Waiting, ho-hum

So I sit here and wait for #2 to arrive. No big news yet. Just a whole lot of pressure down there and a dance akin to the cha-cha going on in my belly. Jack announced last night he is ready for his sister. He has been raiding her room for old baby toys every chance he gets.

Hook 'em horns

Talent like this comes naturally in my family. 

yuck

Oh, hey internet. what's been happening with you? What's that? Am I aware I haven't posted in about a month? What's been going on you ask? Why, that would be phlegm. We have had lots of it over here. Starting with the typical cough and nose running from the Jackelope. But as you know, as child illnesses move to adults, they turn into the plague. Oh, and if the adult is a pregnant woman who can't dose herself up on all the fun meds like Nyquil, then the illness really goes crazy. Voice gone, nose clogged up, hacking, and not a good dose of theraflu in sight. So I resorted to the ever attractive sniffing and gargling of salt water. John said it sounded like an animal dying in the bathroom. That's love.

Circus Chimera

Last weekend we took Jack to Circus Chimera, a small one ring circus that seemed a good fit for an introduction to the world of crazy body contortions and freakishness that are under the big top. The first half went well and Jack was emboldened by the $10 scepter we bought him that lights up (and that only costs $.50 to make). We spent out intermission on the train ride outside and then went back in to the tent for the second half beginning with clowns coming out and playing brass horns during their funny act. In the middle of their act, one of the clowns comes to the front and begins playing Kenny G on his horn. Jack, previously happy and interested, suddenly gets his big lip indicating impending bawling and begins to cry. Nothing we could do would make him stop so we finally decided that half of the circus was enough and headed home.

Is anyone really surprised that Kenny G was the showstopper?

The holiday insanity

And so I realized the other day that the normal holiday insanity that comes along will be extra special holiday insanity this year. With a baby due either right before or after New Years (how did we ever end up with that date??) and Jack at his "I'm 2 and want to do it my way" stage, I'm spending some time now researching exactly what kind of steadfastness I can take in these final months.

Of course, we'll be staying in town for all of the holiday and grandparents have been most kind in making the trip to see us because of my condition (large and wobbly). We seem to just proceed day by day with the pregnancy since every day is a bit different from my moods to energy level. This week, Jack has kindly passe don his cold to me and so I sit here sniffling and sleep with my head raised and sniff salt water to clear everything out, which works for about 1 minute. Jack lets out the final coughs of this sickness but overall seems to be on the mend. Could this be "boot camp" training for the sleep deprivation that is to come?

Architect of the future

Jack has taken to building grand towers with his cardboard blocks. Check out some of the latest.

Blowing Past October

My, its been a busy few weeks. With Halloween activities and being 8 months pregnant, it seems like we always have just enough to do in the day before we collapse into bed. Oh, and did I mention in the past two months we have (1) built a new shed (by "we" I mean John) (2) painted the nursery (3) painted Jack's room (4) painted the TV room, (5) completely resurfaced the pool and (6) planted a vegetable garden

Anyone who thought John's "get it all done before the baby arrives" flurry hasn't kicked in has not been paying attention. Those of you close to us will recall John building an addition onto our house just before Jack arrived. Nothing like construction to make you get in the spirit of birthing.

I continue to be completely noncommital about almost everything, including fabric for the nursery curtains which my mother in law kindly keeps sending me samples,praying that one of them will finally hit a chord. And names? Don't even ask. I'm sure there is a new choice for the baby's name right around the corner that will come to me in a dream or something.

Ginger the dog has moved into hyper-protective anxiety mode. She can't decide whether to sleep next to Jack, pregnant mom, or under the bed to hide from it all. And since we are all sleeping in our bed, due to paint fumes, it makes things even more confusing. Ginger: "Are they going to pack up in the middle of the night and leave me? Maybe they're meeting to discuss whether to get rid of me. I better stay close."

And finally the small change into fall weather bringing slightly cooler temperatures has set off some inner maternal I-must-cook-comfort-food thing in me causing me to make loaves of zucchini bread dredged up from memories of my childhood and beef stew and gumbo. Meanwhile, 32 weeks of pregnancy has caused my pelvis to feel as if it will split apart at any moment.

