Just Jack (and William)!

Speed Racer

2011-08-10T13:47:00.000-04:00

William and his first try on the little ATV. Jack is just dying to get his little brother in the passenger seat of his Gator. I'm thinking it will be awhile before that happens.

I personally like how William makes sure his wooby/binky/pacifier is securely in place before moving.

First Week of Camp!

2011-08-05T20:28:00.005-04:00

Since January, Jack has been home with William and the nanny (Miss Justine). It's been great to not have to drag him out of the house each day and be in daycare for up to 9 or 10 hours. But what it's also done is make Jack long to be with kids his own age. That makes sense, since he was ten weeks old he was in some type of daycare situation - he's a people person after all!

In the Fall he will be starting preschool at a Montessori school here in Foxboro, but before that gets underway he's also been attending half day camp at the YMCA (the same place he went as an infant for daycare). They run a kiddie camp program geared for kids his age. One of the best things about the camp is that he's in the same group as two of his buddies - Nick and Jordan. Every morning when we drop him off he is excited to go and get his day started. Before when we brought him to daycare he would cry and cling onto our legs... at camp he can barely stop to give us a kiss and a hug! He also really loves to wear his backpack.

It's also nice for William - who now gets more one-on-one attention (at least until 1!).

William is almost 1!!!

2011-08-04T14:52:00.004-04:00

Can you believe William is almost 1 year old already? That seemed to go much faster with him versus with Jack. Stephen and I are almost old pros at this parenting thing now. Despite the fact that he (amazingly) does not sleep through the night yet (even though he weighs 23.5 pounds) he is a wonderful little baby... full of smiles and laughs. He truly thinks anything his big brother does is the most hysterical thing he's seen in his life.

Yesterday William got his first haircut! Yes, at just 10 months he needed a haircut. He never lost his "baby hair" so it was getting a bit unruly on the top and in the back. He also has about 4 million cowlicks... so trying to get his hair to lie flat down the road should be interesting.

Before:

During:

After:

All with a little plastic spoon in his mouth... he didn't cry once! He actually found it all quite interesting.

Jack meets William Arthur for the first time...

2010-09-21T16:22:00.003-04:00

Jack came to the hospital yesterday afternoon to meet his new brother William Arthur for the very first time. Since the little guy was up in the NICU - getting observed for some minor breathing issues - he met him up there. As you can see Jack was very excited (and proud) to meet his brother for the first time ever.

Summer is over...

2010-09-09T12:16:00.003-04:00

Well, the summer is over - even though I am wearing white jeans today (my only excuse is that I have pretty much 5 pairs of pants that fit me right now and - white happens to be 40% of them). We had a busy summer- hot weather (ick!) - but Jack really progressed in swimming. He now jumps in and goes completely underwater without abandon and usually yells "To infinity and beyond!" It's quite funny.

He is also completely obsessed with being Superman. It's starting to become an issue. You see, a few months ago I bought him these cute Superman jammies at TJ Maxx - they came with a cape - how could I resist? He now insists on wearing them EVERY night. And when it comes to getting them off him in the morning to get dressed for school - it's a total nightmare. As a parent you feel super guilty taking his jammies off while he yells "but I want to fight the bad guys!" Oh Jack... you'll always be our little "Supterman!"

On the "Baby Cookie" front - I'm now 34.5 weeks pregnant... and routinely get comments from people that I look like I'm going to pop. Umm... thanks. That's just what every pregnant woman wants to hear. Trying to devise a plan for when I do eventually go into labor - and we have to have someone lined up to take care of Jack. We have options... we just need to lay out all the scenarios based on timing. I'm convinced this labor will go quickly (not 12 hours like the last one!) so I need to have a good plan. Shoot - that reminds me, I also have to pack the hospital bag. Stephen is wrapping up the boys' new room - it looks spectacular. I'll post pictures as soon as it's camera-ready.

First day at the pool this summer!

2010-05-29T18:46:00.002-04:00

Went to the pool in the neighborhood today. Of course we waited until it was cloudy and sorta raining before we actually got there. The water (even in the little pool) was pretty cold. Jack clearly didn't mind. I didn't go in ... it's bad enough that I'm wearing a maternity bathing suit - I'm not going to be tortured by cold water as well. Here is a quick video Stephen took of Jack rolling around (please do not look at me).

And here he is after... shivering like a little penguin.

We're going back tomorrow - hopefully when the sun is shining. Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Jack at the beach

2010-05-24T15:35:00.004-04:00

Not the most thrilling video - but it does showcase Jack's dedication to digging in the sand :)

Touch a Truck Day

2010-05-23T14:05:00.005-04:00

It was touch a truck day again here in Foxborough. That's where the town and local businesses bring out big trucks, buses, cranes and emergency vehicles and let the kids crawl all over them. Always a hit with the under 12 crowd. Today we went with Owen and Ethan who happen to live across the street from where the event was being held.

Oh no - here's what Jack looks like in the back of a police car!

Say cheese you crazy truck lover!

And then we got to try out a digger of some sort...

The horn blowing got to be a little much - so we took off for the playground to play with a million different kids. Of course we ended up bumping into Ryan (from next door) and Abby, Jordan and Jake from daycare... the kids were all sweating and running and having fun. Fortunately they were "fenced in" (soccer field) so we just let them loose. Fun!

Life's a Beach!

2010-05-22T15:40:00.003-04:00

When Stephen is traveling I try to be more creative or ambitious in my weekend plans with Jack. It can just get really old being at home with him for two whole days with nothing fun to break it up. I mean going to Stop & Shop and Target is fun for me... not so much for him though.

This morning we got up bright and early and I thought it looked like a good beach day. While Jack ate his morning bacon and watched Wow Wow Wubbzy, I did some research on good beaches to take Jack to that were within an hours drive. We settled on Duxbury Beach (45 mins away) and headed out around 8:30. We got there and the parking area was closed (opens next week for Memorial Day) but we chanced it and parked on the road and hiked over the dunes to the beach. At first Jack was freaked out about sand - but I told him that if he didn't like sand it was going to make for a quick trip to the beach. I convinced him that the fun of throwing rocks and collecting shells would far outweigh the feeling of sand on his feet. And I was right. We threw rocks, collected broken shells (he held them to his ear and said he could hear the ocean), chased sea gulls, pet dogs, built a cruddy sand castle... and of course had to pee on the beach. Fortunately we were literally the only ones there so letting it all hang out right on the beach wasn't an issue!

We stayed for just over an hour and then headed home... it's now 3:45 and he still hasn't taken a nap yet (I of course am dying to take a snooze!). Hoping he goes to bed early tonight and I can catch up on my shows on the DVR!

Is this how he sees us?

2010-05-02T21:14:00.002-04:00

This is one of Jack's art projects from school. In April they "studied" family - so clearly this is how Jack sees Stephen and myself. Fortunately my eyes are on straight - can't say that much for Stephen.

My Super Hero!

2010-04-30T21:16:00.003-04:00

Jack has a thing for Superman - likes to pretend he is him and insisted on a Superman cake for his birthday (we saved the head). Today when I was at TJ Maxx I found these Superman jammies and couldn't pass them up (especially since they were only $10) - I mean come on - it has a cape!

We told Jack if he ate his dinner (wagon wheel pasta and won ton soup) he could get a surprise at bed time. Jack ate fairly well and earned the surprise. He was very excited when he just saw the front of the jammies - and his face positively lit up when he saw the cape. It was then time for a dance party on our bed while he checked out his cape. My little super hero :)

Awww...

