Category — Jackson

Jack had a big week – he started school.  Travis was out of town until Monday night, so our nanny stayed over Thursday and Sunday nights (because I’m working nightfloat right now), and I rushed home from work Monday morning to take Jack to his first day.  He was SO excited and did really really well.  That was the 1st day.  Travis got home that night, so we were both able to take him to his 2nd day of school.  By day #3 he didn’t want to go anymore.

I guess the newness had worn off.  But also, Jack is such an emotionally in-tune kid and he’s SO aware of his own feelings and other kids’ that it had become very bothersome to him to watch all the meltdowns around him when parents left their kids at school.  He told Travis that school is a very sad place with lots of lonely babies who miss their mommies and daddies.  WOW.  Nail on the head?  It broke our hearts to hear that, but also made us realize again just how smart he is.  He is 4 years old in a 3 year old program, so he’s one of the oldest.  His teacher has been telling us how wonderful he is, and how much he helps the younger kids all day.  This was our hope – that he’d be a leader in his class, and that by waiting and starting him at an older age, his emotional maturity would allow him to make the most of his school experience.  But we have felt so bad about his internalization of all the emotions there.  I’m sure it DOES feel like a very lonely environment to a kid who is used to being home with his parents and his 2 almost-same-age siblings with whom he has always done EVERYTHING.  There is never a dull, or quiet, moment at our house and our kids are constantly chatting and playing together.  It’s a loving, stimulating environment in which he feels safe.  The transition from our home to his school, where kids learn to wait in lines and sit quietly at their tables during snack time is understandably challenging for him.  I know he’s lonely, and even though it’s only 3 hours a day, I know he misses Finley and Shane during that time too.  He is SO happy to come home and be with his buddies.

I’m trying to keep everything in mind – like why we’re doing this in the first place.  For one, it’s good for Fin and Shane to have the time together to cultivate a stronger relationship.  It also lets Shane and Fin drive their own play and allows them to be little.  Jack is their ring leader, so he dictates EVERYTHING around here from outings to imaginary play.  It’s great for Fin and Shane, especially since Jack is SO damn smart.  But it’s nice for them to just play normal, non-intellectual, little kid games that they come up with on their own from time to time.  And on outings, they can stay in the little kids’ area of the museums until they’re bored, not just until Jack says it’s boring.  Another big reason for Jack in school is because we have #4 coming along in the spring.  It complicates life just a tad and I think it’ll be good for Jack to have school as an outlet.  I had just hoped he would LOVE it from week 1 on.  But it’s an adjustment.  The good news is, we couldn’t be happier with the school or what Jack is learning there.  It’s an immersion program, and he’s already using his 2nd language, which is amazing to see.

I felt so bad leaving tonight; I told Jack I’d be home before he goes to school in the morning and the mere mention of school after a long weekend sent him into tears.  We’re all going through a rough transition time right now.  Shane has been very sensitive and has been crying at the drop of  hat, and Finley is still having some nighttime sleep issues.  Travis has been traveling a bit for his company, and I’m working really weird hours the next 2 weeks.  I come in at 4pm and take admission until 4am, last night I got home around 5:15am.  I slept until 10am and then played with the kids until I had to come back to the hospital, which is where I am currently.  I am really missing my kids and Travis right now.  It’s a weird homesick feeling that I can’t wait to be done with when this year is over.  I’ll leave you with the sweetest poem Jackie wrote for his daddy:

How Much I Love Daddy, by Jackson Good

More than a bird loves his wings

More than a dog loves his milk

More than a sun loves to set

More than a whale loves his spout

Apparently that inspired the poet within Finley as well, so here’s her meathead version;)

How Much I Love Daddy, by Finley Good

I love daddy so much, poo poo.

