weekend update, november edition

we can't let november escape without a single post ... and if it's a new post ... it must be a weekend update.

mommy returned from her trip to asia in one piece (mostly). to give daddy a break from his more than week-long single parent duty, mommy and kids left him in peace to do work around the house and watch the ohio state game, and headed off for some errands.

one of which, was getting jack's hair cut. his previous cut had been really more of a -- how to say? -- butchering. so, this time we waited for "the good guy." we don't know his name, but you recognize him by his shirts.

this was only jack's second haircut in the chair by himself rather than seated on mommy's lap, and he has become absolutely intrepid. and, he looked so cute by the end, that the mother of the boy in the chair next to him said of jack, "make him look like that little boy."

unbeknownst to her, her son was in the butcher's chair. ah, well ... she'll learn. we all do.

after that highly successful outing, we continued on to the shoe store to buy jack some new shoes. he was mostly cooperative, but the interesting thing is that we've played out the scene in our imaginative play since -- with jack as the shoe store employee and mommy as the customer.

we followed up with lunch at mcdonald's and a visit to the toy store. for the longest time ... pretty much since he could speak words ... jack has referred to the golden arches as "hot donald's." well, no more. he has informed his mother that it is called mcdonald's and he doesn't want to call it hot donald's any more. although he was convinced to do it just a few more times ... for mommy.

at the toy store, jack looked around at all the toys that he might ask santa for. he was, shockingly, particularly drawn to the fire fighting-related toys. in fact, when nana came to babysit him later that night, and she had the audacity to suggest that he might ask santa for some more books in the series from which they were reading, he responded, "oh, no, i’m asking santa for the firetruck and the fire station and the fire mans. i can get the books at the library.” apparently he decided he was not going to waste his “santa asks” on books!

meanwhile, as jack schemes and no doubt plots his strategy for world domination, annie plays happily with toys. she has gotten very mobile and is unstoppable these days. and she has the bruises to prove it. in fact, the baby gates have all come back out -- including one at the top of the stairs which someone broke last year by swinging on it (hint: it was not the cat) and which daddy fixed while left in peace.

sunday found a return of our family to church. after many recent weekends spent working, it was nice to take a break from the hustle-bustle of life and slow down and reflect for an hour. the fact that it was a pleasant day didn't hurt either ...

we wrapped up the day with what may in fact be our first-ever true family dinner. everyone, even annie, ate together and ate the same food. in fact, annie may have eaten more than jack -- nearly an entire drumstick worth of chicken and egg noodles, too! it was a busy weekend but nice to be all back together again.

Our Guy

One of the fathers at Jack's preschool is a terrific photographer. As a contribution to the school auction, he takes 'action shots' of all the kids. This year's version is here.

black(berry) jack

as we left the house for nursery school today (running late as usual), jack said, "i'm gonna bring my blackberry!"

so, mommy said, "well, that's fine, but when we get there you'll have to leave it in the car because we can't take it in to school."

jack responded, "okay. but i just want to see if daddy sent me a message on email."

ah, the things we teach our children ....

(p.s., i sent this from my blackberry)

miss mershon goes to washington

when mamaxana traded the columbus day holiday for another day off that week, daddy took charge of the kids.

and while jack was in school ... annie made her first visit to the hallowed halls of the cannon house office building on the house of representatives side of capitol hill.

she was an instant hit with the entire office ...

and while her first trip was a huge success, she was too tired to fillibuster, and so she went home after her "optional stop-by" -- as they say in the politics business -- for her non-optional nap.

first field trip

jack set off today on his first-ever field trip. the nursery school was headed to the pumpkin patch, and jack was all set to go with his buddy cache in his car.

the pumpkin patch is actually at the farm that we've frequented before as a family for berry picking, last year's pumpkin and christmas tree ...

but this is jack's first outing without us ...

he was all primed and ready to go -- reciting for us what he was going to do and see. and he was very proud to have his backpack full of snacks, extra clothes and a bag for his pumpkin. and he was excited to wear his fire boots -- even if at first he was not sure they should be worn for any reason other than "emergencies."

the mom doing the driving promised she'd try to take pictures ... so we'll bring those to you if she makes good!

communication

a whole world is opening up ...

annie made her first sign today.

as we did with jack, we have been demonstrating a few key words in sign language with her -- "bottle/milk," "thank you," "all done," and "more" are our major ones.

annie is eating very well and loves cheerios. she gets all excited when she sees the big yellow box come out -- panting and kicking her legs to show her enthusiasm.

well, today when she saw the box, she actually made the sign for more.

do you think she got some from her gobsmacked (and quite proud) mother?

youbetcha!

perfect conditioned response. from both annie and mommy!

meanwhile ... jack asked for cereal bars for breakfast. but, he said he needed to have both varieties taken out of the pantry so he could show which one he wanted -- blueberry or "crunch berry" -- his artful term for what nabisco so plainly labeled mixed berry.

mommy replied, "why can't you just tell me with words which one you want to have." to which jack responded, "i have to point, mama, because i've lost my voice. i lost my voice and can't find it."

believe-you-me, jack's lost lots of things in his three short years. and will doubtless lose many more in the years to come. but his voice?? somehow can't imagine that day *ever* coming!

pediatric update

annie's 8 month appointment was today. because she didn't have a 7 month appointment, we weren't sure what to expect.

we needn't have worried.

first, the stats:

• length = 28 1/2 inches (+2 1/2 inches)
• weight = 18 lbs., 10 oz. (+2 lbs., 2 oz.)
• head = 45 cm (+1 cm)

that puts her between 75th and 90th percentile for height, between 50th and 75th for weight and between 75th and 90th for head circumference.

she still has not a single tooth but nonetheless the doctor encouraged us to start giving her some finger foods like cheerios and soft meat to maw. she is doing a great job with her purees and has quite repetoire of pureed fruits and veggies that she enjoys. she also tried to eat the paper liner on the exam table. girl likes her fiber.

she is still not sleeping through the night, so the doctor encouraged us (again) to consider a little sleep training for her.

we had been reluctant, but after she was up on thursday at 12 am and again from 3 am to 5 am, only to wake for the day at 6 am, we are becoming persuaded.

other than that, annie's hitting all her milestones appropriately -- sitting well, "standing" on her legs and even having a little separation anxiety (see thursday's sleep fiasco).

and, the doctor noticed that she seems remarkably flexible -- she envisions a future of ice skating, ballet and gymnastics for annie. in her medical opinion, of course ....

annie ended her visit with two shots -- not the happiest parting. but by the time we return in two months for the next check-up, we hope she will have forgotten.