Look Who's Walking!

Can you believe this is February in Oregon?? We had Jack outside enjoying the warm sunshine on Sunday. He started walking a bit a week or so ago, but over the weekend he really took off. He seems to defy gravity (what with the oversized head and all)...

Falling down is no fun!

The Many Faces of Jack

I love how different he looks in each one of these pictures. He seems to have changed so much just in the last few weeks. Jack has been eating like crazy and packing on the pounds (okay, maybe just packing on the ounces, but still...). Hauling him around is a real workout. He's about to start walking, but for now his mobility is restricted to being walked around by an adult (ouch- my back!) or pushing around his little push cart (as seen in the background of the third picture). It took him awhile to figure out how to turn it, but now he pushes that thing all over the house like a pro. He just plows right over everything in his path and bashes into the furniture if it's in his way. The best part is that he cracks himself up and often laughs so hard that he falls over. It's pretty cute.

The big first birthday is coming up! I'm at the point in my curriculum where I was last year when I was oh-so-very-pregnant (I taught until the day before he was born). I keep getting little flashes of memory during my lessons. It was such an exciting and scary time. I remember wondering what I would do if my water broke in class, so I finally decided to confide in one student in each period who would agree to call the office if I suddenly ran out of the classroom. Fortunately for us all, it didn't happen that way!

Our plan is to spend his birthday in Central Oregon with some friends. Jack will be having a very small birthday party (yes, we will let him eat cake, and yes, it will have real sugar-gasp!). I also plan to spend some time in a hot tub on his birthday, cause hey, I deserve a bit of celebration, too.

Snow Day!

Sunday morning we woke up to a snowy surprise! It was beautiful, but very cold and I was so glad that we recently had our entire house weatherized. We had our weekly pancake breakfast and then bundled up and headed outside. Jack had never seen real snow before and he laughed and laughed. I felt bad, though, because we realized that we don't have gloves for him so his poor little hands were freezing cold. I ended up stuffing his hands up into the arms of his snowsuit, but realized later that a pair of socks would have been more effective..


I think we got around 5 inches. That' s a lot for us!


My coworker Laura gave us this snowsuit. It's super warm and cozy (and apparently it tastes good, too!).

I do not drive in the snow. One, I am scared of sliding around on the road. Two, I am afraid of the other cars sliding around on the road. Oh, and three, I don't know how. Many people have offered to teach me, but I say that ignorance is bliss. I use any amount of snowfall as an excuse to stay home and I'm perfectly happy with that. So Sunday we stayed home and enjoyed the snow for most of the day. Now, I have to clarify... Brent is not afraid to drive in the snow, in fact he enjoys it. I, however, refuse to get into the car when it's snowing unless it's absolutely necessary (and no, going to the home show at the fairgrounds is not absolutely necessary). He finally convinced me to go to the grocery store with him in the afternoon and I about had a heart attack as we were going down 28th. So aside from that, our snow day was pretty fun.

Adventures in Baby Proofing

This is what I found when I exited the shower recently. Not only does Jack enjoy unrolling the toilet paper, but he also apparently likes to eat it. Gross. So now we keep the toilet paper on the back of the toilet and out of his reach. It's quite inconvenient for those of us who actually use the toilet. We have pretty much closed off the other bathroom in our house because, in that bathroom, we have caught him methodically pulling out pieces of the rug to chew on. I swear we do feed this kid..

We also had to finally install those child proof latch thingies to the kitchen cupboards. I cannot tell you how many times Brent and I have forgotten that the latches are there and practically pulled the doors off the cupboards. I guess we must be slow learners. Jack figured out right away that he could no longer ransack the kitchen and was quite upset. He now repeatedly pulls and slams the doors. I think that maybe his getting into everything was actually easier on the nerves.

Installing the latches was quite the ordeal. We recently discovered that Jack is afraid of the drill (I blame Brent for this, although I have no proof of any wrongdoing on his part). I mean he is really petrified of the thing. While Brent was drilling into the cabinet doors I had to continuously reassure Jack in the other room. I guess I can relate to his fear of small appliances. When I was a child, I had a debilitating fear of the blender. I still have no idea why. My mom would have to yell "Blender!" each time she wanted to use it and I would run and hide under my bed. I'm okay with blenders now, but I still do get a little anxious around the garbage disposal...

Bath Time

"[They] take a bath in one big tub
With soap all over
SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB!"
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton

The Long Weekend

This weekend was one of the best weekends of my life. We didn't do anything terribly exciting, instead we just spent time at home as a family. Usually we have plans for the weekend and end up cramming several activities/social events into those two short days. But not this weekend. We had plenty of time to relax and enjoy spending our time together. Jack has started to say "mama" to me. It is so very sweet. He calls for me if I'm in another room and greets me when he sees me. Interestingly, I've noticed that he also refers to milk as "mama" as he is tugging at my shirt to nurse. How very apropos.

Of course, there were still groceries to be bought, meals to by planned, laundry to do, floors to clean, and all those other household necessities to attend to. Once that was taken care of, I got sudden inspiration to bake some bread (something I really enjoy doing, but don't find time to do very often) and whipped up some whole wheat rolls and a loaf for sandwiches. It smelled divine and looked so lovely in the oven that I just had to take a picture.

And while we're in the kitchen, I should point out that we have a brand new beautiful kitchen sink and faucet!! Anyone who ever had the misfortune of using our old sink can tell you it was about time for an upgrade. Brent and his dad installed it last weekend and we just love it. The best part is the detachable nozzle. Such luxury!

I spent some time working on a sewing project (a bag for Jack, photos coming soon) and reading with Brent. Yes, reading with Brent. Let me explain. I am what you would call a "reader". Brent is what you would call a "reluctant reader". I got inspired watching an old Christmas video of Brent as a child opening up one of those "choose your own adventure" books from the 1980's. He was ecstatic to receive it, which struck me as funny since the adult Brent that I know does not usually show enthusiasm for books, and sometimes (often) mocks me for mine. So I searched high and low for a book to give Brent for Christmas that might make him utter a cry of "rad!" like he had in the old video. Although I did the exact response I was hoping for, he did say something along the lines of "Oh, cool" when he found his copy of Into the Wild in his stocking. He has since moved on to The River Why which he got from the library on Sunday. So now Brent is reading, and I am still reading, and even little Jack has taken up the hobby (in French, nonetheless!).

Just when I thought my sewing/baking/reading/relaxing weekend couldn't get any better, it did. Monday morning at 5:30 my phone rang. Any teacher will tell you that an early morning phone call is one of the sweetest sounds to hear. No school due to snow. It just doesn't get any better than this...

Happy New Year

Goodbye to 2007. What a big year for our family!

As usual, we spent New Year's Eve at our friends' house having a "formal" dinner followed by a rowdy party (Jack and I left after the formal dinner part but Brent stayed for the additional festivities). I made my famous ceasar salad for 16 people. Whew! But I was not hosting a formal dinner for 16, so I really can't complain.

Jack and I were home and in bed by 10:30. He was kind enough to sleep in until 8 this morning. What a great way to start 2008!