Wedding Weekend

Last weekend Aunt Lindsay got married. It was a wonderful wedding and a very busy weekend full of family and fun. Jack started the weekend out with an evening with Uncle Mizzou and Aunt Christy. He was very excited because they have horses and a tractor at their house. He got to feed and pet the horses, but wasn't quite ready to ride the tractor. 

Saturday was the big wedding day! Jack got to wear his very first suit, courtesy of his pal Ben. He was pretty proud of himself since he looked just like Daddy.

He didn't enjoy the ceremony nearly as much as the reception. He had a hard time understanding what was going on during the ceremony and why he couldn't run up and down the aisle as he pleased. He really wanted to be with Grandma. So, he had to leave for awhile to compose himself and then got to watch the rest of the ceremony at the back of the church. He had much more freedom at the reception. As expected, he was all about dancing. Here he is at the beginning of the night checking out the dancing scene.

His preferred dance move was running around the dance floor as fast as he could. He also tried his hand at break dancing after he saw another little boy showing off his moves. He even got to participate in the dollar dance with Aunt Lindsay. Although he was a bit disappointed she wouldn't run around the dance floor with him.

Here's a rare picture of him sitting still during the reception. Grandpa probably had cake.

On Sunday he went fishing for the first time. He caught three fish with Daddy and insisted on doing everything all by himself. But I think the most exciting part of the fishing trip was getting to see Great Grandpa Dee ride up on his tractor. Even before this weekend, Jack had decided he wants to be a farmer when he grows up. Now he definitely wants to be a farmer, most days at least! 

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.

Uh-oh

Tonight Nathan and I ate dinner after Jack went to bed because Nathan had to work late. We were sitting at the table enjoying our steaks and we suddenly heard the pitter-patter of little feet... And then we saw a little visitor coming through the dining room to the kitchen. He was looking at us, full of excitement, and the first thing out of his mouth was, "I climbed out of my bed." I guess it's time to say goodbye to the crib and hello to a big boy bed. Shockingly, he didn't get out of his crib again. Maybe he's waiting until nap time tomorrow.

Great Grandpa Bill

Jack says lots of really funny things these days, but tonight he might have said the funniest yet. He was playing with a ribbon after dinner and he put it around his neck and then stuck the two ends in the waistband of his pants. Then he looks at Nathan and says, "I'm Great Grandpa Bill." 

Some of you are already laughing because you know Great Grandpa Bill. For those of you who don't know him, here's the funny thing. Great Grandpa Bill always wears suspenders. Little Jack had made himself his own suspenders with his ribbon. Thus, his announcement about being Great Grandpa Bill.

Here's another funny thing he said this week. One morning Nathan was leaving for work so he told Jack he loved him. Jack looked at him very seriously and said, "I love this flashlight." To his credit, he was playing with a flashlight. Apparently he was overwhelmed with his love for it and needed to tell Nathan about it. He is very free with his proclamations of love these days, especially at the zoo. He loves all the animals and also tells me quite a few of the animals love him too.

Last, here's a funny picture from one morning this week when we made oatmeal muffins for breakfast. He was so excited for them to be done he had to sit on his step stool and watch the oven timer change while they were baking. Every time a minute would go by and the numbers would change on the timer he would yell excitedly, "Mommy, the numbers changed." He got up a few times but he pretty much sat there the entire 15 minutes. Who knew the oven timer would be so entertaining?

Spring Is In the Air

To say Jack loves playing outside now that it's warm is a bit of an understatement. Today when he was supposed to be taking a nap (he's still having a hard time falling asleep for a nap every day) he starting yelling for me to come upstairs. When I got to his room he told me he needed to go outside and mow the grass. Pretty much every second he's awake he wants to be outside. Except for dinner tonight, when he ate more than Nathan or I. Apparently he loves pulled pork! 

Here's some other springtime fun he's been having...

 He had his first fudgesicle the other day. He started out clean...

  ...and ended up pretty messy. I'm still working on getting the stains out of his shirt.

He also goes through two sets of clothes a day lately. He just gets so sweaty and dirty playing outside that he usually needs new clothes before his nap. Although his clothing preference would be more along the lines of this next picture.

Another one of his favorite things is playing with our neighbors, Taylor and Cameryn. They play together pretty much every afternoon after Taylor gets home from school. They are very sweet little girls and today they had lots of fun playing in his tent in the front yard. They were moving too fast to get any good pictures of them in the tent, so here is a rare shot of them sitting still.

 

Dancing Machine

Yesterday we went to my cousin's wedding and Jack's favorite part was definitely the dance at the reception. It took him a few minutes to get warmed up, but once he let loose he was a wildman. He was jumping around and even coming up with new moves. Being the only little boy out there dancing also helped. He had his pick of girls to dance with, including the bride. These pictures aren't very good, but they'll give you a glimpse of our little dancing man. We'll have to start practicing his moves now for Aunt Lindsay's wedding. He has to live up to his reputation.

 

Grandma Pam's House

Today Jack and I went to Grandma Pam's house for the day. As far as days go for 2-year old little boys, this one was definitely awesome, as Jack would say. The city is redoing the sewer lines at the end of Grandma and Grandpa's street so there were bulldozers, dump trucks and other machines I don't know the names for only one block away. We went down to see them several times. The first time Jack was a little unsure what to think because they were very loud. But by the last time we went down he was quite comfortable and loving it. He is probably dreaming about bulldozers right now.

  
He also got to practice drinking out of a regular cup, which was very exciting.

After lunch he made and, most importantly, ate chocolate chip cookies.

And to top it all off, he got to feed Charlie. 

I guess the only thing that could have made the day better, for me at least, was if he would have taken a nap. He doesn't really sleep in the car. Instead, he talks the entire time so he doesn't fall asleep. Oh, and Nathan got him a Hot Wheels monster truck today. It doesn't get much better than that!

Easter

We had a great Easter today. Last year Jack had just started walking, so I think he enjoyed being able to run around and look for Easter eggs this year. He started the day getting his new Easter basket.

After going to church with Aunt Regina, we headed to Aunt Sherry's house for lunch and our Easter egg hunt. Here are some pictures of Jack hunting eggs and enjoying his new bubbles. 

Last, here's two funny pictures from the past couple of days. First, I was making sugar cookies for Easter so Jack wanted to wear his apron and help. Well, he didn't help for long because he quickly decided he wanted to have a dance party with Daddy. Then he got hot from all of his dancing and had to take his shirt off. But he refused to take his apron off. Here he is in the midst of his dancing and throwing his shirt around.

And here is one from Friday with him dressed up like a doctor. He loves the doctor kit Aunt Lindsay got him for his birthday.