A New Pool

While Jack was working on his new tooth yesterday afternoon, Mom set up our new pool so I could swim. As I'm sure you've noticed, I like to play in the water naked. Yep, naked. Swim trunks can be quite confining. So, Mom and Dad came up with a few rules. I am only allowed to swim naked in my own backyard when it is just our family. No swimming naked at other people's houses and no swimming naked when friends are over. It's a pretty good compromise; don't you think? Enough said. On to the pictures...

Here I am swimming naked!

Smiling.

Splashing!

Three

Yesterday Jack had a pretty unhappy day. Mommy kept checking for new teeth, but none were found. Jack wanted to be held, but then he wanted down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Jack was giving us a run for our money!

Dad got home around 5. He looked in Jack's mouth, and what did he see? A shiny new tooth!!! "No wonder Jack has been so grouchy," said Mommy.

Total tooth count: 3
Location of new tooth: bottom right

We're praying the rest come QUICK!!! Jack's teething has been hard on everyone!

Catching up...

Since Jack has been born, we haven't gotten out like we used to. Two kiddos has been a bit tricky for our Mommy. Most of the time we're home hanging out. However, once I finished up the scooping on Thursday, we played with friends; and we played hard!

First up was Ava. We built some tents with my blankets draped over my table and chairs.

Then, after naps, we headed to Spike's to play in his pool.

Friends are fun!

Scooping

This morning I told Mommy that I needed something to scoop. "Alrighty then; let's find something to scoop!," said Mommy.

And so I've been scooping beans back and forth between these bowls for about 15 minutes...

(For sideways, live scooping, head to the other blog.)

And then there were two...

For the past couple of days, Mommy has been saying that Jack is teething. But the tooth never appeared. Dad and I started wondering if Mommy knew what she was talking about. Mommy pressed onward with determination. She just knew her baby was teething!

Four about three weeks now, Jack has been sleeping 12 hours at night. So when he was up at 3:30 this morning, Mommy was pretty sure she was going to find a tooth. Not so. Mommy began doubting herself. We were a family full of doubt!

And then Mommy remembered that Jack has always been a bit outside of the box. While the books say the bottom two teeth always come in first, if anyone is going to do things not-by-the-book, it would be Jack. Enough with the bottom gum--Mommy started checking the top gum, and there it was! Tooth number two!

Yep, Jack has two teeth--the bottom front left and the top front left. Go figure.

Getting Dirty at the Park

Today we played at the park with some of my friends. After all the rain we've been having, the park was very muddy.

I had a great time!

This is what I looked like AFTER my Mommy cleaned me up with Jack's baby wipes. Let's just say, she stripped me down before putting me in her car. My Mommy is kind of picky about her car. Really, she can be quite confusing. One minute she's telling me to have fun at the park, and, in the next minute, she's telling me to keep the dirt out of her car!

Once we got home, it was straight to the bathtub for me! Jack decided he didn't want to miss out on things, so...

...he crawled right in to watch me get clean! Typical of little brothers everywhere, Jack likes to do whatever I'm doing.

Today I didn't feel much like having Jack watch me. I cried. Loudly. Jack cried, too. I think Mommy almost cried, but she did a really good job of holding it together while giving me the "we are a team and we treat each other respectfully and kindly" lecture.

Thank goodness Dad came home for lunch today. We all needed a distraction.

A Growth Spurt

Mommy thinks I might be having a growth spurt. Yesterday before 4:00, I ate the following:

1 banana

1 apple

1/2 wheat bagel with peanut butter

1 glass of milk

2 bowls of cereal

1 bowl of bunny crackers

2 glasses of milk

1 cheese sandwich

1 pear

a handful of raisins

some of Mommy's lunch carrots

1/2 bag of microwave popcorn

2 string cheeses

a few of Mommy's cheese and crackers

1 glass of milk

And at 5:30 I asked for some dinner. This is what Mommy fixed me:

Asian noodles with veggies

spinach salad with dried cranberries

a few of Jack's crackers

When Mommy was putting me to bed at 7:15, I mentioned that I was still hungry. Mommy muttered something about a stall tactic and then told me that she would fix me a yummy breakfast in the morning.

Mommy said, if I'm going to eat like this, I might have to get a job and help with the grocery bill.

Happy Birthday Aunt Tammy!

In honor of your birthday, Aunt Tammy, we played in the backyard this evening.

Jack can't decide if he does or doesn't like the grass.

I practiced sticking my head in the water.

