Making A Birthday Card

Happy Birthday Uncle Tim!

Panth

Knock Knock!

Who's there?

Panther

Panther who?

Panther no panth, I'm goin' thwimmin'!

This is a favorite joke at our house and it is quite fitting.  For some unknown reason, Jack refuses to wear pants in the afternoons after his nap.  Here he is, "shopping at Target" with his self-made shopping cart.   Panth or no panth, he'th going thopping!

Choo Choo!

This picture makes me happy for many reasons.  First, it shows what a great place we are getting to with Jack and Henry.  At seven months, Henry is crawling all over and full of smiles and noises to share with us.  It seems that this has helped Jack to see his little brother as a fun little person.  More and more, he is eager to take care of him.  He loves putting handfuls of cheerios on Henry's tray and bumps me out of my chair to feed Henry his cereal.  "Choo choo - right in the tunnel!"  He will bring him toys to play with and often explains what he is doing with a gentle, high-pitched voice.  "Building blocks Henry..."  He doesn't love it when the little crawling machine climbs all over him but will usually either extricate himself or ask for help.  I've even caught him giving Henry spontaneous head rubs and kisses.  And Henry thinks Jack is the best - he can barely contain his excitement when Jack walks into a room - he wiggles like crazy and lights up with an open-mouth smile.  It does a mama's heart good.

I also love this picture because I took it!  I have been trying to get to know my camera better and have been learning the post-processing ropes from Michelle.  I am excited to learn more so that I can capture these every day moments and milestones.

Big Boy Bed

For his 2nd birthday, Nana and Grampy gave Jack a special present - a big boy bed!  We talked about big boy beds for several weeks in preparation for the exciting move and finally took the plunge on January 31.  Jack helped Stephen build the bed (actually he read stories with me while Stephen put it together) and then we put on the new "choo choo" sheets and moved over all his favorite friends.  Jack was very excited - luckily, we finished it just in time for nap.  The first weeks of naps in the big boy bed were hilarious.  We decided that we were not going to say "you need to stay in your bed"  - to Jack that would be an invitation to climb out!  So, I just wished him sweet dreams and closed the door behind me. (We had extensively jack-proofed the room first to make it safe.)  Immediately, Jack jumped out of his bed announcing loudly and repeatedly, "Came out!  Came out, mama!" I was cracking up outside the door but decided to go in only after he announced that he needed a new diaper.  When I came in he said again, "Came out Mama!" He was so sure he was going to get in "trouble".  I said, "Yes, I see.  I hope you decide to crawl in your cozy big boy bed when you get tired."  Upon my second departure he again jumped out of bed, "Came out AGAIN, Mama!"  He couldn't believe his freedom! And he was going to see just what it took to get me to come back up.  Over the next few days (weeks?), lights were turned on and off, music was turned on and off, drawers were emptied "big mess!  big pile!", bookshelves were cleared- but (almost) every day he eventually crawled into his bed and went to sleep.  I watched with great interest on our video monitor - my own reality tv.   It truly has been an adventure!  Some of my favorite highlights:

*Before I installed the door knob guard Jack opened his door every few seconds to see if I was still there. "Hi mama!"  "Hi mama!"  "Hi mama!"

*After I installed the door knob guard:  "Not working....having trouble....need help Mama!"

*"Poop on my finger!"  That one got me upstairs!

*After emptying the drawers, Jack walked under the camera semi-wearing two extra shirts.

*After the one wide-awake nap session, I commented that he didn't sleep.  Jack replied, "No.....adventures."

That about says it all.
Happily, Jack now plays or reads quietly for five or ten minutes and then settles in to sleep.

Adventures in Eating

Henry turned 6 months old on January 14 and not long after he began to explore the wonderful world of solid food (if you can call drippy cereal and applesauce solid).  It has been a slow process but he is getting more and more efficient.  There is always much spoon stealing, bowl grabbing, and cereal smushing.  Occasionally, we are able to get a bite in his mouth too.  This week he discovered cheerios and we are still scraping them off the bottom of our feet.  By the end of the meal, his chair and much of the kitchen floor are covered in cheerios.  One for Henry, 12 for the floor.  Ernie the kitty has become quite a scavenger these days - maybe he will help us out.  Henry has also begun chewing on rice crackers (offically called Mum Mums, unofficially called surfboards) which turn into a pile of starchy goo in his hands.  When he first started solids, Henry battled a very strong gag reflex.  He seems to have overcome this but likes to tease me by making coughing/choking noises with a big smile on his face.   

The Boys

Happy Birthday Jack!!

photo by michelle enebo

I can't believe you are 2! (Although according to you, you are 6!  Slow down!)  You are such a funny little guy.  We can't believe how smart you are - you are talking in full sentences and learning new words every day.  You watch us so carefully and remember everything!  You are big on testing limits, figuring out what is okay and what might get a reaction from us.  We have so much fun playing with you everyday!

Some things about you as a 2 year old:

*You love books and have many books memorized that you will read to us and the many friends in your bed.  Several times at naptime you have fallen asleep with a book open over your face.

*Recently, playing "store" at a playground you offered me a "no-fat mocha - no whip".  I was so surprised - you are a good listener!

*You love your new "choo choo table" and any opportunity to see real choo-choos.

*After hearing it in a book, you have started saying "sweet dreams" to us whenever you go to sleep.

*You like to do everything yourself!

*We have recently had some "sitting out" adventures with you.  To help you remember to have gentle hands, we made a sitting-out spot in a pack 'n play.  You immediately:  learned how to unlock & open the french doors next to you, learned how to climb out, put books inside the pack 'n play and then came and hit me so you could climb in to read them.

*You love music, singing, dancing and instruments.  We're not sure yet what your voice is like, but you sing with gusto!  You know almost all of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Old MacDonald.  (I love this one because you have abbreviated EIEIO to EIO (very fast!) )You don't sing it often yet but it seems you also almost know the alphabet song.  You love to sing the Happy Birthday song and occasionally request that we sing it to you.  You lead regular family jam sessions, trading everyone's instruments every few minutes.

*You are fascinated by the Bumble from the Rudolph video.  On Christmas Eve you watched the video with Daddy and Grampy - I walked in just as you saw him for the first time - your eyes were HUGE. We spent the next few days convincing you that the Bumble was friendly.  Now, over a month later, you bring up the Bumble often. "The Bumble is friendly, too."  "Bumble peeks out of mountains..."  "Hear a Bumble?"  We just keep explaining that the Bumble is on tv or at the North Pole with Santa, helping to put stars on Christmas trees.

*Whenever you are going somewhere, you are going to "Nana and Grampy's house."  Every airplane is going to "Namy and Dadad's house."

*You love to look at/sit on forklifts at Lowe's or around town.  You have an incredible mental catalog of trucks and can easily identify excavators, tractors (you even named a bailer!), front end "yoders" -  garbage trucks and fire trucks are some of your favorites.  You were thrilled to see a "car transporter" on the freeway recently.

*You are a very social guy.  Wherever we go, you chat with everyone we see, telling them where we are going and what we are doing.  Half the time, you don't get an answer as the friendly stranger doesn't realize you are talking to them.  But this doesn't stop you - you just repeat it louder until they clue in!

Happy Birthday - we love you!!