there has been an incident

The other day at daycare, Jack was reaching for the table to stand up and he missed, hitting the right side of his face against the corner of the table. He had a pretty good cut above his eye and the school called me to come and take him to the doctor. The doctor checked him out, saw that there was no eye damage or concussion and glued the wound shut which took about 3 seconds to do.

Jack is recovering just fine. 

Jack has taken to putting things together that fit. He likes putting lids on containers and then taking them off again, and putting things inside of other things and then taking them out. He gets very frustrated when he can't get them back out. 

Jack's teacher gave the parents a monthly newsletter from the classroom. I won't type out the whole thing, but she writes that the children have formed friendships, that Jack and his friend Olu are master crawlers and that the kids show tenderness and care for one another. And quote, "Olu also looks for any opportunity to hold Jack S. and kiss him."

how sweet is that?

From Wednesday's daily intake:

Jack really enjoyed going outside today, he also loved playing in the sandbox. He was also tempted to put the sand in his mouth.

Monday we leave for a week in Little Rock, Arkansas. I have been telling Jack that he is going to meet his cousins for the first time, although he has not fully grasped what this means, I'm sure he is excited.

more of Jack's picks

Jack moves non-stop nowadays, taking in information, learning balance, it's amazing to watch. He really likes going to the park to swing on the swings and especially playing in the sand. The other day at playgroup he started taking things away from other kids, wanting the shovel that the other kid had instead of the one he had. These are the beginning stages of the long struggle to understand ownership. 

Jack really likes any kind of door opening and shutting, and he also loves playing peek-a-boo or playing looking games through pieces of clear or colored plastic. Today on the changing table he was holding his book "Barnyard Dance" which is one of his favorites and has a hole in the front cover. He had it over his face and was looking at me through the hole. I didn't notice because I was trying to get his diapers changed as fast as I could before he flips himself over and stands up, so Jack said, "hey!" and when I looked at him he started laughing. We played peek-a-boo through the hole in the book for a while which he enjoyed immensely.

It's been a race against time to babyproof the house one step ahead of Jack. His favorite things in the kitchen are the oven broiler and the compost bucket (we need a gate). 

In the bedroom he likes the upright steam heater and the diaper pail. In the office he likes to pull himself up using a lamp plug in an electrical socket.

From daily intake at daycare:

11/12/08

Today Jack got lots of kisses from his friend Soloman and enjoyed playing with Tim (student teacher) in the tunnel while holding a maraca.

11/14/08

Jack enjoyed going outside and crawling around the yard.

Jack's picks

Jack explores his world

Jack is into everything now and daily finds things that we can't let him have without running the risk of having someone call the agency for child protection on us. 

He has this really great trick. He crawls up to you and raises his arms for you to lift him while smiling at you with those big blue eyes and seven little teeth. Then once he's up he immediately starts his 360 degree scan to see what he can lunge for.

He also says what I think is "hi" to people on the bus to get their attention, sometimes while reaching out a hand and staring at them. He's also started pointing to things that he wants and continues to use his hands to gesture (sometimes wildly) while talking. He hasn't mastered any of these things yet, but they pop up every once in a while, along with waving bye bye.

from daily intake today:

Jack Simon had a great day today. Lots of energy. He began multi-tasking. He had silver napkin rings in his hand while pulling on the rope that is on the riser. He also was crawling in and out of the tunnel.

Friday November 7th

Jack's daily intake form:

Jack had a great day today, he was extremely happy. He was playing with a pan and putting it to his face and on top of his head.

Sean noticed recently that Jack is now able to carry things with him while he moves around. Sometimes in his hand, sometimes in his mouth. He also really enjoys yelling into bowls and containers and listening to his voice resonate.

Jack's interests

Jack is a toasted O's fiend! I think he would eat nothing else all day if we let him. He eats them individually, he eats them on a fork, he eats them by the handful. Apparently they have a lot of iron, which helps babies bodies expel any lead they may have taken in from soil or what have you. Calcium does the same thing. 

