The Wish

Jack,

As we sat together eating our cake on Father's Day, I thought of this.

My wish is that you grow up to be every inch like your dad. I hope that you will always be the first to greet everyone that you met. That you are the friendly one and that you will always stike up the conversation first. Because your dad has a natural talent for being a friend to everyone. While your mom likes to hide in the shadows at times, your dad is always out there. That is why everyone likes him. Because he is so approachable. And genuine.

My wish is that you never hold a grudge like your father. Your father finds good in everyone.

I hope that you always find laughter and giddiness like your father. Everything in life shouldn't be taken seriously. I would be a much more serious person if your dad wasn't around. I hope that you have that calming vibe that your dad has. Everything is easy going , and that is a wonderful trait to have.

Your father has a way of being the most caring and loving person to his family. I know that you know that, because he shows that to you every day. I hope you say I love you as much as your dad does.

May you be always excited over the big things in life -like a family vacation - to the small things in life - like a great sandwich for lunch. Just like your dad does.

I see the little things in you from your dad every day. Keep on being that way.

The Power of I love you

Jack now says " I love you" without us asking him to say it.

This is parenting at it's finest. He will say I love you when we are eating, sitting on the couch, or drinking milk.

He even said it one time when he woke up at 2 am. He was crying and kept saying "Mamaaaaaaa, Papaaaaaaaa.......I love you. That was when Brian got up, brought Jack to bed to sleep with us.

Jack cannot pronounce "love" quite yet, so he says " I woy you."

We woy you Jack.

The Joke

This was an actual conversation between Jack and I this evening.


Jack - "What time is it?"
Me - "Time for you to go to bed"

(Jack was looking at Brian's watch, which prompted him to ask that question. I didn't even know he knew that sort of question.)

The Two's

We were faced with a difficult question this week when we met our friends for dinner this weekend.
No Jack? Where is he?

Yes, where was he? He was at my sisters this weekend for a sleepover. Which works well since my niece is 12 yrs old and she and Jack get along like two peas in a pod.
Jack is going thru this – I will not stay still stage. I wonder if any of us went through this when we were 2 years old? Taking him to a restaurant proves to be a bit hard to handle sometimes. We find that Jack has to be absolutely starving for him to sit still and stay thru the whole meal with the rest of us. And that doesn’t even work because while we order and wait for the food, Jack will let us know very well that he is hungry.
So our friends, without knowing this, asks – Is he going through the terrible two’s?
I cringed. I do not like that term. Very Much. Whoever invented it must have just witnessed a child that was not their own and came up with it. I would never call my child terrible. Who would? Not that our friends were calling Jack terrible, but that phrase is so well known throughout childhood, that it is the first thing that we say to our kid when they have a birthday. Happy Birthday! You will now be terrible this year!!!
What? That is something that I have never associated Jack with. I have never said that outloud about him, nor would I say that to another kid. Perhaps this is my ultra sensitivity coming out, but I would like a nicer term to be used .
Jack, like all children, is just learning what to do and what not to do. If you think about it, this whole time since infanthood, kids get what they want. They are hungry- you feed them. They are wet and are unhappy –you change them .You find out that there is a snack that they love to eat – so you give it to them as their #1 snack. Why wouldn’t they have a hard time learning the concept of No. It’s something that they rarely hear. But will be hearing a lot more as they get older. It’s a learning process that we are going through. Just now, Jack has learned to say Thank you after we give him something. And that took awhile for him to understand that. This is just “one of those things.”

Let’s just call it that.
“Where is Jack?”
“Oh, you know, it’s just one of those things.”

The Moments in May

Pic taken by Jack on the Friday before Mother's Day

Another photo taken by Jack.

I guess he liked the morning breakfast scene at our house.

The cat that you see in the foreground is Jack's beloved.
The one that he always has with him at night.




Grocery shopping at our favorite, Caputo's.

The Friday before Mother's Day, Jack's babysitter had a tea
for all the moms in the daycare. I took the day off to spend some
time with my son, his friends and the moms.

Jack and Teaghan, one of the newest friends at the

daycare.

Jack trying to figure out exactly how do you work out

this whole driving thing?

I said smile. And he did.

The "Come back"

Jack is really starting to have full conversations with us. When he sees me pretend crying, he'll ask " Why are you crying?"
When something is not working to his advantage, he will say clearly " This is not working. "
Or if he simply doesn't want something, he will say our favorite "I don't want it. I don't like it."

But the worst thing that he has learned is " Come back!" As if you were leaving somewhere and he will say to you "Come back!". I find it fascinating that the more personality that Jack acquires, the more in awe I am of him in what kind of a person he is becoming. I also find it funny that this is not the first time that I have said " Jack is starting to say this now! And I hate it!" You would not like it either if your little one seems to have grown up in what feels like a week.

Last week Jack and I were talking our after dinner walk - and when we were coming back , he saw that Brian was pulling out of the driveway. He started to run and yell out

Wait Papa! Come back!!

When he saw that Brian left, he started to cry. It was that sorrowful cry that a kid has when they have experienced the saddest feeling in the world. He is two. He didn't know that papa would be right back. Hearing his cry broke my heart in a million pieces. I tried to console him and tell him that papa would be right back. Instead, my tears came right down with his. Just because I couldn't stand to hear him so sad. In other words, I should not be the parent that Jack should come to when he is older to tell me that some bully is pushing him around. Cause I will probably cry right next to him and say shakingly" It's aaalright." Thank God for Brian. He truly is the rock in the house. I am here for the emotions. Brian is here to soothe. Thank you sweets.

As a parent, your emotions becomes intensified by 1,000. There is so much feeling that you have for your child that it is so hard to explain sometimes. Your love for them is truly unconditional. And I never knew what that meant or what that felt like. I knew what it was when I knew that I wanted to be with Brian and only him. But to have this little person that Brian and I have. It's a whole other world of love. We just consider ourselves so lucky to have him as our joy in life. Quite honestly, we would not want it any other way.