Ringing the Bell

I published this on my design blog, but I know some of you check in here every so often so I thought I'd share here too. I also have other pictures to add but I'll start with this for now.

This Christmas my husband and I decided it was time to get out of our comfort zone and do something out of our ordinary. We're not sure why we haven't volunteered for the bell before. It wasn't hard and our son Jack was very excited about our scheduled one hour slot to ring the Salvation Army bell in front of our local Walmart. It was quite eye-opening as so many people walked by without even a glance, and those were usually the gloomy folks. Jack's big smile and little 3 year old voice saying "Merry Christmas" seemed to brighten so many faces - so fun to watch. It turned out to be a really cold night so we all bundled up well - I even got out my "Russia" coat and we all stayed warm.If you can find a place to sign up - it's an experience I encourage everyone to have.
Merry Christmas!

More Growing!

So, tonight is the night Jack has switched to his "big boy bed". We converted his crib to the daybed and he was very excited. But even with his tough exterior, we could see there was some concern about not having that rail. We'll be putting on a guard to give him some sense of security and also for safety, but we don't have that part yet so we'll see how tonight goes. The last two nights he's turned a corner and has basically mostly gotten out of his crib, taunting us with a "mommy, look!" We didn't want him to get hurt so we decided to go for it tonight.
He's probably a bit older than most when it comes to changing to a toddler bed, but he showed no interest in getting out until a few mornings ago. We thought it was a good time to switch since he's turned the corner in some other areas as well. I can't think of them right now, but he's a bit "older" now, more than just physically. *sniff* He knows most of his alphabet now, all colors and most shape names. He loves to read books, even more than before. He wants us to read him the words, asking "you read the words to me?"

In another week or so we will be celebrating the fact that we've had Jack for half of his life. It marks the beginning of "more with us than without us." It's been an exciting (albeit challenging) journey and I look forward to more!

Here are some more snapshots of our lives over the last month or so....
Vacation in Sanibel: First family hotel stay since Russia - sweet!

Multi-tasking like his daddy: reading a book and watching a movie at the same time

2 years ago...

It's been an amazing journey, these last two years. On this day, two years ago, we met our son. I get all teary eyed when I go through the pictures from our first trip to Russia. What a surreal experience, filled with excitement and exhaustion, but most of all, filled with amazement at our son-t0-be!Check out those clothes! LOL

It took 6 months to bring him home but that first day marked the change in our hearts forever. He was so little and wobbly, so cute, very bright and so very interested in everything! He immediately connected with David and we just knew he was to be ours!
We love our little boy and couldn't imagine life without him. God knew what He was doing. He has truly blessed us with Jack and we are forever grateful!

Checkup!

We went to see the pediatrician today for Jack's annual checkup. He weighed in at (still) 32 lbs. and has grown to 37 1/2". It's been only 17 months and he's grown 5 1/4". He went from the teens in percentile to now being in the 50% for both weight and height. We are thrilled to see his great progress both physically and intellectually! God is faithful.

He decided this was his helmet...

Jack is THREE!

Today Jack officially turned 3. No more two, he's a big boy now... *sniff*

He's still 'only' 32 lbs. but has stretched upwards. He hasn't quite gotten to a 3T but it depends on the brand. He's also just about into a size 8 shoe... He looks so much older to me too. *sniff, sniff*

Last night I snapped some pictures of the last day he was 2. He helped me 'make' a cake, but it was actually for a customer's cake for next weekend... he got the best part though... :) I love that kid!

Jack's 3rd Birthday Party

Wow, what a weekend! Jack will be turning 3 in just a few days and since David's parents were in town this past week, we decided to celebrate his birthday last Saturday. Everyone from last year made it back and this year Jack completely understood what was happening. It totally made my day when Jack came out of his room after naptime and saw all his "friends" there for his birthday. He spun around in circles amazed at who was there and then said "my birthday here?" Even now I'm smiling as I replay the scene in my mind. I'm so grateful to all those who joined us in making Jack feel so special.

