Adorable Teeth

As Jack and I were walking to his room for his nap today, he told me, "Mommy, my tooth is coming out." I explained that some day it would fall out and he would get a new one, but not right now and then proceeded to settle him down for his nap. A few minutes pass and Jack calls me back into his room, saying, "Mommy, I can't find my tooth!" I returned to his room to find him looking under his pillow. He then tells me, "It ran away. My tooth ran away. I find it! I can't reach it (while leaning off the bed.) I got it! I put my tooth back. I put my tooth in...I put my tooth in...my teeth!"

He is just the best.

I took this picture last week after he allowed me to put gel in his hair and style it. Normally, he hates when I make his hair stick up on top. He cries and begs for me to put his hair back down. If I don't, he runs to the mirror and combs it down himself.

Pretend Play

Jack is really into pretend play these days. He is so funny. Last week, he took a couple of ghost ornaments I got as a gift and decided they needed to go camping, with the help of a little battery operated candle. He carefully makes them a little tent out of his blanket and no one is allowed to touch them but him.

I LOVE it.

Big Sister

Monday, Karen turned 16; she is growing up fast. Jack is so thrilled when she is in town. He asks to see her all the time. He will be so sad when she leaves. Last week, Jack and I were driving along the Carefree Highway when he noticed all the homes built on the mountain. He was very excited. I asked him if he wanted to live in a house on a mountain. He replied, "I want to live in a house with lots of kids." Poor boy, it's so hard that he is an only child most of the year.

Jack's 3rd Birthday Party

This year, Jack asked for a big Ironman cake for his birthday. But, when we went to Party City, we couldn't find any Ironman cake stuff. Luckily, Jack saw a Lightning McQueen cake pan and asked for that instead. He loved helping make the cake. I let him lick the bowl and he got a bit carried away, sticking his entire head in the bowl.

Well, the cake would not come out of the pan, so we bought one at Costco instead and stuck little cars on it. It was such a big cake that Jack didn't mind at all.

On the morning of his birthday, Jack was so excited!


He got 4 gifts from mom and dad, but there was a minor problem. He opened his Ironman gift first. After that, all of the others were big disappointments.

He did eventually open the rest of the gifts and loved them, playing with them all day. Lesson learned, next time save the best gift for last.

OK. I know that Stuart and I have both said, repeatedly, that we don't believe that kids should have a birthday party every year. We also said Jack doesn't get another party until he is 5.

Well, so much for that idea. Jack has been BEGGING for a birthday party for months. So, we relented and had a party, sorta. We agreed to invite a few of his friends over from the neighborhood for a mini party, just the kids from his playgroup and their older siblings. I said we could swim, eat cake, and put up a bounce house (I own it so it was free.) I didn't do games, goody bags or decorating. I told everyone no presents. Jack was thrilled! He was so excited to have a house full of kids! They are also all getting old enough to play together very well.

Anyone notice a problem with the above picture? Yes, I put 4 candles on the cake. Don't ask me why. No one said a word to me either. I don't know where my head was. When I realized it later in the day, I asked Stuart to help me get a picture of Jack with a piece of his birthday cake, with the right number of candles on it. Jack didn't mind at all, since he got to blow out candles again.

I kept missing the shot, so we actually did this about 10 times before we gave up on getting the perfect picture. I certainly have a patient husband to support my insanity. It was such a fun day. Jack has been playing birthday ever since. He puts his toys in gift bags and brings them to me to open them. I love this kid!

Birthday Parties

For those of you who don't know, August is a busy birthday month for us. My birthday is the 21st, Jack's is the 22nd, and Karen's is the 23rd. And this year was especially busy because we were all having milestone birthdays. It was my 40th (yes, it is very weird for me to say that because I really don't feel 40 yet.) It was Karen's 16th. (I can't believe how grown up she is.) And, it was Jack's 3rd. (I know a 3rd birthday doesn't sound like a milestone, but it is. This is the first year he could anticipate his birthday, knew it was coming, and looked forward to it because he knew what was involved.) Anyway, I have a lot to share, but this would be a LONG post if I did it all at once, so I will try to break it up a bit.


