Jack has a slew of imagination games that he plays now. One gets cuter than the next one. All are easy to play except for when he wants to play the spy game. I am not sure, being about 4 ½ months pregnant, that I can do much stunts that a James Bond can do.
The Puppy
As much as I love my son, something kind of holds me back when he wants to play one. Maybe because we are pretending that he is an animal, and will just pant and woof as only a puppy learning his tricks can do. I laugh when we play this game, but I don’t want this game to continue, such as the puppy is bad and I give him a time out. OK, I went too far on that one. I don’t think that Jack would take the game that far.
Jack’s “puppy” tricks include the Sit, Shake, Speak, and placing a treat on his nose, balancing it, and then getting the treat. To which I say “good boy!!” afterwards. He likes it. He also pretends to be a puppy more when our dog comes over to me and I start to pet him.
The Bambi
Yes, as in Disney’s Bambi. I love this one the best. I am Mama Bambi, he is Bambi , and Brian is the Great Prince. Cause, you know in Bambi, Bambi’s dad is never referenced as father, just the Great Prince. I think Brian secretly loves that we are calling him a Prince.
One of the reasons that this is my favorite is that he will pretend to be Bambi, and for some reason, “Bambi” will always listens to what his mom tells him to do. Like , Relax. Brush your teeth. Time to go to bed. Bambis always listens to their Mama Bambis.
The Special Agent
He plays this game when he sees an episode of Special Agent Oso, a Disney channel cartoon. Really, this cartoon is an agent in training and does some impressive stunts. When Jack wants to play, he pretends to be the Special agent, and asks myself or Brian to be his leaders where we give him a training exercise. I use this game as a time to do a chore around the house.
“Today’s special training exercise, you will clean up your toys in the living room.”
I think I said that one once and Jack said” Umm, no, how about another one?”
Monday, June 13, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Monday Concert
We attempted to do a Millenium park concert yesterday but it was way too hot, I was losing my voice , and Jack looked like he was about to pass out. Thank God for the H- 2- O.
Jack took my phone and was taking pictures of what he saw. I think this is not a typical three year old taking photos. This is a three year old who thought first what he saw and formed a composition in his photographs. His photographer parents couldn't be more proud.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Disney Tradition
Isn't it a dream that once you have a child, you would want your kid to like all the stuff that you like? Of course you would want to have them form their own opinion and have them discover something on their own, but there is that one thing that you would want to have to have passed down to your kid. And their kid, and their kid's kid.Then you can proudly say that if you child ends up liking She's so Heavy ( I want you) by The Beatles, you can say, yeah that was my influence.
It is a fact that Brian and I are Disney fans. Pixar? Yes please? Classic Disney movies. We are right there. One of the things that binds Brian and myself is that we both grew up on Mary Poppins, and we seem to laugh at all the right moments.
That trait is now passed down to Jack. He loves watching it and mimics all moves that the penguins do in the Penguin Dance scene. He has only seen little clips of it online, but we cannot wait til he sees the whole movie. Because if he wants to see it over and over again, I would not mind.
Another trait that has been passed down is the love for the Disney classics. Lady and the Tramp, Bambi, Aristocats, Dumbo are all movies that we have shown Jack and he loved right away. All movies that I loved watching as a little kid , and in all the parts where I would go " awwww, so cute" he will now say the same thing.
Up next - Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. The Disney version, not the Tim Burton one. No offense Tim, but Johnny Depp would scare my kid in that he will never sleep in his own bed again.
It is a fact that Brian and I are Disney fans. Pixar? Yes please? Classic Disney movies. We are right there. One of the things that binds Brian and myself is that we both grew up on Mary Poppins, and we seem to laugh at all the right moments.
That trait is now passed down to Jack. He loves watching it and mimics all moves that the penguins do in the Penguin Dance scene. He has only seen little clips of it online, but we cannot wait til he sees the whole movie. Because if he wants to see it over and over again, I would not mind.
Another trait that has been passed down is the love for the Disney classics. Lady and the Tramp, Bambi, Aristocats, Dumbo are all movies that we have shown Jack and he loved right away. All movies that I loved watching as a little kid , and in all the parts where I would go " awwww, so cute" he will now say the same thing.
Up next - Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. The Disney version, not the Tim Burton one. No offense Tim, but Johnny Depp would scare my kid in that he will never sleep in his own bed again.
The Little Einsteins
Thank you Julie Clark.
For any parent out there, you would know Julie Clark is the founder of the Baby Einstein madness. Such a simple concept - take a little Beethoven, show a clip of a plush dog jumping up and down and you will have a child enthralled for hours. That was what we used to show to Jack when he was a baby. You know, when you need those precious 20 minutes to just take a shower, and nothing else would calm Jack down, a Baby Einstein would usually do the trick.
He has since graduated to the Little Einsteins, which is the cutest show with some adorable little cartoons that have ever been animated. They still use the same concept, classical music and art, but now they actually talk rather than have just little toys bounce on the screen.
My dad is a big fan of this show, since he is the master of classical music. It makes him happy to see his grandson watch a show and listen to Mozart and the great composers.Somehow he may do well if we took him to the CSO.
