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