Category Archives: Jack

>Buffalo Creek

>Last weekend we camped at Buffalo Creek, in the group site, with a ton of other people. You can’t tell from this view though, can you?


Close up of nap time:

And here is Jack with his twin from daycare. The school sends pictures of the kids each week, and sometimes it is hard to tell who is who.

>The Library

>Once, some Thanksgiving or another, I was wondering where my Grandmother was and, when I asked, someone told me she was in the library. I wandered and wandered and I couldn’t find her. I kept wondering which room was the library. How sophisticated! Was there a room in the house that I had never even seen? And it was full of books?

No, she was just in the bathroom.

The other day, I had books to return after dinner at The Southern Sun, and I had the stroller with me. So Dave took Luke home, and Jack and I strolled to the library. I still had on my work clothes, so I was looking cute, it was a nice evening, and I was walking to the library after a dinner out with my toddler in the stroller. It felt very urban and sophisticated. Euro even.

In my mind, I have this idea of Jack and I casually picking out a stack of books and settling in to the kids area to read for a while. I think that would be fun. And we do always pick out some books, and then I start to find a nice place to sit and then I notice Jack is gone. But just for a second! There he is again, no need to panic. But now he doesn’t want to sit, he wants to be read to while he stands. And why do you think that is? Because he just snuck into the stacks to poop. Every. Single. Time.

You’d think after the 4th time that happened, I would think to try to put him on the pot at the library as soon as we get there. Or at the VERY LEAST, bring a diaper and some wipes. But these casual trips to the library, so spur of the moment, so whimsical, never involve a diaper bag. So, just as soon as we have gotten there, we have to leave. Except now I have the stroller, and a pile of books, and have to walk a mile home, downwind of a diaper. In my work clothes and heels. Suddenly, it isn’t so urban sophisticate. It’s more harried housewife. And man, the smell.

I was fanning myself as we checked out, just to endure the stench, when the sympathetic librarian asked if it had been a long day. I had to come clean. She laughed and laughed. So did the other librarian who had overheard. They told me about their fabulous area for diaper changing. I confessed I did not have a diaper. They laughed and said, “we are glad he finds the library such a relaxing and comfortable place.”

Yes, it is definitely time for Jack to start spending time in our personal library.

>Then and Now: First Grade

>Last year I posted a picture of Luke on the last day of kindergarten wearing the same shirt as the first day of kindergarten. So I thought, “What a fun tradition! I’ll do that again this year.”

You may remember the popped collars of the first day of First Grade:
Or maybe not, since I can’t find a post about the first day of First Grade anywhere on this blog. Maybe it never happened? Alas, you may remember this picture from facebook.

Well, unfortunately for poor, long suffering Luke, this post is not as much about how he changed over the last school year as it is about how his brother went from cherub to attention seeking tyrant. Allow me to present:

Last Day of First Grade
It’s all about Jack
A Photo Essay

From 2010

Ok – the camera is working. Luke, get in the picture!

From 2010

Jack – now one with just Luke. Luke, can you smile normally please? Jack – get out of the picture.

From 2010

OK – that’s cute, how about one more?

From 2010

Jack!

From 2010

Just Luke please!

From 2010
From 2010

I give up!

From 2010

>Like Dis

>This conversation just happened during a pre-nap diaper change:

Me: Hey we are camping this weekend, so you can just pee on a tree when you need to go to the bathroom.
Jack: I want to pee on a pink tree! Cuz a pink tree is so bootiful. And I could pee on it. Like dis: Peeeeeeeeeeee. And there might be lions there. In the forest. And we could pet them. Like dis: Pet, pet, pet, pet. But you’d say no. And I’d be a baby lion. And you’d be a momma lion. And we could punch each other like dis: punch, punch, punch. Ow! It’s OK. Punch, punch. And storm troopers would come and we’d be on our speeders.

It sort of reminds me of a conversation we had earlier:

Me: Oh, lucky you. It looks like you get to go to the reservoir this summer with daycare!
Jack: I don’t want to go der! Der’s dinosaurs der. And dey might roar at me. Like dis: ROAR! Or dey might stomp der feet at me. Like dis: Stomp stomp stomp.

Also like a conversation we had the other day about Carrie Ann.

Jack: I say, “Can I have more guacamole?” And Carrie-Ma’am says “No.” And then I say, “May I please have more guacamole?” And Carrie-Ma’am says, “Yes you may.” And I get chips too! And I eat the guacamole like dis: Chomp chomp chomp.

>Guys

>Jack refers to Dave and Luke and I, collectively, as “guys”. As in, “Watch dis guys!” “Guys! Come here and play.”

Lately, Dave and I have been cracking up around 5:45 when Jack wakes up. After the initial round of “Mama. Mama! MAMA!” and sometimes even, “Daddy, Daddy! DADDEEEEEE!” things get interesting. Saturday morning it was, “Daddy, Mommy, Lukey, Lucy. I miss you. I miss you guys. And I love you. SUNS UP GUYS!” After we couldn’t take it anymore, Dave stuck his head into Jack’s room and told him it was too early to wake up. Jack said, “I just need my Darth Vader helmet!” (He slept in the rest of the costume) And then we didn’t hear from him for another hour.

