Mr. Independent

we have noticed the past few days that he is becoming more and more independent. here are a few examples we have observed:
-at breakfast yesterday he saw one of his yogurt cups on the table. He went over to the silverware drawer to get himself a spoon. I tried to help him out by handing him one, but each one I gave him wasnt the right one until HE got it! Then he walked over to the table and tried to open the yogurt too...thankfully I got to him in time!
-he is spending more time playing independently, especially reading and doing puzzles. Most of the time this works best while Mommie or Daddy are in the room, although he does this especially well with Daddy for some reason.
-several times over the weekend he would hurt himself and instead of coming to me for a kiss he would kiss his own booboo and then go about his business.
-He will often ask our help to get something down such as a toy of game we dont want him playing with sans supervision, but he will insist on playing with it his way.
-the past several times we have read books together, he prefers to sit beside me on the floor or sofa instead of in my lap.
That last one makes me a little sad because I love our cuddle time while we read, but he still cuddles other times. I am glad to see him trying to be more independent, because with a new baby on the way, independence will be a BIG thing! I've also found it interesting that his surge of independence has come at the same time as we have been limiting use of passy and we have been encouraging him to sleep through the night without us coming in to comfort or entertain him in the middle of the night. Not sure if that is a coincidence, but the timing is interesting.
-ooh, I thought of another one, at mealtime he will FREAK OUT if I try to cut up some of his foods, such as his cinnamon roll this morning or his graham crackers at snack time. He wants to be a big boy and eat it whole. If I DARE to break his banana into smaller pieces (or just too sleepy to remember) he will insist that I put it back together. A few times he will accidentally break it while it is still partially in the peel, and I will have to just turn my back to him, unpeel it a little more and tell him it is all better.

Wintertime fun

Our own little winter wonderland. I have no idea how much snow actually fell, but it was more than I have seen in a long time.

What have we been doing during our snowy times? Jack has been doing a lot of reading and playing with his choo-choos. We have noticed that he is becoming more and more independent...more on that later.

Here is the makeshift sled Daddy made, with a cardboard box, black garbage bag and packing tape. As you can tell he LOVES sledding. We tried a hill down the road from our house, but eventually just settled on sledding in our backyard. There is a pretty good hill back there too. Nice for sledding, not so much for mowing.

We came across a neighbor's snowman, complete with hair. We found the snow in our yard to be unsuitable for snowmen or snowballs.

Happy to be in the snow with daddy.

my boys traipsing through the snow

Such a big boy

Memories of our last big snow

As people keep reminding me, we got more snow this weekend than we have seen in 7 years. I can so vividly remember that snow in January of 03....I was teaching 4th grade (one of the hardest years of my teaching career) and my class was outside in a portable. I can remember that we walked into the portable that morning, with it just seeming windy and cold (I often kept the shades down because it was so chilly in there, in an effort to keep the heat in) and an hour or so later we walked out and everything was COVERED in white fluffy stuff! It didnt take long for the higher ups to cancel school (which turned into a whole MESS for parents to get their children, I heard someone say recently that the last school child in Metro was picked up at 10:30 that night!) I can remember the drive home being kinda scary, there was even a person in front of me who was sliding ON PURPOSE! I made it to my moms house, then Josh met me there and we drove home together. Our apartment was at the top of a huge hill and had to park at the bottom of the hill and walk up. I can remember feeling both scared and impressed that as crazy people tried to drive their cars up that slick hill there were neighbors out on the driveway helping to push the cars up. We came home and made the typical snowday food, chili, only I didnt have any chili powder, so Josh substituted equal amounts of cayenne pepper and it was VOLCANIC hot! No matter what I did to it, added noodles, sour cream, cheese, watered it down, I couldnt eat it! We still joke about that, all these years later! Metro only builds in 5 snow days, and most years we got maybe 2 or 3.....that year we used MORE than 5 and had to make a day or 2 up. I LOVED snow days as a teacher, but I always felt bad that Josh still had to go to work....and its still true now, although the other day his office did close early due to the weather. Up here where we live now they get snow days at the drop of a hat, mainly because of all the back roads and part of the county is at a higher elevation that apparently gets snow and ice worse than our part. They build in something like 12 or 15 days and usually use most of them. A few weeks ago we had less than an inch of snow and school was closed for 5 days, I think. It frustrates me a little now, just because I am involved in several activities that also have to cancel on snow days...even if there is NO snow in town. Now, dont get me wrong, I am a BIG FAT CHICKEN when it comes to driving on slushy, snowy, icy roads, and I dont apologize for that. Maybe if we lived in Fargo I would get enough practice driving in those conditions, but since we only get snows like this every 7 years or so, I dont get a lot of practice, so I dont mind staying home and chillin. 7 years....wow....that sounds like it was a long time ago. It makes me feel old.

Out in the snow with Mommie and Jack

Jack was enjoying watching just as it started snowing, so I offered to take him out one time when I was letting Maggie out. I was just going to carry him out for a minute, let him feel it falling and then come back in....but he had very different ideas. As soon as I mentioned going out, he ran to his room for his shoes, and even freaked out for a second when he heard me close the door, thinking I had changed my mind. Once we got sufficiently bundled, we ventured out.

Here is his first touch of snow this season....he had so much fun it made me feel bad that I hadnt gotten him out in any of the previous snows....but come to think of it, I think he had croup for one of the the bigger snows, so that wouldnt have been a good idea anyway...

Snowy bootie, AND btw he was wearing big boy undies at that time, so I bet it was a cold bootie too! Didnt seem to bother him too bad.

Snowy hands....he thought playing bare handed in the snow was fun, for about 30 seconds, and then got very upset by his cold hands. We had to come back in and warm up his hands for a minute. He went racing to his room asking for a "wipe" to get the snow off his hands.

We couldnt find his mittens (I could have sworn they were in the backseat of the car which was at Daddy's office...but they were actually in his dresser drawer all along....) so I tried to keep his hands warm by putting them in his pockets and he discovered that he could use his pockets as a kind of mitten. At this point the wind wasnt blowing at all and I didnt really feel very chilly.

Checking out the snow....looking cool with his hands in his pockets and that belly sticking out

Must have missed the smile

I told him to stick out his tongue to catch snowflakes....and this is what he did...

we went back inside for a minute....apparently cold weather+big boy undies just werent a great idea...and while we were inside we bundled up just a little bit more. The pockets of his coat werent very useful, so he pulled a Luke Skywalker and hid his hands in his sleeves.

