tcb

yeah, at llvj we're tcb ... but it's not what you think ...

in this case, tcb is "takin' care of baby" and jack is the leader of that band.

yesterday he came in with daddy to wake mommy up (the boys usually -- and very kindly -- let mommy sleep-in in the mornings), climbed into bed and asked his usual question, "where's the baby?" once shown, he proceeded to take his sippy cup of milk, poke it into mommy's (still concave!) belly button and coaxed, "here baby, here's some milk!"

this morning he came in like a one-boy reveille. "mama, wake up! mama, take off the blanket! mama, it's morning time!" and then, of course ... "where's the baby?" but when mommy raised her shirt to show him her protruding belly he said, "no, mama, put your shirt back on the baby. she's still sleeping."

like we said ...

tcb.

weekend update

another fun weekend in llvj-land ...

saturday was ambitious. we started out for a pre-9 a.m. haircut at the barbershop. we mentioned last week that jack needed a haircut. and we also refreshed your memories about the difficulties that past haircuts have presented.

so, it was with a modicum of grit and determination (not to mention a healthy dose of trepidation) that mommy and jack departed for the barbershop.

as we waited for our turn, we watched the birds they keep at the barbershop, examining what they were eating and what their little house inside the cage was like.

when called to the big chair for our turn, jack was slightly skeptical. but he saw mommy gamely put on a cape, and he accepted his own cape before climbing up onto mommy's lap.

while spiro snipped, mommy kept up a steady patter -- asking questions about the bird, the book we were looking at, and the big fishbowl of lollipops that they keep for just these such visits.

jack enjoyed a 9 a.m. lollipop ... a *rare* occurence ... and mostly just said that the falling hair was tickling him. he never approached tears, even as the clippers came out -- normally the scary part. we just pretended that bees were tickling us. oh yeah, because tickling bees is way less scary than clippers ... whatever ... if it works, we take it and run with it.

we emerged a little bit hairy, but with a very cute looking boy and a hungry mommy. so we headed to breakfast, where we split a spinach and feta croissant and an egg and cheese croissant. jack wolfed his portion down with gusto and soon it was time to head for our playdate.

despite a very rainy forecast, our playgroup had scheduled a meeting at a local park. as it turned out, only two of us were intrepid enough to brave the damp playground. but ... it was the right two for the occassion.

kevin and jack are kindred spirits -- wild men who like to run around and exasperate their mothers. they have run into each other at our neighborhood playground before and so jack was excited to hear that we were going to see kevin. and they had a great time playing together.

to wit:

please note jack's very cute haircut in the pictures ...

after a fun morning, we headed home for a lunch and nap. the first one was well-received by jack. the second? well, let's just say ... not so much.

and more rainy weather didn't dampen jack's enthusiasm for our local park, so he and daddy headed off with a ball, only to return 90 minutes later in a state that required jack's clothes to be stripped off at the front door.

sunday was a similarly nice day. after a morning full of playing around the house, featuring many rounds of "hide from the monster" game, jack and mommy headed to the supermarket. jack enjoys going to the grocery store ... mostly because our first stop is at the deli counter where he always gets to enjoy a sample. taking him turns the trip into an hour-plus-long odyssey, but we do have a great time weighing our produce and picking out just the right kind of frozen waffles.

we returned in time for lunch and nap. again ... not so much on the latter. mommy and daddy began to panic. was this the beginning of the end? was nap rejection already beginning? i mean, jack's never been a great napper (in fact, "crappy nappy" was once a working definition in our household) but we didn't dream he'd quit napping at 28 months!!

well, the panic was short-lived. after 30+ minutes of calling out, "i want to come ooouuuttt!!!" mommy went in to tell jack that he didn't have to sleep but he had to have quiet time in his crib until we came back to get him (sort of the toddler's version of "you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here"). sure enough, about 10 minutes later, all was quiet and he slept for 45 minutes. not great, but at least our panic has been assuaged for now.

the delayed nap meant we were late heading off to see our beach friends for our biweekly happy hour. but we made it and had a great time. again, it was too wild to even snap any pictures. we all agree, as the ranks of kids have increased arithmetically, the wildness has grown geometrically. malthus has nothing on us.

what a weekend!

just my imagination

jack is starting to get more and more into pretending games that require some imagination.

