a last oldie and more recent news

Jack asks often to go to one of three places-"fish" (The Academy of Sciences), "zoo" or "park". sometimes "beach" but usually he wants the beach to come to us. For a while I had to explain to him that the beach won't fit anywhere but where it lives. Now he usually follows up his requests for the "beach....come!" with "no fit."

Jack has started noticing the artwork and other objects we have hanging on the wall. This required us to remove my Dia de los Muertos sculpture collection from his room. At first he thought they were just "funny man" but eventually he started to get pretty upset and wanted them to go away. We also had to take down a mask I had hanging above his door. He actually started bursting out crying a couple times when he would go look in the hallway. It took us a while to figure out what was bothering him so much, and once we did we showed him the back side of the mask and explained it was just wood, which consoled him until we turned it around and showed him the painted side again. Now we have a picture hanging there of him smiling that his Cousin Annie took. On a happier note, Jack likes the picture we have of the kid in an urban projects area doing a vertical flip on an abandoned mattress and he also likes pictures of his friends and family. It took him a while to understand why we hung his drawings up around the house and he wanted to take them down because they are his, but eventually he got that we all like to look at them because they are such nice drawings. So a couple days ago he finished drawing a picture and asked for tape to put it on the wall.

The cow skull in the kitchen doesn't bother him, he thinks it's a sheep and since he likes dogs so much he was happy to hear that the skull in the bathroom is a dog.

The poster of Obama above the kitchen table is still cause for much discussion. He also recognizes one of my paintings in our bedroom as "Mama" (made it).

Daily Record: December 16, 2009

Jack Jack had a lot of fun with his friend Tycco after nap. They chased each other, sang/talked in their special language together and were very happy. :)

old pics of Jack

Hi Everybody

I know it's been forever, but I promise that once this thesis business is over I will get back to my regular postings.

I was waiting in the holiday line at the post office today and found it a good time to move pictures off my cellphone, which I try to do periodically, because I forgot to bring something to read.

So here's some oldies but goodies of Jack from probably the past year or so. I mean, he's not even two years old and he can walk in all these pictures, so they must be from the past year or so, right?

Daily Record: December 14, 2009

Before snack time, teacher asked friends to put away 2 blocks before washing hands. Jack was eager to help and after putting 2 away, asked "more?" and helped put the rest away. :)

Daily Record: December 11, 2009

Jack played with his friend Olu in the nap room today. They stacked blocks in the riser and were pretending it was a garbage truck. Jack would pat the blocks & make a vacuum sound. He said "I clean." Then he'd tell me "again" and would put the blocks back inside the riser. :)

Daily Record: December 9, 2009

Jack enjoyed the stroller walk this morning. :)
He pointed at flowers and naming the color of different colors. :)
*Jack took a really long nap today*

Daily Record: December 7, 2009

Jack was so eager to show his love for his friends this morning! He went around to each one and gave them big hugs. All his friends hugged him back at least one more time.

Daily Record: December 4, 2009

Jack was in a good, happy mood today.
He was excited to play with his friends Tycco and Solomon. He also ate very well and told Teacher Alejandra she was "silly." :) He loved singing "Itsy Bitsy" and coloring.

Daily Record: December 2, 2009

Jack was sensitive today but enjoyed singing and dancing with friends, cuddling with teachers and giving and receiving soft touches and kisses from friends. :)
He love the "Happy and you know it" song making animal noises!

Daily Record: November 30, 2009

Jack had a good time playing with the leaves outside this morning. He used a small broom and dust pan to sweep up the leaves & put them in the garbage. He also liked throwing the leaves up in the air. He did this for almost 30 minutes.

Daily Record: November 20, 2009

Jack had a fun time playing "pat-a-cake" this morning with Teacher Emily. He sang "pat-a-cake" and "pat-a-pie" for all his friends. He played "pat-a-cake" for about 15 minutes and laughed whenever he "rolled" his hands in the song.
*Jack kept telling us he have a poop, but no poop. Maybe stomach ache? He was very sensitive today.

Daily Record: November 18, 2009

The fire alarm scared Jack at school today.

Jack Jack enjoyed playing with farm animals and the farm this morning. He placed the animals in the farm and made noises of different animals.

Daily Record: November 16, 2009

Jack was extremely active and playful this morning. He enjoyed jumping and climbing in the nap room. :)

Daily Record: November 13, 2009

Jack really liked the orange and white ping-pong balls. He enjoyed putting the balls in the tube.

Jack needs to know

Jack wants to know why we can't take the gorillas home from the zoo with us. He'd also like to know why I can't make him macaroni and cheese while I'm driving the car and why he can't have that plane he sees up in the sky.

