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.