jet plane

we're leavin' on one and thankfully it's not a full flight so jack gets his own seat. almost makes the hour-long delay not matter.

almost.

we'll miss you grandma, grandpa, amy, bill, brady, and parker!

in case you were wondering ...

it's pretty warm in florida. just right for swimmin'!

ramblin' fam

we headed off christmas night for the warmth of florida and doting foj's grandma and grandpa.

our flight was delayed and we did not reach our beds until 1:30 am but jack was a trooper -- sleeping the whole flight but staying awake for the car ride from the airport.

more from us in 2008 ... until then, happy new year!

one more thing ...

since we shorted you thursday, here's another little tidbit for a friday afternoon ...

in case you missed last night's broadcast of the nbc nightly news ... or in case you didn't know what you were looking for ...

a star is in our midst

does the little guy in the upper left-hand photo about 1:35 in look familiar to anyone????


and ... sorry for the link ... normally we'd embed such video, but they're still working out the kinks on that at msnbc.

holiday cheers!

so we go on bragging about how many readers we have ... and then we go dark. not very blog-couth of us. we do hope, dear reader, you will forgive the absence of yesterday's entry.

and to make it up for you ... hopefully an entertaining vignette:

a favorite game for jack now is "cheers!" he will declare "cheers" and konk his sippy cup against whatever vessel you are using to drink. sometimes it's a scalding mug of coffee ... sometimes a fragile paper cup brimming with sticky soda -- no matter. jolly jack wants to "cheers" and "cheers" again. he even finds people along the way to do "cheers" with.

then, one day he realized: he could "cheers" himself.

it just required two cups ...

... banged together ...

... again and again ...

so "cheers" to you.

and happy holidays to one and all!

another milestone

no ... not jack's.

the blog's!

we've hit over 5000 views of "livin' la vida jack" in just over 10 months since its inception -- and that doesn't even count the myriad number of times mommy checks out her own handiwork.

we couldn't have done it without you, dear readers.

so for everyone who checks out jack's blog -- religiously, occassionally, or because you thought it was a ricky martin fan site and then got sucked in -- thanks for reading and keep on clicking!

communication lines

yes, folks, the lines of communication are opening up and operators are standing by.

jack is making big strides in his receptive and expressive language and is understanding so much. guess that means our baby is growing up (sniff, sniff).

but, not only is it truly amazing to watch (cbt=corny but true) it is also making life easier.

for example, the one-time battles royale that were diaper changes are now mere idylls on the changing table.

this is achieved by telling jack beforehand (and repeatedly) what's going to happen. for example ... this morning, mommy asked jack: "did you poop?" to which he, sheepishly yet earnestly, nodded yes. so mommy told him: "okay, good. well, we're going to change your diaper, then we're going to wash hands, then we're going downstairs, then we'll get more milk." and this refrain was chanted again and again ... "change dipe, wash hands, downstairs, more milk" ...

so, as jack settled down on his pad to have his diaper change, mommy took out two diapers and gave him the choice between characters on the front -- sesame's elmo or ernie.

when jack picks elmo, mommy sings "la la la la, la la la la, elmo dipe ..." (all you parents with elmo-obsessed offspring will recognize that as the tune to the "elmo's world" segment on sesame street)and when he picks ernie, mommy sings "rubber diaper, you're the one ..." (if you don't recognize that one, you've been living under a rock).

today, as mommy slid the diaper under him and brought it up in the front, jack began singing, "la la la," prompting mommy along ...

finally, with jammies re-secured, jack got off his table. mommy asked, "what's next?" and jack exclaimed, "hands!" he knew it was time to wash hands (which he loves). after "hands!" and "bubbles!" (which is what he calls the soap), daddy took jack back downstairs so mommy could cage a shower.

after mommy was showered and dressed, and daddy had been properly waved to and blown kisses at as he headed off to work, jack made the sign for eat ... to show that he was ready for breakfast.

