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.

the daycare report

jack had a good day at "school" on thursday ... playing with the kids and, of course, eating his meals.

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



according to daddy, who talked to the teachers at pickup time, they were particularly impressed with jack's sign language -- they said he did "more," "all done" and a rubbing of the stomach that they weren't sure how to interpret.

oh ... that? it's jack way of saying please.

who's watching jack?

well ... all of our dear readers, of course.

but ... lately jack has had a few different caretakers, prompting us to ask: "who's watching jack?"

last night nana came over and relieved roxana while mommy and daddy went to the 60th anniversary party in honor of "meet the press" at the newseum.

jack and his nana had a good time playing and reading books before she put him to bed.

this morning, we received a call from roxana that she was sick. so ... jack was headed back to "school."

when we arrived this morning, his teacher from last time, miss deone, was happy to see him and asked if he'd brought a yummy lunch. she obviously remembers jack's hearty appetite from last visit.

jack, per his usual, immediately started playing with toys:



and engaging the teachers ...

he didn't even stop what he was doing to acknowledge mommy saying "bye bye" to him. we hope roxana is feeling better tomorrow ... because heading to "school" is a bit of a schlep. but no doubt jack will have a fun day.

a full report on his day to be featured tomorrow!

in case you were wondering ...

mommy *did* indeed make it home last night in time to put jack to bed.

in fact, when mommy walked in the door last night, jack ran excitedly from the other room ...

he was running toward mommy -- at top speed but as if in slow motion. you could almost hear tchaikovsky's overture from romeo & juliet swell ... as it has done in so many cartoon reunions.

and then, like a heat-seeking missile ... he made a sharp turn and diverted ... following the cat who dashed behind the couch.

well ... so much for the mother & child reunion. but, nonetheless ... he was still moderately glad to see his mommy.

drat -- if only i had fur and a tail ...

missing jack

mommy left early today ... before jack awoke ... to fly on to indiana a plane parked near this one ...

i blew all my jack pix yesterday ... so i had to come up with something this morning!

she's hoping she'll make it home to tuck jack into bed tonight (inasmuch as you can tuck in someone who does not use covers).

fingers crossed ... and may the beltway gods be with me.

weekend update

this was an educational weekend.

first ... mommy and jack went to music class to make up one of the classes that jack did not attend with roxana on a friday. it was a chance for mommy to see what they do in music class and for jack to run around, dance with scarves, play tambourine, drums, maracas and egg. we had a blast ... so much fun, in fact, that mommy was unable to take any pictures until we were walking out the door



see ya!

when we got home, jack enjoyed a raisin snack ...


i heard it through the grapevine ...

and daddy revealed to us what he found behind the television while we were gone ...


a plastic dalmation, part of a gear toy, a wood triangle, and part of the "goblin truck"

i mean ... what do *you* have behind your tv?

finding these missing toys made jack pretty happy ...

jack enjoyed riding his horsey ...


giddy up!

... and vacuuming with it??

i think i'll keep him!

here kitty, kitty ...

trucks don't run away like kitties do ...

that's part of why they're fun to play with

after lunch and a nap, mommy and jack went to the linguistics department of the university of maryland to participate in another study. jack played in the waiting room while mommy filled out some forms ...

the experiment had jack watch a short video where they showed him a series of actions and then asked him a question about it.

for example, the video showed a hand wiping a toy camera with a cloth. then, the narration would say, "look, she's wiping on the jub. wow, she's wiping on the jub. yay! she's wiping on the jub." finally, they would show a freeze frame of both the wiping cloth and the toy camera and ask, "which one is the jub?"

it was his eye movements after this question which they were monitoring to figure out if children jack's age can understand new words through context alone.

like most experiments, they couldn't tell me much about how jack performed individually, but we'll get survey results in the future to see how much young kids can pick up through contextual understanding.

and, for our trouble, jack got to pick out a new book to take home. we've been enjoying reading it, but daddy said, "couldn't we find a book about going to sleep?!?"

sunday morning it was time to go to zoo class. mommy was pretty down on zoo class, after the first class was postponed and the teacher for last week's class failed to show up. the zoo sent an apology email, saying there had been a confusion between the regular teacher and the substitute teacher.

so we intrepidly set off ... only to find out that the teacher stood us up, again! needless to say, we are getting a refund and the zoo is never contracting with this group again, but jack was disappointed nonetheless ...


i want to learn animals signs!

but, we made the best of it, watching the zebras and maned wolves before heading home. in the afternoon we watched some of the redskins game (before they choked), took a walk in our neighborhood, and played at the playground for over an hour!

as we headed for home in the gloaming, it was time for a bath and then nana and grandad showed up to feed jack dinner, play with him, and put him to bed while mommy and daddy went to see bruce springsteen! hopefully some pix from that in a future post.

it was a great weekend for all ... and in case there was any doubt, baby ... jack was born to run!