Two Years Old

My sweet little man will be two years old on Friday.  I keep thinking about all the changes that are coming our way next year as we start to step in to the world of the "terrible twos."  And I suppose this past year hasn't been without its tantrums and episodes.  In truth, I think that this next year is going to be a lot of fun.  I think that this is the last holiday season where I can say that Jack doesn't "get" much of what's going on.  He's not getting excited about Halloween, his birthday, or Christmas yet - but next year, I think it will be just awesome.  He's learning literally a dozen new words a day and I can't believe that I'll be having full conversations with him soon.  

And now, it's almost time for the "forgotten" holiday - or Thanksgiving.  I think the Christmas decorations have been up since the first week of November in all the stores and Santa has been showing up at the malls early.  It's kind of sad because Thanksgiving is a really great holiday - we should spend time reflecting on what we're thankful for instead of scanning the paper and planning out the best Black Friday route.  Not that I've ever been all that into shopping on Black Friday.  Actually, I remember that, two years ago, Jeff took me to the Mall of America on Black Friday so I could walk laps around the shopping center, in hopes of starting labor since I was already a day past my due date.  Everyone did maintain their distance from the crazy, crabby, pregnant lady - so that was good.    

Anyways, this past weekend was busy yet again - we had our family pictures taken on Saturday.  Jack would not cooperate.  It was awful - honestly, the best picture we have of us is one of him hanging onto my back or Jeff holding him upside down.  And maybe I shouldn't say it was so bad - this is our life and this is our child.  And he totally rules.  So, I got our Christmas cards done yesterday (ordered, at least) and I've started doing the holiday shopping - online, of course.  I always get so stressed out going to stores this time of year - everyone is so rude, it kind of negates the holiday spirit.  Again, I'm hoping to get the Christmas decorations up on Friday before Jack's birthday party on Saturday.  Otherwise, we're not going to have a tree this year because I don't know when I'd get to it.  Actually, I should cross my fingers that we still HAVE a tree seeing as how our basement was flooded just a few short months ago and I didn't bother going through the Christmas decorations to determine what had been ruined.  

Anyways, it's a good thing we had our pictures taken on Saturday because I have taken absolutely no pictures of Jack this week.  And I can explain - he doesn't stop moving.  Ever.  Even when Mickey is on, he's climbing on furniture, pretending his a cuckoo bird, dancing, or bugging Blue.  So, here are a few of my favorite family shots:

  

So yes, I think there's a Christmas card picture in there somewhere - honestly, the only time Jack would sit still was if he was sitting in the drawer in the coffee table, being held upside down by Jeff, or "flying" as he likes to call it on my back.  Welcome to our life.  

So anyways, after pictures, Jeff went to the Gopher game and Jack and I hung out around the house, did some errands, and played.  I'm telling you - it's so cold here that it's tough to get the motivation to go outside.  Plus, our basement is so warm... anyways, we got up on Sunday morning and went to church.  I was singing a song during the offering, and Jeff was "supposed" to watch Jack while I was up in front of the church.  About half-way through the song, I hear "MAMA!" and look up from my music to see Jack tearing down the middle aisle of the church.  He runs up to me, gives me a big hug, gets down and runs away.  I suppose it's pretty cute, although I think Daddy may have planned the whole thing.  

Anyways, after church we went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving.  It was nice to spend time with everyone and I got to have a good, long cuddle with Baby Bash.  

And this coming weekend will be crazy - Uncle Alec is coming to stay with us tomorrow night, and we're all going to see The Hunger Games.  We're going for yet ANOTHER Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, and on Friday I've got to cook and get ready for Jack's birthday party which happens on Saturday.  Then, my grandma turns 89 on Sunday and Jack has his check-up at the doctor on Monday.  So, this Thanksgiving - I am thankful for my beautiful family, my loving and energetic little boy, gentle golden retrievers, and Internet shopping.  

Wait... Thanksgiving is Next Week?

Seriously, my last post was about Halloween, and now I'm already writing about Thanksgiving.  I just can't wrap my head around the idea that this year is winding down and we're getting busier and busier by the day.  I am so grateful for calendars that fit on your phone so I don't double (or triple!) book myself and so much has happened since I last wrote, that I don't even know where to begin...

Alright, so about ten days ago, Jeff and I went out to California.  As you all may or may not know, Jeff likes to write - screenplays, specifically.  He's been working on one for the past five years or so and finally made a push this past summer to finish it.  He started entering it into several different contests, and found out that he advanced in the LA All Sports Film Festival competition.  So, off we flew to Los Angeles.  And again, I am so grateful for my parents who put their lives on hold to come up to our house and stay with the little man.  Fortunately, it sounds as though he was better behaved this trip, and I got to FaceTime with him every day.  He did get a little upset with me one day, however and refused to talk to me.  He did, however, slobber all over my mom's phone to give me kisses.  And he had such a good time with his Nana and Papa.  The morning after we got home, I woke up to hear Jack calling for his them, so I know he missed them too.  

