All about JACK

After a 4.5 mile family run!!! (So, exciting Papa is running with Mama!) We headed over to the Lake Union annual Boat Festival to show Arlin some pirate ships…he thought they were really cool, but didn’t quite understand why he couldn’t play the role of the”Captain” himself.

It was a first for both Arlin and Papa to see a handful of different boats at the festival (being a California kid, I forget that a lot of people don’t easily have the opportunity to see these types of boats)

the weather was gorgeous and with the sun out till almost 10pm days are FULL!

Dinner at Circa, a local pub by the house after the festival…Arlin says…”You talkin’ to me?” (wearing Mama’s glasses)

instead of a weekend get away to Gearhart which we thought would have been really nice-we opt’ed to stay home for the holiday weekend and save the money instead. However, we made a small splurge and treated ourselves to a barbecue grill for the balcony (nothing too fancy) and Chad made us our yummy jalapeno burgers…along with the barbecue, Arlin scored this new t-ball set. The boys have had some real  fun with it….

of course Arlin had to pause and adjust his baseball cap every three seconds…it must be backwards! Don’t know who could have shown him this fashion sense? (papa!):)

looking for the ball. He actually whacked one outta their “playing field”

**This weekend also marked the Captain’s graduation from his baby crib to his “big boy” bed. I know, a little late, but finally the piece to convert his crib was discovered in the garage from the move…We made a big deal out of it, got out a special “pirate” themed blanket Mimi made hung his pirate flag up on his door.

First night:

EPIC fail.

These are pictures of us sneaking in to capture the mischievous behavior. There were lots of noises coming from his bedroom! He managed to pull all the blankets and stuffed animals out of trundle drawer below his bed.

Getting the business from Papa. See the snow mittens on the bed?! I’m telling you he had everything pulled out! (I’ve since gotten smarter and put all these things up in his closet where he can’t reach them:))

Ugh, the first night was a looooong one. At about 2am the Captain awoke, seemed he was a little lost sailing his ship…crying for Mama…he ended up sleeping in our bed-keeping everyone awake with his paranoia of the smoke detector light on the ceiling?!

Arlin:” ’twas dat Mama? Do you see somp-thin’??! Look at dat Mama!”

Mama & Papa: “GO TO BED ARLIN JACK!!!”

Second night- we brainstormed a plan to out smart the Captain’s new found freedom and we put up a doggie gate in his door way and “kid proofed” his room the best we could. It worked, I think he figured if he can’t bug us, he might as well sleep in his bed…

He did wake up with a pile of books in his bed…Can’t be upset about that!

Hope everyone had a fun fourth of July!

We joined a new gym…(I’ll write about it on my blog) the place is amazing! I took Arlin to an AquaTot class for kiddies ages 6 months to 3.5 yrs old, Saturday morning. I figure living with water everywhere around us and a fearless boy on our hands we better be safe and get him acclimated to the water with some lessons, maybe instill a little fear in him (just a little)

waiting for the instructor, Arlin was excited about his new swim shirt we picked up on the way to the gym and he was ever so anxious to get in the water.

he wasn’t quite sure about jumping in without already having a (death grip) hold of my arms…

The instructor helped me with floating Arlin on both his tummy, his back, kicking, blowing bubbles like a motor boat/face half in, counting to three and dunking under water (yah, he did not like this) even after I asked him over and over if he wanted to go underwater where Nemo and Dori go, and he said “yes! yes! Yes!….he came up horrified with the how could you Mama! look on his face- not exactly a happy camper with that part of the lesson…but give him the kick board and he’s good to go again.

hand on kick board…he thought it was the coolest thing ever.

teaching him to reach…and trust Mama with floating him on his belly.

back to the kick board…he would have stayed in forever, even though he was cold and had a lower lip jitter going on, forget the other exercises and songs- Arlin wanted no part of the group or other babies….just the kick board (oh, and Mama too)

this little guy next to Arlin is 3yrs. old. I don’t know how many times I got asked how old Arlin was, followed by “Oh…is he big?”

Actually according to his patient chart I ordered from his pediatrician’s office back in Denver says his not “big”…he’s right on track with the average percentile.

He’s just Italian and LOVES food just like his Papa! Arlin has been so adventurous with eating lately- it’s actually fun to take him out- he’ll eat whatever we do- the other day he devoured shrimp pad thai with me! It was kinda spicy too!

P.S. Arlin asks to go to the water every morning now…I think he’s gonna be a fish just like his Mama and his big sister Stella- who we can’t wait to see in a couple weeks!

Walking around in Papa’s tennis shoes…roaring like a dinosaur (of course)

We’ve committed to potty training and there’s no turning back. I’m so proud of Arlin Jack! This entire past school week he’s been wearing his big boy underwear at home and the only time he’s worn a diaper is to sleep at night and to get to and from school.

