Love That Dog

Jack loves Gracie. Gracie tolerates Jack. But she's warmed up to him more since the baby arrived. Maybe she thinks he is the lesser of two evils! After all, that baby doesn't share her food!

Thanks Given

We had so many reasons to be thankful this year. So the four of us piled around the table for the first time to recognize our blessings and share a feast. Let us say that more than one eye glistened with tears of joy over that moment. What a year!

After dinner we all changed into our jammies and piled onto the couch to cuddle and watch movies. It doesn't get much better than this! One love in each arm and another one behind the camera. We introduced Jack to his new favorite movie, Christmas Vacation. He has requested it twice sice last night!

Today we continued family traditions with Rob and Jack decking the house with lights, snowmen, reindeer, Snoopy and more! We might end up being the Griswold's this year, but Jack is loving it! We are looking forward to strolling the neighborhood tonight to see the first homes lit up for the holidays. We're going to bundle up after dinner, leftovers of course, and wander around the block. It is the most wonderful time of the year!

Aunties in the House

We had a wonderful visit today from Aunt Terry, Aunt Brenda and cousins Kelsie and Melissa. It was so great to get support from a couple of professional moms! And Jack is in love with his new found cousins! (Or shall I say Spiderman loves his cousins!) We chatted for hours, making up for lost time! Thank you Ladies for making time for the visit. Can't wait to see you all soon!

Shrek

Scenario: Jack, Rob and Shannon cuddling up on the couch on a Friday night. Fireplace blazing and Shrek on the TV.

Jack says, "She looks like Mommy." while gesturing to Princess Fiona on the screen.
Mommy says thank you without looking up at the screen.
Rob, laughing uncontrollably.
Huh?
It was the scene where Princess Fiona turns into a fat green ogre after the sun sets. Mommy is NOT amused and NOT flattered.

Daddy got his a little later when Jack commented that Princess Fiona (now in human form) looked like Mommy and Shrek was like Daddy. Note: Shrek doesn't have a human form in this movie. Hee Hee!

Lego Session

Today Jack and I had a Lego session for the record books. He built flying cars (complete with Pa as the pilot), superheores and bad guys. In this photo he is posing with one of his superheroes. I know it looks like a tower, but honest, it was his superhero. He has been really coming up with some funny comments lately too. When I asked him yesterday why he was crying like a baby, he replied, "Me no cry like baby, me cry like big boy!" He followed that up with, "Big boys need cry too!"



His new favorite pajamas are Superman. They have a small cape on back and he flies around the house in them. Tonight after dinner he posed in his jammies to show us what a good Superman he was.







The best moment came seconds later when he pulled down his pants to check out what was under the jammies. When asked, "What are you doing?" his response was, "Me look for my super powers. Where are they?" Folks, I can't make this stuff up!

Highlights

Some highlights of the last few days. She is pretty feisty. As you can see from this photo, she looks like she's trying out for a wrestling video. Can decide on her stage name, but we'll keep you posted :-)

Cuddling with Daddy at the end of the day. The days (and nights) are long, but great. Rob is back to work. Lauren is sleeping in her crib and doing pretty well at night. She is cuter by the day.

Weekend in Review

A photo is worth a thousand words. Needless to say, Jack had a lot of fun at Grandma and Pa's.




Cousins having fun together viewing all the fish at the aquarium.








Visiting the lorakeets at Long Beach Aquarium with cousin Max.








These cousins LOVE each other. They couldn't even get through lunch without stopping several times for hugs!


Jack built log cabins with Pa and they also played tug-o-war with Abbi. Pa sipped scotch, Jack had apple juice.








Auntie Kelsey got some good cuddles with her niece.

Long Beach

A quick trip to Long Beach was on the schedule for us yesterday. We stopped by the restaurant with Lauren to meet Grandpa Phil, Uncle Phil and Zia. Nikki and Max met us there too. Dad was nervous about holding such a tiny baby, but he had 4 kids of his own and we all survived, so I knew he'd handle it perfectly! It's true though, Lauren is much smaller than a tuna! Max loved patting and kissing his new cousin, he practiced his gentle touch on her and kissed her about 15 times in 30 minutes. He's already watching over his little cousin.

Rob, Lauren and I came home last night, but Jack stayed with Grandma and Pa for a slumber party. He got to visit the Long Beach Aquarium today with Nikki, Max and Grandma. He always has a great time down there. And we got to sleep in a little bit at home without our 6 AM Jack wake up call. Granted, we did have our midnight and 5AM Lauren wake up calls, but the few extra hours definately helped. We also had a little more room in bed last night as Lauren slept in her crib for the first time. It's nice to stretch out without a basket in the middle of our leg room. And Gracie liked getting her spot back in our bed, at least for part of the night. I think she got used to the couch over the last two weeks and probably the quiet too, without her snoring parents! Today was a lazy day, with movies on TV and grazing through our meals. We are looking forward to Jack coming home tomorrow and still one more day in our 4-day weekend.

2 Weeks

By two weeks old, babies should have gained enough weight to be back at their birth weight. When we took Lauren at 11 days old she was already at 6 lb., 11 oz. That girl can really eat! She is still mostly eating and sleeping, but has more and more alert time everyday. She checks us all out very intently. She has also started grabbing hold of us with both hands. She will grab my finger, shirt, anything while she eats as if to keep me close. Trust me, I'm not pulling away while she has me in a death grip with her jaws of steel! Yikes! She is feisty and already lets us know what she thinks. While Jack made sweet little squeaks and coos, Lauren grunts and grumbles instead. She is definately going to keep us on our toes! Jack has really taken to his new role as big brother. If she cries he rushes to her side to pat her and say, "It's OK Baby." He gives her gentle kisses on her forehead and brings her a pacifier for comfort. He is even enjoying some of his old baby toys with her. I can't say he's 100% on board with the new baby thing, but he is doing remarkably well.

As an aside, Iam so glad pink is my favorite color, otherwise I'd be in trouble! From adorable little pink outfits, to soft blankets, and even a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from Auntie Nikki and Uncle Troy. I can definately feel the feminine vibe invading our home...and I LIKE it!!

Happy Halloween

You'll never guess what Jack wanted to dress up as for Halloween...Spiderman! Can you believe it? HA! He matched the decal on the wall of his bedroom. He loved the built in muscles on his costume. I loved the fact that he was happy despite the fact that I didn't hand make his costume this year. With everything going on, his SuperJack costume sat in a heap of fabric near the sewing machine forever. Well, he was perfectly content and now I have everything I need for next year's costume all ready to go.

Rob took him trick-or-treating with Grandma Laura and Pa. Grandma dressed up as a witch while Daddy dressed up as the father of a newborn child. Everyone found his dark under eye circles and shuffling gate to by quite authentic...wonder why?

Lauren and I made it to two houses before we returned home to pass out candy. She was the cutest little fluffy pink teddy bear I've ever seen.

Jack had a great time. He saw several other superheroes and was thrilled to see so many good guys on our block. After getting candy from about 10 homes he came back to our house and got right into the swing of passing out candy to the other trick-or-treaters. He opened the door, gave them each one piece and wished them a happy Halloween. When one Mom urged her little one to say Thank you, Jack said it for him! Too cute. He had a great time and didn't understand that it is over until next year.

At the end of the evening Grandma and Pa left. After a full week of slumber parties with Grandma Laura, Jack didn't want her to leave with out him. He insisted on getting in the car with her. After we explained that he had to stay with us because Grandma had to go back to work, he finally agreed. Then he changed his tune, "OK, you take baby Lauren?" Hmmmm...I think this new baby thing might take a little while to get used to!