I thought Shane might want in on the action, but when asked if he wanted to write a poem for his dad, he answered in true Shane form as of late: “my don’t want to.”  We must hear that phrase 100 times a day;)

Here’s a little laugh for you…Travis shaved the boys’ hair today, and in the midst of Shane’s haircut, we got a glimpse into what he’ll look like in 60 years:

Jack came outside, took one look at Shane, and said “Shane looks like Granjoe!” and then proceeded to laugh his little butt off.  I’m pretty sure my father-in-law would find Jack’s sense of humor just as funny as we did! 

Once the shave was complete, it was adorable.  Shane loves to get his haircut and especially loves all the praise he gets as soon as it’s done – everyone loves to feel his prickly head! 

Jack HATES having his haircut; the sound of the razor drives him crazy.  Strange thing is, he loves the dentist.  Weird kid;)  I love both boys with short hair – you can see their features so much better.  We’re heading out for what should be an incredible hike tomorrow, so I’ll hopefully take some pictures of the new ‘do’s there.

Jack starts school in 2 weeks.  I wonder if that’s going to ruin the munchkin games he, Shane, and Fin have made up and enjoying playing together, like “Princess Parade.”  I wish they could stay little and carefree forever.  Please make note of how dainty a princess Shane is in this video, pinching the sides of his gown to keep it from snagging on the ground – hilarious.

A few other funny updates.  Here’s a picture of outer space that Jack drew and hung on his own bedroom wall. 

I was tucking him in tonight and he was describing his artwork for me:  “that dark thing is a meat-eater (meteor), and that swirly thing is the Milky Wave (Milky Way)…”  Just can’t believe my baby is actually starting school!!  My mom sent him this backpack and lunchbox that he’s quite eager to wear:

Today was my day off and Fin and Shane let me sleep in until almost 8am!!  It was amazing.  Jack, however, still runs on 8hrs sleep – not much for a 4 year old, but that’s always been how he rolls.  So Travis got up and laid down with him at 6.  Jack was tossing and turning and trying everything to get Travis up and downstairs with him.  He finally resorted to paraphrasing a line from Wall-E, when the people are traveling back to Earth and the video is informing the people of 1 effect of having been lazy/not exercising.  Jack pulled that one out and told Travis “dad, I’m experiencing slight bone loss!” 

Fin also has been cracking us up lately with some line she picked up from God knows where.  Anytime the boys do something wild she doesn’t want them to do, she’ll tell “don’t do that!  It brings down the value!!”  And perhaps my favorite conversation between Fin and Jack that highlights their differences:

Travis: “oh, I think that grasshopper is hurt.  let’s leave him alone.”

Jack: “Yeah, maybe his mommy and daddy will come find him and take care of him.”

Fin: “or maybe a snake will come along and eat him!”

We went on a hike today and Shane, our expert bug catcher, caught tons of critters for our little critter / amphibian / reptile tank at home.  He and Jackie caught a couple frogs, but one little jumper was tough to capture.  Fin got frustrated watching the boys gently scoop and miss, so she pushed them aside and tried to stomp on it.  I yelped, which stopped her in her tracks before the frog had been completely flattened.  Fin noticed my concern and said “oh,” then she looked back and pointed at the lame frog and comforted me with “it’s ok mom, he’s still jumpin.”  Heart a gold, that kid.  She really cracks me up though.

Then there’s Shanie and his incredible etiquette.  He’s always excusing himself and apologizing for things Fin or Jack did.  It’s funny because Fin will own up to her naughties and say “no Shane, that was MY fault.”  On several occasions, he has interrupted restaurant conversation to say “cuse me! CUSE ME?!” and then when he has our attention, “my farted.” 

Apologies for the deteriorating quality of my photos!  I haven’t edited a picture in MONTHS, and most I take these days are with my iphone.  Here are 2 from our hike & picnic today:

Jack got a new bike, a REAL bike, for his 4th birthday, which technically hasn’t happened yet (it’s a few weeks away).  We had an early family birthday celebration since Travis was eager to give Jack his bike before he started his hospital month.  Jack is now officially a big kid; he can ride a 2 wheel pedal bike! 

