Jack stories:
March 28, 2012-almost 27 months
When we ask Jack “What” or “Why”, he will respond with, “Cuz.” We will then say, “Because why?” And he will say, “Cuz so.”
He can clearly say Hanna Jo, and when he is being naughty, we don’t typically say, ‘Jack Robert’, we say, ‘Jack Brown’. So I’m not surprised he said this:
“Jack, what’s your middle name?”
“Man.”
“Your middle name is Man?! Isn’t it Robert??”
“No, Man.”
“So it’s Jack Man not Jack Robert?”
“Ya.”
One day Laura and I were driving with Jack in the car. Out of nowhere he says, “I talk ta Jesus.” “What do you say to him Jack?” (Long pause……..) “Jesus.”
Laura and I also took him out for ice cream (ow gween) for the second time ever. We took him to a frozen Greek yogurt place. We tasted it and thought it was disgusting so were just eating the candy off the top mostly. We kept looking over at Jack and he kept saying, “So good…..so good!!”
At Grandma Joyce’s, Jack was playing with Uncle Mike Staebell by the bridge and was digging his hands in the mud sayin, “Ucky”, but continued to do it.
He also loves going up and down hills, and will say, “Right back up!”
“I can’t!” This has been a new phrase lately. He immediately says he can’t do something before trying. We’re trying to teach him ‘I can’ or asking for help before whining and feeling sorry for himself.
Harmonica. Jack has loved his harmonica from Kindermusic lately. The second that he hears the Wiggles playing music on tv or any music on tv, he will scrounge through all his toys to find his harmonica to play along with the music. He will tap his toe and play right along. Sometimes he has to find his keyboard or half bongo quick! This has been so cute to watch!!
When Justin woke Jack up this morning before daycare, he put Jack in some hand-me-down shoes from my cousin. Jack was sooooooo excited about his new shoes he could hardly stand it! Right when he got to daycare he said to Bobby, “New shoes Bobby, new shoes!” He also had to show them to Gabe right away. Justin said he very shyly stuck his foot out to show off his new shoes to Gabe. (Gabe is his 3 year old idol)
Justin dressed him in a ‘My Mom Rocks’ shirt with guitars. Jack loves guitars. He said to Justin, “Guitars! I play guitar. I get bigger. Like Uncle Mike. Like this!” (then strums on his shirt like a guitar!) So cute!
Grandma Joyce was folding clothes one day at our house (which was awesome!), and Jack decided to help her! He was picking up the clothes one at a time saying, “Mommy’s, Mize, Daddy’s, Hanna’s, Mize, Mize…etc” He mixes up Mine and I a lot. ‘My sad……’ ‘This is mize.’
Sometimes he doesn’t like when Hanna has her baby stuff. He sees the Bumbo, and since I told him it used to be his, he says, “My Bumbo!” And he will sit in it to play sometimes!
Sometimes we overhear him saying, “A, C, K, Jack!”
The other day I was getting him ready to go outside (which he is 100% obsessed with), and he just started saying the ABC’s! He got all the way to Z and even sang the end! I didn’t stop him or make any comments because for months and months, everytime I try to sing it with him, he makes me stop at H, and will not continue to sing. I was so happy he could actually do it! I wonder how long he’s been holding out on me!
He can count to at least 10. Sometimes the letter O comes after 7. Sometimes he skips 11 and goes straight to 12 then 14. Sometimes he is 7 years old, not 2. We just go with it.
He gets obsessed with letters. Right now it’s W. He can write a W and recognize it! They study a letter at a time at daycare, and man it sticks with him! He will point out the tiniest W when we are reading a story! Makes a teacher proud as I’m constantly trying to engage him in reading books!
Right now Jack stretches his bedtime routine out to over an hour. Bath (which is sometimes a fight). Sometimes he wants it with Hanna, or downstairs, or a shower, it just depends. It’s so much easier to bathe them at the same time so that’s what we’ll keep doing whenever possible! He then will read a book with me before going downstairs with Daddy. If it’s not too late, he can watch a Wiggles, and then read a couple more books with Daddy. Instead of singing, he now prefers Daddy tickle him. He’s also started to be a little scared of the dark and will whine, “Little bit , little bit!” when he wants the light on a little bit. We don’t let him do this because he stays up forever! (Grandma Joyce made this boo boo and now we get to enjoy it every night!)
At night before supper we pray and Jack joins right in. He does the sign of the cross with us and holds his hands to pray. A couple of times he has tried to take a swig of milk or eat a bean in the middle of the prayer like he can’t wait. After we corrected this, he just smiles huge at Justin and I during the whole prayer. We can’t help but smile back because he is cheesing out so much! At the end after the sign of the cross, he says (EVERYTIME), “Time ta eat!” Then digs in.
