Stopping Time

Many, many people have told us to enjoy the time we have with Jack b/c "they grow up so fast". And to be honest we really are enjoying Jack - well most hours that is. Here's some of the things that bring us joy right now about Jack:

- His hugs and kisses
- The sound of "chooo-choooo" that constantly comes from his mouth
- Sleeping in past 6am (new in the past 3 days)
- When he obeys a firm "no"!
- Playing - he's into stuffing our pockets with whatever is handy (blocks, etc.)
- New words: nigh-nigh, car, banana, choo-choo, Jack, more, milk
- Reading books over & over - and right now they have to be about trains
- Hugging his puppy, and doing downward doy into his blanket
- Walking around beating his tummy like a drum
- Running anywhere he can
- Taking us on walks around the block

These are just a handful of great moments with Jack. We'll omit the moments we want to sell him on Ebay (Scott's words);)

Friends

I think being friends at 18 months really means occasionally playing with another child but more often hitting them or stealing their toys. However, Jack and his friend Owen did have a breakthrough the other day and gave each other a hug - it was really cute. Here are a few photos of them playing at the park. You'll notice they weren't too excited to be in the same stroller on the walk over to the park...

Developmental Milestone: Dance

At this stage in our lives we hear the phrase "developmental milestones" at almost every turn. This can refer to a wide array of things in Jack's life - learning to crawl, then walk, the number of words he can utter, mastering the pincher grasp, etc. Dance is one of these skill - at least I think it is. Jack's been bouncing and doing what we call the "squat walk" to music for a while, but we are beginning to really work on refining his dance moves.

Now, any of you who know how Scott and I dance might hesitate to watch this video. But if you are so bold, enjoy. We're working on more dance moves such as the running man and break dancing...:)

You Bought a What?!!!

We just purchased a....minivan. And yes, some may say (and have said) that we've sold out. I personally am eating many comments I've made in past years about how I would never own one of these ugly beasts. The truth is, I love our new car. It's great, and somehow I don't think it's so ugly anymore:)
Here's some great things about our new wheels:
- I don't have to wrench my back leaning over to put Jack in his car seat
- It has something like 17 cupholders - that's actually obscene
- Window shades that Jack loves to pull up and out of the doors
- automatic doors - yes!
- It doesn't feel like you're driving a tank - a plus for my driving style;)
- we don't have to strategically pack and leave items out for our next trip
- I can take my bike everywhere:)

Jack loves the car. He'll see it out the window of our house and say "car" and try to coax me to take him to it. Scott spent almost a half hour watching him the other night roam around the car. It's like a Jack-sized house.

So yes, we bought a minivan and I'm still standing. Smiling too.

A Hearty Reputation

Jack's beginning to develop a reputation for a lot of things such as his contagious smile, speed in getting around and comfort in using the word "no". However, he is also quite famous for his ability to consume large amounts of cheerios, Joes' O's, etc. Here are just a few quotes and stories from different aspects of Jack's life:

After picking up Jack from the nursery at church, all of these statements have been used:
"He can really pound those cheerios"
"He ate a lot of cheerios"
"Jack loves those cheerios"

Parental Instruction:
"One at a time Jack"
"Slow down"
"You need to finish swallowing the first handful before you can have more"

Social Interaction
At play dates, and library storytime, no matter what time of day it is, if another mom pulls out a snack for their child Jack is on the quest to take a share of the food. I find myself constantly holding him back from consuming other children's food. He puts on his big smile and then earnestly and rigorously signs "more".

The Ultimate Park

This past weekend we took a morning outing to Golden Gate Park. One of our destinations within the park was the Koret Children's Center. We didn't know it then but it was just reopened after remodeling a week ago. If any of you have a chance to visit I highly recommend it - even if you don't have any kids in tow. Scott and I had plenty of fun climbing the rope structure, sliding down the concrete slide and spinning on the crooked seat (on this I laughed hysterically).

For more info and pictures of the park go to the SF Gate article at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/15/BAG5ER0QD71.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Birthday Party Flashbacks

Scott's parents, John & Christy had their milestone 60th birthdays just a few weeks ago. Because there birthdays are only 4 days apart, we kids through them a joint party. After MANY ideas and discussions, and with the leadership of Sarah, one of Scott's sisters, we planned a party. In the end it wasn't very creative at all because we merely recreated birthday parties past. We decided it would be fun to have his parents play all the games they had their 5 kids play at their birthdays. Among the line up were Pin the Ear on Snoopy (Australian twist on the classic), Dropping clothespins in a small vase, Cottonball game (race involving spatulas and cottonballs), and a pinata (I think that was a new one).
After the party, I had a few thoughts. One: Watching family together playing games and reliving childhood memories is the neatest thing. The energy and laughter was contagious. It makes me excited to grow up. Two: When deciding whether to have a pinata or not, always have the pinata. We kids thought it wasn't going to be a hit because there are many non-candy loving members of the family. A pile of wild screaming Tyndalls fighting for candy proved that it's the competition, not the candy that motivates action.