Guests started out by following signs up our driveway...
and then the front door indicated where they were - Fire House #3Everyone got a Junior Firefighter Badge! (hi grandpa)It was on to the food! We had grilled "Hot" dogs, 5-Alarm Chili, plus Flamin' Hot Cheetos. Then cooled off with some "Water" melon. Everyone got a fire hydrant drinking cup too!We had to play a game, of course, but with the weather not cooperating we played indoors. A "Bucket Brigade" formed as we had to fill a water hydrant (cup) to overflowing using tiny espresso cups (buckets) passed down a line of 7 people (per team)! Congrats to the winning team!Then it was time for the sweets! Besides the cake there were "Blazing" brownie pops, "Marshmallow Flamers" (homemade marshmallows), "Combustible" Caramel Popcorn, and "Fire House" Cookie Pops (Oreos covered in chocolate). It was so cool to see how excited Jack was when he saw his Fire Truck cake and dessert table. I had rotating police lights on the table for effect. I made it Red Velvet to match the "red" theme. Not sure if you can see it clearly but I made him an iron-on logo for his red shirt. It say "Fire Chief Jack" above the fireman cross logo.
Then it was presents time! With most every present he opened he said "It's my birthday now?" Probably because we said he had to wait until his birthday for this or that. Now he was getting gifts so logically it had to be his birthday! This card below played a song from his most requested movie "Cars". He got a couple of boxes of Matchbox cars and he knew the names of each vehicle. Then, before moving on to the next gift, he had to park them neatly.
He loves his new cookie set, which he uses in his new kitchen. Sad to see the one I made him be put to the side, but this new one takes up much less space!
More reading... he really enjoys looking at pictures and wants us to read the words to him. I'm very happy about this!
In the end, everyone got to take home a favor. Each guest got their fire hydrant cup, a "matchbook" (chocolate tipped pretzel sticks), and a cookie pop.It was a great time for all! I'm very happy with how everything went and feel so blessed to have such great family and friends.

Jack and his Newest Cousin

Here are some snapshots of Jack and his new cousin. She's really cute and makes the funniest faces! David looks really cute with her too, no? I threw in a picture of me at the hospital right after the baby was born. I'm kind of surprised I don't look worse as that was about 3:30 pm and I'd been awake since the morning the day before except for about an hour nap. Fun times!

The Fourth

We didn't go somewhere to see fireworks, mainly because we're in the throes of potty training. Sparklers were the main attraction on our rainy 4th of July. We went out to our driveway and had some fun even though there was a constant drizzle. This video was taken right after Jack touched a sparkler that had just gone out. He knew he wasn't supposed to and because of his strong will decided he didn't believe us and had to make sure the end really was hot. He got a little blister on the tip of his finger but that didn't make him fearful of sparklers. I didn't want it to happen but it made him cautious for the rest of the evening which was good.

On another note, Jack now has another little girl cousin. Her name is Giselle Addison and she arrived Friday afternoon. I'll have pictures in another post of a cute little kiss Jack gave her. This time it doesn't look like he's trying to eat her. LOL

Beach Video

Here's a video clip of Jack at the beach at the end of May.

June Update

I've been quite busy lately with some new ventures, as you might know if you've followed my design blog. Jack has been busy right along with me getting bigger and more mature. Here's a random update (finally)!

Tid bits of Jack

We've been to the beach and pool several times now and he has no fear of the water. We're looking into swimming lessons!

His cars 'talk' to each other now. (He knows all the characters' names from the Disney movie Cars) He makes up little conversations between them. This is really encouraging. He tells us stories, starting with "one day..." With this new creative imagination comes new fears. He's more afraid of the dark than he used to be, though it's not crippling. Thunder unnerves him too now. It's not been bad and I understand it's all part of the age, which means he's up to par with others his age. yay.
His shape recognition started about 2 months ago. He knows what a triangle, circle and square are, but he's recently started putting the letter and number shapes in their respective holes in his toys. It had me a little worried that he had no clue a while back but I guess he just needed a little more time.
He comes up with funny remarks like "here daddy, eat this monkey" while holding out his empty clenched hand. Of course David said "I'm not eating a real monkey, is it a candy monkey?" Jack said "ok it's a candy monkey - eat it!" (I blame this on David as he is always making up goofy things like this... I love it!)

He's growing 'up', his weight has remained the same. His communication skills have gone through the roof which has helped with the tantrums. He's able to understand what I'm telling him and can reason a bit more. He's simply becoming a little boy which can be sad at the same time as exciting.

He has me laughing all the time with the things he comes up with. He is a constant narrator on the road telling me what color or type of car is next to us or what has just passed (Hummer, trash truck, Jeep, Semi truck, money truck, dirty truck, etc.) Sometimes it's a little much but it's really cute most of the time.

Blueberry picking!

He's been at the "mine" stage a little while now, but just last weekend we noticed he thought the train another little boy was playing with should be his and took it from him. He acted very innocent and when I told him to give it back he said sheepishly "but I want it". This is the newest stage. Though he has also started the "why not?" when I tell him 'no' or 'not right now'.

I made him a cardboard kitchen from which he always makes people milk cups but won't let them drink it unless they pray first, like at a meal. He also makes his staple foods "pasta and meat"!
In the toddler class at church on Father's day the kids were given hand shaped foam and put their own handprint on them. Jack's handprint was red. When asked about it Jack said "I wanted blue paint but that girl said I had to use red." He sounded kind of bummed and he sounded so grown up! :(
He comes up with questions like "mommy want eat this paper?" and then answers himself with a "that be silly - hahaha"

Love that kid!

