A lovely weekend

Can't complain about the weather this week. Unfortunately being back on our new fall schedule means that there wasn't much time to enjoy it during the week... but we were able to make up for that this weekend. Friday night we went out for a great dinner at California Pizza Kitchen with Melinda and Will, spent some time listening to a festive band and wandering around Legacy before returning home, putting a boy to bed and having a fire in the backyard. Saturday Nat went down to Bedford to play henchman and Jack and I headed off to get his hair cut. It's kind of crazy how much he "grew up" in the few minutes it took to cut his hair! It's his first real "boy" cut and now instead of looking rather like a Beatles reject he looks "all-American kid", with it very short in the back. (this evening we realized that if we use a bit of mousse we can spike it up in front for a wonderful Eurotrash look. I have this feeling some boy may be wearing hair products to group on Tuesday...) On the way home from the salon, a cute place that specializes in kids cuts, complete with chairs that are actually cars to drive and a flat screen TV playing kids movies at each station, we went right past the "preston's hope" playground, a fabulous looking place we can see from the highway and always talk about stopping at. So, we stopped, and it was fabulous. As you can see from the pics above, Jack had a pretty wonderful time, running and laughing and riding in as many more cars as he could find. He and I played for a good hour before we headed home for lunch. It was a great morning with my boy.
Saturday night Gram came out to watch Jack, and Nat and I went out to our first movie in about 6 months. The Informant. Good fun.
Today, we had an exciting road trip to Wooster, for the occasion of sending Becca off to COLLEGE! I can't believe my baby sister is actually moved out, starting college... all grown up. It was neat to see all the kids moving in, all the excitement and possibility in the air.
Being only 30 minutes from Strasburg, we stopped and had a nice visit with the Cobes side of the family. Jack was so excited to see cousin Emma (he'd bee talking about her all day). We sat in Diana's yard enjoying trail and swiss and a decadent ice-cream dessert while updating one another on our lives and talking quite a bit about Strasburg athletics while the kids ran about in the yard. With all of John-Johns trucks, Emma fawning over him, as well as a real, live ride-on Mino, Jack was pretty much in heaven. Nice day.

On a side note, we have been thinking recently about some of the things that Jack says that just tickle us. Here are a few:

"Cue me" -- Excuse me. He is quite polite about this, except for the fact that by the time he says it, he's already pushing past.
"Let's do it!" -- this is a new one. Said, like so many other things, with tremendous enthusiasm.

Sparx in the city....

Jack's most recent adventure out on the town was going to the annual "Sparx in the City" tour of Cleveland neighborhoods. On a wonderful, warm Saturday, we took advantage of free buses and trolleys running loops through 7 different Cleveland "boroughs" if you will. Jack was thrilled with the chance to ride on actual buses, and we were thrilled to explore parts of our own city as tourists for a day. We drove through midtown and Asia town and explored an artists live-work community in a fabulous old factory in what is apparently known as "the Quadrangle", a neighborhood I never even knew existed. Jack got into looking at the art, standing an inch away from the canvases and saying "I like this one!" He almost moved in with one of the artists, establishing himself on the couch in his studio. We explored downtown, ran into a friend from the parent center in the East 4th neighborhood, walked to the Warehouse district, found about a gazillion new restaurants we ought to try, and then got back on a trolley to head to Ohio City and Tremont. In Tremont we were treated to an Art festival where Jack decided to sit on a chalk drawing of a cat. A very cute photo op, as you can see above, but as it turns out, a not-so-smart parenting moment for Nat and Amanda, who then spent 5 minutes attempting to de-chalk the boy. Sigh.
We were out and about for 3 and a half hours and I think mom and dad were more ready for bed than Jack by the time we got home! It was a wonderful afternoon....

Rock star

How often must I apologize for how remiss I've been in updating the blog??? As often, I suppose, as I continue to be remiss....
I blame the hectic start of school. Of course, seeing as I am now in week 4 of school, I am not sure how long I can keep using that excuse.
Sigh.

Here, in an effort to make up for my lack of constant updating, is the most wonderful video in the universe.




Yes, he is playing air guitar. Yes, he is wearing a headband. Yes, his hair is a bit reminiscent of Bon Jovi. And yes, that is "Smoke on the Water" you hear.

Isn't your day just going better now??? :)

Heard this evening...

"I can reach it" (while reaching into a bag of pretzels)
"I got him!" (upon finding his favorite mino)
"I play bubbles!" (when asked what was done with Kaitlyn, his babysitter, tonight)

Yes, we have entered the age of pronouns. Also, the age of carefully enunciated 3 syllable words.... Also heard this evening:

Bull-doze. Er.
Banan. Na

Its like he has to consider that last syllable before saying it...

Every time I feel impressed by a "leap" he's taken in his verbal skills, he goes and takes another. What a kid.

In other news, here are his official "stats" from his 2 year old appointment yesterday:

Height: 37.5 inches (81%)
Weight: 29 pounds (60%)
Head: who knows the measurement but apparently its right around 57%. Or so.

This was encouraging news; it is nice to know for certain that he is growing despite his continued erratic eating habits. Can't complain too much, though-- this evening he did eat half of a Banan. Na. on the way back from Turtle Park.

