As they age, there are less obvious signs of milestones. I feel that this morning, Jack definitely wanted me to know that he is no longer a baby, but a toddler - a little man. Moments ago as I was getting ready to eat lunch at work, I realized he made his point clearly by "packing my lunch" by adding a zebra when I wasn't looking. Perhaps he wasn't comfortable with the amount of protein I had packed for myself?
Friday, December 17, 2010
A child's milestones
As they age, there are less obvious signs of milestones. I feel that this morning, Jack definitely wanted me to know that he is no longer a baby, but a toddler - a little man. Moments ago as I was getting ready to eat lunch at work, I realized he made his point clearly by "packing my lunch" by adding a zebra when I wasn't looking. Perhaps he wasn't comfortable with the amount of protein I had packed for myself?
Friday, December 10, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thank you!
They now believe it's an issue with his kidneys and he is being closely monitored.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Prayer request for a friend
Thank you!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The hairdryer and the gerbil - a "tail" of misguided youth
The year is 198(something) and I'm probably a 3rd grader, which means my sis is probably in the 6th grade. She was learning about human development and had learned that when a gentleman gets "hot", something happens. What the "something" was remained vague to our sheltered small-town minds.
Around the time of human development lessons, I acquired two gerbils - first, Mr. Pipster (Pippy to his friends) and then Randy (named after the radio commercial character Randolph the Fibar Snack Bar Beaver. Don't ask, I won't be able to explain). We all lived a happy little existence in my messy room full of books and other nerd stuff.
After Randy had been introduced to the cage, we were constantly worried that one them might get pregnant. Gerbils don't exactly come with identifying gender tags. Being the budding human growth and development whiz that she was, my sister decided that she would investigate this situation and report back.
I watched with mild amusement while my sister held my poor defenseless gerbil by his/her tail and trained a hair dryer on to his/her nether-regions. After about 30 seconds of a steady stream of hot hair on his/her gerbil junk, my sister put him/her back in to the cage and declared that Randy was a girl. Her thoughtful hypothesis came about when she got the gerbil good and hot and NOTHING happened, ergo, Randy was a lady rodent.
I'm not the best story-teller in the world, so perhaps you may not be able to appreciate how hilarious this story became once we actually learned a bit more about human development and realized how misguided her experiment was.
A few other reasons I love my sister:
1) she saw the title to this post and knew immediately what it was about
2) she saw the title to this post and called me a few four-letter words for sharing it
3) she is actively trying to figure out how to keep this from my brother-in-law Brian
Love you sis!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
Cute Jack stories and a reminder TO VOTE!
And now, for a few cute Jack stories:
On Saturday I took Jack shopping at Fred Meyer (PNW grocery store). He knows when I say "let's go grocery shopping" it means he gets a free cookie from the bakery. The whole way over he was practicing getting his cookie. From the backseat, I heard the following on repeat for about 3 miles:
"Cookies"
"Ohhhhhh"
"Tank YOU" (cause he knows he has to say that when someone gives him something)
Once we got to the store, we were attempting to get down an aisle that was blocked by 3 people chatting. I said "excuse me", but they didn't budge. Jack yelled "HEY, BEEP, BEEP" and they quickly scooted out of the way.
As I passed by, I realized they weren't native English speakers which is why my polite "excuse me" didn't register. Apparently, "BEEP BEEP" transcends nations, languages, and dialects. My little Goodwill ambassador!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Pumpkin Patch - 2010 (Warning: photo HEAVY)
My dear, may I escort you over to the goat pen? |
It's plain to see who was pursing who in this photo sequence! |
Can you blame him for two-timing his girlfriend Lyla?? Look at this sweet little face! |
He kept trying to pick up pumpkins whenever she was looking. I had to tell him girls aren't impressed with the "poop face" |
Here you go young lady, let me load that pumpkin up for you |
Where to? |
I hear chicks dig tricks. Watch THIS! |
Yes Poppa, Momma is watching too. She's impressed with both of us. |
It worked! |
And kept working all over the farm! |
My poor pale babycakes. Every photo of him with Troy, Jack looks washed out because the camera can't comprehend that light shade of skin tone. |
Thankfully with me in the photo, he gets a chance to look tan |
Even with all the cute girls around, in the end, you go home with the lady who brung you |
Monday, October 18, 2010
Jack's 18 month appointment
Length - 33 inches (?). He is at the 75th percentile. He constantly fluctuates between 75th and 80th for height.
The pediatrician was very impressed with his verbal skills, and complimented us on his healthy diet and lack of TV watching. He does get to watch a little bit of TV each week when we need to do stuff around the house, but generally it's off all the time. The doctor also said he loved to see all the bruises on Jack's legs. He said he worries that 18 month olds without bruises aren't having enough fun. Hee hee.
