We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
Friday, Nov. 19, 2004 - (Mamma)
My Little Book Worm
Jack had lost most of his interest in books for a few months there. He would read them occasionally, but he was much more focussed on physical skills -- like learning to walk! Then he started getting rough with books -- the third day in a row that he intentionall destroyed a book, he lost all of them. I put them away where he could get them at all. A few days later, Dad brought out a few books, but Jack showed relatively little interest.
The we opened the back room where Jack's "spare" toys live so that we could straighhten it up and make room for the guest bed. Jack found the stash!
Our little boy has been following us around day and night clutching books and begging us to read to him!
He even goes to sleep at night clutching a book! This bodes very, very well for my eventually getting a chance to read my own books!
Another Potty Training Signal
For several days running, Jack has been signing for a diaper change *before* he poos! That suggests that he may be ready to start more serious work on using the toilet. On the one hand, once we start I feel like we'll have to be pretty consistent, and I don't know that we could be. (I can't imagine carrying the pot in the car, so that we can rush out if he signs while we're in a shop!) On the other hand, it would be so nice not to have to live with pooey diapers for a week until there picked up and I sure don't want to miss our window of opportunity...that could mean being stuck with diapers until he *4*! (I'm told that's not unusual these days.)
Sound like odd worries for a Mom of three? I thought so, too. But I have never done the toilet training thing. My first son handed me his diaper one day and announced that he wanted to be a big boy. That was it. He had one accident on his way up a flight of stairs to the bathroom, and he never missed again. My second son came home from visiting his Dad and I found out that my ex mother-in-law had trained him over the weekend.
Which brings us to Jack. My inclination is to wait for him to hand me his diaper, but then again..
So, I've decided to do the sensible thing. I'm leaving it to Rod.
We were out at the shops last night, long past Jack's bedtime. Our little guy was exhausted and kind of overwound. That meant he had no patience for sitting in the trolley watching as we went about our task. Especially since our task didn't actually involve buying anything. (We were looking at large area rugs -- we have decided that if we can't take the carpet out of the dining room, we'd best cover it with something sturdy so we don't ruin it.) Then, we went to a shop to look at ideas for holiday decor. Again, for ideas -- not to buy.
Poor Jack.
So, I let him out of the trolley to explore and I followed him aound. The shop had lots of breakable vases and ornaments, and Jack wanetd to touch everything he saw. Remembering his superb cooperation at the recent festival we went to, I reminded him to look, but don't touch.
Well, he cooperated. Sort of.
He looked at me, then he turned around and looked at the vase that had his attention. And he gathered all of his finger tips together and put them as close to the top of the vase as he could without touching it! Then, he went to the next one and did the same thing. Then he went through the shop "not touching" everything he saw.
What a goofball!
But a very well-behaved goofball.
Mr. Jack has also hit a major growth spurt! Clothes that we got in the clothng exchange in September are rapidly growing too small! Clothes I didn't think he would wear until he was 4, are fitting perfectly! And he has outgrown his first pair of shoes! Lucky for us, I didn't know what size to buy, so I bought two sizes -- the smaller ones fit when he got them, and the bigger ones are perfect now. Makes me glad we hadn't already invested in a $70 pair of Ugg boots for winter. We have to make a long adenture to go to the nearest store that carries them. That will have to be done within a couple of weeks, though, because the weather forcaster is predicting snow this weekend!
Jack feels better. What with one things and another, we never did get him to the doctor. But the fever has broken again, and this time he's no longer walking into things.
As is remarkable often the case, he came out of this period of illness with an amazing new level of skill at various things. He is using new words and using "old" words much more clearly than he ever has before. He is even more able to carry on conversations. And he shows signs of understand *a lot* more than i would have guessed he could. (Last night in the car, his Dad was telling a long drawn out joke and when he got to the punch line, Jack racked up and laughed as loudly as I did! No doubt some of that was inflection and tone of voice...but that he recognized that the punch line was a cue to laugh strikes me as amazing!) Rod has begun to wonder, with the consistency of this pattern, whether mild fevers might not be a natural part of the maturation process. I've never heard of such a thing, but I can see why he'd wonder.
Jack has always loved music! When he was 4 months old, the only way to make his car seat even marginally acceptble was to play Hayden or Bach while we drove. As he got bigger, he developed a sign all his own for "music" and once he'd trained us, he never missed an opportuity to request that we play music for him.
As he's gotten more and more fleet of foot, Jack has started flirting with...*dancing*!! As he got onto his feet, he started to sway a little. Soon he was bending his knees in time to the music. Then he was stepping in time to the music, and lately, he's added a cute little "moon walk shuffle" to his repetoire. Granted, Mr. Jackson's dancing fame is safe for the moment, but Jack isn't bad for a guy who's just celebrated his 18 month mark!
I wish we had a motion camera so I could show you ... it's very funny.
Dental Caries and Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding and Dental Health
Look, don't touch...
Getting bigger
Getting better
Step Aside Fred Astaire
In the News