One of the toughest parts about being a parent is not being able to give your kid everything they want. And I'm not talking about trust funds or sugar for breakfast here.

daily record: November 9, 2009

Jack enjoyed quiet time with Teacher Alejandra after nap time by reading, rocking, singing and talking about Mama.

for the love of macaroni and cheese

Today I drove Jack to the dentist and asked him what he liked to eat at daycare. I made the mistake of mentioning macaroni and cheese and subsequently spent the rest of the drive explaining why I am unable to cook macaroni and cheese in the car.

Fireman Jack

Daily record: November 6, 2009

Jack was a bit sensitive after he woke up from nap. He cried and wanted to be held. He was able to regroup after snack. :)

Bringing you up to date

It's a really good thing I have these daily intake reports to help "remind" me to post to Jack's blog. There are new developments every couple of days and these developments keep me busy and away from the computer.

Jack had a doctor's appointment last week. He's pretty freaked out by the doctor because of his bad experience getting blood drawn that one time. He doesn't even want to take his clothes off for the doctor, and when Jack doesn't want to take off his clothes, you know something is really wrong.

But we made it through with a lot of tears. Jack weighed in at 22 pounds, 11 oz.

and stands 32 1/2" tall. He had to get a barrage of shots-five in all, some required for daycare and a couple of flu shots. It's heartbreaking to hear him crying, "ALL DONE! ALL DONE!" and knowing he still has three left to go.

Jack went to daycare after his doctor's appointment.

from his Daily Record October 23, 2009:

After nap Jack was telling me about his visit to the doctor. When asked if he had 5 shots Jack responded and said "10!" (I'm sure it seemed like it to him). We also talked about lunch. Jack told me he had "pasta, cheese, and peas". :)

October 26, 2009:

Jack took a really long nap this afternoon (almost 3 hours!) He enjoyed blowing bubbles with his friends. This morning I guess he remembered playing with bubbles Tuesday morning and while washing his hands for snack Jack kept saying "blow bubbles" with blowing motion.

October 28, 2009

Jack Jack was extremely sensitive throughout the day. :( He refused snack, but I can tell he is very hungry. During PM snack I even offered him food from his lunch. He was crying for 10-15 minutes at a time until he was able to calm down.

I stopped nursing Jack about a week before this. I think it was really rough on him. Also, I think he was confused because Grandma was here and doing more of the picking up and dropping off from daycare so I could work on my thesis. He had a blast with Grandma, but I think it's a little hard on him not to spend the regular amount of time with Mama. Maybe I'm just projecting, who knows. But nothing besides the nursing and Grandma's visit/Mama working more was different in his life. He still asks to nurse on occasion but is nappy cuddling in Papa or Mama's arms and touching the skin on my arms or my neck.

He has this really funny way of saying mama. It comes out like "Mamum" and grapes are "beeps".

October 30, 2009

Jack was extremely happy to see Lily, our observer. :) He brought a book over and asked her to read to him. They read the Polar Bear Polar Bear book three times. Jack was making noises of different animals. :)

On Halloween Jack dressed up as a fireman, with much help from Grandma. (I'll post pictures as soon as I get them downloaded. I was having some computer issues.) He was a little wary of people and didn't really get how/why to say "Trick or Treat" but he LOVED shaking the candy in his pumpkin bucket and wearing his fire costume. He got very excited when he saw the other kids in costume, especially a couple of other kids dressed as firemen. He was being all shy when we'd go to someone's door and they'd put candy in his bucket but then he would run down the street yelling "YAY!"

I have not had so much fun on Halloween since I don't even know when, maybe like the first year I got to go to State Street as an adult? It was awesome.

November 2, 2009

Jack Jack was extremely excited to see that we had water play set-up this morning. :) He really liked the small tub filled with water because he was allowed to sit in them. :)

Every Wednesday morning we go outside at about 6:15 am to watch the garbage man, Paul, pick up the trash. We watch Paul collect all the trash on our block. Then we go inside and Jack usually talks about it until we get to daycare. He seems to be especially interested in the cans lifting up and the buttons that Paul pushes, although he finds plenty to comment on about the garbage and recycling cans themselves.

Last week Paul was on vacation (I didn't know) and we waited and waited for him to come, but I think his sub took a different route because he never came while we waited. I would like to point out that this was on 28th, the same day that Jack was very emotional all day at daycare. Coincidence? I don't think so. Anyway, the following week Paul brought Jack his OWN GARBAGE MAN CAP! Jack wore it very proudly to school and chose it to wear to Sports class this morning.