2010-04-28T09:31:00.002-04:00

Look how big Jack is getting. His belly has finally gone away and his chunky legs have turned into skinny little boy legs. His favorite thing to say to Stephen and me is, "I do it all by myself." Right now we're just a bout potty trained - working on a few poop issues - which I hear is normal. He stays dry for naps and about 90% of most nights. So it looks like we're getting a 6 month reprieve on buying diapers before #2 makes it way down the chute.

We find out on May 17th if it's a boy or a girl. Today I'm guessing it is a boy... but that changes every day. At the doctor yesterday I heard the heartbeat and it was right at 140 bpm - which is gender neutral. I guess a faster heartbeat typically means girl and a slower heartbeat means boy. I've been craving all the same foods I did when I was pregnant with Jack (fruit, bagels, etc) but I'm also much more tired and nauseated. I could blame the tiredness on the fact that this time around we have an independent 3-year old to contend with... not sure about the general malaise though.

Looks like we're going to have an awesome weekend weather-wise. Sunny and in the 80s. Hoping to get the bulk of our outdoor work accomplished - like the mulch. I get a free pass from any heavy lifting - woo hoo!

Birthday Dance Party!

2010-04-12T18:17:00.002-04:00

Today Jack turned 3 years old! Can you believe how fast it has gone? Stephen and I certainly can't. This morning Jack was showing us some of his famous dance moves - fortunately I caught some on video. Enjoy!

Rock Stars!

2010-03-24T15:48:00.002-04:00

Waiting for Santa...

2010-02-02T15:55:00.001-05:00

Look at me!!!

2010-02-02T15:53:00.001-05:00

SNOWMAGEDDON!

2009-12-20T15:24:00.004-05:00

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

2009-12-12T21:20:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-12-06T22:40:00.003-05:00

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

2009-12-06T22:23:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-12-06T22:13:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-22T15:00:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-19T22:02:00.003-05:00

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...

2009-11-14T09:59:00.003-05:00

Here is Jack... in his own words:

"All by myself"

2009-11-11T21:05:00.005-05:00

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!"

2009-11-08T17:43:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-11-06T14:28:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-01T20:37:00.003-05:00

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

Gymnastics Party

2009-11-01T20:17:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-10-31T21:35:00.004-04:00

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.

Fun with Furry Animals

2009-10-27T21:34:00.006-04:00

I was concerned about taking Jack to a petting zoo over the weekend - terrified that he is going to catch that stupid H1N1. I fought my flu fears... and brought him anyway. We went with Sarah and Ryan expecting big animals... horses, pigs, chickens, cows... you know, a typical petting zoo.

Umm... not so much. Three were some chickens... and a lamb, rabbits, ducks and tiny goats. No horses. No pigs. No cows. Oh well. The boys seemed to enjoy it regardless. In fact Jack had a special place in his heart for the little black lamb. Yes, he did sing Baa Baa Black Sheep to him... and then he decided to try and feed him the hay that was there for the animals to lie on top of. The neat thing was that the pens were very little and the boys were allowed to go inside them ... and pet the animals. Hence a "petting zoo."

The boys are assessing the lamb situation.

It appears at this point that Jack is trying to let the lamb run free.
He clearly takes after Grandma Sheep.

Not sure what they were doing to the poor little rabbits here...

Getting up close and personal with the rabbits.

"Hi Mom, can we get french fries for lunch?"

Shaking the poor little goat's tail... incessantly.
Reminds me of what Jack used to do to Chatiemac.

This is supposed to be Jack giving Ryan a hug... but it looks a little more like a tackle.

Bass Pro

2009-10-25T14:53:00.002-04:00

Who knew going to Bass Pro shops could be so entertaining for both kids and adults. Jack and I headed over there with Sarah and Ryan on Sunday afternoon. Apparently Sarah and Ryan go there all the time because Ryan has an intense love of ATVs thanks to his Grampy. So the first thing you do when you go there is sit on the ATVs outside the store. Jack chose the dark green one to try out first. These things aren't cheap either. This one was "on sale" for like 5k.

Then Ryan wanted to give Jack a ride on the red one. I think Ryan would stay here all day if his mom let him.

Then we went into the store, checked out the fish in the huge tank and then headed outside to the cranberry bog. They just turned it into a nature trail (sponsored by our friends at Ocean Spray).

Here's a nice mother-son shot...

There's a nice wooden bridge that crosses into the bog... and for some reason there's this huge sculpture of a sheep...

The Mama is History!

2009-10-25T14:45:00.003-04:00

Last post I told you that Stephen and I were going to ban the mama. We did it. It is gone. Jack asks for it every once in awhile, but for the most part he's over it. The worst time for us is probably at nighttime. If he does ask for a mama we just remind him that he gave them to "the baby" and we don't have any in the house. Let's just hope he doesn't go in the storage closet in the garage :)

So now that we don't have Jack drinking a ton of milk every day - he's clearly turned to solid food to keep him going. I now have a full-fledged eater on my hands. For example this morning he ate 4 pieces of bacon, a mini bagel with butter, 6 strawberries and some purple juice for breakfast. Then he chowed on an apple for snack and ate 2 hot dogs with tater tots for lunch. Who is this kid? I may be saving money on milk - which he hasn't wanted all week - but the food bill is certainly going to increase. This is a good thing.

On a mission

2009-10-18T20:46:00.002-04:00

Stephen and I are on a mission. A mission to break Jack of his addiction to the bottle - affectionately known as "the mama." On Saturday we decided that this weekend would be Jack's last one on the bottle. We did this for a few reasons - first of all, he's now 30 months old and secondly we're tired of being a slave to the bottle. So we spent the entire weekend talking to Jack about how big boys don't drink out of bottles - that only babies do. We also threw in an extra line about how we would be giving the bottles to a baby to use (he chose baby Hunter). So tonight before Jack went to bed, we had him gather up all his bottles and put them in a canvas bag. We then took the bag and hung them up on the door knob - for the baby's mom to come pick them up (you coming over Jill?). We also told him he'd be drinking his milk out of an Elmo cup from now on.

This is a picture of Jack drinking his last mama. I'm actually kind of sad. My eyes welled up as I handed it to him. My baby is a big boy :( . I'll make sure to let you know how it goes tomorrow morning - with the Elmo cup. Stephen better hide that bag of bottles...

If you watched the Patriots game tonight you know how rotten our weather was today. It was literally raining snow. Jack though it was great. I didn't. Ugh, snow.

Name Game

2009-10-12T21:39:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick little list of "Jack-isms"...

He Ho = Horse (as of tonight Jack renamed his hobby horse - Hokey as in Hokey Pokey!)
Choo Choo = Train
Tickle = Favorite Blanket
Nemo = Jack's Fish
Bob Bob = SpongeBob
Mama = Bottle
Boon = Balloon
Popo = Butt
Ry Ry = Ryan
Firetruck Man = Fireman

Also tonight Jack was teaching me some song about bubble gum where you pull it. I had to look it up... he really liked it a lot. He is also back to wanting to be a stop sign for Halloween. Some people found directions on how to make the costume. I just might attempt it :)

Sunday is a Fun... and very busy... day.

2009-10-11T20:47:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately I had to miss Michelle's big Boston bachelorette party last night... but I tried to "make up for it" a little bit by heading into the city with Jack this morning to meet the hungover ladies. And boy were they hungover. I think, for some of us, our tolerance for alcohol gets lower.

