Christmas in August

Even though it's supposed to reach 95 degrees today, I have a snowman to share with you.  Jack got a snowman robe for Christmas, but it was far too big for him then, and until recently we took him directly from bathtub to changing table in a hooded towel as quickly as possible, so there was no need for a robe.  But as he's gotten more teeth and has started brushing them himself after his bath, having a robe has seemed more and more useful.  So last night we put it on, and Jack had a blast running around before bedtime.  Watching the video, I was struck by just how many words Jack is attempting to say, something I tend to overlook as we're going about our days.  

Sorry it's sideways.  One of these days I'm going to start remembering which way I need to turn the camera to have it show up right on the blog!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4398433983536224410

Who has time to nap with all this water to explore?

So I think Jack has a good chance of becoming the next Michael Phelps.  He is truly obsessed with water.  He's started saying, "wa-wa" and pointing to water every chance he gets.  He's fascinated by water fountains, loves the pool, and has become increasingly inseparable from the sprinkler.  "Duck," and "quack, quack" have replaced "doggie" and "woof-woof" as his favorite sayings. He insists on washing his hands every time I do.  

Also on the positive end of the hygiene spectrum, he spends at least 30 minutes a day brushing his teeth.  Of course to Jack "brushing" his teeth means climbing onto his stepstool, sticking his toothbrush under the water for an excessively long time, sucking the water off his toothbrush, and then immediately signing "please" while saying "Wa-wa.  Peeees" so that I turn the water on again.  But since he only signs please with his right hand, before asking me, he first has to transfer the toothbrush to his left hand.  It's an intricate process.  One that we repeat at least 20 times a morning.

Unfortunately, Jack's interest in taking naps has waned significantly.  I've had nearly everyone assure me that pretty soon Jack's morning nap will start disappearing and that he will seamlessly move to one long afternoon nap in a few days.  Not happening.  His morning nap is static at about 60-90 minutes and has never been any later than 9:30 or 10.  The afternoon nap (aka Mommy's Sanity Saver), however, has deteriorated into a series of Jack making many attempts at sleep that last no longer than 20 minutes each.  It's really hard to get anything done or to feel any sense of relaxation when I'm on call every 10-15 minutes.  

I'm a determined woman, but Jack generally gets the better of me when he's been in the crib for an hour and a half, even if he hasn't gotten much sleep.  It just seems cruel to keep trying to get him to bed for any longer than that.  I've tried moving the morning nap later, but that just isn't happening.  Today I tried waking Jack from his morning nap after 45 minutes.  He was very, very cranky and was clearly not awake yet, but the afternoon nap seemed to be off to a good start.  Until the phone rang and I couldn't get to it quickly.  After that it was more of the same.  I'm going to try that method again tomorrow, but I could certainly use any other suggestions anyone has...

Oh, and on the advice requests, if you have any other brilliant ideas for how to cover the bathtub water faucets, I could use it.  The door knob covers were too small.

On a brighter note, last weekend we had a wonderful time with Jack's godmother Melanie and her husband Ankur Rughani.  They drove in from South Bend on Saturday and hung out with us all weekend.  On an action-packed Sunday we went to the St. Louis zoo (Ben's first time) 

and church, then met up with our law school friends Angela and Khang for Ted Drews frozen custard (my first time) as they were moving Angela into town.

Since Stacy and Rich haven't been jumping at the chance to move into the house next door that's still for sale, we've now started trying to convince the Rughanis to move in.  Who cares that they're supposed to be moving to DC in December--things can change, right?

A Few More Pictures

Because I haven't kept up with posts well for the past few months.  And also because I don't want everyone to think that I only dress Jack in one cheapy, yellow, playwear T-shirt every day, based on the last three posts.  He actually does have some nice clothes, it's just that I dress him in those on days I don't plan on going out much.  And he looks so cute in yellow, which is a color I really like but have never been able to pull off well.

