John Deere

Imagine a warm cozy fire with snow falling outside.  People sitting on the couches conversing and laughing.  A young boy is playing in the back corner of the room.  Suddenly asked, " Is someone outside with Jack?"  

"He isn't outside."  "Yes, he is."  "No he isn't."  "Yes he is."  

There standing outside in the falling snow is a young boy outside with no jacket. He was able to open and close the side door so quietly he wasn't even missed.   He walked around the house in order to get to the John Deere lawnmower.  Apparently, he had waited long enough for the adults to tear themselves away from the fire.

Weigel Christmas

When I was little Christmas meant we saw everyone either on Christmas or Christmas and the 26th.  My whole family, both sides, lived about 20 minutes away from us.  That isn't the case anymore.  Now we have to load up the car, the dog, and the kid and drive to visit our families.  That takes away from sharing Christmas morning with Jack at home.  So we decided to have Christmas morning today.  I have been eagerly awaiting today, I kept wanting to give him his presents early.  I was the first to get up, just like when I was little, and with butterflies in my tummy  I walked into the living room wondering what I would do until everyone else woke up.  Staring into the empty room I decided to make sure Jack wasn't awake.   He was still sleeping quite soundly, I know I made noise. I go over to his bed and just sort of nudge him.  Slowly he opens his eyes.  I tell him Santa came and then bring him in to wake up Pete.  While they are snuggling in bed, still very tired, I set up the camcorder.  Next, I go back and tell them it is time to get things started.  Pete told Jack that Santa and Rudolph came to bring him gifts, not presents, gifts.  

How fun, last year Jack was too small to know what was going on at all.  Today he was ready.  He was peeking in the bags before Pete had his coffee.  Then it was time to move on to wrapped presents.  Jack wanted to start with the largest gifts.  It was great to see him smile after every gift, and he even told Santa thank you after opening each one.  He loved his gifts and we loved seeing him so happy.

pee pee

I didn't see the harm in letting our son go commando. He really enjoyed it and seemed to be in better spirits while naked. It went over so well that the next night he asked if he could once again be naked. I saw no problem since the night before went smoothly.

Jack has decided that being naked is so much better than wearing a diaper. For the past week our son has been naked every evening and even some afternoons. We have had a few incidents. One night Jack went into a tight space and peed. Later on he went back to the same small space. When asked what he was going do to, the reply was poop. I sat him on his potty. He was fine as long as I was sitting on my potty. ( he did not poop).

Another evening he was in the hall and peed just a little. I told him he either had to go sit on his potty or wear a diaper. He ran a little further down the hall and peed a tiny bit more. This time sort of smiling at me. I told him it was time for a diaper and he ran right in front of the bathroom door and peed just a little bit more. I scooped him up and sat him on his potty. We sat there for 3-5 minutes. Nothing. He stands up, looks at me, smiles, then urinates on the floor.

Perhaps I should have gotten the point that night.

I went to get Jack after his nap and he was diaperless. I figured fine, he can run around like that while I finish what I am doing. Shortly, I hear the door to my bedroom close. I go in there a few minutes later and he is in a small space, just sitting there and reading some books. I begin to notice a smell. Yes, he pooped. Here is probably where I should have put his diaper on. My line of reasoning was: he already peed and pooped so we are good for a little while.

An hour passes, yes I let him stay naked for another hour, he runs into his room and closes the door. I run after him and ask him what he is going to do. He looks at me and says: pee. I grab a diaper and go after him. He runs behind the Christmas tree and pees. I got the point and put a diaper on him.

I just hope this doesn't start a marking war between Jack and Tigran.

Trip to KY

Jack standing in front of our Merry Christmas Tree


Pete and Jack with Will


Me with some of my sisters and my brother



Jack with some of his aunts and his uncle


We went to visit my family for Thanksgiving. My sister, Alicia, made our meal. It wasn't huge, but we don't need huge, and we still had tons of leftovers. Alicia has been in charge of Thanksgiving for the last 4 years, and maybe even 6. She does a great job--thank you!!

Pete decided that a puzzle was needed that weekend, so he bought a 1,000 piece puzzle. Friday-Sunday we had the puzzle on the card table and worked on it on and off the whole weekend. Sunday we weren't finished but it was time to go home. I thought that we should just leave it in Henderson, but Pete thought we should take it home. It was heartbreaking to see him put all our hard work into a plastic bag. Now we would have to start all over again. We get back to IN and for two maybe three nights we work on the puzzle completing all but 100-200 pieces then Pete switches gears completely. Let me explain. Pete comes home from school and says we should buy a game for the PS2(we don't own a PS2). I say, "Ok what game?" He tells me just a game and we head off to the EA sports store. Once there I ask him the important question that he assumed to take for granted- "How are you going to play this game and what game?" He answers," Danny has a PS2 and street fighter." Well I wasn't real sure that Danny had a PS2 because I thought he upgraded and so after some discussion it was decided we should call some people to find out. It turned out that Danny does not have a way to play this game. We come home to our unfinished puzzle taking up the whole of the dinner table, and Pete gets on the computer and finds a way to play Street Fighter. Bedtime rolls around, I head off to bed, and Pete stays up playing this game. I wake up the next morning to find him still in bed. This is very unusual because Pete heads off to school very early. This led me to ask the all important question, "What time did you come to bed last night?" He says," 1:30am." This is why we do not own any sort of gaming system.