Anyway, Jack and I met Michelle, Christy, Mandi and Tonya (Michelle's sister) at their hotel this morning for breakfast. We decided to eat at the hotel - but there was a 20 minute wait so I had to keep Jack entertained. Fortunately there was a large staircase near the restaurant which Jack climbed up and down (only falling once). Guess what he ate for breakfast? Yep, bacon... and a big piece of cantaloupe.

After we ate the ladies decided a little fresh air was in order. We walked from the hotel, in Downtown Crossing, through Boston Common and the Public Garden. We stopped where the swans normally are to check out the waterfowl. We saw some ducks and geese... but no swans.

Jack still enjoyed the view... and Christy was on the phone (canceling her credit card misplaced the night before) and Mandi )carbo-loading to try and recover!).

From there we headed to Newbury Street... but instead of checking out overpriced high-end stores... we ended up at Filene's Basement. Everyone found something for a damn good price... and Jack... snoozed!

After the Basement we headed back to the hotel (not before running into Matt, Maria, Owen and Ethan on the street!) and Jack and I hit the road. When we got home we did some more choo choo's, ate some lunch and then decided to make chocolate chip cookies. Since Jack didn't get to see Owen and Ethan (since he was sleeping) we brought them the cookies and 2 of Jack's Halloween creations that we made last night. Owen was very gracious accepting his crafty-gift and Ethan wanted to eat it! We played outside for more than an hour and then it was time to get home to eat dinner and take a bath. We were both so exhausted... Jack feel asleep very easily and I'm heading to bed right now. Night Night.

Glitter Eyeball Pumpkins!

2009-10-10T19:22:00.003-04:00

Jack and I were looking for something to do this afternoon so we went to Borders to get a book. Jack liked running up and down the aisles, I'm not so sure all the customers felt the same way. Oh well, if they want quiet they can go to the library. We ended up getting a Halloween Max (from Max & Ruby) book, but one other thing Jack wanted was a tub of crafty things. Problem was it was $27! I was like - what??? No way. So we bought the book and headed to Michael's to pick out our own craft supplies.

We got googley eyeballs, glitter, feathers, glue sticks, confetti ghosts and spiders, construction paper and foam pumpkins. When we got home we quickly set up our craft area (aka the kitchen table) and got to work. Jack is quite adept at the glue stick but the feathers kept getting stuck to his fingers.

Then I asked Jack what he is planning on being for Halloween... lately the answer has been a "stop sign." Not sure where he got that idea... but I do think it's creative!

"It's Sunny!"

2009-10-05T20:42:00.004-04:00

When Jack gets up... at the crack of dawn... he yells for one person. Mommy. It's a sing-songy "Mommy" at first, but if I don't respond quickly enough the call becomes much more urgent in nature. Quick bursts of "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy." Typically it's right around 6:15 (the kid has a decent internal clock) but every once in a while the call comes before 6 which is just brutal.

Here's the thing - it's impossible to get mad at him for the early call because as soon as I go in... he points to the window and says, "it's sunny!" The rule is he's only allowed to get up when it's sunny (as opposed to pitch black outside). Even when it's raining in the morning - Jack still proclaims "it's sunny" when I walk in.

Now here's the interesting thing. When I went away with Jill on Saturday night (to the Mystic Marriott and Spa!) I was chuckling to myself that Stephen was going to have to get up early with Jack. Stephen is NOT a morning person... so when Jack woke up around 6:15 on Sunday morning he yelled for Daddy (smart kid!)... but Stephen yelled back that it wasn't sunny yet... and the kid went back to bed for an hour. What? This is so unfair.

Monkey Man

2009-09-30T14:00:00.001-04:00

Stephen and I were surprised to hear from Jack's teachers that he quite the agile little climber at school. They say even though Jack is the youngest - he is easily the most adept at the jungle gym on the playground. To prove it, Jack's teacher Justine sent me more pictures.

The Train has Pulled into the Station!

2009-09-29T20:41:00.003-04:00

Yesterday when we got home from work (my first day at Fleishman) we saw a huge box sitting in front of our door. I knew instantly what it was - the big huge collection of Thomas the Train engines and track that Uncle Artie had been promising to send. How exciting! He must have spent a small fortune on pieces (and if you bought one of them for Jake or Kyle, please know we appreciate it!). He also spent a lot of money on shipping them to us - the box weighed 50 pounds!

I am pretty sure we have every train ever made... and we're going to be building a train table in Jack's room so that he can play with them all the time. Thanks Artie!!!

More Apple Pickin...

2009-09-27T20:15:00.004-04:00

No, we didn't go apple picking again in fact it rained here all day. Our friend Maria just sent me some of the pictures that she took. I particularly like the one of Maria and me carrying the ladder... really nice guys!

Parade Pictures

2009-09-27T12:57:00.005-04:00

Everyone loves a parade... especially 2 year olds. Here are some shots from the parade we went to yesterday in Canton with the Wood Family... boy was it chilly. Fall has definitely arrived in New England.

The Canton Fire Department had a booth set up taking donations and handing out "fire truck men" hats. Jack and Ryan got one... it was the best thing we've ever gotten him for 2 bucks!

Here are the boys as they boarded the train ride in the amusement part section of the big block party. We weren't sure if they'd stay seated, but I think the excitement of it all kept them grounded.

Please note that the Diego band-aid on Jack's forehead is not actually covering a boo boo... it was just for "show" and definitely for "tell."

He-ho's!!! (aka horses)

FYI - I ripped the band-aid off this morning... he didn't see it coming... but boy was he mad!

Imitation...

2009-09-27T07:26:00.003-04:00

We went to the big parade in Canton yesterday afternoon. We got there just in time to see the firetrucks come through and then enjoy the marching bands (and dancing ladies!). Here is a quick video of Jack getting very excited over one of the marching bands... as you'll see he tries to imitate the lady playing the flute and the man playing the big huge bass drum...

2 Announcements...

2009-09-26T16:09:00.004-04:00

And no... I'm not pregnant :) Sorry Mom

First... I start my new job on Monday. Last Thursday was my last day at MS&L. On Monday I start work as a Vice President at Fleishman Hillard - a global PR agency - also with an office in Boston. It was a tough decision for me... loved what I did at MS&L and I really liked the people I worked with... but the offer was too good to pass up... so I took it. Now I have a whole new set of clients to work on (like iRobot, Sun Life Financial, ShoeBuy.com) come this Monday.

And the second big announcement is that I finally bought a car! Yep - we signed all the papers this morning and my brand new 2010 Volvo XC90 will be in my hands and in my driveway in about 10 days! I chose a black car with a tan leather interior... some other nice features... but the one I knew I couldn't live without was the DVD player for Jack. That was a "must have."

So those are my 2 announcements... we're heading up to Canton in a few minutes to watch the town parade... the big draw is of course the firetrucks (FYI - Jack is going to be a fireman for Halloween).

Fun School Pictures

2009-09-24T20:13:00.004-04:00

I really think Jack enjoys going to school. He loves the kids. He eats his lunch. He really seems to like his teachers.

Today one of Jack's teachers, Justine, sent me some pictures of what they did today... which clearly included one heck of a lot of shaving cream!

His hair had a lot of texture to it when I picked him up. A long bath was definitely needed.

Then and Now...

2009-09-21T21:32:00.006-04:00

Wow... what a difference 2 years will make! The first photo was taken in October 2007 (5 months old) - the one below was taken the other night.

Did he even have a neck???

My lord... the chair only comes up to his po po!

We donated our "office" to Tim and Jill - for their little guy Hunter. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as Jack did...

