Going to the Park

We love to go to the park. Meaning, if we don't take Jack to the park, he becomes impossible to handle and we come dangerously close to losing it. So, we opt for sanity and the park, as many times as it takes for as long as we can stand it. It is actually really great, it is one of the reasons we love living here and feel so blessed we moved when we did. There are always a bunch of kids and parents out there, so it is a good time for all. The parents talk recipes and kids and stuff, and keep one eye out for all-out brawls or bleeding.

Can we go see the chick-ens?

One of our favorite activities this summer has been visiting the chickens. Adam and Laurie,

friends and neighbors of ours from down the block, have two pens with hens for laying eggs and for eating, we spent a lot of time catching grasshoppers to feed them to the chick-ens (as Kyle likes to say). Kyle and Kaden are Adam and Laurie's boys, and they usually accompany us on these trips.

Sleepy Monster

The blessed days of two naps in one day are but a distant memory, and I fear the day when no naps are needed at all. Currently, Jack will snooze from 11 or 12 until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We like to spend our time doing homework, cleaning, relaxing, catching up on tv that doesn't include animation, puppets, singing, or trains. I still can't stand catching myself singing 'Elmo's world' at random times throughout my day. Damn that furry little red puppet, why is he so addicting to babies? It's like baby crack.

Heather is trying to take the pacifier, or binky, away from Jack. During the day he's actually good without it, but at night he will still cry out, so I voted to give it back. And by vote I mean that he was crying, I was the one that got up and couldn't comfort my own child back to sleep, so I got the binky out and gave it to him. It worked, so he's still on-again, off-again with the thing. I think it's ok, cuz he's still got teeth coming in and maybe that is why he needs it & why it still helps him.
Needless to say, I think he is so dang cute, 'specailly when he wakes up. It used to be the only time you could get a hug from him, but we've trained him to almost give hugs and kisses on command. Sometimes he will refuse and say no, but we try.

About the kissing, we're also very glad he learned to kiss with his mouth closed. Not that I don't appreciate a good wet kiss now and then, it's just that I usually prefer it come from my wife and not my kid.
Jack's current words are 'brush,' 'shoes,' 'duck,' 'yeah,' 'no,' 'Aunt,' (per special request of her Auntie Freddi) and something that sounds like, 'whatszou?' which is what he says when he asks a question and points at something.

Cell Phone Bandit

If you've been dry-dialed by my phone-now you know who, and how. We may never know why.

Little Linus?

Somehow, Jack loves his blanket. See for yourself.

Tan Lines & Shower Time

We spent a lot of quality time at the pool this summer, and we finally got a little bit of the Mexican half of Jack to shine through, as you may be able to tell. Mostly, Heather and I would swim while Jack wandered the perimeter of the pool with his floaties on, looking for trouble. Doesn't he have the cutest bum in the whole world? Ok, so maybe I'm a bit biased, but still, that's cute. Heather and I figure that the reason Jack is so cute is because he is going to be so much trouble. He already is and we haven't really started the 'terrible two's' quite yet. Check out those muscles!

What Sound does a Mommy make?

Heather was putting Jack to sleep one night not long ago, and he said the cutest thing. She was going through the animal noises, you know, what sound does a dog make, yadda, yadda, and she ran out of things that make sounds. So, spur of the moment, she asks Jack what sound a Mommy makes, and Jack though about it for a second, put his finger in the air and waved it and said, very slowly but deliberately, "No, no, no." Sooooooo cute, it kills me.

The First Word

I like my peanut butter creamy. If I wanted to eat peanuts, I would eat peanuts. Don't go putting no nuts in my butter. My toothbrush is Sonicare, my transportation is Toyota, my preference is cats. I like dogs too, as long as they're not the small yippy-yappy type. As you can see, I am perfectly normal. My third nipple is hard to see, so, again, as far as you can see, I am perfectly normal. My family is lovely. There is the love of my life, Heather, a tall beatifull, cool drink of water if there ever was one. My son is Joaquin, pronounced Wxa-keen, like Joaquin Phoenix. We just call him Jack, or Bubba Jack. They are the most beautiful people in the world. I have pictures to prove it. Blogs away!