Guitars and Painting

We've had a busy week, filled with firsts for Jack. On Saturday he went to his first concert.  His favorite musician, Mr. Stinky Feet (thanks to a CD my old boss gave me) was giving a concert at the Power and Light District so we went, in spite of the rain and cold. Jack liked the music and got to be in the band with his pal Sophie. He didn't really know what to do, so he just stood up there with his little tambourine and mainly stared at Mr. Stinky Feet. The next day he was still talking about Mr. Stinky Feet so Nathan got his guitar out to show Jack. 

Jack was quite impressed and wanted to play it right away.

Today he got to paint for the first time. The paints I bought were actually finger paints, but after one try he decided he didn't like using his fingers. No big surprise since he hates it when his hands are dirty. But, he loved using the paintbrush. We even had to make two paintings because he wasn't ready to be done yet.

Painting took all of his concentration and it was so fun to hear him tell me all the things he was painting. He painted lots of curly snakes, his name several times (he makes four marks on the paper and spells his name while he does it), a tree, a pink teddy bear and I can't remember the rest. 

Last, here's a funny thing he said yesterday. After his "nap" (he tried but couldn't fall asleep) he found a navy blue hat he has and put it on backwards, and then came to find me in the laundry room. He announced he was a policeman and I asked him what he did as a policeman. He responded quite seriously, "Help people with Uncle Will." Then I asked him where Uncle Will lived and he, again very seriously, responded, "In a humvee." I guess that's close enough to being right! I bet Uncle Will feels like he lives in a humvee sometimes.

Oooh! What's This Right Here?

This past weekend, Nathan built Jack his very own swing set. We weren't going to get him a swing set, but then we found one at Toys R Us for a good price and on sale. Nathan had to call all the Toys R Us stores in Kansas City to find the very last one. The reviews online said it took an average of 12 hours to put the swing set together. But, Nathan is a super dad and it only took him 10 hours! It was a very long Saturday... but it was worth it when Jack finally figured out what Daddy was doing. He saw the ladder first and exclaimed, "Ooooh! What's this right here?"

Here he is in his "house," as he calls it.

He really likes graham crackers these days, as you might notice in these pictures.

He was a big help to Nathan the whole day. Ha, ha.

Looking out his window...

And trying out his new swing.

And here is the almost finished product. I guess I didn't take a picture after all the swings were finished. I don't think Nathan will be starting a side business assembling swing sets anytime soon. But I'm sure Jack will get hours of fun from his new house.

Big Boy Bed

Since my last post, Jack has graduated from his crib to a big boy bed. We haven't had a chance to buy him a twin bed yet, so we converted his crib into a toddler bed. He loves it and definitely enjoys the freedom he now has to get out whenever he wants. I wouldn't say I enjoy his freedom however! He really is doing pretty well though, and today he took a nap for the third day in a row. Considering his recent napping habits, this is a really big deal. Here are some pictures from the big event of converting his bed. He really likes helping with the drill whenever he has the chance.

Here he is enjoying his new bed for the first time.

  
Last, here he is with all of his animals. He won't even think of going to sleep unless they are all in his bed.