Eventually Jack decided he didn't like the grass, so Mommy held him.

We sure do like playing outside! We hope your birthday was as fun as our back yard is!

Working in the Yard

This weekend we needed to catch up on a bit of yard work. Mommy got everything weeded, and then Dad and I mulched. Hopefully those weeds will stay a-w-a-y!

Here's the freshly mulched back flowerbed. Can you see our new birdbath?

Our garden is doing quite well, but it doesn't look that exciting yet. We'll take pictures when things look more exciting back there.

Bathtub Tunes

Here's Jack playing a song in the bathtub on my xylophone. That baby can play!

And for those of you who can access video, go to the other blog to see and hear Jack play!

Just Because

Mommy thinks I'm the cutest big boy ever. She also thinks that my "flop-flop" feet look like just like my Daddy's feet. :-)

Pulling Up

Today Jack inchwormed his way to Mommy and then pulled up on her legs. By the time Dad got the camera, Jack was holding Mommy's hands. It seems Jack is starting to pull up...

Oliver's Party

Once the present was taken care of, we hit the road and headed to Oliver's party. It was a great party! Here are some of the highlights...

Jack sure had fun with Oliver's grandpa. "Papa" put Jack in Oliver's Elmo chair. Everyone thought it was pretty cute. Don't you think Jack looks grown up?

Auntie Joy made some yummy snacks for us to enjoy.

I'm hoping Oliver will want to share some of his new things with me. He got some super neat presents!

And best of all, there were cupcakes! Yummy!

When the party was almost finished, Oliver had some lunch while I chatted with him.

Thanks for having a great party, Oliver! I can't wait until we go to Seattle. Imagine--a WHOLE week of playing with each other every day!

Getting Ready for the Party

Today is party day! We're on our way to Oliver's Elmo Birthday Party. But before we go, I have to wrap the present, and we're out of wrapping paper. Oh no; what will be do! Mom said we could make some. We cut a big piece of paper and got to drawing...

I drew all kinds of things.

Then we used the tape to make the paper stay on the present. The tape kept sticking to my fingers.

Next came the ribbon.

"See the present, Jack?" Oliver will really like it!

A Great Idea

Before I was born, Aunt Elizabeth made me this little blanket to go with my big blanket. She thought it would be good for car rides and other times that a big blanket might take up too much room. I thought differently. I didn't want to take my little blanket anywhere. I'm more of a big blanket kind of guy.

Anyway, this little blanket has lived in my closet until today. Elmo needed a blanket to sleep with so he wouldn't get cold. Mommy said she had the perfect thing! Out came the little blanket, and it works great! Now Elmo will be comfy as he sleeps.

Happy Birthday Oliver!

Today is my cousin Oliver's birthday. Happy Birthday, Oliver! We sure are getting excited about coming to your Elmo party.

Playing in the Water

Mommy turned around to make me a sandwich for lunch. When she turned back around, this is what she found. Jack somehow got water from his sippy all over his tray and was splashing up a storm!

Solutions

Mommy has been trying to figure out how to keep all of my grandmas happy. You see, one of my grandmas really likes to see videos of me and Jack, but when Mommy posts videos, my other two grandmas (and some of my aunties) aren't even able to pull up the blog.

What to do, what to do? It's been keeping us up at night...okay, not really, but that sounded more dramatic...

However, today, that Mommy of mine thinks she came up with a solution!

To the right of this post is a new link. If you click the link, you will be taken to our second blog (yep, that's right--we now have two blogs). This blog is where we'll post all of the video posts. That way anyone and everyone will be able to pull up our main blog, and those who have the capability to see video can choose to go to the video blog! We think it's the perfect solution.

So far on the video blog the posts are as follows:

• Jack's Temper Tantrum (previously posted)
• I'm two, and I like blue. (new footage)
• Happy Birthday Muriel! (previously posted)
• Inchworm Jack (new footage)

Please note that we aren't going to post videos every day. We'll just post the really good stuff. Mommy says she'll try to remember to tell you if we've posted new video, but no promises!

We hope this is a good solution, and that it will fit everyone's needs.

A few things I've been meaning to tell you...

When Jack spits up, I dry heave. This makes Mom and Dad laugh.

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Today Mommy and I were talking about colors. I told Mommy that I liked blue, and asked her what color she liked. This went back and forth until Mommy asked me if I liked yellow. "No," I replied. "Yellow is too bright."