The doc told me that Jack's development is fairly advanced with words, signs, colors, counting, etc. Troy and I work with him, but much of the praise goes to my amazing Aunt Connie and Uncle Jim (Gackie and Unk Jim) who watch him 4 days a week. They love reading with him (except for "Are You My Mother"), and teach him lots of great things. Thank you!
At 18 months, Jack is:
-Wearing 24 month or 2T shirts
-Wearing 18 or 24 month pants
-Can count to 10, but chooses to usually ignore "7" because 7 sucks
-Is finally giving us kisses and hugs without being bribed. I like this new affectionate Jack!
-Is referred to as "The Mayor" whenever we go anywhere. He loves to smile, wave, say hi, and give random strangers "high-5's" and "knucks".
-Knows most animal sounds if you ask him. For the record, Penguins say "brrrrr", flamingos say "I'm pink, pink, pink", and Meerkats say "meow".
-LOVES "reading" books, especially in the car
-Can say A,B,C, and D. And can identify and say "O".
-Adds an "a", "eh" or "y" to the end of any word with a hard consonant. Cup = Cupa, Fort = Forta, Pete = Petey. My friend who is a speech pathologist said it's normal.
-Knows almost all his colors, including teal. His favorites to say are "pinka, booooo, and geen".
-Loves anything Mickey and cowboy
-Has gone poo poo on the potty twice.
-Loves hip hop and says "no no no no" whenever I turn on NPR in the car
-Is the light of his Poppa and my world.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Thank you!
The weather was nice, and Jack and I had 2 great friends and their son join us for the 5k. The whole thing was incredibly disorganized, but we enjoyed our time for chatting.
At one point we got left behind by the crowd due to a potty stop. We couldn't figure out where everyone went (did I mention how disorganized it was?), so we decided that Lupus wasn't going to be cured by us wandering the downtown streets of Olympia. Instead, we headed off to a restaurant for chicken fried steak and eggs. One cannot cure Lupus on an empty stomach! Just a note that we were like 99.9% done with the walk. So, you didn't donate for me to eat CFS.
Jack decided to voice his thoughts on Lupus:
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Polar opposites
To: are we sure that the fever didn't fry his brain?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Check, check, check it out
Check it out if you get a chance.
Monday, August 30, 2010
J fab
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Who's the kid in this situation?
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Well crap
Back to the $11 special cheese. Balls.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
New blog...an adjacency if you will
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Jack at the dentist
I was pleased see that we use the same toothpaste at home as they do at the office - Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry with fluoride.
Our dental assistant rocked, and let Jack play with all the "stuff". She said that most kids won't even sit in the chair, let alone touch anything, so she was uber impressed with Jack. She was so impressed with him, that she sent in other dental assistants to "check out her 16 month old star patient". It may have just been something they do to every kid to make the parent's feel special...if so, it works. HA!
She was great and let him play with the sucker thing. You can see it in the video below...which unfortunately was shot sideways and I can't flip it.
Jack hanging out with Sue getting some schooling on the various tools:
Jack channeling Hunter S. Thompson:
He did so well that she let him pick a stuffed animal AND a sticker! The bear's name is "denty" because we're not creative in naming his toys.
I think he was so comfortable at the dentist, because we read him this book for about 3-4 weeks leading up to his visit. I got it at the library, and I think it helped because he knew what to expect, etc.
Monday, July 26, 2010
How to make homemade vanilla extract
Saturday Jack and I made homemade vanilla extract. It was extremely easy (start to finish it took 10 minutes), and I'm looking forward to testing the results when it's ready in 8-12 weeks!
The process is foolproof...so says the person who doesn't know what it taste like yet.
Ingredients:
-vanilla beans. Don't get the old crummy expensive ones from the store. These are lovely, had free shipping, and were shipped extremely quickly. And they made my mailbox smell heavenly.
-vodka or bourbon. Note if you don't drink, visiting a liquor store is like a foreign experience. I told a Jewish friend of mine that it would be like if she visited the bacon store.
Step 1 - assemble your beans and kitchen shears, or a sharp knife (paring knife would be great):
Step 3 - find a glass jar with a secure lid. I used a quart sized canning jar. Fold the beans in to the jar:
Step 4 - pour 2 cups (for every 6 vanilla beans) of your choice of liquor in to jar:
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Note to self: always carry a rock with you
Scene: Tuesday evening, crowded college classroom - 40+ students waiting for my information session to start. Across the room I notice a girl I went to high school with who is visably pregnant and wearing a maternity shirt.
Dumb ass: Well aren't you adorable! How are you feeling? (points to belly)
Innocent little lamb: Great, thanks for asking.
Dumb ass: When are you due?
Innocent little lamb: Um, I had him last Friday
Dumb ass: Well, uh, you look great. Gotta go, I need to start the presentation!
Insert foot in mouth.