Tuesday, July 29, 2008

a few new things

Vintage Jack... one year ago. These pictures make me want to cry! Where did my baby go?

Before I head to bed, I wanted to write down and remember some of the cute things Jack has been doing and saying lately. I'm not sure where he picked this up, but I'm guessing that he may remember it from the baseball games or from the festival we attended last week, but he loves to say "charge!" in the most adorable, high-pitched toddler voice ever. We will now say "da da da da da da" or whatever you say beforehand and Jack raises his fist, smiles, and says "charge." The way he says it is also hilarious, because it really doesn't sound exactly like charge, but it's close enough to understand what he's saying. It's too funny!


He has also been getting into "The Ants go Marching" song and loves to pound his fists in the air and say "rah rah!" Whenever we sing the song, he's on the edge of his seat, waiting for his moment to shine. Love it!


Finally, our awesome babysitter, Becky (originally, Kathy's roommate and best friend), gave Jack an interactive Leap Frog drum. He has so much fun with it and he loves to put it on the setting where there is a voice that instructs you to clap your hands, play the drum, and sing out loud "la la la" and Jack loves to sing "la la la." I've also noticed in the car or when we're listening to silly music that he tries to imitate what's being sung. He keeps us so entertained! Jeff and I are so blessed by our little boy.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

chicago - my kind of town!










Ok, so I haven't blogged religiously, like I said I would. However, we were in Chicago for four out of the last 8 days, so that's my semi-excuse.

We had such a terrific trip! I'm so glad that we decided to bring Jack, too. Of course, Jeff and I are looking forward to the day when we can go back, just the two of us, but it was just so much fun having Jack with us! We arrived early Friday afternoon ate lunch at Pompei, one of my all time favorite pizza places in the city. It's located in Lakeview, pretty close to where I used to live, and I would walk there all the time. I would go there by myself, I would meet up with friends (Kirsten, on a bi-weekly schedule!), Jeff and I would eat there frequently, and I would always take our visitors there. That's how much I love this place. The restaurant just creates such a relaxing and laid-back atmosphere, the food is good, and the prices are right. You can't beat it! Jack thought it was fantastic, too. He ate an entire slice of pizza whole (not cut up into small pieces). He's becoming such a big boy!

After lunch, Jeff thought that it would be neat to check out the pro-volleyball tournament happening at the lake. We decided to make the trek via our feet, so we walked down to Oak Street Beach (well, strollered Jack). We thought that he would, surely, nap on the way down. However, he had other ideas, because he was too intrigued by all the busyness happening around him. We walked down the lake shore path, along the lake, while dogs, runners, bladers, and bikers zipped past us. Jack's head was, practically, spinning! When we finally arrived at our destination, we were able to watch some volleyball, but we were not interested in paying a $40 admission fee to watch up-close, so we decided to hit the beach instead. That was a great decision. Jack had never been to a beach and, in the eight years that Jeff lived in Chicago, he had only been in the lake once. So, this was a big treat for everyone! Of course, we weren't prepared for a beach day and had no swim suits or towels, but we winged it, and it was fine. At first, Jack was hesitant to go into the water and clung to me for dear life. However, he loosened up after a few minutes and started to splash in the waves and run along the shore, digging his feet in the sand. We had a blast! He is such a little ball of energy, so he became real excited to be at the beach and just wanted to run and run and go to the water for a bit, then continue running and running. After playing at the beach for a while, we decided it was time to make the long hike back to our car, which was parked near Pompei. Finally, on this walk, Jack did take a good stroller snooze. In fact, he napped long enough for Jeff and I to stop for ice cream on the way back.

We arrived back near Pompie, at a park, around 6 and waited to meet up with Mike. Mike and Laura are two of our best friends and we stayed at their new townhouse for the weekend. Mike is also Jack's godfather. Unfortunately, Laura was out of town for work, so we weren't able to see her at all! However, spending time with Mike was awesome. He was so great with Jack and Jack warmed up to Mike very quickly and couldn't get enough of him. Since Jeff and I love Chicago pizza so much, we suggested pizza again for dinner, and Mike was totally up for it. Another one of our all-time favorite spots is Pequod's, so that's what we decided to get. And, as usual, it didn't disappoint!