As you can tell, the snow really had just started...not even covering the ground yet at this point, but he had so much fun walking around our house. Its like our yard was a whole new fascinating world for him, just by adding a little snow. I love watching him learn about the world and experiencing everyday things through his eyes.

Dr. Jack fixes a boo-boo

or perhaps I should call him Jack Cooper, NP just to be completely appropriate since he LOVES to be like his daddy.....

anyway, today when we got back from running errands Jack was playing with a new Thomas the Tank Engine toy in the kitchen and Maggie was wanting to be let out. She sometimes has a hard time getting traction on these pergo floors and she her legs/feet/long nails were flying everywhere in her rush to get outside. Apparently somehow she ended up scratching Jack's arm. He said "Ow, boo-boo" as I was letting Maggie out the back door, and then comes rushing out of the kitchen. I thought he was coming for his usual boo-boo kiss from Mommie (which by the way has gotten a bit harder to give since he will correct me if I kiss the wrong spot and insist that I try again, over and over until I get it right!). Instead of running to me, he runs back to his room and into his "Doctor Bag" to get the rigid plastic band-aid to put on his own boo-boo. I know it's not nice to think my child's injuries are funny (it was really just a scrape, no blood or anything and pretty soon forgotten by him) but I thought this was REALLY cute, and a pretty grown up thing to do! Usually he HATES band-aids, I guess he likens them to the dr office after a shot, but he just KNEW that this time his toy bandaid would help him feel better!

I know it's not a great picture, but he wasnt really keen on getting his boo-boo photographed....it was too cute for me to pass up.
Just a few moments after this incident Jack bumped his cheek on the baby gate and came over to me to get a kiss. After getting a little mommie comfort he rushed back into the kitchen to retrieve the already forgotten plastic band-aid and tried to figure out how to put it on his face.....that was a little more difficult than his arm!

oh, and speaking of letting Maggie out (and wanting to be like daddy), over the weekend he helped Josh let Maggie out, and when it was time for her to come in out of the rain, Josh opened the back door and whistled and said "Come in Maggie"....then Jack also leaned out the back door and did his own little "pfffft" whistle and also yelled "Come Babby!" It was really adorable and led to several more whistles from Josh, just to get more "pffffts" out of Jack.

ode to playdates

Jack and I just got back from a playdate at our friend Katy's house. It was so fun....there are 7 little boys in our playgroup, all within 6 months older or younger than Jack (works out that way because, well...I set up the playgroup, so I invited the kids who fit into that age range..convenient)5 of them were there today with their mommies, who also all happen to be my friends too. Have I mentioned it was fun?? Dont ever let any moms tell you any differently...playgroups are as much or more of a support group for the moms as it is social interaction for the kids. And when I say support group, I really mean it.....2 of the other moms are pregnant, just like me, only we are all in different trimesters, so there is lots of sympathy and lost of pregnancy/birthing stories going around! Also, with all of these moms, we are either facing several of the same transitions with our children right now (big boy beds, new siblings, losing passy, potty training, etc) or we have been there before with an older child....which is SO nice! They can give either lots of empathy, so I dont feel like I am the only mom this is happening to, or lots of stories and advice that I can learn from. One mom told me today that she fretted over all the big transitions for her older child that I am dreading with Jack, and that none of them were as big a deal as she thought they would be....PLEASE LET THAT BE TRUE!
Now enough about how fun it was for the moms, it was also fun for the kids. New toys to play with, making as much mess as they wanted, new books to look at too, other friends to play with, and different snacks to share.....they LOVED IT! It was nice that they entertained themselves so nicely, so the moms could easily keep an eye on our children while also enjoying conversation. I'm so thankful for the little boys in our playgroup:Andrew, Jack, Corbin, Hayden, Tanner, Tucker and Stephen, and for their mommies too. I hope that our boys can grow up and be friends too!

duct tape

I am seriously considering putting a small piece of duct tape across the zipper of my child's footie pjs. Almost every morning for the past several weeks, if not months, we have walked into find him with his pjs unzipped and his hand having been or still in his diaper. Now, he's not exploring for the FIRST thing that may come to your mind with a little boy, honestly, that wouldnt bother me nearly as much, if at all....but he IS exploring for what is probably the 2nd thing that comes to your mind...YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! I guess this is what I get for being too cheap to get the footie pjs with the little snap across the zipper....believe me, I WILL next time! At first I thought that it was "payback" for letting him hang out in his bed for a few extra minutes while I wake up fully....but it happens even when I go in there the first time I hear him. I KNOW he's just 2, and it is normal to be curious about these things, and I also know that because there is typically 24 hours between "incidents" my attempts at discouraging him are probably not as effective to his short attention span, but none of these things makes it less stinky or yucky!...I've even tried talking about it occasionally during the day just to keep it fresh in his mind! Glad my morning sickness wasnt and isnt too severe....this probably would have pushed me over the edge! Part of this boils down to that it frustrates me that one of our first interactions in the morning is something negative. :(