I remember learning to ride a 2 wheel bike being a HUGE milestone as a kid, but it seemed like no big deal for Jack because he’s been riding a 2 wheel balance bike (no pedals, no training wheels) since he was under 2.  He had the balance piece totally down, just had to get the hang of pedals, which I think is much easier than the other way around (already knowing how to pedal but not how to balance).  Where’d my baby go?! 

Travis and I have been trying to come up with a better way to reward / discipline Finley.  We have gotten into this rut with her where we’re constantly taking things away or threatening to take things away in punishment.  It’s just not very positive or productive.  She’s always outsmarting us, and we are always huffing and puffing and saying things like “fine Fin, you just lost the fruit snack I was going to give you / this piece of gum/ your treat for tonight / etc.”  We’ve pretty much incorporated all sorts of crap in our kids’ diets, just so we have something we can take away from Finley when she bites, acts ornery or defiant, throws stuff out the car windows (happened today, so she lost “window privileges”), takes her shoes off in public places just to be a stinker, etc.  ANYWAY, we have been trying to incorporate more ways to positively reward GOOD behavior from Finley, rare as it is;), so we instituted a HUGE sticker chart that hangs on the family room wall for each kid (who needs fancy artwork in a house trashed by toddlers). 

On the night of the sticker chart inception, we told the kids they would be able to earn their 1st stickers by staying in bed all night – no getting out of bed, no messing with each other, no coming downstairs, etc.  They were SO THRILLED about the possibility of earning a sticker that they all ran up to bed, kissed us goodnight, and we didn’t hear another peep from them. 

Travis and I always sneak back in the kids’ rooms before we go to bed to tuck them in again, cover them with blankets, etc.  When we opened the boys’  bedroom door, there were poop balls ALL OVER the floor.  Henny had been with me and Trav downstairs, so there was no puppy to blame it on.  We played detective and traced the trail right to Shane (wasn’t hard since there was poop smeared on his bed railing).  His hands were covered, but he was PASSED OUT. 

Apparently, the kid was SO freakin motivated by the damn stickers that he didn’t want to violate our “don’t get out of bed” rule for fear of losing his sticker.  So he took a dump in his diaper, scooped out the goodies with his hands, chucked them on his bedroom floor, wiped his hands off, and went back to sleep!!

Outsmarted as usual, Travis and I were left trying to figure out if that was sticker-worthy or not…we decided not.  But it was one hell of an effort!  Now Shane’s chart reads:

1. Telling us when diaper is dirty
2. Not getting out of bed at night…

Fin’s chart is my favorite though:

1. Not biting (she can earn 2 stickers / day for this – 1 if she doesn’t bite anyone before nap, and another if she doesn’t bite anyone between nap and bedtime)
2. Not screaming while Daddy is driving
3. Asking before opening Henny’s crate
4. Keeping shoes on during outings…her list goes on and on

We really struggled to find stuff for Jack’s sticker chart, since he really is so good most of the time.  He gets rewards for stuff like:

1. Practicing to ride his new 2 wheel bike
2. Helping mommy & daddy
3. Staying in bed in the mornings until 7 (hasn’t earned any in that column just yet, but we’re only a few hours away each day;)…

update: just want to remind you all that the GIBTK charity belt is only available until June 1st and in limited quantity {hint: order soon!}!  Also, if you haven’t entered yet, the SkinnyKidz belt giveaway ends 5/7.  Follow SkinnyKidz on twitter & facebook, sign up for our newsletter, and add SkinnyKidz blog to your Google Reader!  For all of my friends, family, and bloggy buddies who have come out in strong support of our launch, you are SO deeply appreciated!   For those of you who have already made a purchase, especially my adorable little brother, Jer, who bought all of our belts and is now looking for kids to give them to, we love you!  Jena and I have put a lot of ourselves into this company and product, and this is only the beginning.  The momentum and wonderful feedback you all have given us has helped tremendously.  Keep spreading the word, especially if you spot a plumber under the age of 6 (sorry Christina, we’re talking about expanding sizes to include older kids!).

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Jack: “Mom, look at this boo boo on my foot.  The skin is still hurt.”