As I write this, I was playing the Nutcracker Suite. Thinking that my son is Mr. Classical, I thought for sure he would want to listen to the whole symphony. His response was - No I want to listen to the Doggy Song."
What Beethoven # symphony is that from? I told him that it was Tchaikovsky, and he stopped a bit and said " From the Little Einsteins?" Yes Jack , from the Little Einsteins. After that followed Sleeping Beauty from said composer, and that was when once again Jack asked for the Doggy song.
Oh well, my thought is this - We can take Jack to the CSO, but only if their program for the night was the Baby Einstein spectacular.
He has since graduated to the Little Einsteins, which is the cutest show with some adorable little cartoons that have ever been animated. They still use the same concept, classical music and art, but now they actually talk rather than have just little toys bounce on the screen.
My dad is a big fan of this show, since he is the master of classical music. It makes him happy to see his grandson watch a show and listen to Mozart and the great composers.Somehow he may do well if we took him to the CSO.
As I write this, I was playing the Nutcracker Suite. Thinking that my son is Mr. Classical, I thought for sure he would want to listen to the whole symphony. His response was - No I want to listen to the Doggy Song."
What Beethoven # symphony is that from? I told him that it was Tchaikovsky, and he stopped a bit and said " From the Little Einsteins?" Yes Jack , from the Little Einsteins. After that followed Sleeping Beauty from said composer, and that was when once again Jack asked for the Doggy song.
Oh well, my thought is this - We can take Jack to the CSO, but only if their program for the night was the Baby Einstein spectacular.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The Trio
For three years, there existed a trio named Brian, Jack and Dre. If there was a family party, a gathering, a dinner, the phrase "Will Brian , Jack and Dre be there?" always came out. It was easy to say, it easily slipped out of your tongue, it was never a tongue twister.
Our trio was a good one. No, it was a great one. The three amigos, the three buddies. When pictures were taken of us, the pose was always the same. Mama on one side, Papa on the other side and Jack in the middle.
And who can forget the pictures of Brian and myself kissing Jack on the cheeks for birthdays or just a family portrait. A perfect picture pose, one parent on the left, one parent on the right.
This trio is about to become a foursome. Brian and I are having a baby. The second kid. Something that I thought I would never say. I honestly thought that our trio was forever, and if a second child came along, that would be wonderful. But if not, we would have been very content just the three of us.
Our little Jack is so special. The first boy in the family. I always want that special attention that he has gotten to still be there. Never do I want for him to feel that he is second because there is a new baby in town. You will never be second Jack. You will always be number one for us. There will just be another little one that will share the number one spot with you.
So here are my first apprehensions of being a parent of two. The good news is that now there will be one child for every parent. Brian will read to Jack, and I will feed the baby. Brian will change the diapers, I will give Jack his snacks.
1440 minutes with two kids now - let's see where this takes us.
Our trio was a good one. No, it was a great one. The three amigos, the three buddies. When pictures were taken of us, the pose was always the same. Mama on one side, Papa on the other side and Jack in the middle.
And who can forget the pictures of Brian and myself kissing Jack on the cheeks for birthdays or just a family portrait. A perfect picture pose, one parent on the left, one parent on the right.
This trio is about to become a foursome. Brian and I are having a baby. The second kid. Something that I thought I would never say. I honestly thought that our trio was forever, and if a second child came along, that would be wonderful. But if not, we would have been very content just the three of us.
It boggles my mind that we are about to have another kid, and all that attention that we throw unto Jack, will now be split into two. How in the world do we do this? Can we do this? I would die if Jack wanted to do something and I say "Not now sweetie, I have to change the baby's diaper." And my little Jack has to wait, cause then the baby will cry, will be hungry, wants to be shushed, wants to be cuddled. All the while, our first born is still waiting to have his story read.
Our little Jack is so special. The first boy in the family. I always want that special attention that he has gotten to still be there. Never do I want for him to feel that he is second because there is a new baby in town. You will never be second Jack. You will always be number one for us. There will just be another little one that will share the number one spot with you.
So here are my first apprehensions of being a parent of two. The good news is that now there will be one child for every parent. Brian will read to Jack, and I will feed the baby. Brian will change the diapers, I will give Jack his snacks.
1440 minutes with two kids now - let's see where this takes us.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The Mother's Day
The first thing that I heard this morning was a very sleepy Jack telling me " Happy Mother's Day."
He at least said it to me 4 more times throughout the day " Happy Mother's Day Mama!" and would give me a big hug.
It's moments like that that make it being a mom so worthwhile. Being a mom is tough, being a working mom is tougher in my book. But I never would trade any of those days for not being a mom. I am used to the craziness of it all. Even as Jack sleeps now, and he had a very early bedtime tonight, I sit here and wonder, what can I do? Watch TV? Maybe. Read a book? I just finished reading my book. Paint my nails? Please, have you met me?
Thanks Jack for being that beautiful kid that you are. You make me feel like I am doing an ok job with this mom business. Let's keep it up.
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