Playing with the new sprinkler ball (but still holding on to the top of the real sprinkler, which he finally broke, for good measure)

Asserting claim in serious fashion to the chair that Pops made for Jack when second-cousin Julie teased him by attempting to sit in it. 

Climbing into one of the few remaining moving boxes (all full of books) by himself.  And, yes, it does say "Bat Cave," on the box--that's what Pops calls the extra garage below the apartments that has served as extra storage for our family since the store burned down 4 years ago and that has now become a defacto campaign headquarters.  By moving back from London and finally getting a home big enough to store all of our own junk, we're really clearing out the Bat Cave.

Trying to drive Pops' car with Nonna and Uncle Tyler.  Disturbingly, Jack figured out how to move the seat all the way up and was well on his way to getting the key into the ignition, all by

 himself!

Taking a horsey ride on Daddy.  Okay, another yellow shirt, but trust me, this isn't the same one.  And it's just too sweet not to post!

Why We No Longer Store Cereal on the Second Shelf of the Pantry

All that while I was fixing his lunch.  Seriously, like 2 minutes destruction time, 10 minutes clean up time.

Momma!

After hearing, "Daddy, daddy, daddy," all day long for two weeks (including every time he sees a cell phone, I was at wits end and was convinced that he loved Ben more than me.  And when he started saying "Pops" to my dad during a weekend family reunion at the Lake of the Ozarks, I decided it was high time for Jack to learn to call for me in a manner other than "Uh!" or "Ah!" or shoving into my knees.

Finally last Monday Jack said Momma for the first time!  I can't tell you how excited I was.  I know, I know, I've heard from many people that there will come a time when he'll be calling for me so much that I'll wish he never learned to say mommy, but right now I'm still basking in the greatness of finally being called mommy.  It first happened after about a week of me constantly saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy," to Jack during his every waking minute.  It sounds sort of sweetly funny, but I have to admit that I was actually pretty neurotic about it all.  

Along with adding Mommy  (now said about 500 times a day) to his list of words, Jack has picked up more sign language and is now trying to repeat many words after us.  He's also able to tell us through sound effects and miming which books he wants to read--a roar means he wants to read his dinosaur book, a hand over his mouth in a yawn means he wants to read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late (the pigeon often yawns) woof is for The Pigeon Wants a Puppy, "brrm, brrm" for the book about car sounds that someone must have gotten him without my approval (I try to stay away from gender stereotyping in Jack's stuff), and a very specific but indescribable yell for "Llama Llama Red Pajama" (who yells for his llama mama on Jack's favorite page).

His sign language isn't just for regular American Sign Language signals, either.  Jack and Ben have created signs for sprinkler (clearly necessary to Jack's vocabulary as past posts demonstrate) and fan, and at meal times Jack now attempts to do the sign of the cross along with us!  And he's started bringing us our shoes when he's ready to go outside to play.  He's definitely communicating!

Oh, and yesterday Jack figured out how to turn on the hot water in our master bathroom tub.  The tub was clearly designed by someone obviously not considering small children; the knobs are on the near side of the tub, with the hot water knob within nearest reach and the faucet reachable by little hands that could easily turn on that hot water.  So tomorrow I'm going out to search for safety door knob covers in hopes that they'll fit over and stay on the tub water knobs too.

Vote for Pops!

Tuesday is Missouri's statewide primary election day, and Pops needs your vote--that is, if you're a voter in the 121st Missouri State House of Representatives district.  I mean, your vote would be nice otherwise, but it wouldn't count, which is sort of what we're aiming for.

You can read about Jack's Pops (aka Jim Jackson) on his facebook profile, the Johnson County Democratic Party website (for background/qualification info and comparisons to his two primary election opponents), his campaign website (for good pictures), or on the Warrensburg newspaper website (for positions on issues).

I've been trying off and on to post the past few weeks, but my account seems to have some sort of issue that's preventing me from uploading photos and videos.  Hopefully I'll get it resolved soon, because I've got an adorable video of Jack "walking" my parents' dog Maggie and pictures of Jack climbing into his stroller in his never-ending quest for keys.