Random Baby Stuff

ULTRASOUND UPDATE: It all went great this morning....Jack sat in his stroller and ate his breakfast and was reasonably well behaved for it to have lasted almost an hour....This morning Josh reiterated that he didnt want me to find out the gender without him....so I told the ladies that although I was DYING to find out, I would just need to wait 6 more weeks....and turns out that was a good thing anyway since Baby was feeling a little bashful today and didnt want to show off any private parts....The ultrasound tech said that she was glad I didnt want to know since it would have been very hard and frustrating with the baby in that position. That made me feel better. It also made me feel better that not only did I know the person conducting the training, turns out I also know the nurse being trained....I had told her just yesterday that we were having a baby, and today she got to look at it! Cool! I LOVE living in a small town where it really is a "small world"....I think some people who have been here a while arent as amazed as I am at all the little coincidences like that...but you gotta understand, in a larger city like Nashville, those kinds of things dont happen as often!
ORIGINAL POST:
On another note, I finally allowed myself to purchase a few cute maternity shirts and even a new baby item this evening while perusing Kmart. I know, its sad that Kmart was a relaxing place for me to have Mom-time....but I'll take what I can get. During my first trimester I didnt allow myself to get any new maternity things because of the concern of my low hormone levels and the financial crunch that all of that was causing....I was just so afraid of spending money and getting my hopes up and something awful happening....and I certainly wasnt going to buy any baby things. I just kept telling myself that once the first trimester was done I would allow myself to relax and have fun...so tonight I found a few cute shirts on sale AND a Baby's 1st Christmas Bib on EXTREME clearance....now if I can just stash it where I will be able to find it 11 months from now when it WILL be baby's first Christmas.
Have I mentioned that tomorrow I am getting a FREE ultrasound? I have a friend here in town who is an ultrasound tech and she will be training an employee of the Cookeville Pregnancy Clinic (formerly the local Crisis Pregnancy Center) on how to do early ultrasounds. She needed guinea pigs, I mean "models" to help with the training....I think technically I am a little bit later than they were wanting since I am 14 weeks and they were angling for 12 weeks or less....but they are going to let me sneak in where I am since they will need to do ultrasounds a little later anyway for their patients. I am SUPER excited, and a little nervous since I will have Jack with me...wonder how he will do in a darkened room with nothing to do....going to try to bring lots of snacks...we'll see. With Jack I was never nervous about any of the ultrasounds....to me they were just a chance to peek at my baby....with this baby I am a little more nervous since I have heard so many stories about things that can found during ultrasounds that arent always good news....Josh knew all these things around with Jack but thankfully he didnt tell me....ignorance is bliss. Again, I just keep telling myself that this baby is in God's hands....from the very beginning and there is nothing that will or wont show up in any ultrasound that will surprise God or that He can't handle. One exciting thing that was mentioned to me was that it is POSSIBLE that if this baby is a little boy they might be able to tell by ultrasound, even this early....which I think would be SOOOO FUN to find out this early.....Josh isnt excited about finding out this early only because he wont be able to be there to find out with me...and just forget me finding out and not telling him.....this mommie has NO poker face. Part of me is just hoping that they will accidentally blurt it out if they can id that certain little boy part...it IS a training after all and the person learning to run the machine DOES need to know how to ID those little parts....we'll see!!!! If they cant find little boy parts this early it doesnt automatically mean its a girl....just that they couldnt see everything clearly...maybe Josh will get lucky and the baby wont cooperate....anyone have an early guess about gender? Family and friends have been mentioning to me what they think....with one gender VASTLY outnumbering the other...but I wont tell what they think...it will be interesting to see what any of YOU think.....and closer to our March 4th 20 week ultrasound where we will HOPEFULLY find out definitively find out I will put an officiall poll to see what ya'll think....any early guesses? I keep waffling back and forth without any strong feeling either way....with Jack, Josh and I were both CONVINCED that he would be a girl (Josh had a dream that we had a girl and named her Ava Grace, so we took that as a sign) and when we found out Jack would be a boy we were both in shock...even at later ultrasounds I kept asking...."Still definitely a boy, right?" We need to ask Grandma Howell what her opinion is, since she has a reputation of predicting correctly, even with Jack! Josh and I have decided we will just wait until he has a dream about the gender, and then go with the opposite! ;)

tickle the baby

Jack was being cute and snuggly this afternoon and I was pretending to hold him like a baby. I asked him "Jack, are you my baby?" to which he replied "No, baby Mommie tummy" and patted my tummy. What amazed me is that he came up with this with no prompting from us today, this is all from previous conversations earlier in the week. Then later I asked him where was the baby so he could show off for daddy and Jack came over and pulled up my shirt and pointed to my belly button to show where the baby is....I asked him if he was tickling the baby....and he apparently thought that was cool....and had to "tickle the baby" several more times....then lifted up his own shirt and put my finger in his belly button saying "tickle Jack baby." Not sure if he was saying that he IS a baby or that I needed to tickle the baby IN his tummy....we may need to clear that up one of these days.
He also had a few times today where he was trying to "take care of me": it was raining today when we went to CBS and of course he wanted his hood or "hat" on. When we got out of the car I said something about "Do you feel the rain?" and he looked at me in my rain slicker and insisted "Mommie, hat on!" and pulled my hood onto my head while I was carrying him up to the door.
Sometimes I wonder how much longer I will be able to carry this larger than average child, but I feel a little "stuck" because although he may be getting too BIG for me to carry around, I dont necessarily think he is too OLD for me to carry around...especially in parking lots and near busy streets (or even around the house when I want himto get from point A to B without any detours in between) but I do think that eventually towards the end of this pregnancy I will HAVE to stop carrying him around so much, if I get anywhere near as huge as I did with him. I am just going to enjoy holding him as long as I can.....
Another thing he did today to take care of me today was as we were leaving CBS and I was getting his coat on him to leave. As I was gathering up all of his various bags and such he brought over my coat saying "Mommie, coat ON!" I guess he didnt want me getting wet either. It was really sweet!

Passy Ponderings...

I know, I know, he's probably TOO OLD to still have a pacifier....I'm not TOO worried about it....mainly because I think it helps him be such a great sleeper...but there is a small part of me that worries....because he needs it to be a great sleeper. He is only allowed to have it when he is in bed...or getting ready for bed and he LOVES it SOOO much....he only has 2, one of which he enjoys, the other he likes to hold on to in case he loses the other....and HEAVEN FORBID if he can't find either of them...EVERYONE HAS TO KNOW and SOMEONE has to come in an rescue him. But he IS a good sleeper, most of the time. He sleeps from 7:30pm-7ish am give or take a half hour or so on each end. He also usually takes naps between 2 and 4 hours long during the day! WOW! I REALLY dont want to lose that! Right now it allows me to get a nap AND get some housework done and have a moment or 2 to myself. Anyway, what I am pondering....he has 3 toddler transistions coming up BEFORE younger sibling gets here: 1)potty training (although I'm not thinking that we'll get EXTREMELY far on that one....2)losing the passy (hopefully) and 3)transitioning to a "big boy bed". What I am waffling back and forth about is:
a)should we lose the passy BEFORE the big boy bed transition or b)let passy help us with big boy bed transition and lose it later? or c)just let him keep his passy until he is in kindergarten and then quit cold turkey? (only kidding about this one....I think...) Any thoughts?

Call the Fashion Police!