The next morning, I went for a nice run around Mike and Laura's new neighborhood (they live on Wolcott, near Diversey - a bit west and south of where Jeff and I used to live). It was a great run and it was awesome to run in the city again. The run seems to go by so much quicker and it's just more interesting, because you're passing by tons of people and lots of cool shops, restaurants, buildings, etc. Then we decided to head to a great NYC bagel shop. I used to stop there a lot before work, because I could make it be "on the way" to work. They're the best bagels in Chicago, I think! Even Jeff, who is not a bagel lover, thought it was super! The employees are so much fun and they even gave Jack a free bagel, while we waited in line. Talk about good customer service. After our breakfast, we headed over to a park to play some "bat-ball," as Jack calls baseball. Mike has this home-run derby bat and a wiffle ball, so we were all set. Even though, the bat is just about as big as Jack, that did not stop Jack from playing. He was all about it. He wanted to bat, he wanted to throw, and he wanted to catch. This was probably the high-light of Jack's weekend!

The main reason we chose this weekend to come up to Chicago was because we were invited to Kirsten's wedding, which was in Milwaukee. We decided that I would go alone and that Jeff and Mike would stay with Jack. It worked out great, because they had an awesome guy's night and I had a fabulous time at the beautiful wedding! Kirsten is one of my best friend's from CHASI, my former Chicago employer. She and I both commiserated about our job, our lack of pay, and the difficulties and challenges of working in child welfare. WHile we loved our boss and other co-workers and we adored the kids we worked for, the demands of DCFS were unbelievable! Anyhow, Kirsten I would often get together for dinner after work (at Pompei.... I think we ventured to Chipotle once) and while we would still talk about work stuff, occasionally, we just developed a really caring and genuine friendship! I eventually switched positions within CHASI, Kirsten eventually left the organization altogether, and then we both ended up working for Children's Memorial Hospital (she became full-time and I worked the weekends). Through the years we definitely saw each other and stood by each other through some really amazing and some really disappointing times. She is one of my most treasured friends! Tammy, another former CHASI worker, and her husband, Chris, were also at the wedding. Tammy and Chris married shortly after we all started working at CHASI (we all began within one year of each other) and they moved to Southern Illinois for Chris's job. They also had a beautiful baby boy, Max, a year later! Before Tammy moved, Kirsten and I spent a lot of time with her and got together with her for dinner, too. She's an awesome woman and just a little bit older than Kirsten and I, but she seems wise beyond her years, so Kirsten and I tended to look up to her! Even though Tammy moved away, Kirsten and I remained in touch with her. I had not seen either of them since right before we moved to Cincinnati. Actually, the day before we moved, Kirsten and I drove out to Aurora ( where Chris, Tammy, and Max had been relocated to in the spring of 2006) to visit the family and to say our goodbyes. So, having this reunion was terrific! Although we couldn't talk with Kirsten as much as we would have liked (understandably), Tammy and I were able to catch up SO much. Loved it! Kirsten's wedding seemed like a dream come true for her and everything was beautiful.

I didn't get home from the wedding until midnight or so, because I left the wedding kind of late and traffic was horrendous. During my drive, both to and from Milwaukee, I was very thankful that I did not have to deal with Chicago traffic anymore. It's BAD! Although, there were few times that I actually left the city when I lived there.

