A little bit about Jack

Dear Jack,

I was laying in my bed with you this afternoon reading you a book and this thought came to me: you are the total cliche perfect baby. I know you're not a baby anymore, really, but you still sometimes seem like one to me and frankly I like thinking of you that way. Daddy and I have little conferences where we talk about how amazingly cute, precious and endearing you are; and how it actually hurts to think about you growing older and changing. We adore you.



So, cliche baby: you hug my thigh when we're out in public and you're feeling shy, you love to read the same book over and over (dinosaurs!), you give kisses and hugs, you cuddle stuffed animals and give them kisses, you murmur "I love yous", you hold hands when we're walking places, you're a bit of a Mama's boy (when Daddy's not around, at least!)...you're like a baby in a movie!



I've been jotting down notes about what you've been doing and saying, but since it's been so long since I've updated half are totally outdated already. Your language is flying along. Yesterday I pulled out a few DVDs and you looked at them and said "What are those?" You're adding in all of the little words (are, is, of) that usually come last when a kid is picking up the language. Some favorites:

* Where going? (You've now updated this, and the rest to, Where ARE YOU going? but I love the old way most)
* What doing?
* What eating?
* Happy birthday to you!
* Instead of "here comes (a car, train, Daddy, whatever) you say "Yay comes a car!" or "Yay comes Daddy!"
* Nah-nah-boo-boo, can't catch me!
* Shake your booty (complete with awkward booty-shaking)
* No yike it!
* A gleeful "I did it!" when you do something on your own, and a petulant "I do it!" when you want to do something on your own.



When you do something wrong, or even when you don't, you're quick with an "I'm sorry Mama". Last week you threw something plastic and heavy into the air and I watched as it crashed down onto my shin. I tried not to yell but my gasping was audible. You hurried over chanting "Sorry Mama, sorry Mama" and pulled up right in front of me. You knelt down to ask "Okay Mama?" and then gave me a little smooch on the lips. Too cute. When you fall down you'll often look up at me and say "Okay, Mama" to reassure me that you're okay. Yesterday you actually said "I'm okay!" and got on with whatever it was you were doing. You are so agreeable: if I ask for a bite of your food, or ask you to hand me something, you usually say "sure!" and hand it to me. I love the "Sure!"

You still love to read, by yourself or being read to. Unfortunately you've also fallen madly in love with TV and ask for it non-stop. I get you out of your crib to "one show?" and put you down to talk of "movie?" When I tell you "no" you often start sobbing, asking "why not?" Pitiful.



When I point to a picture of you and ask who it is, you exclaim "Jackie!" I'm trying to work on Jack River instead. You ask about Nate when he's at school, and are visibly happy when he comes home. You love bringing him things and say "welcome!" even if he doesn't say thank you.

You are completely in love, obsessed with trains. You play with your trains and tracks for real stretches at a time. You carry the trains around with you, putting them in my purse when you realize we're leaving the house. You love the Thomas books and movies, and yell out whenever you see a train (usually the Metro) around town. You've come to believe that any overpass or bridge is a train track, spotting them all over town.



You used to say "wuv eew!" but now you say "love you" instead. When I tuck you in at night I lay you on your pillow and give you Pink Doll and Paci (and new additions Dinosaur and Lion and Doggie). Then we talk about how first comes yellow blanket, then blue blanket, and then Turtle Blanket(!) (which is really the frog blanket but I said it wrong the first time and now you're committed to it being called Turtle Blanket). When you're totally tucked in we murmer "I love yous" to each other for a while before I leave. Best part of my day, hands-down.

When we were in Aruba there was a big elephant statue, probably just a bit taller than you. We spent a lot of time with it one evening, touching and smiling at it and talking to it. When it was time to leave for the hotel, I told you to tell elephant good night. You went over and gave it a pat, then said "Wuv eew elephant!" You looked at the shop right behind at all the toys in the window and carried on: "Wuv eew babies! See you later! Wuv eew trucks! Wuv eew boat!" It's honestly more than my heart can take sometimes.



I love your spirit, I love your love, I love your sassiness. I'm so grateful for you Jack.

Love,
Mama

Aruba through the years

Stewart took a picture of me and the boys in Aruba in 2008 and I've tried to replicate it both years since. Backgrounds are different but at least I remembered which sides the boys should be on. Nate was not happy about it this year!

2008:

2009:



2010:

Notes

I haven't posted much. Honestly, I'm going through a really rough patch. I am feeling the passing of time excruciatingly; watching the kids grow up has suddenly, hopefully temporarily, turned more bitter than sweet. However lousy I feel, I know I'll feel worse if I don't even take a stab at updating here, so some short notes:

• Tonight, just minutes ago, I heard Jack chortling all alone, in the dark, in his crib. It was like a miracle. I can hardly stand it sometimes. I went in to enjoy the company and we had a talk about what was funny - the pacifier was funny, Pink Doll was funny, Grandma was funny, Aunt Deborah was especially funny. I want to crawl inside of him and live there.
  