I have been having trouble the past week or so finding clothes that fit.....if its cold I can put on a baggy sweater with my favorite maternity pants (with a belt to hold them up) and be fine, but when the weather is nice like it has been the past few days I'm at a bit of a loss. None of my fair weather clothes fit me very flatteringly.....I'm getting a bit of a baby belly...or at least the belly that I had to begin with has....um....shifted a bit.....I guess to make room for baby. Anyway, my nice weather clothes now make me look quite chubby....but any maternity tops I try to wear are rediculously baggy on me....I'm just at that in between stage I guess...doubt that will last for long. I am proud to say that there is still one pair of non-maternity pants I can wear quite comfortably...but the rest have already been put into storage. Oh well. This morning Jack and I were going to visit Ma Fisher in the nursing home where she is recovering from her latest health ailment (hopefully she will be returning home to her apartment soon) and I wanted to look nicer than my usual "grocery shopping" uniform....and I couldnt decide which outfit made me look less chubby with my growing baby belly....so I asked Jack's opinion "The Black Shirt or the Red Shirt?" He decided on the black shirt, I agreed and we were off. Later on in our day I went in search of a cute long sleeved maternity top and he was in the dressing room with me while I was trying on the choices....I would take the shirt off the hanger and he would start saying "Maybe..." and I would barely have it over my head when he would say "No! No!" and start grabbing the next shirt for me to try on. He even noticed that one of the shirts was very similar to the one he picked out for me that morning...but he must have liked mine better because he grabbed mine and said "Mommy shirt!" Now, he was actually right, none of those shirts looked quite right, but I didnt really like being rushed like that.....but I did end up finding a shirt that I think it decent...and I think he agrees.....although by that time his attention span had probably directed him elsewhere....guess I'll ask him next time I wear it.

This scenario was quite cute.....Jack comes scooting up to me wearing my shoes and I asked him what he was doing, and he replied "Mommie Shoes!" I had to get a picture...he even had them on the right feet! .....(PLEASE dont get hung up on the fact that he is wearing Mommie's shoes....he has NO idea that Boys and Girls wear different styles of shoes....I'm sure the only reason he can tell the difference between my shoes and Josh's is that mine are much smaller.....)

Jack in the Box

We have talked with him about Jack in the boxes before, and he may have played with a few at toystores, but I dont think we have one around here....

This evening he decided to take the top off our cube ottoman and climb inside. I asked him what he was doing in there....he replied "Jack....Box!" 'Nuff Said!

Dressed for the "weather"

The other day Jack and I were headed out to run some errands. It was a very nice day, but still a little cool, so I put him in his new jacket. Most of his jackets have hoods, but this one doesnt. Apparently Jack is fine with hoods, but will ONLY wear a hat if it is HIS idea! Well, he asked me to zip up his jacket and then trid to pull up his non-existent hood saying "Hat up!" I told him that this coat doesnt have a hat but that he didnt really need a hat today anyway. He walked over to where we keep his stash of pretend hats (old baseball caps, summer hats etc) saying "Need Hat Need HAT!" Which hat does he choose to keep the chilly wind off his head...the cowboy hat from his halloween costume. It stayed on his head until he got in the car, and then it was forgotten...but I had to preserve the memory forever....

Another interesting clothing event....on a few recent frigid days we managed to talk Jack into putting on his black fleecy mittens. I dont usually worry too much about getting the thumb part in correctly, I know they wont be on all that long anyway, and he seems to think they are pretty cool to wear, until he gets to the car and realizes that wearing mittens (without the thumbs properly placed) means it is REALLY hard to read books or play with toys...as we were heading out during a fairly warm day Jack caught sight of his HEAVY mittens...I'm not even sure where these came from....but there they were in the bottom drawer just pleading for some love.....so Jack INSISTED that he wear his mittens....they took quite a bit of finagling to get on....again only to come off moments later in the car, never to be thought of again. He just cracks me up!I just love the heavy mittens paired with the lightweight jacket! Quite a fashion statement!

a few more of our recent "conversations"

*Yesterday morning I heard Josh whisper to Jack "Go ask Mommie about that..." and seconds later Jack was running into the room saying "Mommie....bubble bath.....bubble bath" so I asked him "Do you want to take a bubble bath?" to which he replied "SURE!"
*He has had the following conversation with both me and Josh (with appropriate names inserted, of course)
Mommie-I love you Jack!
Jack-I ya you Mommie!
M-I LOVE you Jack!
J-I ya you Mommie!
M-I love YOU!
J- ....JACK!
(he noticed I neglected to insert his name at the end of my sentence....he wanted to make sure I knew who I was talking to, I guess!) Now we initiate the same conversation just to see if he will do it again, and he does!
*Yesterday during his bubble bath he asked play with his tub crayons. When I handed them to him he picked out the yellow and handed it back to me saying " yellow sunshine" so I drew him a sunshine on the tub wall. Then he handed me the green saying " neen meemih tee" and although I knew I had heard that "phrase" before, I just couldnt place it that early in the morning...so I said "Do you want me to draw a green triangle?" to which he replied in a VERY condescending tone (where did he learn that??) "No Mo-mmie!" Then it dawned on me he was asking me to draw a GREEN CHRISTMAS TREE (it had just been a few weeks since I had heard the word since the tree has been put up for a little while!)
*Last night at the table I put on his monkey bib. He started telling me about it saying "Monkey eat banana"
*A conversation we have on at least a daily basis is one of my favorites:
I will do something careless like get the wrong thing out of the fridge and I will say aloud "Silly Mommie!" He will then go through our whole family "Silly Mommie, Silly Daddy, Silly Jack, Silly Maggie" and shake his head when he says it like "Oh brother, what are we going to do now?" It's so cute!

MEE TOO!

Yesterday afternoon Jack started throwing up....a lot! It makes me so sad to see him feeling so yucky and getting so distressed when he gets sick. I know it's probably just a stomach bug, and it makes me thankful that for the most part he is a very healthy little guy. I started tearing up last night while I was rocking and comforting him, thinking about some friends of ours whose little boy Ian has been battling Cancer and going through chemo and radiation and all that family has gone through the past year. Thankfully they are now home and doing oral chemo and his latest scans came back looking good (at least last time I checked) but it just broke my heart to think about how sick Ian has been, SOOOOO much sicker than the 5 or 6 times Jack got sick last night. I am still thinking and praying for them during this last phase of his treatment, and also as they are getting ready to welcome a baby girl into their family ANY DAY!
Thankfully Jack didnt get sick at all during the night, just woke me up several times to help cover him back up and find passy etc. Josh got up with him this morning, so I was able to catch up on any sleep I lost. When I finally did awake it was to the sounds of a happy little boy racing up the hallway, so it sounds like he may be feeling a little better, especially since he has a little bit of food in him! I gave Jack a big hug this morning and said "I'm SO glad you are feeling better!" and to my shock and surprise he replied "MEE TOO!" I pulled back and looked at him and said "What did you just say? Josh, did you hear what he just replied to me?" So I repeated my first statement "I'm SO glad you are feeling better!!!" and he said "MEE TOO!!!" again! I laughed and made such a big deal about it that he went running around the room laughing and repeating "MEE TOO MEE TOO MEE TOO!" over and over again.
Not sure if it was a fluke or not for him to reply so appropriately to what I said, but it sure was fun! I think he seems to be feeling better, but just in case we are trying to lay low this weekend to make sure we dont share any of these blessed germs with anyone. Say a prayer that the rest of us avoid this bug. I was thinking about the irony that I didnt throw up during my first trimester of this pregnancy, but that one day into my 2nd trimester I could catch a stomach bug from my 2 year old. Doesnt sound like fun to me!