November 4, 2009

Jack Jack had fun playing in the yard this morning. He enjoyed pushing his infant friend from Room 1 in the push cart. He was also telling everyone about his special hat and friend "Paul".

Recent Daily Records

October 14, 2009

Jack had a wonderful time watching the men cut down the fallen tree! He sat on his bike watching almost the entire time. He made the noises the men's machines did and moved his arms how they did.

October 16, 2009

Jack had a lot of fun with Tycco today before nap time. They played with the large pillows and cuddled with teacher Alejandra. :)

October 19, 2009

Jack enjoyed painting in the yard this morning. We set out finger paint with cars and Jack used the wheels from the cars to make marks on the paper. :)

the renaissance man

The last two pictures are old ones, still pulling pictures off my phone, the first one is more recent.
Jack loves to draw with pens and pencils especially when he's watching his "Wheels on the Bus" video. He also talks a lot and Sean and I are constantly suprised by the two or three word sentences he comes up with.

Something old, something old

I found a stack of Daily intakes, some dating back to May! I'm not entirely sure how this happened so I'm going to go and try to insert them in chronological order in the blog rather than putting them all here. If you feel like searching the blog for them, the dates are:

May 3, 2009

May 18, 2009

May 20, 2009

May 22, 2009

July 17, 2009

July 20, 2009

Sept 4, 2009 (there's been an incident)

September 2, 2009

September 4, 2009

September 9, 2009

October 7, 2009

sorry about that beloved readers.

Daily Intake October 12, 2009

Jack noticed on the playground that Julia wanted to play with his toy and he shared the toy with her and they spent the time playing together.

(after breaking up multiple fights over toys, a comment like this really lets a parent exhale and say, "it's all going to be okay)

October 19, 2009

Jack requested for flubber after snack. :) He cut the flubber into small pieces and then made flubber into different shapes. When Jack picked up the foot shape cutter he looked at me and said, "feet!" :)

"I want...fast!"

Toddlers have their method for how they like to do things and they like to have it the same way each time. We have a ton of these little rituals, and some I probably don't even realize. In this one, Jack says, "I want...fast! (I want to run fast!) Then I count to three and say "GO!" Generally we run together. It's the best.

Today

Today Sean and Jack and I were leaving the house together. Jack pointed to each of us and said, "Mama. Papa. Jack. Go outside."

Later I met Sean and Jack on the stairs when we all arrived home at the same time. I asked Jack what he saw when he was out with Papa. "Splash! Fish!" he said. (they were at the aquarium).

Daily Intake Report

October 7, 2009

Jack brought a chair over to the keyboard which was on a riser so he could play music before naptime! His friends gathered around him for a performance. :)

October 9, 2009

Today we celebrated Solomon's birthday during snack. Jack was excited when we lit up the banana bread cake (castle shaped). We all sat and sang Happy Birthday to Solomon. :)

old pics, new updates

The top picture was taken in Mildred's kitchen last April when I visited over my spring break. The bottom one was taken through a hole in a tunnel at the playground. I had that one as my cellphone wallpaper for months. It cracks me up.

Daily Record October 5, 2009:

Jack did some painting this morning. We tried tempera paint with glue and collage material. Jack started painting on the piee of paper and then all over his arms and face. :)

(At home, Jack often starts drawing on the walls as well as his hands and arms when I give him pens to draw with on paper.)

Window talk with Papa

Jack really likes looking out the window, watching the birds and the people in their backyards. He likes to hear dogs barking ("dog!") and sirens ("what's that?") and ask about the trash man and his truck ("trash?" "trash!")

a regular old day heading to the park

Jack and traffic cones

these are older pictures from my cellphone, but it reminds of today when we were going to swimming class-the Presidential Cup is going on and there were traffic cones lining an entire section of Sloat Blvd. Jack nearly went beserk.

from the old to the more recent

I decided yesterday it made more sense to start with the older pictures of Jack on my cellphone and move towards the more recent.

We were walking up 20th Avenue and Jack started watching these people in the acupuncture store having their meeting. He stood there for what seemed like about 10 minutes, it could have been more. I think it will be great to look at this picture as a San Francisco time capsule when Jack is around 30 years old. This is where we lived, it sums up a lot about the Sunset if you know where to look.

Today Jack said, "money" while we were talking about having to pay for the banana at the store before we ate it.

Room 2 Documenation Form by Alejandra

Jack found a pair of high heels and put them on. He walked to Teacher Alejandra and then to his friend Anna. At first he held onto things (chair, wall, etc.) for balance, but soon he let go and started walking fast!
shows social, cognitive, physical development

September into October

Jack is spouting new words almost daily now.