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My cousin Oliver is having a baby brother in September. About (what seems like) twenty times a day I ask Mommy what Oliver's baby brother's name will be. She usually says we won't know until Uncle Seth and Aunt Joy decide. The other day, that Mommy of mine threw me for a loop by saying instead, "What do you think Oliver's baby's name will be?" To which I responded, "Cakey." I've called the baby Cakey ever since. So, there you have it Uncle Seth and Auntie Joy--problem solved.

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Today I decided not to use my inside voice while we were grocery shopping. That meant I didn't get to have the free cookie at the deli counter. According to Mommy, only the kids who use inside voices get cookies. To show Mommy who really is the boss around here, I used my REALLY LOUD voice until we got to the check out counter. I would have kept using my REALLY LOUD voice, but I saw a candy bar with a race car on it and wanted to talk about the car and forgot about everything that happened prior to the checkout counter. Currently I'm deciding between being a race car driver and a plumber when I grow up; that's why I had to check out the race car.

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And in other news... Jack tried spinach tonight. He liked it!

A Birthday Song

This used to be a movie of me singing Happy Birthday to Muriel, but we had to take it down so my slow-Internet relatives could see the blog. Thanks for understanding...

Here I am singing Happy Birthday to Muriel!

Note: This is only on the blog temporally as my relatives with slow Internet connections can't see anything on the blog when video clips are part of a post. We'll be deleting this post in a day or two. Until then, enjoy!

Jack is Pulling Up

Jack is starting to pull up on things (remember, we had to lower his crib this past weekend). Mommy has been trying to document the evidence for a couple of days now. Tonight she got proof that our baby is trying to be a big boy! (Note: Jack can pull up completely on his knees if he's pulling up on something a little higher than the side of his pack 'n play.)

What? No cake!?!

"Today is Muriel's birthday," Mommy said after we said our good mornings. "Is she having a cake?," I asked. Mommy explained that she was sure Muriel was having a cake, but that we wouldn't be able to see or eat the cake because Muriel lives far away. (In case you are wondering...Muriel is Mommy's godmother, and she's also my second-cousin-three-times-removed. Mommy knows how to figure out things like that.)

But back to the cake. I was quite bothered by the fact that I wasn't going to see this cake. I couldn't stop talking about it. Finally, after naps, Mommy got a clue and figured out a plan. She found a old packet of blueberry muffin mix, and we made some muffins.

Then we put candles in them and sang happy birthday to Muriel.

It was a lovely party. It's just too bad Muriel wasn't able to make it. Oh well. Happy Birthday, anyway, Muriel! We hope you had a great day!

Inchworm Jack

Currently we have an inchworm living at our house. His name is Jack.

Here he is getting ready to inch...

He gets up on all fours...

...and then it's back down again while lunging forward.

Sure it looks awkward. It also looks harder than crawling. Still, it's how inchworm Jack chooses to get around. And, if I do say so myself, he's rather quick! That little worm can get himself over to what I'm playing with in record time!

Towers

This morning, before heading outside to play, we built a tall tower.

The Haircut!?!?!

We had already drawn with ink pens, read our library books, played outside, taken naps, and built very long train tracks. Even after all that, we still had an hour before Dad got home from work. "What to do, what to do?," Mommy and I wondered. We thought and thought about what to do next, and the only thing we could come up with was cutting Jack's hair.

Yes, you read that right. We decided to cut Jack's hair.

Now I know n-o-t-h-i-n-g about hair, and Mommy knows even less. But Jack is too little to know that, so Mommy and I decided to move forward with the plan. We gathered our combs, brushes, and scissors. "Let the snipping begin," declared Mommy!

We cut a little here, we brushed a little there, and pretty soon we thought we'd better stop while we were ahead. We think it turned out okay--not great--but okay is certainly better than terrible.

As for Jack...well, he's not sure what to think. Just look at his face in these next three pictures. He looks rather unsure of his new hairstyle.

Never fear, little brother, we'll see Grandma Lou in two weeks. She can fix you up!

Sunday Afternoon

Today was a beautiful day, so after naps we headed outside.

Jack and Norah sat on the grass... ...while I filled up the water table. Like my outfit?
After a bit, Jack decided he didn't like sitting on the grass.
I, however, was having a great time with the water table.
Dad got a blanket for Jack to play on. Things were much better for Jack-Jack.
We finished up playing, but we weren't ready to come in. Mommy said not to worry we could eat outside! She ran inside and made a...
...yummy salad!
Dad brought out Jack's high chair so he would be comfortable.
It was a great afternoon!