mommy inquired, "do you want waffle or cereal?" showing him each box. jack selected cereal and then proceeded to eat the lion's share unassisted from the bowl with his spoon. mama helped him finish up and when jack said and signed "all done," she then asked the question that ends nearly every jack-meal: ¿quieres fruta?

well, jack did want fruit, and signed "banana" to show that he wanted to eat the miniature yellow plantain sitting on the table. mommy offered to let jack eat it "like a monkey" and he imitated (some might say aped) the sign for monkey and the crazy hooting that mommy did.

wow -- what a lot of communication! when he's a sullen, laconic teenager, i'm sure we'll look back on these halcyon days with as much wonder as we now regard them.

cbt, folks, cbt ...

weekend update

yes ... the holiday season is definitely upon us, and our weekend was accordingly busy ...

to start off, jack tried on his new boots ahead of the predicted storm. the storm never materialized, but jack's new boots from nana were jaunty nonetheless.

he put his boots to good use outside ... helping daddy sweep up the never-ending leaves

and when the chores were done, it was time to .... (you guessed it)

... head to the park!

and once we arrived there, on a very chilly saturday morning, jack only wanted to slide on his favorite twisty slide ...

when jack had had enough of the cold (read: mommy was freezing and couldn't take it anymore), he and mommy decided to head to the grocery store to get some lunch fixins. however the entire metro area had also reached the same decision due to snow panic, so it took us quite a long time to reach this point:

check-out line!

a yummy lunch (half of which was eaten while in line at the safeway), a good nap (1.5 hours -- a near-record!), and an afternoon visit with nana rounded out jack's day. mommy headed out to do some shopping, so he and daddy had some quality male-bonding time for tubby and bed time.

sunday was more shennanigans around home early on until late afternoon, which brought ....

kiddie christmas!

our annual tradition of getting together with our "beach friends" for fun, food, and presents for the kids is a lot of fun, and jack was much more participatory this year ... shrieking with delight and running around after all the "big" kids.

it was a fun-filled weekend ... ho ho ho!

friday at school

jack's at daycare again today ... roxana asked to be off early, and it became easier to just send jack to "school" for the day.



he was trepidatious about being left by mommy, but seemed to perk up at the idea of going to wash hands (a big jack favorite) and then having a cheerios snack.

the daycare report (which will probably say, as per usual, "jack had a great day and ate a mountain of food") will be published as part of monday's weekend update ... so tune in then!

away in the manger

in anticipation of christmas, we've begun reading some holiday themed books to jack. one favorite is christmas in the manger, which jack received from his grandpa and grandma last year.

the illustrations go through all the characters of the nativity -- from the donkey who carries mary through to the baby jesus.

as we were reading through the book the other night, jack paid very close attention to the babe in the manger ... petting his face, offering milk from his cup, saying "night-night" and giving him kisses. it was very sweet. mommy implored, "can you say jesus?" to which jack responded, "jesooo!" and then, "mooore!"

so we read it again. and when we saw the 3 wisemen jack said, "hohhhh!" but the best was when we got to the picture of joseph -- jack pointed at the balding, berobed cartoonish figure and said, "daddyyy!!"

um...not quite.

in that scenario that would make mommy mary and jack jesus.

yyyeah. like we said ... not hardly.

where has the time gone?

so ... here's jack's 18 month portrait, as photographed by miguel of the picture people:



he has changed so much -- it's hard to believe what a little boy he is now when we can still remember having a helpless infant in our arms just a blink of an eye ago.

but ... all is not totally foreign. you'll notice that jack has two bruises on his forhead. two separate crashes saturday morning ... right before the pictures. that's typical and totally jack.

steroidal weekend update

after a couple of lazy weekends, this weekend was jam-packed. ah, yes friends, it's beginning to look a lot like christmas.

