Nineteen

I have a stunning announcement to make:

Jack is no longer a baby. I just didn't realize it until I got the Easter pictures back. (See captions below.)



































1. Jack refused to smile in his Easter outfit -- not because he didn't like it but because I had interrupted his piano playing. Notice the saddle shoes. 2. Great-Grampa and Jack. I'd like to know what they were talking about, looked serious. 3. Jack is mowing on traditional Slovak Easter food including Easter Cheese (basically a huge cold scrambled egg), kabasa, ham, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes and ... Yogurt? OK, so yogurt isn't part of it but if the kid will eat it, we'll give it to him. (Of course most kids his age love Chicken Nuggets, mine he's all about Slovak food. Way to embrace the roots!!) 4. Jack has the ability to mimic his uncle perfectly... check out the faces. Not sure if that's a good thing. 5. Jack, post nap, grabbing a bottle from the fridge. 6. This one he will someday kill me for taking... don't you just see me showing his girlfriends how he loved to walk around in high heels? Pink ones no less.

Eighteen

Jack has a new act for his show. Animal noises. Last night I was wearing an Alabama T-shirt (left over from my days down South) and he pointed to the mascot and said: Elephant. True, it didn't exactly come out pronounced correctly but both Husband and I were shocked once again by his brilliance.

So then he went on to do his animal noises, adding in the latest -- elephant. I tried to show him how you can turn your arm into a trunk but it didn't exactly turn out for him, instead his fist was shoved in his mouth and a muffled shrill came out.

Next, the ducky. This is my favorite. He's got the quack down perfect but the best part, the unbelievably adorable part, is the flapping of his arms. He folds his baby arms into a v-wing and flaps them around. My description doesn't do it justice.

Husband's favorite: The dragon. He roars and stretches his arms out in an "attack" mode. He doesn't have the arms down quite as well and often ends up looking like Superman with a bad attitude.

The cow: This is also a new addition to his bag of tricks. Grandma worked with him on this during a drive through MSU's farms. He remembered what to do even after a brief tutorial. Sadly, there's no real choreography to go with it.

The dog: We had to brush up on this one. He obviously doesn't enjoy it as much as the others and often tries to come up with a bark that sounds more like the roar of the dragon. However, seeing puppies on TV now brings a little bark from his lips.

Kitty: He still hisses. I've tried to get Jack to meow but thanks to Hagan (now happily living on a farm, right?!!) consistently hissing at Daddy, my child will always believe hissing is the cat's first noise ... of course, there may be some truth to that.

Seventeen

Jack has been bumped up to the next "grade" at his little school. His teachers are amazed daily by what the kid has to say. According to the director, he is well beyond his age when it comes to speech, following directions, attention span and remembering things.

He will be in a classroom with 2 and 3 year olds. He surpassed two kids in his current class that are already 2 and I know he's better than most in the next class he's joining. I wondered if he was bored in his classroom because every time I go in there he seems so annoyed by the criers.

It's funny how much his personality mimics mine, really. I catch him staring at people all the time. I have seen the look before, it's a family trait. My Nana had it, my aunt does it, my mom, my sister and I know I have a problem with it too. It's not a particularly friendly expression really. In fact, Husband was scared of all the women on my Mom's side for the first six months of our relationship because of "THE STARE."

Ah... if only Nana had been around with Husband. He thinks my Mom and Aunt are scary. Nana was the godfather of "THE STARE." Her stare would make you melt -- not that I ever experienced it firsthand. I was, of course, her favorite. Just ask my siblings and cousins!! ;D

The thing is, I know Jack doesn't even realize he's doing it. I don't realize I'm doing it. I can't you how many times friends have pinched me to get off it. It's not really a glare -- but it's more of a glare then a glance. We don't smile, but we're not really frowning either. Some of us use the squint technique -- not so much me, but sister does -- and so does the kid.

Husband told me when he drops Jack off in the mornings, he rarely speaks to anyone. He just walks into his classroom, takes off his coat and gets to business. Now, some people may think that's rude but I know he doesn't. He's just focused on what he needs to do. Unlike his father who likes to be friendly and "Mr. Fun Guy.'' Jack has been (blessed? or cursed?) with coolness. I do wish he was somewhere in the middle. Nice, but reserved, you know? My whole life people have thought I was bitchy even when I thought I was being perfectly nice.

One thing's for sure, I can't wait to find out if he's sarcastic. There's nothing better than sarcasm... and I not being sarcastic about that.

Sixteen

Yesterday I finally bought Jack a pair of saddle shoes. I love saddle shoes -- have always loved them. I even had them as a kid. But I referred to them as "Bert shoes" because Bert from Sesame Street had a pair.

I wasn't sure that Husband would be thrilled with them. They are classic and preppie and everything I like, but I was worried they may be too much.

Jack is also very quick to let me know when he doesn't like what he's wearing -- this includes a pair of teal socks that was included in a multi-color pack I got him. He hates them. He squeals and tugs and tries to rip them off. The only way he'll wear them is if he's sporting his little red Converse hightops because then you can't see them. Now, I can understand a boy doesn't want to wear teal socks but if its Saturday and they are clean, who cares? He does.

Anyways, the saddle shoes. I was at the mall on my lunch break pulling together his Easter outfit when I saw the shoes and just about died for them. So cute. They are white and navy. I really didn't even care what he wore after finding those. (Completely untrue: I went to three stores and even had the salesgirl put something on hold at another mall so I could get exactly what I wanted. Jack, Hub and I picked it up last night after dinner.)

Jack loves shoes but he's very particular -- as mentioned above. I told him I got him new shoes. He was excited... He ripped into the bag. He pulled them out. Slowly smiled. Then said, "New blue shoes! New blue shoes! On! On!" and immediately began to tear off his Converse.

I have never heard him say blue and actually be right. It was an amazing moment. So we quickly put them on. He danced around the room (literally) and smiled.

"New blue shoes!"

Fifteen

Well, Jack is obviously sick of me being on the road. He and his dad picked me up from the airport yesterday and besides a quick "Mama!" He cold shouldered me for the trip. Even when I tried to bribe him with pretzel sticks, he didn't crack a smile.

So I wonder if he'll be happy to know that I am headed on another weeklong whirlwind next month. Yup, I am going to guess he'll have the same reaction as Husband. A sigh and a shake of the head. Such is life I guess.

Three trips down, one to go. That's not bad, right? Right?!!

Jack is finally starting to eat. And he wants to eat whatever we are eating. It doesn't matter if its salsa or gorganzola cheese, he's going to dip his finger in, suck it off and say... "MMmmm..." or he may say "hot." Everything is hot if there's anything unusual about it. Ice cream, hot. Sour, hot. Salty, hot.

We keep trying to tell him the correct words but he insists that a brain freeze from ice cream is "hot."