First Haircut

"It's about time!" I'm sure will be the general reaction. It was about time, I'll admit it. Jack was starting to sport a mullet and, well, we can't have that now can we!!

Who knew that mommy was so talented?

Woooohoooo!!

We're so excited that Mommy is back from her weekend away!!

Oh, wait a minute, no... just the cookies.

Fifteen Months

Jack is 15 months old today. At 15 months he is still the happiest, most easy going baby around.

He loves playing with cars and banging on the glass door to the entertainment center with his little hammer.

He still steals and drinks any and all sippy cups, but is starting to become a bit finicky with food... and a VERY messy eater.

He is becoming more mischievous, he likes to watch me while dangling various bits of food over the tray to his high chair and then drop them as soon as I make eye contact.

He is able to walk but prefers to crawl.

He can say mama (but doesn't very often), dada, car, uh oh, no, hi, bye, go, num num, quack quack, and a few others... I swear I heard him say cookie the other day.

He loves to pipe in to a chorus of Bob the Builder; when you sing "can we fix it" he'll respond with an enthusiastic "yeah!!".

He loves music and does a little groove when a song he particularly likes is on... Some of his current favorites are: I'm the Map and I Love My Boots from the Dora the Explorer CD.

He laughs out loud when the song I know a Chicken by Laurie Berkner is playing.

He loves to laugh and be tickled.

He occasionally throws his head back (some may call it a "temper tantrum") when he doesn't get his way.

He likes looking at picture books and being read to.

He likes to make the "itsy bitsy spider" motions with his hands.

He loves to splash in the tub and have his head rinsed under the faucet. Of all his bath toys, the shampoo bottle is usually his choice of entertainment.

He likes to listen to the recording of my voice on the exersaucer and will often press the button several times until he finds it.

Much to my sadness he is becoming less of a Momma's boy and only likes to be cuddled if he wakes in the middle of the night, which isn't very often...

He loves his teddy bear and falls asleep hugging him almost every night.

At his fifteen month check up Jack had 2 shots. He weighs 27.5 lbs and is 31.75 inches tall.

Happy Daddy Day!

Annabelle, worried that Daddy will get a sunburn on his head, carefully applies watermelon

Daddy consoles Jack after he dropped his ice cream...

then shows him the proper way to eat

Talking Santa

That Santa mysteriously showed up at our house around Christmas time. For some reason he never got packed away with the rest of the decorations and has been living on the back porch along with a strange furry dog that barks jingle bells.

Periodically Jack will try to grab at Santa but, apart from pulling out a few random tufts of beard, has so far been unsuccessful. Annabelle has taken absolutely no interest in Santa, until today...

When, for some unknown reason, she turned him on... and when Santa started reciting Twas the Night Before Christmas in a slow, ominous tone, she stepped back in horror. Then froze.

As I tried to break her from her trance it occurred to me that she could very well be scarred for life. What might I possibly say to her that would snap her out of it and keep from sending her running to the nearest corner to rock back and forth every time she saw a man wearing a red suit?

I did the only thing I could... I told her that she shouldn't be afraid of Santa because he brings toys. Once I mentioned the "T" word she perked right up. "Toys!!?, For meeee???"

Next thing I know she was leaning in, kissing talking Santa and asking him for a new ball... a blue one.

And You Are How Old?

While watching Dora the Explorer, Annabelle turns, looks at me and says "Mommy, I think Diego is cute".

HELLO!!! YOU'RE TWO. Two years, four months to be exact... you shouldn't be thinking ANY boy, not even a cartoon one, is cute. Well, maybe your little brother... but that's it!

Some Jack Pictures...

Actually being allowed to play with his cars while "the boss lady" napped.

Little Man Walking!!!

Jack took his first few steps on Thursday!!! Of course I didn't have the camera with me to capture the moment and have been following him around with it since then... I finally caught him in the act today! Not the best picture but, he IS walking!!!!

*Daddy says: Jack will be donning the England football shirt until they win the World Cup... England beat Paraguay today 1-0.

Playing Together

What is not visible in the photos: Annabelle passing the little people to Jack through the door... Jack giving them a good chew, and then handing them back...

Maybe I Should Seriously Consider "Farmer" As A Career Option

To add to the long list of "random fruit and vegetables discovered growing in various places we have lived", I proudly welcome: The Strawberry.

Other items on the list include:

• Lemons, Oranges, Grapes, Kumquats (L.A. house #1)
• Lemons, Limes (San Francisco)
• Watermelons, Apples (San Mateo)
• Lemons, Peppers, Figs, Grapes, Oranges (L.A. house #2)

*The 8 foot marijauna plant, discovered at the house we rented in L.A. (before house #1), was not included due to it's lack of fruit/vegetable characterization... that, and the fact that it was prematurely "removed" by the gardener (in the middle of the night).

Baby Got A New Pair Of Shoes... And Lost One 3 Days Later

How does that nursery rhyme go:
One shoe off, the other shoe on,
Deedle, deedle, dumpling, my son's shoe is gone!

I was just about to have a good rant about how Jack lost one of his new shoes in Macy's department store today and then the phone rang... It was a woman from Macy's calling to say that someone had turned in the shoe (and saved me from having something to complain about)!

