him crawl around the car for a bit and then just had to get him in the seat. So I just sucked it up and made him get in the car seat. He screamed for the next 5 minutes - major tears streaming down his face. I felt really bad... he finally stopped. When we got home.. he acted like nothing ever happened. I love him...

Sneaky Coffee

When I was little, I would "sneak" into my grandmother's refrigerator and take a piece of cheese. We called it "sneaky cheese."

Well starting on Saturday, I'm calling my iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts, "sneaky coffee."

Jack and I had been playing on the side lawn when he took off. When he didn't round the bend again quickly, I went looking for him... and this is what I found.




Now that was a big slurp of caffeinated coffee... although he had no problem going to sleep that night right at 7.

Super Sunday

Stephen had to head down to Mohegan Sun today to check on a Cramer event going on... so we decided to make it a road trip. Jack always wanted to go to a casino, so it was a win-win situation. We got down there around lunchtime, checked on the event, ate lunch at a BBQ place, looked around at the shops and then headed home. No gambling for us, though i did look wantonly at the Wheel of Fortune slot machine...

Earlier this morning, Jack decided that he wanted to sit in the magazine bin... instead of the couch, or the chair, or his little chair... or the floor.


Jack likes to play peek-a-boo around this clump of trees in the side yard.


Helping Daddy sweep up the leaves...




Caught in action... looks like he's trying to fly.

Jack took the bird feeder and walked around the yard like it was a tote bag... saying bye bye.




No more high chair... now we've graduated to a booster seat.


Pasta and apples... yum.

Is that tart?

Apple "Picking"

So we went apple picking today... except when we drove up to the place to pick 'em... the picking was already over for the season! Really? I thought apple picking season was a lot longer than this. But we made the best of the situation... despite my disappointment.

This is Jack and Stephen getting all geared up to pick apples...


Okay... so no picking... but we did pick out a nice pumpkin!


Checking out the model train running above the apple store...


King of the mountain!


Grandpa Tractor's tractor is better than this one...


Checking out the orchard with Mom...


Hmm... signs, these are interesting.


Apple Crisp!


On the way home, Jack fell asleep... I made the apple crisp and Stephen loaded up all the bird feeders for our feathered friends. Nice day.

Friday wrap up

Here is Jack as we were getting ready to get out of the house this morning. I love Fridays, it's so much easier when I just have to get Jack ready and I can shower later in the day (since I work from home).

Then when I say, "let's go bye bye," Jack immediately runs over to his coat because he knows he has to put it on before he can leave the house.



Peek-a-boo...


After I picked Jack up at the Y today, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Jack saw me buy the quart of fresh strawberries and insisted on eating them right there in the store. First he was nicely biting them... then at one point he just shoved the entire thing in his mouth. No choking... but I was pretty sure if he did start to choke there had to be a doctor or a nurse in the store... right?


I signed us up for swimming lessons at the Y. We start on Saturday, November 1st. First class is at 8:50. What was I thinking? I now have to wear a bathing suit during the winter. Oh no.

Jack has his 18-month check up on Tuesday morning. I hope they're aren't any shots.

Banana Man!

So is Jack eating the banana... or mad at it? You make the call...

Poo Poo on the Potty

Do you really ever know when the right time is to try to potty train your child? Well... I think I might know... it's now! This morning while Jack was running around like nakey-man he started to squeeze his little butt cheeks together. I knew what was coming next and I knew I didn't have time to slap a diaper on him. So I ran to the toilet, plopped him on... and out plopped the poopy.
Mission accomplished.

Happy Birthday Chatiemac!

So today is Chatiemac's 15th birthday! That's 105 in people years, but he's not a people... he's a dog.
I made him a cake (well... wet and dry dog food mixed up with 15 french fry candles).


He liked it!

Weekend Update

Busy weekend here on Howe Lane. First on Saturday morning, Mom was here to take care of Jack (Stephen was still coming home from NYC) while the Howe Lane Ladies took Jill out for her baby shower. We started with pedicures at a nearby spa and then lunched at Davio's in Patriot Place.
Here's Jill and Sarah...

Then we all went out to dinner (while Mom watched Jack again... thanks) to Jalapeno's. Food wasn't the best it's ever been - maybe a new chef? But the company was excellent... so it was a good time.

Today we went to a harvest festival over in North Easton. It was Jack, Mom, Jill, Piper, Ryan, Tom and the other Sarah. There were magicians, music, food, crafters, animals and pony rides! It was also a bit chillier and more damp than I had anticipated.

Here's Jack's buddy (and neighbor) Ryan... he's just 3 months younger than Jack. He keeps his hat on... unlike the kid this blog is named for.


Here's Jack enjoying some fried dough... and checking out a hen.


We took a ride on a little open-air train that made Jack very happy! Although you wouldn't know it from the photo....


Jack and Ryan grooved to a little music...

Here's Mom with the goat... she liked her. Jack did not.


This is what Jack did like...


Then we cruised the craft area... didn't really need any of that stuff. Ryan's dad Tom ate something at each booth. I think he enjoyed himself, despite being the only Dad to go.

After the craft section... Grandma Sheep insisted that Jack ride the pony. The part he liked best was climbing the 3 steps up to get on pony. The rest of the ride... not so much.



As we were leaving... Jack put his little face inside the wooden fireman cut-out thingy...

Long weekend... but a good weekend. Night Night.