Let me just start off by saying that I do not like Los Angeles.  It's dirty, people are pushy and rude, everyone is some kind of aspiring film person, and there's a sense of entitlement everywhere.  Like, "I live in Los Angeles, so obviously, I'm better than you."  Blech.  And don't even get me started on the traffic.  Still, the people we met at the film festival were pretty nice, and Jeff took home second place - which was pretty amazing in my book.  It really doesn't mean much from an industry perspective, but I've been telling Jeff that it gives him some "street cred" to make a push to try and sell the thing.  Also, as a bonus, guess who I ran into while walking down Hollywood Boulevard?  Guess who was jealous of his mama?

  

Anyways, we flew home last Tuesday and were greeted by the frigid air.  Winter is a-coming, folks.  It actually snowed before we left for Los Angeles.  I woke Jack up one morning and the ground was covered.  I pointed to the white stuff on the ground and told him it was snow.  Now, every morning he walks to the window and looks outside to see if it snowed.  He keeps saying, "snow, mama, snow!" and I have to tell him that there's no snow on the ground yet.  He responds, "all done snow."  Its completely adorable.  But, because it DID snow, I had to run out to Target and fight people for snow pants and boots.  Fortunately, Grandma Terry sent Jack a winter coat for his birthday, so I didn't have to worry about that.  

And speaking of birthdays... I can't believe the little man will be two years old in ten days.  We've got the party planned (Mickey-themed, duh) and the invitations are all sent.  And, the birthday gifts have started to arrive.  I probably should wait to have Jack open them, but I just can't.  Plus, he may be unpredictable on the actual day of his birthday party so I'd rather just have him open presents as they come in.  Grandma Terry sent him an adorable jacket, and Unkie and Auntie Kate sent Jack his very own backpack.  My Uncle Steve and Aunt Judy sent Jack a cool wooden train that he loved playing with last night...

  

Anyways, I'm just glad that all the presents so far have not had Mickey on them.  I think I have a love/hate relationship with that mouse.  On the one hand, Jack adores him.  Whenever we leave the house or go to bed, he has to say good-bye to all of his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse friends.  I'm not joking.  We walk up the stairs or drive down the street saying, "Bye, Mickey!  Bye, Minnie!  Bye, Daisy!  Bye, Donald!  Bye, Pete!" and then we repeat.  But the kid loves that mouse so much that it drives me crazy sometimes.  We went to the store last night, just to pick up a few things, and I made the mistake of walking down the toy aisle.  Which, of course, had an entire section devoted to Mickey Mouse toys.  Would you like to know what it's like to carry a screaming and kicking toddler out of the store?  

And my favorite part of the week - when we touched down in Minneapolis on Tuesday, I turned on my phone to find out that my sister had been induced.  So, we went home to wait.  And wait.  And wait some more.  Finally, I went to bed when it sounded like there wasn't going to be any news.  And sure enough, Sebastian Dean came into this world at 5:13 a.m. on Wednesday and weighing in at 7lbs 14oz.  I just love him to pieces.  

Fortunately, Wim is being somewhat patient with his little brother, however does get upset when he cries.  My sister took the baby over to my parents' yesterday for Grammy Camp, and it sounds like Jack was doing alright with the little guy as well. Meaning, he'd just point to Sebastian and say, "baby" and nothing else.  At least he didn't try to pile drive him or anything, so there's that.  

Other than that, we have a pretty laid back weekend.  Jack had "pajama day" at school on Friday.  I'm not sure the kid even knows what he's wearing most days.  I think he's just happy he's dressed.  After we got home from school though, he was pretty tuckered out and just needed to kick back and relax with his main men (Blue and Mickey, of course)...

On Saturday, I went to spin class in the morning and then came home to do some cleaning around the house.  Jeff and Jack had a boy's morning, which I guess involved going to the office.  After nap time, we went up to the Maple Grove Community Center for playtime.  It was madness.  We wanted to go to Chik-fil-A for dinner, but we drove past the restaurant and the line for drive-thru was like a mile long so we passed and ordered pizza instead.  

On Sunday, Jack and I went to church in the morning and came home for nap time.  When we (yes, I napped) got up, we went to my annual Friends-giving dinner.  We've been doing this since college and it's always so much fun.  Jack was the only boy there, and of course, the life of the party.  He does not like Thanksgiving dinner, however, and prefers his food to be in the shapes of animals or fun colors.  

And now it's back to coordinating calendars, planning meals, making lists, and generally going crazy.  We've got family pictures on Saturday and we're actually going to celebrate Thanksgiving this Sunday with my family.  And then, it's time to get ready for the big birthday party.  I'm hoping I'll have enough time to get the house clean, food ready, and the Christmas decorations up before the day.  So, if anyone has an extra set of hands...  

