Jack = Fish

Jack loved his swimming lesson at the Y on Saturday morning. Here he is all decked out in his trunks and sandals before we left the house.


We went to the Y all dressed in our suits so we only had to strip off some clothing in the family locker room before we could go into the pool area. But of course, we had to shower first. Nothing like making yourself all cold before you head into the pool. Whatever, I'm not the Health Department.
There were about 7 parent/kids in our class (the Shrimps) that started right at 8:50 am. For the first few minutes we just swam around with the kids (we were in the family pool section, not the lap part) getting them used to the water. Then we did some songs (Itsy Bitsy Spider, Hokey Pokey) and practiced "blast offs." Blast offs are when you hold onto the side of the pool with your feet up near your hands and push off backwards. Yeah, Jack can do this? Really? No, he couldn't but I could so I did it with Jack in my arms.
Then the instructor had us put the kids up on the side of the pool and hold onto our hands and jump in. A lot of the kids were jumping in... no problem... and going underwater! So I thought, well Jack must be able to do this. He was! He would hold onto my index fingers and jump in - go underwater - and pop right back up - happy as a clam! (You should have seen the boogies!)
We must have done this a dozen times before we moved onto the next activity - blowing bubbles. Jack continued to surprise me and was able to do this - with zero hesitation.
For the last few minutes of the class we just let them do what they want - Jack wanted to play on the stairs - so that's what we did.
I'm looking forward to next week, I really think we're going to get something out of this 7 week class... maybe Dad will be able to come and take some action photos!

DIY: The Kitchen

So... we've begun. We've begun redoing the kitchen. I came home from swimming lessons with Jack on Saturday morning (which was like a 40 minute water aerobics class for me) to find Stephen stripping off our hideous green wallpaper. I mean it's a good thing... but once you start, you can't stop. And we haven't stopped.

So we went from this...


to this... after about 12 hours of using the steamer to strip the paper off!




Whomever put this up did not want this to ever fall down. There was so much paste on the paper and the walls that we had to go get a paste-remover to use on the walls after the paper came down so that when we paint we don't have rough spots.

Halloween Wrap-up

So Halloween is finally over... and I think it was a good one for Baby Man. He really enjoyed wearing his costume (in fact he didn't want to take it off to go to bed), had a good time running around outside and talking to the trick-or-treaters and even scored a new Barney DVD (from Ryan).
We only visited 5 houses for treats... and spent the rest of the evening in the front yard. Stephen and Tom moved our heater from the back deck to the front yard. Then moved the Adirondack chairs out there... and a little table. That's where we handed out the candy from - it was our base of operations.
Here are the pictures...

This is Jack and Ryan pre-trick or treating. I'd say they are a cute pair - nice looking bumble bee skeleton and his friend the cutey pumpkin.

Look Mom - a present! It was a new Barney DVD from Ryan...


Here we are at our neighbor Howie's house... he gives the kids candy...


and the adults got some nips!


Here is our set-up on the lawn...


This is Ryan hanging out in the kids Adirondack chair...


"Crank up the head Dad... it's cold!"



This is Anita and Sarah... keeping warm by the heater.


Great night... next year we're all going to do the same thing... except dress up... and scare all the little kids! Now I'm off to help Stephen remove the wallpaper from the kitchen.

Happy Halloween!

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

Taco Night!

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


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

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




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

Vrooom.... Vrooom!

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

Small accident at school today

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

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



"Now where do I start?"


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


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

Jack is Back... I hope.

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

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

Happy Birthday Aunt Donna.

Enjoying the Fall...

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

Sleeping...

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


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

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

Sneaky Coffee

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

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

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




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

Super Sunday

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

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


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


Helping Daddy sweep up the leaves...




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

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




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


Pasta and apples... yum.

Is that tart?