On Sunday, Jeff had plans to meet up with his MI crew, because they were having auditions for the tour company. We decided to grab lunch at Potbelly's with Mike before heading up to the auditions. Jeff really wanted the guys to meet Jack. Well, we had a hefty walk and Jack ended up falling asleep in his stroller. However, they were able to "ooh" and "aah" over his sleeping cuteness. While Jeff was doing MI stuff, Mike had errands to do, so it was just me and the Jack man. We tried to get in touch with my cousin, Matt, who attends Loyola and is living in Chicago for the summer, but we weren't able to connect with hm. So, I just decided that I would walk toward downtown and see where my feet led me. The auditions were near Wrigley Field, so I just headed down Broadway and then walked over to Lincoln Park, near the zoo. Jack woke up from his stroller nap and I thought that taking him to the zoo would be a fun activity. The Lincoln park zoo is pretty great, because it's right in the city and it's free! We just checked out the farm area, but it was cool enough. Lots of cows, pigs, goats, donkeys, tractors, corn rows, other livestock, and some interactive farm...stuff. Jack had a blast running around and exploring the various barns. Then, we decided to head downtown. My first thought was to walk, but then I decided that Jack may not tolerate the stroller for such a long trip and if we chose not to walk, we would get there much faster and have more time to enjoy downtown. So, we ventured onto a bus. This is one tough feat for a pregnant mom! I had the bag on my shoulder, Jack on my hip, the stroller clutched under my other arm, and my wallet in my hand. Thankfully, the bus driver and the other passengers were really nice to me. The bus driver, thoroughly, embarrassed me, when she, loudly, announced that someone needed to give up their seat to a "Mom with a little one and another one on the way!" The passengers, packed in the sardine-like bus, happily obliged the request, though. Since we were packed in so tight and because I was struggling to keep the stroller from uncollapsing (for some reason, it easily collapses, but it doesn't stay that way unless you're holding it!), we decided to get off at one of the very first Michigan Ave. stops. I'm not sure if it's my perception now or if it's how it has always been, but Michigan Avenue seemed extremely crowded on this day! I planned to walk down to Millennium Park and the bean and that's what we did, but along the way, we stopped at the bridge that crosses over the river. Jack ran right up to the pillars and tried poking his head through to get a better glimpse of the boats and the water. While we were there, some street performers started their bucket drumming routine. From the moment they began until they stopped, Jack was loving every second. He was so in the groove and was a dancing machine. In fact, people actually started giving Jack money to put in the donation bucket. I think he stirred just as much enthusiasm as the actual street performers. The funniest thing is that, even though, he knew people were around, he did not care. He wasn't dancing for attention; he was dancing because the music got to him and he couldn't help himself! Seeing his delight in this situation was the highlight of my day. When we arrived at Millennium Park, we had fun running around the bean and Jack enjoyed splashing along the water fountain wall. He had so much fun that he cried when it was time to leave. He is usually pretty content to end activities like this. By this time, we were feeling hungry for a snack and I was craving some chocolate. From there, we began our quest! We walked west on Monroe towards State Street and walked up State Street, where we stumbled upon Macy's (former Marshal Field's on State Street). Marshal Field's is known for their Frango mints and I knew that would satisfy my chocolate fix. We (well, I) decided on a caramel and chocolate cookie and we also split a milk from Starbuck's. We had the classic milk and cookies, but in such chic style!

After our sweet treats break, we continued walking up State Street and then crossed over to Michigan Avenue at Superior, where we ran around the water tower and fountain. Finally, we headed over to the Hancock Tower, where Jack enjoyed dancing by the water falls! After our downtown adventures, we took the express bus up to Belmont. Our ride uptown was a little less chaotic and much less crowded than our trip downtown. We we were offered seats that were facing inland and I held Jack so that he was facing me and could look at the lake through the window. He cuddled and rested his head on my shoulder and just admired the beauty. When we arrived at our stop, he seemed sad and said/signed "more." I think that's one of the cutest things he does! Jeff and some of his MI friends happened to be in the exact same location as us, so we met up with Jeff for a pizza dinner at Philly's Best, Jeff's favorite New York style pizza in Chicago. Philly's is located on Belmont Avenue (right next door to our reception site), so as we walked there, we passed by our former parish and the Church where we were married! It brought back many wonderful memories for us. After dinner, we walked back to Mike and Laura's house. Jack fell asleep during the walk and Jeff and I both, parochially, collapsed when we arrived "home," too. It had been a long, but delightful day of Chicago fun!

