18 Months

Dear Jack

These letters have become more infrequent as time goes along. This is because you don’t like me to be on the computer when you are awake, so my time to write is limited to after you go to sleep at night.

Today, you had your 18 month check up. I was pleased to find out that you are 24 pounds, putting you in the 25th percentile for weight. I had been worried about your weight; you eat like a bird and I was certain that you had fallen off your growth curve. Luckily, I was wrong. You are also 32 and a half inches tall, putting you in the 50th percentile for height. The doctor deemed you perfect and I couldn’t agree more.

Things have been busy for us over the past three months. You took your first trip to Disney World in December. You were lucky enough to have your Grandma Jo and Grandpa Jack to go with you. You were in awe of the parades and the fireworks and the rides that we got to go on. And despite the fact that we all got the stomach flu, we had a memorable time. Hopefully, the next trip to Disney World will be filled with fewer sick days and more fun.

We also celebrated Christmas, your second. We went to the children’s service at church and then had dinner at the same Italian restaurant we went to last year. Unlike last year, you weren’t content sitting during the dinner. Instead, each of us had to take turns walking you around the restaurant. This wasn’t unusual. Ever since you learned to walk, you can’t sit still; you’ve got to be on the move, which means we are all on the move.

You are picking up new words everyday. I’ve been trying to count how many words you know and my guess is around twenty. Here are just a few of the ones that I can think of: no, yeah, hi, bye, ball, bus, car, go, duck, choo-choo, up, down, truck, bird, book, bubble, shoe, and light.

Sometimes you surprise me with what you know. Like, when I swear you shouted “paw print” at the tv when Steve asked what you have to find when you play Blue’s Clues. Or how you pull me over to the ticket booth whenever we go to the Dulles Towne Center so that I can buy a ticket to the carousel. Or how you start shouting “choo-choo” whenever you see a bookstore, because you remember playing with the train set in the kid’s section. You are understanding more about your surroundings each day.

What I think that I love the most is watching your personality emerge. You are so loving, friendly, and outgoing. You love to play with other kids, especially ones who are slightly older than you. You also love to dance. In fact, while we were in Disney, you became the preshow entertainment for the Lion King show. You ran to the center of the stage area and started to dance around. People thought that you were adorable and clapped for you. I was so proud of you.

Little Bear, I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Jack Dancing

Video from Christmas and Beyond

My parents got me a small Flip Video camcorder for Christmas, which is awesome. I'm not big on video, mostly because it seems like the technology is always changing and so those old videos can never be watched again because you don't have the film projector/beta vcr/vhs vcr to play them back on. I didn't even hire a videographer for our wedding, preferring instead to spend more money on great pictures, because you don't need any technology to look at pictures again. (And as a sidenote: For my parents present this Christmas, I converted their old filmstrip from their wedding into a DVD, allowing us to watch their wedding video for the first time since the Reagan administration!). Anyways, even though I'm not big on video, I do enjoy having this small camcorder. It's small enough to throw in my bag and it has the usb connector as part of the camcorder, so you can plug it in anytime--no searching for your usb wires. Here's a short video taken from Christmas, along with some taken the couple days after. In the background is a Harry Connick Jr song playing.

Christmas

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas. Jack got a new tricycle that he seems to like, even though he is still a bit too small for it. His feet barely reach the pedals, so Terry or I have to stand in the back and push him. Or he likes to push it around (and crash it into stuff). He also got some great bath toys from Aunt Gigi, his own laptop from Grandpa, a grocery cart from his grandparents in Cape Cod and a whole lot of dinosaur books from Daddy. Jack made out like a bandit.

We enjoyed the children's service at Floris Methodist church on Christmas Eve and followed it with a dinner at the same Italian restaurant that we went to last year. It was strange to think about how little he was last year and how much he has grown. Everyone at the table had to take turns walking Jack around the restaurant to prevent any obnoxious toddler tantrums. Luckily, we were one of the few people eating there (we got there early), so I didn't feel like we were ruining people's night by walking all around. On Christmas morning, we opened presents at our house, followed by a nap and then dinner at my parent's house. It was a wonderful Christmas.

For Grandma and Grandpa

Please note how Jack strategically covered his boy bits for the pictures. I guess he knows that mom posts pictures of him on the web and he wanted to maintain his modesty.

Trip to Disney World

Last week we went down to Disney World where Jack got to experience a little bit of Disney magic. Unfortunately, we were hit hard by a stomach bug during our trip and so it didn't turn out the way we had imagined. In fact, my parents are still down there, after taking a detour in the hospital. I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of the trip, like Jack's excitement over seeing the parades and riding on It's a Small World. I know that one day we will be back and he will get to experience it again. And hopefully, the next time will be a little happier and healthier.

Say Cheese!

Jack is fascinated by the small camera that I have, so we have started a new game in the morning called, "Say Cheese!" It's basically me holding the camera and taking a picture of both of us while saying Cheeeeeeese! And then we get to look at the picture! And do it again! And again! For me, it's mostly just funny that he gets the idea of smiling for the camera and will imitate my cheese sound. But it does end up with some awful pictures (of me, not him--can't take a bad picture of him, of course). Above is one of the not so terrible pictures.