Friday, December 17, 2010

A child's milestones

The day your child is born, you realize for perhaps the first time that you are someone's "mom".  It's your job to nurture them and protect them.  You watch and wait for every sign of advancement - "oh look, he's looking at me", or "he just rolled over"!

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?



Monday, November 29, 2010

Thank you!

Thank you for the prayers for little Ian and his family.  He was able to go home on Saturday!!!

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

The newborn son of a friend of mine is in the hospital.  They're working hard to figure out the cause; it it appears to be a blood clot in his heart.  Any prayers you can spare for little Ian and his parents Elisa and Steven would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The hairdryer and the gerbil - a "tail" of misguided youth

God, I love my sister.  She's rocks.  She's kind, she is hilarious, and she is my best friend.  She is also the reason that I can never truly use a hair dryer without giggling.  Why you ask?  Let me tell you a story...

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!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Cute Jack stories and a reminder TO VOTE!

Regardless of your position, make sure your voice is heard by voting tomorrow! 

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)

We had a wonderful time at the pumpkin patch this year!  We returned with our friends Lulu and Brian and their adorable daughter Bria.  The weather was horrible headed down and on the return, but other than 10 minutes of rain while at the farm, we had ok weather. 

Which is good considering there were storms and flooding all over the PNW this weekend.  This is a shot of "the Nothing" that I was driving in to yesterday:


Last year, Bria was terrified of all things pumpkins.  This year?  Not so much.  She did great, and I think part of it might have had to do with her newest little boyfriend:


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



This cracked me up.  It means every one of these things actually occurred and made them put up a sign.  If you can't read it, it says: Pony Riding Rules:
No Yelling
No Screaming
No High Fives (don't high-5 the pony?)
No hitting the pony
No Balloons
 






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

Weight - 24 lbs 8.5 oz.  He's moved up from the 20th to the 30th percentile!
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 his naughty moments, but is generally a really good boy.  When he gets timeouts he always says "sowee".
-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!

Thank you to those of you who donated to Team Baby Bear for the Lupus Walk this past weekend.  Many of the donations were annoymous, so I'm unable to write you a formal thank you.  I appreciate the generosity and donations; every little bit helps in the end!

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

My boys

Ain't they cute?

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Inherited traits

The ability to multi-task comes from me.

He gets the nudie gene from his father.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Polar opposites

From: there's a real chance my kid might be gifted!


To: are we sure that the fever didn't fry his brain?


And we were washing the sheets on the bed, so we don't normally live like that.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Check, check, check it out

I'm honored to be the guest poster today over at Farmer's Daughter's blog.  Farmer's Daughter has a wonderful blog with great living from scratch tips, awesome farm stories, and photos of her cutie pie kiddo.


Check it out if you get a chance.

Monday, August 30, 2010

J fab

Someone did NOT appreciate getting made up with discounted jewelry while I was in line to return some items at Macys.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Who's the kid in this situation?

He claims to build these elaborate forts for Jack, and yet who is having the most fun in this photo?

Monday, August 9, 2010

Well crap

1 week of Jack eating dairy, and he's been a fussy gussy. All his teeth are pretty much in now, so he is either going through an angst-ridden pre-teenage hormone thing, or his tummy hurts.

Back to the $11 special cheese. Balls.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

New blog...an adjacency if you will

I have a new blog in addition to my blog about Jack being the cutest kid in the world. The new blog will focus on my homemade crap and thriftiness. If you care to check it out, click this link

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Jack at the dentist

We took Jack to the dentist yesterday for his first ever visit, and it went great! Our dental assistant explained that the first 2 visits for a kid Jack's age is really just to get them to feel comfortable with the experience. They did a super quick cleaning, flossed 1 tooth to get him used to the feeling, and then the dentist took a 1 minute look.

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

*warning, without giving anything away, if you normally receive a Christmas present from me, don't attempt this at home...cause then you are a Grinch and will ruin Christmas for me.

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 2 - cut vanilla bean in half, leaving about 1/2-1 inch at the top intact. They're easier to cut than it looks like. The consistency is similar to that of a pepperoni stick:
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:
Step 5 - put lid on jar, and shake a few times.
Store in a cool, dry place for 8-12 weeks. The longer you let it sit, the stronger the vanilla flavor will be. Shake the jars every few days to speed the process.
When ready to give as gifts (hypothetically speaking of course), pour in to individual bottles. I found a great deal on this site. As you use the extract, replace with a little bourbon or vodka, and the beans should last for a few years.
And now you have a lovely gift, that is frugal to give, and isn't full of additives and high fructose corn syrup.
Step 6 - ask your personal assistant to upload photos on to your blog:

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Note to self: always carry a rock with you

Cause you never know when you'll need to crawl under one.

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.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Exploring Ocean Shores

This weekend, Jack got to hang out at his Grandma & Grandpa's house at Ocean Shores. Despite a little sand snack, I think he had a great time. But you can be the judge.