SNOWMAGEDDON!

Not really. I just like saying that. We probably have just over a foot of snow here in Foxboro. As soon as Jack woke up this morning he wanted to go outside. I managed to hold him off until about Noon. When Stephen headed out to snow blow the driveway, Jack and I started to suit up. It took us at least 30 minutes to get all of our layers on... from long underwear to turtlenecks to snow pants - we were sweating by the time we walked outside.

Look - my car fit in the garage!

Helping Dad shovel snow makes Jack happy...


Here is a shot of Stephen and our neighbor Tom doing a snow plow parade. At least that's what Jack thought so he started hooting and hollering his appreciation.

And yes, I let Jack eat the snow...


So of course yesterday we went to the grocery store and Home Depot in anticipation of being snowed in today. While we were at the Depot... one of the workers decided to give the little guy his own official orange apron. That man has no idea how happy he made Jack! Now he looks very professional when he works at his tool bench in the family room.

Another Birthday Party

Seems the majority of Jack's friends from school were born in December. Today we went to Jordan's 3rd birthday party at Gymboree (not the store, the play place). Jack always has a good time running, jumping and acting like a crazy little man. It's also great for him to get all of his energy out - especially since it's been too cold to play outside lately. Besides your typical pushing and shoving, Jack had a great time.

He really liked jumping...
And popping bubbles...

After playing for an hour... it was cake time. On the left is Abby... on the right is Madison.

And this picture was taken right before Jack stood up and blew out the candles on the cake before the birthday boy could! The parents all thought it was funny, Jordan of course burst into tears.

Our Tree!

We put up our tree this weekend... Jack is absolutely infatuated with Christmas lights, so he's super happy he now has some in his own house. Jack helped decorate - and put the majority of the ornaments all on one branch

Birthday Party

Today, after Jack shoveled the driveway, I took him to his friend Madison's 3rd birthday party. They go to school in Foxboro together. Jack was the only little boy to go - too cute - so he got a lot of attention from the moms (for whatever reason). There were some older kids there (not pictured) but they were all related to Madison... so they were all awkward and wanted to play video games.

Below we have Jack, Abby, Madison and Analise.

They had pizza... drink boxes...

and a Curious George cake with ice cream! The kids couldn't keep their hands out of the frosting. I'm pretty sure Madison touched every piece of that cake before it was served.


Here's Jack digging in...

They played some games - like limbo and pin the tail on the donkey (which Jack apparently has a natural talent for) and then it was time to hit the road. We were already 2 hours past nap time...

Yeah! Snow!

Finally we got some snow here in New England. I mean on Thursday it was 70 degrees... and today it was 32 and snowing. Gotta love it... well actually I don't love it, but Jack does. As I've said in the past - I think Jack is half penguin. The kid would spend all day outside if either of his parents could withstand the temperatures. Today I drew the long straw and got to stay inside while Stephen took Jack sledding (with Tom and Ryan) and then cleared off the cars and driveway. I kept coming out to ask if Jack wanted to come in and he would just say "in a minute" or "almost." After 2 hours outside I dragged him in - all wet - and made him eat some lunch.

Weekend Recap

Last night we had the McHugo foursome over for dinner. Matt and Maria have 2 boys - Owen who is 3 and Ethan who is 1. We hadn't seen them in a while for whatever reason so it was nice to finally get together. The boys enjoyed playing with each other - running around, playing with the toy vacuum and using the tool bench. We decided to feed them first (spaghetti and meatballs) so that when the parents ate - we could actually just concentrate on eating instead of getting food into a kid's mouth. Our plan worked. While we ate - the boys watched Max & Ruby.

Ethan liked Jack's booster seat so much he carried it into the family room to use as a chair... too bad he's facing the wall ;)

The boys played until about 8... 20 minutes after they left Jack passed out cold. I love those kind of nights.

Today Stephen's plan was to clean out the garage and put up some shelves out there as well. Since Jack always likes to help Dad with any projects - and can make them take 10x longer than normal - I decided to take Jack out for a while. We first went to Dunkin Donuts because I wanted coffee (it was kind of brisk this morning) and then we headed to a playground over by Jack's school. This playground also happens to be across the street from Matt & Maria's house. Since we ended up there, I texted Maria that she should come over... while we waited... Jack hung around... literally:

He's a really good "hanger." I might want to get him in some gymnastics classes down the road. Here is Jack crossing the wobbly bridge - with a chocolate munchkin in his right hand.

