houpley

Mama, on the back of my drawing I have made a list of who is good and who is bad. Ok. On the right are the people that are good. See? Here is you and daddy and I have to add Eli. Yes. On this side is the bad list. There is only one person on this side? Who got put on your bad list? That's John Wilkes Booth. I see. Cause he's a bad guy. Right.

I have called this family meeting to announce that we are going to take official family photos over spring break. So we will be looking for a photographer. We've got to find a great photographer to take our pics. Oh Mama! Why don't we get Jimmy Olson? (long pause) He'd be good, babe. He is an ace photographer with the Daily Planet.

Wah, dah, wah! Dah! Bah! Waaaa! Hey Jackson, instead of just singing sounds to Eli, maybe you could sing actual words to him so he learns new words to say? Ok. ... Red, red, red, red, red, white, white, white, white, blue, blue, blue, blue, magician, magician, magician, silver, silver, silver....

You know how you have that one (or maybe two) friend who is your very close, bestest friend that you haven't really had a long conversation with in so long but you know that if you just set aside an hour or two and picked up the phone you would pick right up where you left off like you had never left each other's side? And you know how you can't just make a quick call to that particular bestie because there is just way too much to catch up on now so you keep putting it off and putting it off until now there is so much to catch up you feel like you need an entire Sunday afternoon to catch her up on all the details except that your afternoon is filled with recording your barely-five-year-old taking his own training wheels off his bike and zipping around the cul-de-sac while the nine month old is popping up tiny teeth and pulling up in his crib? http://www.flickr.com/photos/73102019@N00/7823353802/in/photostream  and... http://www.flickr.com/photos/73102019@N00/7823296040/...

Jackson, what is the name of your monster truck? Inventory Monster Truck Goblin Green. I see, and the name of the other one? Red Yellow Black

Jackson has been attending vacation bible school this past week. He is always taken with good stories and music. Now that VBS has come to a close, Jackson has been regaling us with his own renditions of the songs.  I asked him if we should call him Pastor Jackson.  He declined the title.  I suggested Reverend Jackson. He disagreed. How about Father Jackson?  No.  Finally, I asked him, "What should we call you when you are singing from the pulpit?" "Michael Jackson."

This weekend is Eli's christening. Eric, Jackson and I have been busy getting ready for visiting friends and family. Eli has too. His days are filled with sitting up and solid foods. On his six month birthday, he could sit for only a few seconds at a time. Jackson and I spent many evenings sitting Eli on Jackson's bed and then predicting which way the baby would tumble. This entertained Jackson immensely. Eli, too. Now Eli sits for long periods of time working at his activity mat, listening to Jackson read a book, cloud gazing from my lap in the backyard, marveling at the existence of Elvis, etc. He is also his own bouncy seat. He loves to bounce and rock and dance in the safety of your arms. Seeing these healthy signs of coordination and development warms our hearts. Eli has also graduated from rice cereal to solids. His first taste was squash. Jackson was enjoying an afternoon in our baby pool and it occurred to me that it would also make an ideal spot to feed a baby his f...

As if on cue for his one-month birthday Eli began tracking. As if suddenly awake, Eli has begun checking things out. He seems to notice us more and more. His big blue eyes stare at our faces as if trying to figure out who these people really are. Of course this happens for about 15 minutes and then he is back to discussing dinner or sleeping. It takes a bit of convincing - but he does eventually sleep for a bit. In the meantime, Eli is still spitting up a lot. He is quite fussy when it comes to eating. He is either not happy because he hasn't gotten enough, or he is grumpy because he is so uncomfortable until he spits up what seems like half of what he has just eaten. Then he is furious because now he is hungry again since half of breakfast is down his shirt. And so we start all over again. It is has been really hard to get him on any kind of schedule with this unpredictable mess. Plus it is no fun to see your newborn so unhappy. This morning was the worst as he got so upset he sp...

This is it. This is the moment. I am sitting on the far corner of the couch and you are curled up like a kitten on my chest. Still sleepy. Fresh from your afternoon nap, your mop of bedhead rests just under my chin, your arms at my sides. It is silent. We say nothing. There is just holding. There is just being held. Suddenly from the right, the setting sun bursts forth with its last call. In its slow fall toward the horizon, it has slipped a step and stretches between the tree branches and through the blinds. Its last breath casts a warm glow across the whole room. It catches the top of your head. It cuffs you on the ear. It holds my hand on your back. It has captured something. Something I know that in seconds will disappear behind the tree branches. The ones already turning black in their Sunday-evening silhouettes. And I realize this is it. I am still, but my heart races. I run my fingers through your hair, quickly before we lose the light. I watch the sun rifle through it like late...

