In lieu of actual pictures, this evening, here are some word pictures of the very special little boy we live with.

Jack obtained some balloons yesterday at Bill's birthday dinner. This morning Jack and mommy spent quite a bit of time "marchin" around the first floor with our "bawoons". Jack is an enthusiastic marcher, lots of lifted feet and not too much forward movement. He liked to hoist his balloon into the air, arms straight up above his head, then pull it back down. Also fun was to "hang it up"-- ie, let it go onto the ceiling. He coined that phrase himself; I find it rather descriptive of the act of putting one's balloon onto the ceiling.

This afternoon, upon waking from his nap and leaving his nursery, Jack lifted his face, sniffed the air and proclaimed: "somethin pells reawwy guk!!" For those requiring a translation, that's "Something smells really good!" Indeed it did: tonight's chili.

He's been a super snuggly boy these past few days. When I went in to get him from his nap he said, in the sweetest tone, "oh, hi mommy! I love you mommy." I love him too, it turns out. He will actually sit and rock with me for minutes at a time these days. It's lovely to get to snuggle with this beautiful but very busy little boy.