Send Me Back To School

I just realized in my last blog I made the title say "2 foot 7 inches" not "2 FEET 7 inches". I'm so sending Jack to private school.

2 Foot 7 Inches

Yesterday Kevin hung this really cool size chart up for Jack Jack. We measured him and he is 2 feet, 7 inches! I thought that was ginormous, but according to statistics, the average boy is 27" - 32 " at the age of one, and Jack is 31" for those of you who don't know the Standard Measurement System. It was so much fun measuring Jack. I remember growing up as a kid going to my Nana & Papa's house where my Papa would measure all of us kids in the garage. It was great because my aunts and dad had their measurements from when they were kids there, too. I also remember going to my other Grandma's house and we would love getting measured on her refrigerator. I wish she didn't have to get rid of that thing, it was so great seeing how we grew.

So, the size chart we got Jack is awesome and I recommend it to all of you mothers out there with tots who like to destroy stuff. The one I chose off amazon.com is from the book Where the Wild Things Are. I wanted a pirate one, but they were out and I'm impatient so I went for the next best thing. It's made of a thick, smooth-like cardboard. We had to use some heavy-duty screws to get it into the wall, but it's very durable. It comes with stickers and little holes to put picture of your bebe (baby) in. I absolutely love it and I hope Jack will, too, as he gets bigger. It goes up to 4'5", and with the way that tot is built, I'm sure he'll be that height before I know it.

So, I hope you enjoy these totally adorable pictures of Jack's first measurement. He may be a little monster sometimes, but he's my lil' monster and I love 'em.

The Temper Tantrum

Dear Mothers,

Remember the first time your wee-one had their first real temper tantrum? Well, Jack had his for the first time yesterday, and let me tell you, I almost sold him on eBay after that experience. Now, Jack has had little fits before, but there has always been a reason like a sore tooth or he was hungry. But yesterday, well, lets just say I had to call my own mother and threaten to send her Jack because he was such a monster!

Ok, so the first errand I had to run yesterday was going to the bank. Being that is was not only Friday, but it was right before the three-day weekend, so naturally the bank was swamped. We wait in line for 15 minutes or so, and get to the front. I start to explain to the teller that I needed to cash my check and withdraw some money. Of course, karma gave me the brand new teller just to slow things down. Oh that karma, she's a real kick in the pants sometimes. Anyway, Jack is in his stroller and starts to scream bloody murder. I lean over to give him his bottle (the cure for everything!) and he throws it, and starts to kick his legs and then flinging his arms to hit me. I was like "Oh no you did not!" so I told the teller I would need to take him outside and I would just come back in. As I turn around, EVERYONE is staring at me like, "Oh look at her. She can't control her child" so I look at all of them like, "Go ahead and stare while I go key your car."

Ok, so we go outside and he automatically stops being a monster. I rub his head for a few minutes and just make him feel good. Then we go back inside. We start to wait in line again and just as we get to the front, temper tantrum time! At that point I just walked out and put him back in the car. So, I decided to just go through the drive-thru. When I pull up, the snatch of a teller tells me I need to come inside to do the transaction and that I filled my slip out wrong. I told her that I was the mother with the screaming child who was just in there and that their teller filled out the slip so it's not my fault it was wrong. She said she would help me, "just this once". I wanted to tell her some choice words but I never mess with people who have access to my money.

Ok, so now we are off to the post office. We get inside, wait in line, which is longer the the bank line, and Jack starts another tantrum. So, I take him out of the stroller and hold him. He starts to calm down and sniffle, then puts his head on my shoulder. The entire post office goes "Awwwwww" at him. All I could do was glare and think "Any of you want him?! He's yours!" Oh he was so frustrating yesterday.

Today he seems to be much happier. Waking up at 6:30am screaming and sitting on my face. What a treat!

We are a Mac Family

Jack has this thing with Macs. He really loves them. I think since Kevin is always tinkering with technology and stuff, Jack has picked it up from him. Why, just this morning we caught Jack on the usps.com website. That little tyke!

Guess What I Found in Jack's Mouth Today...

A PENNY! YAY! I'M RICH!

Just Because...

Don't ever underestimate me and my tot.

"What's That in Your Mouth?"

So, I thought I would share with all of you a few things I have found in Jack's mouth recently. Makes me wonder what's in his stomach (cringe!).

Ok, lets see here: We have an earring, oh that's nice. Umm, that's a sim card, a plastic ring, a cap to a pen, oh and some sort of screw. Well, that's just splendid!

Thank You, Suzanne!

This past Sunday, our new friends, Suzanne, and her husband, Neil, came to America. They are good friends with my sister-in-law, Laura, who is from England like them. Suzanne and I have only talked online and have probably played countless hours of games on facebook.com together. I feel like we've been friends for years with the amount of time I've spent online with her, though! They were only in Bend for a day basically, so Jack, Kevin, and I went over to Nick & Laura's house so we could meet them in person.

Talk about two of the nicest people you will ever meet! I wish we could have spent more then 2 hours with them. They were so much fun to hang around and great with Jack. He even tried to flirt with Suzanne, but I had to remind him she was a married woman. That boy and older women, I swear!

They also bought Jack two super cute shirts. One says "Funky Little Dude" and the other one says, "The World Does Revolves Around Me." Hmmm, guess which one is my favorite! The best part about them is they have buttons next to the neck hole so I can actually get the shirt on Jack. Do you know how hard it is to find clothes that will fit over his big head? REALLY HARD.

So Suzanne (who is a loyal reader of Jack's blog, by the way!), thank you so much for Jack's fabulous presents and coming to Bend! We loved having you here and hope you can come again soon!

Oh, and I am so bummed we didn't get a picture of Jack with Neil and Suzanne, so I stole one off of her myspace page. =)

We'd Rather Be Naked

There are a lot of things that Jack and I have in common. I mean, he is with me practically 24/7 aside from the few days I work, so naturally would be a lot like me. And one of them is he would rather be naked!

This morning he woke up and I brought him into the bedroom to cuddle (our morning mommy-tot ritual). He was soaked so I took his clothes off and was going to change his diaper but the second I got the dirty one off and wiped him clean, he was off! I mean, for a 29 pound baby stuck in a 12 x 12 room, he is fast! Finally I caught him and he cried at the thought of having to put on that new diaper. Seriously, who would really want to walk around all day with one of those on? Not exactly a chick magnet. So, I made a compromise with him. During cuddle time he could go commando. He was so happy! He just laid there so relaxed and calm. He even fell back asleep.

My sweet little naked angel, I felt so bad having to force him to wear his diaper. He did pee 3 times on me without one on, which means the entire room gets to be washed down (a small price to pay for a happy baby). So, the naked baby is no more.

And, I thought I would quickly share two funny naked things that happened to me this week!

1. My sister came in my room this morning and I said, "JESS! I'm naked!" and she said, "So? You're always naked."

2. I usually wear a black tank top under my polos for work because they suck in my love handles and make me look pre-motherhood. I didn't wear one yesterday and somehow all 5 buttons to my polo came undone (well, I know how, my boobs are too big for my shirts, but if I get a bigger shirt, I won't look as hot because they won't be as form fitting). I noticed that all of my customers, which happen to be men, kept staring at me weird. Finally I had a woman customer and she told me my buttons were all undone. Not that you could see my party favors, but there was enough hanging out to be embarrassed. Welcome to Albertson's folks, where it's always a free show at check-stand 4!

Jack's Big Sister

No new updates or pictures of Jack, folks, so here's a lovely picture of Jack's big sister, Muffin.

Isn't she an angel? 

Muffin the Cat and Jack the Dog

I'm pretty sure our dog Muffin thinks she's a cat. She's full of herself, snooty, and lays around all day doing nothing.

With that said, there's a good chance Jack thinks he's a dog. He likes to play fetch, walk like a dog, and he growls sometimes. 

That's ok though, I think I'm a princess, so I guess we're all a little bit confused lately.

Stairs... Now We Just Built a Word, We Built It, We Built It!

First off, if you haven't seen World Word yet, you need to turn on your local PBS station and get on that.

Secondly, have you ever "misplaced" your baby only to find him at the top of the stairs? This is the latest phenomenon here at the Reese/Barnum residence. Which is also why we have a brand new baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.

The other night, Kevin was teaching Jack how to climb the stairs. He's always trying to get Jack to do wild boy things with him, and although I objected to him teaching Jack stair climbing techniques, Kevin thought it would be a good thing for a little boy to learn. Well, the other day, Jack's birthday actually, Jess and I were in the kitchen, Muffin was locked outside so she wouldn't eat Jack, and Kevin was out getting Port of Subs. Jack was crawling around with the balloon attached to him (so everyone would know who the birthday boy was!) and he headed down the hall to play with the doorstop. Ya know, the kind that go BONG! when you flick them. Jack loves that, and there are two next to each other right next to the stairs that make different BONG! noises so he loves to sit there and flick them. So as we are prepping the food, the BONG!ing stops. Jess and I go over there to see why and there is no Jack! We look up and he is sitting at the top of the stairs laughing! AHHHH! Of course, me being the calm and collective mother that I am, I scream and panic, run up the stairs and hold him telling him how sorry I am. He could have fallen down and broken him neck! I get all teary eyed just thinking about it.

So, Kevin went to Target and got a nice new baby gate. One where dog snouts can't fit through, and babies can't get up stairs. Where's the bubble wrap when you need it?

Hi, My Name Is Jack, I Enjoy Long Walks on the Beach, Candle Light Dinners....

This is Jack's match.com profile picture.

Now that my tot is practically an adult, he is walking like crazy! Yesterday we had a family barbeque where Jack and Will competed for the most steps. Will did take more, however, he has an unfair advantage with Pip always helping him! Today Jack walked all around the living room. I just can't believe my little angel pie is growing up. 

It's My Party, and I'll Cry if I Want To...

Have you ever seen a 1 year old cry at his own birthday cake? I have, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning...

Yesterday was Jack's birthday (duh!). I got up around 7:30am and finished cleaning the house, followed by picking up balloons, and sending Kevin to get Port of Subs (which I was very disappointed in their food. It wasn't as good as it usually is). Ok, 11:00am comes, which is party time, and no one is here except for Kevin, Jack, Jess, and me, but we all live here!! Oh, but my dad was actually early, so Bob-like of him, I love it. Ok, I'm like, totally panicking that no one (not saying my immediate family is no one, but no one was here!) is here, but after about 10 minutes, the English party shows up. This includes my brother Nick, Pippa, Will, and of course Laura my sister-in-law, who is from England. Behind them is Laura's sister, Becca, and her boyfriend, Mort, who came all the way from England to see Jack! Actually, they happen to be in town the weekend his party was going down, but they still came to a one year olds birthday party in America and that's pretty awesome if you ask me.

After they show up, the Albertsons Party arrives (I work with them at Albertsons, hence the name). That included my friend Amy, her little boys Nathan and Noah, her husband Bobby, and my other friend Antoinette from work. Nate and Noah were such good boys; I was really pleased to see them so well behaved.

Then comes the Lynch clan. Oh my goodness, have you seen Lisa's new car? It is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It's a Honda Element and now I want one. You can hose out the inside of it even! Ok, Lisa's new car is for another time, but dang, it's awesome. Ok, so the Lynch clan (ooh, that sounds kinda bad now that I'm reading it over. "Lynch clan", like we're going to a hanging or something. How Western cowboy of me!) arrives, consisting of Jay, Lisa, and their daughter Stevi. I know I only saw them a month ago, but Lisa has lost like, 10 pounds and looks even hotter then she did before (is that possible?) and Stevi is growing up so fast! Like, I met her 2 years ago and she was just a kid, now I see her and she's more mature then most adults I know. She's also taller then me and we wear (or I like to pretend) the same size so I'm hoping to invade her closet one of these days. She's 11, by the way. But her clothes are so cute!

So, the party was a huge success. There was so much food, and all the kids and babies did were eat Cheetos! I should have just bought Cheetos and skipped everything else because that was a huge hit! I got the idea from my friend Kari to buy them and wow, she is one smart cookie. So, we all ate food, mingled, played football outside, and opened presents (I was way more excited then Jack was! I mean, I got to open them and Kevin and I spent last night playing with all of them while Jack was at Juniper pool with the Lynchs!). My favorite part though was when the cake came out. We brought it to him and all sang, and he burst into tears! Lisa was holding him and trying to soothe him but all he could do is cry! I felt so bad but I couldn't stop laughing! He's such a sweetie pie!

Before everyone left, they all wrote a special note to Jack for his scrap book that I'm making. All of his cards and messages are going in it along with pictures so that next year at his party, everyone can look at it and see what he was like when he was 1. Thank you, Target, for having adorable yet expensive ideas that mothers just can't resist.

The party ended up lasting until 2pm. Jack then went swimming at the pool with the Lynch family, followed by a lovely Mexican dinner. I have to tell you this one thing though. Before they went to the pool, they went to the store to buy Jack some water wings. The only color that was left was pink. So when they came over, I asked where the water wings were, and they said they didn't buy them because they only had pink left. I was like, "So?" And they were like, "They were pink!" Ok, it was a lot funnier when I was standing there. My sister will appreciate my humor.

I am so happy with how the entire day turned out, and so grateful for everyone who came. It means so much to me, you have no idea. And thank you to everyone who sent Jack text messages, sang him Happy Birthday on the phone, myspace.com messages/comments, and for all of his gifts! He may not know how much he's loved, but I know and believe me, I won't forget it. 

Now to get back to reality. I'm working 29 hours this week (which is a lot as I usually only work half that amount) and have a lot of leftovers to consume!