Jack's First School Picture

Please let me know how many wallets, 8x10's, mugs or mouse pads you want. Better get 'em quick before the Marketing Director of the Sears catalogue buys the rights.

Jack in Action

Here's a couple recent videos of Jack playing. One of them involves Bones, and the other one ends with Jack pooping. Good stuff.

Video One
Video Two

Jack and Jen

Could it be???

Turns out that sweet boy above is a biter. That's right, I am THAT mom--the mom of the biter at daycare. The one I always felt sorry for and knew I'd never become. Have you seen that face? How could this be? Lately he's been biting me on the shoulder or the arm when I pick him up (but he hugs me first, so it must means he loves me). I've just been attributing it to teething (which, by the way, is what I attribute everything to...any sleepless nights, any fevers, any coughs, any crying, any strange poops...it's what new moms do), but when I picked him up from daycare the other day his teachers told me he went up to the same little boy three times and bit him. And it just so happened that each time the other little boy was playing with the toy Jack wanted. So that's good, right? That means he knows what he wants and does what he needs to do to get it. Most employers seek out those kind of people. That means he'll be successful. Plus, he's the youngest at the daycare, so he's just letting everyone else know that he will not be pushed around. Atta boy, Tiger. The fact that the day before this "incident" he bit a little girl and made her cry means nothing...he was probably just teething...And the other day when he was playing with Parker (the friend he's had his whole life) and she said "Ouch! He was trying to eat my foot," perhaps he really was hungry. Poor little fella.

In conclusion, I'm the mother of the biter. The bully. And he's only 10-months old. I just bought some biter biscuits for him; that must be the answer. And I'm off to drink a glass of whiskey.

Jack...Nicholson?

More Wisconsin Pics

Jack and I recently got back from his first trip to Wisconsin. Grammy had to take some medication the week prior to calm down her excitement a bit. Had a fantastic time. Beautiful weather, great walks, and a lot of relaxation. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was a little concerned about the flight, since Jack is now mobile, but he was a model passenger. Other than a bit of squirminess here and there, he sat on my lap, played, and slept some. We left our mark with about 15 cheerios on the seat and 20 more on the floor, but all in all a fine trip. The way back was going well up until we were about 90 miles outside of Austin. Jack was just getting into a back-arching-whine-get-me-off-this-plane monologue when the pilot announced that due to weather in Austin we would be re-routing to either Dallas or San Antonio. Visions of bottles and diapers that I did not have danced through my head. Luckily, about 5 minutes later the pilot announced that, just kidding, turns out we can land after all. Good one, buddy. Very funny. At least I learned that airplane travel does not always go as planned and an extra bottle and a few extra diapers might be smart items to have onboard. Now I understand why people used to tell me I was book-smart, not street-smart. Turns out there is a difference.

A select few from the 151 pics Grammy took during the 3-day trip to Wisconsin

Sleeping soundly, next to the scary doll that he loves

Grampa Herb, getting some much needed R&R

Red Hat

The top picture shows how Jack says hello when he walks into a room. The bottom picture shows why he's delicious.

(The hat, by the way, was one dollar. Did I mention the benefits of consignment shopping?)

Ballerina?

Here's Jack after he pulled himself up. Notice the tip-toes.

All This (Except the Kid) for $76

Once you go consignment you never go back. Little does Jack know that (unless it's from a grandparent) he will never again receive another brand new item. When you can get all that for 76 bucks without him knowing the difference, why would you do otherwise? I realize the point of shopping consignment is probably to save money, not to spend a lot of money just to get a lot. But I couldn't help myself. Another shirt for 2 dollars? Sure! An old-school telephone with a smily face for $3? Throw that in the bag too! Look at the picture, even Jack doesn't quite know what to do with himself. But I had to let everyone out there know that I'm not too proud to give my son your sloppy seconds. And if there's one thing I've learned so far as a mother, it's that the more stuff you buy your kid, the more he'll love you back.

And that's one to grow on.

Dark and Grainy, but Too Cute Not to Post

Middle of the Night Ramblings

Well, I see on the oven clock that it is currently 2:21 in the morning. I am sitting here at the computer with a kleenex sticking out of my right nostril feeling a bit woozy (compliments of the Benadryl I just took) and extremely sorry for myself. This has been a tough week. Midmorning Monday I felt a wave of warmth and weakness come over me during third period geometry and a couple hours later I was in bed and stayed there until basically Wednesday night. I did manage to fit in an unhelpful doctor's visit where she told me that I had a virus. Thanks. What brought me in was a toothache, which led me to my sinus infection self-diagnosis. Which brings me to where I am now. I CAN'T SLEEP DUE TO A THROBBING PAIN IN MY TEETH. And it's driving me nuts. I just googled "tooth pain at night", which brought up articles on sinusitus (which, again, is what I diagnosed myself with, only to have the doctor tell me that my sinuses didn't look all that bad). Anyway, I tried this numbing canker sore stuff on the top right part of my mouth and now I have a numb top right side. Except for the tooth pain, which was apparently immune to the numbing effect. So basically I probably have drool slowly trickling out the right side of my mouth without my knowledge, but luckily I have that Kleenex sticking out of my nostril to catch it. I'd post a picture if I had one. I realize I am rambling, but it is now 2:25 in the morning and I am on Benadryl, remember? And I suppose you're all thinking that this blog is supposed to be about Jack, Mr. "Oh, I'm so cute, I'm 10 months old and I can crawl and smile and laugh and everyone loves me", but Mama's in pain, on drugs, and needed a place to post this fascinating story for all the world to see. So here we are. (Was that a run-on, Kimmy?) I have to get up in a few hours because Jack and I are getting on an airplane and heading to Wisconsin to visit the folks. I'm very excited about the trip, not so excited about the plane ride (aforementioned sinuses, aforementioned tooth pain, and aforementioned 10-month old who wants to crawl everywhere). Does anyone feel sorry for me yet?

Now that I've gotten that off my chest and have stuck a fresh kleenex in my right nostril, I suppose I'll post some recent pictures. And don't worry, they are pictures of Jack, not his drama queen mama. Whose teeth still hurt, by the way, if anyone is interested.