Category Archives: Jack

>Where in the World is MetaMegan?

>Where have I been? Le Sigh. I have been very busy trying to incorporate more cardio into my life and then recovering on the couch for days in front of Six Feet Under marathons. Also I have a bit of a cold.

Dave found coupons to Breckenridge for $10, so we decided to see if there was room for Jack at the daycare this past Wednesday so we could go together. There wasn’t room. Cue panic. See, I worked half time from home with Luke until he was about 10 months old. Perfect little Luke who slept until 8 am everyday and took a 2 hour nap every morning. But at 10 months I thought, wow, he really needs more attention and stimulation then I can give him while simultaneously working. So somewhere in the back of my head I have been pondering the fact that Jack is ready for a little more daycare. I ponder this when Jack is hanging from the top rung of the dishwasher, or surfing on his rocking chair. But I have really enjoyed being home with him. I love the time we have had together. I haven’t loved that my work day often starts again at 8pm and goes until midnight, or that I have to go into a complete panic if a work problem comes up when Jack doesn’t feel like entertaining himself. So when I heard the infant room was full on Wednesdays, I got really worried. I always thought I had Wednesday in my back pocket, ready when I needed it. So, I asked if Jack could start going on Wednesdays when he transitions to the toddler room. Answer: Yes! Hoorah! As much as I love Jack, I felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted. I currently spend every Wednesday working through his naps, and working whenever he feels the desire to play independantly for 3 minutes, and checking email every 5 minutes when he needs more attention, and then working after bedtime every night. So then I said, “Wait, when is Jack moving to the toddler room?” And the answer was, February.” And then I was back to, “Wah! My baby! He can’t be a toddler yet. Wah wah wah. I’m not ready for him to go to daycare on Wednesdays.”

And then yesterday happened. And yes, at one point he was hanging from the top rung of the dishwasher. I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story.

“Poor me, I have to read to myself while my mommy works”:

“I’ll have this expression on my face later when I climb to the tallest point in every room in the house”:


“I can now grab the camera off the kitchen counter and this is how I feel when you take it from me”:


“Hey, you turned your back on me to wash a dish. This is what you get. You think I’m kidding? I’ll show you!”:

>File Under Odd

>There is now a Ruby in the infant room with Jack. I thought that was cute and exciting because there was a Ruby in the infant room with Luke, and they are great friends to this day. When I noticed the name Ruby in the cubby area I said, “Oh! A Ruby! How cute. I wonder if she and Jack will be best friends like Luke and Ruby?” The answer was something like, “Um, she’s a new baby. We just try to keep Jack away from her as much as possible.” Poor Jack, I think he is so close to outgrowing the infant room. Bittersweet, my baby is growing up, stuff for another post, etc.

But here is the odd thing. I noticed that there is a Ruby because she and Jack share a cubby. I guess maybe because she is the youngest and Jack is on his way out? So this is how their cubby is labelled: Jack Ruby. Is that odd? I find that odd. I guess it would be weirder if Lee, Harvey and Oswald shared a cubby though.

>Diabolical

>Some of you readers may be horrified to learn that I am still nursing Jack. The reason is due more to laziness than any other sort of personal choice. I am too lazy to figure out how to wean, and way too lazy to deal with a hungry baby at 5am in some manor that involves more than stumbling into his room and sitting in a chair for 15 minutes. Also, I am sure I read somewhere that babies, on average, have and extra IQ point for every month they nurse past 6 months. OK, maybe I am making that up, but it sounds good, right?

I have also been reading online debates here and there about extended breastfeeding and whether it is “good” and “what everyone else in the world does” and “makes your kids smarter” or if it’s “icky” and “weird” and “not normal.” I often see the comment, “When they are old enough to ask for it, they are too old.” Jack does not do the sign for milk, or please, or more when he wants to nurse. He doesn’t say any of those words either. In the morning, well, we are both pretty sleepy, so he communicates with some whimpers. In the evening, if it has gotten to be past bedtime, he mostly just grabs my neckline and starts growling. So, my opinion on the whole extended breastfeeding (don’t know the actual meaning of the term – it may mean past two years) besides, “why would anyone care what someone else is doing?” is “A polite request would seem like an improvement over the growling.”