On Monday, Mike left pretty early for work ( Jack and I had actually been up since about 6:00/6:30, so 7:30 did not seem too early to us). He was such a gracious host and made us feel right at home the entire weekend! As I already mentioned, Jack adored him and had so much fun playing with him. He also gave Mike big hugs and little smooches on the cheek all weekend. We are really looking forward to having Mike and Laura visit us this fall!
I went for another quick city run and then we took off! We planned on stopping in Lincoln Park to do some shopping and eat lunch, but Jack crashed in the car by the time we turned our first corner. Jeff and I decided to grab sandwiches at Jimmy John's and be on our way. When Jack woke up, we stopped for him to eat lunch at... Dairy Queen! I have never eaten anything there besides their ice cream, but they seemed to have an ok kid's selection (nothing worse than most fast food options). He had grilled cheese, apple sauce, and milk. The most amusing part of the lunch was that we sat at a booth, with Jack on one side and Jeff and I on the other side. He was such a big boy and did very well! Traveling was a little rough, and Jeff and I are realizing that we need to have more car-friendly activities for Jack. He slept for a couple of hours, but the trip takes about 5-6 hours. That's a long time for a toddler to happily travel! A portable DVD player may be a future purchase. We're also thinking of taking along a magna-doodle or an etch-a-sketch. In one of the gas stations along the way we also saw this magnetic puzzle, designed for traveling. That looked like a pretty good idea, but it cost $10 and seemed a little expensive. I'll do some research before our next big trip!

This trip will probably go down in history as one of our easiest and most economical trips to Chicago. For one, Jack is still very tolerable of the stroller and can ride in it for long periods of time. At the same time, though, he enjoys walking and running around, too. So, we were able to have a good balance of containing him when we needed to and letting him cut loose when it was appropriate for him to do so! Also, he just has so much fun wherever we are and he's too young to have a "gimme" this/"gimme" that attitude yet. Sure, we have meltdowns here and there, but they're usually short-lived and he's normally redirected pretty quickly.



Unless we head up to New England this fall, our next big trip will probably involve the four of us. It's pretty amazing to imagine having a family of four! We're really excited and a bit anxious about the journey that lies ahead of us!

I am realizing that I give so many back-stories in most of my blog entries and there are very few people who read this blog or who know about it. Anyway, hopefully, it is helpful for those three or four of you! Blogging is really my own way of journaling important, funny, memorable, or just daily (or weekly or monthly) happenings, but I'm also happy to share it with people that are interested.

DANCIN' IN THE STREETS OF CHICAGO! Even though this video is pretty fun, it doesn't give a full image of just how hilarious this scene was.

Sunday, July 6, 2008

red's game




I really wish that I was more diligent in updating this blog, because whenever I do get around to it, there are tons of other things that I could add, but I usually just write about one particular event or day... maybe my new goal, just for my own sake (since there are very few people who even know that this exists), will be to write something every day or, at least, every other day!

So, today Jack and I met up with my family (mom, dad, Kathy, Eric, Aunt Marilyn, Uncle Bernard, and cousins Joe, Bill, Anne, and cousin-in-law, Leon) at the Red's game. For a number of reasons, our adventures could have been disastrous. First of all, Jeff had to work. It's always sad and unfortunate when he has to miss out on fun stuff like this! His absence could have caused the day to be more difficult, because it meant that I would not have the help of my husband and parenting partner :-) Second, the game began at 1:15. Usually, Jack is down for his 2-3 hour nap around 12:30. Third, we were going to a sunny, mid-day, July baseball game, where you don't do much besides sit in the blazing sun and watch 9 innings of a sport that can, potentially, be boring, especially for a toddler. Fourth, we had plans to eat dinner at the Hofbrauhaus, a German restaurant, making it a very long day for Jack.

Well, Jack went against the odds today and did fantastic! He snoozed in the car ride down to the game for about 30 minutes and did not get cranky once during the day. My family was wonderful with helping out with Jack and, although I didn't get to relax much or chat with my relatives as much as I would have liked, I really enjoyed spending time with everyone! During the game, Jack was such a trooper! He happily sat on someone's lap and clapped when the crowd was clapping, danced when the music was playing, and I let him run around a bit near the concession stands when it was not too busy. Jack also enjoyed the restaurant. He loved listening and dancing to the band playing, he ate all of his pizza, (great cuisine for a German restaurant, although I have NO room to talk, because I ordered chicken fingers off of his kid's menu!), and was, for the most part, such a happy boy! I have to say, he shocked me! Not that I don't have faith in little J, but I was anticipating several meltdowns throughout the day and I really did not expect to make it to dinner. I thought that we would probably have to bail out after the game. Thank you, Jack, for having a remarkable day!!

