fall fun

autumn is a great time of year.

jack ... as he does with everything ... is making the most of it:

happy weekend, everybody!

day care day

roxana's daughter, poor little thing, was sick yestereday (double ear infection and throat infection), so jack spent another day at "school"




and another good day was had ...

(remember, you can single click on the image to enlarge it)

how can a day spent coloring, playing in the water, hanging out with other kids, and eating a lot be a bad thing?

but "mamaxana" is back at work today and jack is receiving lots of tlc. it's hard to tell which one of them missed the other more ...

weekend gobble

this is not so much a weekend update as it is a thanksgiving update ...


a little look at how we spent *our* thanksgiving day (held on friday). and of course, no "weekend" is complete without at least a few trips to the park ...

if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

new favorite

we owe you, dear readers, a proper weekend update. and we at llvj promise to make good, very soon. but ... for today ... here's a look at mommy's new favorite photo. taken this weekend at the park near our house:

Turkey Day + 1

Thanksgiving started out innocently enough. Alicia had to work, so Jack and I paid an early-afternoon visit to NBC. Jack had a great time in the newsroom -- so many cables to pull on! So many computers to crash!

We headed back to Wynnwood to await the arrival of Nana and Granddad Jennings. Then, the wind began to howl ...

Just as I was about to preheat the oven to roast our brined and beautiful bird, the power went out. And stayed out. And out. Jack had fun running around in the dark and "attacking" Nana and Granddad with the beam from the flashlight -- just like his very own light saber! By the time the power came back on, it was after 7:00, so we decided to try again on Friday. Things went much more smoothly on Thanksgiving Plus 1. As you can see, Jack particularly enjoyed Alicia's delicious homemade cranberry compote.

The other (and much more exciting) news from Friday was the arrival of Katharine Taylor Louise Winthrop, all 6 pounds and 10 beautiful ounces of her! When she and Jack decide on a china pattern, we'll let you know where their wedding registry is held. Please link to "The Bean Patch" (below/left under 'Crackerjack') to see her in all her glory!

gobble gobble

although mommy is working today ... we are looking forward to celebrating thankgiving with jack this evening.

the turkey is brined and dry ... ready for roasting and thick gravy

the butternut squash & crab bisque is creamy and cool ... ready for warming

the cranberry compote is a sweet-sour syrupy goodness

the skillet buttermilk-cornbread is crusty and golden

the homemade butter is smooth ... chilling in the fridge

the fudge is velvety and rich ... hardened and cut ...

and the other dishes -- green beans, asparagus, cheesy mashed potatoes and pumpkin chiffon pie -- are in progress ... mere hours away from gracing our bountiful table

jack and daddy spent some time this morning as mommy's official testers ... approving the food ... thumbs up to both the fresh butter and the fudge ...

and, as jack learned from daddy this morning, here's how you test the food ... you put some on your fingertip and then suck it off:

happy thanksgiving to one and all!

slide, slide slippety slide

jack is one slip-slidin' little fella!

if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

tricycle, tricycle

jack wants to ride his tricycle ... he wants to ride it where he like(s):



if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

weekend update

on this fine autumnal weekend, we forewent (is that a word?) the usual hurly-burly of scheduled activities in favor of a more leisurely pace.



jack rode his trike to the park. and by rode, i mean mommy pushed him and cajoled him to keep his "buns in the seat and feet on the pedals." he's actually starting to get it and enjoys crusing around the track.





he also had a good time playing on the train:

and sliding down the slide -- wheee!!!!

we arrived home to find daddy mowing the yard and raking leaves



daddy tried to teach jack the joy of jumping in piles of freshly-raked leaves

but jack was more concerned with making sure everything was properly cleaned up

after a yummy lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, jack took a nap and then watched the end of the game with daddy.

which game, you might ask?

well ... the *only* game that matters -- ohio state vs. michigan.



and the buckeyes dominated at the big house! o-h-i-o!



after the game, jack and mommy went out to buy him his own rake. but, the hardware store only had metal soil rakes that mommy envisioned poking out an eye (and it's all fun & games until someone loses an eye) ... so we got a broom instead:

sunday was an equally laid back day ... jack got in a little more playground time, and then welcomed our "beach friends" for an afternoon snack. the kids had a great time, and jack ran around like a mad-man ... screaming and jumping around with the others.

what fun.

the daycare report

jack had a good day at "school" on thursday ... playing with the kids and, of course, eating his meals.

