Cinderfella

Our little Bubba likes to vacuum and clean. 
Don't tell him I told you this..........
but, he might be getting his very own authentic Dirt Devil, with Real Bead Action!

For Christmas this year. We are not, however, getting him a broom.

Hee Haw!

This is Jack's first attempt at pony-wrangling. I feel kinda sad though, cuz, when I asked the girl what the pony's name was, she said that as far as she knew, the pony had no name. Sadness!! A pony that is used for little kid rides should totally have a name. I don't care if you make one up everytime someone asks, but geez., pony should have name, right?

On a different day, went back with our friends Tim, Jenny and Ashtyn, and the calf and pig where probably trying to sleep in their little barn when Jack and Ashy happened upon them. This is the look in Jack's eyes when he decided-I'm going for a ride!

And so, up he hopped!

It must have looked like a lot of fun, because Ashy hopped right up there with him.

That poor little calf, I bet he or she was ready to eat kids by the time this was through.

More Hee Haw

Hee Haws is such a long ways away from where we live, we really tried to enjoy ourselves when we went, we can't really go too often. Here Jack plays with a pig. That little guy was really onto something, he was digging like mad.

Jack with his friend Ashy, on the hay-trampoline thingy.

The pig and calf were all peopled out, I think, but there was no place to hide. This is before Jack decided to go for a ride.

Jack is finally taking an interest in animals. Earlier in the year, when we took him to the zoo, I think it was still too early. He didn't really get it, but now, he's all about the animals.

Ahhhhhhh, how cute.

Elmo's World

First Words

Jack's words up 'til now are as follows:

• "Off": Works for pick me up, put me down, get me outta this highchair, take these gloves off!
• "Ma-ma": Works for both Mommy and Daddy
• "Num-num" plus pointing: Works for all food and drink items or even non-food items Jack thinks might be palatable (at least he doesn't point with the bird anymore!)
• "Dis?": Jack's most helpful word, used with everything including which books to read
• "Whadisdat?" or "Whasdis?": Used for just what it sounds like, What is that and what's this?
• "Heeeee-Yah!": Jack's angry word, usually accompanied by a slap
• "Yah": the affirmative to any question posed to Jack, including "Do you know the square root of 54?" , "Is your Mama beautiful?" or any question we want to ask to make us feel good about ourselves
• "Buusshh": toothbrush
• "Hat": hat
• "Ice" with upturned palm: give me the ice from your glass
• "Baby": the picture of Baby Jack on the wall
• "Mmmmmmmm": How we know Jack enjoys his food

Jack also understands "Do you want to go outside?" and answers by grabbing his shoes from the rack or hanging on the doorknob. Bathtime is answered by running to the bathroom door (which is shut very tightly, by the way), bedtime/naptime by running to his bedroom closet where his fan is kept to provide white noise during this sacred respite.

Most of this entry was written by Heather, but you know I have to get my two cents in. Heather has (very proudly) taught Jack to respond with a loud, full-tongue "Blaaaaaaaah!" when you say the words, "Taco Bell," "Miracle Whip,"or "canned peas," to him. Incidently, these are all things that Heather really dislikes. Imagine that........

Animal noises include those of Bunny (a sniffing sound), Cat ("mao"), Dog ("rowf"), Fish (puckered lips), Tiger ("rrrrr"), Cow ("mooooo"), Bear ("haaarrrr"), Elephant ("ppppppppppt") and Horse ("bbbbbbbbbfff").

LBJ: Life Before Jack

This was our little camp. Cozy, huh?

Little did we know that just around the corner was-The Angriest Heather-Face Jason Had EVER seen. You see, out in the woods there is no electricity, so there were no fans to drown out the terrible racket that is Jason's snoring. Heather says she spent most of the night hitting me and telling me to turn over in order to stop snoring. About 5 in the morning, I couldn't stand getting beat up, and Heather was tired of trying to make me stop snoring, so I took a blanket and went and slept in the car. When we got up in the morning, Heather was still mad at me because once I left, it was quiet, but then it was too cold. Sometimes, you just can't win. However, the hotdogs were very tasty. And the look on her face-it was the angriest I have ever seen her.