Apple Picking

2009-09-20T21:24:00.004-04:00

Last year we were too late... not the case this year. This year WE PICKED APPLES! We ventured up to Stow (about 40 minutes north of Foxboro) to an orchard called Honey Pot Hill. Very cute place. They had goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs, pumpkins, donuts, tractor rides and of course acres and acres of apple trees.

Best looking picking crew in all of Massachusetts today. We went with our friends the McHugos. So it was the 3 of us... and Matt, Maria, Owen (3) and Ethan (1) hitting the orchard.

Before we headed in to do our migrant work we checked out the animals... Owen wanted to climb in and get a closer look at the goats.

Checking out the piggies.

We loaded onto the tractor for our hayride out to the orchard. I think this was Jack's favorite part. He grabbed a seat at the very back and was just thrilled the whole time.

The ride was about 10 minutes long... followed a pretty river up to the orchard. Of course the tractor ride was an extra buck a person. I don't mind paying hard working farmers a little extra to keep them in business. Stephen enjoyed the ride as well.

Here's a quick video taken while on the tractor ride... you'll see that Stephen has to coax Jack to even look at me... so stubborn!

After climbing some big hills up to the perfect tree - Stephen took the ladder (which Maria and I had carried!) and headed up the tree to get his hands on the reddest apples (MacIntosh).

I think they charge you so much extra because they know you eat a dozen apples while picking.

Jack had to climb the ladder since Stephen was up there.

So did Owen...

The trees were so loaded with apples that the branches were nearly touching the ground. This let Jack pick his own apple... which made him very proud.

Bye bye tractor!

Best way to ride - ever!

I tried getting a nice fall picture of Jack in the pumpkins... he didn't exactly cooperate... as usual.

We got home... played a quick game of hide and seek (again!) and then Jack took a decent 3 hour nap. I ran to the store and got supplies to make apple crisp... which I'm going to go eat right now.

I'm too old for this...

2009-09-20T07:53:00.002-04:00

I loved to play hide and seek when I was a kid... that must be where Jack gets his love of the game. Yesterday our neighbor Lauren asked if Jack and I wanted to play with her. We agreed since it was such a nice afternoon - the chosen game? Yes, hide and seek. We played in the front yards for at least 45 minutes until I convinced them to take a snack break (juice boxes and animal crackers). Jack only counts to 5 and he peeks through his fingers... meanwhile Lauren would count to 30 very slowly, so we were hiding for a long time. The tree in our front yard was "safe." Oh - and Jack hides in one of 2 places every time. Not too hard to find him. Here is a quick video of the game (I was "it").

Jack was fine :)

A little white lie

2009-09-17T21:45:00.004-04:00

It's been well documented - Jack is not the best eater. One thing he does love is butter... but his palate is not all that sophisticated yet. The other day we were eating crackers and cheese and Jack was interested in trying some - and we lied - we said the goat cheese was butter. He tried it. He LOVED it. He eats it pretty often now. In fact he had a couple crackers with goat cheese tonight before dinner (which consisted of 2 dozen grapes).

Train Lover!

2009-09-14T08:30:00.002-04:00

Choo Choo's are #1 in Jack's book (well, at least right up there with fire trucks and tractors!). All of a sudden he's started yelling, "All aboard!" Not really sure where this came from... but it's pretty cute.

Also in this video - how Jack refers to himself. It's a long name for a 2 year old to get... and then of course he ignores me and goes back to eating bacon.

Grow your own...

2009-09-13T20:33:00.003-04:00

When I worked in TV news - we always said it was best to "grow your own producers." 2 reasons... number 1 - ahem, it was less expensive and number 2 - you trained them to produce a newscast the way you (the station management) liked it.

I'm taking this to heart... and trying it at home. No - I'm not training Jack to be a producer or a public relations expert. I'm training him to give me pedicures. This would save me a lot of time and money.

He's got the basics down on nail filing... now we have to work on his nail polish application technique.

Really, a gun?

2009-09-13T15:59:00.003-04:00

Last year for Christmas I got Stephen a nerf gun - totally forgetting that Jack would eventually want to play with it. I am very anti-gun and I'm not sure how I had such a lapse in judgment. Anyway - it's in the house now and today Jack and Stephen played with it for a while in the family room.

He liked learning how to load the ammunition. Great.

After rifle practice we decided to try and get out of the house. Now, getting out of the house isn't as easy as you think it is. Very often Jack decides that his pajamas are perfectly acceptable clothing for both at home and at the store. The ensuing chase around the house - trying to get Jack to succumb to getting dressed can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes. The latter is what took place today. Jack started with a stand-off under the crib.

Then he thought he could distract me by doing his signature move - "the Jack." We're not quite sure where he picked this up... but it is quite reminiscent of some old-school break dancing.

"Look Mom - no hands!" This just makes me cringe. I feel like he's going to snap his neck.

Eventually I wrestled Jack down to the ground and got him dressed. We headed out to look at houses (just looking... just looking) and ended up stopping by Owen and Ethan's house to visit. We decided to try and go apple picking next weekend. Last year we went too late and all the apples were gone - but not this year - this year - we will pick 'em.

Oh - and here is a picture of the newest member of the family. Yes - this is Nemo. Nemo lives in Jack's room and is consistently harassed by the 2 year old that he shares a room with. Poor little fishy.

Jack is waking up from his nap... gotta run!

No splashing!

2009-09-09T00:02:00.002-04:00

Jack loves to take a hybrid bath/shower. It's great for testing the efficiency of our hot water heater... because it can easily go on for 30 minutes.

New Choo Choo

2009-09-08T23:52:00.004-04:00

We had to drop Stephen off at the train station on Monday afternoon for a quick trip to NYC - it turned into a trip to Toys R Us. Let me explain.

So we got to the train station and unfortunately Jack was under the impression that HE was going on a train (aka "choo choo") with his father. We waited patiently on the platform for the Amtrak train and when it came - boy was it exciting! Jack was screaming "choo choo" for everyone to hear - and chuckle at. But when Stephen got on - and Jack and I did not - the waterworks started. He was completely adamant that he was supposed to be on the train with his father and felt like he was being left behind. Awww... so hard to tell him no. Anyway to calm him down I said we'd go to the choo choo store (toy store) to get a new train. This worked and he happily went to the car. By the time we got on the highway I thought he had forgotten my offer. He had not. Of course it was Labor Day - which meant a number of stores were not open. I drove to 3 different stores - eventually ending up at Toys R Us.

He played at the train table for a good 20 minutes - and I let him. I figured we didn't have anything better to do - might as well hang out at a toy store all afternoon, right? I eventually got him to pick just one train (and not try to take off with the ones on the table). We chose the one named "Jack" - it's a bulldozer/train (?).

We played with it as soon as I could rip open the packaging ... Happy Jack = Happy Mom :)

Happy Labor Day!

2009-09-06T16:54:00.004-04:00

Today Grammy, Jack and I went to the Franklin Park Zoo to visit Jack's friends - the elephants. He could stand there all day and watch them. When we arrived they were getting their daily bath.

Jack liked hanging on the railing with all the other kids... watching the zookeepers do their jobs. The elephants were really cool - they don't make that "elephant noise" while in captivity... only in the wild. That was a bit of a disappointment.

The giraffes were really cool... and tall.

Grammy helped Jack get a better spot to check out the sheep - who were very very dirty. Ick.

I think this picture is of us checking out the wildebeast. They didn't do much.

A welcome sign made by Jack during bath time. He spelled this himself. Yes - he's a genius.

Ice Cream...