(remember, you can single click on the image to enlarge it)



according to daddy, who talked to the teachers at pickup time, they were particularly impressed with jack's sign language -- they said he did "more," "all done" and a rubbing of the stomach that they weren't sure how to interpret.

oh ... that? it's jack way of saying please.

who's watching jack?

well ... all of our dear readers, of course.

but ... lately jack has had a few different caretakers, prompting us to ask: "who's watching jack?"

last night nana came over and relieved roxana while mommy and daddy went to the 60th anniversary party in honor of "meet the press" at the newseum.

jack and his nana had a good time playing and reading books before she put him to bed.

this morning, we received a call from roxana that she was sick. so ... jack was headed back to "school."

when we arrived this morning, his teacher from last time, miss deone, was happy to see him and asked if he'd brought a yummy lunch. she obviously remembers jack's hearty appetite from last visit.

jack, per his usual, immediately started playing with toys:



and engaging the teachers ...

he didn't even stop what he was doing to acknowledge mommy saying "bye bye" to him. we hope roxana is feeling better tomorrow ... because heading to "school" is a bit of a schlep. but no doubt jack will have a fun day.

a full report on his day to be featured tomorrow!

in case you were wondering ...

mommy *did* indeed make it home last night in time to put jack to bed.

in fact, when mommy walked in the door last night, jack ran excitedly from the other room ...

he was running toward mommy -- at top speed but as if in slow motion. you could almost hear tchaikovsky's overture from romeo & juliet swell ... as it has done in so many cartoon reunions.

and then, like a heat-seeking missile ... he made a sharp turn and diverted ... following the cat who dashed behind the couch.

well ... so much for the mother & child reunion. but, nonetheless ... he was still moderately glad to see his mommy.

drat -- if only i had fur and a tail ...

missing jack

mommy left early today ... before jack awoke ... to fly on to indiana a plane parked near this one ...

i blew all my jack pix yesterday ... so i had to come up with something this morning!

she's hoping she'll make it home to tuck jack into bed tonight (inasmuch as you can tuck in someone who does not use covers).

fingers crossed ... and may the beltway gods be with me.

weekend update

this was an educational weekend.

first ... mommy and jack went to music class to make up one of the classes that jack did not attend with roxana on a friday. it was a chance for mommy to see what they do in music class and for jack to run around, dance with scarves, play tambourine, drums, maracas and egg. we had a blast ... so much fun, in fact, that mommy was unable to take any pictures until we were walking out the door



see ya!

when we got home, jack enjoyed a raisin snack ...


i heard it through the grapevine ...

and daddy revealed to us what he found behind the television while we were gone ...


a plastic dalmation, part of a gear toy, a wood triangle, and part of the "goblin truck"

i mean ... what do *you* have behind your tv?

finding these missing toys made jack pretty happy ...

jack enjoyed riding his horsey ...


giddy up!

... and vacuuming with it??

i think i'll keep him!

here kitty, kitty ...

trucks don't run away like kitties do ...

that's part of why they're fun to play with

after lunch and a nap, mommy and jack went to the linguistics department of the university of maryland to participate in another study. jack played in the waiting room while mommy filled out some forms ...

the experiment had jack watch a short video where they showed him a series of actions and then asked him a question about it.

for example, the video showed a hand wiping a toy camera with a cloth. then, the narration would say, "look, she's wiping on the jub. wow, she's wiping on the jub. yay! she's wiping on the jub." finally, they would show a freeze frame of both the wiping cloth and the toy camera and ask, "which one is the jub?"

it was his eye movements after this question which they were monitoring to figure out if children jack's age can understand new words through context alone.

like most experiments, they couldn't tell me much about how jack performed individually, but we'll get survey results in the future to see how much young kids can pick up through contextual understanding.

and, for our trouble, jack got to pick out a new book to take home. we've been enjoying reading it, but daddy said, "couldn't we find a book about going to sleep?!?"

sunday morning it was time to go to zoo class. mommy was pretty down on zoo class, after the first class was postponed and the teacher for last week's class failed to show up. the zoo sent an apology email, saying there had been a confusion between the regular teacher and the substitute teacher.