Me: “Yeah, but it’s getting better.  The amazing thing about the human body is that it can repair itself.  Right now, cells in your skin are sending signals to their friends to come and help it make new skin.  How cool is that?”

Jack: “Wow.  It heals itself?!”

Me: “Yup, the human body has amazing healing powers.”

——FLASH FORWARD ABOUT AN HOUR——-

Shane and I were choosing his outfit for the day.  We were sitting behind his bedroom door, which was ajar, looking in his closet.  Jack came tearing down the hallway and flung the door open with all his might.  I lunged, to keep it from hitting Shane, and blocked it with the outside of my wrist, which hurt!  I overdramatized slightly to make my point, since we have told the kids a kazillion times about playing with the doors like that.  When Jack saw me tending to me wrist, his instant response was:

“Mom, remember: the human body has AMAZING healing powers!”

Good thing he thinks quickly on his feet.

They’re growing like weeds…except Fin of course, who weighed 20.7lbs at her pediatrician appointment last week!  Shane, as expected, was a string bean.  All 3 kids are doing great right now. 

I’m going to do a separate update for each kid since it’s been awhile and this one is for Jack, who will turn 4 in just 2 months.  Side note: the hairdo is not our doing.  Jack does NOT want his hair cut, and it feels like we’d be violating him if we held him down to trim or shave it!  So, he’s rockin’ the mullet.  What can I do?  A small slice of self-expression never scarred anyone for life, right (unless it was a permanent tattoo or something…don’t do it Jena! ;). 

If you remember awhile back I mentioned Jack was going through a little funk; he seemed to withdraw a little after all the Match Day excitement.  We never really explained anything about Match to the kids; it didn’t cross my mind that they’d understand anything we could tell them.  I  just sensed was from all the stress and chaos, but then, about 2 weeks after Match, he was watching a PBS show.  There was an ad on tv for a live Disney show of some sort.  Towards the end of the ad, the voice listed the cities the show would be coming to, and amongst them was Milwaukee.  Jack immediately looked to me and yelled “hey mom, that’s where you’re moving!”  Everything suddenly clicked and my heart completely sank.  I said “Jack, you are moving there WITH me.  We’re all moving there, as a family.  I’d never move someplace without you, Shane, Fin, and daddy.”  His face lit up when I told him that, and he said “I’m coming too?!!”  He jumped up and down, and I squeezed him so tight.  All that time, my poor little guy thought all that excitement was over me planning to move away from my babies.  I have felt so awful about that. 

Lately, Jack has been doing really well.  We’ve been spending some good time together, snuggling, cooking, writing stories, making pictures to go with our stories, watching movies together with popcorn at night…phew.  He let me hold him like a baby and sing lullabies to him in his bed last night.  It was adorable, and it made me SO happy.

Jack continues to amaze us on a daily basis.  The kid is SO smart, and the aspect of his intelligence that is the most stunning is that it is SO different from any form I’ve ever met before.  His mind is so abstract and creative, yet he can also think in very concrete terms.  He’ll learn something in one context and instantly begin trying to apply it to others.  As an example, I was telling him something as I put him to bed last night.  He had an alternative explanation, and he’d recently heard the word “hypothesis,” I think it was on Sid the Science Kid or something.  PERFECT application, he said “no, wait mom, I have a hypothesis,” and then he went on to share it.  If he hears something ONCE, he’s got it.  It might be days before he pulls it out again, but when he does, it’ll be at exactly the right moment.  He still talks like Dora, as people have told me, with his cute little pauses between words, a result of completely deliberate speech, but his vocabulary is incredible. 