while some games involve repeating and expanding scenarios from "go diego go" ...

like last week when jack was pretending that he and mommy were amazonian river dolphins about to go over a waterfall, who saved themselves by swimming backward, and then the baby river dolphin (ably played by jack) turned from gray to pink to show he had matured ...

some games have their basis a *little* more squarely in everyday real life.

this morning jack nestled between mommy and daddy in their bed and became our barber. he has been telling us for two weeks that he needs a haircut ... which he does ... but which we find humorous since his other outings to the barber have been such ordeals.

but today he sat between us happily trimming first mommy's, then daddy's hair. "schwip, schwip, i'm snipping!" he told mommy. "zhoom, zhoom, i'm cutting!" he told daddy.

and when we were done, he offered us both pretend lollipops, which we dutifully licked.

he gave himself a lollipop too.

which he unsurprisingly crunched on the third lick.

who knew imaginative play involved treats?!?

welcome to the blogosphere

of course all of jack's antics and exploits are new to us ... but when it comes to the larger family, lots of it is btdt (been there, done that).

jack's older cousins brady and parker (l-r) have paved the way ... from infancy to first foods, first steps, preschool, and potty training (*gulp*).

now, dear readers, you have the chance to look into the future and see some of the things that jack will be doing in the months and years to come ... because brady and parker have a brand new blog!

just plummer lucky is the internet's new window into their world ... and so far a colorful world it is.

so, we say welcome to the neighborhood, cuz ... glad you're here!

and of course they'll always be in our "crackerjack" section, at left, if you're looking for them.

weekend update

this weekend was bittersweet.

much of our family, including jack's aunt megan, whom he has not seen in over a year was in town.

sweet.

for the memorial service honoring mommy's great aunt shirley.

bitter.

but, as the sign on shirley's kitchen door read, "life is uncertain, eat dessert first," we will focus this update on the sweet.


nana and aunt megan arrived friday evening for some playtime before dinner. jack showed off his skills ...

and aunt megan was impressed ...

saturday took us to virginia for the service, and afterward we celebrated a well-lived life. jack and his cousins embodied liveliness, as they ran around the courtyard at shirley's retirement community. we suspect the residents must not have many weekends with six kids running wild below their condo windows.

jack was particularly fond of his third cousin joey ...

though they were born just three days apart, jack decided to "adopt" joey, and ran around hugging and kissing him and calling him, "my baby."

and he was very interested in keeping up with big kids emily, jack s., and allison ...

in fact, he acted as though 5 year-old jack was more his equal than 2 year-old joe!

but the kids had a ball together ... the first time they've all been together in a year and a half (when jack and joe weren't doing very much!) ... and it was a great joy and affirmation for all of the first cousins -- shirley's daughters and nieces -- to see such liveliness.

since jack's aunt megan and great-aunt kathleen were in town, sunday we had a family day.

we took jack to great falls park to feed the ducks. sadly, there were no ducks to be found, but jack had a grand old time anyway, running, climbing and exploring ...

and jack obliged us by quacking like a duck to get pieces of bread fed to him ... so it was *almost* like having ducks to feed ...

despite a sad reason for our reunion, we and our little duckling had a great family weekend and a nice end to the summer.

float on

the pool closed this week ... yet another unofficial end to the summer that will officially end all too soon.

to note the date ... here are some pictures from jack's last trip over labor day weekend with daddy, grandma and grandpa.

the name game

it was another school morning ... but that didn't faze us. we had a great morning!

jack was feeling very loving and snuggled up in bed with mommy to start the day. he put his head to mommy's belly and said, "hello, baby! what's your name?"

mommy replied, "well, she doesn't have a name yet. what name do you think would be good?"

"jack mershon."

mommy had to stifle a laugh. "that is a great name, but that name's already taken. that's your name."

"hello, baby! my name's jack. what's your name?" and he proceeded to give mommy's belly a few kisses.

