Nowhere to Be

This week Jack and I have nowhere to be. I opened up my calendar today to plan for the upcoming week and it was empty. It looked like this...

Monday: we usually attend Music Class, but the fall session is over and the winter session doesn't start until the first week of December...so nothing!

Tuesday: we usually have swim, but that 6 week class ended last week...so nothing!

Wednesday: my nanny day...so nothing for Jack!

Thursday: our usual play date with pregnant Karen, baby Patterson, and Donna but, it's actually Karen's due date...so nothing, (except hopefully a baby will arrive)!

Friday: usually a Mother's Guild meeting at church, but that was last week...so nothing!

With nothing to do and nowhere to be, Jack and I are going to play it by ear this week. We will probably...

bundle up and go for a stroll

perfect our sippy cup skills

read some books

practice crawling (which he shows no interest in)

and of course, not worry about what to wear

It will be interesting to see what a week of nothing is like. I think I can speak for Jack too, when I say, "we both like to be busy". He loves observing everything and everyone and with just me to look at he might get slightly bored. Then again, I could be completely wrong. He may actually enjoy having me and my undivided attention all to himself...it remains to be seen. Regardless, I'll keep you posted on how we fill our days this week. If I know "us", we'll find something to get into!

The Big One

Today Jack and I met pregnant Karen, baby Patterson and Donna for our weekly "play date" and lunch. These are some pictures of Jack and Patterson trying to play together. Jack is the "big one".
I like to point that out because it won't always be true. You see, Patterson comes from a family of height. His Daddy is, I don't know...6 foot something ginormous and his Mommy is 5 foot something else tall. So, it is inevitable that Patterson is gong to be a very tall boy. Now Jack doesn't have those same genes running through his family. I am definitely below average in height and Clay is considered average. No matter what we do Patterson will be the "big one" soon. Actually very soon...Jack and Patterson are only 3 months apart. In baby time that may seem like a lot, but in a couple of years that will be nothing. Who knows, maybe even by a year old Patterson will be towering over Jack, he is already getting close! But for now, Clay, Jack and I are are going to revel in the fact that Jack is considered the "big one". Even according to the Pediatrician Jack is tall. At his 6 month appointment he was 29" long and was in the 99th percentile for height....wow! that never happened to me. As for weight, well, you know, he is always up there in that area. When we ask the Pediatrician "when will his genes catch up with him and his numbers seem more realistic?", she just smiles. I think that is her way of saying , "enjoy it while you can". And that is exactly what we are going to do. We're also going to hope that Jack will inherit some of our above average traits too...wink, wink!

Goodie Goodie Groceries

Today Jack and I went to the grocery store. You may be wondering why a trip to the grocery store would be worth blogging about. Well, I'll tell you why...for the past 4 days I have had the stomach flu or virus or stomach something. All I know is I haven't been able to look at food, much less eat it. It started on Monday (yes, it was a long illness) with a little abnormal tiredness. That continued on through Tuesday. On Wednesday, I found myself napping EVERY time Jack did and not waking up when he did. On Thursday morning, I woke severely nauseated which turned into a very ugly Thursday evening. That is when I fell apart and Clay had unexpected Daddy duty again! I spent the next three days in bed or in the bathroom. Between changing diapers, changing bibs, and changing Jack's activities, Clay was also trying to nurse me back to health. That is a lot of work for one Daddy. He took Friday off from work and took the weekend off from any leisure activities. He was a sport, as always! I on the other hand, moaned and groaned and thought I may be on the verge of dying. In 4 days, I ate 3 saltines, 4 pretzels, and a bowl of chicken broth...none of which stayed down...yuck! Occasionally, Clay would bring Jack into my dungeon of a bedroom to see me. Jack would smile and reach for me. I'm sure he was wondering why his Mommy was being so lazy. Then the boys would go downstairs and play. From my bedroom, I could hear laughing, giggling, and squeals...it was music to my ears...I wanted to join in so badly. Everyday of this illness seemed like a week. Cosby was a different story, he didn't leave my side. He had to be forced to go outside for bathroom breaks. I think he was trying to enjoy me all to himself while he could. I told Cosby he was the best "dogtor" ever...he is still my very loyal companion even after being pushed to number 2. Well, every gray cloud has a silver lining. And this cloud had two. #1... for the first time in 15 months, I actually saw my pre-Jack weight on the scale. It was very short lived, but I loved every minute of it! And #2...the dreaded chore of grocery shopping was actually fun again. Jack always enjoys it, but it's not on my top 10 favorite things to do. But, today it wasn't so bad. Jack looked around as if to say, "hey, I remember this place" and I looked at food and didn't even get sick. I was actually beginning to crave a few things...I guess it's so long to that number on the scale!

Trick or Treat

Okay, so I know my last blog was about Jack in his Halloween costume, but I couldn't resist showing it again. He is just so darling. Plus, these are from the official day. At 5:45 pm we met the entire Carriage Park neighborhood by the monument for the start of the annual neighborhood parade. Our whole family attended, Clay and I, Jack, and of course Cosby. Cosby is not too keen on costumes so he wore a Halloween bandanna and he still didn't really like that. As a matter of fact, Jack was the only Cibula in costume...Clay and I sported orange and black instead. We paraded around the neighborhood, kids showing their costumes, and ended at the clubhouse. As usual, Jack's eyes were a mile wide...he starred at everyone in amazement except for his own family...we were old news at that point. Pizza and punch awaited us at the clubhouse, which was great, because who wants to cook on Halloween night? After filling their stomachs, the kids were gone. Jack watched intently as each one disappeared with empty bags in hand. His head turned from one side of the stroller to the next and back again. If I could only read his mind I think he would have been saying, "if I could run, crawl, scoot, anything!". And I was thinking the exact opposite, "oh no, one day Jack is going to grow up!". At that point, we decided it was time to return home to make sure the kids had someone to get candy from. Jack helped us answer the door for a few trick or treaters and then he decided it was bedtime. Cosby helped us answer the door for all of the trick of treaters. Unfortunately his greeting was not quite as welcoming as Jacks. By about...umm...the 48th visitor, Cosby finally realized his efforts were in vain and he gave up. It was even mentioned that we deserved the scariest house award and it was not because of our Halloween decorations! That didn't deter Clay from greeting the costumed kids and passing out candy. I loved listening to the door open and Clay converse with the trick or treaters throughout the night...Jack is really lucky to have such a fabulous Daddy. And with no problem at all, Jack slept Halloween night away even with ringing doorbells, a barking dog, Daddy's greetings, and trick or treaters.