“I hid ewe!” (When he wants us to hold him. All the time.)
We were driving to Target a couple weeks ago, and Jack has picked up this bad habit of saying, “My Daddy! Don’t talk-a my Daddy!” (in a very snotty voice) He gets jealous when I talk to Justin because I think he still blames me for the birth of his sister. He loves her to death, but sometimes he’s jealous. He doesn’t like it when we talk to each other. So Justin and I were talking for the first time in what felt like a month just about everyday stuff! It was awesome! Jack did not like this though and started saying this over and over, “Don’t talk-a my Daddy, Mommy!” “Can’t hear!” “Don’t talk!” After plenty of warnings about time out, we finally just did it. We pulled off the interstate on the next exit and parked the car in timeout for 2 minutes. We completely ignored him and just sat there looking out the window. I had my sunglasses on and he kept telling me not to sleep and to wake up! After it was over, we talked to him about why we did it and I told him that next time we are talking, he can either play with his toy in the car, or look out the window and sing. He chose to just stare out the window the rest of the way in silence! It was wonderful!
One day in the bath, he was really grumpy and crying, and so I grabbed a tupperware thing for pickles called a piccadilly. I put it in the tub with him and it seemed to help! Then 2 minutes later, he started bawling and I asked him why he was bawling. I asked him, “Is it because of the Piccadilly?” And he said, “Ya…” in the saddest voice. Bed time.
Doyng Doyng! Jack just started doing this by blinking his eyes hard while staring at someone and saying this!
“I love you Jack!” (nothing) “What do you say back?” “Good.”
Sometimes he wakes up and we let him just lay in bed until he starts getting sad. He has had a lot of people around him lately, and one Friday morning he woke up happy as can be talking. He then started saying, “Unca Mike??? Gramma Mary?? Daddy???” Then he would giggle, “Unca Miiiiiike!” (like he thought he was going to pop in and tease him. Then he’d get sad so we’d go get him. Uncle Mike spends the night once in awhile when he’s in town for work. Jack loves this!
“I love you to the MOOOOOOOOOOn and BAAACk!” I’ve said this to Jack since he was a baby in a high voice. He now says it with me in the same goofy high voice! I love it!
“My leg hewt!” (Almost nightly) Apparently Gabe at daycare had a hurt leg so now Jack’s hurts almost every night.
In the bath, Jack sometimes tells us that he’s sad, “My sad.” We then have to kiss him to make it better. Now he tells us his toys in the tub are sad. “Train sad, Kitty (which is actually a raccoon) sad” and we have to kiss them.
He was singing Twinkle Twinkle and after he finshed he was saying “Mommy star, Daddy star, Zoey Star, Hanna Star” and listing family members names with star after it. He is so funny in his crib.
Jack is so much fun! I love spending time with him and he cracks me up daily!!! Love you baby boy!
3-28-12
Dear Hanna,
You were 3 months old a couple days ago. Baby girl, (Baby Angel), you are so much fun to be with everyday! Your typical schedule is: wake up between 6-7:30 (for the last few nights!!) if it’s before Daddy goes to work, he brings you to me in bed to feed you! Then you eat, go back to sleep…usually in the swing (sometimes this nap is a long one!), wake up at 11ish, eat, stay awake and play, look sleepy so you eat again, sleep, wake up maybe at 2 ish, eat, and back to sleep. You usually are peacefully sleeping until you hear your little brother walk in the door after daycare! He comes in ready to go!! You do not like his loud voice during your sleep so you scrunch your eyes and squiggle with annoyance. He immediately wants to come see you and see what you are doing and then continues on with his evening. Sometimes you fall back asleep and don’t wake up until my plate is served. Literally, the second I start putting my food on my plate, you start crying. Which means that Daddy usually holds you while he stands and eats! You just don’t want to miss out on a family dinner. We have tried putting you in the Bumbo on the counter, but you only like that for about 5 minutes.
After supper I usually feed you and then we go play downstairs or outside with Jack and Daddy. Once you start getting fussy, it’s time for tubby. You usually take a bath at 7:30 or 8:00. You are happy the instant you hear the bath water. You will play in the tub for about 30 minutes and then it’s time for jammies and then eating again. You usually eat for 30-45 minutes before bed. You decided when you are done and it’s usually once you are passed out on me. Daddy then takes you to bed at 8:30 or 9! Sometimes he has to turn off all the lights and walk with you a few minutes, but most of the time he can just take you to your crib. On goes the fan, lambie on heartbeat the Angle care monitor, and your ducky humidifier! You like to sleep on your back with your arms or on your side. You have become a very good sleeper! Thank you sweetie!