The main reason we all decided to get together today was because Joe, who is currently living in New York City, is home for the week, and we all wanted to celebrate his homecoming! Ever since my cousins and Kathy and I have all become adults, the time we spend together is mainly during holidays (and not even every holiday), so our time together is really precious! As I mentioned, it can be difficult to just relax when I have Jack with me, because he has such demanding, toddler needs that can't really be ignored. I do think and hope, however, that as he grows and becomes more independent, it will be easier to spread my attention to others.

Overall, a very fun day. I just missed having Jeff there!

Before I started writing this, a neat thing happened. I was in the basement resting and I heard Jack crying (it was about 9:00). As I thought he probably would, Jack fell asleep in the car ride home (it was about 7:30), so I decided that since he had not napped today, 7:30 would be a fine bedtime for him tonight (he usually goes to bed between 8-9). His diaper was changed just before we left the restaurant and his clothes were comfy enough to sleep in. Definitely not the most desirable situation, but a workable one. Anyhow, I heard him crying, so I went into his room and he's sitting in his crib, signing "milk, milk." I picked him up, gave him a big hug, told him that I would get him some milk, and asked him to sit back in his crib, to which he replied, "yeah." "Yeah" is his sweetest word these days. Whenever we ask him a yes or no question, everything is "yeah" and the way he says it just about melts our hearts. It's very cute! Anyhow, I came back to his room and since I did not want him to fall asleep drinking milk, I decided to let him drink his milk as I rocked him and sang to him, as I used to do when I was nursing him. These days, after we do our book and prayer routine, I just put him in his bed, usually rub his back and sing a short song to him, and he falls asleep on his own. I rarely rock him anymore, so this was certainly a sweet moment for us! But the most amazing part of it all was that I felt like I was rocking and singing to both of my babies, because as soon as we started rocking, little Alli (I don't think I've mentioned this in my blog yet, but we found out last week that we're having a girl!) began really moving and kicking around. It was really incredible to me! After Jack finished his milk, he did drift back to sleep in my arms, and I think he'll sleep peacefully through the rest of the night. Although if he does wake up again, I'll probably opt to change him into real p.j's and change his diaper again. I just didn't want to do that this time, because I didn't want to risk a situation where he's wide awake and then has a difficult time falling back asleep. I don't think we run such a risk later at night.... I may find out, though! I just love my little boy so much.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

family vacation 2008






We took our first official family vacation this week! We've done some fun family traveling in the past, but we've always had some sort of agenda.... weddings, family visiting, MI stuff, etc... Since we are on a bit more of a budget this summer, with the baby on the way, we decided to travel, somewhat, locally. We had heard good things about The Wilds, a wildlife conservation center, whose mission is: "To advance conservation through science, education and personal experience." It's such a neat place! We were able to take a "safari" bus tour and it was pretty incredible for us. The tour lasted about three hours and Jack did really well with it! I think it helped that there were several stops, along the way, where we could get out and walk (or run, as Jack preferred) around. The animals that we saw were breathtaking and it was amazing to be so close to them and just to see them in such a natural environment. Giraffes, horses, deer, and zebras were just wandering the wide, open fields and the gravel and dirt paths that we drove along. It was really beautiful and we hope to return someday after the baby is here!

After our safari exploration, we headed to Columbus for more of a city experience! I hadn't been to Columbus in a long time and, unfortunately, the hotel I chose for us was not in the most lively part of the city. However, the city is small enough, that we could drive to most of our destinations in less than 10 minutes. We hit up The North Market, which is a neat old-world market, filled with all kind of cafes, selling gourmet and ethnic goods. Then, we decided to walk across the street to The Convention Center, which advertised "great shopping." Yeah, not so much. The only thing that was happening in the Center was a national quilting conference. However, the attendees seemed quite pleased with their convention. Since there wasn't much for us to do there, we headed over to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner.

Dinner was quick and tasty. Jack impressed us with his eating abilities! We ordered him pizza, apple sauce, and milk. He ate half of everything on his plate. Not bad! Ice cream was also part of his kid's meal, but he wanted nothing to do with it. I think it's just too cold for his taste.