Thankful

Today we took a little time to think about what we are thankful for. I took a picture of our door because that is where we put our thankful turkeys. Jack was thankful for vacuums, school buses, forts, and baby elephants. Pete was thankful for me, Jack, Tigran, rhinos, and forts. I was thankful for the generic stuff that people always say they are thankful for: husband, son, dog, family, and friends.

However, if I thought about it a little more I would be thankful for the phrase: "mommy come." The fact that my son loves me so much and wants to spend as much time with me as he can warms my heart. I always always try to look at this time with him as precious. In what will probably feel like a few short years he will not want me to come, he will want me to leave. That thought already breaks my heart, so every single time he says that phrase I just melt and give in and come.

The other thing I am thankful for is what a great dad Pete is. As I was cleaning up in the kitchen tonight Pete and Jack were playing some sort of combination of hide and seek and daddy monster. Pete was making noises and crawling on the floor, and Jack was laughing, screaming, and running down the hall. To hear the sound of father and son laughing, playing, and just enjoying one another is truly a blessing.

So the other pictures are just from some of our favorite things: Daddy and Jack in a fort today, Jack's huge smile when he laughs, and Jack when he said "mommy come" and then we were about to do "cheers".

Randomness From Our Week

Nothing major has happened this week, but I still felt the need to post something, so I will share some random things from our week.

- Jack now omits the napkin and uses good old fashioned hand in hair wiping. (that is what the picture of him at the table is trying to capture, and yes that is ranch dressing about to go in his hair).

-We went to Notre Dame last weekend for a math conference, it was very cold and we did not bring any hats, so Jack got to buy a hat from his Granny's alma mater. While it was fun for Pete, the rain-snow mix we had all weekend kept Jack and I in the hotel most of the time. By the way, Jack does not do well in a hotel room for most of the day.

-The rainy, cold, dreary weather followed us home so we have been feeling a bit cooped up. In an effort to stave off boredom I decided to head to the Wal-Mart craft section. I am not by nature a crafty person, so I have no idea what brought this on. I bought little wooden animals and magnetic tape, and we now have animal magnets just like many of our friends. I bought various other things I will not bore you with, but look at the hat I made Jack this morning. We may attempt a turkey hat, like Elsie has, later in the week. If you look in the picture you will notice I tried showing him how to color, but he drew one blue line and was done.

-Wal-Mart has out the Christmas stuff, so we showed Jack the singing dancing snowmen, Santas,and etc. He reacted much the same way he did in St. Louis with the singing dancing frog- tentative yet interested. This led to Jack being somewhat interested in snowmen so we made snowmen cookies, and Jack was very excited about that.

-As those who read this blog know Jack has a thing for Shrek. Coincidentally, we've had the original Shrek, by William Steig, for about a year now. Jack found it this week, and it has now replaced the movie. He carries the book everywhere we go- car, people's houses, errands, and bed. He has us read it all the time, the book is a bit long so we paraphrase quite a bit. He LOVES this book. ( He is reading the book and wearing his Indian hat in one of the pictures. It is also the first picture where I have said smile, and he actually attempts to smile.)

-Well that has been our week. Tomorrow Cassie and Sean come. Jack will not know what to do with himself. Then on Friday Jack gets to spend the weekend with his Granny and Pappy. He has a fun week ahead.

Halloween

This year Jack was a cow for Halloween, although one girl did call him a bunny-cow due to his long ears. Well, cow or bunny-cow he still was cute. In the morning we went to playgroup, and had tons of fun! Jack spent his time at playgroup grasping a Shrek toy in one hand like it was a security object. He also spent time running around and mimicking Dylan, a boy who is a year older than him. It was pretty cute to watch.
Later that night we decided to trick-or-treat at the businesses downtown. It was a blast! There were tons of people out in so many different sorts of costumes, and many of the proprietors of the stores were dressed up too. It is something that I have really learned to love about this town, the people here like, no love, to dress up. Just give them an occasion and they will be in costume. Jack had his little candy basket and once he figured out that candy was dropped into this basket, and that the candy was his, he refused to let go. Towards the end of the night when the basket was full and had to be heavy, Pete offered to let it rest on his arm, Jack would have none of it. He had the handle wrapped around his hand like 4 times. The phrase- Candy Yummy- was repeated numerous times. We even taught him how to say trick -or- treat, but he was a little too overwhelmed to do it when he was supposed to. He usually said it after we had already left the store.
The next day our friend Koushik came over with a Target bag full of candy just for Jack. We got down his bag and Jack, no longer afraid, held out his bag and said trick-or-treat. He refused to let us go anywhere near his bag for the rest of the day.
It was so much fun because he was actually getting into it himself. Next year will be even more fun I am sure.

