Contagious

This picture was taken last Tuesday night after John and I awoke to a strange sound coming from the baby monitor. It was the sound of puking. To spare you some detail, I'll just say that the amount and level of disgust was not small. This picture was taken around midnight, and we stayed this way until 4:30 am. You can see here that Jack was none too happy about his circumstances, and he clutched his Clifford backpack like it was carrying the cure to the nasty virus. However, Jack is now well. He awoke Wednesday morning with a smile and has been okay since. John and I had the misfortune of getting the same virus 2 days later. And then Jack's Gigi and Aunt Jackie caught the same virus 2 days after us. To say that the virus, which has been titled "Baby Jack" by Trevor, is a little contagious is an understatement. In fact, just by merely reading this blog, you may get it. Baby Jack may be traveling through cyber space as well. One can never be too cautious. Go disinfect yourself!


Other than puking, Jack has been up to some hair-raising tricks. Here he's at the playground. We're not sure exactly how it all started, but whenever Jack got near the slides, his hair would stand up! Static in the air or something. Maybe someone slid down the slide in a some nylon/polyester mix or something. Like I know materials (or physics for that matter). But something strange was going on.

On a side note, but still relating to clothing materials and strange happenings, a child came to work the other day and her name was Nylon. No lie. But I made the mistake of pronouncing it like it's spelled. You know, like the patented material that is Nylon. As Dwight would say, "False." And buddy, believe me I was corrected. It's Nuh-LON'. Dumb.


Now here's an outfit to remark on. This was given to Jack by Uncle Trev and Aunt Jordan shortly after Jack was born, and John and I were as happy as kids in a candy shop when we realized that it still fit him this season. We tried to complete the ensemble with the tennis racket, but all Jack wanted to to was eat it.

John, Jack and I took a trip to Barnes & Nobles last week. We were excited to find the Clifford backpack there for him, but John was a little disappointed when Jack took interest in the Disney Princess display. It's like Jack realized that this was not a natural move for him to make and he promptly went to the train set and tried to bite Choo Choo Thomas' head/smoke stack off. Atta boy.


Jack's Mimi and Pops came to visit last weekend! We all had so much fun. This picture was taken on Monday when we went to Savannah. I thought we would be clever in beating the crowd to 'Lady and Sons' (Paula Deen's restaurant) for lunch. Again, false. There was a 3 hour wait when we got there just 15 minutes after they opened! But it didn't matter. We walked River St. and the City Market and made a day of it. Thanks for visiting! See you back at Thanksgiving!

And last but not least....Jack had his first slumber party last Saturday night! Shelby spent the night while her parents cheered Clemson on at homecoming. We all had so much fun! We went to Jim and Nicks where they both played hide-n-seek behind their hands and napkins, they took a bath, they played, they had a blast! Everyone thought they were twins...again! It was so much fun.

"He's Got a New Doggy 'Do!"

...And not the 'do' you're probably thinking about. Scout has a new hair cut! Well, it's really the same style, just trimmed around the edges a bit, which makes him look like the handsome dog that he truly is. When I picked him up from the groomers the other day, the guy said he's one of the most beautiful goldens he has ever seen. He says that to all the dogs probably, but it made Scout feel good. I could tell. John and I found a fun pet boutique store here in Bluffton the other night. Sure, Scout really isn't a 'boutique-y' kind of dog, but they did have these tough chew toys for the bigger breeds, and so far...he hasn't destroyed it! If you know Scout or have ever seen him with a toy of any sort, you know what a huge accomplishment this is for all of us. Scout has been such a great companion for Jack. He'll just sit there when Jack decides to use his face as a step ladder to hoist himself onto the couch. No whimper, no growl, nothing. Scout is the man.......dog. By the way, if you didn't think the title to today's blog was fun or catchy, please sing the words to the tune of "He's got a new attitude" and maybe it will be as thrilling to you as it was to me.)



Nothing like a good butt shot. As you can see, Jack's hiney has lost some of the golf ball-ish qualities that it once had. Jack gets so excited about his bath that he screams from the time you turn the water on until the second his feet hit the water. Here I got him naked in advance because it's such a struggle to do so whenever he's squirming and flipping all over the place because of the running water. Pre nakedness is a mistake. See the glisten on the floor in the bathroom? I think the warm water and the sound of it hitting the tub made Jack's bladder a little weak if you know what I mean. And look who's on the scene to help with the clean up. Gross.





Jack is walking so well now! He's mastered the knee bend, which is huge. Now if he drops something, he can pick it up and keep going without having to fall!

Have a great day! We're off to play outside, Jack's favorite!

Dirt and Bruises

We're on a Wednesday blog kick. Just noticed that. No reason, really.

Jack is walking so well now! (The huge goose egg he got today from a cement planter in our driveway would say otherwise.) He's got some Nikes that are serving him well. Still a little unsteady when he's wearing his sneakers, but he's improving by the day. Sometimes he'll even do a power walk, you know, where it's not quite a jog. Jack is currently saying: "uh-oh", dog, doggie, cookie, please (although not in context), dada, mama, and cup. He's so much fun right now!

This past weekend, Jack and I took a trip to Greensboro. My parents kept Jack while I traveled to Winston Salem for a girl's weekend with some of my college roommates. The trip was very fun and relaxing. I managed to see most of my family in a few short days which made for a busy time. Jack traveled fairly well this time. On the way, we didn't stop at all. We blitzed it through each town and made it in 5 hours. That's a record for Jack and my bladder.

John stayed back to work. He and Scout manned the house. When I returned home, the frozen pizza stash had diminished by a sizeable amount, and the house smelled a bit like loneliness. It was good to come home and rescue them both.

Here's a photo shoot of what Jack has recently been doing:



Jack didn't seem to notice that he was a good 2 feet shorter than all of the other children playing. Nor did he seem to care that he was only wearing socks that ended up grass stained and soaked. It was our first of many million grass stains for sure. If the first haircut didn't confirm it, Jack is now a real boy. He's had grass stains!



This was just a cute picture of Jack at Sippin' Cow Cafe on the Reed/Ussery Women/Children's Luncheon that's held every Tuesday. Aren't his cheeks cute? It's like you could draw circles around them, they're so chunky!



This is Jack after a good nap. Meaning one where he doesn't wake up screaming. John and I can't figure out why, but Jack wakes up from most of his naps screaming bloody murder. Not a 'get me out, I'm bored' cry, but a "GET ME OUT BEFORE I CLAW THIS CRIB TO PIECES!!!!" cry. Any advice/tips on that one would be appreciated.



This picture was taken the day after UNC was brutally defeated by clemson. After this quick lesson here in our driveway, John and I agreed that he had enough talent to actually play for the Tarheels this year. We're certain of it. Oh, heck, GO TARHEELS!!!! You're still our #1 team! FOREVER!!!



This isn't Jack's best side, but this particular night, it was his funny side. We went to eat with the Alberts at Crazy Crab, and they conveniently have a playground at the restaurant. After dinner, Jack and Neely played while we were all talking. I noticed a little too late where Jack was throwing all of the sand. He was putting handful after handful of sand down the back of his shirt. It wasn't the beach sand that you can brush off. It was more of the dirt/sand that leaves a nice dusty, orange film on your body after trying to brush it off. We've discovered boys and dirt just go together.

Hope you're all doing well!