In the meantime...

Since Jack is under the weather, we thought we'd upload some videos to keep everyone entertained until he is feeling better. These were all captured over the last couple of days when he was feeling better. Hope you enjoy.

This first one is of Jack playing with his doll 'buddy' as well as Izzy during one of those 'It's almost bedtime' states of delirium.



This second one was Jack and I at the park, when he got to go down the slide all by himself.



Finally, and my personal favorite, is Jack in the tub, chatting away with mommy. Again, he was really getting tired, and in the lulls in the conversation he was having, he appeared to be 'nodding off.'

Here we go again...again

We're noticing a trend. Whenever Jack produces a couple of new teeth, they are soon accompanied by a raging ear infection. Poor guy. His two canine teeth started coming in over last weekend, erupting on Monday. This was accompanied by a low grade fever, which we attributed to the teething process. The fever persisted over the last couple of days and ranged between 100 and 102 degrees F, not atypical for the temps Jack usually gets. As the week drew on, this was acompanied by a running nose, cough, and most notably a bad case of the grouchies. Today (Thursday), we decided that this was too persistant to be due to the teeth (still in the process of erupting), and too reminicsent of his past ear infections, so we decided to take jack in to see the Pediatrician (As the nurse put it, "Congratulations Jack, three days of fever, you won a trip to the doctor"). Our regular Doc was out of the office, so we saw one of his associates. After listening to Jacks heart and lungs (both of which were clear), and palpating his stomach (which was also fine) he looked in his ears and, low and behold, he had a raging infection in his right ear, and his left was developing an infection as well. Once again, Jack's high pain tolerace had belied his condition. The doctor couldn't believe that Jack had slept through the night and was being such a good boy in the office, stating that most kids in this position would have been screaming their heads off. Yet, there was Jack sitting calmly in my lap, poking at my nose. The doctor gave us a prescription for Omnicef, the antibiotic that worked for Jack last time, and so we begin a 10 day course to get the little guy better. He's pretty lethargic today, is already on his second nap, and still has his temp going, but the Doc said that he should be back to himself by Saturday or Sunday.

Reno Rodeo and Carnival

We braved the crowds and made our way to the Reno Rodeo for the first time since moving to Reno. In actuality there weren't too many people there at 5pm and we were able to park on the street for free. Saved ourselves $6 whole dollars! It was apparent when we got there that most were there for the Rodeo activities and not as much for the carnival piece. We on the other hand were there for the rides and whatever else sparked our fancy. We soon found that it was like a miniature Puyallup fair with some cute rides that Jackson is just too short or young for...we know that because he was not as tall as the critical piece of tape on the fence. Bummer. Anyway we still had a good time as is obvious from the following pictures.

Animal Train! One of the two rides that Jack could ride on.


Round and around we go.


Here we are again since we had tickets to burn. It is obvious that this is seperate time because now we are on the zebra mobile. Unfortunatly they had a weight limit so it was I (along with all the other mommies), who had the pleasure of escorting him again.


Pitstop


Beeper the clown. I think this confused Jack a bit since we used to call his male member his beeper...since he used to "beep it".


Merry-go-round. Larry snuck him past the height tape by carrying him and acting like he was legal. Jack liked this ride.


Checking out the horses. Not sure what he thought about them.

Paci Free!

We have been talking about doing away with the pacifiers for a while now. I think since his 12 month doctor's appointment when the doctor told us to go cold turkey with it or cut the tip off of it. But then he would be teething, sick, or we'd be on vacation...the list goes on. We decided about a month ago that we were only going to have them in his bed, for when he was sleepy, and that was it. But, somehow he would manage to get them out and would scream bloody murder when we took it away. Then we would give in again because maybe he didn't feel good or was teething. But then he started using the paci started being a problem while we were out because, when he would get upset, he would throw it on the ground and watch us scramble for it. So we decided after the 100th time of that happening at a restaurant Wednesday (possibly the one that gave me food poisoning) that we were doing it cold turkey. We knew that he was fine without it since we had stopped sending him with one to daycare but we thought bedtime was going to be a different story.

When we got home from the restaurant, I gathered up all the pacifiers I could find, in all their little hiding spots. I put them in a ziplock baggie and Larry had Jackson say goodbye to the pacifiers. Jackson hugged the bag and gave it a kiss and then went about his business. When we sat down to read our story he was not happy that he didn't have a paci to hold on to, and he kept asking for one and reaching out for his bed just knowing one (or four) was waiting for him. He was very fussy so we just put him to bed, with some teething toys, and he was fine. He hung out quietly in his crib for 15 minutes and then it all must have hit him. He really started crying and getting mad, so we went in to comfort him. Then he cried and we waited 10 minutes and then went in to comfort him. Then he cried and we waited 15 minutes and then comforted him. Then he cried and finally fell to sleep at 10:20. He only fussed once during the night but then quickly fell back to sleep. He woke up at 5am which is a couple hours earlier than usual and he would not let go of his knitted blanket that Grandma Trudy knit him so we're thinking he has a new love there. How quickly they move on.