After dinner, we wanted to stop at a grocery store to buy a few snacks. The grocery store was right outside of the city, in the most charming little neighborhood. Jeff and I were saying that if we ever had to move to Columbus, we'd like to live there. However, we'd also have to be millionaires. There was this awesome park right in the center of the town and it had a great playground and nice walking trails. Jack had a blast climbing, sliding, and running! We did have a little accident as we were leaving, though. Jeff was carrying Jack and missed his footing as he stepped off the playground onto the grass (there was a little step that he didn't see) and he went crashing to the ground.... tumbling, rolling, and holding on the Jack the whole time. Luckily, no one was hurt, and Jack even started laughing after the fall ended. The fall that seemed to take an eternity! Poor guys.

The toughest part of that day was getting Jack to sleep, and really it wasn't too tough, so that's saying a lot about our day. If we would have had separate rooms, it probably would not have been a problem. However, since Jack's pack'n'play was right next to our bed, he was having a hard time falling asleep with us right beside him. We tried to keep his routine as normal as possible, which helped, but he just kept smiling and looking so excited to be having bedtime with Mommy and Daddy. Finally, Jeff decided to put him into the "rocking chair" hold and just rocked him and he was out in a few minutes. What a sweet boy!

The next morning we woke up to a happy toddler and ate breakfast in our hotel. Our plan was to head to COSI (Center of Science and Industry) for a few hours, but since it was still early, we decided to head back to our favorite park. Lots of fun and no more spills, thankfully! Then, it was on to COSI. We have a Cincinnati Museum Center membership and we have reciprocal free admissions to tons of other museums, and COSI is one of them. What a bonus! They have a real cute kid's zone, which kept Jack entertained for a long time. His favorite things to play with in the whole area were the balls. They had about a million soft balls for tossing and rolling and Jack liked these activities, but he preferred to just walk around, holding onto three or four of them. The water area was also really nice and Jack quickly got the idea of scooping and pouring the water. I also liked that they provide rain coats. At Cincinnati's museum, they have smocks and Jack does not like to wear them. He had no problem wearing the rain coat, complete with a hood! COSI also has a neat outdoor play area. Again, Jack was attracted to the balls. "Bawl, bawl, bawl" was a constant phrase we heard that day. Really, we hear it everyday, but it was a bit more frequent on this occasion. They had this huge vacuum jet that sucks in the balls and then shoots them out into the air. It was so fun and Jack loved it! We spent a few hours there and then decided that it was time to grab some lunch and head home so that Jack could get some sleep. We tried to plan our traveling around his sleeping, since he is usually a good car sleeper (when tired) and not always a happy traveler. One of Kathy's best friends lives in Columbus and we met up with her for lunch at Tommy's diner, a typical old-fashioned diner. Jack was such a big boy, sitting in a booth, beside Jeff, and eating his grilled cheese whole (a first for him!). We loved getting the chance to catch up with Angela, too.

Overall, this vacation was wonderful! We just wish we could have had more days added to it! It went by way too fast. Jack was so cooperative and good-natured almost the entire time and we all just laughed so much during the trip and created tons of happy memories. We're looking forward to more fun-filled trips over the years.

This video is added because we thought it was adorable. Part of our bedtime routine is saying our prayers with this little bear. We decided to leave for our 3-hour long trip around 6pm, stop for dinner, and then continue to drive for another two hours, hoping that Jack would fall asleep in the car. Well, he did fall asleep, but first he had to talk with and kiss prayer bear.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008


Easter egg hunt smooches from Rudy

being silly a day at the park "ridin' along in my automobile"

April is finally turning out to be a beautiful spring month and we've been LOVING it over here! This winter felt so long and depressing to me and I'm very happy to see it fading away - bring on the heat!