Thank you St. Anthony

I pray to St. Anthony weekly-if not more. For anyone who doesn't know, St. Anthony is the finder of lost things. He always always comes through for me. I rely heavily on this little rhyming prayer I learned in Sunday School- I don't know how adult-like it is, but since it has worked thus far I am not changing anything. Here is my prayer- Tony Tony turn around something's lost and must be found. Then I begin to tell him what I lost. I am not real sure I should be calling him Tony, but as often as I pray to him I figure we must be on a first name basis by now.

Well, as you may or may not know we have been really into "Shrek" lately. Jack watches the first 35-40 minutes of the movie and then he is done with it-- he wants to start it over and watch the same 35-40 minutes again. I guess after they save the princess it is just boring. Anyway, he was done with it and wanted to start it over-- which for him means getting it out of the dvd player and then putting it back in. The process got interrupted by daddy when I wasn't looking, and lunch was served. Later I was putting things away and noticed that the movie container was empty. I suppose that I had various emotions, but the one that won out was-- oh my, do you know what kind of tantrum is going to be thrown if I don't find this movie?

I began an earnest search of the apartment. I looked everywhere I could think of and anywhere he has been known to hide things. I of course prayed my rhyming prayer and began the search again. Jack began to realize what I was doing and did get upset-- in fact breaking the thermos we just bought Pete only hours before. I finally sat in the chair thinking- hmm... St. Anthony when are you going to help me?

Jack at this point was putting a random movie into the dvd player. The dvd player, I might add, I opened and closed like 5 times, the dvd player I opened and then tried to look inside of with little success. He put his movie in and pushed it back as far as he could, then got a second movie and was about to put it in the dvd player as well, when I had a thought. I moved him out of the way, took out the first movie, stuck my fingers inside the dvd player and there it was grazing the tips of my fingers. Way to go St. Anthony!! We love you in this house!! You are the patron saint of the Weigel house that is for sure.

Again...

Jack is sick and has been sick for over a week.  The first two days of his sickness it was quite obvious he was sick-no energy, very lovey, high fever, etc.  After the first couple days though he was able to get around and move but still would get the fever at random times throughout the day and then a cough developed.  Well it has been 9 days since this all started and he has so much more energy-yelling, running, playing, etc., but still that fever will randomly pop up at unexpected times and his cough just keeps on rattling.  

When dealing with a sick child you do what you can to comfort them and let them sit on the couch and snuggle with you-if need be.  The first two days of sickness I decided that we could watch a movie.  I mean really what could be the harm in a movie---- I wish I had known.  

I picked Shrek for our movie the first two days.  There is a donkey, catchy contemporary jokes, an ogre, and a dragon-- I figured it had everything.   Apparently, I was right.  It has been 9 days and for the last 9 days I have watched Shrek every single morning or afternoon.  Seriously.  Do you remember when you had a favorite movie and loved to watch it and it never seemed to get old or lose interest?  Do you remember that after awhile your mom either put you in a room far away from her while you watched or she tried to deter you from watching that movie one more time?  No-- you probably don't, but I guarantee you it happened.  Jack knows all their names:  Shrek, Donkey, Fee-no-na,  Mirror, and Dragon.  He proceeds to tell you their names over and over again, he knows which container it comes from, and he knows how to put it in the dvd player,  and he asks for it every single day.  I say no and deter him for an hour or two but in the end Shrek always seems to win out.    We happen to own Shrek 2 as well-- let me tell you that is no substitute for the original.  That only lasted 10 minutes and now we are back to the original Shrek.  

St. Louis

We recently spent fall break in St. Louis visiting family and friends. It was such a good time and we packed so much in. I guess I will give a quick run down of everything we did. We arrived and headed off to meet Cassie, Sean, and Luke at Imo's Pizza. The next day we hung out with Cassie and Sean all day-- I can tell you Jack absolutely LOVED it! First we went to the Science Center - this place is free by the way- and Jack had a great time playing with all the hands on activities, so did all the adults. In the picture above you will see that we put Jack inside the tornado simulator. Cassie was a little jealous and ended up getting in too. We had so much fun that daddy was sad when we had to leave. Then it was off to lunch at Ameghetti's Deli (it was delicious!) Jack, however, was not in the best of spirits so we ended up going back to the Hanks for play time with the singing frog. They had this frog that sang and after being terrified of it that morning Jack warmed up to it and couldn't get enough. We had a little time before dinner so we went to Tower Grove Park. Pete was very happy to go because it reminded him of his childhood. (In case I hadn't mentioned it-- Pete grew up in St. Louis). Pete also drove us around his old stomping grounds. We got to see where he grew up and went to school.

