accomplishing a lot

The past few days have been full of getting things done. I've been crossing things off my to-do list and Jack's been finding tons of things to play with that negate any need for all the great Christmas toys that we've already ordered. See the pictures at the side of Jack watching the washer tumble and rolling a diet Coke can all over the kitchen. This afternoon we played a game where I sat the can upright and Jack knocked it over. We did this for almost 15 minutes straight. I've set that can to the side so that no one opens that one for the next few days. Oh, and note the teddy bear footies on his pajamas. Jack has been wearing those pajamas for a few months but he just discovered the teddy bears and thinks they're hilarious--almost as funny as when I put one of his hats on my head. He recognizes that bears aren't supposed to be on his feet and I'm not supposed to be wearing his hats, which I think is pretty clever of him.


Wednesday we went to the NHS health clinic for a checkup and weigh in. I still can't get over the fact that we have tons of top-quality help there anytime we want it and don't have to pay a cent for it. I mean, taxes, but they're not all that much higher than we'd be paying in the U.S. But anyway, good news is that Jack has gained over a pound in the past 4 weeks, bringing him back up to almost the weight he should be.

Today Jack ate half a banana, half a pear, almost an entire avocado, a sweet potato cube, about 1/2 a cup of oat Cheerios, three teething biscuits, a rice cake, and a few handfuls of rice rigatoni, all with a small mommy tax levied. I list this not because I think you all particularly care, but in part to remind myself that overall he's probably getting enough to eat even though it only seems like he's getting small bits of food at great effort during each feeding. Without that reminder I still keep worrying that Jack's at the cusp of another hunger strike. In an effort to avert that, I've started giving him more finger foods. He normally doesn't feed himself (except Cheerios--those are making it in his mouth at a rate more like 9 out of 10 now, which is a pretty impressive leap from 1 out of 10 less than a week ago), but he still seems to like chunky food better than purees.

Thursday our new rug was delivered, putting me much more at ease about letting Jack climb on absolutely everything like he wants to do. Now we're starting the next step--teaching him how to fall well. He's doing a pretty good job. He's learned that the trick is to fall where the padding is, and he's even able to get there some of the time.

Ben's had an awful week at work, not making it home until after midnight several nights. He was able to come home for a few hours on Wednesday night when I sent him an email with the subject, "I think I broke my middle toe," (didn't--it was just jammed and only took a day of hobbling to heal, it just really hurt) but then he had to go back to work after Jack went to bed. Fortunately, Ben thinks he should have the weekend off (can't believe I'm saying that--I've really become

brainwashed by the law firm widow lifestyle), so tomorrow we're planning to celebrate my birthday early by going to Wagamama and then going on the London Eye. I'm a bit worried about the latter part, as I inherited a fear of heights from Pops, but hopefully since it's an enclosed pod it will feel just like flying in a plane, which is a-okay.