Oh, was this supposed to be about Jack? Sorry. He's doing great. 

The Great Pumpkin rides again!

It's Pumpkin Patch time. Jack went to the patch this last weekend and had a full agenda purposely trying to avoid any pumpkins for the first 30 minutes so mommy could not take any photos. Then everywhere we went, there were annoying people getting into my background, But here are some of the outtakes. Jack rolling pumpkins into a hole in the hay:

Jack finally gicing me some kodak moments:












And Jack getting back to business picking up girls at the playscape! 

Halloween Fright

Jack has just acquired two terribly adorable halloween costumes...and has soundly rejected both of them. Refusing even to try them on. John and I forced him into one with him screaming the whole time. You would have thought we were squirting castor oil down his throat instead of trying to dress him like a dinosaur. Or a Knight. Another totally cool option. So what do we think...do the costumes just frighten him, or is it the fact that all costumes seem to involve wearing some kind of thing on your head, and Jack has always hated ANYTHING on his head. I'm leaving them hanging up in the playroom in hopes that they lose they ickiness during the next week. 

sigh

see what happens when I leave town?

Hard Day's Work

Jack helped his parents this weekend in redoing a fence around their vegetable garden. Down came the old deer netting and up went a beautiful post and wire fence to protect against all kinds of critters getting Jack's yummy veggies. Jack helped out by digging holes in the dirt and thoroughly testing the doors in and out of the garden (conclusion: they work). Finally he swept the patio area with his broom.
After a hard day's work, time to pack it in! 

Potty Training Boot Camp Day 7

And so the week has come to a close. We settled into our routine of doing daily laundry to clean Jack's new big boy underwear. I guess I would give the week mixed reviews. Jack definitely has settled into a routine of sitting on the potty pretty often. And he will happily sit there and read, play trains, draw, etc. Oh yeah, and every so often, once in a blue moon, he will actually pee. But not too much because we wouldn't want to make this thing too easy on mommy and daddy.

Our week was filled with emotion. We skirted a sudden diaper rash flare-up and managed to quash it before it got out of control. We learned the "Happy Birthday" song when one of our classmates had it sung to him in class-and Jack has decided that everyone needs to serenaded with happy birthday every few days. We pushed through our Thomas the Train obsession by following mommy's directions that "Thomas must sleep on the tracks in the playroom, not in Jack's bed", thereby avoiding the 2am panic wakeups he had been suffering looking for Thomas in the bed.

Quite a week for the Jackelope.

Potty Training Boot Camp -Day 3

I must admit, it is much easier to do boot camp when you are using a subcontractor (aka pre-school) to handle the daytime shift. By last night, John and I were catatonic in bed with the efforts of the weekend, still with no successful potty trip resulting from our efforts.

So armed with 10 pairs of underwear, 7 clean changes of shorts, and 3 clean changes of socks, I dropped Jack off this morning to a courageously upbeat Ms. Claudia who took charge. I picked him up at 4pm with a sack full of wet underwear, a sack full of wet shorts, and perhaps a missing pair of socks that got flushed down the toilet for all I know. Claudia said he continues to be enthusiastic about going to the potty, but does not want to pee when he gets there. "But keep on trying and he'll make the connection" she cheered to me as I exited, laundry and toddler in tow.

So tonight, we had potty time before we went to out for dinner. Then we braved the toilets at Lowe's while John returned some items. Jack kept repeating "I need potty" but really just wanted to experience the motion detector sink in the bathroom, which we did. We got home and sat down for some potty time and Jack pulled up his new little table we bought him for reading books on the potty. I settled in with a gardening catalog, expecting the usual 20 minutes with no results. As I checked out the new fall plantings, a stream of yellow gushed up over the table and onto my legs. Apparently, it flowed forth so strong that it completely jumped the pee deflector and shot up in the air.