Last week, the temperatures were in the 60's and 70's and Jack and I spent every day outside, going for walks and taking trips to different parks. It's so fun now that Jack is walking now and that he still finds everything neat and interesting. He loves to play and explore! Although this time is awesome, I have days where I just long for the way things were last year, at this time. Jack was a little over 6 months old and still such a baby baby. We would go for lots of long walks and many times, he'd doze off in his stroller, looking as peaceful and as sweet as ever! I just have so many precious memories of moments like those. However, I have to admit that there are many things about the toddler stage that I am enjoying much more than the baby stage... particularly, Jack's sleeping! He has become the best sleeper for us over the past several months. Some days, I think I need to be more grateful and appreciative, because we endured a rough 15 months of sleeping woes! I was telling Jeff last night that, even though it was pretty hard, I'm glad that we just waited for him to be ready to sleep through the night, rather than trying to implement all kinds of sleep training stuff. It's definitely easy to say that now, as he's sleeping great these days! Because I am usually the one who puts him down for naps and for bedtime, he is most used to me, so it's still a little tricky for him to go to sleep for others, but once he's asleep, he stays asleep. I love our little sleep routine and lately, he's started pointing to his crib after we finish reading books and saying our prayers (before I sing our songs...). But it's really sweet, because I lay him down and will usually sing "Our Father," as I rub his back, and then I say "good night, love you, God bless you" and we blow each other kisses as I walk out of the room, and then he nestles down with his little animals and falls asleep. It's wonderful!!

March 20 marked the last day of nursing for us. He was a little over 18 months. We were really only nursing before bedtime and sometimes we wouldn't even nurse every day, but it was just part of our routine, whenever I put him to bed. I did not plan to stop at 18 months and he was not showing any signs of being ready to quit, either. However, I was about 7 -8 weeks pregnant at the time, and nausea had set in big-time, and every time that he nursed, I felt so sick and uncomfortable. For the next couple of nights, Jack would lightly tap at my shirt, and I would just tell him that we were going to rock and sing songs for a little bit and he seemed ok with that. I am glad that we had a peaceful weaning situation and I'm so thankful that we had that nursing relationship for as long as we did. I'm glad that I was able to nurse pretty easily and I think that it really did give Jack a good and healthy start!

So, yes, I am pregnant and we're expecting this new little baby in November!!! My due date is November 1. I am almost 12 weeks along and starting to feel much better than several weeks ago. We're really excited to have another baby and for Jack to be a big brother. Of course, we're also pretty anxious about how another baby will change our family dynamics, as well as lots of other things. But, we think that it will be such a blessing to have another baby! I've been very emotional this pregnancy. Really, I've been overly emotional since I gave birth to Jack, but my tears have definitely multiplied over the past several months. I cry at certain songs, I cry thinking about different milestones that Jack has reached, and I cry when I imagine what life will be like with a new baby. I also find myself having a lot of nostalgia lately, about living in New York and Chicago, and about my time with Jeff, when it was just the two of us. I feel kind of bad and guilty to admit this (and this was something that I struggled with so much before Jack was born), but there are still days when I desperately miss those days! I would not trade my life right now for ANYTHING, but I do wish that I could have bottled up some of those days and I wish that I could relive them, just every once and a while!

Jack is napping right now and I think I'm going to go out on the deck and do some reading before he wakes up. After he wakes up, I'm sure we'll have lots of outdoor adventures. His favorite thing these days is a little tikes car my mom found for him. It has a removable floorboard (and we're currently using the floorboard) and one of those long handles, so that I can push him, b/c he doesn't quite get pedaling yet. The car has a steering wheel and a horn and he is happy to sit in there and ride around for long walks in the neighborhood. It's too cute! We'll probably take a walk to the duck pond, play on the playground, and then walk home, in time to greet Jeff as he gets home from work. Sounds good to me!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

my friend, Jack!