"you're going to be a great big brother, jack."

mommy was feeling very proud of jack. and later, downstairs, jack accomplished a task that made *him* feel very proud of jack.

he built a tower using "all the shapes" as he put it.

he gets quite frustrated when he tries to build a tower with his sorting shapes because it often collapses before he is through. and building a tower out of trapezoids, rhombuses (rhombi??) and other random parallelpipeds is not easy. but jack perservered and had success this morning.

finally, it was time for school. mommy reminded jack that she would not be in his classroom today. jack said, "mama, i miss you all day!" but mommy reassured him that, as we read about last night before bed, he would have his kissing hand with him if he was missing mama. and with that, mommy pulled into the drop-off line at school, the car door opened and another mom got jack out of his car seat and walked him into school.

jack walked in with only one backward glance as mommy pulled away and down the driveway.

what a big brother and a big, big boy.

weekend update, sorta

we write "sorta" because it's already mid-week and our normal monday feature still hasn't been posted.

we also write "sorta" because there is not that much to update you on from the weekend.

saturday was spent with jack helping mommy do errands like grocery shopping and going to the cleaners at the local plaza in the morning and then, while mommy was out at tea in the afternoon, daddy and jack spending some quality time at the park.

scintillating.

sunday included more park time in the morning (this time with mommy). but after nap is where things got interesting.

we had our "beach friends" over for an early happy hour. jack was very excited to see all his pals -- garrett, grace, lucy, phia, baby james and baby phoebe -- and they all celebrated their reunion by running wild at in our house and in our yard. so much chaos that we didn't even snap pictures!

and, as soon as our guests left, we hurried to jack's school for the back-to-school picnic. it was fun to see all the kids, not just the ones in jack's class, playing around and to get to meet more of the parents.

it too was chaotic, but we did manage to snap some pictures.

it was held in the backyard of the school, where the big kids' playground is. littler ones only get to come back there as a special treat but jack seemed right at home.

after the first week of school, when jack had been seeming so big and grownup, it was interesting to see him in the context of the older, bigger kids -- some nearly 5 years-old, not to mention their older siblings who came along for the fun. comparatively he looked more like a toddler, and we realized our little guy hasn't *totally* grown up yet!

from a slow start to a whirlwind at the end, but a fine weekend.

and with that ... consider yourselves updated.

another day at preschool

today was mommy's day to work or "coöp" (to use the lingo ... and the new yorker's style guide) in jack's nursery school.

it was supposed to be the teacher, mommy, and one other mother with 9 kids. 1 on 3. no problem, right?

as it turned out ... one little girl was sick. down to 8.

one girl was crying so uncontrollably the school director had to call her nanny to come be with her.

and that girl set off another girl who was crying so uncontrollably that she had to go with her mom, who was cooping in big brother's classroom. down to 7.

jack was very sweet with the girl waiting for her babysitter. he tried to give her a little hug and said, "you missin' your mama. it's okay." he also patted the head of a little boy who was crying. the class consoler ... though he too would later need consoling ...

so, we were down to 7 kids and up to 4 adults (teacher, cooping mommies, nanny). but it felt like things were still out of control and the teacher's aide also came in to help us. 5 on 7. almost manageable odds.

almost.

we played with peg boards, trains and tracks, sand table, playdough, shopping carts, cash registers, baby dolls, trucks, legos ... and that was just in the first hour!

we also painted (with fingers and at the easel), ate a snack, and enjoyed a reading of "goodnight gorilla" during circle time.

for the record, every single child in the class cried at least once. jack cried when he had to put away a truck and sit down for circle time, though he quickly recovered when he was given the privileged job of sticking a day on the calendar.

later ... outside on the playground ... the chaos continued, as our class was joined by the 3 year-olds and the parking lot turned into a tricycle autobahn.

it was a wild and crazy day and frazzled mommy had to retreat to the relative calmness of a network news organization to catch her breath.

but it was a great day at school! and we hear that it gets much easier ...

by january.

gulp.

think pink

no ... livin' la vida jack hasn't been hacked or hijacked ...

well, at least not in the conventional sense ...

but this blog ... and our lives ... will change in about 4 1/2 months and we've turned the blog pink to announce it to you all, dear readers

yes, at the end of january we plan to welcome our daughter to our family!

we got gender confirmation today, along with the news that everything is looking good ... head, heart, limbs and organs.

we are thrilled and she seemed pretty happy too. in fact, we think she was even smiling at us

preschool, part deux

jack and mommy headed off to preschool again today ... this time for a full session (2.5 hours) with the full class (9 kids).

