Pool Time!

Jack is loving the pool! This was taken almost 2 weeks ago. I still think it is too cold, but he doesn't seem to mind at all. I love the look of joy on his face.

I guess it is time for swim lessons.

Jack's Favorites

It's been awhile, so I thought it was time to update Jack's current list of favorite things.

• TV Show: Calliou. Words cannot describe how much he loves Calliou. It plays on PBS at 7:30am. Jack generally wakes up at 6:30am. That means, we have an entire hour of Jack begging to watch Calliou each morning. He will just say "Calliou" over and over again until you relent. Depending on how tired we are, we sometimes just give in and play it on the DVR.
• Movie: WALL-E. Jack loves to hold hands "like WALL-E and Eva." He must have been dreaming about the movie last night because he woke up this morning looking for Eva. He made me walk around the house with him this morning in an attempt to find her.
• Color: Pink. Yes, you read that right. Dad isn't thrilled about it, but I don't care. I think it is because I wear pink so much .
• Phrase: "I don't like it." He says this a lot.
• Animal: Dogs. He still LOVES dogs and plays with any that we encounter at the park...until I drag him away, screaming.
• Book: Little Boy. I bought this as a Father's Day gift for Stuart, and I didn't think it would appeal that much to Jack, but I was wrong. It may not rhyme, but it has everything a little boy loves to look at in one book.
• Song: As Jack would say, the "Shake It" song. (Otherwise known as Hey Ya...but only the cover done by Obadiah Parker, not the original by Outkast.) I know most of you reading this have no idea what I am talking about.
• Toy: I don't think there is just one...he loves tractors, robots, tools, cars, and trains.
• Item of Clothing: He still prefers naked, but when forced, he only wants to wear his train shirt that is too small for him, but he insists on wearing it anyway.
• Person: Me. He might love his dad, but I am definitely his favorite!

NOTE: The above picture was taken on Jack's first train ride. While Stuart was out of town, I tried to plan some fun activities so Jack wouldn't miss his dad so much. One day, we went to ride the train at the Anthem park. Jack was in heaven.

Funny Kid

A couple of weeks ago, Jack was making a LOT of noise after I put him down for his nap. As a mom, I really didn't want to look to see what the commotion was all about, but after listening to it for a few minutes, I decided to finally peak in to see why he wasn't sleeping. It turns out, he was struggling to put his flashlight in his pull-up and get it positioned just right so he could point the light where he wanted it. The best part? It was his little pink flashlight that I bought him because that was the color he wanted. I love that he manages to still look like a tough boy while standing with a pink flower flashlight in his pants!

He makes me laugh EVERY DAY! This morning, as I was forcing him to get dressed, he said, "Mommy, look, your shoulder!" I asked him what was on my shoulder and he replied, "polka-dots." I guess that is how a 2 year old would see freckles. He is so much fun!

Did You Know?

Did you know that Jack...

• has only 1 freckle and it is behind the lobe of his right ear


• prefers his french fries frozen, straight from the bag in the freezer


• loves to narrate the movie WALL-E as you are watching it with him, just to make sure you don't miss the important parts


• loves rainbows and likes to try to make them with the garden hose in the backyard


• remembers EVERYTHING and will wake up asking for whatever he was playing with before going to sleep


• talks in his sleep so clearly, you would swear he was awake


• still yells "Yea! I did it!" with his hands in the air every time he uses the potty, even though he has been potty trained for more than 2 months now

I did. Because I am his mom and it is my privilege to know the important things about him.

Special Spot

Jack has a hemangioma (strawberry mark) on his chest. When he was born, it was a small, pale birthmark. As he grew, the spot turned red and became raised. This is very normal. It grows for a couple of years and then at about the age of 2-3 years old, it begins to fade away to nothing. Jack is actually pretty lucky as most kids get them on their face or neck. It's not painful and is just a collection of blood vessels below the skin. His stopped growing about a year ago. I like to call it the "mark of Stuart" since all 3 of his children were born with it.

Anyway, about a month ago, Jack was in our bathroom and seemed to notice the spot for the first time. He was very upset about it. So, we told him it was his special spot. We made a very big deal about it. As a result, Jack loves his special spot. He often looks for it under his shirt. Today before his nap, he asked to see his special spot in the mirror before I put him to bed. It always makes him smile. Me too.

Daddy Love

Jack adores his dad. He loves to spend time with him. One of their favorite activities is playing video games. Jack is not bad for his age. He is certainly better than I am. Last month we played a racing game and Jack was able to cut my time in half...and that is without steering...he just drove while scraping the sides of the course and he still beat me. So, I guess this will just be a father/son activity. I'm completely okay with that.

We're still working with Jack on the concept of patience. It alludes him right now.

Stuart is currently in China for a week and I know this is absence is going to be hard on Jack...and me.

Little Swimming Pool

When we told Jack it was too cold to go in the swimming pool, he decided to improvise.

Works so well, we might have saved ourselves some money and avoided putting in the pool.

Spring Festival Fun

One of the things we love about where we live is the community hosts great events for kids. Last weekend, they had a spring festival. Jack had a blast!

He had a spider painted on his arm.


He took part in the mad scramble for eggs. (It lasted all of 30 seconds!)






He met the Easter Bunny. I was surprised that he went right up to him and gave him a hug. Of course, he was a little shy and had to back up to him at first.

He got a fabulous balloon sword.

And he got to play on the inflatables. Jack, predictably, preferred the one for the bigger kids. I foolishly thought he would climb to the top and be nervous about going down. I was wrong.