Tiny Ninja

Tiny Ninja

For last year’s Halloween, Jack dressed up as a Space Shuttle Commander.  This year he was a ninja.  I got the idea when my 7-year-old niece Molly put Jack’s hair in a topknot; he was also wearing a bib that had stiff shoulders, and it made me think of a samurai.  Didn’t find a samurai outfit, but the ninja one was close enough.

Chris’s parents just came over for a 2-week visit.  We visited the (relatively) new California Academy of Sciences, went to Walnut Creek to see my family, and visited the pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay.  They came along to Jack’s preschool, and spent lots of hours playing with him.  He really bonded with them and liked to hold his Grandad’s arm while he sat next to him at the table, and snuggle up to Grandma Jenny to read books.  He did lots of scribbling with Grandad, and Grandma Jenny took him on walks in the stroller.  He also learned how to say “tea”.   I wish we could see the

Grandad, Jack, Grandma Jenny

m more often.

Jack is still surprising me with what he knows.  Yesterday I had to close the cats up in the study for a bit, and I told Jack I

was taking the litterbox upstairs.  When I came back down, he’d ca

rried the cats’ water and food bowls over to the stairs, ready for me to take up as well!  He managed to spill water everyw

here, but I thought it was hilarious… it’s just another reminder at how well kids are observing everything we do.

On Wednesday, I went down to Stanford University, to participate in a research study at the Center for Infant

Studies.  I held Jack in my lap while he looked at pictures on a big screen, and they tracked his gaze while saying words with a Spanish accent.  I had to wear dark glasses so I wouldn’t influence him, so I have no idea what he was really looking at.  We’ll go back for one more visit next week.

As always, I think the current age is the best.  18 months rules!

18 Months

Jack is 18 months old today.  As always…. how did he get to be a year and a half already??

He continues to amaze me with all the things he’s learning.  He is getting very good at communicating his wants, even though he doesn’t have a lot of words.  He has created some of his own signs, like doing the “Wheels on the Bus” motion to mean bus.  He laughs a lot.  He wants to do a lot of things on his own, like setting the table with his placemat and fork and knife.

We’re still going to a cooperative preschool once a week, and he spends a lot of time shoveling gravel into containers and having tea parties at the picnic table.  We got a water/sand table for the backyard, and he loves to get soaking wet splashing around.

His sleeping has been a little more hit and miss.  He’s had a cough for almost three months (I took him to the doctor; she said “either allergies or a virus, not much to be done”) and sometimes it wakes him (and me!) up at night.  We are mostly over the nap strike, I think; most days he goes down without too much fuss.

He’s gotten a little more particular with his food, though I still wouldn’t call him picky.  Some days he eats everything in sight; some days he won’t touch his dinner.  I think that’s pretty normal todder behavior.

Overall, he’s still a pretty easygoing guy, with the occasional tantrum thrown in.  We’re so lucky to have him in our lives.