  
• Jack got tubes in his ears last week on Monday. We were pretty sure he needed them but not 100%; we're now the "after" video of parents saying "I wish we'd done it a year ago." He's slept through the night every single night since it was done. He was amazing at the hospital; they said that most kids get really upset about the mask. I tried to head it off by talking about playing dress-up, and wearing a mask. Luckily all the nurses and doctors were already wearing theirs; he was confused but okay about it after that. Stewart held him on his lap and I knelt in front of him and we sang "ABC" and then "Twinkle, Twinkle." About 3/4 of the way through Twinkle I watched the focus go out of his eyes; he slumped over and the nurses transferred him to the table. I lost it entirely and Stewart led me out. Less than 20 minutes later it was all over. Jack, right before surgery:
  
  
  
  
• Nate was really sick for the first time in years - spiking in the 102s, laying in bed alone for hours, feverish for 5 full days. He let me lay next to him in bed and rub his back; it was all the comfort I could give him. He started fighting the Motrin after a few days, so he would just lay still and sad in bed or on the couch.
  
  
• Nate and I like to watch the "cake shows" together now: Ace of Cakes and The Cake Boss. He thinks every cake is beautiful and amazing. I think he's beautiful and amazing.
  
  
• Today I put little chocolate-chip mini-scones in their after-school snack and Jack said "Mama? Tastes chockate!" It was the first "observation" type statement he's really ever made and it blew me away.
  
  
• Jack loves cereal with milk.
  
  
• Nate says "like" every third word now. Last week he told me "I kind of have like a headache."
  
  
• When Jack is done with his cereal, he lifts the bowl up to his mouth and slurps up all the leftover milk.
  
  
• Stewart has taught the boys to lick their fingers and then stick them in the sugar bowl. They all say "Mmmmmmm....good!" Jack says "Mmmmmm....DOOD!" with amazing force and relish.

I meant to add some photos but my new computer has a wacky photo program and if I wait to figure it out I'll never get this posted. The end.

I LOVE COUPONS

Fun little shop this morning at Giant. Please note that some coupons I used may have been expired - I never check and Giant doesn't seem to care.

• The Corn Flakes were $8 for 3 huge boxes, plus I got the 12-pack of Pop Tarts free. I had three $1/off coupons for the Corn Flakes, so the total cost for the cereal & Pop Tarts was $5.
• The soups were B1G1 (at $2.50) and I had 4 coupons for $.50/2. So the total cost for each can was 75 cents.
• The Healthy Choice meals were on sale for $3 (from $3.70) and I saw coupons on another aisle for $1.50 off each! So each one cost $1.50, and on the days where Stewart uses one for lunch instead of hitting Chipotle we save at least $5 that day!
• The Honey Bunches of Oats were B1G1 (at $3.49) and I had coupons for $1/2, so each box cost $1.25.
• I also had a coupon for $3 off the whole shop that I got randomly last time I rocked the coupons at Giant, so I used it today.
  

The whole shop cost $72.16; after Bonus Card and coupons was a net cost of $21.68. I LOVE COUPONS.

When Jack is tired...

he's like a drunken frat boy. Some kids turn into monsters when they're tired, fussy and irritable. Jack gets wasted. He's smiley, goofy, stumble-ey, stagger-ey, giggly...

He's in bed for the night right now but hoping for a reprieve. He knows to go for the sucker: Daddy, but keeps getting Mommy. When I just walked in he was standing at the crib rail, smiling at me. I walked towards him to help settle him and he plopped backwards onto his bottom, looked at me, grinned, and said "fell down!"

Wasted baby.

Jackabean

Jack's been having a terrible time with sleep for the last few months - ear infections started it up, then he figured out we'd come when he called, and that power has gone straight to his head. We're trying to do a gentle sleep-training to get him back to where he was before; it's somewhat successful. Let's just say that a good night means he only wakes up once and goes back down without a fight.

At night when I put him to bed I ask him if he wants to sit together in the chair for a minute; we rock and I sing to him. A few nights ago he was sobbing after I put him down. When I went in to him, he was doing that gasping, crying, talking thing and when I finally figured out what he was saying my heart broke a little bit: "Chair minute?" He was asking to sit in the chair with me. I broke my own rules and pulled him out of the crib for a cuddle.

Tonight he wasn't crying, just calling to me to have me come back in. My rule is to go in, give him back his paci and doll, cover him back up, and leave. I went through the plan fine the first time, but as I'm tucking him in the second time he looks at me and says "hug?"

There was hugging.

Super-cheap pizza - this is why I love the internet!

I am so grateful to the other frugal bloggers out there - deals like this make my life easier and cheaper. Time and money are some of the best gifts a Mom can get!

Right now you can take-out a large, one topping pizza AND a dessert of Cinnastix for $5.99. That's an incredible deal and I'll probably take advantage of it tonight (today is gymnastics day and I'm running around the whole day!) I already checked it out and it's working just as advertised.

Thanks to Moneywise Moms!