Playgroup

The woman playing guitar in the picture is Margaret, possibly the nicest human being who ever walked the earth. Jack is fascinated by the guitar. Normally, he rushes up to her and tries to pluck at the strings, but this time he sat and watched her play and then when she put the guitar down and told him (and the other kids) they could play with it, he came over and started fiddling with it.

Jack at the doctor

Last week Jack's eyes were a little red so they were worried at daycare that he might have pink eye. He was due for a regular check up this week anyway so I brought him in. We had to wait a little while for the doctor, so Jack amused himself playing in the sink, talking to himself in the mirror and making faces through the blue clipboard...

Jack found his tongue

Now he likes to stick his tounge out, grab it, watch for my tongue to come out, grab my tongue, hold onto his tongue while fishing around in my mouth for my tongue, put his fingers in his mouth and fish around until he finds his tongue, and on and on. It's hilarious.

He also has no interest in other people feeding him anymore, which is very messy, but he sets about the task in a very serious way.

From this week's Intake:

12/1/2008:

Jack was so excited all day today! He was playing with Anna and reading books with her and Adriana. He also helped Shelby push the hammock for Jazlyn to sleep.

12/3/2008

Today Jack enjoyed turning the pages of books and looking at the different pictures.

12/5/2008

Today Jack had a great day he was very happy to see his friend Jazlyn today he wanted to give her a kiss and hug. He also enjoyed playing with Jack R. They also were rolling cars down the inner tube.

The egg trick

Thanksgiving dinner: Jack shows his rattle egg to audience right and left, makes it disappear, then miraculously makes it reappear!!!

Thanksgiving in Little Rock

Jack had a very good time meeting his cousins and playing in the leaves in Little Rock. He's had a cold for weeks now, and he was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces and new local, but the day we left the airport he fell in love with Nana and didn't want to let go. Annie and Charlie did a great job childproofing the house for Jack and pulling out toys that he could play with. But I think the leaves were his favorite thing.

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.