We are in the process of remodeling the hall bathroom. Something that we have divided into four phases. Phase two was last weekend and involved putting in a new vanity and then realizing we needed a new toilet as well. I'm sure we made more than 15 trips to Lowe's during this ordeal. While Eric and his friend worked on installing, uninstalling and re-installing things, Jackson was in a frenzied state. He loves nothing more then helping, observing and working with Daddy during home projects. And whenever safety allows, Eric is always willing to let him participate. But there were a few stages of the project - specifically when it came time to use the saw - that meant Jackson had to stand back. Not one to consider this restriction a set back, Jackson set to work on his own project. I gave him a few of the big pieces from the giant cardboard box the new vanity came in and explained that we needed several holes put into it. Jackson agreed to the task. I left the room having no idea...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73102019@N00/4670259091/

This past week we have been working on animal sounds. When reading one of his animal books, Jackson follows along and imitates his version of a duck, a sheep, a horse and a cow. He can also do a dog. We are still working on a pig. It is a much more complex animal. What we should have been working on this whole time was "Roar." He will be a lion tonight to go trick-or-treating and I haven't prepared him for his furry role. I'm going to be a terrible stage mom.

At the end of our daily afternoon walks, Jackson likes to explore our neighbor's garden as we walk up to our house. This is not your regular garden. This is just the kind of garden a child would love to wander through and get lost in only to discover smooth stones leading nowhere, vibrant coy fish swimming under the soft trickle of a waterfall and colorful glass sculptures popping up through fronds, reeds and leaves. As he follows the small path between our houses, he always passes a statue of a bunny that is just a few inches shorter that he is. He adores this garden-bunny and likes to touch its nose, ears, etc. Yesterday he "hugged" the bunny by pressing his forehead against its stony face. While bent to embrace his rocky friend, he noticed a few white flowers bowing toward the ground. A few weeks ago, I tried teaching him how to "sniff" flowers instead of grabbing and crushing them. And I guess he remembered. Because he squatted down next to those tiny white ...

Maybe we will regret this in the years to follow, but Jackson's latest "trick" is to flash you. We, of course, think it is hysterical. Any chance we get, we say "Jax, show us your tummy!" To which he repsonds by looking down, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and lifting it high with pride to reveal his rotund midriff. At which point, you must devour this delicious offering. It has already started to cause problems, because now it's your turn. He will walk over, climb in my lap and start to lift up my shirt. I'm sure this means we are on our way to lifting up the shirts of random grocery shoppers, classmates, etc. I hope he works this out before attending his first frat party...

It seems the prehistoric monster never made it to our house last night. Jackson slept 11 hours straight. He was nearly himself. A little quieter and still a bit clingy. A lot sensitive. But he was back to enjoying his toys, music and nightly routine. For the past few weeks, one of his favorite parts of his routine is to take his dirty clothes from the day and put them in the hamper before trotting off to get in the tub. He loves to take off the lid, put the clothes in and securely replace the lid. The clothes have to be all the way in. No sleeves clutching to the side, no pant legs sticking out and no tiny white socks dripping over the edges. Last night, this process was very entertaining because after getting the clothes in the hamper, he realized what fun it would be to drop in a pacifier or two. The "Hamper Show" went on for quite a while and it was such a relief to see that Jackson was back and feeling well enough to get some laundry done.

The other day, I was cooking dinner and holding Jackson on my hip. He kept repeating "bubbles." And I said,"Sure, Ok. Bubbles." Suddenly, I glanced over to my right and saw the pasta was at a rolling boil. Almost bubbling over. My boy. He's a genius. Suddenly around mid September he started using very specific words. 13 months word list: (besides mama and dada) More (repeated over and over) Cookie Bubbles (our favorite) Baby Apple Ball Dog Banana Bottle Uh-Oh Row, row, row (to begin the song, he sings it every day) Hello (when the phone rings)

For the time being, Elvis has been replaced. Our 6-year-old, black-and-white, four-legged mutt is still on Jackson's top 5 list. However, he has slid to No. 2 for the time being. No. 1? Acorns. Turns out our son is part squirrel. Every day we take a walk outside heading down the driveway, or through the neighbor's extensive garden or maybe to the stop sign and back. During each step, Jackson's eyes scour every inch for acorns. Acorn caps, acorn stems, entire acorns, half-eaten acorns, squished acrons... anything acorn related must be collected. He continually stuffs his already packed, tiny fists with more acorns. Each time he puts a new acorn in, one rolls out of his fingers. So now we must collect this rogue acorn spinning down the drive. And the cycle continues. I have even caught him trying to hold extra acorns in the folds of his neck. And yes, there are a few folds there ... so like a mother chipmunk, I check my baby's chins daily for acorns. Elvis seems fine wit...