Jack is obsessed with post-it notes, and he’s constantly asking “hey mom, how do you spell computer/phone/chair/etc” so he can write the word on the post-it and label the object.  He writes all his letters entirely himself now, and they are actually very legible with the occasional backwards j or a thrown in for cute measure.  His other obsession is recycling.  We recycle, but I wouldn’t say being green is something Travis and I are die-hard about.  It’s not that we don’t think we should be, it’s just that sometimes when you’re overwhelmed with life as it is, you need to pick your battles.  But Jack is CONSTANTLY reminding us not to waste water, or picking up trash at the park.  My knee-jerk reaction is always the same: “eww, Jack NO!  Don’t touch that; it’s garbage.”  He’ll then say “yes, it’s garbage and we must to throw it away / recycle it.”  [Note: that’s verbatum.  Jack frequently uses the word “must,” and speaks in a strangely formal way.  Don’t know where he gets that since it’s not how Travis or I talk, but it’s adorable.]  I largely credit Wall-E for his environmental consciousness.  Does anyone else have kids who love that movie despite the fact that there is virtually NO speech and it’s slow as heck?  It doesn’t even hold my attention, but it’s 1 of my kids’ favorite movies.

Another recent interest of Jack’s is rock’n’roll.  He requests it every time we get in the car.  Specifically, he asks for “Poy-el Jam,” as he pronounces his favorite band’s name.  It’s hilarious.

Jack has also really taken to Henny.  He’ll come down from nap, walk straight to Henny, tell him “I missed you so much Hen,” and he’ll give him a little flat handed pat pat on the head.  Watching Jack pet a dog is one of the most awkward interactions in the world.  And if Henny reacts and licks him, or approaches him, or tries to get closer, Jack flips and starts yelling “Henny NO!”  It’s hysterical.  He really does love Henny, but he has this weird thing where he just does not want to really touch or be touched by a dog.  Speaking of Hen, this is how he likes to sleep sometimes…like the dead:

I’m just so glad Jack is in a great place right now.  He talks about starting school all the time, which won’t happen until the fall.  We’re starting him in a 3yo program so he’ll be among the oldest in his class, which is what we want for him.  He’s a fantastic big brother to Shane and Fin, and he’s really interested in being a “helper” to us too.  I know we all think our kids are gifted in some way or another, and every kid truly is gifted at something, but I just can’t say enough how amazing a gift this boy is to our family.  He’s so unique in such an awesome way.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Jack has been sharing with us his very vivid dreams on a very regular basis, but I forgot (or neglected out of superstition) to write about the one he had right before Match Day.  He woke up from a nap, came downstairs, and told me and Travis “I had a dream that we moved to a new house!!”  We both went pale-faced and bombarded him with questions like “where was it, what did it look like, was it cold there, were there lots of buildings or lots of trees,” etc.  He was all “uh, I don’t know, can I have some cheese now?” and I was like “ahhh, tell us more, oh prophetic child!”  But it didn’t work and we had to wait until we opened the envelope to find out his dream had taken place in Wisconsin, and thankfully NOT New York.  I swear, the thought of us living in a cardboard box in the Bronx has haunted me for months.  Seeing kids playing in the street and watching a woman walk her dog on the side of the highway, next to my cab (which was in bumper-to-bumper traffic).  Phew, dodged that bullet.  I should have known Match would bring a good outcome since we saw these guys the day before (ladybug nest by our house):

Anyway, Jack has also been very into story telling lately.  He makes up the MOST ELABORATE stories in the world and he likes me to transcribe them as he tells them, because he wants to make his own book (I kid you not)!  I’m so bummed because my papers that had all his stories on them got tossed.  Good thing he tells stories regularly.  I’ll write some down in a post one night; they are the highlights of my day.