This morning it was, “Daddy’s on FIRST BASE! And Lukey’s on SECOND BASE! And Mommy’s on THIRD BASE! And it’s Jackie’s turn to bat!” (the bases are pronounced with a very deep voice.)

Last night I went in to give him a kiss after Dave had put Jack to bed. He jumped up and said, “I have my king hat on! I have my magic boots on! I am going to take my sword and slay the dragon and the monster and save the princess! He held up one index finger, “This is the MONSTER!” and then he held up the other index finger, “This is Jackie!” And then he swirled his fingers around in the air and all over the place. “I’m skiin’ with the monster! And the monster is fast! And I am faster! And we hit the rails. And we ski everywhere.” Then he held up his two index fingers to me and said, “I’m gonna sleep wif’ dese guys. Kiss them goodnight.” So I kissed his index fingers and he laid down with his head on his pillow, and his two index fingers resting side by side on the pillow too.

Good night guys.

>At The Park With Jack

>The other day, Jack and I walked to the park with Lucy. It was an epic adventure to say the least.

Notable quotes:

About the old Indian lady walking by in a sari: “Is that a princess?”

About the giant white dog with big pointy ears: “A BUNNY!”

When he was looking for the robin we had seen on the way to the park: “WHERE ARE YOU, ROBIN BIRDIE?”

There we a bunch of tiny cones in the grass at the park, perhaps leftover from the middle school gym class that I sometimes see there. One of the cones was laying on it’s side. Jack said, “I don’t like that cone layin’ on it’s side.” I told him he could go and fix it and he was very happy to do so.

The day before, Jack was repeatedly yelling about how he wanted something. Ice cream, maybe? We were in the car on the way home from work/school so after I told him he could have ice cream after dinner, I just started ignoring his yelling. After a while, he stopped, took a deep breath and said, “I feel impatient.”

So when the yelling started the next day on the way home…
Me: Are you feeling impatient?
Jack:No
Me: Angry?
Jack: No
Me:Upset?
Jack:No.
Me: Crabby?
Jack: Yes.

Oh, and here is a Luke quote for you.
Dave and I were discussing the Grand Canyon, and I said I didn’t want to go there until everyone was at least 12 or something because I was afraid of someone falling to their death. Dave said we wouldn’t have to worry about that if we all rode mules, and that Jack was old enough to ride a mule. I disagreed, since I had seen him fall of a tricycle twice the day before. Luke said, “Why can’t Jack ride a jack ass?”

>No One Wants To Hear About Your Little Genius

>
I doubt someone who blogged all the time about their little genius would have a large following outside of the grandparent contingent. I don’t blog about how my kids are little geniuses for that reason, and because I have a really hard time spelling genius. I really want to spell it like this: genious. But I do have to share these two little stories about how my darling, precocious two year old can read and spell.

Last week, I was changing Jack’s diaper after the usual exchange:

Jack (apropo of nothing): Momma, I’m fine.
Me: What?
Jack: I’m fine.
Me: What does that mean? You just pooped?
Jack: NO! I’M FINE!
Luke: He just said he was pooping a few minutes ago.
Jack: I’m just wet! I don’t need a diaper change.

So off we went to change his diaper, and Jack said: I pooped. P-o-p. Poop.

Yeah, I get that he spelled it wrong, but it’s pretty close right? He isn’t even two and a half! Little potty-mouthed genius.

AND – we went to my favorite place to take the kids that makes them really happy and doesn’t involve me putting on a bathing suit. Yes, Chuck E Cheese. (Or Chuckie Cheese, as Luke still insists on calling it.)

Dave worked about 20 hours straight, and fell asleep around 5am last Saturday. The boys woke up at 6:30. By 8:45 we really needed to get out of the house so I said, “I am taking you somewhere as a surprise. So get your shoes on.”
Luke: Can we guess?
Me: Yes
Luke: But don’t tell us if we guess right.
Me: Ok, I’ll just say, “Interesting suggestion”
Luke: But make sure to say that after every suggestion. Because if you just say, “No, No, No, No, Interesting suggestion” then we will know if we guessed right.
Me:…. OK

ANYWAY – You have to pass Chuck E Cheese and drive all the way around before you get there, and as we drove past, Jack said, “Hmm. Chuck E Cheese’s.”
Me: Can you read? Interesting suggestion.
Luke: He can either read or he can read minds because I was just thinking “Chuck E Cheese” right when he said it.

So, long story short, Jack can almost spell poop, and he can read Chuck E Cheese. If that doesn’t make him a genius, then I don’t even know what a genius is.

And if you are even thinking he recognized it from the mascot, let me share this detail. When he saw the singing and dancing Chuck E Cheese inside, he said, “Stomper!” And here is where I wish I could link to the hilarious story of how last August Jack was scared of/drawn to the mouse/rat mascot of the Lake Erie Crushers: Stomper. But I never got around to blogging about that. Trust me it was a good story.

When we got home from our adventure, Dave was awake, and Jack ran up to him and said, “We saw Stomper!”

So smart, that one.

>Hair Cuts

>
You may have noticed last week that Jack’s hair was getting a little Chase Crawfordy again. And I do love that look, but it was starting to get in his eyes, and half the sandbox was stored in that mop every day when I picked Jack up from daycare. Luke’s hair was also on the extremely shaggy side so Dave had a boys day out to the barber shop.

Bring on some hot weather!