The next morning we went to Grant's Farm - this place is also free. This is the historical home of Ulysses S. Grant and is owned and run by Anheuser-Busch. It is a great place for young kids. They have the historic house(s) of Grant, the clydesdale stables, and a petting zoo- this is where Jack was able to feed the goats. We were so moved by the civic philanthropy we have decided to buy more Busch beer. After this stop we headed off to Best Steakhouse for lunch. Granny, Danny, and Jon came to town so we had lunch with everyone. Apparently Cassie picked this place-- we all thought Sean did. Cassie wasn't a big meat person a couple years ago, so this is a big step that shows the heavy influence of one Sean. :) After that stop we said bye-bye to Sean and hello to the Magic House. They have a great 1-6 yr. old area, and we spent an hour and a half there and could have easily spent more time had it not been for our desire to see the whole thing before Jack ran out of steam. The picture with Jack and Granny playing in the water is from our time at the Magic House. After this we went to dinner at Joanie's Pizza. Yes we had pizza two of our 4 days in St. Louis, however, it was all good, and they had two very different tastes.

Unfortunately, Granny and gang had to leave early Monday morning, and Cassie had to go back to work so we were on our own. The first thing we did was drive to Wash U and check out the campus. Pete wanted to scope out the math department. It is a very beautiful campus. Then we drove to the zoo- this place also free. Jack LOVED the zoo. Jack loves animals, at home we spend a lot of time looking at his animal books. Lately, he has been interested in rhinos and hippos so we took a picture of him by the rhino. After walking all over the zoo for at least 2 maybe closer to 3 hours we were all tired and grumpy-at least I was- so we put a hold on all our St. Louisy activities. We just sort of drove around and picked neighborhoods we could live in if our path ever takes us to St. Louis in a more permanent situation. Then back to Karen and Dan's place where Pete and I spent the afternoon playing with the Wii. We have never played Wii before so it took some of us--ahem-- a bit to learn how to tame our movements so as not to knock dust from the ceiling. :p Then we finished our night off by eating fast food with Luke and Karen.

That was our trip-- we had so much fun!! We really want to thank Dan and Karen for their extreme hospitality!! We had so much fun playing Wii bowling that we thought we could actually bowl, and attempted to do so today on campus-- it was not a success. So just for everyone out there we want to say that success on a game does not translate to success in real life.

Toddlers--Oh my

Life with Jack is becoming more and more interesting everyday. He really is becoming a toddler and has left babydom far far away.

Jack discovered a love for apple juice recently. He gets milk in the morning and after that he is allowed juice in the afternoon. Jack has decided that it is apple juice or bust. He goes to the refrigerator and tries and tries to open it, all the while crying, appy juice!! When you give him his milk cup he throws it and looks up at you with his big brown eyes filled with tears, that lower lip rolled out, and his little faced all scrunched up-it really does break my heart. I try not to look at him.

He climbs on the table. Frankly, I don't really care. However, I think about ok what if he is at a friend's house or a family member's house? Then I care more. So I say: ok Jack you have to get off the table. He doesn't really care to get down. The thing that I do find amusing about these ventures to the table top is why he goes in the first place. In the morning I don't clear the oatmeal dishes right away, so when I leave the room to go to the bathroom, Jack climbs up to the top of the table to finish them off. He puts the bowl up to his face and tries to, I assume, lick the very last bits of oatmeal. He grabs the spoons and has them in his mouth along with whatever glass I was drinking out of that morning. It always makes me laugh a little- on the inside.

We have a time-out routine. We tell Jack time-out and then grab one of the dining room chairs, put it in the hall, sit him on it, set the timer for 1 minute-since he is 1, and I hang out in the kitchen until the timer beeps, then I get him down tell him why he was there, I have him apologize, and I give him a hug. Lately we have been using time out a lot more. What sort of things get Jack in timeout? Throwing chess pieces-period, throwing objects at people or animals, kicking mommy while diaper changing is going on, any sort of hitting or pulling of Tigran's tail, and of course no hitting other kids, this has just been amended to even accidental hitting because of his refusal to simply apologize when it is an accident. In the last couple days Jack has become very involved in time-out. Let me explain with an example. Last night Jack was very tired, and I was getting him ready for bed-which includes a new diaper, and he began to kick me. Then he looked at me and started to say something I couldn't quite understand at first. After him saying it again I realized he was saying-time-out over and over again. Once dressed he goes to the chair we use and tried to pull it down the hall-by himself. Once time-out has started he begins doing what he always does-talking. He goes hi, hi hi, hi momma, hi hi. This is why I hang out in the kitchen-that way he can't see me. He never gets up from the chair anymore-he just says hi. Once the timer goes off and I go to him, he says without any prompting--sorry momma and gives me a hug. So does time-out work if the child is so excited to go to time-out that he tells you he has to go and then tries to put himself in it?

This morning when walking into the living room I see Jack over by Tigran. Jack sees me and runs into the kitchen. Of course, this causes me to look once more at Tigran. I notice dog food on top of Tigran. So I turn toward the kitchen and see the mug we use to scoop Tigran's dog food on the floor along with more dog food on the floor. Apparently, Jack thought Tigran needed some more food.