we had originally thought that the class was 5 girls and 4 boys, but it turns out to be the reverse. apparently "riley" ... whom a certain mommy had pictured as a red-headed, freckled little gril ... is actually a little asian boy. ass-u-me and all that ...

anyway, jack settled in today pretty easily. he marched right in and remembered where his cubby was to put his bookbag inside.

but, he was also a little clingy, emotionally if not physically. he repeatedly asked for "help" with the trucks in the sand table ... which he hardly needed.

but eventually he settled in, played with more toys and when, 20 minutes in, I told him I was heading to work, he hardly seemed to notice or care.

roxana does report that when she picked him up at noon, he told her, "'xana, i missed you all day!" and wanted to hold her hand in the car. she, of course, was thrilled with how sweet he was and made her feel very special and wanted, amid the new "threat" of preschool.

next tuesday will be mommy's first day to work in the classroom, so we'll see first-hand how jack does in action for the full day.

but something tells us he's doing just fine.

a grand time

over labor day weekend, jack's grandma and grandpa (aka "gammagamma") came for a visit and to provide some relief to the solo-parenting daddy.

jack was very glad to see them.



and the fact that they brought fresh ohio corn and peaches was not lost on jack either. in fact, he took the opportunity to have his first corn on the cob. he did pretty well ... if you consider trying to eat the entire cob like a farmed hog doing well ...



daddy and grandpa even got to sneak off for some golf, leaving jack and grandma to find their own activities. grandma scheduled a full day of snuggles ... and jack thought that was a pretty good agenda.


but jack's grands also got to witness him in all his 2 year-old glory -- in action at the playground, endlessly running, jumping off high platforms, climbing precarious ladders, jabbering like a magpie ...

you know -- the usual ...

school daze

the day started just like any other ... milk and chee-chees, blues clues, the trash trucks rumbling by ...

but it was not just any other day.

it was the first day.

of preschool.

*gulp*

so we ate a hearty breakfast of pancakes, bananas, and orange juice ...



got dressed in our first-day-of-school outfit and got our bookbag packed



as we headed off in the car, we felt a little nervous. what would school be like? would the other kids be nice? would the teacher, mrs. guterl, be nice? would we get demerits for not pronouncing her name correctly??



but as we walked up the path to school, the nervousness slipped away and we were eager to get there ...

hurry up, daddy!

once inside, we understood what all the fuss over school was about. this place is great! they have all kinds of toys ...


like a shopping cart and cash register ...

a pretend vacuum ...

and a playhouse with moveable furniture ...

since we only had half of the kids there for half the regular time, mrs. guterl soon started flashing the lights to call us to circle time. we came and sat on our carpet squares and got to put the days onto the calendar. daddy helped stick it on.



then we read a book and sang two songs -- "twinkle twinkle" and "schoolbus tires" (aka"the wheels on the bus"), both of which we sang along with lustily.



after circle time, we washed our hands in a tub of warm soapy water and settled down for ...



snack time!! yummmm ...



with only a little time left until dismissal, we also got in some more time at the sand table ...



and with the playdough ...



when the lights flashed again, we all cleaned up, got our bookbags from our cubbies, and lined up for dismissal at the "flag door" (which door is that, you wonder? well, it's the door with the flag picture on it. duh!).



on our way out, a stop on the playground looked promising, but we are saving that until our full day on thursday, when we'll get to play outside and ride trikes and big wheels too!


oh yeah, we'll definitely be coming back on thursday ...



'cause nursery school is too much fun to miss!!


to see more photos from today, check out jack's page on snapfish:

http://jenningsmershon.snapfish.com/snapfish
and enter room code: jackm

jack's beach party

you know how you usually see the "weekend update" on mondays? well ... not this monday.

not hardly.

we have much to catch you up on ... a visit by jack's grandma and grandpa, jack's beach adventure, the start of preschool (tomorrow) ... so it might be a while before we tell you that we spent a rainy "hannah" saturday buying jack a new pair of shoes ... oh wait, we just told you ...

well, anyway, without further ado, here's the main attraction ... some highlights from jack's trip to the outer banks ... a little montage we call "jack's beach party"

labor day

we celebrated labor day by making jack dig a ditch. he's particularly skilled (practice makes perfect):

hope you all dug your labor day.

we'll have more pictures from the beach this week, so stay tuned ...