...but he's also a GREAT helper....

(figured I need to balance the negative observations with positive ones....like there arent enough on this blog!)
he IS a great helper, which is something so endearing to me. I guess one of my love languages is "Acts of Service" and I feel so loved when he wants to help me with stuff. Since he is my first child, I'm not sure if it is developmental to want to help and please Mommie and Daddy, or if it is part of his personality...but I KNOW it is part of mine. Maybe it is also residual from being an oldest child and wanting to "help" my younger siblings (probably too much if you ask them...) but I LOVE to try to anticipate the needs of others and help them and feel needed and appreciated, and I know it makes me feel loved when people help me out. Unfortunately in my case, I have been known to help too much or without being asked....I'm TRYING to work on that. Anyway, back to him....I think he has the makings of a GREAT older sibling, for one thing he LOVES to help and please us....most of the time ;) One "trick" we have learned is that if he is acting resistent to following our directions, if we can phrase it in the form of a request:"Jack, Mommie needs your help with this...can you come help?" he will almost always jump at the chance to help us.
He likes to help me put up dishes (although not as much as he used to....now its turned more into put up a few dishes and then play with the rest....but at least it entertains me while I am doing dishes). He also helps unload groceries out of the bags (which I am sure I will appreciate even more in the coming months) and when we come home from traveling he likes to help put pillows and smaller items in the rooms that they belong. He will also help me, a little bit, with laundry such as loading and unloading the dryer and putting up his washclothes and clothes. When it comes to laundry also his 2 year old tendencies can come out, especially when I am folding and putting the towels into a pile....it must remind him of his blocks that HAVE TO BE knocked down. That can get a little frustrating.
Here are a couple of my favorites as of late that didnt even require my asking for "help":
*As we were waiting for his bath water to warm up he was playing with the water coming from the faucet and splashing it around. He noticed that some of it splashed on my shirt and said "uh oh!" and ran over to get some TP and tried to mop up the drips on my shirt.
*Also I walked out on a snowy day to check the mail and when I got back my shoes still had some snow on them. I just dropped them by the door and didnt worry about it, and next thing I knew, he had picked up my shoes, brought them into the kitchen, opened up the towel drawer and started drying off my shoes with a kitchen towel. It was SO sweet.
*All I have to do is mention that Maggie needs to eat and he will go RUNNING over to her food box and try to feed her. Of course she LOVES this because more food ends up on the floor than in her bowl and so he keeps scooping until it gets into her bowl. We learned quickly that this "chore" needs to be closely monitored!
We'll see how long these helpful tendencies stick around. I am hopeful that he will be a good little go-fer when we have a little one around and that he will be as loving to his little sibling as he is to us and his "big sister" Maggie.

he's getting a little bit BOSSY!

Can you tell I've been feeling better lately and more up to blogging about our lives? I took my last dose of medicine a few days ago and now I dont have to sleep during his entire nap time! YAY! I feel like a new WOMAN...even though I am still napping, just not as long or as hard..
anway, back to the topic of this post....our child is getting BOSSY! I joked on Facebook the other night that he is already getting in some "Big Brother" practice. As an older sibling myself, I have no delusions about it, I'm sure I was/probably still am bossy. I always preferred to think of it as "mothering" and "trying to keep them out of trouble" than torturing or tormenting (although I'm sure I did that too). I guess I might have some understanding about it if he does in fact show these traits to little brother or sister on down the road....but I also PROMISE to avoid at all costs any situation like I saw at the Mall the other day....an older sister (maybe 9 or 10) DISCIPLINING a younger brother (maybe 4 or 5), but that I mean with Dad standing right there the older sister was bossing the little guy around in the stroller, demanding that he sit down in his stroller, and when he didnt do it right away she grabbed his face, squeezed his cheeks until he complied. I was APPALLED! Now I understand at least in part that she was trying to keep her little brother safe, and that it might look like "tattling" if she had told dad about what brother was doing....but C'MON! I HOPE AND PRAY I didnt do that to my brothers who were 31/2 and 13 years younger and my sister who was 5 years younger....can't imagine my parents putting up with that from me....YIKES! If I did....please forgive me, John, Rachel and Daniel!
Anyway, enough of my personal stories....my child is getting bossy. We have seen it quite a bit lately between him and Maggie. Mostly it is just him fussing at her, just repeating what he has heard us say to her, "No Maggie, Hush Maggie" that kind of thing.... We are working very hard to nip this in the bud...trying to model being "sweet" to her as much or hopefully more than fussing at her and strongly discouraging him from ever fussing at her (for one thing, it's usually when shes not even doing anything to him...wierd) anyway....have I ever mentioned how THANKFUL I am that we have such a sweet and patient dog? She is SO good with him, even to the point of when he is getting annoying to her (which we try to watch for and avoid, TRUST ME) instead of getting impatient with him, she usually just starts licking him until he gets distracted and stops bugging her. It's SO sweet! They really do LOVE each other. And I KNOW and have heard stories about sweet dogs who will without warning lash out...please dont share any of those stories with me.....I have enough nightmares about that....
Another way he has been bossy is with us....since Thanksgiving he has started grabbing our hands to take us away from what we are doing and towards what he wants to do....at first it was cute, but sometimes now it is a bit hard to handle. He also tries taking the blankets off us when we are trying to keep warm in cold areas of the house because he wants us UP playing with him at all times...."sorry kid, Mommie is pregnant and a little tired...I can't be on the go ALL DAY LONG! " We've also noticed that when he is asking us to do something, he will often say it over and over and over and over, sometimes getting louder and louder with each repetition. Personally I think this has to do with learning to communicate at age 2, but I can certainly see how it can turn into bossiness. Now, don't get me wrong, he is still SOOOOO much fun to play with, and it is neat to see him forming his own opinions and learning to express himself...we're just going to need to find a balance...that's all.
Maybe someone should tell him that he won't really be able to effectively boss around his younger sibling for quite a while, so he can just COOL HIS JETS for the time being....anyone up for that task?

