Father's Day Weekend 2014

What's this?  A new blog post?  Say it ain't so.  I have grand visions of catching the blog up at some point and maybe that will happen - but for now I'm just going to write what I can and not make any promises to myself.

We had a very fun family weekend this Father's Day and had some fun plans mixed with relaxing.  Brent took Friday off and he and Jack went hiking in the morning while I tried to catch up on some house cleaning.  Then we spent the rest of the morning together at the pool.

On Saturday we went to breakfast at Toast and then headed into the mountains to watch the Evergreen Rodeo parade.  We thought Jack might like a parade and yep, he was a fan!

Evergreen Rodeo Parade!

A perfect parade-watching spot

Finally, the marching band!

The only bummer about our perch on the rocks - red shirt man in every photo.

On Saturday evening Brent and I caught a show at Red Rocks very unexpectedly.  We had a babysitter lined up so we could go out to dinner, but when we realized that O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips were at Red Rocks that night we bought some tickets and were in!  I'm not sure why it's taken us three years to go to a concert there (wait, I do know exactly why) but it was fantastic!

These lyrics from "Home" were so poignant to listen to with my new home sprawling down below:

Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you're not alone
Cause I'm going to make this place your home

Today we made Brent a delicious breakfast, showered him with gifts, went to church, and grilled meat for dinner.  Father's Day - making Mother's Day look complicated since the beginning of time.

Goddard School Christmas Program

Jack is in the red sweater vest - check out that thumping!  I have been wondering why he's been so into Frosty the last couple of weeks!

Two Year Stats

Jack had his two year appointment this Wednesday so I'll do his official two year blog post now.  I will blame my tardiness on having to reschedule that well-check...yeah, I'm not a bad blogger at all.

Weight: 31 lbs (82nd percentile)
Height: 35.25" (71st percentile)
Head: 19.75" (86th percentile)

Clothing sizes:
Wears a 2T in almost everything and a 3T in most jammies.  Is still in a size 6 diaper but the number of leaks at night tells me that we should size up...if a bigger size existed.  Hopefully potty training isn't too far down the road but it seems like it probably is.  Mainly wearing a size 9 shoe save for one pair of Stride Rite 8s that run big.

Teeth:
18?  Does that sound right?  I've gotten a little off on my teeth chart updating but you have them all except for both second year molars on the left side.

What you love:
You love all things train and truck.  Steamies, diesels, dump trucks, bulldozers, garbage trucks, you love them all.  You've taken a strong interest in Thomas lately but your favorite is watching YouTube videos of real trains.  Steam engines is your #1 video preference but sometimes you ask for diesels.  You like to play the cube game with Daddy and I in the evenings after supper.  It's the ThinkFun Roll and Play game that neighbors Lucca and Sal gave you for your birthday.  Wonderful game for the 2 year old crowd, moms!  And speaking of, you love playing outside on the driveways with "Bucca and Sal".

What you're saying these days:
You have become so conversational with us lately and we really love it - mainly, except for when you're using your mad conversational skills to be demanding.  Some classic Jack phrases at the current moment are:

"Not this one, Mommy" (wanting me to change a train YouTube video - constantly)
"We'll come back." (he says this every time we leave somewhere, even the doctor's office last week after getting his shots)
"Night-night, see you in the mohning!"
"No, you're a meatball!" (that's a little thing that he and Brent do back and forth, calling each other meatballs.  Beats me, friends, but they think it is hilarious.)
"I like chocolate milk, Mommy" (he leaned over close to my face in a Panera one day last week, patted my arm and said this so sweetly.  I know you do, baby, and so do I.)
"Let's..play..game!!!!!" (talking about the cube game above)
"Play outside!"
"I need more" and "I need some" are crowd favorites with Mom and Dad
"Let's..watch..choo-choos!" (talking about watching steam engine videos on YouTube)
Random funny thing - we have a lamp base shaped like the Eiffel Tower and no lamp shade on it that still doesn't have a home in our house, and you grab it all the time to use as your microphone.  You sing "Away in a Manger" into it mainly, but sometimes "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

Favorite books:
Steam Train, Dream Train
Giraffes Can't Dance
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
Go, Train, Go!
Dear Zoo
Goodnight, Gorilla

Favorite songs:
*Away in a Manger was hot in September - hopefully you are still into it in two months
* the Airplane Song and Truck Song (or Dump Truck Song, or Garbage Truck Song, or the Fill-in-the-Heavy-Equipment-Here Song because it's basically the same tune) - these are songs that I've made up and they typically go like this (but are subject to change at any second because I make it up as I go):

"There's a garbage truck in our neighborhood
Our neighborhood
Dear Jacky
There's a garbage truck in our neighborhood
Dear Jacky a truck

He is here to get our garbage
Our garbage
Our garbage
He is here to get our garbage
Our garbage that truck

He hooks up the ca-aaan
And li-iiifts it up
Then du-uumps it out
Then hooks up another can

He is here to get our garbage
Our garbage that truck"

I had no idea this would end up being such a huge hit but I sing some variation of this at least 11 times a day.  I should probably go ahead and make my own CD now.

Big kid stuff:
Well this wouldn't be a mom blog if I didn't mention that you pooped on the potty last month!  No action since then, but that's okay.  You were pretty happy with your "tweat" afterwards but not impressed enough to do it again.

We switched your car seat to forward facing this week and you are loving it!  I really like it too - I can keep an eye on if you're falling asleep or not.  It only took approximately 3.5 seconds of forward facing before you were telling me how to drive - "Faster!".

You can count to six pretty steadily but have made it up to 11 before - but only if you skip over seven.  You impressed me one day when I was counting and you pulled through with "fourteen"!

When we went to the doctor this week and I told you where we were going, you started shaking your pointer finger and said "No mooe monekys jumpin da bed!".  Cracked.me.up.  Momma call the doctor!

I know, enough already.  I can't remember all the funny things that you do every day that make us laugh, but I know that I thank God for you every single day.  Happy birthday, sweet baby!  

Baby Jack is Two!

Happy birthday to the one who fills our hearts with joy and makes each day full of adventure and excitement.  We love you more than we can even say, Jack!

Starting the birthday off right with some good morning "birfday bawoons!"

The Things Jack Says - 23 months

I just want to take a few minutes to jot down some of the things Jack is saying these days, since he changes so quickly and I don't want to forget these sweet moments with him:

Today, Brent came home from work and was asking Jack about his day.  He asked him, "How long was your nap?".  Jack replied while shaking a pointer finger, "Two hours!".  We both looked at each other, surprised that he knew to use "hour" as a time increment.  Always full of surprises, that one.  (And for the record, his nap was three hours long, but since he has two Blue Dogs everything seems to be counted in a twosome right now.)

Jack loves to watch YouTube videos of "team engines" on the big computer.  We will start a video, step away for a minute to do something around the house, and then in a few minutes hear "More Choo-Choo, pwease!  More Choo-Choo, pwease!"  It gets louder and louder until we come in and start a new video for him.  At least he's polite with his demands, I suppose.

A Boy and His Dog

Jack and his Monnie are inseparable.

Jack Talks Colors

Jack's favorite color name to say is yellow, hands down. This video is two months old at this point, but he still says everything is "yeeeewoah!". Still makes us laugh!