Kimberly and Brandon ...starring Jack Henry!

Two! 2! Twoooooo!

I'm excited :)

His favorite things:
Veggies - especially broccoli, lettuce, peppers, celery, carrots, um everything?

Fruits - banana 'nana', grapes, apple. I wish I could insert his actual voice saying, 'apple' in his quick little way he says it.
He's such a good eater! At his doctor's appoint for his well child check up, he weighs 26.8 lbs bringing him in at the 75th percentile for height and 50% for weight. He can be my slim boy :)

What else? He understands everything. He can follow 2 or 3 commands in a row.

OCD much? He has to shut cupboard doors, can't keep the refrigerator open if I'm browsing, slams the garage door shut if I've left it open bringing something in or out of the house. Lines crayons or brushes up at times.... its cute and endearing, and not too OCD :)

He's a climber of stairs. Although he's been climbing up the stairs for over a n them. A couple months past, I removed the gate allowing Jack full access to the stairs from downstairs. He now holds on to the wall as he takes a step upright...and he holds on as he walks down the stairs upright too. Then, other times, he slides down instead. I would too if it made me smile that much and I looked that cute doing it.

He is still sensitive to his encvironment. He loves to take everything in. And I am amazed at what he remembers. See it once, Jack can do it.

Loves ice. When I open the freezer, he says 'ice' in his cute little 2 year old voice...and then he needs a cup for his 'juice' which he runs over to his bottom drawer, which has all of Jack's cups, utensils, plates and runs back to pick his favorite cubes from the ice container.

His hair....oh my gosh, his hair. Blonde long locks, so soft, fine. How do I cut it? Well in June I did. Eeek. Like 3 inches were cute. And he looked cute before and then a little bit older, after. And I did like the cut a lot...but now its long. And I just leave it. People would pay a lot of money for it.

He sleeps through the night. He has since 11 months...now when he wakes up he stands in his crib, drops any and all blankets on the floor and calls out, 'mom', 'mom'....and waits for me to get him. Then when I pick him up, any blanket he sees needs to come with us....and he has a lot of blankets. :) He loves blankets. He loves to snuggle up with them, feel the softness on his cheek. I'm lucky, he doesn't discriminate and have a favorite. Any available blanket present will work. He rotates through about 10ish.

He's a party animal. How many naps has he taken in his crib? Not many. But car rides? They are his downfall. Initially, while I'm driving he will alertly look from side to side, happily in his carseat. Never fussing to get out....then always, he falls victim...and falls asleep about 90% of the time we are in the car. So cat naps are his thing.

Soccer. Man can Jack run and kick a ball along! It's actually impressive.

Poop! He knows what it is. Where it goes. Now I just need to have him go where it goes. Oh how nice that would be. But instead, diapers remain....and that's ok. He has a pink princess toilet from the 2nd hand store, just calling his name when he's ready. Ya know, gender equality and all. :) wink.

This October, he just started weekly classes with 10 other toddlers at The Little Gym. A parent/toddler class, it's his first experience with other kids (beside a play date intermittently). Miss Robyn is his teacher. He's so fun to watch run around the mat, pure glee on his face...other times not so wide awake yet (class is at 9:30 am, Jack wakes at 9 am and its a rush to get him a drink, a snack, clothes and in the car). He loves the bubble machine, the parachute (don't we all remember the primary colors parachute from elementary gym class fondly?), and the garbage bin of balls. And its so cute to watch him run and try to return all the balls to the bin when the teacher asks for them back.

He loves his Mimi, Grandpa, Papa, and Grandma, a lot. Big smiles and hugs for them. It's so cute to hear him exclaim their names! Oh and Abby. He says 'Abby!' a lot. Even if she's not around. :) Out of the blue...

Lastly, he loves Elmo! ELMO! the name he passionately calls out when he wants to watch the PBS app on our phones... and I've learned through watching Jack's oh so cute little pointer finger swipe of the phone this way or that, that he can choose different episodes of so many differnet shows. How wrong I was to think you watched what PBS app started playing. Schooled by a toddler :)

This year has been a whirlwind. Crazy doesn't begin to describe the whirlwind. But we are a stronger, happier family because of it. And Jack makes up the best part of our family. I love him so much.
He has been patient and understanding, through being juggled between home and grandparents when I had to work and go to school, always giving me a smile and hug when I returned, reassuring me it was ok to go but always happy I returned. Well adjusted. I love it.

Thanks for 2 amazing years Jack. I can only imagine what this year will bring.

Sun, sand, splash

Joint Base Hickam-Pearl Harbor is really neat. It's been awesome to stay on base with the Newgards and take in the sights and sounds of an active military base! The Newgards are fabulous hosts (first night a Morton's seasoned tri-tip and garlic smashed roasted garlic potatoes: amazeballs!!) and so fun. Jack so admires Avery & Jackson; it's fun to watch him try to imitate the older, cool kids.

Today we went to a crystal blue water beach located on Hickam-Pearl Harbor base. The waves were mild and Jack first didn't notice the water because he couldn't take his eyes off the sand. Then once he found the water, he couldn't leave. The gentle waves had him smiling and laughing!!! And sand was everywhere! He even wore his cute little hat!!