Finally, the last Jack story. For about a month-maybe not even that long- Jack tells us when he poops. He does it about 90-95% of the time. It has been very helpful, and we encourage him to do it. The last two days Jack has told us he has to poop and there has been nothing there. So I just tell him he probably farted because well those stink too. However, there will be a poop there the next time I look. So yesterday I finally put two and two together and realized that he was telling us he was about to poop. Yes I am that slow. So last night he said poop and there was nothing there. I took his diaper off and kept it off. This was to be an experiment of what happens next. I had a diaper out in case it all just fell to the floor. However, I saw his butt clenched together, and he looked at me with a very distressed look and goes POOP!! Those butt cheeks tighter than before, so I decided to save him from his distress by putting a diaper on him. He pooped right away. I am beginning to think we should buy him a baby potty-at least to begin familiarizing him with what it is.

New playing ideas?

Lately I have felt like Jack and I are in a playing rut. We play with puzzles, cars, blocks, and books, it doesn't vary a whole lot day in and day out. These are his favorites, why ruin a good thing? So I decided to try something new. This morning I got out the colander and some angel hair pasta, turned the colander upside down, and showed Jack how to put the pasta through the holes. Then I got out some tupperware and put rice, sushi and white, in them along with a small cup so he could scoop. We had a pretty good time. I realized I have failed him on the scooping front because he had no idea how to scoop. He decided to forgo the cup and use his hands. This then turned into just dumping the containers upside down and putting a few handfuls back in the tupperware containers. He also tried putting the rice on top of the colander. I showed him how to put the rice in the colander along with the pasta, the colander being right side up, and this was fun, but not as fun as dumping it on his head and then doing it again!

Here are a few pictures to show you what Jack has been up to this week.

Jack has discovered lotion-- he wants to put some on all the time.


He also discovered my eye patch and decided to become a pirate-arrr!

Finally, Jack has become obsessed with the vacuum cleaner, swiffers, and the broom. Here is Jack helping to clean up our mess.

Forts, Pumpkins, and Fun Times

Life around here is always a ton of fun. We are truly blessed- we enjoy each other's company so much. Here is a taste of our fun. Jack LOVES to hide. He loves to hide his stuff, himself, and us. So Pete started building him forts made out of sofa cushions,then I decided to build a fort the way I remember building them when I was younger. So the first two pictures are Jack hanging out in the fort. He loved it because he could walk around, play with toys, read books, and the whole family fit-even Tigran.


Where's Jack?



This week for playgroup we went to a place called Millennium Farms. We had originally planned on going on a hayride, but those are only offered on the weekend-Friday didn't count as a weekend. We still had fun. We went to the petting zoo and Jack was very brave from far away, but when we got inside the barn Jack broke down and demanded to be held. When we posed the kids for pictures Jack was screaming and crying. He was better as soon as we left the barn. They had this little trough filled with corn kernnels and all sorts of shovels, trucks, and other toys--this is the area that Jack enjoyed the most. They have pumpkins you can buy, and as you can see Jack thought he could pick his pumpkin up all by himself. There were other things to do and we had a great time.

Labor Day

We spent our weekend in Morehead, and Jack had the best time he has ever had there thanks in large part because of the geen tuck or mamowah or for those of you not schooled in Jack talk- the green lawnmower. Oh yes many many hours were logged on the various riding lawnmowers by Jack and those who have not learned how to say no when he looks up at you and says- peese, outside peese.

Sean, Cassie, Pete, Danny, and I went kayaking at Cave Run Lake. We stopped by the Bike Shop to pick up our kayaks and off we went. It was a great day to be out on the lake- it was so pretty. Pete and I shared a double as did Cassie and Sean, Danny was all by his lonesome. I did better this time than I did the first time-- that was not so fun. There were tons of people camping right on the lake, so we were able to get someone to take a group shot after we were done with our afternoon fun.

There were other fun activities going on as well- Pete took Jack on his first bike ride. However, Pete did not factor in the oppressive heat and humidty so it wasn't a very long bike ride, but I think they both had fun. We played ladder golf, and while Sean was ladder golf champ, Cassie was the champion at knocking balls off-especially Sean's winning point balls. There was also a ping pong tournament that Pete dominated in, and a softball game that caused Pappy's knee to swell and fill with fluid of some sort-- we are still waiting to hear. We hope he is feeling a little better at least.

Jack started calling Danny- Daniel or Un Daniel. He really loved saying Cassie and Sean. He still isn't saying Granny but would also take to calling Granny- Daniel. He said Mimi in a very high-pitched voice followed by Poppa in a lower voice. We had a great time and were glad to see everyone.

Way to Go!!