After initial screams of "Help!" to John, we sang and cheered Jack for his accomplishment, and offered him a further bribe of 4 yogurt raisings, reinforcing there was an endless supply of these should he continue to find success on the pot. Jack celebrated by climbing in the bathtub and promptly peeing on the wall.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Potty Training Boot Camp-Day 1

All I can say is, John and I got our a**es kicked today. Always one step behind Jack. We had Jack in underwear and would take him to the potty about every 20 minutes. Inevitably, he would sit on the potty for 10 minutes , get off, put on his underwear, then promptly pee in his undies 5 minutes later. In one 20 minute interval, he went through three pairs of underwear. At one point he peed so strongly in his undies that he created a stream straight though the cloth and onto his cabinet doors on the side of the train table.

I began to wonder if we could make it through the day with the 12 pairs we have. John wisely did a load of wash at about 4 (I actually think we wound up with one clean set still in the drawer at bedtime- then again, we put him to bed 30 minutes early!)

He loved the fact that he got 2 yogurt raisins for every trip to the potty and even though I promised him barrels of yogurt raisins for a successful trip, we ended the day Jack 11-Potty 0.

As Scarlett O'Hara says "Tomorrow is another day." 

A brave new world

Tomorrow is the day. Jack will switch over to big boy underwear. And thus begins Wetfest 2006.

To start in style, I bought Jack 12 pairs of underwear- Thomas, Nemo, Elmo, they're all there. John and I gave him a big talk tonight when we showed him his underwear about how much of a big boy he is and how he needs to try not to wet in his new big boy skivies. He was awed when we showed him the selection and immediately announced he wanted to go to the potty. While on the potty, he decided he wanted to try on his undies...all of them...at the same time. So here he is on the pot and sportin' his new duds. 

A little OCD?

Oh, how Jack loves his trains. We must spell out T-H-O-M-A-S when we speak about him lest we rouse too much excitement in the little Jackelope when it is not playtime. Jack now has a routine in which he must bring three train cars with him to bed. He carefully tucks them under the sheets below his feet. And apparently thier presence is the vital panacea we have been searching for because he NO LONGER CRIES WHEN WE LEAVE THE ROOM AS LONG AS YOU-KNOW-WHO IS THERE.

However, be foewarned, there is hell to pay at 5am if Jack wakes up and can't find his mechanical friends because they have slipped too far down in the bed.

Taking the plunge

Jack spent this weekend in Dallas for his grandmother's 70th birthday. We had a big bash to celebrate. But we also celebrated his cousin's 7th birthday. Grayson had a great party complete with massive inflatable waterslide set up in the backyard. Jack was a bit nervous but took the plunge with Daddy and was then ready to try it on his own. Here he is, heading down the slide, a wee bit out of control.



On another note Jack arrived without swimsuit to wear so he borrowed one of his cousin Katy's swim diapers. I have to say, I don't think pink is Jack's best color but he seemed to wear it well and even develop a bit of a strut wearing his Dora swimwear around. Sassy! 

Jack wishes Dotti a Happy 70th

Jack spent the weekend in Dallas helping the family wish his Dotti a very happy 70th birthday. He hung out Friday, went and played at cousin Grayson's on Saturday morning partied with Dotti on Saturday night (and cousins Katy and Grayson) and swam and played all Sunday with Katy, Grayson, Dotti and Pawpaw. He arrived back in Austin a tad exhausted but with some lovely memories of the weekend.

Pictures to come as soon as anyone sends me some.

New horizons!

Jack got a new addition to his room this weekend. In an attempt to stop the temper tantrums as we change his diaper (my kingdom for successful potty training) on the changing table, John purchased and hung a new solar system mobile above his changing table to distract him. He has been amazed with it, although it has not stopped the tantrums. But he will perk up when he looks at it and mention "my planets".

Of course, we have a bigger problem now that Pluto has been stripped of its status as a planet but I figure we have a few years before Jack catches on to the inaccuracy..

The Magic Pillow

Jack has founda new source of power to give him bravery. While his Nana was here, she brought down an old pillow that she made for one of her boys. Jack paid it little attention until last night. I asked him to pick out his books in our usual bedtime routine and he went straight over to the pillow and took it to bed with him, clutching it close. He didn't even notice that his bunny, the usual companion of the night, was not present (poor ignored bunny, left discarded at the bottom of the bed). So we read three books and chatted a bit about people in our family. Then I kissed him goodnight and got out of the bed.

