Today Jack is...24 weeks

I mean, come on. This picture is just too cute. Granted, I set him down next to Curious George in order to snap a cute photo. But I couldn't have predicted his adorable reaction. This is made even cuter because the stuffed animal belonged to John when he was a young kid and it's so nice that Jack can play with it now.

Well, as you read this we're on our first family vacation and of course I'll have updates when we get back. But the week leading up to our trip was great. There were a few firsts... We often go to the park but we always just hang on a blanket in the grass under a shady tree. This week we ventured into the gated playground area and mingled with the older kids. And by "mingle" I mean Jack stared at them. I set him down in the sand which he seemed delighted by...kept digging his feet in and out of it. I didn't get a great picture but you get the idea.

Of course, it was ridiculously hot here this week so I tried to head to the park early to beat the heat. I failed. 10am and it was still 85 degrees. Hence his zonked out expression in these photos. Hopefully he's fairly immune to heat stroke at this age. But he sat on a little tricycle and seemed perplexed. Or he's thinking, "just take the damn picture mom so I can get off this thing."

Then, for the grand finale, I put him in the bucket swing and he seemed to dig it, in his own Jack way. This means he just sort of chilled and took it all in. I could see his gears turning. John thinks he looks like he's trying to seduce the toddler girls in the close-up.

We're still exploring cereals, at this point we're on to multi-grain cereal and oatmeal. I started mixing pureed prunes in it because Jack needed it. And, speaking of, remember how I said his bowel movements smelled like buttered popcorn? Well, no more. I think it now smells like death. There are times when I think it'll knock me out. He doesn't seem to mind. And he's really enjoying eating. Usually he can't get enough.

And now, more pics from the week!