This is a great and momentous day in the Weigel household. My brilliant husband has passed all of his quals!!! He had to pass four exams before he could move on to finding an adviser and a thesis topic--so now everyone better watch out, Peter Weigel is on the loose. Just for anyone who wants to know-Pete is interested in Differential Geometry. I am so proud of him for passing them in a one year time period-that is a great accomplishment. Go Pete!!!

On a side note-- Setting: Pete getting ready for school. Jack and I laying in the bed. Conversation: P: Yeah I kicked butt on those exams! J: Butt , Butt P: oh man it starts already.

It does.

Trip to Henderson

Jack and I went on a solo trip to Henderson. I was a bit worried about driving that far with my son and no back up, but we both did a great job! I had some family come to town that we haven't seen in 5 or 6 years, and there was a 4.5 month baby involved so of course we couldn't pass that up. (The very bottom picture is of Jack with baby Kate) We had a great time and were pretty busy all 4 days. We had pizza and cake at my uncle's house on the first night, bbq at the park on the second night, and grilled hamburgers at my aunt's on the the 3rd night- we also got to spend a little one-on-one time with my nanny. The 4th day was more of a packing and saying bye-bye day. (top picture is me, my dad, nanny, and jack)

I must say that I haven't been so tired in quite a long time. It wasn't even due to all the family togetherness-it was the fact my dad's house is not suited for a toddler. I am used to knowing Jack is pretty much safe in our little apartment so I don't have to constantly get up and down, but my dad's house was a different story, by 2pm every day I was just exhausted.

Jack had a blast! My dad has two dogs-they are both labs--Jack loves dogs. This meant he was in heaven the whole time. He learned Dixie's name on the first day. Rex was a bit harder and was pretty much just called dog or Dixie while we were there. (The second picture is Jack with Rex) Jack also loved the cat- Poojah. He ended up calling him Poojie. It was pretty cute. There was a lot of petting, ball throwing, tailing pulling, and chasing animals around the house. He also enjoyed the dog' s kennels. I think he spent more time playing with them than anything else. (The third picture is Dixie and Jack in the kennel)

Mary got him a little police car that makes noise if you touch the siren and a dinosaur shirt that lights up when you move. Jack LOVED these gifts. When he would get tired or cranky he would want the police car and he would just sit there turning the siren on and off over and over again. The shirt was also a huge hit-- he wore it to my aunt's house and showed everyone how it lit up. He would get this huge smile on his face. He usually showed people that both his shirt and his car had moving lights. Way cool!! (The fourth picture is Mary, Poojah, and Jack showing off his shirt and car)

Jack made some great strides in language while we were in Henderson. He started speaking quite a bit more and stringing two words together. He was saying- Up please-- All done-- That's funny--See baby-- and quite a few other things. He was even saying things after only hearing them a few times. It is so exciting to be able to start communicating a little more with him.

round and round we go

Jack really loves spinning around and around in the computer chair. As with most children, the faster we go the more he delights in it. When the spinning ceases he looks up and says more both verbally and with sign language. So we just keep on spinning. I don't know where that joy and thrill of being so dizzy you want to puke goes, but somewhere along the way we all seem to lose it. Today we were spinning around and around when Jack manages to fall sideways out of the chair behind the armrest. I am able to grab his foot, with the chair still spinning, and his head hanging upside down. Once in an upright position he looks at me and goes --more?

I had a birthday, and Pete made me a cheesecake. The above picture is of this wonderfully delicious treat. So thanks Pete for the yummy cake and the great steaks!

We went to Turkey Run today with some friends- it was so much fun. We had to leave before everyone else because Jack needed a nap but we still were glad to go. There were three families total with 4 kids and 1 on the way. We started by hanging out in the nature center then we went on a 1.7 mile hike. It was a great day for hiking because it wasn't very humid at all--thank goodness! Pete probably wasn't as thrilled with the hike since he has some sort of foot fracture, bruise, or something, and he had to carry Jack. So I am sorry Pete :( After the hike we were pretty hungry so it was off to grill burgers, eat fruit, and the three of us moms pretty much ate a whole bag of Ruffles. None of the kids wanted their burgers--how can you play all day and then not be hungry?! Oh well. The food, conversation, and bonding were wonderful.

Then finally, Jack likes spinning so much that I thought I would teach him Ring around the Rosies. He loves it. When I say --ashes ashes-- he starts to fall down. Then right back up, hands extended, and we do it all over again. Ashes ashes we all fall down-- and down we go with a huge smile. I am glad he loves it so much but I am sort of regretting teaching it to him because we have to do it over and over for 10 mins. Spinning and falling--oh to be a child once more.