2009-08-24T15:10:00.001-04:00

We all scream for ice cream at the Tuck Shop on Shelter Island with the cousins. Blue ice cream with sprinkles was big seller. More to come... just got home from the ferry and need to take a nap.

On Vacation

2009-08-18T09:55:00.009-04:00

Finally, we're on vacation! Right now we're hanging with the McKerrow's in Nantucket... tomorrow morning we're heading to Shelter Island to bug Aunt Donna and family. In the picture above... we have Hunter (9 mos), Jack, Piper (5 y.o.) and Harper (8.5 y.o.).

We got here late in the afternoon on Friday and have gone to the beach 2 times, gone fishing, shot of rockets, went out on the boat, hit a tent party on the beach and swung on the swing set for hours on end.

Jack is really enjoying the beach this year. He happily sits and plays in the water, throws rocks and eats chips in a beach chair. The water is very warm and the weather is super... a little hot but with the sea breeze we're doing just fine. He also likes to be pulled fast on the boogie boards...

Stephen brought rockets to shoot off in the yard. We've done it just once so far... the recovery team had a bit of a hard time locating Rocket 2029... finally it was found on the edge of a pond in a neighbor's yard. Whoops.

We hit the Opera House Cup tent party on Sunday evening. It's a party on the beach to celebrate the end of race week. It is sponsored by companies like Sperry's and Vineyard Vines. The kids had a good time dancing on the dance floor... while Stephen and Tim annihilated the raw bar. The folks from Vineyard Vines were handing out pink foam whale hats to the kids... they loved them. The VV people also took a bunch of pictures of the kids wearing the hats... they liked Jack since he was wearing their clothes. Maybe he'll end up in their catalog!

We went out for what was supposed to be a nice cruise in the boat. At first it was fine... we were hanging out and watching the parade of colorful sailboats... then Mt. Jack erupted - complete and total meltdown. It started because he didn't want to wear his life jacket and then tripled in intensity when he found out I didn't bring a "ma ma" on board. Stupid mistake on my part. We ended up having to go back to the slip and let a few of us off the boat. Then Tim took the kids and his Mom back out to sea to do a little fishing... in peace.

Jill and I keep trying find some time to go get a pedicure... shockingly it hasn't happened yet. Maybe this afternoon :)

Jack is totally and completely in love the with the swing set here. I can't even count the hours that Stephen has spent pushing Jack... ugh. What is he going to do when he realizes we're leaving in the morning?

Hangin' with Grandpa Tractor

2009-08-10T15:23:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I had to head to NY for the day for a friend's bridal shower. So Jack and I packed up the car early (8:15) and hit the road - leaving Stephen behind for the day. I anticipated a "free day" for Stephen, you know - a nap, lunch... a nap... some snacks... you get the idea. No, instead he did household chores all day.

Anyway, we got to Grandpa Tractor's around 10:45 and the plan was for me to leave at 11:30 to head to the shower. I thought we might have a tough transition when I left, but I was very wrong. Grandpa Tractor invited Jack for the much anticipated tractor ride - and Jack couldn't say bye bye to me fast enough.

The shower was very nice, had a great time seeing Michelle, Christy and Mandi for a few hours. When I was driving back to Dad's I was anticipating a terrible report (tantrum, no eating, no sleeping). Boy was I wrong. He had a great time. Went to visit the cows on the tractor, went for a walk, ate his pasta and actually asked to take a nap. What? Who's kid is this? Glad it went so well - but wonder why he saves his typical 2-year old behavior for Stephen and me?

Here is the "other" tractor... not Grandpa Tractor's real tractor. Apparently this is a back-up?

Showing off by counting to 10 and eating a stick of cheese.

Jack working the controls on the "real" tractor and telling Mom to back off... really nice.

Chillin' with the Jack-man

2009-08-10T15:10:00.003-04:00

Jack chilling with Dad on the couch - trying to get comfortable after a long day at school.

On Saturday, Piper stopped by for a little playtime. This is the dynamic duo after a lunch of pasta with butter and lemonade. They both like Caillou... I think Jack is in love. FYI - Piper loves bacon too. In this shot he's playing it cool... very nonchalant.

"Sun"day Fun

2009-08-02T21:07:00.003-04:00

Another beautiful day here in Foxboro. No muggy weather and the mosquitoes seem to be declining in numbers finally. Stephen took advantage of the sunny skies and mowed the lawn. Jack wanted to be with him during this chore. So first Stephen tried carrying Jack and mowing at the same time... that just resulted in a very sweaty and tired father. So I suggested putting Jack into the toddler backpack we had gotten from Artie. Brilliant!

It was brilliant until Stephen was mowing under the tree in the front yard and didn't duck down far enough - letting Jack get a face-full of tree. Whoops. No major injuries but we moved onto another tactic. We suggested to Jack that he use his (actually Ryan's) mower to follow behind. This worked for about 30 seconds before a full-on meltdown took place. That means it was time for one thing - a nap!

He finally fell asleep around 1:15... by 4:00 I was making noise in his room to try and wake him up. He looked so peaceful but I didn't want him to sleep for so long - just throws him further off schedule for night-night time.

Look how long he is... he's huge!

When he finally woke up we played a bit then ate some dinner. We tried to think of something interesting to do - and Stephen came up with a winner - we headed to Crescent Ridge in Sharon. It's a dairy bar with real live cows! Woo Hoo!

Jack belted out a few big "moo's" for the enjoyment of the cows.

Took a couple big jumps off the rocks. No injuries to report. Just some bug bites.

They also had a big old tractor (kind of looks like Dad's old one) that Jack took a turn "driving."

Finally went night night around 9pm... tomorrow is a school day. I'm not far behind...

When You're 2...

2009-08-01T20:30:00.003-04:00

...you don't need much to entertain you. A cardboard box is fun. A wooden spoon is interesting. A 4x4 piece of plastic with some squirty holes and the hose attached is a darn good time.

Jack and Ryan squirted the water in their faces. Ryan enjoyed drinking the water straight from the mat. Jack tried washing the toy lawnmower.

This morning Stephen and Tom took the boys over to the pool. Tom took control of Jack who only wanted to play in the big pool and Stephen was in charge of Ryan in the kiddie pool. Not sure why it worked out like that but I can assume that it's probably always a little more fun to play with someone you don't get to all that often. Maybe?

I'm just glad we finally had a nice warm day - with no mugginess. Looks like we'll have half a good one tomorrow too.

Beautiful Picture @ Saratoga

2009-08-01T20:28:00.001-04:00

Okay - this posting has zero to do with Jack. My friend and former colleague, Ric Easton, took this picture at Saratoga Race Course the other day and posted it to his Facebook account. I loved it so much I thought I'd share it with you. He went up to the track and started taking pictures during the early morning workout (6am)...

Crib Fun

2009-07-31T15:34:00.003-04:00

Last night Ryan came over for a quick visit (while Tom asked Stephen a question) and they immediately ran up to Jack's room to play. Why do kids love to have other kids visit their room? Jack was very proud to show Ryan around, let him ride He-Ho and handed him a few books to read. Very good sharing - very impressed. Then they decided they wanted to jump around in the crib. They jumped like monkeys. They laid down to pretend they were sleeping (with fake snoring too!). They shoved stuffed animals in each others faces. All around a good time...

-
The pictures are a little blurry because they were moving so fast and the camera on my BlackBerry can't keep up with the activity level of a 2 year old.

New Apparatus for Pool Time

2009-07-27T21:22:00.004-04:00

Jack loves a good dip in the pool - but I have a problem with it - my arms gets so tired flinging him around in the water. So when I was in WalMart (never again!) on Saturday, we found this cool shark floatie thingie. A woman buying one said it's her son's favorite thing... so I was sold. And she was right. This was a great purchase. It goes around his arms and then wraps around his chest - giving him a lot of support - and resulting in some real independence.

