Summer Recap August 28, 2008

I know I’ve been terrible at updating this blog. I now have a new laptop, and am trying to make up for lost time. I just published a particularly cute story about Jack and Sassy. 

This summer has been very busy for us. Mommy’s been working, Daddy’s been working and picking up Mommy’s slack, and Jack started Montessori preschool. 

Every Saturday, Mommy, Jack, and sometimes our neighbor Nee-Nee (Jeanine) go to the Brentwood Farmers’ Market. We see the “boom boom bap guys”. The Big Fat Swing Company, which consists of three high school guys who play sax, drums, and piano, plays almost every week. We also go to the “Splash Fountain” – a small but nifty fountain at the end of the street. 

Jack at the Splash Fountain

Boom Boom Bap Guys

Daddy and Jack at the Reservoir

On Sundays, we go to the reservoir – and yes, Jack can say “reservoir.” It sounds like “reservoir” too – “rez-eh-var”. Daddy has come with us just once. “Noah an’ Joe” – two friends from the MOMS Club – come with their parents and little brother Elijah. I’ve only taken the camera once, so there are few pictures in existence.

Speaking of the MOMS Club, we left. It’s a long story, but they banned Dads. We’re hoping to remain friends with the moms who didn’t support that initiative.

Jack saw his second movie, Wall*e, with Daddy on July 2, as we recorded here. Since then, he’s been in full Wall*e mode. Nana bought him a Wall*e lunchbox to take to school with him. He is now the coolest kid in town.

Jack can now reliably count to 20. He can recognize most of the uppercase letters and some of the lowercase. He can recognize many numbers, including 10. He has a hard time with “1″ and “7″ depending on the font.

Now that summer is just about done, we find ourselves in Pittsburgh, PA, visiting “Gramma Sandy and Grampa Clyde”. More news and pictures to come…

Week in Review June 20, 2008

Anything I want to remember about this week?
Oh yes!
First, we went swimming at our friend’s house. Jack always has fun playing at Morgan’s, especially when swimming is involved. After swimming, he twirled around the living room with the little girls. (There was only one other boy there, and he and Jack don’t get along.)
The next day, we went to a birthday party for another friend. When she was opening her presents, someone tried to look at an open one, and she said, “Mine!” in a voice and face that was a perfect impression of Golum (Lord of the Rings).
Our friend was selling her “boom-boom bap” kit, so I ended up buying it for Jack. He wanted to play it immediately, but he had to go to day care, so I fibbed: “Daddy has to put it together.” When we got home, though, a happy Jack played boom-boom bap for us.
Over the weekend, I came down from bed and Jack jumped off the couch yelling, “Mommy’s awake! Mommy’s awake!”. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs to get my hug. But no! Jack ran to his drum set and started playing.

Jack Playing Boom-Boom Bap

I Don't Want to Forget October 12, 2007

I’ve been thinking recently about all the little things that I forget. I’ve been working on journaling Jack’s baby book. (OK, books – 4 to be exact. From pre-birth to his 1st Birthday Party. Anyway…) There were times when I was great about writing – either here or on paper. Then, there are times when there’s nothing. Basically, from October 24, 2006 until his birthday, then from birthday, it’s all sporadic. So, I’ve decided to write a bit, even though it’s late, about what I don’t want to forget.
Tonight, Jack and I went Kick Kick for the first time in a month. It was a lovely evening for it. Jack was a little fish daredevil, which I think is great. I don’t want him to fear water, at least not when a parent is around. He was jumping around, “swim”ming, blowing bubbles, tilting his head back into the water. At one point, he accidentally swam underwater. I think he went to jump and to tilt back at the same time. Anyway, he didn’t freak out or cry – just sputtered and held on to me for a minute or two.

He has so many new words each day! He’ll actually say words when you ask, “Can you say?” like, Pomegranate. It sounds a lot like pomegranate. He doesn’t miss a trick, and is so clued in to what’s going on. He knows most of his books by title and cover. Like “More Baby” and “Swee Mimi”. He’s just a little knowledge sponge. And yes, I am totally getting overbearing about it.