first ... freaky friday:

as mommy and daddy had holiday parties to attend, jack welcomed grandad over for a "play date" and the guys had a grand old time. when mommy called home to check on them, grandad asked, "jack's gotten 'nilla wafers out of the cupboard -- is he allowed to eat those?" as mommy gave dispensation, she overheard, "oh, wait, stop jack, slow down! he's pulling everything out of the cupboard!" yeah. welcome to our world, grandad! it's been like that ever since jack stole the cupboard lock (we still haven't located it, but believe it to be inside the subwoofer).

during this visit, jack also pretended to go to sleep, learned how to operate a ball-point pen and, knowing grandad, may have learned some basic princples of physics (remember, jack: f=ma). sadly, no photographic evidence exists of this visit, so i guess jack's time with his grandfather was like being in las vegas ... what happens with grandad stays with grandad!

silly saturday found jack and mommy headed off to playgroup for a chance to hang out with our many friends. all of us save one gathered at bea's house for a great time. bea has a great playroom in her basement with lots of fun toys, so playgroup was a huge hit!

after a much-needed nap, mommy and jack braved the holiday crowds at the mall to take jack's 18 month photo. more on this to come tomorrow, but suffice it to say that jack looked a-*dor*-able!

the guy taking the photos, miguel, was a spanish speaker. when he blew bubbles to get jack engaged, jack responded with "¡mas!" miguel got a real kick out of our little blondie ordering him around en español.

while waiting for the photos to be ready, we sought refuge in starbucks. mommy had a half-caf latte and jack had "coffee milk" (in the parlance of his cousin). within about 42 seconds flat he had charmed the woman next to us, waving to her, saying "hi" and doing "cheers" with her. what a flirt!

with our cute (free) photo in hand, we headed home to dinner and to daddy and to a good night's sleep.

and then dawned sunday ... and that's our funday

after a morning at home, we set out to get our christmas tree. we went close to home and probably paid too much, but we found a good one that jack was happy with (complete with bird's nest!):

feeling moved by the holiday spirit we headed to a local toy store where they were having a visit from santa. kids were encouraged to sit on his lap and tell him their wishes while parents took photos. we waited patiently ... and not so patiently ... until we were at the head of the line. and then jack took his turn with old saint nick.




yes, it was a disaster. if you're not sure, here's a close-up of jack's face. note the actual tears rolling down his cheeks.



so, we beat a hasty retreat from that monster kris kringle, made our purchases and headed for home.

we tried to salvage what was left of the day with a late afternoon/evening playground trip. mostly jack just burned off some energy in the cold, damp dusk while mommy and daddy tried to stay upright through their exhaustion.



jack's motto: walk 75th percentile and run with a big stick.

and then came manic monday ... well, you already know the story there.

pediatric update

jack continues to have good news from his "well baby" check-ups. today was no exception when we went to see "doctor dana."

jack now weighs 24.2 pounds
jack is 33 inches tall
jack's head is 47 cm around

you may remember from his previous check-up that this represents a gain of 0.7 pounds, 1/2 an inch, and 0 cm in his melonhead. this means that he remains on his growth curve at 75th percentile for height and 25th percentile for weight.

if our appointment had only been at 7:15a instead of 8:15a i think jack would have broken the 25 pound mark, but at approximately 7:20a he lost a significant amount of weight. i would go into further detail, but you'll remember, dear reader, that those types of details are verboten, per daddy.

she was very pleased with his language development for 18 months and he regaled her with favorites such as "no" and "no" and "no" -- mainly when she was trying to listen to his heart. oh, and "buh-bye" figured in there a few times too when she was trying to look in his ears. that's our witty conversationalist!

she encouraged us to explore fish oil supplements for his diet to increase the amount of dha and omega 3's he gets in addition to the flaxseed meal that mommy constantly sprinkles on his food. we could just eat more fish, but ... nah.

when mommy inquired, per the aap, when this practice screens for autism she said, "we've been doing it all along." based on his language, his communication with us, her visualization of him ... "he screens negative," she deadpanned. in fact, almost all the indicators for autism spectrum disorders are opposite from the way jack operates. great news!