Now, at this point of the routine EVERY OTHER NIGHT OF HIS LIFE is when Jackelope begins to cry. He wails as I leave the room and comes to the door, knocking and pleading for Daddy to come and save him from his loneliness. But last night, I was only greeted by silence as I left the room. As I closed the door, I waited for the inevitable cry to come...but nothing.

That pillow is sticking around!

Returning to the blog

Have been out of the country for a bit so the blog has been stagnant. My apologies if there is anyone out there that has wondered. But we're back and, although still recovering, its time to pick up the old keyboard again.

Jack did wonderfully while we were abroad, staying with his Nana and having a blast. h, the joy of the internet in staying in touch. While a phone call would have cost us $5/min, we were able to log onto the internet from our hotel and get full updates from Nana on how Jack was doing and let her know about our trip. She even sent us pictures to tide us over through Jack-withdrawal. I swear, Jack grew about 3 inches and doubled his vocabulary under Nana's tutelage.

On another note, Jack started his new school today. We're happy to be out of the old one as we had seen so many problems with it as far as providing stimulating curriculum. And there just seemed to be no end in sight as far as the turnover of teachers in his classroom even thought we had a temporary respite during the summer with a teacher we love. So we had our first drop off today and they were singing their song to start circle time as I left.

Another milestone this week, Jack has moved into his big boy bed and has slept solid 3 nights in a row. He even naps in there now. Right now the mattress is just on the floor but we'll have the frame ready to set up within the next week or so. Crib has been taken apart and stored until such time that we should need it again (about 5 months).

To sign off, here is a picture of Jack and his Nana

Yeah Baby!

The trail of potty success continues to grow. Jack has now discovered the ultimate potty pose "The Pooping Buddha" which I have to admit has a good try:result ratio. And tonight's success led to the addition of the Pooh Bear (aptly named) sticker to his chart. 

Beating the heat!

Saturday, Jack and his friend Perrin had a playdate at the sprinkler water park close by. First time we have tried this place and it rocked. Really nice set up. Jack started a bit freaked out but it just turned out to be the need for some snacks before he went full tilt into playing in the water. Perrin jumped right in and splashed his way through all the sprinklers.
 

Life with a 2 year old

It's officially life with a 2 year old. I wouldn't exactly term it the terrible twos, how about the bipolar twos? Jack's got the mood swings going on. He's either in a great mood or yw=elling in disagreement, and they often switch within seconds. He's become more independent so he wants to call the shots. But not so independent that he doesn't want you hanging out with him when he plays or explores, or wants to know what you are doing.

And then there is potty training. I curse you potty. Jack loves you and hates you. Sometimes he'll sit for 20 minutes patiently waiting on the pot. Othertimes you are the enemy that shall not touch his bottom in any way. But then...the rare victory.. Yesterday, after a long wait involving volumes of books ( we were ready to move onto instruction manuals if we ran out of books) we had success- a poop and pee in one sitting. That meant 2 stickers for Jack on his chart and a family celebration.

And onto the next day.

Where have we been?

I know, no post in over 2 weeks. Everytime I think of it, there seems be someone or something calling my name. Jack had a wonderful time at the beach in Maine We have since recovered from that trip and I have been inundated with taking on new responsibilities for some work I am doing as well as preparing for our Russia trip which comes up in just 2 weeks. All that...and the heat of Texas in July is enough to get you.

I'll try to get inspired this week and add some more.

Let the training begin!

It has begun. The official start of potty training. John and I have been introdcuing the steps leading up to the toilet seat attachment and Jack has grown fond of climbing up. But today was the first day of committment. Of the endless questioning- "Do you have to go pee-pee?", "Do you need to go potty?" All met with interest but lack of affirmation. So we climbed up...and sat, and sat, and sat, and read books, and talked. No success today- but we did hang the official potty training chart complete with spots for icentive stickers should he ever decide to join the program. 

