Jack's Precious Words tonight

At dinner this evening, we had acorn squash and homemade macaroni & cheese.  We had the vegetable first, while the mac & cheese cooled a bit from the oven (overheard... Brooks: "Mom, are we REALLY gonna have the dessert FIRST tonight?!"  Mom: "We are having the squash first, and sometimes we do eat it last for dessert, don't we?" Brooks: "I mean, wait, I still want dessert after this...." LOL!)

Jack was not a fan of the squash the last time we had it, in large part because it was too hot right out of the oven.  But it's a half a squash filled with apple, butter and brown sugar - what's not to love?  So after me telling him he needed to eat his vegetable, so I could serve up his mac n cheese, he declared "MOM!  I don't LIKE this splosh!!!  It's too hairy!"  Then and there a dish was christened with a new name:  Roasted Acorn Squash became "Hairy Splosh".  The resulting laughter and silliness was enough to keep the entire table giggling throughout the rest of the acorn squash consumption. 

And then later in the evening Jack, approx 3 years and 9 months old, said this at bedtime:

"Thank you, God for school and houses and farms and fields and cows and horses and animals and balls and slides and playing and sleeping!"

Brooks, curled up on the other side of the room prayed:

"Thank you, God, that there are no more Nazis, and for Great-Grandpa How, and for houses and beds and food."

Yes, God.  Thank you.

Happy Six Months, Lucy Kate!

I LOVE this age. Love. Love! LOVE! it! Alert and responsive and happy and cooing and smiley and immobile. LOVE IT! :) Here are a few photos from Lucy Kate's last month along with her commentary.... big fun was had by all, both here in Chicago and at Grandma & Grandpa Charlie's house in Nashville.

I love flying!!!


The bath is awesome, splashing water with my feet and squirming in the tub...


And I can make a new friend with this cute baby here in the mirror!


These are my Momma's favorite jammies, hand-me-downs from my cousins, the Volks! I wear lots of pink and flowers and ruffles!!


Toes are simply toys attached to my legs for safe keeping! (Momma LOVES my rolls!)

WORKING to reach those toes...


Aunt Sissy brought by a dozen helium balloons after her party and I had so much fun trying to eat them!

Feeding me is GREAT fun, because I just can't wait to get each bite into my mouth. My first taste of rice cereal was all it took to get me clamoring for the spoon. More! More!

After a hard day of playing, there is nothing better than curling up in my Grandma's arms for a bit of shut-eye.

Happy half-birthday, little love bug. We're so happy you've joined our family!

Another Day in the Jungle

Happy 2.5 years, Jack!

Beautiful Child, right from the moment you were born,
you opened up my heart, my soul, you're beautiful.
Tender and sweet, both in your crying and your sleep,
you radiate a sense of hope, you're beautiful.
Sara Groves

Has it already been 30 months?! Really?? Two and a half years, seriously? That's staggering to me, but then I look at my passionate, energetic, silly, talkative (yes, really! after all our speech challenges), and fearless son and realize that it feels like he's been a part of this family forever.


His favorite activity for the last six months has been "pay wun-in-in-in-in" (playing running) and it basically involves yelling "SET! DOH!" and taking off with a grin and both little wings curled up & swinging side to side. Today, he wanted to play running-in-in outside in the beautiful warm sunshine, and shouted: "Mama, CHASE me! GET me!"


Jack adores the water and regularly asks "Pay Wah-wer, piece!" And it's not really "playing water" until he's soaked to the skin and covered in suds...


He *loves* his food, would be thrilled to eat 10 meals a day of "nolalolurt" (granola & yogurt), and regularly downs 12 peanut butter crackers to and from Brooks's preschool. Here he guards his applesauce bowl like it's the loot of Fort Knox...


He loves "Lon-Den" and "Sooes" (knee/nursery rhymes "Trot Trot to London" and Banberry Cross), especially with Aunt Sissy - who has a very spunky horse.


All little boy, this fellow can turn anything into a sword, and LOVES the pirate and knight dress-up costumes best of all...


(This next shot makes me feel like we've already fast-forwarded a decade)... Everything sports related is - to Jack - playing "Auh-bun" and football is still a favorite. Jack is still whipping his arm around and throwing a ball better than some much bigger kids.


Jack loved playing in the snow last month with Daddy & Brooks.


He spends hours every day chasing Brooks


And he loves to make Baby "Shishish" laugh in her bouncey seat or on her playmat...


Momma loves to tickle him, because he laughs hysterically, always screams "Stop" and then shouts "more"!!!


We play hard and sleep hard around here... and this one almost always starts and ends nap-time with books. It's a regular routine to find Jack sacked on in this chair outside his room at the top of the stairs where he's fallen asleep after sneaking out of bed for one more story...


I still can't seem to part with his curls, despite the occasional jokes about raising Samson. I just LOVE them and this sweet profile...


and I just love Jack, all 36.4 pounds, 37.75 inches of him.

Jack, you bring more joy and laughter and thunderous noise to our house than I ever thought possible. I can't wait to see you grow into the man that God wants you to be.

Overheard

After swim lessons last night, Daddy tucked Brooks into bed and this Momma grabbed a shower. When I got out, there was still chatter up in the attic, so I tiptoed up the stairs to see if I could figure out who was keeping his brother awake. This is what I heard:

Brooks: .... and thank you, God...
Jack: tank oo.
B: God.
J: Dod
B: for the whole world
J: woude
B: In Jesus Name. (pause) In Jesus Name.
J: Ee-us Name.
B: A
J: A
B: Men!
J: Men! More peas!
B: No more bedtime prayers tonight, Jack... Do you know why?
J: No. Why?
B: Because, toMORrow, we have to go to Pump it up!
J: Oh, YAY!
B: Well, we don't HAVE to go to Pump it up. Do you WANT to go?
J: YES!! (pause) Jammies!
B: Well, Jack, I'm actually not SURE if it's a jammies party or not...
J: Oh.
B: It COULD be, but I don't KNOW. Cause I'm not the HOSTess.
J: Oh.
B: Go to sleep now, ok, Jack?
J. Ok. Love ou. Love ou. Love ou.

(long pause).

J. Home. Mommy home.
B: Yes, Mommy's home, Jack, she's just in the shower.
J. Oh, ok. Mommy home.

I think my heart melted in my chest. Love them.

Make-shift Pacifier

Fourteen week old Lucy Kate thinks that her (newly discovered!) fingers make a great comfort item when she's just too tired to figure out how to get the paci back to her mouth.

Manic Monday

Found, just outside the boys' bedroom when I went to put Brooks down for his rest... a very tired little Jack-Attack had apparently decided to come out to the "Reading Chair" for one more book before his own nap. I wonder how far into the story he got...

Jack, our little artist...

Jack is currently obsessed with art. He has been for several months now. His second birthday was all about color books and paints - from us and both sets of grandparents. It's quite fun to see him matching colors and practicing how to say the words blue and yellow and green... It's also fun to watch him create something from start to finish. I had the camera out recently, the day that he did his work entitled "Purple Marker"... Here is a progression, with a few observation notes from the artist's mother:

First you choose your marker, and you put the cap on the end... just like this. You can't draw unless it's just. like. this.


Then you put the marker on the page and create something lovely.


No no, Mama. It's not finished yet. No pictures while I'm working!


See there is so much more I need to add... Now, doesn't that look better?


When you're done it's very important to put the cap back on...


When you're ready to show your art, you have to take it off the easel...


And turn it so everyone can see it... "What do you think, Momma?"


Or just put it next to Daddy's placemat, so he'll be sure to see it when he gets home!


Voila! THIS is how great art is made!