He actually doesn't mind that water gets into his ears... he just has to work on keeping his mouth shut.

Afterward, there was still a request to have Mommy wrap him in a towel and warm him up.

Feeding the Cows

2009-07-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Down the road from us there is a small farm - not even sure you would characterize it as a farm - it's a house with a barn and a few big hairy cows. Anyway - Jack likes to say hi to them as we pass each morning and afternoon. When Grandma Sheep was here last week - Jack got to see the cows up close and personal. This is the "baby" cow with my baby...

Surprise!

2009-07-27T00:41:00.001-04:00

This post pretty much speaks for itself... what did I do wrong?

A quick trip...

2009-07-26T23:25:00.006-04:00

Stephen spent all last week in Denver... so what do you want to do when you get home from a long week of working on the road? Right - head to Upstate NY to renovate a bathroom. When Stephen's plane landed at 7pm on Friday evening, Jack and I were there to greet him, but not before running through Logan and going up and down the escalators a dozen times. We also played in the children's area where they had a replica of a plane to play in.

Got into Queensbury late Friday night and Stephen got up bright and early on Saturday and started digging in. Meanwhile Jack and I (with Grammy) did errands and played assistant for the Stephen and Pooh. We swam (pictures to come), we ate popsicles, we helped water the new flowers in the front of the house.

He was "helping" but also ended up getting totally soaking wet - which necessitated the third clothing change of the day.

What is this move?

Now that's a steady stream...

So after a fun-filled Saturday - it was time to hit the road on Sunday mid-morning. Jack and I headed out while Stephen stayed behind the finish the bathroom project. All was good... until a few miles before Exit 9 on the Mass Pike.

Traffic at a standstill. You know it's not good when there is no traffic coming in the other direction and the people in front of you are getting out to walk their dogs. Turns out there was a rollover just a mile ahead of us and they had to land the medical chopper on the Pike. Just slowed us down for about 45 minutes. We were heading back to be home in time for Ryan's 2nd birthday party. We were fashionably late - but we had a good excuse. Ryan got a great new motorized car for his birthday. Here is a picture of Jack taking it for a spin - with 9 month old Hunter in the back... yikes!

That car goes pretty fast... hopefully being able to ride in Ryan's every once in a while will satisfy Jack - we shall see. As Ryan's grandfather told me - Target has one in red too :) (actually found this one that I like...)

Swimming Time

2009-07-20T22:28:00.002-04:00

Finally the clouds and rain have hit the road and summer is finally here. That means we can finally use the pool in our neighborhood and put all those swimming lessons at the Y to good use.

Jack has no hesitation getting into the kiddie pool. It's the perfect size and depth for him - just 1 foot deep... which also helps with the water temperature.

Grandma Sheep was a good sport and took Jack to the pool on Sunday and again on Monday (he played hooky from school today!).

Look at that body! He kind of needs a tan... no?

He pretends to walk like a crab in the water... and practices blowing bubbles. One thing he's had to learn at the pool is to close your mouth when you fall over. He learned this the hard way!

Playing games with Grandma Sheep.

One funny thing about Jack is that out of the blue he'll declare that he's cold and needs his towel - even when it's really hot out and there's not even a breeze. He makes this face like he's is out in 10 degree weather. I'm pretty sure it's all an act...

Zoo 2009

2009-07-19T21:20:00.004-04:00

Last year we took Jack to the Roger Williams Zoo for the first time - he enjoyed the giraffes and strolling around. Today Mom and I took him back - boy what a difference! This time he really seemed to love all the animals (they had just "studied" the Safari in school last week) and have a great time. The weather was great too... all sun and no clouds - yeah!

We started our with the zebras - which Jack insisted were "he-ho's" (horses). Then we quickly came up on the the elephants and zebras - a HUGE hit with Jack this time.

We got to watch the elephants get a bath. It's amazing how much water then can hold in their trunks - like up to 4 gallons!

Whoa - a real sheep. Baaaa....

Walking to the next exhibit alongside "Sheep."

A cool wall of water - that a lot of kids got totally soaked while playing in it. Fortunately Jack kept that to a minimum.

He also loved the monkeys - but I don't have any pictures of those. They were little blonde tamarins...

And we ended the day at the zoo with Jack's first ride on a carousel! He really loved it - and I tried not to throw up watching them go around and around and around.

What did Jack do today? Answers and video below:

2009-07-18T18:49:00.004-04:00

What Jack did today (in no particular order):

played with choo choo's
watched Caillou
ate bacon
drove Daddy to the airport
went to Target
saw a wild turkey in a parking lot
missed Daddy
made pasta and butter for dinner
watched Scooby Doo
went to Stop & Shop
said hello to a policeman
took a nap
shaved my legs (just kidding)
went to a friends 1st birthday party
ate a "Hoodsie"
jumped in a bouncey-bounce
waited for Grandma Sheep to arrive
played with Play-doh
got new water shoes
ate an apple
yelled at my servant (aka Mom)
rode on a cool Thomas the Train at Owen's
asked to go pee pee on the potty and did (!)
ate a popsicle (aka freeze pop)
ate lunch from Wendy's

A Big Helper

2009-07-17T21:03:00.004-04:00

Jack likes to be part of all the action... and that includes helping us with chores around the house. You know he's an zealous vacuumer. He is pretty decent at picking up his toys.

Today Jack decided outdoor work was where he needed to pitch in. When Stephen was mowing the lawn - Jack was watching. When Stephen was using the blower - Jack was in his arms. When Stephen was weed whacking - Jack was screaming at me to let him outside (I'm doing a decent job of playing the buzz kill). And when Stephen was covering up the gas grill after making some chicken - Jack was there to lend a hand.

I'm sure this phenomenon will wear off just when I actually need him to start helping out.

Are mosquitoes ruining anyone else's time outside? Ever since the rain stopped the mosquito population has exploded. You can't be outside for 2 seconds without getting eaten alive. Now I have to fully coat Jack in bug spray before even venturing outside for a few minutes. Almost wishing for the rain to come back - almost.

Pool Time

2009-07-13T10:41:00.003-04:00

Finally the sun is shining - summer has arrived! Neighbor Sarah and I took the boys to the pool yesterday for a little splashing around. The water in the kiddie pool is really warm (I'm sure for 2 reasons - it's shallow... and gets plenty of "deposits").

Here are the boys - pre-pool.

Here they are post-pool. Hard to take pictures "during pool" because my camera isn't waterproof - and there's a lot of water involved.

The boys are definitely good at chillin' and relaxin'... ahh... it's good to be 2!

Slip Sliding Away

2009-07-08T20:57:00.004-04:00

Saturday evening at Grandpa Tractor's, Jack's cousin Kyle insisted on setting up the Slip and Slide. No matter that it was 7pm and like 55 degrees. Jake and Kyle had fun slipping down the plastic ... Jack enjoyed watching them at first. Then he insisted on joining in. Since I didn't have his bathing suit on, I just stripped him down to his diaper and let him go for it.

Here's an action shot of Jake...

And a short video... watch the first 2 seconds very carefully - see Jack try to knock himself out.

The 3 boys really had a really good time playing with each other. It's a shame they live on opposite coasts :(

What does a pirate say?

2009-07-08T20:52:00.002-04:00

Arrrrrrrgh! Today at school they had a guest come in to read a book. It was a pirate! To celebrate they made pirate hats...