Since my birthday was first, I will start with it. Jack loves birthdays. This year he has had the privilege of attending 4 birthday parties for other kids. He really doesn't care whose birthday it is, as long as he gets cake and can help unwrap the presents. So, he was quite content celebrating my birthday.


Stuart bought me the best cake ever! It is from Cathy's Rum Cake. It had a strawberry filling, a light whipped icing, and it was pink and purple! It was awesome.


It was almost too pretty to eat. Apparently, Jack agreed.


You see, Jack doesn't like cake, just frosting. He just wanted to lick my cake. You can hear Stuart getting frustrated in the background because I was indulging the crazy boy, but it was my birthday, and I wanted peace and happiness, so that means I won and Jack got a little spoiled. We did eventually cut the cake and Jack happily ate all the frosting on his piece.

Dear Jack

My Dear Sweet Jack,

Today you turned 3 years old. You are my little boy. You are so grown up and have developed such a fun personality. You are so full of energy; you never sit still. You are curious about everything and constantly wear me out with your antics. You are also very tender and sweet, a loving little boy. Your constant hugs and cuddles fill me with joy each day. You are so protective of me. If I am sad or frustrated, you are quick to pat my head and tell me, "it's okay mommy. you okay." You always give me hugs and sit close to me. You are I are special. We have a bond that is hard to describe. I love that I get to share in all of your excitement for life.

I loved you so much when you were born that I couldn't imagine that I could ever love you more, but today I know I do.

I've never been the type of mom who doesn't want her baby to grow up. I don't get sad when you learn and grow because I am genuinely excited about the new phase you are entering. This week, however, I realized there will come a day when you no longer want to snuggle close to me and that realization brought me to tears. I love that you run across the room with your arms spread wide to give me a hug. I love your sweet kisses. I am thrilled each and every time you tell me you love me. The thought that I won't always be able to scoop you up in my arms and kiss your little face breaks my heart. I am a puddle of tears as I try to put this into words for you to one day read. I love you so much that words do not do it justice. In the coming years I will try not to be clingy or hold you back as you grow, but know that I will always love the sweet spirit that you are and you will always be my little baby.

Love,

Your Mom

3 Year Old Photo Shoot

Since Jack will be 3 on Sunday, we did a photo shoot in our backyard. It's way cheaper than taking him to a studio and I think they turned out pretty good. Of course, with such a cute model, it's not hard. I think it is unfair to other kids that he is so dang cute! Not that the rest of you don't have cute kids, you do, but come on, Jack is something extra special!

I can't believe he is going to be three. He is so grown up!

Out of Bed

A month ago, we moved Jack from his crib to a big boy bed. The transition went amazingly well. He never got out of bed. If he woke up, he would call to us to come get him, saying, "Mommy, I awake." He would let us know if he had to go to the bathroom and wait for one of us to come escort him out of bed. It was very nice.

But, around 5:30am today, everything changed. Stuart and I awoke to the sound of little feet running across our room, followed by Jack climbing into our bed and telling us he was awake. Stuart groggily told me, "The spell is broken." Uh-oh. I told Jack it was still night time and to go to sleep. He laid next to me for a minute and then told me he wanted his blanket. I told him if he wanted it, he needed to go get it out of his room. He did, returning enthusiastically a moment later. He tossed and turned next to us for about 10 minutes before he turned to me and said he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed. I told him, "OK, go get in your bed." He returned to his room, by himself, and slept another hour. I'm not sure about what the future holds for us now.

By the way, Jack is now sleeping with 12 doggies at night. They must all be at the foot of his bed, no closer. And, if he notices that any have fallen out during the night, he will try to reach them from his bed...if he can't, he calls to us to return them to their spot.