We’ve only had a couple of accidents with timing and or distractions while trying to get to the potty, but he knows when has to go and he’s great about getting Mama or Papa or Sissy to help him…:)

on Halloween afternoon we (Stella, Mama & Papa) all helped convert Arlin Jack’s crib into a “BIG Boy” bed.

Wow! The freedom he has…

this is what happened during his first nap time in his new bed…

You could say I’m feeling a little nervous about this milestone we’re trying to embrace. I think he’s ready? But I’m not exactly sleeping well myself…every noise I hear in the middle of the night I think it’s the Captain causing trouble somewhere. I’m thinking as bad as it  might sound we need some type of locking device to put on the outside of his door, we tried a little eyelet screw and a rope tie…first morning he wiggled his little paws through the door jam and untied it!!! He’s pretty crafty like that.

P.S. I forgot to announce October 11th Arlin Jack gave all his pacifier’s to the “PuN-kin” as he calls it…that’s right, the pumpkin ate all his passie’s in trade of a cookie. And that was that, we never looked back!

I am SO proud right now and so is Papa …tonight Arlin Jack met a huge milestone.

He went “poo-poo” on the potty!!! Yep, he sure did.

I was helping him get undressed for bath time and he told me he had to go poo-poo. I took his diaper off and he walked right over to his potty and sat down…he started saying poo-poo over and over again, I surely thought we were just going through the motions like we do everyday and nothing happens… but today was the big day!

For anyone that doesn’t have kids, it’s o.k. you can say geez…thanks for sharing. But for those with kiddies, you know… this is huge! My guy’s only 22 months old…and we’re headed towards being potty trained! Wooo Hooo!!!

Chad and I were so excited we did a poo-poo dance (oh to be a fly on the wall in our house!) and we gave him a cookie, he looked at us like we were crazy but he liked the idea of getting a treat, I just hope he remembers tomorrow…

getting ready to leave for the first day of school…

got his new (pee pee-heheh) Crocs on (or Target’s version of em’)

Literally this is the first minute he was in the classroom…he walked right over to the table and picked up a glass of water and started drinking it. I was still standing with his coat in my hand and well…my jaw on the floor.

2 seconds later…

he’s well on his way into mischief…

the sweeper?!

I quietly made an exit here. Arlin didn’t even notice I was leaving- or should I say he could careless I was leaving!

I snuck up on Arlin after school to pick him up. He was glued to the fence of the play yard watching two skateboarders cruise up and down the street.

Yep…the Captain! Eating rocks and who knows what else when I picked him up.  We came home right after I picked him up, he was totally wiped out from missing his morning nap time. I went to take his coat off and a bunch of white rice spilled out onto the floor?! Must have been some exercise they did in class??!! It was challenging just to get through lunch- his head was bobbing…I’ve never seen him that tired. He immediately went down for almost a 2 hour nap after lunch…I waited patiently for him to wake up- I wanted to play! It felt so strange not having him with me all morning. Milestones…wow do they make me feel grown up.

Papa was busy watching Sunday football. Stella and Mama were making Christmas cookies. And Arlin was mad nobody was playing with him!

These are pictures of him yelling his new word…

“Ella!”

Captain Jack can’t quite say Stella yet, but he sure has figured out “Ella!”

It was awesome to hear it this past weekend- & I think Stella was super proud he could say her name, after all he only says about four words right now…mama, papa, dog, kitty….and now ella!

Seems like the Captain’s vocabulary has doubled this past week. We’re growing new teeth (molars) saying new words- and climbing all over the house!

My baby’s growing up so fast! I wish there was a slow motion button sometimes.

I can’t help but look at these pictures and think that my baby is turning into a little boy! He can totally sit up on his own, he is rolling over both ways and even beginning to get his knees up underneath him every once in awhile. Captain Jack’s diet is expanding we’ve tried apples, bananas, pears, winter squash,butter nut squash, carrots and peas and we like em’ all! Arlin is definitely teething he thinks everything is a chew toy and the slobber seems like it comes in bucket loads…but he is the cutest thing ever!

Today Arlin graduated to his Big Boy seat for his stroller. It sits him way more upright than his car seat does. We faced him outwards so he could check everything out when we went for a walk to Broadway Street to our friend Alex’s restaurant. Arlin was enamored by all the sights. I think he liked it, he couldn’t stop smiling.

And the Bunny ear picture Papa is going to kill me for! I already got the…

“Mama, you better not post these!!!”

Oops! I forgot. It was too cute. Stella and I laughed forever playing with our little doll of a guy!

I set up another hammy-down toy from one of Chad’s friends tonight after we got home from furniture shopping (we got new barstools yeah!) Arlin was having a hay-day he loved this toy the part he sits in can spin around so he can’t really get bored- I call i the sensory overload In one of these pictures he was all about grabbing the monkey.