Jack modeled the hat for us during dinner. Yes, he is eating bacon for dinner. We called it his pirate's booty.

He loves to act like a pirate. And a dinosaur. And a tiger. And definitely an elephant - trunk, foot stomping and all.

Tractors and Cows - oh my!

2009-07-07T21:17:00.005-04:00

Big weekend for Jack - not one, but TWO tractor rides from... Grandpa Tractor. The first time they headed down the driveway to visit the cows, got a big scoop of dirt from somewhere and then brought it back up to the house to dump behind the "barn."

Sunday morning Jack coerced several different people to walk down the driveway with him... including me. We sat down after a bit and looked at the cows ... off in the distance. Actually we yelled at them.

Jack saw the mommy cows feed the babies "real mama's." As you know, Jack calls a bottle of milk a mama... he found this "from the source" method quite intriguing. Hopefully he doesn't want to go back to that way - not sure I have anything to offer him :)

Happy Birthday Grandma Rose!

Someday, Jack will hate me for this...

2009-07-03T22:29:00.003-04:00

But he's the one who made me get into a freezing cold pool with him this afternoon. The pool is heated - but we hadn't planned on going in so the hot water wasn't pumping through the system. It was an impromptu swim. It started with putting our feet in... to wading on the first step... to taking off his shorts and shirt... and finally to stripping off the diaper. I even took Jack by the arms and dipped him in the pool - he loved it. Tomorrow we'll turn on the heat and we will hopefully get some good pool-time before heading down to my grandmother's 89th birthday party.

Marching

2009-07-02T23:15:00.002-04:00

Jack loves to march... and dance. Tonight Jack mixed the two with Pooh...

Working at the car wash

2009-06-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

Need your car washed? Call Jack - really knows how to work the hose and sponge. He apparently also likes the taste of soap. Tonight when Stephen was washing the car in the driveway Jack insisted on lending a hand. He is a hard worker and loves nothing more than giving something a good scrubbing. He takes his work very seriously.

As Stephen was finishing up washing the car he turned around to find Jack lying face down on the driveway - drinking out of a puddle. Oh Lord... what will I do?

The Fort

2009-06-24T21:46:00.004-04:00

We got a delivery the other day (new patio chair cushions) that came in 2 huge boxes. And what does any good parent do with a big box - yes, that's right, throw it in the garage. What? Stephen came home and was like, "What did you do? This is a fort!" He brought it back in the house and showed Jack his new fort. Jack loves his fort - he likes to pretend to go "night night" in it, throw balls into and just hang out... You know who else likes it? Stephen.

I brought them a flash light and marshmallows tonight - and they pretended they were camping. Wondering what we did with the 2nd box? Yep - we brought it over to Ryan.

Simon Says

2009-06-23T12:34:00.002-04:00

Jack is getting pretty good at following directions... he might even have a future as an actor. Check out his faces...

Sneak Attack

2009-06-22T20:45:00.004-04:00

On Saturday night Stephen and I went to the Red Sox game... they were playing the Atlanta Braves... so I was actually "allowed" to cheer for the Sox this time. My friend (and colleague, and Jack's stalker) offered to babysit. She drove all the way down from Cambridge to spend a few hours with Jack - she's clearly obsessed. Anyway, there were big crocodile tears when we left the house... and as usual he was fine within a minute or two. Julie spent some time with Jack outside - yelling to the neighbors across the street (as you'll see) and squirting his water bottle - even at his "babysitter!"

By the way, that's pizza sauce on his head... not blood. And the Sox won - 3 - Zip.

Toddler + Mirror = Fun

2009-06-22T13:40:00.003-04:00

Jack discovered he likes full length mirrors at Bass Pro. He'd run up from the side and scream when he saw himself. The store was full of people - so I didn't have any problems with the yelling. Thought it was pretty funny actually.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T12:52:00.004-04:00

Wow - Jack and I have been working for days to make sure Stephen has a great Father's Day. We got him some gifts at Vineyard Vines... prepared a nice breakfast in bed... and gave Stephen extra sleeping time by not guilting him into going to swimming lessons with us at the Y this morning. Now tonight we're making his favorite dinner - linguine with white clam sauce. I think Jack might opt for pasta with butter.

Yesterday we were invited to Jack's school for "Donuts for Dads." A little hour long get together for the parents and children to eat some donuts together and do an art project.

Stephen ate the donut that Jack picked out... naturally the one with hideously colored sprinkles.

Cute Kids!

2009-06-21T12:50:00.002-04:00

Look at these cute kids!!! We have (from left to right) Jack, Hunter, Piper, Harper and Ryan. Love this picture. It's a from a few weeks ago at Jill & Tim's... on Memorial Day.

My Little Man

2009-06-18T21:25:00.002-04:00

Every day I swear Jack turns into more and more of a little boy. He's no longer my baby. He's moving all the time - unless Barney is on or he's eating bacon or cold pizza. Here are some pictures I took tonight - while the purple dinosaur was on singing a song about firetrucks.

Here he is telling me no... something I'm all too familiar with these days.

Today at school he made a pasta necklace. I love it. I'm taking it to work with me. Now I'm just hoping for some of this rain that is predicted for the next week - turns to some sunshine.

Puppet Show

2009-06-17T22:00:00.002-04:00

Tonight Stephen went to a homeowner's association meeting so I was on my own for putting Jack down to bed - not usually a difficult job. I decided to be extra nice and let him stay up past 8 o'clock so he could watch the Backyardigan's - I think it helps with his dance moves. Anyway - I let him stay up and when the time came I told him it was time for night night. That comment was promptly met with a very stern - No. Followed by another No - followed by a slap to the face! What - are you kidding me? I said - Jack. Chair. Now. He boogied quickly away into the guest room to the chair we use for time outs.

I left him in there for the prerequisite 2 minutes and then went in to check on him. What did I find? Jack putting on a puppet show. He had pulled off his socks and had one on each hand and had them talking to each other - saying, "hi, hi, hi, hi." How do you stay mad at such a cute kid? I couldn't... we moved on. He went to bed (after reading 5 books). He's so cute I could eat him.

Whoops

2009-06-16T21:47:00.002-04:00

Am I a bad Mom because I find this video funny? It's a video I took this weekend while Jack, our neighbor Sarah and her son Ryan were sitting on the porch having a popsicle.
Watch. Discuss. You Decide.

The Gardener's Dancing Assistant

2009-06-13T20:51:00.002-04:00

Every gardener could use a good assistant. Few gardener's are as lucky as I apparently am - my assistant can dance!

Founders Day!

2009-06-13T13:58:00.005-04:00

Founders Day 2009 is now in the record books. Great weather this year - about 70 and sunny for the parade that stepped off around 10am. Jack knew it was important to stay hydrated for the big day ahead...

Waiting is never fun - especially when you're 2 years old. Jack and Ryan made the best of it. Jack entertained himself by waving his $1 flag that I got him... while his buddy Ryan peeled a banana.

The theme this year was public safety. We had firetrucks and police cars from all over the area. When those firetrucks went by it was so loud. They had kids pulling the air horns - no pictures of that part of the parade since I had Jack in my arms and covering his ears. It was really loud! After the long line of emergency vehicles went by it was a better parade - at least for the kids. A lot of floats being pulled by dump trucks (!), tow trucks (!) and tractors (!). Jack liked that part of it the best. A lot of the kids on the parade were throwing candy. Jack enjoyed a nice root beer flavored Dum Dum during the parade.

Not sure what this was part of ... but as we know, any good parade has a rolling tiki bar?

