Happy Haunting Ya'll!

I tend to slack on blogging and then do two posts in a row? Why? Who knows. Anyway, I'm overdue for some photos, but wanted to discuss this first.

We bought Jack a dinosaur costume for Halloween. I paid $8.99 to ship the danged thing to make sure it got here by playgroup last Wednesday. And yes, I know I should have purchased this further in advance. Next time, we're buying the costume in August and not looking back.

Anyway, Jack told me he wanted to be a dinosaur, and looked at the costumer online with me and approved the purchase ("I look like THAT!"). I thought all was well.

Then I tried to get him to put it on last Wednesday.

"I can't wear that."

Child will not wear his Halloween costume. And there's no making him - what's the fun there? I hope he'll have a change of heart tomorrow night - our city has a trick or treat thing - but I'm not counting on it. The costume has a broad size, so I'll just hold it for next year - someone is dressing as a dinosaur. Dangit.

I have considered getting some black fabric and making him into a little pre-school grim reaper,
but that's a little macabre, isn't it? But funny macabre? I wouldn't have dared to take him to playgroup like that, because that thing is a good weapon for a two-year-old, but for trick or treating? Maybe? Still making up my mind on that one.

Anyway, I promised photos, so here goes:

PHOTO DELETED

We got the piano. And Jack claimed it. Which is great - I want him to be interested in the piano and making music (and hearing him say "I make music" is priceless) - but it's bad because he will NOT let me play.

Tucker loves his thumb. He has zero interest in the paci - which Jack loved. This will not be fun if he's still sucking his thumb at 18 months old. It was easy to remove the paci from Jack - it just wasn't available anymore - but you can't take a kid's thumb. And therein lies the problem.

Tucker is just getting so big! He turns 3 months on Wednesday, and just this past week he starting rolling over - both back to front and vice versa! We also had to retire the swing this week because he's trying to pull himself forward in a sit and it was just too dangerous for him to be in there. So he played in the exersaucer for the first time the other day, and seems to love it. I'll post that pic in a moment, because blogger won't let me post more than 3 on this post today.

It's funny, at the time with Jack it seemed like he was in the exersaucer for a long time (and the swing before that, along with other things like crawling, creeping, etc...). Now with Tucker I know he will be in that exersaucer for such a brief amount of time. They're growing so fast.

Daddy Fix It

OK, I'm going to preface this with a little journey into the past.

Christmas 1980. We're all at my Aunt & Uncle's home for Christmas. My cousin Rachel - who, might I add, I practically worshipped as a child - got a nice, new, BEE-YOO-TI-FUL Barbie dollhouse for Christmas. I'm two, so what do I do? Stick my head in it. Through the front door. Guess I needed a better look.

I don't know if they buttered my head or just turned it the right way, but somehow both the dollhouse and I managed to get out of that without any permanent damage.

Why this trip into the past, you're wondering?

Saturday, while I was away at work, Jack managed to climb into Tucker's crib - a big no-no, and he knows it. While up there, he pokes his leg out through the slats, and he's stuck. Screaming bloody murder, from what I was told.

A didn't have a saw, so he just had to get a hammer and beat the crib until it busted to free Jack's leg. He's unscathed. Unfortunately the crib, although glued, has a nice, long crack in it. We're hoping it holds until Tucker's ready for the toddler bed. It seems secure.

So what lesson doesJack learn from this experience? Well, first A told me that he tried to climb in the crib AGAIN. Then:

Jack sticking his leg through the (wider) slats on our glider...
Heather, my sister-in-law (paraphrased): Jack, what if your leg gets stuck again?
Jack: Daddy fix it.

Oh, Atlanta! (Post Two)

After leaving the aquarium, we took Jack to the park for a bit, and then after throwing a tantrum when we had to leave we went to eat at The Varsity. We thought Jack would at least drink his milkshake but he was tired and therefore not in the mood to agree to anything. The food was your basic, fried drive-in stuff; I unfortunately got sick, I think mainly because I don't eat a lot of greasy food and that combined with IHOP in the morning was just too much. I was better by the morning, which was good because we had a date with the zoo. But first, the view from the fabulous Days Inn of downtown Atlanta:


The daytime shot says everything you need to know about Atlanta. Everywhere you go, something is coming up or being torn down. It's fascinating in a way.

So off to the zoo. After a brief hello to the flamingos, we were off to see the elephants and then the lion, which Jack loved. After that we saw a lot of primates, including what appears to be one of the main attractions at Zoo Atlanta, the gorillas. They even had gorilla babies! It was amazing, but it was here, however, that we discovered Jack's unfortunate dislike of everything in the primate family:
Look at the gorillas, Jack!
No, No, No!
Check out the lemers!
No, No, No!
This endangered monkey!
No, No, No!

I think we all get where this is going. So after hearing a lot of No! No! No!, we came across the Komodo Dragon, and discovered that's what our boy wanted to see.