Our little maestro

I HOPE I can get a video or picture of this sometime to post....it is SO fun!
A few months ago Jack and I were at the Dollar Tree here in town (which, btw is the MOST AWESOME Dollar Tree I have ever seen! I LOVE that place! I have been able to find all sorts of fun activities that Jack and I can do together for A DOLLAR!) anyway, commercial over.....and I found a plastic recorder (you know, the little flute thing that we learned to play in elementary or middle school?). I thought he might get a kick out of making some "music" and it is small enough that it can be put up and away when needed...he really enjoys blowing into it, and of course he doesnt have any concept of the holes you cover with your fingers to play different notes...but he DOES enjoy hearing me play my vast repertoire of "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Hot Cross Buns" on it.
Anyway, I hadnt even noticed that it had gone awol for a while until we were searching for a lost toy under one of our sofas, and lo and behold, there was his blue recorder. Of course the toy was forgotten and he was all about his "whistle". He played us songs in the bonus room, in the kitchen and finally we had a little dance party in the dining room to his music. What REALLY cracked us up was that he would play his music and dance, then he would drop his instrument (something I'm pretty sure most maestros would NEVER do...bit hey, it's plastic, it's ok!) and start applauding himself and then TAKE A BOW....stand back up and blow kisses and say "thank you thank you" to his adoring fans....WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT? I don't ever remember showing him that and all we can figure is that on one of his shows "Little Einsteins" they all ways do a "curtain call" and applaud and take bows at the end....what's also been funny is that this first started several days ago and every day since then, multiple times a day, he will take my hand and lead me into the dining room to play his music....apparently that is his stage of choice for the concert/dance party....no other room will do! I just know that if our neighbors see us through the window "actin' a fool" while dancing to these squeaks and whistles they will think we have lost our minds....because trust me, when I call what I am doing "dancing" I am using that term VEEEERRRY losely! He is just being so cute and so sweet, I dont want to miss it!

maybe, just maybe, probably not, but MAYBE...

We've finally been able to share our baby news with you, and it feels like such a relief. I explained why we waited so long to tell in a previous post, and I don't regret it...but it's nice to celebrate with our friends as well as our family.
I have a little secret to share and a little question to ask.....
I think for the past few days or so I have been feeling those familiar "flutters" of the baby moving....but I'm not sure. I also know I felt similar feelings when I was definitely NOT pregnant, although it reminded me of what it was like to feel my umborn child inside of me (before I got incredibly uncomfortable, that is!) but this time it is more consistent and more often. I know all the books say I likely wont feel anything until week 16 or so..and I'm only at week 12, and I do remember that being fairly accurate with Jack (although I wonder if they mean feeling from the INSIDE or from the OUTSIDE, like that Daddy can feel too...) and my Dr. even said the other day that because of how the baby is situated it may take a little longer for me to feel (again...from inside or out??? should have thought to ask....) and Josh has even said he thinks it is probably the old reliable "gas pains" that medical professionals say for any feeling in the abdomen or lower that isn't baby related. (Don't get me wrong, I dont mean that to say I dont trust medical professionals, or my husband, because I DO, and I know they are PROBABLY right about this too...) but....I don't remember feeling these flutters so often before I was pregnant, and if this is gas pain then 1)it isn't painful and 2)it's a LOT of gas...and well...I'm not THAT gassy (sorry, too much info?? not intentional....) and 3)I HAVE read and heard and my husband has also acknowledged that with 2nd and 3rd (and subsequent) children the moms report feeling movement earlier because they know better what to feel for...so maybe, just MAYBE Baby Cooper (Shall I go ahead and call him/her "Mini Cooper" like my family wanted us to with Jack?) is making him/herself known??!?!
At my last visit I decided NOT to ask my doctor, because I DIDNT want her to burst my bubble and make me feel crazy for even thinking this. I will say however, that when I had the little "missing heartbeat" scare in the office that same visit (I blogged about that, right?) part of what helped me feel calm were the little flutters I felt while sitting and texting Josh and praying (and reading an old issue of people magazine to take my mind of the worry) while waiting on the dr. to come in to confirm the heartbeat with the ultrasound. I knew, JUST KNEW our baby was going to be ok....God woke him/her up to wiggle in order to calm my own heartbeat.....
I asked a friend who is a mother of 3 if she could feel her 2nd and 3rd babies wiggling earlier, and she confirmed this fact (although she didnt confirm quite this early...I'm sure she couldnt remember HOW early, and I probably wont either) , but I am asking the same question of other mommy friends of mine....(and please, don't tell me that I'm crazy and try to burst my bubble, just answer the question if you remember and feel led....this is one of those sweet mommy/baby bonding things I wanna hold on to..and seriously contemplated not sharing....even though its silly to think I might be bonding with gas bubbles and not my baby....I can dream and imagine...ok?)
Did you feel your 2nd (or 3rd or even 1st )babies flutter and wiggle inside you earlier than the books and articles and drs. predicted?
Just wondering if I am alone in this, or if you can give me hope. :) I know that in a few weeks it will be a moot point anyway, and in a few months I will wish for just a little bit less middle-of-the-night calesthenics....but for right now, it just feels special.

Potty Training...

I'm going to try VERY HARD not to make this post too specific or graphic...I know you guys dont want to read that kind of detail and honestly, I dont want Jack to be MORTIFIED if he reads these entries years down the road.

