Vacation #2: Time for a Little Texas Education

Jack - Happy to be at the Alamo...can't you tell?

The gang hanging out at the Alamo - this picture is somewhat deceiving in that we didn't tour the Alamo but thought a trip to San Antonio wouldn't be complete without pictures at this historic landmark.

Picture time on the Riverwalk. Jack loved the water and wanted to bend over and touch it. We had to keep close tabs on him because there are no railings!

We were planning one final family vacation before school started and decided it might be more fun if we invited some friends along. So, our friends Brad & Sarah and Shane & Sylvia joined us for some fun in San Antonio. We didn't do anything monumental but we did have a fun time hanging out. Makes the reality of returning to work even worse!

Vacation #1: Trip to Papaw & Nana's House

Before summer officially comes to an end, we were able to spend some quality time with Nathan's folks in Pennsylvania. Jack had such a great time.

Jack riding one of Nathan's old toys.

We went to the Pittsburgh Zoo which was actually really impressive. We went fairly early in the day so the animals were still pretty active, too. Jack loved the elephants and the aquarium.

Another fun stop was the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. I thought it might be a bit over Jack's head - but they actually had several things that he really was into such as...

a Clifford exhibit (he loves any kind of dog)...

and Mister Roger's neighborhood...

but we might have actually enjoyed that exhibit more than he did.

Someone Found My Lipstick

So, I left my purse with a tube of lipstick within reach of my son and found him like this a few minutes later. Nathan likes to wear my lipstick, too, so I guess he takes after his father.

Cooking with Jack

Jack and I made brownies the other night. As you can tell from the pictures, he had a hard time waiting until they were cooked before tasting them. But, hey, that's the best part, right? (Note: The apron he was wearing is one that I wore when I was a little girl. Found it in a box of goodies my parents brought to us when they moved. I thought it was pretty neat.)

Love My Animals

Lately Jack has really had a fondness towards his stuffed animals. It's a new thing for him. Before he really didn't pay much attention to them because they don't make noise or light up or anything exciting like that...but his imagination is starting to kick in and it's fun to watch him take care of his "babies". Recently he has been setting up a "bedroom" for them in the corner of our guestroom complete with pillows and blankets and he will spend quite a bit of time rocking them to sleep and tucking them into bed.

A few nights ago I was starting his bath water and I went to get his pajamas laid out in his room. When I went back to turn the water off, I noticed his stuffed turtle was floating in the tub. I peeked my head out in the hallway to call for Nathan to come and look and when I did Jack came barreling around the corner with his arms full of the rest of his stuffed animals. They were all headed for the bathtub! Needless to say, Nathan and I were able to keep a few of them from drowning.

Joga Bonito

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Jack's father is so proud of our little Ronaldinho. (Notice how his left arm always goes up with each kick. This is Jack's trademark move.)

No More Baby Face

It's crazy to me (the mom) that Jack is already 19 months old. It seems like every morning Jack looks more and more like a little boy and less like a baby. He's entering into a new phase of independence as well. We now have to change his shirt 3-5 times/day because he has grown bored with the pattern and wants to wear his "dog" or "ball" shirt. I've realized most of his clothes don't have animals or characters on them so we are seeing the same shirts over and over again. And his favorite shirt, of course, is a pajama top (with a big dog on it) so I prefer he doesn't wear that one out in public. On Sunday he had picked out his clothes and it included his green striped pajama shorts, a button up shirt (red and blue) and his converse low tops. Needless to say, mom had to make him a little upset and at least get him to change pants. I really didn't think I would have to worry about wardrobe pickiness with a little boy.

Yankee Doodle

Uncle Sam...I mean Jack and Honor

Honor, Ethan, Addison and Jack eating hot dogs.

The adult table.

Jack is so excited that his friends, Mark & Leslie have a great pool where he can play.

We had a fun 4th. We spent the evening with our friends eating great food and playing in the pool. Jack loved it because his good friends Honor, Ethan and Addison were present. He always tries to act so big around them! We tried to go downtown to watch the fireworks but by the time we arrived they were over. Oh well! Jack was fading in the backseat of the car anyway. All the fun had taken its toll on him.

Animal Noises

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Jack loves to make animal noises. My personal favorite is the horse but Nathan can't get over his extremely quiet bear. The "grrrr" you witnessed in the video is as loud as he gets.

Corn on the Cob

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One of Jack's new favorite meals includes corn on the cob. He gets so consumed with the process of eating it that he neglects any other food on his plate. It's so cute to watch him work on it. And I have to admit that it is pretty good stuff.

Sunny Florida

Jack with Grandma and Grandpa.



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Jack loved this little shower. It wasn't far from our patio and so if he would get to go outside he would take off for the spicket. We went through a lot of clothes because it was just too much fun to resist...