On another note, Jackie is doing much better the past few days.  I don’t know why, but he’d been in his own world lately.  I honestly think some of it was about the dog.  He doesn’t really like Henny, and is bothered when I hold the puppy.  I make sure not to when Jack is up and I can engage him in an activity instead, but I just never imagined he’d have jealousy issues with a dog.  Shane and Finley ADORE this puppy, but I know Jack is a very different kid.  I keep thinking “any day now and he’ll just decide to love the dog,” but I’m not sure it’s going to go like that.  He does get upset when Henny cries, like the other day when we were all playing in the playroom and I left Hen upstairs.  We could hear him rolling his “jollyball” on the wood floor, and I was so comforted that the puppy was playing by himself while I was with the kids downstairs.  Then we came up to get ready for nap…only to find Henny had crapped on the wood floor and rolled his jollyball right through it, and all around the house.  I crated Henny while I vacuumed, swept, & mopped, and he cried like a baby.  Finley, of course, was so bothered she snuck over and unlatched his crate.  He still had poop on him from playing with his jollyball, so this only made matters MUCH MUCH worse.  I gasped, she screamed, Henny cried when I re-crated him, and Jack was also distraught over Henny.  I took that as a positive sign.  Anyway, what I meant to say was that he’s coming around to having a puppy a lot slower than I’d imagined he would.

On another note, all 3 kids had their 1st dental experience today and it was FANTASTIC.  Jack and Fin had a blast; they loved every second of their cleanings.  Travis took Jack early, and I lagged behind so we could make Shane’s speech session.  I got there in time to see Jack glowing in the chair, and then it was Fin’s turn.  She loved the spotlight:

The funny part was that the dentist used an “alphabet counting system” to see how many teeth Jack had.  When he told Jack the tooth alphabet doesn’t go all the way to “Z”, Jack said, “oh, it stops at “Y”?  The dentist stopped cold, looked up, and said “wow, that’s the smartest, most thoughtful answer a child has ever given me.”  Then the dentist said “but you only have ONE tongue,” and Jack corrected him and said, “no, A tongue!”  What a crazy little sense of humor.  I swear, the kid baffles us. 

The highlight of the dentist was the treasure tower afterwards, when they got to insert a coin and get one of those cheap toys in a plastic bubble.  As far as loving the dentist experience…Shane, not so much…but he was still a trooper.  Unfortunately for my little sweet-toothed-monster, he has the beginnings of a cavity, so we’ll have to be extra diligent with him.  He also has identical spots on his front teeth that I worried were decay, and the dentist did too initially, but after thorough examination, the dentist decided they were likely events that took place during his birth mom’s pregnancy while those teeth were forming.  It’s like a kick to the gut every time that happens.  I just wish I knew what it was – was she sick with a virus, was she on a medication….I’ll probably never know.  It’s nothing to worry about for Shane’s teeth, just a little reminder that the earliest phase of his life is totally unknown to me, his mother.  And that makes me ache in a way I can’t describe.

Ok, this has nothing to do with that, but Henny still has a full sister / littermate available.  His breeder is awesome, honest, and has a fantastic line of dogs.  Frenchies are a breed you might want to research ahead of time though if you don’t know anything about them.  If you’re interested in Henny’s sister, who is a beautiful tri pied Frenchie, or his 10 month old half brother who is GORGEOUS, please let me know.  I’d love for her to be somebody’s “girl Henny!”  We’re heading out to the desert tomorrow, and I’m PSYCHED!  Have a great weekend!

I need to take some new pictures since Henny’s ears are fully UP 100% of the time now.  Yeah Hen!  I have a feelings I’ll be taking LOTS of pictures this weekend.

I have a few cute videos that have been sitting on the flipvideo for awhile, one from my phone of Shanie singing, and another of Fin from yesterday morning telling me she’s “fusta-wated.”  She’s back to her spitting and biting routine (I swear this kid is the devil’s spawn, but she’s so damn cute), so this morning, after she spit orange juice at everyone, I confiscated her sippy cup.  I knew she was going to react dastardly, and I wanted to catch what I could on camera, so I started recording AFTER the part where she tried to bite me, but in time to hear her little articulation of how she was feeling.

Here’s one from weeks ago of the kids pulling movie quotes.  There’s a line from the movie Ice Age that just cracks my kids up.  It’s when Sid’s family ditches him secretly in the night and he wakes up and says “Uncle Fungus?”  You can hear Finley’s impression of that line.  Additionally, Jack is quoting Cindy Lou Who from the Grinch.  Then you can hear Travis prompt Shane’s favorite saying for when something is super cool; it’s from the Christmas movie Prep & Landing.  He says in a falsetto voice “that’s so tinsel!”

