You Don't Know Jack: October 2007

I found Nemo

He's right here in my house.

Seriously, I am in love with this costume. We took Jack to a little neighborhood Trick or Treat event this weekend, and people kept exclaiming what a cute costume it was and all the kids were so excited to see Nemo.

Can't wait for Halloween on Wednesday.

Oh, and hi, I am 27 weeks pregnant in this picture. Instead of Finding Nemo we should call it Finding the Belly.

Carving out some time

So this is how we'll remember carving pumpkins with Jack, when he was almost 2 years old.

What a warm and fuzzy look at us experiencing the magic of Halloween together. He, incidentally, hated the feel of the pumpkin innards and kept throwing the scraper down on the ground and making a disgusted face when he would touch them.

This is how we really experienced carving pumpkins with Jack, when he was almost 2 years old.

As you can see, it made everyone a lot happier. And by everyone, I mean me and Josh. There's no way I was letting him near me with slimey pumpkin innards all over the place.

Pumpkin Farmpalooza

This weekend was Pumpkin Farm weekend 2007. We visited two, yes two, for the full experience.

That scarecrow is not fooling anyone. I know he's not real.

These pumpkins are bigger than me.

Who the hell are these people making me pose with them?

If I am 2.5 pumpkins tall, what percentile am I in?

I bet I can throw this pumpkin really far. At Mommy's head.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I really have to carry this back to the car?

Awesome day

Do you ever have one of those days as a parent where everything is just perfect?

Seriously, today was one of those days for me. I think it helped that I felt well-rested when he woke up at 7:20 a.m., so that always puts a positive spin on the day.

But we just had an awesome day together. We ate pumpkin bread for breakfast and read some books and then we went to a music class and then shopping and after his lunch and nap, the three of us went to the Children's Museum. We got home, hustled dinner and a bath and put him to bed.

I am finally able to eat normal food without any ramifications and we're back to our normal routine after the big vacation. It was also a beautiful day weatherwise for mid-October, 70s and sunny, and I think the stars and moons and sun aligned to make everyone happy. Yay us.

Just call me Suzy

Allow me to introduce myself. Suzy. Suzy Homemaker.

This afternoon, I found that Jack had pulled his crib bumper completely away from the crib slats and was trying to use it to construct some sort of scale replica of the Titanic during naptime.

The corner where one would tie the two ends together had no more ties on it. He had pulled them off and threw them out onto the floor, along with his socks. So I figured, "I am an adult. I can fix this."

So I went and got my handy-dandy sewing kit. Wait? You didn't think I had a sewing kit, much less one that I could put my hand right on? Oh ho ho, you would be wrong. I received one as a wedding gift and because I have a photographic memory of the inventory of this house and it's storage spaces, I knew it was in the TV cabinet in the guest room. Isn't that where you store your sewing kit?

Moving on. I got out the sewing kit, nevermind that it was the first time since I received it at a wedding shower three years ago that I have actually used it, and found white thread and a needle.

I took it into the bedroom, threaded the needle on the VERY FIRST TRY thankyouverymuch, and got down to bizniz. About 10 minutes later, both ties were secured in a tight fashion and I was crowing about my accomplishment to Josh.

Josh, who was nonplussed and muttered, "You've never even sewn a button on for me." He's such a hater. Always trying to bring me down. But not today my friend, not today.

As I type this, a loaf of pumpkin bread is in the oven. Yesterday I cleaned the entire kitchen and then wiped the counters down several more times throughout the day because they were looking streaky. I swear to God, I am entertaining thoughts of making Jackson's Halloween costume. I am also contemplating a plan for peace in the Middle East and I think I might be able to eradicate AIDS in Africa.

Anybody need anything while I am up?

Catching up

For those of you who don't know, I have spent the last four days in the hospital with a nasty case of the stomach flu. Fevers of 102 and the inability to keep food in you when pregnant generally land you in a hospital bed so they can keep you hydrated.

So here I am. Waiting for some food to stay in me. I may wait another four months it seems.

But in the meantime, here, look at some pictures of our trip!
Photo Galleries

Just click the links under "Jack does Europe." There's seven of 'em, so that should keep you busy for a while.

Honey, we're home

The whirlwind vacation is behind us and everyone, my cervix included, had a great time. We got home yesterday and my jetlagged son woke up at 3:30 a.m. this morning. He stayed up to play for a few hours. Thank goodness Grandma was here to wake up with him so Mommy and Daddy got to sleep it off.

Jack did great for the most part. He was sleeping 11-12 hours a night and since he was going to bed between 10 p.m. and midnight evey night, that meant he slept in, which was awesome for us. The first day with the jetlag, he ended up sleeping until 10:45 a.m., and Josh and I awoke at 9. Why can't that ever happen at home?

We took four planes, five trains, countless Metro, Tube and tram rides and several buses. There were two days in London, three in Montpellier, four in Paris and one more in London again. We stayed in five different hotels and came home with everything we left with. All in all, I would say that's a success.

Jack did great with all the traveling and being in his stroller so much. At the beginning of the trip I was saying "Never again" to traveling overseas with him, but by the end, it was OK. It's just hard being away from his routine and familiar foods. Who knew your child could subsist solely on graham crackers, bread, raisins and milk?

I had an ultrasound this morning and my cervix was basically unchanged from before the trip (down from 3.2 to 3.0 cm), so all the walking and flying did no damage. That was a relief to hear, since I was able to see the outside of a Paris hospital thanks to some serious contractions on our last day there. They were every 2-3 minutes for 45 minutes and some were so intense I could not talk through them. But as soon as we got in the cab to the hospital, they ceased to exist. So we got out of the cab, walked around a bit, determined I did not need to go in, and got back in a cab. Lucky us, we missed our flight that morning because of it and we got to pay $900 for everyone to change their flights. That was awesome. And no, British Airways does not accept medical notes from doctors for missing flights.

But anyway, I will have a full trip report tomorrow and will post a link to the gazillion photo galleries on our website once they get up there. But it's great to be home. Here's a few pictures...