Halloween

For some reason, I don't think that life is going to slow down one bit to allow me to catch my breath.  This whole week has been completely insane and Jeff and I are heading out to Los Angeles on Friday, so there's just that added bit of pressure that comes with taking some time off.  To sum it up, I've had meetings and depositions all week and I start trial on Friday.  When we get back, I've got more depositions and another trial next Friday as well.  So yes, I've got a lot going on.  

Anyways, last Thursday was Halloween, of course.  And Jack went dressed as Mickey Mouse, of course.  Well, sort of, I guess.  He did not like his costume.  I tried to get him really excited about it, but he just hated putting it on and cried the whole time.  He had to wear his costume to school on Thursday for their big costume party, but he was not happy about it.  In fact, this was the best picture I could get that morning:

  

I may have also bribed him with crackers and jelly beans to get the stupid thing on as well.  Actually, I think I traumatized him on the way to school because I threw the Mickey hat on top of his lap when he was in his car seat and he sobbed the whole way, "Mickey hat!  Mickey hat!"  I suppose Mickey's biggest fan might have been a bit disturbed with seeing an unattached Mickey head.  Regardless, when I went to pick him up from school on Thursday night, he wasn't wearing it.  So, we went home and had some dinner and then I basically stuffed him into the costume and the waterworks started again.  Fortunately, Nana and Papa came up to visit and take Jack trick-or-treating and they brought him a super-cool truck and book, which improved his mood considerably.  He still wouldn't put the stupid Mickey head on, however.  But then, Papa took him outside and told him it was "the LAW" to wear a hat outside and he let us put the Mickey head on.  Pretty soon, Jack caught on and realized that all these people were fawning over him and giving him candy, so he kept his costume on long enough for me to get some better pictures.  

Here is a picture of a tank:

I also got a few of our pumpkins and ones of Jack enjoying his candy stash:

Overall, I wouldn't call Halloween a total success - but the night did improve substantially after he got candy and presents.  Shocking.  

Anyways, on Friday night, we went to a Wayzata youth wrestling potluck - apparently Jeff is going to try and coach a couple of times a month, so we went to meet the other coaches and parents.  Jack had a pretty good time wandering around and exploring the house.  At one point, I was talking to another mom and took my eyes of Jack for a second.  And then, he was gone.  I searched everywhere for him and found him in the master bathroom's shower.  I was completely mortified.  Jack, of course, was not.  

Anyways, we didn't do much of anything on Saturday.  I went to an early spin class at the gym and then came home and did our usual chores.  We hit up Target later in the afternoon and Jack had a total blast there.  He decided that he did NOT like riding in the cart and preferred, instead, to run like a maniac up and down the aisles.  It made me a bit nervous, because he would occasionally get out of eyesight, but I could always hear the pounding of his feet.  Every once and a while, he'd scream, "MAMA!" and then when he saw me, he'd run and tackle me at the knees.  

On Sunday, we went to church and came home to play around the house.  After naptime, we went to meet Nana and Papa at the Eden Prairie Center and have some dinner.  

I just think this picture is funny - I took it on the way to the mall after Jack had finished his snack.  He may be the most giant kid that ever existed.  Jeff says we need to start considering Baby Atkins for him.  He might be right...

  

Anyways, we've been struggling with putting Jack to bed every night as he typically crawls out of his crib.  However, Nana and Papa bought him some really snuggly pajamas, which Jack just loves.  Every time we put them on, he giggles and says, "Sock!  Feet!  Yah!"  Which is his way of telling me that he likes his footie pajamas.  The other thing that's become a bedtime necessity - his quilt.  My dear friend, Cristin and her mother, made this quilt for Jack before he was born.  I absolutely love it.  It's been hanging over the back of his rocking chair since he was born, and we use it to snuggle up with at story time.  Lately, however, Jack has been insisting that it goes everywhere with him - this is a non-negotiable term.  It took me a few nights to figure out that he needed to go to bed with the quilt.  I'd go to check on him before I went to sleep and would find him curled up, asleep, on his rocking chair, having pulled the quilt over him.  Or, I'd go to get him up in the mornings and find him sitting in a corner, reading books and cuddled up in his quilt.  

Since we've started putting him to bed with the quilt, he's stayed in his crib and actually fallen asleep quite quickly.  Which is a fairly easy solution to a complicated problem.  

Anyways, Jeff and I are going to Los Angeles on Friday to attend the All Sports Film Festival - I'm really looking forward to it.  Nana and Papa are coming to stay with Jack and Blue again.  We're also all on "baby watch" and I'm hoping I have a new nephew by this time next week.  I think my sister hopes that too!