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Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos Because Nathan still had two weeks of teaching, Jack and I headed to Florida to spend a few days with my folks. It was Jack's first time on the beach (well, actually he went when he was about 3 weeks old but I don't think it was very memorable for him). He LOVED the ocean and wasn't afraid of the waves at all. He just wanted to go deeper and deeper. He also enjoyed eating the sand (a little odd) which made his diaper changes quite interesting when the sand passed back through. He did great on the 2 1/2 hour plane rides with only mommy. I had been a little concerned about it prior to leaving but we sat next to some very forgiving passengers and Jack was quite the little entertainer during both legs of the journey. It was a nice mini-vacation. Hopefully next time Dad can join us!

Nana & Uncle Mike Pay a Visit

Jack and Uncle Mike

Jack and Nana

Jack is signing along with the words he is hearing on "Barney". His new favorite sign is "excuse me" which he uses anytime ANYONE burps. He's keeping our household very polite.

Jack's Nana and Uncle Mike came to visit last week while I was finishing up the school year. It was great showing them our new place and Jack was able to dazzle them with all of his new skills. He's learned a lot since Christmas! He also was able to master their names while they were here and now instead of "daddy" calls Nathan "Mmmike" (they do look a lot alike).

Six Flags Over Mother's Day

Jack on the Carousel...

Driving the semitruck...

Giving his friend Honor a hug.

For Mother's Day we joined some of our friends and went to Six Flags for the afternoon. Jack wasn't sure what to think of the rides at first. We started with the carousel and then worked our way up to faster-paced rides. It was pretty toasty outside so his cheeks are pretty pink in the pictures but don't worry, he didn't get any sunburn (thanks to frequent lathering breaks). We also were able to see Wylie Coyote and Scooby Doo in costume. Jack was interested in them only when they were far away. When they actually tried to shake his hand and get a picture with him, he totally freaked out (that's why there aren't any pictures with the characters posted).

Gearing Up for Mother's Day

We've been busy this weekend getting our presents ready for Mother's Day. Fingerpainting is a new favorite of Jack's but he only likes the paint on his fingers for a limited amount of time.

Our Talented Son

Here are a few videos of Jack's new tricks:

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Favorite Jack Stories

Jack is doing all kinds of funny things these days. There is a pantry cupboard in our new place that is pretty low to the ground...and it is the one cabinet that doesn't have a child lock in place (don't worry, we will soon be installing one), so Jack is constantly picking out what he would like to eat and tossing cans and other items in various places. Well, the other day I was headed to the store so I picked up my purse and it felt quite heavy. I didn't remember putting the camera or anything in it, so I opened it to see what was weighing it down. And lo and behold I found 5 potatoes! I'm not sure when he put the potatoes in my purse but I was glad I found them before I went to the grocery and it looked as though I was shoplifting.

Jack loves to show off his body parts these days. He doesn't really know where anything is...but his belly button. So, if you ask him where his nose (mouth, eyes, ears, etc) is he will instantly lift up his shirt and show you his "buh" (as he calls it) or button.

Jack is also obsessed with dogs (or "bog"). Both neighbors have dogs that occassionally bark and he will stop whatever he is doing (which is usually constructing something in the dirt) and say "bog, bog" "woof, woof". We took him to the pet store and he was actually a little leary of the dogs when it came to petting them - but in his defense, they were pretty large and I was a bit scared, too.

Air Jack

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I found this hoop at a garage sale yesterday and since then Jack has been busy perfecting his dunk...that is when his dad isn't hogging the ball.

Easter

We actually had a really fun Easter here with Jack. I was on call so we weren't able to go to church that morning but the Easter bunny did hop his way into Jack's room and leave him with some cool bath crayons and fingerpaints. We also decorated Easter eggs (which was terribly messy). Jack had practiced his egg hunting skills at school all week and had come home with quite a load of "treats" so we had a few of those, too. I had to convince him that the chocolate bunnies tasted better without their foil covering. I think Jack's hands are still green from the egg dye but overall we had a lot of fun (even though it was snowing here!).

Class Picture

I love all their little faces in this picture and I think it is amazing that no one is crying. These are all of Jack's friends from school. He is one of the youngest so the ages range from 15 months -18 months. I'm not sure how his teachers keep up with them all! Because Jack has an easy name to pronounce several of the older girls get so excited when they see him now and can shout "ack" "ack". It's too cute.

The Zoo

As you can tell, Jack wasn't all that interested in the zebras.

He was fascinated by the meerkat. I love his little face in this picture (although there is something on our camera lens blurring the shot).

He also wasn't sure he wanted to participate in the brushing of the goats. He's a pretty cautious kid when it comes to new things.

We enjoyed our first family trip to the zoo today. It was a beautiful day so the zoo was actually pretty crowded. Jack was funny in that he wasn't all that interested in the animals - but mostly wanted to play in all the bushes and trees at the zoo and watch all the other little kids who were running around. Oh well...there were several animals that seemed to attract his attention. The birds and meerkat (is the plural of meerkat "meerkats"?) were some of his favorites and he also liked watching the sharks swimming in their aquarium. Hopefully soon I'll be able to download some better pictures taken by his Aunt Lainee (visiting on her Spring Break).