Jack loves the garbage man!

Friday mornings have gotten pretty exciting around here!  Fridays are garbage days and Jack loves to watch the men collect the trash.

First we start at the back of the house, since we can watch them come around the corner.  Then we run to the front of the house and watch them drive down our street.  Jack loves this part since they drive backwards the whole way with their horns beeping.

The guys have gotten to know us recently and watch for Jack as they pull up.  They wave hello and stop to say hi when we come out.

Here he is enjoying today's events:

Cuddling up with Daddy

Jacob came home earlier than expected tonight but had to do a bit of work before his evening could really begin.  He joined Jack on the couch and the two of them watched Sesame Street while Jacob plugged away.

I think Jack just wanted to cuddle, though.  He was quiet and well behaved while Jacob took a call, but didn't want to be far from his daddy.

Oh, and don't worry - shortly after this picture was taken Jack had plenty of cuddle time!

 

First Ear Infection

It's official:  Jack has his first ear infection.  While I didn't enjoy hearing that he was sick, it was so nice to be able to pin-point a reason for his crankiness and restlessness the past few days.  I'm glad I followed my gut (and listened to Jacob's promptings) and took him into the doctor.  She said that we caught it early and that he should be feeling better quickly.

He gulped down his medicine and was not happy when I told him 'all done'.  He really wanted more. 

Here he is playing while I carried in the groceries today.  He doesn't seem to be too phased by this whole thing.  

My own sous-chef

We all know that Jacob loves to cook, and I've learned that every great chef needs a right hand man.  For the last 10 years, I've been prepping, cleaning, and assisting Jacob while he prepares his wonderful meals.  It's hard work!  He could obviously do his cooking without me, but let's be honest:  It's more fun to work with someone else.

So, I'm happy that I finally have a sous chef of my own, too.  Jack is always by my side in the kitchen - or up on the counter, really.  He is pretty curious about what we are cooking and wants to be a part of the fun.  Luckily, there is always at least one job that he can help with, and he's actually really learning his way around our kitchen.

Here are some recent pictures of him helping with meals:

Finding the perfect spice

Washing lettuce

Squeezing lemons

Prepping our turkey burgers

Jack is starting to help set the table.  First lesson:  Filling the cups with ice.

I love having a helper in the kitchen.  I hope we can keep this up after Baby #2 arrives.  It's not always easy to slow down and let him help, but my hope is that he loves being in the kitchen as much as we do!

 

Ultrasound Pictures: It's a.....

healthy, active baby.  Did you really think we found out???  I have to admit:  it was much harder to not find out the gender this time around.  But, we stuck with our original plan and skipped the part where we took a peak down there!

We enjoy our ultrasound tech and spent most of our  time chatting and laughing and not very much time asking those important questions about percentiles and numbers.  So, I can't tell you how big this baby's head is, or its length.  I can tell you that it weighs about one pound and is measuring exactly on time.  Our due date is July 28th.

Just like with  Jack, I have very mild placenta previa which requires one more ultrasound around 36 weeks.  If my placenta hasn't shifted upwards by then, then we will schedule a c-section.  Dr. Grim didn't seem to be phased by it and presented it as a fun opportunity to see our little one again.  I agree.

By the way, before you look at the pictures, take note that the baby is perfect.  The big bubbles on its face in the 2nd set of pictures are just a glare.  She assured us that it's not a huge growth.  We were pretty worried!

Trip to the zoo

This week was filled with beautiful days and we took advantage of every one of them.  Jacob came home from work after lunch to join me at my doctor's appointment, and then we all went to the zoo. 

Since the weather has been so warm, all of the flowers are blooming early and the zoo was beautiful.  We tried to take pictures of Jack with the hyacinths and tulips right when we walked in.  He wasn't too thrilled to be posing by flowers instead of looking at the elephants.  So this is all we got:

Smelling the tulips

The zoo was relatively empty that afternoon, so it was the perfect day for our family.  We saw all of the animals we wanted to see and didn't have to fight a crowd.  

Jack is really beginning to understand what the zoo is all about and enjoys watching all of the animals.  Here he is teaching Jacob all about the giraffes:

Telling Daddy about the giraffes

Typically Jack and I go to the zoo with friends while Jacob is at work.  It was such a fun treat to go as a family -- and to have an extra set of hands to lift him in and out of the stroller for every animal!

