Happy Halloween

Jack had a busy Halloween weekend. Yesterday we (Nathan) carved a jack-o-lantern, which he had absolutely no interest in at all. I guess at first he said he wanted to help so he stuck his hand in the pumpkin to get the guts out… but that only lasted about two seconds.

Then he started playing frisbee and golf. However, he did discover he loves apple cider, or apple spider as he calls it. Today he had a birthday party for two of his little friends and then trick-or-treating. He chose to be a fireman today. We went down to the Liberty square first for trick-or-treat and he was not a big fan of the people in masks. In fact, he wanted to come home to get away from them. He had lots more fun once we got home and starting seeing our neighbors and going to their houses.  Then he helped pass out candy at home to all the kids – as long as they weren’t wearing a mask!

Finally, here are some pictures of his third costume – his farmer stuff. He wore this one on Friday to a moms group Halloween party.

Two Things

Jack is full of wisdom today. This morning after breakfast he was staring at my stomach (which he is doing more of lately). So I asked him why he was doing that. He said, "I don't think my baby brother is in your stomach." Okay, I said, what's in there? "A pumpkin," he replied.

Then, at lunch, we were talking about what he learned this morning at Bible study. He learned that God sent Jesus to be a light to the world. So I told him that Jesus was born on Christmas. He got very excited and said, "Jesus is my baby brother!" Not quite... so we talked about how Jesus and his baby brother might share a birthday. I guess he approves because he said, "Oh, that's cool."

Daddy at the Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the pumpkin patch for the third time this month. We are taking advantage of the free days! But today was special because Nathan met us there after work. Jack was pretty excited to see him.

He also enjoyed all his usual favorites, like the train and animals. On the way home he told me his favorite thing today was the bunnies. He also knows right where to go to buy apple cider slushes and pumpkin donuts.

Halloween is Here

Halloween is still a week away and Jack has already worn two different costumes to two different carnivals. On Friday he decided to be a fireman for the MOPS carnival. He loved dressing up like a fireman and wore his costume all day. Not that dressing like a fireman is an unusual thing for Jack. He wears his boots or hat for a good part of every day. 

Tonight we went to a Halloween carnival at our church and he decided he wanted to be a cowboy. 

He also gets to wear a costume to storytime at the library tomorrow and of course we have trick or treat next weekend. And he still has one more costume to choose from -- his farmer outfit. So we may have more costume pictures coming soon.

Big Boy Room

Yesterday we got Jack's big boy room all set up for him. He did great last night in his new bed and slept all night long. We also helped him clean out his toys and he decided which ones were baby toys that he would give to his baby brother. 

Here is his new reading corner, and all of his fireman and cowboy clothes.
No more rocking chair.
And yes, I did cry at least twice at the thought of not rocking him every night anymore. 

Typically at the end of "nap" time every single one of these toys is out and on the floor.

Also, I haven't posted pictures for a little while so here are some other things we've been doing lately. This first one is for Grandma Pat. Our porch doesn't look nearly as good as yours always did, but I tried. 

Rocks are also pretty fun to play with these days. Jack likes to stack them all up in Grandma Pat's butterfly bath and then move them all to his bucket, and then do it all again.

Last, we went to Deanna Rose Farmstead a couple of weeks ago for a birthday party. It is a really great place for kids but it's pretty far from our house, so Jack hadn't been there since we moved to Liberty. They have all kinds of fun things to do. He got to go fishing, and caught three fish! He also got to feed a bottle to the baby goats. Here is a series of pretty funny pictures from that experience. As you'll see, he starts out feeding them on his own... but the goats were pretty aggressive and he wasn't a big fan of them by the end. 

Chinese Cabbage

I had a doctor's appointment today and Jack went with me. It was quite the adventure. He got to take his Lightning McQueen backpack filled with toys he picked out just for the doctor. Everything was just fine at the check-up and my trusty BabyCenter email tells me that our baby boy is the size of a Chinese cabbage this week. That is about 2 1/4 pounds and 15 inches. Jack got to hear the baby's heartbeat and he thought that was pretty cool. When the nurse asked him where his heartbeat was he told her he left it at home.