and she encouraged us, despite questions from others, to keep jack's car seat rear-facing up to its limits and as long as he will let us. jack's seat goes up to 33 pounds and 49" reversed, so that will be a long time coming, but dr. dana warned us that it could be only a few more months, given his ornery streak ... oh yeah, forgot about that *minor* detail!

and ... the official diagnosis for the rough skin on jack's back and arms? a combo of dry skin and a little bit of keratosis pilaris. this is apparently is an autosomal dominant genetic condition. translation? he got it from daddy. but, it's no biggie, his "case" is very mild, and it's not a sign of a food allergy, which is why mommy brought it up.

jack had to get two shots (for dpt and polio), which were probably the least favorite part of the visit. after the first one he got a snoopy "sticker" band-aid, which perked him up a bit, until the nurse stuck him again! at that point he started waving at her and very earnestly but adamantly saying, "bye bye bye bye bye" through his tears. it was almost funny except that it was sad. but by the time he had his shoes on (no shoes was a request of an oft-kicked nurse!) he had stopped crying and was his normal self again.

all in all a great trip to the doctor. and we do it all again in three months -- but that time no shots!!


*how much* do i weigh?

that can't be right! does this diaper make my butt look big?

stop taking pictures of me, you papparaza jackal!

i feel violated ... i'm out of here!

laughing lunch

we shorted you yesterday with no post, so here's a look at a loony laughing saturday lunch with jack.

happy weekend!

let it snow!

the white stuff fell on washington ... and jack was enraptured!

he learned to say snow (although it's pronounced "shnose") and wanted to touch it ... until it touched him ... then he wasn't quite as sure!

toddling in a winter wonderland

blind man's bluff

jack is becoming more and more inventive every day. he makes up games he finds fun and he cracks little jokes -- amusing both his parents and himself.

one "game" he's been playing is "being blind." he will close his eyes and wander around, trying to find things ... or at least not bump into things. and he also enjoys closing his eyes while eating.

ah ... the better to taste you with my dear.

spider baby

as spiderman says, "with great power comes great responsibility."

jack has neither ... but that doesn't stop him from being a web-slinging wonder:



there goes the spidermaaan ...

weekend update

another weekend without a full agenda was quite a luxury.

jack had a great time playing a variety of little games around the house on saturday morning. he loves to throw the ball with his dad and get chased around my both mommy and daddy. and "singing" into an empty paper towel roll is always a crowd pleaser.

saturday afternoon we headed over to lucy's house for a brief visit, and jack had a great time following her lead and playing with her toys. he's very good at mimicking and mirroring behavior. mommy and daddy have been put on notice! he was acting like such a big boy and not a baby. it's amazing how much he's changing.

sunday was more hijinks. daddy took jack to the golf store, where jack proceeded to knock over a display of clubs. oops! after they made a (speedy) exit and returned home, jack practiced his ball-throwing with daddy -- he'd throw the ball, then run and sit on the landing of the stairs for daddy to throw it back to him. he definitely knows what he wants -- directing everyone in his universe on where to sit, what to do, etc.

and when they don't do what he wants?

well ... here's how he handled it this morning, when "mean old mommy" wouldn't let him go outside in the 40 degree, 40 mph winds weather in his pj's and bare feet:



that's right -- he staged a sit in. or, in this case, a lie in. remind me to remove the thoreau from his crib!

"no" (or "no-no-no") continues to be his favorite word. even though we have tried to teach him "yes," and even (partially) succeeding in teaching him "okay" (it literally came out "o-tay" like buckwheat) this weekend ... "no" always wins out.

fall fun

autumn is a great time of year.

jack ... as he does with everything ... is making the most of it:

happy weekend, everybody!

day care day

roxana's daughter, poor little thing, was sick yestereday (double ear infection and throat infection), so jack spent another day at "school"




and another good day was had ...