so we intrepidly set off ... only to find out that the teacher stood us up, again! needless to say, we are getting a refund and the zoo is never contracting with this group again, but jack was disappointed nonetheless ...


i want to learn animals signs!

but, we made the best of it, watching the zebras and maned wolves before heading home. in the afternoon we watched some of the redskins game (before they choked), took a walk in our neighborhood, and played at the playground for over an hour!

as we headed for home in the gloaming, it was time for a bath and then nana and grandad showed up to feed jack dinner, play with him, and put him to bed while mommy and daddy went to see bruce springsteen! hopefully some pix from that in a future post.

it was a great weekend for all ... and in case there was any doubt, baby ... jack was born to run!

splish splash

so, long-time readers may remember that jack took swimming lessons last may and we were awaiting his report card.

well, here, six months later, we finally have his report card. they had forgotten to send it/lost it/never done it. and they had avoided returning mommy's repeated phone calls. but when mommy showed up in person they could no longer hide. and, voila, we have received jack's report card. we also received a coupon for a free admission to the pool during open swim. daddy shook his head and muttered something about squeaky wheels ...

well, squeak squeak! now let's look at how jack "the fish" did ...

as we suspected ... blowing bubbles was one of jack's weaker areas. but what a difference six months makes ... he loves blowing bubbles in his bathwater.

it's a very solid first report card, and they recommend we repeat the class until we're ready to progress. hopefully we'll get a space for winter session.

if nothing else, it will be fodder for the weekend update!

jack and his daddy

jack and his daddy are the best of buddies. jack loves wrassling and playing with him. one of their most favorite games is tossing the ball, of which you've seen photos before. but here's the live-action version (from a poor quality camera phone)

but things aren't always so fun ... in fact a few hours before this video was taken this morning, jack and daddy had a standoff.

jack decided it was a good idea to hit the tv with the remote. daddy did not agree.

so daddy took away the remote.

this was infuriating to the always even-tempered jack, so he decided it was a good idea to seize a magazine from the table and hit daddy with it. daddy did not agree.

so daddy took away the magazine and emphasized that we do not hit people.

this was even more enraging to jack. so he decided it was a good idea to run up to daddy, and bite him on the leg! daddy did not agree.

oh, it was *on*, people ...

daddy grabbed jack and gave him a "time-out" in the corner ... emphasizing that we do not hit and we do not bite. jack, very rationally, screamed his head off during this disciplinary moment.

but as you see, later on, all was forgiven by daddy and they're the best of pals again.

ah ... 17 months ... what a tender age ...

trafficking jack

our area has tons of traffic ... including *inside* jack's house!

bespoke jack

okay ... maybe not bespoke tailoring ... but this outfit is certainly one of a kind ...

jack was very fortunate to have received many wonderful gifts when he was born. and many of those gifts were clothes -- everything from plain onesies, to khakis with a ribbon belt, to a puffy down vest, to a cashmere cardigan with matching booties, to hand-knit sweaters and hats.

and mommy was adamant that jack wear everything he was gifted with ... at least once. so, yesterday was the day that we completed that assignment and reached our goal.

normally roxana arrives just as we are finishing breakfast and she gets jack dressed for the day. as it turns out, she views this as a perk. she says the other nannies with whom she and jack hang out are not allowed to select the daily outfits for their charges -- instead their mothers lay out the clothes the children are to wear. so they all envy roxana and compliment her on the adorable combinations she comes up with. this is all according to roxana, of course. but, hey, if it makes her happy and it's seasonally appropriate, who is mommy to quarrel?

but ... roxana had to be a bit late monday morning, so mommy seized the opportunity to dress jack in the final untouched costume. jack wore:

the brazilian outfit!

this was a very sweet gift from a colleague and friend of jack's grandad, who was very excited about the arrival of our beautiful boy:

and though it looks like something from an alpine village of yesteryear crossed with a japanese flea market ... it also looks super-cute on our precious babe:

(look closely at the gathered waist)

jack took the outfit in stride, but he made it clear: "i'm not a barbie doll, mom!"

anyway, it's getting a little short, so it probably won't get too many more wearings. but we had fun on this day.

and roxana reports all the nannies crowed over how cute it was.