Today, Jack was a VERY GOOD BOY. He only threw 2 mini fits. Well, and when he woke up and Daddy wasn’t here (long story), he cried. But he missed Daddy. The first fit was, after we found the garbage man, we went to walk ahead of him. Jack couldn’t see the truck and started kicking in his stroller. But I stopped and turned his head so he could see. The garbage man, such a nice guy, actually waited for us to get to where we could see him pick up the trash every time he turned a corner. I gotta call the number and say this guy deserves a raise. The second fit was when I asked him to climb onto the stool to wash his hands. He just didn’t want to do it.

He ate well, and didn’t throw any of his food on the floor. This is an amazing accomplishment. He learned a new sign (school). (I never wrote down when he signed his first sign. I just know it was “more” and a few days before Christmas.) He didn’t go down for a nap for me, but he didn’t complain either. Then Max came home and was able to put him down pretty easily. He went in for his bath without too much trouble, and was all about snuggling up and having me sing him to sleep tonight.

OK. I have to go. I should add that Jack’s friend Keegan now has a little sister, born today. Yay!

4th of July July 4, 2007

The 4th of July is my very favorite holiday (followed closely by Christmas – if only in my head). I love the celebration of summer. I am not patriotic, and usually do not stand for the national anthem when it is sung at baseball games and graduations. But everyone deserves a birthday, right? So Happy Birthday USA! And if there happen to be BBQ, summer snacks, and fireworks involved, so much the better.

Last year, Jack was too little, and in I’m-not-going-to-nap-ever mode, so, while we got to go to the local parade, there wasn’t much July 4th fun involved.
Today, we stepped up a bit. Jack and I went with our friend Jude and her son to see Charlotte’s Web for free. It was the new live-action. It’s theme really was appropriate for the 4th – how extraordinary things come in ordinary packages, and the combinations of two or more ordinary things may make for something truly extraordinary indeed. Jack was excellent in his first movie! He actually sat on my lap and watched, pointing to the animals and saying their names. He didn’t get bored until the families went to the fair, about 3/4 through the movie. We then went to the Burger King play place, where Jack got his first fast food French fry (and what could be more American than that?).
We got home and the Chittister family took naps.
Sadly, I had awful dreams that make me think I should just have stayed awake and gotten something done. I’ve been having really awful sleeps myself lately. I mean to post about that, for all you budding psychologists out there.
We went to a friend’s house for some BBQ and swimming. Jack loves swimming! Kick Kick! They have a water slide, and he wanted to go down. I admit that I pointed it out and was at least as excited as he was about it. I took him down with me. I didn’t realize how deep the pool was. I thought I’d go under, touch bottom, then push myself back up. But I didn’t touch bottom. So I had to lift Jack above my head to make sure that he didn’t suck up water. Apparently, me not coming up scared him more than the slide did. Poor guy! Later, he fell down the two stairs from the deck (wood) to the pool (cement). Max caught Jack’s head with one hand. Good catch Daddy! As one of the other fathers in attendance said, “He deserves some payment from that, is all I’m saying.”
We hung out for awhile. Jack was saying “nye nye” so we came home. No fireworks again (disappointing for Mommy). Jack was actually kind of bouncy so I brought him downstairs after bottle (and singing the Johnny and the Sprites theme song for the 12th time), to see if the fireworks were on TV. Nope. There was some country band on the Capitol Fourth, and Jack went “clap clap” and clapped his hands, then clapped my hands, pretty much in time to the music. Song over, he said, “Sprites!” (More like “sites”.) So we watched some of them and Daddy took him up and put him to bed.
Max and I watched fireworks from San Jose on TV.

All of this has made me realize that I want to have a BIG 4th of July again. Whether it’s here, or in Silicon Valley, Albuquerque, NYC, Disney World, or somewhere in between. We should be able to swing one big 4th of July every 5 years or so, right? I know traveling with children is expensive (trust me, we’ve done it 10 times, so I know). I also know that I want to meet these kids that are popping out, and to see the people without kids who never email because we bore them with talk of our kids. One big bash to reclaim the summer. To eat like a kid, and introduce our kids to the wonderment of cotton candy, fireworks, and summer magic.