everybody's working for the weekend

are we ever! it was great to have a full day with jack on our hands. although michael kindly handled the early shift and let me sleep until 8a, it still seemed like a full day with the boy.

mommy and jack headed off to pace group. we're still meeting after nearly 9 months! it's great to have that as an outlet. and, unlike last time when he got scared and fussy, today jack was *loving* being with the other kids.

we arrived first, which gave jack a chance to warm up to the house and to the boy in the group who lives there -- kai.

other kids slowly arrived and jack took it all in stride. last time he was wary, but this time he was playing and at the center of the action.

the two oldest -- kai and bea (seen here) ...

... are 12 months and 14 months, respectively. and although they have at least 3 months on jack, that did not stop him from wanting to emulate them. especially when it came to climbing the stairs!!

unlike boring old mom and dad's house, this house did not have a gate at the bottom of the stairs, which meant jack chose to ignore all the cool toys kai had (although we did like a certain puzzle with furry animals) ...

... in favor of trying to summit the hard wood stairs. and, considering jack does not get to do it all that often, he was a natural.

the other moms of kids closer to jack's age, like darian, who is about 2 weeks older than jack ...

all commented about how active he is. they kindly did not comment about how haggard mommy is! it seems the two are related ...

the other things the moms could not believe is that:

• jack only naps for 25 - 40 minutes at a time
• jack goes to bed at 5:30
• jack still wakes in the night to eat

i sometimes can hardly believe the above myself! it seems that jack has some sleeping challenges. but, other moms complain that her kid sits there and barely crawls at 9 months or that her kid has to be chased around and force fed because s/he doesn't like food. so, nothing's perfect.

after a crazy day at pace, mommy needed a nap, but not jack. we got by today on three naps of 25 minutes, 10 minutes and 10 minutes. luckily, despite our lack of sleep, we were still in a good mood when nana came over in the late afternoon to feed us dinner and help give us our bath.

we even went out and checked out the pool we've joined for the summer, to make sure it met jack's standards. it does, and so we'll be enjoying ourselves come memorial day. luckily jack is signed up for swimming lessons, so i'm sure he'll be doing laps in no time. let's hope mommy doesn't drown trying to keep up with him!

it seems no matter how much energy you have, they always have more. ah ... the paramount lesson of parenthood ...