Conversationalist

Jack is becoming more of a talker each day... The other day I came in after work and and heard people talking in the kitchen. I wondered to myself who Nat was chatting with, who might be visiting.. then realized that his conversation partner was Jack! Today I listened to Jack's side of the conversation as he chatted with Nat on the phone. It was one of the cutest things I have heard in a long time! Lots of "yeah's" and "yep's" and the occasional "MINO!" thrown in. And then, he would turn to me and say "Daddy on dere!" with a look of wonderment.
Some of my favorite Jack phrases of late:
"Iss really hot!" followed by "It cool down!" He has a thing about whether his food is hot.
"tanks" and "you wedum" He is becoming much more polite these days. "Tanks" comes after almost every conversation exchange.
"HI, mommy!!" OK, that doesn't seem like an earth-shattering utterance for a 2 year old, I know. But what makes it special is the way he enunciates the words these days-- and the tone of absolute joy in his voice when he says it. And the fact that this phrase is very often paired with a "Monkey hug" (imagine a 2 year old clinging to my shin, all 4 limbs wrapped around..)
However, just to make sure that I don't feel too special, he also says "HI, torton (Corydon)" and HI, motter guck/motter van/tar/pish (monster truck, monster van, car, fish) with exactly the same enthusiasm....

Party time!

Here are a few pics from Jack's birthday party on Saturday. It was a delightful time. After a rainy, unpredictable day, the weather cleared and it was a lovely evening. We had 7 toddlers, 2 babies, and 3 kids along with their various parents in attendance. The toddlers were ridiculously cute, loved the sandbox, the swing, and the barn toy, and didn't fight over anything. The bubble station, staffed by Tina's daughter Aiwyn, was also a hit. I also loved looking back and seeing various parent/child pairings enjoying the hammock... The only real problem with the party was that it was so fast. I wanted very much to spend time with everyone there, but by the time you make the rounds... also a few guests had to leave early. It was several days of preparation for a 3 hour party-- but worth it. Jack appeared to have a grand time. I think he was actually in the act of running about 75% of the time. He loved his new rocking horse (courtesy of Gram) and his new dumptrucks (courtesy of Lulu and Randy and crew). He also loved his cake. And, of course, singing Happy Birthday and blowing the candles out. His infatuation with this started on Friday, when we had a smaller party of 8 out for his actual birthday. I think we sang happy birthday at least 10 times to the boy. "One. more. Cannle on!!" was his refrain. How can one resist? Especially when we got to hear him singing, on a single note, the entire song along with us, about half a verse behind. "Happy tutu" is a thing of the past; he can now say every word of the song properly, and is quite proficient at blowing out a candle! He can also answer, when asked "how old are you?" with an emphatic "a two!" As for gifts-- well, he received a total of 46 wheels for his birthday, between the diggers and dumptrucks and cars and motorcycles and monster trucks (he love love loves those monster trucks!) Also a fair assortment of books and a few clothes. And, we got him a new toddler chair to replace the highchair. About time, we wish we'd gotten it sooner... All told, he's been a great kid on this overstimulating weekend, with no real meltdowns and a whole lot of smiles. .. more pics to come when I find the other SD card...

Two years ago, right now....

... I was enjoying the last few hours of Pitocin-induced labor, about to give birth to the amazing little boy who has so changed our lives...

It seems impossibly long ago, but these two years have also gone impossibly fast. It is strange-- we have been thinking of Jack as "a two year old" for a number of months now, and that sometimes leads me to think that he has not changed too much this year. And, certainly the change of this year pales in comparison with that mind-blowing first year transformation. But--a year ago we had a little baby who was crawling, babbling, saying mama and dada and stick and ball... smiling and giggling and rather pudgy... In the space of the past 365 days, Jack has:

*learned to walk. And run. And jump. He loves to jump, especially off of steps. We love that...
*learned to talk-- first 10 words, then 37, then 50, then we lost count. Today-- 6 word sentences, sometimes. He can say Brontosaurus, and knows what a Brontosaurus is. Tonight, we worked on "Clavicle." He has conversations, and brings up things he remembers from his day. He wheedles and whines and even jokes. He points out diggers and minos and birds and squirrels and numbers with the most wonderful enthusiasm and the cutest, ever-so-slightly nasal, little-boy voice...
*learned to climb stairs, then walk up them, and then walk down them. On his own. He's learned to climb into his own carseat, and learned that he does NOT want any help. "Jackself!!" he will shout.
*learned to shout! He has developed such an opinionated sense of his likes and dislikes. This is good. Most of the time. Many opinions are about food; our boy is a pickier eater now that he was a year ago... but what he does eat, he feeds to himself. He can use a fork and a spoon a regular glass, all very successfully, when he feels like it...
*learned to tell us when he needs a diaper change, and help with being dressed and undressed. We aren't to potty training yet-- but he knows all about toilets and will talk about poop to a great extent. He wasn't able to do that a year ago! He has developed opinions about what he likes to wear and is starting to get attached to certain shirts and, even more so, certain shoes. "Bown shoos, boo crocs...."
*Started to sleep through the night. 1 or 2 times a week! Those of you who know Jack know this is a big deal...
*Kept on nursing! OK, so that's not a change. But I am pretty darn happy and proud to have provided my boy with 2 full years of ideal nutrition and supplementation and snuggles and security. Our late-night/early-morning nursings, fewer and further between now, are the one time this active little boy really sinks into my arms, becoming for a moment my little baby again...
*Learned to climb ladders and go down slides and pedal a tricycle and do puzzles. He can also identify at least half of the alphabet and the numbers 1,2,3,5, and 8. He can count to 20, as long as you don't mind missing 9 and 11 and hearing 15 three or four times....
*Gotten taller and slimmer and lost his baby-soft looks...now he looks like a boy instead. A mischievous, handsome, charming, 2 year old boy.