Then Maria and Owen came over - while Matt stayed home with the napping Ethan. The boys got all of their energy out by chasing each other. Eventually they started throwing rocks - because that is what boys do!

A glimpse into the future - Jack and Owen trying to bust into a locked field. Little future vandals on our hands... After I took this picture, Jack wedged himself in between the gate and the post. I had to yank him out - what if he got in? I would have had to jump the fence (which is 8 feet high) and chase him down.

It was then lunch time so we parted ways, but not before balancing on a log, picking up some sticks and contemplating jumping in a massive puddle. Jack came home to have a nice bowl of mac and cheese... and then a long nap. Short week of work ahead... it's almost Turkey Day!

Crazy Kid

Jack is officially a crazy kid these days. Three examples to share with you tonight:
1. While jumping like a wild monkey in his crib, he smashed his lip down on the bar... biting a nice chunk out of his tongue. Yes, it bled like crazy - I think that was the part he liked the best.
2. I just checked on him - he has taken all his clothes off. Thankfully he's left his diaper on. I'll be redressing him soon.
3. He locked himself in the guest room and peed on the floor.

This 3rd example needs a little more explaining.

So, I was hanging out with Jack in my room like we normally do - watching our friend Dora on television. For some reason, out of the blue, Jack tosses his sippy cup of juice right at me! This earned Jack a "time out." Now, when we are upstairs, time out is served in the wing chair in the guest room. He had just gotten out of the bath so he was still naked... and he marched into the other room ready to do his "time out." Well he got mad a me for following him so he slammed the door in my face and locked the door. Yes, he turned the little thingy and locked the door!

I quickly went above the door jamb and got the tool that unlocks the door from the outside. Thinking it was something I just jammed in the hole and pushed... turns out that is not the kind of lock we have on the doors. I tried for a few minutes to unlock the door, meanwhile pleading with Jack to unlock the door. He started to get upset, saying he couldn't unlock it and he had to go potty. Oh boy. I called Stephen in panic (he was out to dinner with some former colleagues) asking him what to do. He explained how the tool worked - but I just couldn't get it to work. I thought I would run next door to get Tom - but they were away. I was stuck. Jack was stuck.

I ended up running downstairs and getting a screwdriver - the plan? To take the door handle off and get in the room that way. So I unscrewed the knob and the part on the inside of the room fell to the floor. Jack and I could finally see each other - I kept explaining that Mommy was going to help him and he'd be out soon. He just kept saying he was scared and had to go potty. I finally got the door open after taking off the handle... when I walked into the room there was a pile of pillows on the rug. Yes, Jack had peed on the floor and then tried to cover it up (is that normal?). I just ran in and hugged him so tight, I wanted to make him feel safe... and not be worried any longer.

Jack recovered by watching the Backyardigans... while I recovered by cleaning the rug.

In his own words...

Here is Jack... in his own words:

"All by myself"

That's Jack's newest and very well used line. He says it all the time to Stephen and me. For example, last night when we were eating dinner, Jack decided it was time to go #2. He got up from his chair and told us that he was going upstairs to the potty to make the poo poo come out and he was going all by himself. He instructed us to keep eating dinner. Umm... okay. I trailed him up the stairs and watched him go into his bathroom and shut the door. I asked if he might need my help with his pants. He said "nope." About one minute later he yelled down for me to help him with his pants. So I helped him take off his pants and diaper... and offered to help him up on the potty. Yep, you guessed it - he said he was going to do it by himself. And he did. He squirmed up onto the Elmo potty and told me to go eat dinner. So I shut the door behind me and went downstairs.

About five minutes later he yelled down that "he did it!" and that he wanted to show us the fruits of his labor. Stephen and I indulged his request and ran upstairs to check out Jack's deposit. It was a big one - and there was one more thing. Jack tried to wipe himself. Umm... ick. He did a good job trying but needs to refine some of his skills before we let him do this on his own. A little soap, a little water and voila - we had a very proud two and a half year old come back down for a little dinner.

"I'm Flying!"

I just gotta say Jack did a great job flying in a plane twice this weekend. Granted it was only a 45 minute flight to Newark, but he didn't have any issues with his ears, taking off or landing. In fact when we took off the first time he yelled, "blast off!" Too funny.