I had bought a fishing pole to try out at this nameless lake, and after I had set it up and made a few casts, Heather got bored and asked for a turn. She immediately hooked this guy, and then another. "Hey, I like this fishing thing, it's kinda fun!" I caught one, too, but of course it was way smaller than either of the two that she caught.

All three tasted excellent.

Here's the bitty one I caught. Notice how hard was for me to step back far enough to get the whole fish in one frame.

Not only did we use our Lexus to climb this gnarly hill (which I didn't get a picture of-if I had you wouldn't believe that we got the Lexus up to our camping spot without 4-wheel drive), we used it to cook on.

What is it about the great outdoors that makes breakfast taste so good? It must have something to do with the clean crisp air, the smell of trout frying in sausage grease, and pine permeating the air.

Just a little salt and pepper, fresh caught trout for breafast.

Hmmmm, nummy nummy, good for my tummy!

Wally World

Gotta love the medical profession. It great to be walking around a wal-mart and see one of your former patients and have the first thought that crosses your mind be, "Where do I know that guy from? Oh yeah, I've wiped his butt before. That's where I know him from."

Death of the Chocolate Bunny

In order to properly introduce Jack to the heathen traditions of Easter, Heather chose this chocolate bunny.

Jack needed minimal instruction, and once the process of destruction began, carried out his work with much enthusiasm and much grunting and hmm-hmmming of approval.

The Bunny didn't stand a chance, as the Baby Bunny killer cackled with delight and glee over his fallen prey.

This was April-ish of 2008.

The Chocolate Bunny's blood ran thick that day, as the Bunny died a horrible, messy death. His demise will be remembered forever. Or, as long as I have this blurry picture to remind me.

Your honor, as you can see from this picture, the defendant showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever, and actually took pleasure in the demise of my former client, Mr. Chocolate Bunny.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I now address you. Does this look like the face of contrition?

I say again, it does not.

The deed already complete, the culprit just waits to be wiped.

Halloween '07

Alright, so maybe I'm not the world's greatest pumpkin carver. But I got a cute baby, so who cares?

These pictures are from a year ago. This was Jack's first Halloween.

I swear, from looking at these pictures, you'd think we never fed the little guy. He latched onto thhe pumkin like he was starved.

So About that.....

This pic is from last year about this time, carving pumkins.

Turns out, Jack really did have something worth complaining about. I don't know about you, but if I had a monster-hunking ear infection complete with a blister on my eardrum, I would have a pretty crappy day, too. We had scheduled Jack's 18 month appointment for today ages ago, so it was actually pretty lucky for us. Dr. Arnold (greatest pediatrician ever-I LOVE Alpine Peds) was able to prescribe some ear-numbing drops and a round of anti-biotics. Also, Jack is 35 inches tall, which puts him above the 97th percentile for his height. His weight, at 26 pounds, puts him in the 65th percentile, which is the percentile he was in last time. The good doctor tells me that some kids get between 6 and 8 ear infection in the first year, so for Jack to be at his 18 month check-up with his first one bodes well for him. I didn't have too many that I can remember as a kid, but Heather has a long and rich history of ear infections, so maybe we can avoid that. Since we got back from Costco to pick up his meds and picking up Heather from work, and giving him his meds, Jack has had a good bottle, joked and laughed for his mom, and is finally getting sleepy. Maybe hopefully tonight we will have a good night.

I had to add a really cute picture of Bubba today, because last night was so rough. I don't know where he picked it up from, but he's got some bug that kept him up from like, basically 11pm last night until 5 this morning. I tried everything, diaper, more food, bottle, cuddling, binky. Finally, I decided to ignore him, so of course that's when he worked himself up into such a fit that he barfed. If there's one thing I LOVE, it's cleaning up cottage-cheese barf from bedding and carpet at 2 in the morning. Then, of course, he slept from 5 until 6, and then woke up like the screaming little banshee he has become. Anyway, the cute picture is mostly there to remind me of how much work it has been up to this point to get him here, and what a shame it would be to chuck him into a wall now.

The Usual Suspects

Are Connor (Con-Con) playing or fighting? Who knows?

This is Jack, playing with one of the many 'community' toys that randomly appear on the playground for days at a time and, just as suddenly, disappear.

This is Rhaegan, or Rhae-Rhae. She always keeps her cool.