Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The new cut

Yay or Nay ? My intent was to have a super short cut as the last cut of the summer, since the poor boy sweats at the drop of an 82 degree day. Since his John Lennon hair days are over, I am trying to come up with a better nickname than "short cut."

Thomas and Jack - Best Buds

Going to see Thomas the Tank Engine was everything we thought it would be; crazy , crowded and a kid who would not nap. Jack the amazing one went through an incredible 5 hours that day with only 30 minutes of shut eye under his belt. He was the happiest boy, running around and saying "choo choo, choo choo".
It was very rainy that day but that did not stop Jack from sitting on the wet sidewalk and choo chooing on the ground.
Both grandpas went with us and it couldn't have been more perfect.Brian is a huge train guy, so this was as big a deal to him as it was to Jack. As expected, when we left, we weren't even out of the parking lot and Jack was passed out.
You're welcome son.







This is my new favorite photo- Three generations of Morowczynski Men.

Jonathan Joseph - Growing into a fine young man




Sunday, August 9, 2009

How do you get your child to take a nap?

Jack is now 18 1/2 months. I thought that we would have his naps down to a T.
12:30 - Lunch time
12:50 - Nap for two hours
3 pm -Wake up from nap

Today was one of those days where I questioned my abilities as a mom. Ok, a bit too dramatic, but sheesh, I at least wondered what did I have to do to get my son to take a nap. I took Jack out to the park by my mom in law's in this 100 degree weather. Granted, it was windy, but that sun beat down on us and Jack was just not feeling the park. Plus he kept doing his eye rub and I thought Sweet, go home, give him a milk, and off to a great nap.

Wrong!!! As soon as we stepped into the house, Jack got that fresh, air conditioned wind in his face and he immediately woke up. A lunch and an hour later, he was still bouncing off the bed,laughing in delight and I could hear my mom in law's dog, Max, eating the remains of lunch as he stood on the table. I felt like a hassled mom on a commercial, where all this chaos was going down and I was about to be whisked away on a cloud to a land where I could lay in a bubble bath. I waited for that cloud, all I was getting was bites from my son. I did everything;
*Sang his favorite guaranteed I will sleep lullabye - Night Train by Alvino Rey - Nothing
*Read him books in the most soothing voice I could produce. Nothing
*Tried to give him another round of milk. Nothing
*Pretended to sleep so he can get the idea and he would sleep.Nothing

At that point, I did something that I have probably done maybe two times in being a mom - I let Jack cry it out. I hate that desperation in their voice, and being a mom, you can tell that the cry means" How could you leave me? I miss you sooooooooo." After 10 minutes, I picked him up. Exhausted from crying,he fell asleep in my arms. He has now been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours as I write this. Time to wake him up.

Alvino Rey's Night Train. In those early stages when Jack was 4 months, and he would not go to sleep, this song would be the only thing that soothed him.

Night Train -

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Picnic in the Park





Millennium Park

C'mon Mama

Jack and I like to take walks down our neighborhood. No objective, unless you count how many times Jack can sneak into someone's yard. Today we were doing our walk, and Jack was doing his usual jumping over the sidewalk cracks. I was standing there watching him when he said "C'mon Mama" took my hand and walked some more. The words that are coming out of him now is amazing. It is strange to us that one of these , Jack will come to us with regular sentences, regular words, and we will be able to have conversations with him.

He said C'mon mama about three times after that. Other Jack words;

na- means either sun or moon.I think he is trying to say Luna, which means moon in Spanish
Nene - Means Ernie, as in Bert and Ernie
Ba- Bert