We also saw the panda (No! No! No!) and the tigers (which Jack loved). We then went on the train ride (very short and mainly underground, and therefore quite lame), carousel ride, and in-zoo playground before at last heading back to Tennessee. Home Sweet Home.

Oh Atlanta, I hear you callin' (Post One)

So, we're back from Atlanta. On Day One we went to the Georgia Aquarium, which has a ton of fish, to say the least. If you have kids, or don't but love aquariums, and you're going to Atlanta, take the time to stop here - it's worth it. Jack LOVED it. He especially loved the beluga whales, sea lions, and the big attraction - whale sharks:

We also went to see the 4D movie there. I will tell you all this: if Jack did not have a good time during the movie, as an adult I would tell you: "what a rip!". I think I was expecting more like an IMAX nature movie, but what we for was a 10 minute animated thing we witnessed, featuring the aquarium's animated mascot, "Deepo", who looks oddly like a popular little character you may know as "Nemo", hmmm? To the point that the actor introducing the movie shows Deepo on the screen, and says "Who's this guy", to which the kids all scream "NEMO", and the guy says "That's right, DEEPO!". Anyway, the movie was very, very lame, but at least Jack wore the 3D glasses which was cool. Since he never will put anything on his head/face area (glasses, headphones).

Anyway, Jack loved the aquarium:

He's a Charmer, Ain't He?

Tucker at 2 months....

PHOTO DELETED

Watch him work that grin! He is a big smiler - loves being talked and sung to, and loves sitting up.

After a rough day today (translation: Jack went two days in a row without taking a nap, and was extra crabby and independent as a result, meaning loads of fun for me), I decided I need to pay some more attention to myself. This probably sounds very selfish, but I have neglected hobbies that I think I should take more time for. For example, I bought Adobe Elements from Amazon back in May to further my photography (not that I'm any sort of professional) and have yet to open the box. That is just sad.

So I am uploading the software tonight, just after posting this blog. I owe it to myself. I think I'll be less stressed as a result, therefore making me a better mom to the boys, and a better wife to A.

I'm also getting back into piano. I played for several years, and in addition to that played keyboard, flute, and mallets all during high school. I then quit cold turkey upon entering college. I am really missing it these days, so A and I have decided to purchase this nice piece of equipment:

The beauty is that, not only will I enjoy playing this thing - making memories with the boys of playing music for them and with them - but also, I want both boys to at least try to learn playing the piano, something you just can't do with a keyboard, which is what I have now. I tried this out at Sam Ash the other day and it sounds awesome; plus it's smaller than a real piano and easier to maintain (no tuning; should we ever decide to move one day we would not have to hire movers just for one piece). So I'm selling my old keyboard; a Concertmate 900, for $50. Any takers?

On down Memory Lane...

Laura and Angelle blogged about this already - our class reunion. Good 'ole FHS class of '96. I won't go into the particulars of what it was like making small awkward conversation with those we've lost touch with, and catching up and having fun with others, but this past weekend did send me on a massive little trip down memory lane.

Lots of memories cropped up as we reminisced about "the good old days" (yet I remain thankful that those days are past - I'm not one of those "high school was the best ever" gals). Memories of Dwayne setting the football field on fire during the half-time show our senior year - proving that shooting a bottle rocket out of saxophone is NOT a good idea. Memories of Laura, Matt, Matt and I breaking out in Toto's "Africa" during AP English. Not getting asked to the '95 prom, so joining Leslie and Emily on "Anti-Prom" '95. Eating a whole bag of salt-n-vinegar potato chips with Skinny Lynnie on the way to visit UTK. Cruising the square with Mike D., Ben and Emily, yelling "Hicks Suck!" out the window and then praying that the car did not stall. And so on and so on.

I did not attend the formal reunion - it was expensive and I had my own reservations about going. I only missed seeing a couple of folks - would have enjoyed rehashing the friendly "class rank" rivalry with a certain Mr. Sterling - but lots of friends I had not seen in what seemed an eternity showed up for the football game Friday night, and we also had a get-together at the D'Amico residence. The football game was, in an odd way, just like old times - I had forgotten to go to the ATM, so I bummed money from my dad, and much like the old days, we went to the game yet did not watch a single minute of football.

Good times. Times that belong squarely in the past, but still, good times.

Quick Kiddo Update

Tucker had his 2 mo. checkup today, weighing in at 14.1 lbs. (90-95th percentile) and 23 1/2 in. (75th). He's going to be outta that infant seat before we know it... His doc said he holds his head up like a 6 mo. old, and he pulled out the charm and flashed a big grin for her.

Jack's vocabulary is growing. His latest phrases include "Go Away". This evening it was "Go away, Mommy". I'm not really sure what it's all about, but I'm sure there's some two-year-old independence going on there. Last Tuesday we had out first incident of pushing another child down - luckily the mom was very understanding (I think something along the lines of "Boys will be boys" was said) - luckily he did not repeat it again, so hopefully Jack won't grow up to be the bully. I don't want a weakling either, but somewhere in between would be quite nice...