The next night, Thursday, he only fussed for about 2 minutes before falling asleep and he stayed asleep all night. Side note: Which was good because I was up all night vomiting and other things all night long. Larry was such a good nurse and was up with me with a cold compress, emptying my puke bowl and holding my hair. Thanks Lar. Friday night he fussed a little and slept until 7 am. He is fussy during the day at times and asks for it, but he is also noticibly more talkitive. It is so cute. Hopefully things will continue getting better, which they have. I thought it was going to be a lot worse on all of us but who knows, he may still talk about this years later in his therapy sessions.



Having the paci talk.



You're not serious are you?



This is what I think about your plans.



I want my paci.

Blue bird, blue bird...

This is Frank's real arch-nemesis(meaning not Jack)...the blue bird. He/she is such a pretty bird but it has recently been swooping down on Frank and squawking at him. When I was out taping him/her she started doing the same to Jackson and I. I'm sure there is a nest nearby and Frank is known to be a bird killer (and Jackson was chasing him/her) so I don't blame him/her but poor Frankie can't even relax in his own yard.

Jackson's communication and dancing skills

The first video has Jackson saying his new favorite phrase as of Friday, "Uh-Oh", which he says every chance he gets these days. We also finally got him signing on video. He usually stops as soon as the camera comes out so I was happy to catch him on tape. Sorry about the gagging and spitting but he does that for attention lately (we also don't typically encourage 'naughty' behavior like throwing food on the floor). We are now trying to ignore it so we'll see if that stops soon.



This video shows Jackson's latest dancing technique. Very cute now but not sure what the ladies are going to think at the school dances. I really hope he treats them better than he treats that poor Frankie.

Summer Fun

Well, summer has arrived in Reno and that means lots of outdoors time. Jack and I have made it a point to go check out different parks around town over the last couple of weeks, and also to play in the lawn and sprinklers. Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.

After I worked on fixing up the house with my toolbench...


...and sending a few e-mails...


...I got in my Jackie-mobile and headed to the park...


...where I saw a bunny-rabbit.


...Then I picked some flowers...


...and climbed a tree...


...After that I decided to play on the big-toy...


...where I got to walk...


...and climb...


...can you find me?...


...and even go down a big slide...Weeee!...


...I even crawled through a tunnel...

...and went on the swings...


...I'm not so sure about those swings...


...Later I talked Daddy into running through the sprinklers...


...What a great way to cool off!

Update with pics and videos

We haven't updated the blog for a while so here is a few pictures and videos of the recent activities for our family.

Larry decided to shave his face for a change and it totally freaked Jack out. It always freaks me out a little but this time Jack was so disturbed, I had to be strong for him! He would run away from Larry and want me to hold him all night. It took him a few days to be totally comfortable with Larry's new look. Larry got a little taste of what it felt like for me when Jackson wanted only Larry.

He did not want to be held and he was struggling to get away.


Jack would only look at him when Larry wasn't looking at him.


Here Jack is with his best bud, Frankie.


He loves to give him hugs. Frank usually just takes it but then runs away once Jack lets go.


Recent art project from "school." The teacher said it was made with water colors (those teachers are so brave).


Jackson is imitating a lot right now. Here he is trying to change the batteries in a toy that Larry had just changed batteries in. He loves Larry's tools so we went and got him a tool bench that he maybe likes. I think he would rather we gave him Larry's tools.


Here Jackson is being so busy and silly right before bed. He gets delirious when he is tired and it just makes us laugh. My camera ran out of space right at the end but it was sort of an appropriate ending.



Poor Frankie. Here Jackson was using the toy that Nana and Papa got him to terrorize Frankie.

Trip to Washington

We recently took a trip back to Washington for Grandma Barb's Funeral. The first picture is the last picture that we have with Jackson and her together. I like this one because Grandma Barb was happy, laughing and Jack is such a cute little squishy face.

The remaining pics are in no particular order of the rest of our trip:

Payton and Jackson. He looks so angelic.

Jackson meets Maria for the first time. She had been in Thailand his whole life.

Don't worry he shared...a little. Boy do I wish I would of had a bib for him!

"Hey guys, check out this green Washington grass!"

Family picture: Zephyn, Dawn, Bronte, Karl, Trudy, Natalie and Jackson.

Larry spinning Jack in a gigantic bowl which was used later by Nana and Papa to make tons of chocolate chip cookies.

So cute!

Visiting Dawn's pottery booth at the Puyallup Farmers Market.

Jackson would barely eat while teething so we never thought he would go near this chicken bone Nana gave him but he loved it. Here he looks like he is smoking a stogie.

The busy boy finally sleeps.

Happy Birthday Larry!

Today is Larry's birthday but of course he had to work so we celebrated after work with dinner, cake and Wii. The cake is from The Backstube, for those of you who know about it, the desserts are delicious. There is a picture of Jackson enjoying some cake where he is slapping the table when he wanted more. We're not sure where he learned that since he knows and uses the sign for more, but whatever gets the point across. The rest of the birthday pics are of us playing the Nintendo Wii where Larry proceeded to beat me in all the games. My story is that I let him win since it was his birthday.