Here is a quick video of Jack waving to the folks in the parade...

After the parade - we headed down to the high school field where there was a carnival going on. The line was about 50 people deep for a hot dog - didn't even both trying. Regardless the boys were getting tired, the parents were getting hot... and we hit the road Jack...

Red, White & Blue

2009-06-12T21:09:00.003-04:00

Today at school they celebrated Flag Day - and asked the parents to dress the kids in red, white and blue. We complied ... seems all the other parents forgot. Whatever. So here is the outfit - he looked so freakin' cute that I just wanted to eat him. Which - according to Jack - I am not allowed to do.

Here is Jack being patriotic and handy at the same time.

Here he is chucking a soccer ball at my head. Same look in his eye he gave me last night (actually 3am) before he threw a crayon at my head. Nice.

Boo Boo

2009-06-12T20:30:00.002-04:00

Tonight as Jack was getting ready for "night night" he ran away from me... and head first into the crib. Ouch! Here he is explaining in his own words what happened... sort of.

Time Out

2009-06-11T21:12:00.002-04:00

Jack's old enough for time outs now... and boy is he racking them up lately. His 2 favorite things to do to earn him time alone are - yelling "no" very defiantly at either Stephen or myself and blowing raspberries at us if we're trying to give him direction. The humorous part is that - no matter where he is - he already knows where his "time out" spot is. When he's downstairs all we have to say is, "go to time out" and he runs to sit on the first step. If we are upstairs he knows to hightail it to the wing chair in the guest room. We typically keep him there anywhere from 1 to 2 minutes (1 min per year?). We talk to him about why he got the time out and then he has to apologize. But sometimes he ends up getting a time out on top of a time out! Meaning - when I'm talking to him about what he did that was inappropriate - he'll start up that same poor behavior - which lengthens the time he has to sit in time out.

Saturday is Founder's Day here in Foxboro. It's a big day. We have a parade at 10am and then the fire department will be doing demonstrations on the field (where the booths are set up). We are going to have hot dogs (which Jack now loves!), fried dough, ice cream... and other sugary foods. Fun! Fireworks start at 9:15 - don't think we'll make them again this year. Maybe next?

Cheers!

2009-06-07T20:47:00.004-04:00

The "cheers" thing might be getting a little out of control with Jack. We do it for drinks, we do it for coffee... we now do it for... popsicles?

We had a great weekend. Headed down to the Cape yesterday to visit our friends Mark and Sue - who happen to be expecting their first this November. Hope Jack didn't scare them - even though it's too late for that anyway. They have 2 big dogs - a black lab (Sally) and a german shepherd (Rocky). At first Jack was terrified, by the time we were leaving today Jack had them following him and licking the back of his head. I think I might be a little put off my a huge furry animal staring me in the face.

Ready for Anything

2009-06-06T13:49:00.002-04:00

Jack loves to jump and play in puddles - he might be half duck - not sure. So this morning his neighbor Lauren came over with her life jacket on, saying she's going to go to the pool and swim with it on. Jack was jealous until he found out we had one for him too.

We bought this last year. I wasn't sure if it was still going to fit him but amazingly it does - and he has not surpassed the weight restriction. FYI - his sweatpants are only rolled up because the legs were getting all wet when he was jumping in the puddles.

New Neighbors

2009-06-06T13:44:00.002-04:00

Check out our new neighbors. They waddled over this morning to meet us.

We were a little shocked that they just came right over - considering Jack was running around the yard like a wild man all morning. Stephen fed them some bread - which he admits is not good for them - but we just wanted them to hang around so Jack could watch them. After the piece of bread was gone, they left... hope they come back!

My Cheering Section

2009-06-05T20:27:00.004-04:00

As you may know, I started jogging in April - with the intention of running the Boston Marathon next year. Not sure that is going to happen ... 26.2 miles is a long race!

Last weekend we went to Albany so I could run the Freihofer's Run for Women - a 5K - just 3.1 miles. I ran it with Christy and Mandi - we were team "Good Time Girl." We even got matching shirts - next time we're going with another color than pink - too much pink out there these days.

I brought my own cheering section - my Mom, Dad, Rose, Stephen and of course my biggest fan - Jack all came out to cheer us on.

We started out in good spirits. Lot of people around. More than 4,000 women ran the race. How badly could I do?

Little stretching is a good thing... we tried to look like we knew what we were doing.

Started out strong. Mandi can amazingly talk and run at the same time so she was chatting along when the unthinkable happened - I had to PEE! No really, I really had to go to the bathroom. This was no joke and there were no port-a-potties on the course (probably because it was only 3 miles). At just over one mile I just couldn't take it any longer - I had to go. I told Christy and Mandi to go on... I had to go. I asked a nice man sitting outside his house if I could use his bathroom, he graciously obliged. I ran in, peed, and took back off. I tried to catch up to the GTG - but it was too late. I finished 2 minutes behind them. I had a goal of 40 minutes (told you I was slow) and I finished in just about 37 minutes - even with the pee break. So I'm happy with that. Next race I'll do better, promise.

Here's a shot of me as I'm about to cross the finish line - very happy here!

Yeah, I'm done... thanks for wishing me luck Jack!

The GTG are tired... and ready for the next race... wherever that may be.

School Update

2009-06-04T21:28:00.003-04:00

Remember last week when I was fretting about Jack changing schools? Well, it was totally unnecessary... he LOVES it! On Friday we did a half day at the school - drop off was a little teary - but by the time we left the parking lot he was making friends. Then on Monday it was his first full day - again, very nervous and drop off didn't go the best, but as is the case with this little turkey... he turns on the waterworks for Mom and Dad and then as soon as we leave he's playing with the group.

The new school and the teachers are really impressing us. From the layout, to the lesson plans to the way they communicate with us - it's all a breath of fresh air. We are very happy with the decision. Phew.

For Stephen's birthday (which was yesterday) I had asked that during craft time that Jack make his father a birthday card. They did... and it came out so cute. So cute in fact that Stephen took it to work with him. Then yesterday - on Stephen's birthday - the director sent us an email during the day of Jack wishing Stephen a happy birthday. Here it is:

That is Jack playing on the playground. He looks a little sweaty! Gotta start dressing him in shorts... he really works up a lather playing and running around.

Firetrucks!

2009-06-02T21:52:00.005-04:00

Since we went to Upstate NY for my run last weekend... we got a chance for Grandpa Tractor to give Jack a personal tour of the firehouse! As you may know, Jack LOVES firetrucks and pulls a pretend siren/horn with his arm when he sees a firetruck.

Jack's eyes widened at the first sight of the firetrucks and then we he got to go in them and turn on the lights... you could just see the excitement run through his whole body.

I think Stephen also got a kick out of checking out the firetrucks and quizzing Dad about how things work...
Trying on Grandpa Tractor's Chief hat...

"But Grandpa Tractor... do you think you could give me a ride in the rescue truck?"

Of course... in the front seat no less!

Look how big the trucks are... and how little Jack is...

Thanks Grandpa! You're even cooler than I thought!

Think we can do this again some time?

I took a really cute video of Jack riding in the fire truck... and for some reason I can't get it to play... ugh. Take my word for it... he loved the ride, the trucks, the sirens, the lights... the whole thing!

No motorcycle rides :)

2009-05-31T09:51:00.001-04:00

No motorcycle rides allowed!

Happy Jack!

2009-05-28T21:35:00.003-04:00

Here is a quick video of Jack from last weekend. He runs over to tickle me and Grammy... and then starts to spin!