Simple Joys!

6-13-06

Jack,

Well! We just got back from your first vacation this weekend! We flew to Colorado to attend my cousin Jason's wedding - it was a blast! You had SO much fun traveling on the airplane! We traveled in coach, so it was no picnic because the seating is so scrunched and you me and Daddy were in a row with a man seated at the end of our row, so we tried to keep from bumping into him too much, but it was unavoidable sometimes. He was very nice and patient, so we were lucky!

You were thrilled with the plane! There were TV's in the back of the headrests of each seat in front of us, which you were so excited about. Plus, you loved the little air blowers that blew cool air on us from above and the plane that we flew on going down had a picture of a cat on the wing that we were seated to have the perfect view of and a picture of a raccoon on the wing for the trip back. Daddy also setup the laptop so you could watch your "Curious Buddies" DVD during the flight. You were so happy that you would stand up to look around and squeal loudly and excitedly. Your Daddy and I thought this was cute and laughed and made half-hearted attempts to calm you down (because we were both enjoying your excitement). You had trouble when you tried to fall asleep though because there wasn't much room to stretch out. I could sympathize. On the way home, we were luckier. The plane was emptier and Aunt Kelly convinced the lady sitting next to us to move to a different row so you could stretch out on the seat between us ( - THANK YOU AUNT KELLY!!!!!) - so you slept well on the way home and Daddy and I watched cable. I learned about Lucky Luciano and the mob, so if you are ever interested in knowing anything about him - I might be able to tell you something... :)

But the best part of the whole trip for you were the escalators and the moving sidewalks. I decided you were old enough to go up and down them on your own holding someone's hand as long as you let us help you at the end with the getting off part. You LOVED them. Actually, that may be an understatement. We had SO MUCH FUN on the moving sidewalks going down and the escalators coming home. On the moving sidewalks, I would walk with you and we would run away from Daddy who would wait on the sidewalk until we were about 50 feet away and then he would run after us. Because the sidewalks are moving along with our movement, it made Daddy look like he was running faster than a speeding train and you would scream with laughter and excitement and grab onto my neck and kick at me with your little heels to go faster, like I was a horse and you were telling me to "giddy-up!!!" We must have taken that moving sidewalk back and forth like 50 times. Someone even stopped us to comment "I can't believe SOMEONE is having FUN at the AIRPORT!" :)

On the way home, we found an escalator that not many people used and we traveled up and down it repeatedly - again about 50 times - and you LOVED it, too. We missed preboarding because I had taken you on it - ONE MORE TIME - (must have been the 51st time...), but you couldn't get enough of it. Oh, the simple joys of UP and DOWN and being big enough to do this "grownup" thing... :)

Colorado was a lot of fun. Your "Poppa" Dough found some prairie dogs when he was out running, so we all went together to check them out. We were both driving rentals and Poppa Dough was trying to figure out how to lower the window on the car, when he hit the alarm button and ALL the prairie dogs scattered. We got to see a few brave ones from a distance, but didn't get to see too many as it turns out. Still - you heard them barking and pointed at them so I know you saw them. :) It was fun!

Your first adventure in a swimming pool ended in vomit, but you DID have a good time.

At the wedding, Kathy gave you a little airplane with a removable pilot that you could play with to commemorate your first airplane ride to attend their wedding and we played with a couple of little girls that thought you were adorable!

We had one more day left in the weekend when we got home so we spent a family day - you got to eat your first Happy Meal and we tried to take you to your first movie: Cars. You watched the previews and were very content. You rested in the movie chair and snacked on popcorn while drinking milk from your bottle until a tall couple sat down in front of you and broke the spell. We ended up leaving shortly after that, but it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday was the first day that you went without a bottle. This is a big step and you are doing a fantastic job of it. I did give you a bottle at bedtime, but this was the only time all day, so I count this as a "no bottle" day. This morning, you took your sippy cup and are with Grandma Dough today. I miss you, cutie! Looking forward to family time tonight with you and Daddy! I love you!!!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. - your first vacation to the Ocean is coming up in 2 weeks! What will you think of that?

Jack's First Joke

6-5-06

Jack,

This weekend was the birth of your first joke. I always new that little boys found bodily functions to be hilarious - I just never knew how early it started!

You've always found it funny whenever you had a bodily function that produced sound - burps, farts, hiccups, sneezes, coughs - they have always been the best punch line with you! We can always evoke a laugh from you with one of these - fake or real - doesn't matter.