A to -and -fro kind of weekend

This weekend saw us in the car everyday, for hours, starting Thursday night. Pete got us tickets to see DMB at Deercreek. It was a wonderful, thoughtful, and generous gift, but as is the case with men, sometimes, the execution of said gift wasn't fully thought out. We have Jack and so the first question that came to my mind was, "What are we going to do with Jack?" Pete responded, "Take him with us." Yes so as you can see right away that men and women do not think alike at all. After quite a bit of discussion, frustration, and many alternate plans it was decided that we would just have to drive to Granny's house on Thursday. The concert was Friday night so Friday afternoon Pete and I got in the car and drove back up to Indy. We ate a early dinner at Harry and Izzys. Then drove to Deer Creek to watch Dave. We had a great time and noticed the huge age gap among the audience goers. Either you were 18 or you were not. We came to the conclusion that to go to a Dave concert in college must be a rite of passage. As we were in the not 18 group we were part of the older minority, but what singled us out the most was the fact that we were probably the only two people who were not drunk. So the concert was fun and the people surrounding us were just as amusing.

The next morning after breakfast we drove into Louisville to eat lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, mostly because of the green chili wantons, the Bristol. Then we headed on to Lexington to watch Danny and Jon play in the Bluegrass State Games. Then it was back to Granny's. We learned that Pappy and Luke were having travel troubles getting out of Haiti so we were all a bit tense since we had no way to communicate with them. Sunday after church Pete and Danny were playing frisbee when Pete fell and maybe sprained his ankle. He couldn't get up or put weight on it for quite some time. Once inside it started to swell some and my grin and bear it-never takes any medicine for pain husband- took some pain medicine. I knew it must be bad. Luckily, his mom had an ankle brace in the house to help him out some. We left shortly after that. I drove 2 hours and Pete drove 3. This is also a big deal because I am not ever allowed to drive the long distance drives-- I think my driving scares him a bit. :P It wasn't until we were back home that we learned that Pappy and Luke were safe in Miami. Pete went off to study and as soon as Jack was asleep I went to sleep. I haven't been that tired in a long long time.

So a quick note about the pictures- Jack and I eat breakfast at Einstein's Bagels pretty often and the table in the back has I Love Becky scratched into the table. Well I saw it this morning and thought that even though this weekend was tough, and I still could use some sleep and/or caffeine, the whole inspiration behind this weekend was exactly what that table says.

* In trying to go back and find said I Love Becky table carving picture a couple years later- I could not so it is not really on here.* The second picture is of Jack at the BGSG where he loved playing with the cars. We also saw a couple more boo-boos Jack had acquired while we were away. One was a slightly busted lip from trying to do something with Tigran under a table and the other was a cut on the head from the corner of the ping pong table. I told you that kid is always getting hurt or into something. He can never go a day without some scar of the day on his body.

The last picture is just of Jack standing on the dvds trying to turn up the music so he can dance up there. That only lasted a few minutes and then he used that position to lecture to Tigran-- using his hands to show he means business.

head banger

So The close up picture of Jack's face is just a snapshot into our life at the moment. I stay home with Jack all day, and every day this kid ends up with some sort of scratch, scrape, or bruise of some sort, and I have NO idea how!! He ends up falling, tripping, tumbling, or something on everything lately. People must think I am a horrible parent. They say, " So what what happened to him?" I respond, "I have no idea." They just sort of look at me and go, " Oh, I guess that happens." Of course it happens-- he is almost 1.5 yrs. Come on people don't you remember when your son was that age?

Jack has also become our little head banger lately. When you tell Jack no or when he can't quite figure something out, he goes to our door and bangs his head against it a few times, then he shifts to the closet door and bangs his head. After he finishes he just looks at me like--see what I did, doesn't that hurt you? It reminds me of my sister, Mary. In my house growing up, we had this brick wall, and Mary would always bang her head on that the brick wall-she constantly had huge knots on her forehead. The doctor told my mother it was just a phase and she would grow out it, and eventually she did. I keep telling myself that, but it is still tough. Pete tells me to ignore it because Jack is doing it to get my attention and/or a rise out of me. I was doing ok at ignoring it until he started doing it on our glass coffee table--I really don't want him to get a huge glass splinter stuck in his head.

The next picture is of Elsie and Jack. If ever a kid loved and adored another kid--- Jack LOVES Elsie. He follows her, he obviously tries to impress her or does what she is doing in order to gather favorable opinion, and no matter what she is doing he smiles or laughs--hard. He has even started sucking up to her mom just so he can be near her. I think, on occasion, Tamri gets more hugs than I do. Elsie is a girl who wants her space and isn't a big fan of the overt crush-- she often pushes Jack out of the way and tells him NO! Jack doesn't quite grasp this and he comes right back for more. I can tell the next few years-- ok now until he is married-- will be quite a time.

A Few Random Things

Pete and I had our 3 year anniversary on July 2nd.  We dropped Jack off with our friends-Mark, Tamri, and their daughter Elsie-and we headed off to dinner.  We were dressed up to the nines and headed to this restaurant that we knew very little about.  Once there we noticed tons of people in jean shorts, there was no hostess, and there were babies-- not a good sign.  After waiting for a minute or so a very sweaty man showed us to our seats.  We sat there and waited and waited and waited- no waitress showed up so we left.  So we walked to the restaurant we knew we liked, but once we got there we noticed a sign saying it was closed until July 6th.  So we walked to another place, once there we noticed they had big screen tvs- again not what we had in mind.  We were running out of places to try, Lafayette isn't very large after all.  So we finally tried one more place - Maize American Grill.   It ended up being very good.  