In other news, our basement is sort of a mess, and at the moment is not baby proof so we really need to keep an eye on Jack. As he headed for the end table today, Luke grabbed the remotes, Dave got the glass bottle, and I grabbed my nail polish and hid it somewhere. My pocket? Behind my back? Jack was very mad about all this, so I picked him up and started to try to console/distract him. He started growling and tugging on my shirt, so I started to nurse him. He nursed for a while. Then he got up and walked away.

He had the nail polish in his hand.

Maybe those extra IQ points aren’t such a good idea after all.

>In Some Ways, Bean is Still With Us: Part 2

>This morning I was groggily preparing breakfast for Jack after quite a night. (I went to bed late, and then was paged at 12:45, and 3:45, and Jack was up to be nursed at 5am and then up for the day at 7:30.) I was starting my work day, and cooking something for Jack and I left the cabinet open, and Jack helped himself to a tube of graham crackers. I didn’t think he could open them, and he was having a great time walking around crinkling. With all the crinkling, I knew where he was without having to watch him, so it seemed like a great way to keep him occupied for 3 minutes. Then for some reason, I walked down the hallway and back. When I got back, Jack had half a graham cracker in each hand and the balance in his mouth. He was smiling and saying, “Nom! Nom nom nom!” Cracker crumbs were tumbling down his pjs and all over the floor.

Cute, funny, not all that harmful. I plopped him into his highchair and gave him the rest of his breakfast. But where were the rest of the graham crackers? Where was the bag? I walked around looking to no avail. Then Luke woke up and asked what I was doing. I said, “I think Jack hid a bag of graham crackers somewhere so he could snack whenever he wanted.” In their short time together, Bean really did some serious knowledge transfer.

Ten minutes later Luke was yelling, “I hear crinkling! Jack is feeding himself a snack!” And Jack was indeed, behind the curtains in the dining room, helping himself to a cracker.

>The Day After

>Jack seems to be on the verge of talking. We got a Christmas card that had dogs in the picture and when Jack saw it he said, “Da! Oof!” (Dog, woof.) And he seems to be saying “ca” a lot for car. But probably the most exciting thing, because it’s a very important little boy milestone, is that he can now make a siren sound. And better than that, it’s captured on video. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/get_player

>Where in the World is MetaMegan?

>This weekend, when I could have been working on Christmas cards

From December

I was baking.

From December

I made Challah bread from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. (Aside: since I had a loaf of challah bread on hand, I decided I needed to make the number 57 sandwich from the now defunct Zachary’s Deli in Athens, OH. It is a grilled cheese, with spinach, tomato, and garlic aioli on challah. But what kind of cheese? I can’t really remember. If any MetaMegan readers know the answer, please leave it in the comments. Thanks!) *** Update – it’s the #41 Drey’s Fusion, and it’s provolone. Thanks Eliot!

I have a bunch of stuff to blog about just as soon as I send out those cards! And to tide you over, here is one of the many outakes from the many Christmas card photo shoots:

From December

OK, one more:

From December

>Allergies

>We have determined that Jack may or may not have some food/detergent/other allergies. I am trying to investigate scientifically, but it is quite difficult when I just want his face to not be red and bumpy in time for the Christmas card photo shoot. The one thing Jack and I have been doing is treating his face with a homemade oatmeal/yogurt mask. It does seem to help.

From November

And he really enjoys it.

From November

>Is There Anything Cuter Than a Baby Dressed as Santa, Sitting on a Box of Diapers and Playing the Blues?

>
Pretty cute.

And as an added bonus, I finally captured some steps on film. It took so long, that he is almost too coordinated here. I still hope to capture that new to walking stagger, but I’d better be quick!

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

Note: Remote controls are very important tools for reaching new milestones.

>Um, yeah. So Jack is walking. A little.

>I had big plans to have a splashy, exciting title, and a video to match to announce the precious baby steps. But Jack and his walking can be very elusive. I have yet to capture one tiny little wobble. Two weeks ago Dave said, “Jack took a bunch of steps. He was holding on, but only to the hair on my legs.” And since then, Jack has progressed from a half step to a step. Then two steps. At his birthday party, Jack tried to go from the chair to the ottoman with a quick break wrapped around my legs, but I stepped out of the way and he probably took four steps to show off for his guests.

At our house he seems to have the whole crawling thing down, but if I had taken my camera out with me on Saturday night, I would have videoed steps galore, because I think Jack felt the need to work on running in order to keep up with Luke, Scarlett and Stella.