So I decided last week to take a try at potty training Jack....I really didnt have extremely high hopes for success at this point, it was more just trying to see HOW ready he is at this age and to try to figure out what future steps need to be. I have heard numerous moms say that pull-ups arent a great idea for potty training because the child never feels the uncomfortable feeling of being "wet" so I went ahead and got some training pants for him instead. I hope its not inappropriate for me to say that he looked SO cute running around in those "big boy undies". I read a suggestion of putting pull ups (or we actually used some leftover swim diapers that will be too small next summer) over the top of the undies to avoid too much collateral damage when the inevitable accident occurs. Jack and I spent A LOT of time in the bathroom over the course of the long New Years Weekend....reading books, coloring etc to keep him happy while sitting on the potty. Although we didnt have any success at all with actual potty training, I can see that this exercise has brought about some new information for me. It has made me realize the need to pay closer attention to him and his..um..."timing." (such as checking to see if he is dry after his nap, and realizing that if he doesn't go BEFORE he eats/drinks, he will probably go during or just after) I also feel a small amount of success because I was able to get him to enjoy sitting on the potty, something that hadnt been achieved yet....with the help of IS PY books, crayons and coloring books he was quite happy to stay put for a reasonable amount of time....and he also likes to watch a little tv while sitting on the potty, guess that is a benefit to using a portable potty chair and not the stationary BIG potty...and that giving him something to drink while sitting and trying also helps....I definitely see that he still needs to learn and develop a few more skills before we should try for real, but I have some steps in mind to help him along the way. I dont want to dilly dally too much though, since we will have a new baby in the house around the time he is 2 1/2 (which I suspect is a more optimal age to start...but NOT an optimal life stage, for him or for me!) With all the time we spent in the bathroom the past few days I doubt I would be able to do that with a newborn....so I fear that if he doesnt make much progress before the new baby comes, he may not get it until he is 3...which I KNOW is not the end of the world....but who wants to change 2 sets of diapers if you dont have to? So, we'll see how things go. I am going to try to discipline myself to keep trying little by little to encourage his development of skills needed, especially on days when we will be hanging around the house for a while, and we'll see what happens in a few months. I am NOT stressing about it at this point and have no interest in pressuring or pushing him into doing something he is NOT developmentally ready for....this should be an interesting endeavor. Oh how I wish we had easy to clean hardwood floors! sigh!
so I have a request:
Do any parents who have experienced the joys of poty training have some tips and tricks (or at least pitfalls to avoid) while potty training my little guy.
Trust me, I've gotten PLENTY of "Don't push it or stress about it" and "Isn't he a little young?" advice....and I dont feel like I am ignoring that advice, because I dont feel like I am "pushing" it or stressing any of us out about it at this point, and I am ackowledging that he is a little young which is why we haven't thrown out all the diapers yet or gone out in "big boy undies" yet..or even going at it full force every chance we get.....this is just more "recon" work so to speak before we are fully in the "trenches" of potty training. I'm all about gathering intel and learning from the stories of others. If your advice or story is too detailed or personal to share in a comment, feel free to email me or ask me to email you....I'm SURE I can get grossed out at this point....but it would take a doozie of a story to do it! Poop doesnt scare me that much anymore!

Why wait 12 weeks to tell?

With Jack we told family around 8 weeks (and this time we broke the news a few weeks earlier to them, via an email with the same picture you saw on the previous post) but with Jack we told friends around 9 weeks or so....this time we waited a bit longer. It seems a little wierd and almost counter-intuitive (is that the right word?) to have waited so long to tell with a 2nd pregnancy after having a successful first pregnancy with a very healthy baby....but there has been a complication....

actually almost the same exact complication I had with Jack involving low hormone levels. My doctor is super super cautious and tested the levels of a specific hormone with both pregnancies that can be a factor is preventing miscarriage and decided to put me on a twice daily dose of the hormone to boost my levels. I have done a little bit of research into this practice and it seems that there is a lot of debate about this practice, whether it really helps prevent miscarriage or doesnt really make a difference, some doctors follow this regimen, many do not. My dr told me that ever since she has had her patients followed this regimen she has seen the miscarriage rate in her patients drop...I decided to trust her judgement. (ps-I am NOT suggesting that this treatment is right for everyone or that every doctor should use this regimen. Many Many healthy babies are born all the time without using this method, I just think it is so important to find a doctor you can trust and Josh and I fully trust my doctor, which is one reason why we are driving into Nashville for all our prenatal care and the delivery....please do what is right for your family....it you want more info about WHY they felt the need to test me, feel free to ask and I'll share my experience, it's not something I really wanna share on the blog...but I would highly reccommend my doctor and all the doctors in the practice that I dealt with over the course of my pregnancy with Jack. They were ALL excellent and I would feel comfortable seeing any of them...in fact I have a variety of friends who see almost every doctor in the practice! I went to this practice on the advice of some friends....and all the doctors are women, which I appreciate!)

It was difficult taking this medication with Jack because I was still teaching and had to take one of the doses in the morning. The main side effect I have felt from the meds is marked dizziness, such that I had to teach sitting down during the time it affected me (thankfully it only really lasts for an hour or 2 if taken on an empty stomach which never seemed to affect our daily schedule...I just had to sit down...and since I told my kids I "wasnt feeling good" they TRIED extra hard to behave...most of the time! I never actually clued them into what was going on). Twice daily is the max the dr would prescribe for me, but thankfully with Jack it raised my levels to the desired threshhold and only had to be taken during the first trimester....so it wasnt forever...and insurance covered the cost of this expensive medication pretty nicely.

This time however, was a bit different. I only felt comfortable taking the meds during Jacks naptime due to the dizziness(thank GOODNESS he is such a good napper!!) and I could just sleep off the effects. Needless to say we havent been as active during this first trimester. This has substantially affected my ability to keep a straight house (not that it was SO straight before this pregnancy, but lately I have a good excuse for it not to be perfect!) Even with the twice daily dose my hormone levels were lower than the dr wanted....so much so that she didnt completely believe me when I told her I wasnt skipping doses...I actually NEVER missed a dose! This made me feel quite nervous, and prayerful for our unborn child. I had several moments of worry, but I also know that this child has been given up to the Lord from the very beginning, and honestly, it if is meant to be carried to term, it will, hormones or not! Still, I felt apprehensive about telling too many people, mainly because a person very close and dear to me suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks and it was so so hard to say the least, both for those of us who love her and most especially for her and her husband! I just felt like the Lord told us to guard this "secret" for a little while and trust in Him until the time came for Him to release us to share our good news. dont worry, we still had many many prayer warriors praying for us and Baby Cooper all along. I am taking my last doses today, at the end of my 1st trimester! YAY! Maybe, just MAYBE I can get a better handle on my house.

With Jack I didnt have much morning sickness really at all, so I said the medication was my form of morning sickness. This time it seemed a bit more substantial...but honestly I dont know how much of that was "mental" since I am not as crazy busy and I have had more time to focus on it and feel a little sorry for myself. I had about 2 weeks after Thanksgiving when I felt really awful (but never actually got sick!) but those motion sickness bands work wonders for me! They may be all mental, but I dont care! :) THEY WORK! I also took some advice from my sisters blog that suggested that tart drinks like cherry limeade (and cran grape juice in my case) and peppermint gum and occasional snacks really seemed to help. Not sure if it was a blessing or a curse that during the holiday season I was feeling too yucky to enjoy any sweets....but at least it helped me not gain too much weight over the holidays!

Another aspect of taking this medication that has been very different this time was that our health insurance has changed since we had Jack and the coverage is, lets just say, not quite as stellar (and monthly premiums are lower too....its a catch-22!) A monthly supply cost 7x more this time than when we were expecting before! That has taken some shifts in our finances and our financial priorities, but the LORD PROVIDES! Praise Jesus! Please continue to keep us and Baby Cooper in your prayers...and Jack as he gets used to the changes that are around the bend.