 

Paint Party

My sister recently posted a fun painting activity for her two youngest kids, and Jack and I thought we would give it a try.  She put paper and paint in the bottom of a shoe box and let the kids roll a Matchbox car around to make car tracks.  The paint (appeared to) stay contained and they had a fun picture to show when they were all finished.

So, between the rainstorms on Thursday we brought our paints outside and gave it a try.  We grabbed the paper, a few cars, and the paint, and stripped Jack down to a diaper.  I didn't have a shoe box and didn't want to worry about the mess, so I decided that he could get as messy as he'd like.  It was fun for him and freeing for me.

He wasn't too interested in painting with the cars, but he did have fun making a mess.

Showing off his tracks 

Yucky Fingers

Belly Painting 

Why does he insist on tasting the paint?

Relaxing while the paint dried

The joy of peanut butter

Yesterday and today are shaping up to be two of the best days of the year!  After taking a trip to the zoo in yesterday's unseasonably beautiful weather, we are excited to be getting out again today.  Today we are meeting up with our friends Erin and Jeremiah Lyons to walk, talk, and play at Winton Woods.

To prepare for today's outing, I packed our typical pb&j lunch while Jack ate breakfast.  He's a sucker for peanut butter on a spoon, and I'm a sucker for that smile!  I can't help but indulge him with his favorite treat!

Jack knows a good thing when he finds it!

Last week I found Jack climbing into the dishwasher to find the spatula we had just used.  I know it's kind of gross and I probably should have redirected him away from sitting on the dishwasher, but instead I grabbed my phone to take a few pictures:

Here he is today licking the spatula (and the bowl and his fingers) clean:

Whippy Dip

After our Sunday night dinner at Nana's house, we all headed over to the Mt. Healthy Dairy Bar for the season's first whippy dip.  Jacob generously shared his cone with Jack, and I shared my Oreo flurry.  I'm pretty sure that Jack enjoyed them both!

First taste

20 weeks

Here are two quick pregnancy shots.  I can't believe we are half way through!

Jack wanted to show his belly too! 

Just me and the baby:  20 weeks!

Zoo

At nearly 16 months, Jack has truly begun to enjoy our time at the zoo.  I feel like this was the first time that our visit was more than just a nice (hilly) walk.  He pointed at the animals, made the animal sounds that he knows, and smiled and laughed as the gibbons swung from branch to branch.  It was so much fun to watch!

Sorry about the quality of these videos.  Again, I'm having trouble dumping my phone photos and videos.  This was the best that I could do!

Jack's impression of a gorilla:

The elephant:

I tried and tried to get a good picture of Jack watching the polar bears, but he was much more interested in the big kids that were hanging around.  He is such a people person!

The spice cabinet

I can't tell you exactly why, but Jack's favorite place to play in our kitchen is the spice cabinet.  You can frequently find him pulling out the spice jars, giving them a shake, a little sniff, and sometimes a lick.  I've learned to keep the cayenne up high!

While I was taking a work-related phone call recently, Jack wandered off into the kitchen.  I assumed he was searching through the containers of cinnamon and nutmeg, and that he was happily entertaining himself.  I had no idea that he had found the one jar with a semi-broken lid and had managed to open, pour, and play.  He was happily entertaining himself -- just in a different way than I had originally imagined.

Here are a few shots of his encounter with the espresso powder.  Luckily he slept just fine after this dose of caffeine, and the mess wasn't anything that the vacuum couldn't pickup in a few seconds.  I am so thankful that at that moment I was in the right mood to laugh, grab the camera, and make a bit of a mess with him!

We're alive and well...

I'm sorry to be so behind on my blogging.  We've been busy around here:  Jacob's finishing the basement, Jack is on the move, and I am growing a baby.  Whew!

I'll do my best to fill you in on what we've been up to:

The weather has been hit or miss lately and we've tried to get outside as often as possible.  Jack loves getting out his sidewalk chalk, but I'm not sure that he understands exactly what it's for.  Occasionally he'll scribble on the ground, but he typically prefers to taste the chalk, inspect the chalk, and put the chalk back into the box.  Oh well, at least we're outside!

On the days that we're stuck inside, we've tried to be crafty.  After we colored the pasta last month we strung a necklace.  I tied the string to the end of a crayon and Jack was able to get the noodles onto the necklace by himself.  (Well, he got the noodles onto the crayon and I helped him to finish it up.)

And then there are the days when we need to just kick back and relax.  Jack is pretty good at that:

I've got a ton of fun pictures and videos on my phone that I'm having trouble uploading.  I hope to get them up soon and I'll share Jack's newest milestones!