(remember, you can single click on the image to enlarge it)

how can a day spent coloring, playing in the water, hanging out with other kids, and eating a lot be a bad thing?

but "mamaxana" is back at work today and jack is receiving lots of tlc. it's hard to tell which one of them missed the other more ...

weekend gobble

this is not so much a weekend update as it is a thanksgiving update ...


a little look at how we spent *our* thanksgiving day (held on friday). and of course, no "weekend" is complete without at least a few trips to the park ...

if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

new favorite

we owe you, dear readers, a proper weekend update. and we at llvj promise to make good, very soon. but ... for today ... here's a look at mommy's new favorite photo. taken this weekend at the park near our house:

Turkey Day + 1

Thanksgiving started out innocently enough. Alicia had to work, so Jack and I paid an early-afternoon visit to NBC. Jack had a great time in the newsroom -- so many cables to pull on! So many computers to crash!

We headed back to Wynnwood to await the arrival of Nana and Granddad Jennings. Then, the wind began to howl ...

Just as I was about to preheat the oven to roast our brined and beautiful bird, the power went out. And stayed out. And out. Jack had fun running around in the dark and "attacking" Nana and Granddad with the beam from the flashlight -- just like his very own light saber! By the time the power came back on, it was after 7:00, so we decided to try again on Friday. Things went much more smoothly on Thanksgiving Plus 1. As you can see, Jack particularly enjoyed Alicia's delicious homemade cranberry compote.

The other (and much more exciting) news from Friday was the arrival of Katharine Taylor Louise Winthrop, all 6 pounds and 10 beautiful ounces of her! When she and Jack decide on a china pattern, we'll let you know where their wedding registry is held. Please link to "The Bean Patch" (below/left under 'Crackerjack') to see her in all her glory!

gobble gobble

although mommy is working today ... we are looking forward to celebrating thankgiving with jack this evening.

the turkey is brined and dry ... ready for roasting and thick gravy

the butternut squash & crab bisque is creamy and cool ... ready for warming

the cranberry compote is a sweet-sour syrupy goodness

the skillet buttermilk-cornbread is crusty and golden

the homemade butter is smooth ... chilling in the fridge

the fudge is velvety and rich ... hardened and cut ...

and the other dishes -- green beans, asparagus, cheesy mashed potatoes and pumpkin chiffon pie -- are in progress ... mere hours away from gracing our bountiful table

jack and daddy spent some time this morning as mommy's official testers ... approving the food ... thumbs up to both the fresh butter and the fudge ...

and, as jack learned from daddy this morning, here's how you test the food ... you put some on your fingertip and then suck it off:

happy thanksgiving to one and all!

slide, slide slippety slide

jack is one slip-slidin' little fella!

if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

tricycle, tricycle

jack wants to ride his tricycle ... he wants to ride it where he like(s):



if you can't watch this video here, check it out on YouTube

weekend update

on this fine autumnal weekend, we forewent (is that a word?) the usual hurly-burly of scheduled activities in favor of a more leisurely pace.



jack rode his trike to the park. and by rode, i mean mommy pushed him and cajoled him to keep his "buns in the seat and feet on the pedals." he's actually starting to get it and enjoys crusing around the track.





he also had a good time playing on the train:

and sliding down the slide -- wheee!!!!

we arrived home to find daddy mowing the yard and raking leaves



daddy tried to teach jack the joy of jumping in piles of freshly-raked leaves

but jack was more concerned with making sure everything was properly cleaned up

after a yummy lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, jack took a nap and then watched the end of the game with daddy.

which game, you might ask?

well ... the *only* game that matters -- ohio state vs. michigan.



and the buckeyes dominated at the big house! o-h-i-o!



after the game, jack and mommy went out to buy him his own rake. but, the hardware store only had metal soil rakes that mommy envisioned poking out an eye (and it's all fun & games until someone loses an eye) ... so we got a broom instead:

sunday was an equally laid back day ... jack got in a little more playground time, and then welcomed our "beach friends" for an afternoon snack. the kids had a great time, and jack ran around like a mad-man ... screaming and jumping around with the others.

what fun.