loving his blocks reading books
sitting in the basket, with "nosy barker"
helping Daddy blow out his birthday candles
our day at the Krohn Conservatory
So, Jack has become our little friend! It's so fun to go placed with him these days. Months ago, we would wince at the thought of having to take him to the store for a quick trip, because he was just so unpredictable. He was unable to walk, but did not want to stay in our arms; he would become fussy, irritated, and frustrated easily, because of the communication barrier! His verbal skills are slowly coming along, but we can definitely understand him more clearly and he is able to get a message across pretty well nowadays. It is so fun to watch him pick up new words every day, even if they're not the most comprehensible words! He has also mastered a lot of signs, which has eased lots of frustration for him. Also, whenever he starts fussing for something, we ask him to stop and ask us for whatever he wants, and he will sign it to us. It's awesome. Today, Jack and I were busy bees. I took him to Recreation Outlets, which is an indoor play area, composed of outdoor play equipment, such as swings, slides, cars, etc.. Jack absolutely LOVES it and I enjoy taking him there. They have free play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9-11am. Afterwards, we headed over to Mariemont Square for lunch (the center is just down the street) at Mio's. It was so cute! Jack and I had a little lunch date. He was so cooperative, friendly, and happy during our lunch. Whenever the server checked on us, Jack responded to her, either in his own funny language or in sign language. He fell asleep in the car ride home and then slept for another hour or so in his crib. After he woke up from his nap, we headed out to do some mall walking and playing, followed by a library trip. Jack loves the library. He is so funny when we get there. He can navigate his way around and knows exactly where the child area is. He is becoming so adept at putting puzzles together, stacking blocks, and figuring out shape sorters. It is really so neat to watch his development! When Jeff came home from work, we ate dinner, and then Jack did some jammin' with a dance cd. He is such a dancer! He loves to clap and bounce. He has also started doing some spinning and twisting, and he's been attempting lots of jumps. Also, whenever any type of music comes on (including my pager from work), he gets a little spring in his step. It's too cute!


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

little milestones


feeding himself; lookin' good; signing "more"


snuggles ....more snuggles

So, Jack has just been growing by leaps and bounds! He had his 15 months check-up last month (he was really over 16 months, but we just weren't able to schedule it until then) and weighed 23 pounds. Jack has weighed between 19-20 pounds for about 7 months now and it's amazing how those 3 extra pounds can feel like a TON!

Some of his newest tricks are just too cute to us. He seems to understand so much, he follows directions and he's usually just so cooperative and agreeable. Of course, we have some tantrums and general toddler issues, but overall, it's awesome! He loves to give high fives and "the bump" with his fist. He can feed himself with a spoon. He loves to give big hugs (with an occasional pat on the back) and kisses. He is really such an affectionate little one. His hugs melt your heart. He gives them out so freely and so often! When he wakes up for the morning or after his nap, he is particularly cuddly, and will want to snuggle for a while. I love it! Sleeping has gotten much better over the past several weeks, too. In addition to better sleeping, putting him to bed has also been much easier. He loves his bedtime/naptime routine and he drifts off to sleep so peacefully these days.

He has started walking up and down stairs, too, and he looks like such a big boy. I can't believe that he is doing this. Of course, he has to hold my hand and the railing, but it's still such a big step... no pun intended! As always, he still gets his "jam" on whenever music is playing. We may be delusional, but Jeff and I totally think that he has good rhythm and that he can clap and bounce to the beat. He also shows preference to certain songs. He loves to clap and is desperately trying to snap his little fingers.

Jack also seems to have a comedian's sense of humor (thanks, Jeff) and he will, frequently, do tricks that he knows will get a laugh. Bath-time is a favorite in our house. Jeff will ask Jack if he's ready for a bath and before Jeff can finish the question, Jack is off and running toward the tub. He taps his foot and bounces with excitement and anticipation, while waiting to get into the tub. He has also started doing a few signs here and there and it has been pretty neat to see how signing has helped cut down his frustration when he realizes that he can communicate his wants and needs to us. Right now, he has a small vocubalary of words that we can actually understand, but he tries to repeat lots of words that we say. He also loves to imitate things we do. This has really been a "dazzling" and fun stage!

Tomorrow if Jeff's birthday -woo hoo! We had an early birthday celebration dinner yesterday. It was just the two of us and it was so much fun. At the beginning of next month, we're taking a one-night trip to Louisville, while Jack stays with my parents. We just wanted to have a little getaway to ourselves. Before Jack was born, we always took a weekend trip between our birthdays (his February, mine March) and it was such a nice treat! Of course, we went a little more extravagant than Louisville, but I'm sure we'll have a blast just being together. We got a great deal on an exquisite hotel (thank you, Priceline!), so that will be fun.