Week 91

Dec 1-7

The first week of December...let the holiday fun times begin! :) Now that I have a kid I feel like Christmas has been renewed. Jack doesn't even really "get" the gist of the whole thing yet, but I think that Ed and I are more excited than he is! We loved going out to get his Christmas presents. It seems like every time we go to the toy store we spend at least an hour walking up and down every aisle looking at everything they have to offer. We dream about when Jack gets a little older what toys he might like, we reminisce about our own memories of toys Santa brought us. All the while Jack is oblivious.

We have been talking about Jack's Christmas present for months now and finally agreed on the perfect present from Santa. :) A train table. Jack has been obsessed lately with "choo choo's" as he calls them. He likes to watch Thomas the Train on TV and he has two of the little wooden engines. The sets are very, very cute. They are made of wood and connect with little magnets. Perfect for chubby little fingers to play with and abuse for years to come. Every time we go into this toy store near our house Jack goes straight for the train table. I can't wait to see his face when he walks down the stairs!!! I'm not sure he will even be interested in opening anything else.

So lately we have been so super-duper busy that we have hardly seen each other. Ed has been doing his college classes three at a time with a steady, constant pace year-round. He always has homework, papers, tests, etc. He is also still doing the volunteer firefighting on a full time basis and of course his full time job. I have been working my three days a week in the E.R. but somehow I feel like I have been working more. I guess it's just because Ed is so busy he doesn't have time to pitch in as much as he normally does with the housework and such.

Laundry has been piling, trash cans are overflowing, floors have not been mopped, it's my worst nightmare...normally. I have come to accept that we are just busy right now and it's okay if everything isn't perfect. Ed always helps out when he can and I am very grateful for that. I have been trying to really utilize my time and get things done when Jack is napping so that the days I do get to spend with him we can do something fun like go to the park or play with his toys. As busy as our lives get, I keep reminding myself that kids don't remember some clutter in a house, but they do remember quality time spent together so on our way out the door to our play date I just ignore the mess and try to have a great morning with my awesome kid.

Sometimes I don't feel so abnormal that our family is busy because when I compare us to our friends who have kids with both parents working full time, we are pretty much the same. My friend Angi works in radiology at my hospital and we have been on a few play dates with each other. Her daughter Kenzie is the same age as Jack and they have fun together. We met them at the mall and it had been planned for over three weeks because that was the only time we could meet up. Sad but true. We had a great time as usual.

Another fun play date Jack recently went on was to the zoo with his friend Madilynn. Her dad works with Ed and they live in our neighborhood. Made it a little more fun because we could all ride in one car. We went to the zoo and fed the birds...it was hilarious! I have fed the birds before, but I guess never so early in the morning. These birds were HUNGRY! I don't think I have laughed that much in a long time! They attacked Jack! He loved every minute of it. Honestly one would think that being so little he would be afraid of all the birds climbing on him and flapping in his face...nope not Jack. He would just swat them off and say, "no, no birds!" It was soooooo funny!!!! Here are some pictures of the whole thing.

So this week Jack also went to see Santa Claus. We went to the same one as last year. He's a very nice guy with a "real" beard. We had a WONDERFUL experience last year, but this year was a little different. The Santa was still awesome, but the stupid workers were all about "rules, rules, rules." They allow you to take your own pictures as long as you buy the minimum package. That's what we do because I prefer to take my own pictures. Well the minimum package is two pictures and still cost $25.00. The pictures aren't that great of quality, but whatever. Last year we were able to talk to Santa for awhile, take pictures, hang out, etc. This year the people said we couldn't take any pictures until they got their pictures done, then they gave us about two seconds to take our picture. The Santa was getting irritated because he kept telling me to go ahead and take as many pictures as I wanted, but the workers hadn't taken theirs yet. It was all very confusing.

That poor Santa, he is such a nice guy. The mall just wanted to make a buck. So the pictures aren't what I wanted...but oh well. :( Jack wasn't very candid anyways. He just sat there and acted like Mr. Shy. NOT his usual self. I think the stupid mall workers made him uncomfortable. I know I sure was annoyed by them. Oh well, what can you do? I tried to stay gracious and just go with the flow.

In better news, Jack is now learning his letters. He can point out "J", "Q", "O", "A", and "W" accurately. He can complete his entire ABC's puzzle without any help, but those are the only 5 letters he can actually name. I'm pretty happy about that. As long as he shows interest, I will continue to encourage him to learn his alphabet and hopefully learn to read early. :) He can count to 10 with assistance. And when I recite the ABC's to him he repeats most of the letters after me, but some of them he will anticipate the next one. For example when I say "G" he will say "H" because he knows that one comes next. He is so much fun! I will get a video of him saying his alphabet!

PS-I have to add to the end of this post the cutest pictures ever! :) Here are Jack and Ed in their matching hockey outfits. Down to the same shoes! Notice in the picture of them walking away they are actually in step. That was not on purpose. Awww!