I truly love spending the day with you. In the morning I love to watch you in the monitor just stare at the circle paintings above your bed, or stare at the ceiling. You are so content just laying there and just kind of talk to me with your whines! You don’t really cry anymore when you wake up! You have the prettiest smile and I get to see it the second I peak my head over the crib. You are so happy to see me! You also love your changing table. You really get smiling there. It feels so good to see how refreshed you are after a good night’s sleep. You have really started to swing. You could most of your day in there if you could. You also love to lay on the floor on a fuzzy blanket and stare at me or the ceiling fan. You love watching your brother, but if he laughs too loud in your face, you get scared and cry. You have started to be more acceptable of volume. You used to get super overstimulated when you were around a lot of people. But now as long as you are facing out, you seem to be happy! As long as you aren’t hungry or a little wet. We have learned to change your diapers often. It keeps you very happy! You also sometimes just want to be in a onesie because you are hot. And if you are fussy in our arms, a lot of times you just want to be left alone and set down.
You love to do patty-cake and just kick and move your little fists around and around while laying on the floor. You sometimes like to lay in the Boppy on my lap and just stare at me. You like to coo and caw and make gurgly noises back and forth with me like we’re having a conversation. It is so cute! Your smile is my favorite. You open your mouth so big and turn your head to the side and just look at me with those beautiful blue eyes! I swear they sparkle when you smile!
Car rides have become a bit better for you. If you are fed right before we leave, you can make it. If you get fussy, we have to roll down the window a crack. We’ve made a lot of trips back and forth to Cedar Falls lately. A couple weeks ago, you came with me and Jack to Grandma’s house to play with her and Aunt Laura while she was on spring break. Last weekend we went back to help Grandma Joyce decorate. And we will go back this weekend for Baby Cousin’s baby shower!
Most days it is just you and me here at home. We don’t really leave the house all day, and I’m actually okay with it! Although we did go to the store yesterday to get some groceries and you did a great job. About one time every other week, Jack is at home with us too. Those days are busy but fun! Thank goodness Daddy comes home for lunch everyday. We are lucky to have him! When it is just you and me, I try to hold you more and stare at you more just to soak it all up. You love when you are laying on the ground and I kneel over top of you and just make you smile. You have the best smile! I’m so glad that I get to have this one on one time with you just like I had with Jack. We will have such a fun summer!
You have started to sleep for 10 hours a night! This is a wonderful thing! What a big girl! You go to sleep between 8:15 and 9, and sleep for 10 hours! This is perfect since Mommy goes back to work next week. I’m getting very sad about this because I’ve loved every second of being home with you. I wish I could take you with me! But I feel good knowing you are going to be with Bob and Vickie, and that your big brother will be there to take care of you. Just 8 short weeks and that it’s summertime! I’m so glad I’m a teacher!
I probably could keep writing more and more, but I just want you to realize how loved you are. Your Daddy loves to hold you, especially when you aren’t fussy. He holds you almost every night while he stands and eats his dinner! He turns off all the lights and makes everything just perfect for you before bed so he can lay you down. Your brother thinks you are the cutest, funniest thing about 85% of the time! The rest of the time he can be sad because he’s used to getting Mommy and Daddy’s full attention! But he really cracks up just looking at you! He will protect you for the rest of your life and I love that. Besides your grandparents and uncles and aunt loving you, I love you more than you will ever know. I love just touching your cheeks to see you smile. I love when I’m busy doing something else with you nearby, and I look down at you and see you just staring at me like I am the most interesting person in the world. It is the best feeling to know that I have a little boy and little girl and I get to call my kids. When I get you out of the crib in the morning and you are content as can be, and just smile with your mouth wide open the second you see my face, that is the best moment. And when you fall asleep on my chest. You fight it sometimes, but when you finally stop flopping your head back and forth to find the most comfy spot, that is the best. When I glance in at you sleeping on your tummy on the couch in the sunroom with your little booty in the air and the sun hitting you just perfect like a cat, that is the best. When you rock back and forth in your swing by the window, with your jammies on in the morning, that is the best. I feel like the luckiest person in the world to have you, your brother and your daddy as mine. I will love you forever and ever little girl!! Thank you for the best 3 month maternity leave I could ask for. You are so much fun!
I love you,
Mommy