Jack has a new found interested in hinges and things that open and close. He likes doors quite a bit, and he also likes the arm that lays across his lap on the bike seat. He works very diligently opening and closing it.

Jack and I took a bike ride through the park today. I think Jack had a pretty good time, he laughed a fair amount, and every once in a while when I'd cough or say something he'd look up at me like he was shocked to see me there.

We're all still fighting colds, but Jack never seems phased by being sick, just a little more clutchy.

from daily intake November 5, 2008

Jack played with the xylophone today and loved all the music notes it played

and there's been an incident:

(10/27) another child was really excited to see Jack and greeted him with a kiss but also bit down. Jack didn't cry but I gave him an icy anyway 

learn my lesson

The other night after my boys were asleep I got so busy doing work that I didn't go to sleep until 1:30 am. I knew Jack would be up between 5:30 and 6 but I figured I could nap with him in the morning. Not only did he manage to avoiding sleeping completely, it was also the day that he discovered for the first time the compost bucket, the power strips and cords below the computer, the guitars stacked against the wall, the magazine rack in the bathroom, and the garbage pail in his room where we keep his dirty diapers. I feel like I spent all day saying "no Jack". But then I took him out for a walk, he slept, I ate a taco and we went to the park where he got to ride in a swing while I pushed and also play in the sand.

Never count on naps.

today's reasons for why I love Jack's daycare

Outside Jack's classroom on Friday I noticed a sign that talked about how all the kids in Jack's classroom really enjoy playing musical instruments. There were pictures of each of the kids. Here's pictures of Jack and also his friend O--- playing drums.  I'm so warmed by the fact that there is so much love at Jack's daycare. The place is awesome.

and here's notes from the Daily Intake forms

Friday:

Jack was getting lots of kisses from O--- today! He also played lots of peek-a-boo. He also kept talking and we think he was saying "hi".

Monday:

Jack loves hanging out by the back door. He pulls himself up and watches the children outside while laughing and babbling.

I mean really, how great is that?

Jack has also taken to playing the toilet seat at home like a drum as well.

Jack's days

It seems like Jack turns more into a little boy every time I turn my back. I went to pick him up at daycare and I could hear him babbling really loud when I walked in the door, but when I saw the little boy at the table from behind, waving his hands around in the air and drinking out of a sippy cup, I almost didn't recognize him. It's amazing.

We got Jack a bike seat for my bike so I can pedal around with him, of course now the seasonal rains have started, but I know we'll get some nice days and I'll be able to zip him through Golden Gate Park. Grandma got him a bike helmet while she was here so we're all ready to go!

Jack seems to really love daycare. Even if he's been chatting up a storm on the bus he gets quiet when we walk down the hallway to his classroom and looks around like he recognizes the place. On Friday he saw his teacher Nenna through the door and gave her a big smile. He started to fuss a bit when I told him I was going to leave, but then his teacher Nahid said, "sweet Jack, come here" and he smiled and held out his arms for Nahid to take him. We adore Nahid. At school they call her "the baby whisperer". 

I love that Jack enjoys himself so much at daycare. I love that he gets the chance to play with other kids his age and learn new things from them like waving bye bye and clapping (he's still working on both of those). 

Jack had his last day of swimming for a while at the Janet Pommeroy center, they're going to be doing renovations until the end of January. I'm going to try to find a class for him to get into at one of the other pools in town, but we're pretty spoiled. The center is one of the nicest pools I've ever been in, especially for kids. It's really warm so it's easy to get in and there are wide, long steps that start really shallow and go about 12 feet in, so there's a good height for almost every kid to stand or sit in the water.

from his daily intake form on October 29th:

Jack had a great day. we went outside and he was touching the leaves and feeling the texture of the leaves. He also was pushing his friend Jazlyn in the wagon outside.