Baby Got A New Pair Of Shoes

Jack got his first official pair of walking shoes on Saturday! He's not quite walking yet but has been increasing the length of his "hands free" standing and cruising the furniture like nobody's business. I think he may be taking that first step very soon...

Truth be told, I had planned on waiting until after he started walking to get him "real" shoes but, it's not often that you walk by an empty Stride Rite
(the most ridiculously crowded and expensive children's shoe store in 18 countries) so we had to take advantage. The sales staff were more than eager to help and even gave Jack a special keepsake album with a photo of him wearing his new shoes... now that's the kind of service we like!

It Sings!!

Annabelle has always been one to make silly voices and hum along to music in an attempt to sing. Over the past two weeks her "singing" has really come along... we can actually understand her now! Her new favorite is "London Bridge" and it goes something like this: "Lon-don bridge is fall-ding down, fall-ding down, fall-ding down, London bridge is fall-ding down, my bad lady". Sometimes "bad lady" is "fat wady" or "bat wady".

More Pictures...

Sprinkler Fun

Nick finally finished laying the sod in the front yard... It's been a very slow process, between the digging, the tilling, the broken digging/tilling tools, the chatting to neighbors, the 2 week rain delay... and of course the lack of available sod ANYWHERE in the state!

All obstacles aside, the lawn is finished and it is looking good (apart from a few bad patches).

With a new lawn comes lots of watering, and as the temp. outside was sweltering hot we let the monkeys enjoy a little "splish splash" (as Annabelle would say)...

Which was fun for the moment but, the problem we have now is that whenever any of our neighbor's water their lawns Annabelle wants to run through the sprinklers... which is extremely annoying when you live at the tip of a cult de sac and have a clear view of EVERY lawn!!

Adventures At Small Park

Yesterday we took a walk over to "small park", as Annabelle likes to call it. Small park = close park, so I was happy when she asked to go there as opposed to "big park", which is a bit further away = longer walk for me. Normally I don't mind the extra mile stroll, but it was getting close to supper time for the small people... and I was tired... but did manage to muster up enough energy to take a few pics!

On a completely different note... The battle is over and Annabelle has finally conformed to drinking milk from a sippy cup (without tears)!! All bottles have been removed from the premises.

Flashback-May 21, 2005

Annabelle attempts to give Jack a "hug".

Bye, Bye, Bubba: The Battle Continues

Well, it's day 3 of the sans bottle mission and we have had our good days and our bad. Guess what kind of day this was? Right about now I am kicking myself for letting it get this far, and wishing I had rid her of the bottle a year ago. For some reason I convinced myself that it would be impossible for her to give it up while Jack still had one, maybe it would have, we'll never know. Somewhere along the line her bed time bottle of milk became a comfort item for her and I'm trying to take that away... evil Mommy!

Poor little Annabelle. You would have thought I offered her a poison apple rather than a sippy cup. A sippy cup, with milk? Get it straight Mommy, sippy cups are for water and juice, milk goes in a BUBBA!!! ... Sorry Annabelle, not anymore.

Meanwhile... in a quiet room not so far away, "Baby" happily drinks his milk from a sippy cup.

Happy Mother's Day!

Or, as Annabelle would say... Happy Mommy Day!

What kind of Mommy would I be if I didn't pose for a picture with the Monkeys on Mother's Day? (Probably a smart one). Nevertheless, here we are (rain soaked), after having braved the storm to go out to lunch with Nana and Papa.

A Conversation Between Two Grapes

Just one of the conversations I overheard this evening at dinner time...

Grape #1: "Hello."
Grape #2: "Hello, pleased to meet you."
Grape #1: "Want to go to a tea party?"
Grape #2: "Yeah, I want to go to a tea party."
Grape #1: "Oh, ok, want to go with Scoop and Benny*?"
Grape #2: "Yes, Scoop and Benny."
Grape #2: "and Baby too."
***insert Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrooom noise***
Grape #2: Oh! What happened?"
Grape #1: "I running around too hard!"
***insert crashing sounds***
At this point in the conversation I believe Annabelle (aka the puppeteer) has taken over, as the next thing I hear is: "I'm sorry, bye" and then see Annabelle lift the grapes, give them a little nod, as if to say "it's ok, it'll be quick and painless", and then proceed to eat Grape#1 and Grape #2!

*Scoop and Benny are toy trucks from Bob the Builder.

Cheers, Daddy!

We went to a waaaay too crowded street fair today... the kind where you wish you had packed a sharp object in the diaper bag to use on the people who pretend that you are invisible kind of crowded. Naturally, afterwards, we needed a few drinks to unwind so we stopped on the way home for a bite to eat and, well, a few drinks...
Annabelle and Nick had too much to drink and got a little too rowdy.
(that apple juice, does it every time).
The waiter came over and had to plug them up with bread.
Meanwhile... Mr. Jack had a good snooze.
But woke just in time to have a quick snack and a few laughs.

Future Artist?

What I like about this photo is the look of concentration on Annabelle's face. That, and the fact that she has absolutely no idea what the small hand on the left is about to do.