Well, this weekend I was playing with you and wanted to make you laugh. I was having a fake sneezing fit in order to crack you up and it was going quite wonderfully. I paused after one of these episodes to enjoy your laughter and giggling when you said: "aaah, aaah, aaaah - ACHOOO!" clear as day! I must have looked shocked because you laughed even harder - both at your own joke and my surprise that you had made a joke!

Your first joke! I must have made you repeat it a hundred times to everyone that we saw this weekend. Your Daddy has been playing this game with you and was the one that taught it to me. He says that he heard you do this last week and he probably did, but this weekend was the first time that I had heard you deliver your first joke and it was so much fun to hear and see.

The joke has graduated from there. I think you have realized now that it's even funnier to fake sneeze when you have something in your mouth - like milk or water - because when you fake sneeze with something in your mouth, you produce a fine spray upon the utterance of ACHOO that goes everywhere and gets an even bigger reaction from you audience than just the fake sneeze would produce on it's own.

Now - how do I convince you of the hilarity of using a kleenex? :)

Thanks for the laughs, little man!

Love,

Mommy

Fearless J!

5-23-06

Jack,

You just astound me! Your Daddy got you a set of your first flashcards with shapes on them in different colors and textures. They have your favority baby show characters on them: The Curious Buddies from Nickelodeon. The circle card cracks you up because there is a baby on the back of it holding a ball that you just LOVE. The other day, you pulled out the flashcard and said "ball". I looked over at you and said, "what?!?" You looked at me and grinned, but wouldn't repeat it. You can also say "Grandma" which sounds more like "anmaw" but it is clearly what you are saying.

This past weekend, we took the "ball" experience to a new height by playing with some big balls in Aunt Erin and Uncle Brett's backyard. They have a big exercise ball that you loved to chase and I would hold your hands and roll you on the top of it and roll you around on it and you really liked that. Grandma bounced you on it, too, and you loved that, too.

I have discovered to my anxiety that you fear nothing. The fire pit, steps, growling dogs (not ours - the neighbor's dogs) - it doesn't matter. You just KNOW you can take on any of these things and that they won't do anything bad to you. You RACE to the street when I have you outside. I have been springing into action so much lately that I think I may be part kangaroo or frog or maybe I sat on a spring and never noticed it before... :) I sit down and spring back up a second later as you hurdle your body towards the next dangerous thing.

Even the other day, you were seated on the floor with a board book and I left the room for a MINUTE only to put my dishes in the sink and when I came back, you had climbed on the coffee table and were manually flipping the channels on the TV trying to figure out how to get your Curious Buddies show to come on. You weren't the least bit worried of falling off the table. Completely trusting that I was there and wouldn't allow that to happen.

I certainly am doing my best to protect you, cutie. I DO love your confidence, though, and I think it's wonderful that you are so brave in trying new things. I am so proud of all that you do! My capable little boy!

Lots of Love,

Mommy

Happy Mother's Day!

5-17-06

Jack,

First things first - all is well! It's as I said before - it ended up being nothing and now I feel silly for worrying like I did. Completely due to stress as it turns out, which isn't really too surprising what with the reorg at my company and all of that mess. I'm very relieved!

I just had to write to tell you that I had the most wonderful Mother's Day with you and Daddy!

Daddy started the day out by making me breakfast in bed with you sitting between us and sneaking bits of breakfast off of each of our plates while we watched the Simpson's together. We kind of hung around the house until lunchtime and then you and Daddy took me to Fuddruckers for lunch. I got a carnation there because I was a mom and then we all went to the Magic House for the rest of the day. I got in free because I am a Mom!! :)

We had so much fun at the Magic House. They have tunnels that are carpeted so that little ones can crawl through and you crawled back and forth through them. You would get very excited when you would see me or Daddy peek our head in the other end of the tunnel and you would squeal excitedly and switch directions to dash away. It was very cute!

They also had gym mats on slants like slides inside so that little ones could go down them, but not as quickly as traditional slides so you couldn't get hurt. You LOVED them! You must have gone down them about 50 times. Daddy kept handing you up to me to the point where his muscles started to ache and we had to get you interested in something else.

There was also a little baby playground that you could climb up and around yourself because it was so tiny and well padded. You dashed around on that playground like it was all yours - and it pretty much was. There were small padded wading pools filled with just balls so you could crawl through them and be buried in them and throw them. You laughed and played with so much enthusiasm! There was water play with boats and watering cans, and sand play with shovels and buckets and - in the older areas, there were sections with motion and balls and air that you loved!

