The Best Part of Summer!

Jack has a new favorite food!

How Jack came to live with us

My sister has a very sweet story that she tells her two children about how they were born into their family. She tells them that Mommy and Daddy said a prayer asking for a baby. Then, God went and asked the children "Who wants to go and live with Holly and Sean?". Cale was sitting very nicely and raised his hand and said, "I do, I do! I want to live with Holly and Sean!" God agreed and Cale was sent to live with Holly and Sean. They also say that Cale came before Ellie (their second child) because Ellie was too busy talking (if you know Ellie, you would know that this part of the story makes complete sense) the first time so she had to wait until the next time God asked if anyone wanted to live with Holly and Sean.

Holly spent a couple of days with Jack last week. On the last day, she agreed with me that Jack was meant to be a younger brother, not the oldest. He loves older children and is just too busy to pay attention to younger children. She then told me that the reason Jack came first is because when God asked who wanted to come and live with Jay and Stacey, Jack was being so loud that God could not hear any other children over Jack. And, that God decided that he had been dealing with Jack since the beginning of time and God was ready for some peace and quiet in Heaven!

My sister and I don't always agree on everything, but this story makes complete sense to me!

TV Time

I am not a fan of letting children watch TV. I strongly feel that there are much better things to occupy their time, so, I do try to limit Jack's TV time. I do, however allow him to occasionally watch two shows. Which ones would my little child choose, Bob the Builder, Clifford the Big Red Dog, maybe even Scooby Doo? Oh, no...not little man Jack. He prefers Desperate Housewives and Ellen. No joke.

If Desperate Housewives is on, Jack will crawl up on lap and SIT AND CUDDLE with me. If you know Jack, then you know that it is a rare occurrence to catch the kid sitting much less cuddling. So, I take advantage of it. Everyday after lunch, Jack and I watch a little bit of the show. Most days only about 15 minutes, but if I am really needing more cuddle time, then I leave the TV on a little longer and soak up all the cuddling I can get.

Jack's other favorite show is Ellen--the daytime talk show. He LOVES the dancing, the music, the games and all of the clapping and laughing. We only get the chance to watch this show about once a week, but I enjoy watching Jack watch it even more than I enjoy the show.

This week, Jack really enjoyed Beyonce's performance! Here is a video of him dancing along with her.

Yes, Jack's dancing is....well, let's just say that he dances as well as his parents! If you would like to come and teach the poor child how to dance, by all means, go ahead!

Ketch-Up

What did the daddy tomato say to the baby tomato when it started lagging behind? Ketchup son!
OK, so I am pretty behind in blogging so here is a quick post to catch you up on (most of) what has been going on around here.
First of all, Father's Day was celebrated! Jack and I took Jay out for a wonderful breakfast and Jack was very well behaved. He flirted with everyone that walked past us and even had several people stopping by our table to tell him how adorable he was. Jay was already a very proud dad, but that made him even prouder.
Jay is a fantastic father, I couldn't ask for a better one! Jack is a very lucky little man to have such a wonderful daddy!

A week or so later, my Aunt Cathi and my cousin Bevin came to the cities for a girls' weekend. Jack and I met them at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, I hate to admit this, but in my 11 years of living here, this was my first time there!

We had a wonderful time catching up and Jack enjoyed being in the backpack.

But, he enjoyed running around the park with Bevin even more!

My sister Holly came to visit my parents with her two kids, so Jack and I came and visited all of them in SD.

Jack loved having Cale pull him around in the wagon!

During Holly and the kids' last visit, Nana and Papa bought the kids ducks! Well, they are down to one duck, but boy oh boy, it has grown! It has also become much faster, but that did not stop Ellie from catching the duck and carrying it around!

For the 4th of July, my sister Missi came to visit. Missi, Jack and I went to the Farmer's Market. It was Jack's first trip there this year. He enjoyed all the sights, sounds and smells, but most of all, he enjoyed the Mini Doughnuts! Poor Missi, she had Jack on her back in the hiking backpack while he was eating those, so she went the rest of the morning with sugar all down her back!

Last weekend, we went to Jay's family to celebrate his father's 60th birthday! It was wonderful to see so much of Jay's family all at once! Jack enjoyed running around the farm and chasing the cats and dogs.

Anyone else out there?

Is mine the only toddler that prefers Kid Rock(and to those of you who are thinking "Kid Rock" is meant for kids to rock to, you are waaaaay wrong) to Raffi?
Is mine the only toddler that looks at babyproofing as a personal challenge rather than a reminder that he is not allowed in that drawer?
Is mine the only toddler that has learned how to say both Da-da and his father's name but still has no idea who "Mama" is?
Is mine the only toddler that has whole conversations on his toy phone that even includes fake laughter?
Is mine the only toddler that when you go to greet him in the morning with your loving outstretched arms, he looks past you and hollers "DA-DA!"?
Is mine the only toddler that is convinced that you need toys in the shower just as he does in the tub? And then throws everything he can find in at you including your slippers, hair brush and toilet paper?

Observations

Conversation in our home today:

Jay: Look! His [Jack's] top teeth are almost in!
Me: What?!?! (me in disbelief that I had not noticed this) Let me see!
Me: No, there not even close. (said after looking where his next teeth should be coming in)
Jay: What? Can't you see the little white things?
(So, I look again)
Me: No, they aren't close.
Jay: Uh, huh, right there, in the front.
Me: You mean the top four front teeth that he has had since April?!?!?
Jay: You mean he already had those?

Dads are not always observant. And, apparently leave their "listening ears" at work each day.

About 15 minutes after this conversation, Jay did try and back track and say that he did know that Jack had his top four teeth, but that now they looked like real teeth or something like that. I wasn't buying his story.