Looking for gooses
Jack gets excited every time he sees the geese come by in the pond outside our back porch. He runs over and points and yells at the top of his lungs, “GOOSES!!!!” We’ve tried to tell him they are “geese”, but he isn’t up for a grammar lesson just yet.
Filed under Jack | Comments (2)Jack @ 26 Months
Jack has adjusted well to our new home. It didn’t really phase him, it seems, expect for a couple of days in which he refused to take a nap. I’m finding it to be a little more challenging, being alone with the two kids much of the day, so it’s always nice when Mom comes over.
Jack has learned the Toddler Rules of Ownership:
1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
8. If I think it’s mine, it’s mine.
9. If it’s yours and I steal it, it’s mine.
I’m not sure where he even picked it up, but he’s started yelling “MINE!” as he takes things from Emily. He can’t stand for her to have anything, and it sends him into paroxysms of screaming and flopping around on the floor. You know when you pull a fish out of the water onto the ground and it starts flopping around? It’s exactly like that.
He gets a thrill out of doing things for himself, and has developed a sense of humor, regularly doing silly things just for the fun of it and to get a laugh. He is a big fan of Play-Doh, and I like it too so we bought a big kit that has lots of shapes to cut out and we have a good time playing with it. His funniest word these days is Ding-Gonkers - and I like to give him graham crackers just to hear him say it.
Filed under Jack | Comment (1)Spaghetti Beard
You’ve heard of a milk mustache… this is a spaghetti beard.
Getting settled in
After over a week of hauling boxes and clothes and junk we almost have everything over here at the new place. Some pictures are hung, and lots of stuff has been thrown out or given to Kidney Foundation. It’s been nice to de-junk a little bit. I figure if we’ve been hauling it around with us since we’ve been married and haven’t used it, we probably don’t need it.
We love it here - it’s a great apartment. I love the simplified space. There are only so many places that Jack (and Emily) can get into, and there are no stairs to worry about and the laundry is just right off the kitchen which makes that task much easier. Mark enjoys the air conditioning in particular- he laid down the first night and realized the air conditioning vent was pointed directly at his side of the bed, and he was in heaven.
The doors have those push-button locks on them, so of course Jack managed to lock himself in his bedroom yesterday. He can turn the handles just fine, but when they’re locked they’re a little tougher and he couldn’t manage it. I had to call Mark to tell me how to get him out and then as I was sticking the screwdriver in the little hole, I paused. He was playing happily by himself and he’s been so unbelievably screamy lately… maybe I should just leave him locked in there a while…
The ceilings are vaulted, so my normally loud child is ridiculously loud now. Lovely. He loves to yell just to hear the sound of his voice bounce around the high ceilings, and when he has a tantrum it’s so loud I really believe the neighbors are going to call social services on me one of these days. Jack could easily choose to follow in either Mommy or Daddy’s footsteps in his career choice. He could be an opera singer or a preacher and have no need for a microphone, thank you very much.
The ducks and geese in the pond have a pretty good setup here. They come running waddling over whenever they sense someone on the balcony is about to pitch down some food. There’s a poor goose with a broken wing and a duck with a limp that we always try to give extra Cheerios to. I hate to see what’s going to happen to the injured goose in particular when winter comes, as the usual flight south will apparently not be an option for him.
Anyway, we’re mostly settled in, and the place is reasonably presentable, it is nice just to feel like normal people again.
Filed under Misc, Jack | Comment (0)We’re moving!
Finally, after 2 years of relying on the kindness of my wonderful parents we are moving into an apartment. Mark has a full time job, and we are grateful to have found an affordable place that is very nice, and only a couple of miles from the house. It even has a pond in the back where Mark can fish (they’ve stocked it) and Jack can enjoy watch the geese and ducks. I think I’ve mentioned before that Jack is an airplane fanatic. At the new place, he can see airplanes take off and land from his bedroom window!
Yesterday was a hot day to move, but most of the stuff was in by about 1pm. The moving of the piano is always the biggest ordeal, and the guys were all dripping with sweat by the time it was up the stairs. We were grateful to have help from Charlie and a couple of guys from our church. After moving the furniture in the living room around 4 or 5 times, I think everything is in the right place and it’s starting to look livable!
As I’m opening the boxes that have been in storage for 2 years, I keep pulling things out and thinking “What is this? Is this mine?” It really makes you realize how much stuff you have that you don’t need, and I’m planning to get rid of A LOT of the junk.
There has been a serious lack of posting on this blog, I realize. I’ve never been so busy, and have had lots of opportunities for projects and then this moving thing came along. Maybe when things settle down I’ll get back to a bit more regular updating.
Filed under Misc | Comments (3)
