Candy, Firetrucks, and Dogs in Costumes

Tonight was my favorite Halloween of all time! We had way too much fun creating a firetruck for Jack's costume- some duct tape & an old diaper box can go a long way! Jack is also old enough to really participate in our church's Trunk r Treat. A lot of people bring their dogs & I'm pretty sure that was Jack's favorite part. He kept saying, "Nuther dog!" When we handed him the bucket for candy he said, "Bucket. Feed dogs!" We had to keep him from feeding his candy to the dogs, so he offered hugs instead. See pics below for some of those lovely moments!

After that we stopped at Nana's house to show her the whole costume. Jack was so excited to show off for Nana. He ran into her house making siren noises & showing off his truck. I had a sad moment when I thought about how cool my dad would have thought the whole thing was. He would have gotten such a kick out of seeing Jack speed around the house in his Flintstone's style firetruck.

We finished the night by sitting on the front porch passing out candy to trick or treaters. We let Jack give them the candy, but when someone in a scary mask would come, he would say, "Mommy's turn." I was cracking up at how interested he was in the "pee-poes" coming to our house. Whenever there was a lull in traffic, he would request "more pee-poes, Mommy."

Overall, I think we can call this year a success!

Being Two

I've done a lot of picture posts lately, but haven't included as many details about life with a 2 year old, so here it goes...

Jack is seriously awesome. He is energetic, inquisitive, funny, adorable, feisty, stubborn, too smart for his own good, musical, joyful, affectionate, loving, empathetic, talkative, rambunctious, bossy, and I'll say it again, awesome.

I love the way he is communicating so clearly now. There are some phrases he uses we still can't figure out, & you can just see him processing, "How can I explain what I mean to my silly parents who can't seem to understand what I'm saying?" We've been asking about one phrase in particular for weeks now: oohtoofee. We asked him to show us, point at it, etc. Nothing. Finally I asked the right question: "Jack, what do you mean by oohtoofee?" He said, "Numbers. Counting." John and I both responded with, "Oh! One, two, three!" I had just been asking the wrong questions this whole time. ;)

Jack is still really into trucks, tractors, and fire trucks. He's going to be a fireman or Halloween- I'm sure another picture post will cover that soon. He is still going around singing and dancing to "Our God will meet all your needs" from Vacation Bible School last June.

Another favorite activity of Jack's is doing puzzles. We have a lot of wooden puzzles from his cousins which he has pretty much mastered. Luckily we have harder ones in the closet that we can break out next. He also loves playing the Tozzle app (more puzzles) on the iPhone. He is amazingly fast even with the more complicated ones.

Now for Mommy's favorite: Jack says "I love you" now! Well, he says "Love ooh", but it's so sweet. He also asks for hugs and kisses, which also makes my heart happy. :)

Pumpkin Time!

Jack is still our little wild man! Right now he loves puzzles, running, talking, raisins, trucks, Nana's new house, dancing, music, and singing. He is still singing one of his favorite songs from VBS this past summer - with all the hand movements & everything.
Now that the weather is nice we are trying to spend as much time as possible outside. Today we visited our pumpkin patch. Jack especially liked sticking his face through the wooden cutout of a scarecrow. It was too funny!

San Diego

This last week I was in San Diego for a work conference. I learned sooooo much & look forward to putting it all to good use! Another bonus of the trip is that I got to spend a whole afternoon & evening with Amy. We ate a lot of yummy food & saw a lot of sights. The rest of the rest of the week was spent with some fabulous ladies from our district. We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, & ate a LOT of food! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Jack, We can't believe it's already been 2 years since we met you face to face! You are such a joy to us! We praise God for your fun-loving, energetic, and hilarious personality as well as your curious, cuddly, & sensitive side.

At 2 you love trains (choo choos), fire trucks, raisins, throwing things, Lucy, and any activity where you get to run & play.

You are a precious gift & we love you more than you know! Happy Birthday, Little Guy!

First Day of Preschool!

Jack had a great first day! He walked right in the room with his little lunchbox & started playing with toys. His teacher told us he didn't cry at all & he was a very happy boy all day. It did take him 40 minutes to fall asleep on his nap mat, but we weren't sure he would nap at all the first day, so we're pleased he still got an hour of sleep. We were both more emotional than we expected to be about our little guy starting "school", but he just seems so big lately & I think we're both realizing he's not a baby anymore. :o/ I guess that's parenthood! I'm so proud of our little man (who turns 2 tomorrow!!!)

Jack & Daddy at the Zoo

I know I post a lot of zoo pics, but we just love going to the zoo! Well, this week I was back at work, so John took Jack to the zoo & I got picture updates throughout the day.