And here’s Shanie’s rendition of Twinkle Twinkle:

A few more funny things -

Jack has been having very vivid dreams and has been asking to draw pictures of those dreams.  He has become an amazing drawer.  I’ll have to take some photos of his pictures, but he draws lots of flowers and rainbows.  Also, yesterday I was asking him to do something he didn’t want to do and he turned around and gave me another Sid from Ice Age quote, “I choose LIFE!”  I had to laugh and give it up to the kid.

Every morning, Finley asks for “sausage, bacon, or French toaster” (French toast).  She always spills things or gets crumbs trapped under her chin, in her neck fold.  She calls it her “necklace,” and will scream “mom!  get it out of my necklace.”  Yesterday, she somehow looped her legs through the baby gate and got stuck hanging upside down by her legs (it was hilarious and not dangerous like it sounds).  She was yelling “I’m dying here.”  I have NO IDEA where she got that, but the cutest part was that I thought she was crying wolf & being dramatic, so Jack actually got to her first.  He put his hands under her armpits to support her weight and try to help her out of her pickle.  So cute.  Oh, 1 more Fin story.  A cat followed us home from our walk to the park the other day.  I thought Finley was going to hyperventilate to death from excitement.  The cat followed us all the way to our porch, so I read its tag and called its owner (who didn’t give a crap that her cat was blocks away and annoying another resident).  It’s tag said “Felipe,” so I told the kids the cat’s name and Fin has been talking about “Leafay” ever since.

Shane has been struggling still with sleep and also acting out a little bit.  He’s taken to Finley’s technique of biting, only he doesn’t do it when he’s mad necessarily so it’s hard to predict.  He’s gotten Jack a few times over the past few days.  When he’s mad, he’s been feeling his oats and hitting (pretty much only Jack; I don’t think he’d dare hit Fin out of fear of her retaliation).  I don’t know why, but he’s also not sleeping nearly enough.  Yesterday he refused a nap, and eventually woke Jack up.  He later passed out on the carpet downstairs and woke up when Fin jumped off the couch on him.  I hope he gets over this hump soon!  On a positive note, he has been chatting up a storm!!  He has said more sentences than I can count, and repeats, or tries to repeat, almost everything we say now.

Sorry, couldn’t help myself; Escape to Witch Mountain was a favorite movie of mine and my sister’s growing up.  Travis and I are in the mountains with our kids now, and we are having a blast.  The kids are loving it here too.  Today was a lazy day, since Finley napped for 4 hours!!  We enjoyed a beautiful snowfall, napped with the kids, and woke-up to make snow angels, climb around the ice sculptures, and then celebrate Kaakpema’s 30th birthday with him and some great friends who are all staying at condos in the same building we are.  Jack discovered he could bite little ice chips off the sculptures, so this poor dragon is now missing a few scales (that happened before we’d realized where Jack got the ice to chew on!). 

Shane was all about making snow angels, but his were so hysterical because he couldn’t coordinate his arm & leg motions.  He got the jumping jack motion down with his legs, but his arms were “swimming” in the air, nowhere near the surface of the ice!  It was so cute.  Finley has been obsessed with the “Sam Pony” (Zamboni), which she watches day and night cleaning the outdoor ice skating rink that our condo overlooks.  She’s like a sports commentator giving us Sam Pony updates while plastered to the wall-length window in our condo.

Fin’s new thing is to pretend she’s blind.  She’ll walk along furniture, or around the house with her eyes squeezed shut just for the thrill.  I don’t think telling her about the time I did that in my grandparents’ backyard, only to fall down the cement stairwell to their basement, would deter her.  Fear isn’t really in her vocabulary.

My 2 cutie pies puckering up for a kiss:

And best outfit goes to…

And then there was Finley, feeding her boogers to Kaakpema and Sara’s dog, Aika:

Oh, how Fin and Shane love this dog:

My sweet boy and my Valentine: