1 - Countdown to Christmas

I've been inspired by Mila's Daydreams to have a little Countdown to Christmas on my blog...I will try to post a picture every day from now until Christmas.  It will be a fun little challenge for me to keep this up for 25 days in a row!

 ~1~

Christmas Tree.  Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT.

A catch up post

Oh, hello blog...I think this is the longest I've gone without posting...Sorry to those of you that may be having Jack withdrawal!  It's been a little busy around here!  

We have been doing lots of this:

Jack had some fun doing this:

And he was very proud of himself when he showed me this:

(luckily, I got the shot before he knocked it down with glee)

We went to Boston for the day a few weeks ago...

Jack saw Fenway Park for the first time.

And he tried Indian food for the first time...He wasn't really a fan of the curry, but he LOVED the Naan bread and the mango lassi...

Jack was so good all day...He fell asleep about 30 minutes before we headed home.

We had a really fun pre-Thanksgiving with Brandon, Bonnie, Alex and Kenzie (I wish I took some pictures...) before we headed to my parents' for Thanksgiving. As we do every year, we went to the Manchester Road Race where fun costumes and bloody marys are everywhere. Sam ran in his traditional lobster hat. Can you see him?

Maia ran part of the race too in a matching hat!

Dad wore his Hartford Whaler jersey and hat...and he always gets shout outs from the runners who were fans of the whale...

Jack and Maia had tons of fun playing together.

Although Jack decided to be an incredibly picky eater during Thanksgiving dinner (he refused to even taste anything, except for the dinner rolls), he was a seriously good (and especially adorable) boy all weekend! 

Twinkle twinkle...

During Jack's nap yesterday, I caught him singing, at the top of his lungs.  I filmed the video monitor to capture it because it was so cute. The picture isn't the greatest, but really, it's just the sound that matters!  :) 

Party!

Jack's party was a blast. We were so lucky to have our house full of Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins (all of them!) to celebrate the big TWO!  It was such an unusually warm and sunny November day that we were able to be outside while Jack and Maia had fun in the leaves...(thanks for raking Bonnie!) Jack loved his bike (thanks Maia!) and I had to practically pry his new toy drill out of his hands today at nap time (thanks Bonnie, Brandon, Alex and Kenzie!) He zooms around the house pushing his new shopping cart (thanks Mimi and Pop-pop!) and laughs hysterically at that kitty cat (Thanks Gabba, and Gabba!) It was definitely a great day to celebrate the official end of Jack's babyhood and to start his third year!  

Jack's monthly picture and a VIDEO!

I haven't decided if I am going to continue with the monthly pictures now that Jack is two.  But I have put all of his monthly pictures to date into a video now that we have two years worth of them...

Enjoy!

Jack is TWO!

Dear Jack,
Two years ago today, I got the best job ever. It just doesn't seem possible that I've been your Mommy for two whole years! Witnessing you become such a smart, hilarious, independent little boy has been an incredible journey. You are such a little sponge...even when you don't seem like you're listening, you are. You are just taking it all in. Over the past couple of weeks, you've started to count.... I even heard you practicing in your crib the other day (one, free, four, nine, twelve). And today before your nap, we sang the alphabet song (twice) and you sang right along with me even the last part (next time won't you sing with me).  You say my favorite part of the song (L M N O P) like this, "L M N Poopy." At the end of every song we sing you always clap your hands and say, "Yay!" You are always surprising Daddy and me with all of the words you know... Like how you say "coffee" every time we pass a dunkin donuts! Sometimes, you let Mommy and Daddy sleep in until 8:30 on Saturday mornings because you are so content just playing in your crib. You always let us know when you're ready to see us though. And it's just about the sweetest sound in the world when I go into your room and you say, "hi mommy!"

I am so lucky to be your mom and I can't wait to see where this journey takes us.  Happy Birthday baby boy!  I love you.

-Your Mom

Halloween

Jack got to spend a good part of the weekend in his skunk costume...He was definitely the most adorable skunk that I've ever seen! First up was a parade in his friend, Laila's neighborhood.  There were so many kids! Jack and his little friends were some of the youngest, and we were the last to finish the parade loop.  But that's ok...look how much fun they had!

This is as close as Jack got for the group photo... 

Jack and Euan are thinking about holding hands...

They actually did for a good part of the walk...

 It was pretty cute...

After the parade, there were snacks...

Sunday night,  Jack went trick or treating for the first time. It took a couple houses before he had the routine down. By the third or fourth house he knew to press the door bell, and wait for a big bowl to appear before him.  He didn't say trick or treat (we tried) but he did say, "in the bag" as he reached for candy. He did say thank you and bye to each neighbor we visited. Jack really had a blast.

And last, but not least...