We flew to NJ to celebrate the twins' 10th birthday - and we thought it was a good opportunity to try out flying with a toddler. Sometimes the wait in the terminal was a bit trying - but for the most part he got a kick out of watching the planes outside and looking at other kids in the area.

Flight crews seemed to take a shine to him as well. After our first flight on Saturday, the pilot was making some announcements and included, "sounds like Jack did a great job on his first flight." And then today while we were waiting to board the plane to go home, the woman running the gate at Continental told us she'd get Jack on the plane early so he could meet the pilots and sit in the cockpit!

When he met the pilots he said - "hi pilot man." The pilots asked him what he was giong to be when he grew up and his answer was a fireman. He even correctly answered the name and age question when asked - he never answers that question.


Getting some quick instructions on some of the buttons... which Jack of course wanted to touch.


And I just found out I have to go to NYC tomorrow for work... so I'm headed back in the morning... but this time on the train.

Flu Shots!

So up until today Jack hadn't had any of his flu shots - seasonal or H1N1. This morning Jack had his 30 month check-up (29.5 lbs and 35" tall = 70% percentile) - but first I had to get him into a gown - it was quite cute!


When the doctor came in she asked him lots of questions like:

• "What were you for Halloween?" Fortunately he didn't say a stop sign
• "Do you brush your teeth?" Yes, and he even mimicked the brushing action
• "Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?" Umm, his answer was bacon
• "Do you sit in a special seat in the car?" Yes, and he told her how he watches 'Wiki Tiki' (the Scooby Doo movie he watches over and over)

I felt like she was checking with him if Stephen and I were good parents. I think we passed. I hope. Well, at least DSS hasn't shown up at the door yet. When she left Jack gave her a high five, knuckles, thumbs up and a vibrant "bye bye!" She called him a ham.

Then it was the fun part - the shots. I was just happy they had the H1N1 available. They did that one first since it was the flumist - he took the squirt up the nose just great. Then the needle showed up. I distracted him while she prepped his arm and then he burst into tears once she pierced his skin. So sad. I hate doing that to him - though I think it's way better than getting the flu!

Tomorrow - we fly to New Jersey for the twins' birthday party. Wish us luck!

Rolling Around... at the party

A quick video from the birthday party today at the gymnastics place (see earlier post).

Gymnastics Party

This morning Jack had a birthday party to go to for one of his friends from school. It was Nicholas' 3rd birthday and his parents had the party at a nearby gymnastics gym. It was a great place to have a birthday party - you get in, you have fun, you get out. No clean-up! And to boot - it was a lot of fun. Jack loves to hang like a monkey and jump like kangaroo and this was the perfect place to do that. Fortunately I still had Grandma Sheep with me to help chase him around the gym.





After the kids jumped around for an hour it was time for pizza and cupcakes. We went upstairs to the party room and the cute kids all crowded around a long table...


Jack sat with his friends from school... Madison, Jordan, Lucas and Jacob... nice Elmo hats.

Jack was serious about the cupcake - and he insisted on having the one with blue frosting. And yes, it ended up all over his face and his shirt...

After the party we loaded up in the car and headed home. Jack was asleep within 5 minutes. It's good to run him hard in the morning... makes nap time a billion percent easier!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween 2009! For a while Jack was insisting on being a Stop Sign for Halloween - finally he went back to his original idea, which was to be a firefighter. Jack had a great time trick or treating with Ryan tonight. The boys went to about 5 houses, rang the doorbells, said trick or treat and collected candy. I was very proud of them. After they got some loot we staked out the front yard and handed out candy to kids walking through the neighborhood. The boys really had a great time handing out the candy - it was probably their favorite part of the night.

We also had pizza (courtesy of Tom) for dinner and watched the full moon through the spotty clouds. The weather was great - started at about 70 degrees and maybe got down into the 50s.



Jack the Firefighter with Ryan the Dinosaur.


This was from Jack's school. He was playing with the "spider web" with Abby (Sleeping Beauty) and Nick (Elmo).



Taking a Reese's Peanut Butter break while lounging in his Adirondack chair.


Here's our scary front porch. Grandma Sheep and Jack carved the big pumpkin this morning (actually Sheep also GREW the pumpkin!). I put up the Halloween tape and Stephen set up a speaker that was playing creepy Halloween music.