Halloween Fun

I love Halloween. It is my second favorite holiday. Last night we carved our pumpkin with Jack. He loves pumpkins. He was very excited, although he didn't want to touch the dirty parts inside.

He did, however, love helping with the design work.

When we were done, he threw his hands up in the air and yelled "TA DA." (He does that a lot these days; he is very proud of his accomplishments.) He spent a long time talking to his new friend.

We took the jack-o-lantern outside, which was fun, until Jack realized we were going to leave it outside. He didn't like that at all, and screamed in desperation. So, we decided to bring the pumpkin inside for the night. Jack still didn't want to leave it to get ready for bed.

We finally convinced him the pumpkin was going to bed too by tucking it in with a cozy dish towel for a blanket. That made it a little easier for Jack to leave him.

We LOVE Toddlers!

It is becoming increasingly clear that Jack is no longer a baby. We are in full blown toddler mode these days. How can we tell? INDEPENDENCE. Jack is determined to do things for himself. This is very evident in his clothing. As you can see from the picture above, he wanted to go check the mail while wearing his Batman jammies, his rubber fireman boots, and his Cars backpack. I won't complain, since at least he was willing to wear clothes; most days he prefers naked. And he is sneaky about the naked time. He takes off his diaper and hides under his blanket...It is not uncommon for him to throw a FIT when it is time to get dressed. And even when he is willing, he is particular about what he will wear. He hates shirts and shorts, but loves long pants and shoes. Jammies are also a struggle. Last week he freaked out about putting his jammies on, so we just put him to bed in his diaper. Stuart was worried he would be cold, so we slipped his jammies on after he fell asleep. He woke up in the middle of the night screaming because he couldn't get them off and he was mad.

I know some people (who shall remain nameless) consider these the challenging years...the terrible twos we have all heard about...something to be survived until they grow out of it. Stuart and I don't agree. We LOVE this time. Yes, it is exhausting raising a toddler, but it is so much fun. This is a great age. At this age toddlers are exploring and learning so much. They are so FUNNY. I defy anyone to spend time with a 2-3 year old and be depressed. It just isn't possible. What a great little boy Jack is turning out to be...

Weird and Wacky Jack Fact #1

Jack does some strange and funny things these days, so I thought I better start documenting them.

When we taught Jack his body parts, he got a little overzealous in identifying them. For example, when Stuart asks him where his ears are, Jack screams out "EAR" while pulling really hard on his dad's ears, resulting in his dad yelling "OW!" Now, when you ask him to show you his ears, he pulls on his ears and says "OW!"

Last week while driving in the car, we heard Jack repeating "ow" over and over again. When we looked back, he was holding a Lego character by the little ears, saying ow. Here he is doing the same with his little sheep:


This may be boring news to anyone else, but please indulge us because we just love the little silly things he does.

Camera Crazy

I know I haven't posted much lately, but I have a good reason. Jack is obsessed with the camera. Every time I get the camera out to capture something cute or funny that he does, this is the result:

REUNITED

After 6 days away, Jack was very excited when his dad came home last night.

He stuck pretty close to his dad today too.

Happy Halloween

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Jack's New Best Friend

Jack has a new best friend. He met him while I was unpacking yesterday. (This fun robot was a gift I bought for Stuart years ago.) It was love at first site. Jack was so funny. He carried him around the house, showing him everything.

He even shared his blanket and watched a movie with him.

Once, I couldn't find Jack and discovered he had taken his friend into mine and Stuart's bedroom for a quick nap.

He even fed him and showed him how to play with trains. He then took him outside and showed him around our house.

He tried to take him down the street, but I told him no. So, instead he squatted down next to him at the end of our driveway and pointed out cars and birds to him.

It was adorable and went on for hours. Luckily, we found the smaller robot to make transportation easier. (We then hid the big one.) He would not eat dinner without him. (Yes, Jack is also wearing a crown on his head because we found the box with the Halloween decorations too.)

And of course, he wouldn't go to bed without him.

Today was no different. He is currently napping with his little robot.

Oh, BTW, Jack had his first overnight babysitting event Friday. He did awesome! He got a little spoiled from his Grammie and Papa while Stuart and I had a great night away. Although I did miss Jack, I honestly did not worry about him.

New Shoes

Yesterday, we received a package in the mail with some clothes I ordered on-line for Jack. Jack was very excited about the new shoes (size 9!) Surprising, since he usually doesn't like to wear anything. He insisted on putting them on right away. He wore them the rest of the day. At night, when I told him to get ready for his bath, he took his diaper off and left the shoes on his feet! It took some convincing to get the shoes off for the night.

This morning, he woke up and went for the shoes, asking Stuart to put them on him right away. He even refused take his nap without them:

I did slip them off once he was asleep.