Fun at the Museum

At the start of each month, I vow to try to post more on this blog, but then, as usual, I don't. Sometimes, I just get busy, but more often it is because I am so picky. I have an idea of what I want to share, but I can't seem to capture picture or video to accompany my thoughts...or Jack is to obsessed with the camera to let me record anything...or I am enjoying the moment so much that I don't think to take out the camera until it is too late. And before I know it, the ideas I had for the blog are a distant memory. But, Jack is growing so fast, and there are so many wonderful things happening, that I will try to share them, even if I don't have the ability to put them into the perfect story format. Hopefully, you don't find it too mundane.

To that end, here are some highlights of our trip the the Children's Museum of Phoenix last week. He loves this place and begs to go often. I don't have many pictures, because Jack is very busy exploring everything at the museum and we usually aren't still enough for photos. However, there are 2 exhibits that he really likes, so we actually stay in them long enough for me to get out my camera. The first is the little grocery store.

Jack loved testing everything out in the store.

If you look close enough, you will see that I caught the thong sticking out of the back of some random mother's pants. Great. Try to ignore that and focus instead on that adorable little Jack face.

His hands-down favorite is the car exhibit. We spend a LONG time here. Racing the small cars, but also riding the big ones.

He loves filling them up with gas. The bigger kids were getting frustrated. They kept telling him it didn't need that much gas.

It's always a fun time...for both of us.

Through Jack's Eyes

Jack just loves to take pictures. Each time I take out the camera, he insists on being the photographer. These are some of my favorite shots, courtesy of Jack.

Jack Loves Chloe

I thought I would take a moment to introduce you to one of Jack's favorite people: his babysitter, Chloe. She is awesome. She has been sitting for Jack for almost a year now and we couldn't be happier. She comes from a big family (9 kids I think.) She is babysitting certified and CPR certified. She is a nursing student. She has studied child development and teaches me a lot about kids! She lives nearby and drives to us when we need her. But the best part is, Jack LOVES her. He is so excited when she comes over that he often pushes Stuart and I out the door so he can have her to himself. We are so lucky we found her. When she graduates, I think I will cry.

Last week she turned 21. Jack insisted on making her a birthday cake. Of course, he couldn't wait until she came over to cut into it and instead blew out a candle in her honor. You will notice the cake has no frosting on it. This is because Jack doesn't like to actually eat the cake. He just licks the frosting off it.

We are so fortunate to have someone to watch Jack who is so trustworthy. We appreciate her so much. Happy Birthday Chloe!

VACATION

Last week we took a mini-vacation. We were long overdue. Jack was adamant about going to the beach, but Stuart didn't want to drive and neither of us wanted to spend the money to fly. So, I came up with a cheaper solution. We stayed a couple of nights at the Hyatt at Gainey Ranch. It was wonderful. They had great summer rates. They also have a huge shallow, sand bottom pool that let Jack feel like he was at the beach. We had an awesome time.

We had so much fun, that most of the time, I didn't even think to take out my camera...now that is really saying something. Here are a few of the moments I did capture.

Jack and Stuart looking pretty happy after a day at the pool.

Jack got to pet an alligator. He LOVED that.

One day, on the way back to our room, we found a tiny gecko. Jack was thrilled. He kept trying to feed him cookies. He was very sad when we let him go.

We had signed up Jack to attend "Camp Hyatt" for one morning so mom and dad could have some alone time, but due to a mix-up, it didn't happen. But, the staff at the hotel was awesome. They felt so bad about it that they delivered some great goodies to the room. A bottle of wine, a fruit plate and chocolate truffles for mom and dad and some giant chocolate chip cookies and milk for Jack. Talk about going above and beyond to make it up to you! We were impressed...and Jack loved the cookies.

He also loved the sound of bugs buzzing in the trees.

They also called us after our trip to apologize again. We will definitely be back.