the pied piper

a favorite game of jack's is to march along to an ersatz kazoo, made from an empty paper towel roll.

jack's daddy is a particularly talented musician on this instrument ... a pied piper of sorts.

jack will have to march to his own drummer this week ... his pied piper has decamped from hamelin to massachusetts through super duper tuesday.

we'll miss you, daddy!

ah .... 6:07 ...

those who knew mommy in her former life would never have believed that she would be happy about a 6 am wakeup call, but it was nirvana to not hear jack until seven past. he almost coughed himself awake at just past 4, but luckily he settled back down. that's why we'll still be going to check in with dr. dana later today.

daddy pointed out this weekend just how sick and wrong it is to come downstairs at 7am and find that the coffeemaker (with its 2-hour auto shutoff) was already off. well, we're pleased to report a coffee maker still hot, post-8 am. oh happy day!

so early ...

what time is it?

four-thirty

it's not late -- no, no ...

it's just early, early!

~ the spin doctors

well, the spin doctors may not have endured as a band, but the wisdom of their lyrics comes back to mind after a weekend of very little sleep.

jack, still fighting his cold, also cut his incisor teeth this weekend. that made for some very early morning wakeups. to wit:

• saturday - 5:20 a.m.
• sunday - 4:20 a.m.
• monday - 5:15 a.m.

what's the word? oh yeah - ouch!

mommy took saturday and monday ... sunday (bloody sunday) fell to daddy. that's the day mommy stumbled downstairs to find the words "so early" spelled out in jack's fridge phonics letters.

clearly, a cry for help.

last night (this morning?) jack had a coughing fit at 3:3o a.m. daddy and mommy held their collective breath, waiting to see if that would awaken the slumbering bear. thankfully he returned to reverie until the coughing fit at 5:15 a.m. did that in.

on a related note, jack has begun to watch more tv than before. when you're trying to get a couple *hours* of quiet out of a kid who is normally not very quiet, it's one of your only options. so, favorites have now become sesame street (particularly "elmo's world"), "bob-bob" (aka bob the builder), teletubbies and oobi. lemme tell ya, kids, you're truly reached delirium when you're singing the theme song to oobi before the dawn has broken.

all four teeth seem to have poked through, at least a bit, and are we head to the doctor tomorrow morning to check on the cough. perhaps we'll be sleeping until "number 6" by week's end.

to dream ... perchance to sleep.

feline evolution

long-time readers know how much jack loves our cats and how the feeling is not mutual.

when "talking" about the cats, he's gone from a simple shriek of delight, to saying "cat," to saying, "kitty," to then just making a "meow" sound, to now saying, "floyd." it actually sounds more like "fffoyyd." imagine meowing the word floyd ... that's sort of it.

but not only does he call floyd "floyd" he also calls janice "floyd." we correct him and say, "no, that's janice," and he looks puzzled, but obligingly says, "jans." but considering he hardly ever sees her, it's not that big a problem. in fact, it's not surprising he thinks she's floyd

he also has a stuffed cat, whom he calls "floyd." and bob the builder's cat pilchard? yeah, you guessed it ... "floyd." pretty much any cat we ever see, regardless of color, size or location ... "floyd."

i wonder if we can just go back to saying "cat?"

welcome back

we have many welcomes to extend ...

wilkommen to mommy ... back from her trip to the middle east.

bienvenue to jack ... back from a weekend of sickness (fever and cough) that turned him into "bizzaro jack" -- not eating and napping a lot. the exact opposite of his normal personality.

and welcome to the blog ... for the above reasons and several others we've been absent but we're back in action now and have many tales to tell you about what jack's been up to so far in 2008 ... and still to come, a look at his floridian christmas hijinks.

so welcome ...
im cabaret, au cabaret, to cabaret

weekend pix

**copyright 2007 must credit "nana"!!**

(Bachelor) Week-end Update

Jack and I had a grand old time this week-end. The usual 'guy stuff' -- martinis, knife-throwing, and a little game we like to call "Electrical Socket Bingo." Saturday morning was swimming lesson. Note to self: Never again wonder why the heck it's taking so long for Lici and Jack to emerge from the locker room; Jack is particularly slippery when wet. After park/lunch/nap, Nana came over for a few hours so that I could take a shower and head to the grocery store (Thanks, Nana!). Sunday morning found us at a birthday party at Little Gym for our friend Bea. Jack was a little apprehensive at first, but after a few minutes he warmed right up. Sunday afternoon, it was off to the home of La Luce and SBJ (Lucy Attis and Sweet Baby James Attis) for an Outer Banks crew get-together. All in all, a great couple of days. So great that I'll probably be in bed by 8:30 tonight ...

weekend update

we had a fun weekend together ... going to jack's swimming lesson, where mommy's lens fogged up as she tried to clandestinely photograph the goings-on (no pictures allowed until the last lesson!). but you can still see jack in all his aquatic cuteness.

after lessons and a second breakfast (for jack), we played at the playground, around the house, and had a long walk around the neighborhood.

saturday night brought rain, which meant sunday brought mud puddles for splashing in. jack found plenty up at the park while racing a friend's black lab for a launched tennis ball. let's just say jack didn't quite keep pace, but had a blast chasing after lucky.

most importantly, monday brings several important events. first, the return of jack's music classes, which he attends with roxana. they were headed off to the library this morning for a fun session of songs, dancing and "rhythm" which basically means banging the heck out of all kids of drums and sticks. second, mommy's departure tonight for a 10-day trip through the middle east, and third (and most importantly) the bcs championship game. jack will probably be asleep before it starts, but he's wearing the scarlet and grey all the same.


o-h-i-o!

go buckeyes!

christmas fun

jack had a great time on christmas day ... checking out his stocking, opening his gifts, playing with his toy and eating a delicious christmas dinner (complete with apple pie and cinnamon ice cream).

more details about jack's "second christmas" in florida in a future installment.

ho ho ho!

welcome 2008!

the new year has rung in and we have lots of exciting updates for you ...

pre-christmas guests, our christmas celebration at home, and our trip to florida are among a few of the highlights to come ... not to mention the start of swimming lessons this weekend!

for now ... here's a glimpse of a (b')jolly little elf who showed up at our christmas.