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:
Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 - (Mamma)
Overnight Adventure
Jack's current favorite!
What Daddies Do Best by Laura Numeroff
Jack has had an extremely interesting weekend.
Jack is now 15 and a half months old and it seems like a good time to get him used to being around other kids on a more "committed" basis than a trip to Jungle Java or a couple of hours at play group.
So, we invited his little friend, Herne, who is about three weeks younger than Jack, to come spend an overnight with us. Herne's parents, Nancy and Gene, graciously allowed the visit, to our great delight!
Herne has two older brothers, so he is a very well-socialized little boy -- and he's very talented at sophisticated ways to play with his toys! (Ahh, the benefits of slightly older live-in tutors!) while for Jack toys other than books are primarily missiles for use in tormenting Mamma and the cats.
Herne is also a very easy to get along with little guy, so it truly was a delight for me! (Rod had to work that night, so I was on my own for the first six hours.) Jack, on the other hand, had rather more mixed feelings.
He really enjoyed hanging out with Herne a lot -- at first. As we drove away with Herne, I looked into the back seat and saw the two boys holding hands and grinning! (Herne must have learned hand-holding from his older brothers -- Jack has never held hands with anyone before, as far as I can tell!)
We stopped first at the grocery store. It was raining, and I didn't want to put them into a wet cart, so I put the boys into slings and went in to the store, where I got a nice dry cart and put Herne (who is not quite as steady on his feet as Jack is) in the seat. Then I used one of the slings to rig a harness for Jack to stand up in, with little risk of falling. (He could have gotten hung up by his chest, but he couldn't have fallen.)
Needless to say, the two adorable little boys, obviously about the same age, got a lot of attention! Most people assumed they were twins and not a few assumed they were my twin grandsons.
Our groceries purchased, we headed home.
First order of business -- assembly line diaper change! First I changed Jack while Herne watched, then I changed Herne while Jack went off to get into mischief.
Next it was time to have dinner -- this was Jack's first uncomfortable moment.
We only have one high chair, and it made more sense for Herne to sit there -- again, Jack is a bit more stable and less likely to fall from a "big people chair". At first Jack was tickled to be given his dinner while he sat in Daddy's chair. Then it occurred to him that his buddy was sitting in his usual chair. He stared for a moment, seeming to think about what to make of the situation -- and then he went back to eating.
Next it was time for a bath. (The menu had included strawberries, so both boys were stained pretty seriosuly pink.)
That went beautifully, though Jacky was a tad confused when I sat outsde the tub -- usually I sit in the tub with him. I am hoping that we can move toward Jack bathing on his own soon and this seems like a good start.
Next it was time for bed. Or so I thought.
I put the boys in their pajamas, and sat Jack down with his books and toys while I offered Herne his bottle in a chair nearby. He didn't fuss, but Herne simply wasn't interested in taking his bottle from me.
Jack was acting sleepy, though, so I put Herne down with the toys while I tried to nurse Jack to sleep in the chair. He was very happy to nurse for a while--but then he climed off my lap to join Herne. Herne started to look sleepy, so I again offered him his bottle. Nope. Eventually, I decided that maybe Herne wasn't hungry, but surely he was sleepy -- it was almost two hours past bedtime! So, I put him in the crib in the darkened room, with his binkie and his security blanket all arranged according to the desription his Mamma had offered of the way he likes to go to sleep. He tossed and turned restlessly for a while, and then started to call out. Nope. Not ready to sleep. Oh dear.
But by this time, it was just about time to go get Rod from work, so I let the boys play for a while, and I gathered up everything I'd need for the trip. (I still had to get two lively boys down the stairs to the car, since we live in a second floor walkup flat.)
When the time came, I changed their diapers before we left and I carried the boys down to the car, strapped them in, and off we went. Poor Herne was out before I'd finished backing the car out of the parking lot. Jack had joined him before we left the complex!
Peace! (Oh, the boys were both fun and well behaved all evening -- but with two of them, I had been "on" for six hours. I was getting tired.)
We picked up Rod, went home and each of us carried a warm little lump of boy into the house where we successfully put them into bed.
The rays of the rising sun magically turnd a pair of sleeping cherubim into little rays of sunshine. I awoke to Jack and Herne chirping at one another, both looking fairly confused by this unusual situation.
Confused, but not displeased.
I changed some more diapers, leaving the boy who wasn't being changed in the crib. Then we went out to get breakfast.
This was when Jack started to get more seriously put out. Herne got the high chair again. Hmmm. Once was novel, but this was becommign a pattern laughin Jack wasn't entirely sure he approved of.
At one point he looked at me, pointed to Herne, looked at me again, and waved "bye bye". Translation: "It's time for Herne to go home now."
But, it wasn't.
I did explain to Jack that Herne would be with us until lunchtime, but I think the odds are near zero that he understood. ;)
After breakfast, we got the boys dressed and let them play with toys for a while, while we had our coffee and prepared to take them to play group.
At the appointed time, we started packing up to get in the car -- only diaper time became a lot more complicated than we had expected. So, we cleaned up, and then off we went, only to arrive at the appointed park an hour late and with two sleeping babies. Since we didn't see any one else still there, we decided to go for a little drive to let our tiny heros catch up on their much needed sleep.
The boys started to stir just as we arrived at the appointed time (more or less) to return Herne to his loving family.
That went so well, and Jack learned so much in the short time he spent visiting with Herne that I promptly asked permission to borrow Herne on a regular basis!
Hurrah!
Check back later for photos -- they're at home and I'm not! ;)
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