I felt that if the 12 weeks ob visit went well that we would tell soon after that....and so we did. There was a little glitch in the visit yesterday though, because at first they couldnt find the heartbeat using the doppler device. the Nurse immediately let the Dr know and they did a quickie ultrasound (no measurements taken or anything, just a visual confirmation) to find a healthy wiggly baby with a strong heartbeat. I was able to stay calm in the 15 minutes or so before the ultrasound, mainly because Josh has told me before that in his experience it can be hard to find the heartbeat so early. I didnt get upset until I called Josh to tell him what happened (he wasnt able to come with me because the appt was in Nashville and it had to be scheduled this month on a day he doesnt have off...but GOOD NEWS....the dr said that the rest of the appts SHOULD be scheduled for his day off so he can come with me to as many as possible!) Thanks for checking in on us....I hope this wasnt too much info, just really wanting to document certain aspects of this pregnancy so that down the road we can share with our family the way God provided for us all along the way! Please keep praying. The weekly prayer was something I treasured so much from our Sunday School class at Clearview while we were pergnant with Jack. It meant so much to me that our baby (and all the expectant moms) were prayed for every step of the way and that they were there to celebrate with us all the milestones. I hope and pray we can find a class up here that will invest so much into praying for the welfare of our family.

Sorry Baby!

Jack has gotten really good about apologizing when he gets in trouble. As Josh points out, we suspect it's more that he is sorry he got caught and got in trouble than actually sorry about what he did wrong, but I think we are moving in the right direction. He LOVES LOVES to roughhouse with Josh and sometimes if I happen to be in the room at the time I will get "attacked" by Jack as well. This happened last night (Saturday 1/2/10) where he was riled up and came towards me and swatted at me. We are trying to get Jack to realize that he can get rough with Daddy, but NOT with Mommie, so Josh snatched him up and spoke very sternly to him saying "You CANNOT hit Mommie! We dont want to hurt Mommie or the baby." Jack immediately broke down and said said "Sorry Mommie, Sorry Baby!" And he came over and kissed my tummy! That's the first time he has even acknowledged that he realizes something is going on.

Then tonight Jack came over and was trying to climb on me, and again we had to tell him to be careful with Mommie and Baby. I asked him "Do you know where the baby is?" figuring he would point to himself as usual...and he pointed at my tummy and said "Baby Mommy Tummy" WOW! He really IS listening!
I think Jack can tell that things are a little different around the house, if only because mommie isnt feeling quite and energetic and playful as before (and I have been known on occasion to put him down to sleep a little bit before he is completely worn out, because I am COMPLETELY worn out!...but he is almost always a good sport about that!), but hopefully as this first trimester winds down and I start to feel more energy it will be a bit better. I have noticed that he has gotten a bit more clingy/huggy with me and has started insisting that I rock and sing to him before nap and bedtime ,which didnt happen on a regular basis before, but I really dont mind. In the back of my mind I have wondered if/when I should start "weaning" him away from so much "attention" to make the transition easier but I have decided that 1)as my baby belly starts growing, my ability to rock him and pick him up and have him in my lap will likely change soon enough (if the baby belly I had with him is any indication....lets just say I was HUGE!.....not many other people have been brave enough to confirm this fact to my face, but trust me, I KNEW!) so I want to enjoy my one on one time with him as long as I can and 2) as so many people have reminded me, even as recently as Mzee yesterday, you can never, NEVER spoil a child with too much love. So there!

Jack has some news!

That's right, Jack is gonna be a BIG BROTHER!! Baby Cooper's official due date is July 22, 2010, but will likely be a week or so earlier due to the need for a scheduled c-section (HOPEFULLY not as early as Jack @ 36.5 weeks....especially since we are planning to go to Baptist for the delivery! I'd much prefer scheduling this one to laboring in the car all the way to Nashville!). We found out a few weeks before Thanksgiving and managed to hold off a full week or two before telling family and closest friends...but we decided to wait a while longer before telling the world. We have told Jack of course, and doubt at this point he knows much is up, besides that Mommie has less energy and that he is watching more tv than he used to. When we ask him "Where is the baby" he will always point to HIMSELF and say "Baby Jack, right here". A few nights after we found out we were saying Jack's night time prayers we asked Jack what he wanted to thank God for and he said the usual "DADDY!" We then asked if he wanted to thank God for the new baby coming to our family, and he quickly and matter-of-factly said "NO!" I KNOW he has no idea what is going on, so I am not worried, but it was pretty funny and such a 2 year old thing to say, especially about the upcoming competition.

One more funny story, and then I'll spread the rest of the baby news over a few more blog entries. We decided to tell my grandmothers over Thanksgiving. When we told Ma Fisher she was her usual dry self, but what she said later made me giggle....she asked me for a sip of water from my water bottle. When I told her I had already had a little from it she said "No big deal" but a moment later she turned to me and with a serious face asked me "Pregnancy isnt contaigious, its it?" to which I replied, laughing "Ma, if you end up pregnant, you have a LOT of explaining to do!!"

I know I havent been great about posting lately, hopefully now you know why. It's not that there hasnt been a lot going on, just a lot that I didnt feel comfortable sharing quite yet! I actually started this post the day after we found out and have been using it as a bit of a journal, recording stories and memories to share when the times comes. More stories to come!

Family Movie Night

We ventured out to Blockbuster the other night. We had been toying with the idea of taking Jack to his first movie Theater movie, but we werent wild about the choices or the times available, and then our free movie passes expired, so Blockbuster was our plan B. Blockbuster has this great deal of childrens movies for 99 cents for a week! Well, I THOUGHT it was a great deal....more on that later. The first night we watched Madagascar thinking he would get a kick out of all the animals....not really that much of a hit (so we are not sure if he will watch Madagascar 2 or not....) a night or 2 later we watched a childhood favorite of mine and Josh's: Disney's Robin Hood...which Jack LOVED! He barely moved during the movie and ended up staying up WAAAY past his bedtime to watch it, but did just fine. Last night we watched Toy Story 2 (we've seen part 1 at Pops and Bertie's house....I LOVE those movies!! Did you know that part 3 is coming out soon....it looks HYSTERICAL!) Anyway, in part 2 Mr Potato Head gets a lady friend, Mrs. Potato Head. Jack got a Mr/Mrs Potato Head set for his birthday and today he decided to arrange them like this:

yes, they are holding hands. Then he leaned over and gave them both a kiss. I asked him why they needed kisses and he leaned over and had them kiss each other. This was 100% his idea and it was SO cute! I guess in this case life imitates art. I had been thinking about putting him down for a nap just before this happened....really glad now that I didn't!