Hodge Podge of Stories and Updates (long)

CAUGHT IN THE ACT - Is this a bad sign? :)

One morning Jack was looking at the little cut on his knuckle. I happened to be telling him the requested "Squeeky Squirrel" story and said Mommy squirrel kissed Squeeky's booboo and made it all better! Of course, Jack said "Mommy kiss Jack's booboo" and of course I did with a loud smack! He looked at his finger, totally confused! I think, in his mind, he thought "all better" is the same as "all gone" and was trying to figure out why the booboo was still there!

On March 28th we had our 1 year anniversary of Gotcha Day (the day we got Jack in our custody). It's amazing to see how much has changed with Jack in just one year. To commemorate we had Jack do work in our backyard! HA-no not really. It rained a LOT and our yard flooded so he and David had fun playing in the water. They also found a few worms and Jack has no problem with them... unlike me! yuk. Jack is mostly right on target with other kids his age and in some ways he's more advanced. Amazing for us to see. Also, within a two week period just before this Jack grew 3/4"! His behavior alluded to such as he was pretty much a demanding bear. Oh well!
Grandma and Grandpa came from Missouri for a visit. It was a great time. Unfortunately it was during his 2 week growth spurt so he wasn't his nicest during our family get togethers. Just another phase with toddlers I guess! He was definitely more aware of his new cousin Josslyn and we got some fun pics with the grandparents and the 2 grandchildren! One of the days we went to our local park and spent time playing there and had lunch also. The weather was perfect and we all enjoyed it!Jack went to the dentist and had another great checkup! His teeth and gums are doing well! Whew!

We have been going to a Creative Movement class for 2 year olds on Friday mornings. It's been really great for him to be involved in a peer group. He's both a leader and a follower with the other kids in the class, which makes me a little crazy. I wish he would listen to the teacher more, but this seems to be a trend with the kids his age so I guess it's something I have to deal with.
Today was our first state funded playgroup class for 2 year old children. It's a small group of about 10 and we were on a waiting list and finally got in. Unfortunately it's only until he turns 3 and they follow the school calendar. He'll have playgroup for another couple of months and then the summer off. He turns 3 before the next school year so that's all with this playgroup. It doesn't matter to me, I'm just happy he's able to be in a sort-of classroom setting with other kids his age. He did pretty well today and the teacher is great. We parents are still involved, guiding their movements around this huge toy sectioned room and helping with tasks, but the teacher does a great job redirecting and reengaging the kids.

A common theme I hear from those who meet Jack is "wow, he's not shy" - to which I respond "yeah, he knows no strangers!" Jack says hello to EVERYONE. Comments audibly on everything he sees (including calling men with long hair 'girls' and making sure everyone knows "that girl crying loud!?") He responds to questions plainly and emphatically and has a ton of enthusiasm about EVERYTHING. He tells his own stories, making a lot of them up and plays on his own now too. (It helps that Daddy is a great storyteller). He corrects things that we do 'wrong' and says "good job mommy/daddy" when he thinks we are doing something right. Sunday morning as I brought my coffee cup into my room to sit on my dresser while I showered he said "Wait, Wait Mommy - don't bring coffee in shower!" He notices EVERYTHING. When the teacher tried to hide something so he wouldn't get it, he went straight in and took it.... yikes!

The tough thing right now is that Jack is still going through the gaining independence stage. He feels he is owed everything. He's extremely demanding and still has melt downs (regardless of where we are) when he doesn't get his way. We're still working on techniques on how to get through this phase but we thankfully have good days in between the bad. Guess it's called Life. :)

Jack is extremely caring and very sympathetic. He doesn't like it when anyone is sad and asks for hugs to cheer them up. Then he says "[name] happy now!" He tends to be a clown when he knows it makes people laugh. This is one of the things I love about his personality. He knows his primary colors and counts to twelve. We're just thrilled with all the accomplishments he's made this year. If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I could have envisioned this, I would have said no. God has been so gracious and we are so in awe!
Today, when David got home we were finishing our little swimming time and David asked Jack about his day. He asked Jack where he went. Jack looked at him and (without any warning) went into Hulk-like mode and said "puuub-lix" with a long drawn out grunt. Daddy said "really, you went to publix?" and Jack said "n-o-o-o-o". Then he said "l-aw-maaarrrt". And Daddy said "really, walmart?" Jack said "n-o-o-o-o". Basically he went through all different places with "n-o-o-o" in between until finally getting to "pll-a-y-gr-oooo-p", each with a grunt and with his hands in a tensed up, near his side move. Then he went into hyper drive and started doing a boxing type move and then ran around the outside of the pool going "boom boom boom boom". It was hysterical! It's times like these that I absolutely LOVE. He is developing such a fun character - granted that was a bit rough! That's my boy!

Playing at the mall's kid zone - not shy