Jack is in love with Elsie-- he follows her around like a puppy dog.  Apparently he couldn't stop kissing her while Pete and I were on our date.  He has started hugging her constantly and invading her personal space.  Sometimes she doesn't mind, but mostly she is very aggravated that he won't stop touching her.  He gives her all of his toys and tries to just sit next to her no matter what. I don't think he understands the concept of playing hard to get or acting macho to impress girls.  He just wants to give her what she wants and be near her-- hmmm- I am not sure what this means for the future.  As far as their "make-out" session we warned him that this is fine for now but in a couple years he shouldn't be surprised to see Mark waiting with a shotgun.  

I've been toying with the idea of expanding our family.  It is something I have been going back and forth with for awhile now.  Just when I would decide yes we should something inside me said no not now wait, and then things would go back in the other direction.  About three weeks ago we decided to go for it-- however--I just got my period.  Now I am sorry if this is entirely too much information, but it does affect things.  I am not someone who ovulates on a regular basis so the very fact that 3 weeks ago I made this decision and then I get my period means I decided at the correct time to try and expand our family but somehow or another it just didn't work out. I was quite devastated.  The last time I ovulated was in November-that was 8 months ago.  Who knows when it will happen again--it is very disheartening.   Pete tells me to remember that we have never had any control over this process, and we have been clearly shown that time and again.  He told me to trust that God knows when it will be best for us to have another baby and when it is time he will bless us with another pregnancy.  This I know but it is still hard.

Cocoa Beach time

Jack and I went to Cocoa Beach, FL last week-- we had a blast! This was Jack's first plane ride and it went very well overall. We had to switch planes in Cincinnati both ways, but Jack handled it like a pro, he loved seeing all the planes, trucks, and buses on the tarmac. Originally we thought Pete wouldn't be able to come, but it turned out he was able to sneak away from classes, grading, and school late Wednesday night and stayed until Sunday morning-- that was a great surprise and treat!!! Jack really needed his dad to help him sleep because when daddy wasn't there sleeping was a big headache. I was able to buy a camera and ended up taking 173 pictures, of course I couldn't put them all on here, so there are many more on our shutterfly website. I will probably do one more blog adding a couple more pictures just so you get a better idea of all the fun we had, I could only add 5 on here and that didn't seem quite enough-- I wanted to add at least 8.



In FL we had the opportunity to see my cousin Erin and her baby- Isaac. Jack LOVED Isaac!! He was so excited- he held his hand, gave him a million hugs, gave him his very first kiss, and in the car when Isaac was crying Jack sang to him--it was so cute!!


Jack loved running on the beach- it was pretty funny because even though his arms were moving fast his legs weren't.



This was on daddy's last day- Jack went to the beach to collect shells. It was so much fun. Jack even had the opportunity to run around naked.



Daddy and Danny were burying Jack's legs in the sand. He wasn't real sure how to feel about this.


Granny and Pappy taught Jack to fill up buckets with sand and water, to pat down the sand, and to make little sand castles.

Tag

Our camera is busted-- yes broken.  I took it to the pool with hopes of getting pictures of Jack with Lydia and Elsie but it didn't pan out.  During break we drank water out of the water bottle but apparently did not close the lid all the way, and when leaving I noticed everything in the bag was wet--that included phone and camera.  I turned the camera on at the pool and it worked so I thought great--yay!!  I then padded the bottom with towels and put the rest on top, but once home I tried to take a picture and nothing.  I charged the battery and nothing, I opened all the compartments I could open to let it air dry- and nothing, I ordered a new battery and nothing, and so I had to resign myself to the fact that the camera I bought in October was in fact busted.  I was devastated.  We are poor college students again and we made a decision to get a nice-ish camera in October, but now it won't even turn on!!!  I am heart-broken.  

Jack had tubes put in Tuesday-- things went very well.  Jack was given two new toys--so fun!  He got a toy stethoscope from the nurses taking his blood pressure and then the anesthesia nurse gave him a plastic snake--so fun!!  We were told that when he woke up he would be cranky and crying-so we were prepared for this child who was screaming his head off, but we weren't prepared for an angry baby.  We offered him his cup, which he took and brought to his mouth, only to have him bring back like a football behind his head and launch it across the room.  Then in the elevator he reached out for his cup, so I gave it to him, the exact same thing happened again.  It was so funny.  I couldn't help but laugh. 

Reading-- a contact sport

While I shouldn't be writing or using the computer now I just can't sleep and at the moment I am not in pain, so I thought I would share the story of my Friday the 13th.

poker chips

Jack really likes putting poker chips in his plane


He didn't realize he wouldn't be able to get them out



After he stopped crying I made him come in- he still wasn't too happy


Then he climbed into his toy box and remembered he had a truck on his shirt so life was good again.