When he wants to run he says "fast!" He tells me he wants to nurse. He calls Brendan and Barb by name.

A couple of days ago we were out in the courtyard and I let him play with a key a tenant handed back to me. I got distracted as a couple of other people walked through and Jack lost the key (normally I notice when he loses interest in things). We looked around for a while and as we went back into the house, Jack waved at the garden and said "bye bye key"

Hilarious.

Jack is very smitten with "Ring around the rosey". We usually play it with Fiona and Boyd after swimming class, but last night Jack and I played it in his room and he loved it. I was reading Little Blue and Little Yellow to him and when it mentioned the game in the book he showed me how you hold hands to play it. So we stood up and played it and then finished the book.

Speaking of books, Jack has a book called "I Can't" Said the Ant which is a rhyming book about an ant that helps a teapot who fell off the counter and Jack utterly breaks down in sobs when we read it. I made it through once, but only because I took Jack to our own cupboard and showed him that our teapot was okay. He quieted down but seemed a little uneasy about the whole business.

Jack has been having problems sleeping again. Fortunately he sleeps easily and soundly at school most of the time. All they do is put him down on his stomach with his blanket over him and lay a hand on his back for a little while. I feel like they must have Jack confused with someone else. Clearly this is just a reflection of what he's grown accustomed to at home. I just keep trying to get him on track as much as I have the energy for and try not to beat myself up over it.

I also feel it necessary to tell our Young Simon audience that all these smiley faces in his Records are the teachers, not mine.

From Daily Records:

I just found September 11, 2009 in a pile of stuff on my desk, sigh...I used to be so organized.

Jack enjoyed playing in the sandbox and did a little coloring when he was playing outside. I tried napping Jack for ...(can't read) 1 hour but was not successful.

September 30, 2009

Jack was really interested in a baby from Room 1 this morning. He sat next to the baby and gave the baby gentle touches :). He also showed the baby a book he was reading.

October 2, 2009

Jack and his friends went on a stroller walk this morning. :) He asked to get off the stroller and walk. He walked the whole way up campus and back. :) We ran, jump, and palyed our own version of red light/green light. :)

One more from the zoo

more pictures from the cell phone evacuation

Today Jack pointed up and said "sun!"

The top picture was taken with a regular digital camera at my friend Brendan's going away party last Sunday. That's Brendan's dad Jack is talking to.

As always, Jack is crazy for sprinklers.

The picture with the spider legs was taken at the zoo, Jack didn't want to stand up and make it look like the legs were actually on him.

I think I might have posted the one of him on his bike before, but that's okay.

Tycco is back!

So turns out Fiona is getting a little too wild for Room 2. I will try with all my might to find a picture of Fiona for you, and then you will laugh as hard as I am while I write that. She's been in Room 2 a long time and getting "a little too comfortable". So they moved her over to room 6 I think which left a slot open on M-W-F for Tycco to come back! The best part is that Jack still gets lots of hugs from Fiona when we see her at swimming on Tuesdays.

If you have never been fortunate enough to watch pure toddler friendship, I tell you it is a beautiful thing. And by the way, Tycco has a new little baby sister, name still undecided, although Tycco's older brother, Rocco, is voting for Lucca. We'll see...all are healthy and happy.

from Daily Record Sept. 25, 2009:

Jack was extremely excited when he saw Tycco after nap! :) They went outside and sat down for reading time :) Jack also did time drawing with crayons and chalk when he was playing outside.

from Daily Record Sept. 28, 2009:

Jack enjoyed jumping in the nap room this morning with his friends Tycco and Soloman. He clapped as I say "Go-Go Jack Go-Go!" :)

Late last summer at the park and daily intake

And also some recent daily records from daycare:

September 18, 2009

Went for a walk on campus :) Had a blast. (Jack loves riding in the Kinderwagon and holding hands with the kid sitting next to him)

September 21, 2009

Jack put on his back-pack this morning and asked for us to put toys and books in his back-pack. When the back-pack got too heavy, he sat down and listened to story with teacher Stephanie to take a rest.

September 22 (After swimming class in the morning, Jack got to spend a half day at daycare while mama helped daycare collect surveys for NAYEC certification. Bonus: Tycco was there! Jack's teacher Helen told me they "giggled all afternoon")

Jack was extremely excited to see Tycco this afternoon. They were both so silly, hiding under the blanket and playing peek-a-boo.

September 23, 2009

Jack really like the farm house donated by a friend to our classroom. The farm house makes animal noises and Jack like to put the farm animals in the house. He even added little people in the farm house.

