The state of our household

 

There's our boy. Not the best facial expression but he's looking sharp.

Just thought I'd catch everyone up on how we're doing with 2 weeks til my due date. We've been busy trying to get all of the baby stuff out of storage, washed, and put away. Of course, putting it away meant finding space in Jack's room for all these tiny onesies and size 1 diapers. And making room in the family room for playmats and bouncy seats. Room we don't really have. But that's okay. I've resigned myself to the fact that the house will just be a bit cluttered for the next year or so. Oh well. At least we got all the baby stuff settled!

 

Staging area of sorts in the garage

Washed and clean size 3-month clothes hanging neatly in the closet

We talk to Jack a lot about baby brother and his upcoming arrival. He seems to understand what is going on and likes to say hi to brother in the morning. Maybe he's partial to him because he knows the baby is the reason we have new double stroller sitting in the living room. Not a major side-by-side double stroller, but a little sit n' stand deal that I can snap the infant car seat in and Jack can sit or stand on the back. He LOVES it. He straps in his favorite stuffed animal dog, jumps on, and insists Daddy push him around the room. So cute.

   

 Jack is still obsessed with his daddy and loves spending time with him. In the morning he says goodbye then rushes to the window to watch him drive away.

   

 This weekend when John tried to get some yard work done and clean the gutters (exciting stuff!), Jack insisted upon helping.

   

 All that manual labor seriously tired him out though.

   

 I'm trying to cross everything off my to-do list. Running errands, making appointments, etc. Today Jack got a hair cut so he could look sharp for baby brother. I was so proud of him. Sat in the little taxi cab all by himself and didn't make a peep. My big guy.

 

 

 He really is getting so much bigger and older though. Preschool has been a great experience. At this point there's no crying whatsoever and he seems to be enjoying it. He'll never be the kid who runs into the classroom and gives his teacher a giant HELLO and high five. But he walks into the classroom, finds his number puzzle (definitely his comfort item), and sits at the little table to play with it. He'll give me a hug and remind me that "mommy always picks you up at the end" and say goodbye. We've noticed that since preschool has started, he's definitely gotten better at playing WITH his friends. He'll engage them and actually play with them, rather than beside them. It's pretty cute.

   

 So Jack seems totally ready to be a big brother EXCEPT for his current sleep patterns. After sleeping through the night for so long, for some reason he's back to waking up like 2 or 3 times during the night. And this doesn't include his early morning wake-up time (thanks daylight savings!). I've read that it's just the age and development and he'll grow out of it (obviously) but it still stinks having him wake up twice a night every night. Luckily John's been dealing with him because no one wants to wait for me to roll out of bed like a whale. :) One thing about bedtime that is cute though is that he's started wanting to read by himself. So I'll leave him in there for 15 or 20 minutes and he'll just read his books by himself. A boy after my own heart.

 

So yes, in summary, Jack is pretty cool right now.  And tall and strong.

 

P.S., he still loves watermelon.

 

Happy Halloween!

There's my little Hulk.  Probably the most timid, shy Incredible Hulk anyone has ever seen.  It was cute because he pretty much chose his own costume.  John likes to joke and say "what are you, the Hulk?!" every time Jack breaks something or throws something.  So it's one of the few characters he actually knows.  And when I saw it for sale at Costco...  well, you know.  I was incredibly thrilled that he even kept the mask on his head (albeit, not over his eyes) for the whole day.  Even when he went into the bounce house.

Wednesday our Moms Club had a big Halloween party with about 45 moms and 60 kids under the age of 5.  It was quite a chaotic scene as you can imagine.  There was a bounce house which was clearly the highlight for Jack (as usual).  The darn kid loves the bounce house so much that he even flirted with his friend's older sister while in there.  Holding hands while jumping, giggling...it was too cute.

There were a ton of games there like "ghost bowling", "pin the bowtie on the skeleton", "witches ring toss" which Jack killed. 

Of course, perhaps even better than the games were all the signs Jack could read.  Yup, took time out from the raging party to read some signs.  My little Hulk nerd.

We had a great time at the party even if this pregnant lady was tired by the end.  Standing for 4 straight hours is tough!

Halloween night we were super lucky because John got off work early and was in home in plenty of time for trick-or-treating.  Jack thought our carved pumpkins were really neat and wanted to get up close and personal.

We joined some of our friends for trick-or-treating which meant a quick car trip.  There was something about the Hulk strapped into a car seat that I found pretty funny.

All day we had prepped Jack about trick-or-treating and what to say when we walked up to the front door of a house.  He had it down cold.  So guess what happened when we starting going door to door after nightfall?  Yup, he turned into a mute.  Wouldn't say a single thing.  Wouldn't even reach into the bowls the people were holding to choose candy.  Good thing his daddy was there to collect for him.  He would say nothing, then we'd walk away and he would tell us that he was having fun and wanted to go to another house.  "And what are we going to say at the next house?" "Trick or treat." "That's right Jack!"  And then...nothing.  :)  Ahh, our shy little guy.  

But, like I said, his best bud, his daddy, collected candy for him and then proceeded to let him try out all different kinds at 8pm so that he got a sugar high (and subsequent crash).  That's what dads are for.  :)

Pumpkin Patch Trip 2013

Last week (two weeks ago?) we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch at the farm. Jack and I actually took two trips...one with his playgroup and one with daddy and the Lynns. But let's just combine them all, shall we?

I actually really enjoyed the weekend trip with daddy, if only because this 9 month pregnant lady enjoyed the help. My solo trip to the farm was exhausting. I didn't realize how tiring it would be to run after Jack while it was 90 degrees. Luckily, Jack loved doing all the fun patch activities with his daddy. First they took a ride on the "cow train":

 

Then, after the corn maze, they tackled the mini-tractors. Pretty darn adorable...

 

He found a giant pumpkin to climb into.

 

And a giant tire tunnel to run through.

 

There was a big pumpkin hut...

 

...and of course LOTS of pumpkins.

 

Of course a field full of pumpkins is a great opportunity to jump off giant pumpkins. Or really jump off anything and everything.

 

Of course, I coudn't really manage to get a good pic of Violet and Jack together. This was the best I could do.

 

Jack wouldn't pose with Violet but he attempted to pose with the sunflower sign.

 

One of Jack's favorite parts of the farm is pushing the old wagons around. Makes him so happy.

 

In fact, he's generally just happy on the farm.

 

The best thing about going to the same farm every year is the fact that you can do photo comparisons. Check it out.

 
Jack measuring his 1 1/2 yrs height in October 2012

Jack measuring his 2 1/2 years height in October 2013

Peeking out from the train window in 2012

Peeking out from the train window in 2013

Family photo in 2011 - Jack at 8 months

Family photo in 2013 - Jack at 2 1/2 years.  
He's not the only one who has aged!

Day at the Beach

 

While some parts of the country are bundling up and enjoying hot pumpkin spice lattes, our temperatures reached 95 degrees this weekend. Seemed like a good time to head to the beach so we packed up the car and headed to Malibu. Jack, just like his daddy, LOVES the beach. I could do without the sand and beating sun and freezing water but it's so fun to see Jack enjoying himself so much. His favorite thing ever is to jump the waves with his daddy while he counts them. Last beach trip he counted 325 waves. Today? 355. "A new record!" he proudly exclaimed.

 

 

Jack was so cute that I even let him drag my big pregnant butt into the cold waves too.

   

 Love my cute, handsome boys!  (And look at that kid's tan!)

   

 And a few more of me at 34 weeks pregnant and my very cute baby boy (#1)!!