He is starting to talk about the baby more now. Yesterday at breakfast he told me he is going to feed his baby brother yogurt when he gets here. And today when I left him in his room for his nap, I could hear him going through his toys. He found an old teddy bear-lovey thing and announced that his baby brother would like to play with it. He also thinks he is going to be the one to carry around the baby when he gets here. Maybe he'll settle for rocking him in the swing!

Be Very Quiet

Here's a Jack quote for the day. At lunch we were sharing an apple and Jack says, "Where is the... I can't think of the word. That is a hard word." I knew he was going to ask where the caramel dip was because he likes apples lots more with that added, so I asked him if the word had something to do with apples. He replied with, "Mommy please be very quiet. I am trying to think of that word." Then he thought for a second and remembered his word -- he was very proud of himself. Sometimes you just need some peace and quiet I guess.

Omaha

This weekend we went to Omaha with some good friends to visit the zoo. We left early Saturday morning and got to the zoo about 10. We might have overdone it just a little at the zoo, seeing as we didn't leave until around 4. There was so much to see and the boys (Jack, Ben -- almost 4 yrs. old and Sam - 2 yrs. old) were having lots of fun. 


Despite all the great animals to see, I think their favorite thing was escaping and running away from us every chance they could get. They wore us out. We were asleep by 9:30. A few hours later we were woken up by our very loud hotel neighbors, who we then proceeded to get kicked out of the hotel because we complained about them. Too bad for them! Here are some pictures from the zoo. 

Looking at a very large gorilla!

In the jungle building. One of the few moments he wasn't moving. 

The aquarium was his favorite part. He has a few fish books from the library he loves, so he was very excited to see all the things we've been reading about for weeks in person. 

We also found some really neat slides in downtown Omaha that the boys loved. I think Jack and Nathan went down probably 20 times. He didn't want to go down by himself, which was probably a good thing because it was a very fast and steep slide. 

And here is one last picture that just kind of makes me laugh. Despite all the fun we had, we did have our rough moments too. He thinks he is such a big boy and will tell you all about it, but if he gets hurts he wants Mommy. When this picture was taken, he had just taken a little tumble when we were leaving the slides and it was just too much for him to handle. 

Sonogram and A Life Lesson

Today we had our second sonogram for the baby and he was much more cooperative today. They were able to get all the pictures they needed and everything looks great. He looks so big already and I could see him rubbing his eyes and mouth, and opening and closing his little fingers. And, he has Jack's cute little nose!

Now, on to the life lesson. This morning Nathan had a little talk with Jack about what is supposed to be flushed down the toilet. He hasn't thrown any toys or random objects in the toilet yet, but we know that day is coming soon. So Nathan explained if a toy or book fell in the toilet, then Jack needs to come and get me and tell me it's an emergency, but not to flush the toilet. So Jack thought about this new information for a moment and very seriously replied, "I guess if I fall in the toilet, is that an emergency?" Hmmm... I think the answer to that is yes.

Happy Missouri Day

This morning when Jack woke up I told him it was a special day called Labor Day and that means Daddy doesn't have to go to work today. He immediately told me, "No, it's not Labor Day. It's Missouri Day." So I asked him what you do on Missouri Day and he informed me, "You fight cheetahs." Of course! 


He is on a roll today... At breakfast I asked him if he was going to eat any more of his breakfast ice cream (a smoothie) and he told me, "I'm waiting for the chimes and then I'll eat more some." He was talking about the chimes in his read-along books that tell you to turn the page. 


And here's one more Jack quote for today. We went on a walk this morning to the park and he waited until he got home to go to the bathroom. So I gave him a kiss and told him I was proud of him. His response was to back away from me and announce, "I backed up so Mommy can't give me any more kisses. If you give me one more kiss you have to go to your room."