Jack and Cameron last summer

Still pulling pictures from my cellphone. These from last summer daycare with Cameron, one of his two very best buddies.

more words, more cell phone pictures

I took this picture on my cell phone on Wednesday morning while we were waiting for the bus.

Wednesday when I picked up Jack from daycare he pointed to his friend next to him and yelled "ANNA!", which actually comes out like "NANA!" So now when he says "Nana" we have to figure out whether he's talking about Nana (Cath), nana (banana), Nnenna (teacher/friend), or Anna. It takes constant attention, let me tell you.

He also pointed to the button his sweater and said "button" which I had no idea he knew.

Tonight he was playing with some plastic hangers and he held up a pink one and said, "Pink!" and a blue one and said "blue!". He didn't know any of the other colors but he seemed very intrigued by the word "yellow" and tried to say it a couple of times.

Last week when I started taking him to swimming lessons again he didn't even have his clothes off (let alone his swimming suit on) when he went running toward the pool door saying "pool! pool!" Now he says "pool...?" every morning and I have to explain to him that we aren't going to the pool today, and try to make what we are doing sound really exciting.

Jack has this way of kind of mumbling "ohhhhh" when he's trying to say "I want a...". The other day he kept saying what sounded exactly like "ohhhhh f--k" but after asking him to repeat it and point with his finger, we were relieved to realize he was asking for a fork.

Jack continues to be preoccupied by the sound of trains, emergency vehicle sirens and trucks, ESPECIALLY the recycling/garbage truck. He says "train", "trash" and "truck" about 900 times per day. Yesterday we spent a long time watching the garbage truck hoist the cans up on a lift and dump the trash into the truck. Jack gave me a very animated, very thorough explanation of everything he saw with elaborate hand gestures and sound effects. This morning he heard the garbage truck outside at 6:30 am and was really frustrated that I wouldn't take him outside to see it.

hot day in the park

so we put on the cow onesie and left it at that

Mission

Jack and I went down to a Street Art Festival in the Mission last month, Jack investigated every nook and cranny on our walk back to the bus stop.

Jack and Sparrow

For a little while Sparrow was going to swimming with us, but then they moved out of the neighborhood and it would take hours for them to get to the pool. Jack always laughs and gets really goofy around Sparrow.

Miscellaneous

1. I took Jack to the doctor in a borrowed car. He hates sitting in his car seat now but enjoyed watching me squeegee the windows so I gave him the squeegee I found in the backseat. Dr. Garzona was utterly confused, "why does he have that?" But Jack was very happy to carry it around with him. He loves that ball on wire toy they have at the doctor's office too.

2. Have I mentioned that Jack loves stopping at all the sprinklers in the park and playing with how they work? Then he waves bye-bye to them.

3. I don't know why I took this picture of him on the playground, I think he was having more fun than he looks like in this picture, "what-evs"

4. when I put the pictures into iPhoto, this one of Jack and the street stencil of the fist came up right next to each other. Completely by accident but hey, "all power to the people"

Jack and Nnenna

Walked in to pick up Jack at daycare----

Speaking of which:

Daily Record September 14, 2009

Jack and his friends enjoyed playing with the musical instruments I brought out this morning. I was playing Happy Birthday on the piano as Jack shook the bells. :)

Daily Record September 16, 2009

Jack made dinner with his friends today! They were in the sandbox kitchen making pasta. His friends poured sand in front of Jack and he would stir it!

Papas birthday, Ocean Beach August 5, 2009

cleaning out the cellphone pics

I was talking to my boss at work today who has a nephew just about Jack's age. She was saying that her nephew walks around saying "what's that?" all the time and we laughed because Jack does too. Once again I am reminded that the growth in these first couple of years is astounding in all kids. As a parent you're shocked at the leaps they make each day. Honestly, I cannot keep up recording the new things Jack does each day. New words, new requests, new tricks.

Jack is very excited about people peeing in the potty. He is concerned when he hears babies crying. Emergency sirens make him stop what he's doing and say "What's THAT?!" He points to everyone around him on the bus and says "Who's that?" He knows that he's not supposed to go in the road because that's where the cars go "vroom!" and he needs to stay in his seat on the bus because the bus jerks back and forth and he could fall down (although he still wants to stand up anyway). He says "sing" and "train" and is fascinated by large moving vehicles. He likes to put my tea bag in my tea cup for me in the morning.

Anyway, I'm cleaning out my cellphone pics because our contract is up in November and the #1 key on my phone is starting to give out so there's a good chance I'll be getting a new phone. I don't want to wait to upload all the pictures then, so I'm doing it as I walk around during the day.

These first three are from waiting for the train. Jack carried his backpack with him the entire day except for a little while when we played on the playground.