The Great Wall of Jackelope

Jack's playscape is coming!

Now, we've been saying this for about three weeks. But I really mean it this time. Because before, I meant it too but then John informed me that we needed site preparation. You see, we have no level area for the playscape to sit on. So John went into full civil engineering mode and designed the playscape area of his dreams and then went to work.

I, on the other hand, headed to Florida with Jack. Which was more brutal- flying with Jack on four flights with a combination of cough and diaper rash or building the playscape area?? Certainly a close call.

As most projects around here do, playscape-a-palooza slowly spiraled out of control as John realized the magnitude of the task. By the time he had the second truckload of mulch delivered, he was being worn down slowly. The mulch was kicking his ass. But he persevered on, and on, and on, and on.

And now, I present to you, the Great Wall of Jackelope. (Playscape to be added on Monday. )

On to the next big thing...

Jack and I are in transition. Jack is transitioning back into school from his trip to Florida. Of course, we're leaving in 1 week to go to Maine with our good friends the Grams and John's parents, so he'll be back in flux, but we're really looking forward to it.

And me? For those who don't know, I have left my job at the law firm. I'm currently vacationing my mind, but will soon begin helping out on some family stuff and John's business (if he ever decided that I am smart enough to figure out his complicated system). So, I'm trying to find my groove, I'm not really one to sit around and just watch TV. I'm working on a a.m. yoga routine to kick up my practice. I'm also getting the family ready for Maine (suddenly recalling that the climate there is a tad bit chillier at night).

Good news?- Jack's cough is almost gone and he has taken an interest in the new pottyseat we bought, taking on the challenge of climbing the steps to reach the seat on top of the real potty and hanging out for a bit. No ultimate success, but he totally digs shoving the toilt paper between his legs to watch it drop into the bowl.

Travelling Jackelope

Jack and I returned from a fun trip to Florida with my family. Poor Jack had a cough the whole time we were there but had a great time with cousins Katy and Grayson. In fact, he followed Grayson around all the time, even said his name while sleeping. But he and Katy were the ones on the same wavelength. They compared bellybuttons, talked in their own little language, played at the beach and building in the sand. They were plobably plotting world domination but were interrupted by nap time too much.


 

2/3 vacation

Well, Jack and I are on vacation with my family. John could not get away from work for this one so only 2/3 of us could attend. so I am braving it on my own and have already had some exhausting experiences as a single parent. Jack did fine on our first plane leg but some diaper rash and not enough sleep sent him into overload for the second leg and he let it al out. From takeoff to landing was a 25 minute flight and Jack took every possible moment to scream bloody murder and clench his body into a stiff-as-a-board imitation. Set him loose, he would scream louder. Hug him tight, scream even louder. My brother was sitting next to us luckily and as the plane landed and I was still clenching a screaming Jack, he looked over and saw the tears rolling down my face. There are some emotions that just hit too deep for a mom and watching your child in physical and emotional pain is one of them. My brother took charge, threw everything in Jack's bag, herded me, still crying, off the plane and to the rental car and got everyone in and going. Jack? An angel once we got to the car. And having a great time ever since.

We'll have the flights back on Sunday, for which I am heavily considering how Nyquil could affect a child. But I'll enjoy the time at the beach for now and worry about that as we get closer.

Crowns!

Friday was hat day at daycare. Jack is notoriously bad about wearing hats.

However, on this day, mommy was wearing a hat as well. He was intrigued. Why would mommy be wearing a hat, what did it mean? Maybe I shoudl put one on as well. Jack chose mommy's red gardening hat for his ensemble and off we headed to daycare. Jack boldly strode in (OK, he was carried in) wearing his red hat and mommy's sunglasses. And it lasted just long enough to snap a picture. The spell was broken, glasses and hat came off and hat day was over as far as he was concerned.

Cleaning out Memories

Here I am in my office cleaning all the pictures I have had on my computer of Jack. Of course, my colleagues here have known him since he was kicking me in the ribs from the inside. And they have watched him grow through many of these pictures and random visits to the office.
So, I give you the walk down memory lane... (commence humming whatever soundtrack sounds appropriate to you)