You played so hard that by the time we got home that afternoon, you fell asleep for a long time. Then Daddy made me "beer" pizza for dinner (my request - he makes it from scratch and it's incredible! If you haven't had it before - ask him to make it sometime. You WON'T be disappointed! - PROVIDED YOU ARE 21 OR OLDER!!!)

Thank you for making me your Mommy, little Jack! It's the greatest gift I ever got!

I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Smelling the Roses!

5-11-06

Jack,

Hey, buddy! No - this blog entry isn't about how the Roses smell - we don't smell funny or anything (well, most of the time!) :)

Okay - I started this blog as a gift for you. One day, I think you might be in a position where you want to look back and see what was happening in the life of a parent with a young child because that may be where you are right now or be curious about what was going on at various stages of your life, so I am sharing just that.

You already know from where you sit right now reading that there is a happy ending to this story. A very happy one, so don't worry! :)

I went to the doctor yesterday because I'm having some issues which I'm sure you wouldn't want me to detail too much because they are "lady" issues and, as my son, I will spare you any further detail. Just so you know what I mean, I'll just say that my "lady" friend visited and didn't leave. For about a month and a half. Kind of raised a flag in the air for attention, you might say.

At this point, it seems that I probably have fibroids, but that's all I know right now. The doctor is going to look further to determine what we are looking at and how to go about correcting it. Fibroids are actually pretty common. A lot of women have them and may never even be aware of it. It's only when they cause issues like the ones that I've been having recently that they become a problem and need to be addressed.

I'm sure this will be a small thing that I won't even remember being all that concerned with months from now, but right now - when I'm kind of unsure about what the details are - it's a different kind of feeling.

Most of the time, I think I look at life through a filtered lense. I don't think I'm the only one that does this - we're all guilty of it in some way or another. What I mean by a "filtered lense" is that I see everyone around me as coming from the same place that I am. I generally view others as having a home, family, pets, jobs, etc - maybe a house in a different part of town with more children and no pets or a single person with an apartment and two kids - but all of us in pretty similar situations. I think it takes a little jolt to make that filter fall away so you can really see what you have.

You know that to be born in the United States is one of the greatest lotteries you will ever win? In this nation, a person living in poverty is better off than most in our third world countries. Food, shelters, free clinics...

But, on a smaller scale, I am so lucky in my life. You know I work shoulder to shoulder with people that have all sorts of personal stories that I see through my filter. A single guy, a married woman with two kids, an older woman with grown children.... they all have stories. Without the filter, you can see that the single guy is 42 and lonely - he doesn't have anyone to go home to at night, but he has his extended family and they are supportive of him. That married woman with two kids just had a hysterectomy and she is only 30, but she is so happy because she has the two children that she does. The older woman with grown children just lost her husband, but he had cancer and isn't suffering anymore. She talks of the wonderful years that they had together and how thankful she is that they could raise their family together.

That's what I mean by the filter coming off. I see now. I take so much for granted in my life. I have the best husband that a woman could ever hope to have. I have a beautiful, smart, loving and wonderful son that makes me proud with EVERYTHING that he does! Everything is going to be fine! :) The fibroid will most likely be nothing more than a small something to be removed and I won't even remember it years from now. If I ever look back and read this I might even be embarrassed because it was so little. I may wonder - what was I so worried about?

It's nice to be reminded of how good things are... That may sound strange, but it's true. This morning, when I dropped you off at Grandma and Poppa Dough's, I had handed you to Poppa Dough and you reached back for one more hug. I took you in my arms and you hugged me so strong that I was overcome by your love. It brought tears to my eyes to feel your hug given with all of the little might that you have. Thank you for that, sweetie! You made me feel bigger than the tallest tree and when I left, I swear the sun was shining brighter! I am so lucky to have you and Daddy and the wonderful family that I have - all the Roses and Dougherty's - the Stoevers, the Phillips' - everyone!

I guess what I'm saying is "Smell the Roses", honey! Okay, okay - but after you finish smiling and sniffing Uncle Steve or Amber and Dani - look around you. You are loved!!! Know that, little one!

And now, I'm feeling a little naked from baring all like this so I'm going to go and put on a couple of sweaters... Just kidding! :)

I LOVE YOU!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. You are so inquisitive and curious! Here are some pictures of you trying to check out the camera when I was taking your picture!